Our Barbies, Ourselves Summary Essay -- essays research papers

Our Barbies, Ourselves Summary In an article in Interview Magazine, Emily Prager discuses her opinions of Mattel's toy doll Barbie being designed by Jack Ryan, husband to Zsa Zsa Gabor, and designer of military missiles. The concept that a doll for young girls was designed by such a person greatly shocked Prager." Suddenly a lot of things made sense to me" says Prager. The element that Ryan designed Barbie may explain some of the key aspects of the doll itself. Although Barbie was created as a toy for girls, the sexual nature of the doll suggests it was created for the pleasure of men and envy of women. Prager compares the figure of Barbie to the kind of women who would be seen in the Playboy mansion or be a frequent guest on explicit television shows. This is the image of a mans... Our Barbies, Ourselves Summary Essay -- essays research papers Our Barbies, Ourselves Summary In an article in Interview Magazine, Emily Prager discuses her opinions of Mattel's toy doll Barbie being designed by Jack Ryan, husband to Zsa Zsa Gabor, and designer of military missiles. The concept that a doll for young girls was designed by such a person greatly shocked Prager." Suddenly a lot of things made sense to me" says Prager. The element that Ryan designed Barbie may explain some of the key aspects of the doll itself. Although Barbie was created as a toy for girls, the sexual nature of the doll suggests it was created for the pleasure of men and envy of women. Prager compares the figure of Barbie to the kind of women who would be seen in the Playboy mansion or be a frequent guest on explicit television shows. This is the image of a mans...

McDonald s Rebirth Through a Low Growth Strategy Essay

For several decades McDonald’s experienced uninterrupted growth in sales, profits, and number of stores opened. When the company seemed to reach maturity in life cycle, one CEO’s decision for a low-growth strategy started the rebirth of McDonald’s. In its early years, McDonald’s success was founded on principles of high quality standards and service. However, as time passed, their standards and controls slipped and same store sales began a downward trend. Some insisted that the dip in same store sales was evidence of market saturation. However, McDonald’s executives disagreed. With strong support, one McDonald’s CEO went on a new-store binge. As McDonalds continued its unprecedented expansion, relations with franchisees deteriorated because corporate owned outlets were cannibalizing franchisee’s profits. Another CEO began to acquire other fast-food restaurants, but that model failed as it proved a drain on profits. McDonald’s was struggling to keep its growth mode. Then James Cantalupo took the reigns and began a low-growth strategy that turned the company’s fortunes around as he slashed capital expenditures by 40% by closing poorer performing restaurants and adding fewer new restaurants. Eighteen months into Cantalupo’s stint as CEO, McDonald’s stock price rose from eighteen dollars per share to just over twenty-four dollars per share. Just as McDonald’s fortunes seemed to turn, James Cantalupo died suddenly of a heart attack. SWOT Analysis Internal Strengths & Weaknesses: Among McDonald’s greatest strengths are its brand recognition, strong advertising, and market share. It was the most valuable fast food brand worldwide in 2013 with an estimated brand value of eighty-five billion dollars, three times its closest competitor, Starbucks [see appendix 1.1]. McDonald’s strength of brand recognition can primarily be attributed to its strong advertising and market share. This is evidenced by a 1970’s survey which revealed that ninety-six percent of children identified with Ronald McDonald, ranking him second only to Santa Clause. Furthermore, McDonald’s uses high-profile sponsorships and major advertising campaigns to maintain awareness and promote new launches (e.g. 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2014 Winter  Olympics). In 2013, its advertising expenditure in the United States alone was 1.43 billion dollars [for details see appendix 1.2]. McDonald’s has won its market share via strong marketing/advertising efforts and providing convenience for its customers. When McDonald’s accelerated growth period ended, it had approximately 13,000 domestic restaurants. The belief was practical; the more stores in a city, the more per-capita transactions would result. As of 2013, McDonald’s had 35,429 restaurants worldwide- 14,276 of which are domestic (Statista, 2015). McDonald’s other internal strengths include: partnerships with big brands (e.g. Disney), international presence, localized food menus, and revenue. Now that we have examined McDonald’s internal strengths, lets examine the company’s internal weaknesses. Among McDonald’s greatest internal weaknesses are its negative publicity, low presence of corporate social responsibility, high employee turnover, and low strategy differentiation. McDonald’s is heavily criticized for offering unhealthy foods to its customers, further exacerbating the obesity problem in America. The documentary film â€Å"Super Size Me†, which explores the health consequences of a diet based solely of McDonald’s, is one example of the negative publicity surrounding McDonald’s. Environmental groups often criticize McDonald’s for a lack of sustainable sourcing of beef products (USA Today, 2014). This reflects poorly on McDonald’s for having a weak presence of corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, McDonald’s has a high employee turnover as it offers low paying and low skilled jobs. These jobs are often seen negatively by employees and usually result in high employee turnover. This is an internal weakness because it increases training costs and adds to McDonald’s overall costs. Lastly, McDonald’s has low strategy differentiation. It has become incredibly difficult for McDonald’s to differentiate itself from other fast food restaurants; thus, forcing McDonald’s to compete on price rather than features. This is an internal weakness because price wars reduce a company’s gross margin, which results in deteriorating profits. McDonald’s other internal weaknesses include: Declining market share, disgruntled franchisees, quality and taste of products, slowed revenue and income growth. External Opportunities & Threats: McDonald’s is in the unique position to rebrand itself by offering healthier menu options and increasing its corporate social responsibility. In 2006, McDonald’s newly redesigned logo and restaurant layout are being credited for 8-9% sales growth. Furthermore, McDonald’s has the unique opportunity to be the first fast food restaurant to source 100% of its ingredients from sustainable production. Younger generations are very conscientious of the impact their purchasing habits have on the environment. The aforementioned opportunities can be done still pursuing a low growth strategy. But, McDonald’s still has opportunities for growth. Economic research suggest that China’s middle class is on pace to grow from six percent of its population to fifty percent of its population by 2020 (Business Insider, 2014). McDonald’s has historically targeted middle class families, so there is plenty of opportunity for growth in China. If McDonald’s is able to make a more localized menu and provide an atmosphere that can strike the right accord with the Chinese culture then McDonald’s has the opportunity to flourish in China. Among McDonald’s greatest threats are the growing segment of health conscience consumers and the strength of competition. The health conscience consumer, a growing segment of society, poses both a threat and opportunity for McDonalds. The change in customer’s habits represents new needs that must be met by McDonald’s. In an attempt to cater to this market, McDonald’s has added salads, fruit, and oatmeal to their menu. Additionally, they have eliminated trans-fat oil- a product blamed for the nations obesity. Other areas of concern are the threat posed by Starbucks, which plans to offer a breakfast and lunch menu. McDonald’s strongest competitor remains Yum! Brands- owner of popular fast food chains: Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, and Wing Street [see appendix: 1.1. Other external threats include: saturated market, macroeconomic factors. Recommendations The central strategic decision that needs to be addressed is whether McDonald’s will commit to rebranding itself so that it is seen not only as an economical food destination, but as an appealing high quality one as  well. The societal shift to a more health conscience consumer provides McDonald’s such an opportunity. Alternatives to Strategic Decision Making McDonald’s has three viable options for continued success. The first two, allow McDonald’s to continue it’s low growth strategy. First, McDonald’s can create and promote an attractive menu that that will grab the attention of health conscience consumers. Second, it can focus on the stronghold it’s gained in the coffee space, as this could be an interesting new endeavor to follow (i.e. a new SBU). The third option would be to pursue a growth strategy for Asia, especially China. However, it must be noted that the growth strategy may burden the company with debt to pay for capital-intensive expenditures, but should it be successful McDonald’s revenues and profits could reach new ceilings. It would behoove McDonald’s to fill the need of the health conscience consumer by adopting and promoting a healthier menu. This can be done without abandoning their staples (e.g. Fries, Big Mac, Happy Meal, and Egg McMuffin). If McDonald’s is able to meet the changes in customer’s needs and habits, there is no reason why they shouldn’t continue to experience growth in sales. I believe that this is the best option because it is not capital intensive, yet it could allow McDonald’s access to a new segment of the market. Furthermore, McDonald’s number of locations provides the health conscience consumer with convenience. Implementation Evaluation and Control The following steps are keys to a successful implementation of a strategic marketing plan: 1. Who are we? Who are our customers? What do our customers want? 2. Set strategic marketing goals: Assess internal strengths and weaknesses then compare your vision/mission to the reality of your external environment. Once you have identified the areas of need, choose specific goals to address those areas. 3. Establish strategic marketing activities/plan of actions: Once specific goals have been set, identify various activities to utilize resources and choose the best course of action to implement. 4. Establish timeline to execute goals and plan of actions: By having a clear understanding of your strategic marketing goals then you  can establish common understanding of when such action plans can be reasonably accomplished. 5. Review and re-evaluate progress: By consistently reviewing and re-evaluating progress in implementing or instituting plan of actions, you can take a proactive approach in making adjustments due to changing business climate, environment, external threats and opportunities that may arise in everyday business decisions. References Brumley, James. (April 23, 2014). McDonald’s Is About To Tap Into A Huge Growth Opportunity. Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-expanding-international-2014-4 Horovitz, Bruce. (April 30, 2014). McDonald’s sets 2020 sustainable goals. Retrieved from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/04/30/mcdonalds-sustainability-fast-food-social-responsibility-restaurants/8513245/ Statista. (February, 2015). Retrieved from: http://0-www.statista.com.leopac.ulv.edu/topics/1444/mcdonalds/

Free Essays on Phantom Of The Opera

â€Å"flesh and blood† signal to the readers that Erik, an antagonist of many heads, exists as a phantom to the people around him instead of a real specter, to the point when Erik receives his poetic justice by meeting his termination and Raoul, the protagonist, gets his retribution, Gaston Leroux strives to ensure that the â€Å"ghost† existed as a real human being. A great mind once said, â€Å"Tell a man a billion stars exist in the universe and he will believe you, tell him the bench has wet paint, and he has to touch it.† Human nature tells us to want to disprove something that someone says. Since Leroux knows this, he plants the seed of curiosity in the reader’s mind, willing them to read on. Only unreasonable people believe that Erik exists as a ghost. When normal readers read this novel, they catch themselves at times thinking, â€Å"No way a ghost could of done that,† or, â€Å"It is not a ghost because of...† Only an irrational hillbilly with 9 teeth could think that Erik ... Free Essays on Phantom Of The Opera Free Essays on Phantom Of The Opera Because of normal disbelief in ghosts and the paranormal, Gaston Leroux goes to great lengths to ensure that, in fact, â€Å"The Opera Ghost really existed.† In the prologue of The Phantom of the Opera, written with the feel of a gothic novel, Mr. Leroux says, â€Å"He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants or the concierge,† he uses this explicit sentence to stress the importance that the ghost really exists. Without this assurance of the author, the whole story from here gets doubted by some skeptic, ruining the book for he or she. When Gaston Leroux says, â€Å"Yes, he existed in flesh and blood,† he precludes any thought the reader might have about drug induced hallucinations or real phantoms for that matter. From when the words â€Å"flesh and blood† signal to the readers that Erik, an antagonist of many heads, exists as a phantom to the people around him instead of a real specter, to the point when Erik receives his poetic justice by meeting his termination and Raoul, the protagonist, gets his retribution, Gaston Leroux strives to ensure that the â€Å"ghost† existed as a real human being. A great mind once said, â€Å"Tell a man a billion stars exist in the universe and he will believe you, tell him the bench has wet paint, and he has to touch it.† Human nature tells us to want to disprove something that someone says. Since Leroux knows this, he plants the seed of curiosity in the reader’s mind, willing them to read on. Only unreasonable people believe that Erik exists as a ghost. When normal readers read this novel, they catch themselves at times thinking, â€Å"No way a ghost could of done that,† or, â€Å"It is not a ghost because of...† Only an irrational hillbilly with 9 teeth could think that Erik ...

Novel On Feminism A Dolls House English Literature Essay Example

Novel On Feminism A Dolls House English Literature Essay Example Novel On Feminism A Dolls House English Literature Paper Novel On Feminism A Dolls House English Literature Paper is written. Ibsen was inspired to compose this drama by a existent incident that happened to his friend, Laura Petersen Kieler, a Norse journalist of whom he was really affectionate of. Ibsen created a female supporter, Nora, who, non merely forsakes her hubby and kids, but besides come out of traditional and conventional image of adult females, interruptions all the regulations and limitations of traditional and stiff society, which do nt let for the adult females s freedom and self-fulfillment. This type of drama was completly new at that clip and female supporter, Nora becomes the symbol and forerunner of the construct of, New Women or Modern Women . This term paper will demo the state of affairs of adult females in the society. It will besides exemplify how A DOLL S HOUSE is a feminist drama, Ibsen s battle with Feminism and the outgrowth of New Women or Modern Women . Although, Feminism as a literary genre came in 1960s but we can follow its beginning with the publication of Mary Wallstonecraft s A Vindication of the Rigths of Women in 1792 AD. At that clip, it was in early stage and known as the Women s Rights Movement . This motion was for adult females s societal equality rights in that oppressive patriarchal society. The businessperson society was inhibitory and oppressive against anything which threatened its place of power. The political and religious autonomy were kept at the background and economic freedom became the motivational forcefor an person because in that businessperson society, it provided a place position and one time it was achieved, the jussive mood was to support it. Thus a bourgeois single becomes a guardian of his position and informer of his ain human values. Torvard Helmer, the male supporter of the drama, has accepted the premises of this type of society, unaware of the cost, he pays in human footings. Ibsen criticizes the businessperson society by making the characters, who sustain in the society and rebellion against it. The bourgeois household, the micro-society in position of bourgeois person was dethroned by these characters from the centre of the society. The position of an person in a household reflects the place and order in the hierarchial system of society. This is why Torvard wants his domination in the household and his security depends on experiencing superior. Ibsen saw that the businessperson society needed some content which is a revolution of human spirit and claimed that the motto of the Gallic Revolution ( 1789 ) Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity needed a reformulation. Every 1 has his ain portion in the building or devastation of the society. He writes- One neer stands wholly without portion of duty or guilt in bourgeois society to which one belongs ( 12,402 ) . Ibsen ever believed, the truth as single and subjective. That s why, he lets Nora travel out in the universe and recognize the ego reassess the constructs and values of society. One ca nt measure the society by life in the Centre of the societyrather 1 must dig deep into liminal and marginalized spheres of society. When one is in power, one ca nt frequently measure it right. Peoples at the borders at times better positioned to see the world. Like in the Howthorne s novel, The Scarlet Letter , when Hester Prynne is displaced to margin, she is able to measure the Puritan Society in a better manner. Norasays in the play- I must seek to detect who is right, me or society ( 283 ) . As the drama moves to its stopping point, Nora becomes freer and truer than earlier and this validates her way. Ibsen s dramas reveal the frailties and prevarications of the businessperson society. Although his dramas s scene is Norse but the positions and thoughts on the Vivtorian morality are so cosmopoli tan that they mirror the jobs and strivings of the whole universe. This businessperson society has jobs with the phenomena like industrialization, positivism, liberalism, secularisation and political polarisation and the similar. The people were going aware of their rights and claim for them. In the drama, Ibsen has depicted two sorts of adult females. On the one manus, Nora, who is determind to stand up as proud and independent person, on the other manus self-secrificing Mrs Christine Linde, who finds life s significance in the service of others. These characters evaluate the inner-self and personal lives and this rating of interior lives becomes the reappraisal of the society, which has kept them under oppressive regulations and limitations. And therefore, Ibsen chooses the adult females characters to take the battle of the revolution of human liquors under the streamer of truth and freedom. There are many scenes in the drama, which are anticipated by the other Feminist authors. Nora accuses on her male parent and her hubby of handling her like a doll. A playfellow. She could non acquire the existent experience of life and so she ca nt make anything in her life. It is similar to Wollstonecraft s charges against work forces in her book called, A Vindication of the Rights of Women ( 1792 ) that adult females are brought up to be delighting At the disbursal of every solid virtuousness as if they were gentlel domestic beasts . Her description of herself that she has been treated like a doll -wife, making fast ones is an appropriate illustration of Margret Fuller s charge that adult male wants no married woman but a miss to play ball with . She realizes that she can non make anything in her life while populating with Torvard and declares that she will travel out entirely because I must educate myselfaˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦ . It s something I must make by myself , she is demoing that there is a demand for adult females s emancipation from the nineteenth century restrictive society. Stating Torvard that she does nt cognize how to be a married woman is evocative of Harriet Martineau in On Female Education , where Harriet Martineau argues the demand for sing adult females as comrade to work forces alternatively of playing things or retainers . When Nora realizes that the responsibilities to self is higher than that of a married woman and female parent, she is repeating the basic construct of Feminism stated in Wallstonecraft s A Vindication of the Rights of Women that adult females are no less than work forces possess a moral and rational nature have non merely a right but responsibility to develop it: the expansive terminal of their effort should be to blossom their ain modules . The subject of A Doll s House is the subjugation of adult females by work forces. Nora is deprieved of all things which she should acquire. She could nt acquire much exposure at the male parent s place. At Torvard s place, she is manipulated by Torvard. She has to make what was told to make. She suppresses her ain desires in carry throughing the wants of first, her male parent, and so her hubby. Nora says I could neer move against your wants . The relationship the hubby and married woman is non based on company. Torvard sees himself as the prototype of the traditional nineteenth century hubby who has complete right over his married woman. In the counterfeit incident, Nora neither sees forgery as shame nor to slander Torvard but she does it for love. Torvard, who has the pride of being adult male, considers owing anything to anybody as humiliating and painful even to his ain married woman he does nt see her as his equal. She has semblances that her matrimonial life is happy but she has to confront the world. For this, she decides to interrupt the semblances and travel to the universe of truth and world, and to recognize herself and her values.Ibsen in his missive dated 3 January 1880, remarks on the state of affairs The minute, she leaves her place, is the momenther life to beginaˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦ In the drama, there is large grown up kid, Nora, who has to travel out into the life to detect herself . Nora s development can be seen as she is forced to give up the hope of miracle that her hubby will take the resposibility for her every action but Torvard is the slave of society, incapable of interrupting the conventions. When Nora finds that, there is no manner for miracle to go on now, she decides to be true to herself. She stands against the traditional and conventional image of adult females and becomes one of the Ibsen s most liberated characters. Nora s going of a liberated is non nonsubjective but subjective. She becomes her ain, able to take her decesions independently. the other female character, Mrs Linde opposes by non being the representative of early minutes of Feminism, but through a wise and loving bosom. Mrs linde experiences the miracle which Nora dreamed. When she becomes ready to give up the troublesome life and marry Krogstag, she experiences the miracle , the sense of fulfilment. She says- How different to work for, to populate for, for a place to construct . On the other manus, Nora sees her sense of fulfilment when she leaves her hubby, kids and place and being self-dependent. Ibsen s battle with Feminism can be viewed from the address for the workmans in Trondheimin1885, he was really much concerned with future province of workers and adult females in the altering societal status of Europe. He said that he is really chiefly concerned with human being in general. In his address, he made at a bonquet given in his honor by the NorwegianWomen s Rights League on 26 May 1898, he said- I am non a member of Women s Rights LeagueaˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦ I have been more a poet and less a societal philosopheraˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦ . I am non even clear as to merely what this adult females s rights motion truly is. To me it has seemed a job of humanity in general. He was right in stating that he is concerned with whole humanity because adult females are besides foremost and foremost human existences. In A Doll s House , Nora says- I am foremost and foremost a human being. He besides advocated for the enlisting of adult females as librarian, the right to vote and supported the request of separate belongings right for married adult females. He was besides in contact with three powerful female personalities- Suzannah Thoresen, his married woman, Magdaline thoresen, his married woman s stepmother and Comilla Collect, the first important womens rightist personal property.

Case Collection Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case Collection Study - Essay Example The interrelationships between what used to be an indicator of health or illness in the economy have changed dramatically and analytics must be changed to reflect those facts. An example of one of the ways that the world is very different is the health of the stock market as a reflective device about the wealth of the nation. While the stock market has been showing better numbers in recent months, the nation on the whole is not thriving at the same level with unemployment still high. As well, the level of CEO salaries are over 300% that of the average worker. It used to be that the level of salary of a CEO reflected the health of the salaries of the employees. In 1980 the ratio between the CEO and the worker was 42-1 (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2010. What this reflects is the continuing disparity of wealth in the United States. And while this existed in 2007, the economic downturn of 2008 established the destruction of the Middle class, creating a whole new way in which consumer prediction s needed to be approached. The cost of living has gone up and working class people and the remnants of the middle class have very little disposable income. Davenport, Harris, and Morison (2010) discuss some of the reasons to not use analytics. One of these reasons is when history misleads the results of the analytics. Because of the changes that have occurred in the last six years, the historic interconnections of different indicators are not necessarily still meaningful. The example of the stock market and how it no longer indicates overall wealth is an example of how predictors can now be misleading for the future from today. Willis (2011) writes that in the last century the stock market has always been an indicator of overall wealth, but since the economic downturn that has changed. This example shows how a number of factors have changed in the new economy and in order to create a predictive analysis, these factors must be taken into consideration. What has not changed, however, is the power of distinction. People are still finding ways to buy items and distinction has created enough power for many companies to thrive in this stifled economy. One example of this is the iPad which launched in 2009 and sold over 25 million of the units in a few short years. Distinction has created the market for the iPad and its competitors have not come near to duplicating that success (Bell, 2011). It is the one that comes out first that will get the attention and this is how distinction is still a powerful factor. This can also be seen in the iPhone which has decent competitors, but all one has to do is watch the commercials to see that the competition is doing its best to diminish the cult status of the Apple phones. Through trying to insinuate that they are at the end of their life-cycle competitors like Galaxy and Microsoft are using a thin stick to strike a mighty mountain. In order to gain the power of predictive analytics, then, it is important to recognize what has changed in the last six years, but to realize that the most important part of business has not changed. When a new idea is good and has a great deal of consumer value the idea will succeed. Demand can be predicted through distinction, but where there is no distinction and an idea is being recycled or improved upon, the predictive analytics will have to take into consideration the real status of the

Executive Briefing Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Executive Briefing Paper - Essay Example Mentorship is not new to Burberry, although its experience is largely external, philanthropic, and along the line of corporate social responsibility. Presently, the Company is a corporate sponsor of IntoUniversity, a charity organisation dedicated to educating the youth through mentoring. Through its local learning centres, some of Burberry’s employees and managers are already dedicating time and effort as volunteers mentors and e-mentors, to Britain’s poor but deserving ‘young people [who] are inspired to learn’ (IntoUniversity, 2010). In 2011 alone, Burberry associates volunteered 5,500 hours of mentoring. For one particular Burberry associate, more than 200 young students were mentored globally in programmes ranging from three months to three years (Burberry Annual Report 2011/12, p. 64). Recent studies have highlighted the use of internal mentoring, as a technique to improve performance and enhance competitiveness. It is believed that by adopting intern al mentoring, the firm will benefit competitively. II. Proposition This paper proposes that Burberry engage in internal mentoring throughout the organisation until the highest levels, in order to enhance its competitiveness. Mentoring is seen as a tool not only for implementing social development programs external to the firm, but is also perceived as an effective instrument in pursuing the company’s strategic goal of remaining competitive. The viability of mentoring in Burberry will be discussed. III. Theoretical background Mentoring is ‘an intense and complex relationship where the mentor plays the role of peer and parent’ and functions as ‘teacher, advisor, sponsor, and friend’ (Ehrich & Hansford, 1999, p.93). Academic literature states that mentoring improves individual behaviour and performance, particularly in the training and encouragement of the young. However, the impact of mentoring on firm behaviour and outcomes has not been established, p articularly in the highest policy levels. Offstein, Shah and Gnyawali (2011) propose a model whereby the board of directors (BOD) mentors the chief executive officer (CEO), for the purpose of improving the CEO’s ability and motivation to ‘competitively engage the firm’ (p. 75). In the diagram that follows, the mentoring role of the BOD is depicted in terms of sponsorship, protection, and coaching or counselling. By providing legitimacy, a proper sense of discretion and risk-taking, and knowledge and learning, the mentoring exercise is expected to lead towards a greater firm competitiveness. Competitive behaviour is defined by their magnitude and complexity. Source: Offstein, Shah and Gnyawali, 2011, p. 80 According to the theory by Offstein, et al. (2011), competitive actions are ‘purposefully directed, specific, and observable.’ The model adheres to the principle that companies that undertake bold and complex competitive actions benefit as a result, because such actions disturb the status quo and establish new rules by which the competitive stage is reset. According to Schumpeter (1934) in his seminal study, first mover advantage (i.e., the advantage of being the first firm to undertake an innovation that defines a new competitive environment) generates abnormally high profits, until such time as other firms catch up and themselves pursue innovative actions in an effort to overcome the market leader. From the executive levels, mentoring by CEO to his division heads, and from them to the

Different types of Intermodal movement by Air Essay

Different types of Intermodal movement by Air - Essay Example Rockets are mainly used for launching satellites, spacecraft, space shuttles and space research stations. A rocket is always misunderstood to be a spaceship by the laymen. Spacecraft, satellites and space shuttles are meant for space and planetary exploration in particular. Though aircraft, spacecraft and rockets share a common feature that they are airborne, they differ totally from each other in their looks and use. A rocket is a multipurpose instrument used in air, water and space with necessary modifications but the use of aircraft is sensibly limited to the earth atmosphere as they can not fly in the outer space with their wings and wing-shaped propellers where there is no gravitation. But the technology of rockets has become so simple that it has spread like a computer virus and is mostly misused by terror groups which have acquired the expertise. It is true that the rockets are playing the lead role in the space exploration at present but the day may not be far off when they would be replaced by the aircraft made up of air breathing rocket engines. The movement by air, for both people and cargo, is bound to take new vistas. Use of different types of airborne vehicles for different purposes would undoubtedly pick up by leaps and bounds in this space age. Basically, airborne vehicles can broadly be divided into two classes such as atmospheric vehicles comprising airplanes and helicopters which move with in the earth’s atmosphere and non-atmospheric vehicles comprising space craft, space shuttles, deep space probes, satellites and rockets which move in earth’s outer atmosphere (Anderson, 2004). Each of them is totally different among themselves serving a different purpose and having its own advantages and disadvantages in relation to its use. For decades now, we have been extensively using aero planes and helicopters for airborne movement as other vehicles have not come in to use for common purposes. The use of spacecraft and rockets for the general