A Cold Winter Essays - Startup Cult, David Meece,

A Cold Winter A Cold Winter It was in the middle of winter on a dark smoggy night, chills were running through the house in and out of my room like a quiet ghost silently coming and silently going. As I lie awake in my bed thinking of what the next day should bring, my eye's start to grow heavy as I doze off. In the distance I hear a faint booming sound, soon it starts getting louder and louder and still louder until I could hear nothing but the noise. I was unpleasantly startled and hurried over to my window. As I look out I could see nothing but smoke and fire, catching this by surprised I ran to my little brother's room, finding no one. Then in the distance I could hear faint voices of terror calling my name. It sounded as if it was coming from out side, so I ran as fast as my Nike slippers could carry me down the stairs and outside into my front yard. I find the rest of my family there, along with my neighbors and their son, my best friend. I just stood there in horror with the rest of my family and friends. We had no idea what had happened. The next morning I really don't remember very clearly, but what I do remember was reading the news paper and coming across an article about a house burning down not to far from mine. I really didn't know what exactly to think at that time until it all clicked upstairs. The noise the night before had been the house burning down and the natural gas line exploding. Later in the article it said that our block of houses wouldn't have any natural gas heating until the line was repaired. The first thing I did was run to the kitchen, finding my Mother and Father there fixing breakfast. I started talking so fast I really don't even know what came out. My Mom told me to calm down and sit at the table. Doing so she gave me a glass of milk, and seeing that I was distressed sat down next to me and asked me what was on my mind. Taking full advantage of her attention I told her as slowly and detailed as possible at the time being. As soon as I had finished my frantic attempt to get all that out, she didn't laugh at me but just got that look in her eyes where you know that she didn't believe a word of it. The fist thing she said in response was Where did you hear about this? I answered her as fast as possible In the news paper. Stunned at my at my quick answer she told me to bring her the article. So I ran back up the stairs and snatched the paper from my bed. When I got down stairs I laid the article out flat in front of my mom's face. A subtle but shocked look arose on my mother's face, as she sank deeper into her chair. Shutting off the radio, I sat down next to my dad asking him what we were going to do for heat, he just answered I don't know I just don't know. shaking his head in resistance. Later that day I was over at a friend's house who had heat. We were playing a video game and eating chips in his living room. The walls had many game heads on them, one of the nicer ones was a whole stuffed mountain lion that his dad once had a special tag to hunt. The whole time I was there I was brainstorming on how to get heat in our house. Soon I was in the back seat of our extended cab black GMC pickup. My little brother was on my mom's lap and my dad was just starting to drive onto the onramp. Which is not an easy task on a daily basis, when you live in Detroit. As soon as we started getting close to the freeway there was a huge traffic jam. I think we must have been there for about and hour and a half. I don't really remember because I was trying to go to sleep. When I woke

war of art essays

war of art essays Pearl HarborDecember 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy... No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion. The American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory. These are the words of the thirty-second president Franklin. D. Roosevelt. People on the earth must never forget the tragedies of war and must never repeat the mistake of going to war. People have to shoulder the burden of the sin, so people have a duty to hand down the tragedies and horror of war on posterity. One significant way to urge them is the memorial. There are many memorial parks all over the world to pray and call for peace, but if the designs of the memorial were lack happiness of expression, people might misunderstand the war itself. The lacks of expressing war itself on the memorial might result in leading to disregard of curse of war. The modern art have advanced as well as the technique have grown. Although each artists have different thoughts and expressions on their works, how to make a deep impression on every people and to get across to people about what they want to say are the main points for every artists. On public projects like designing the memorial, the designers also need to investigate and study the significant meanings of war, which is the most sinful act human did, to prevent misexpress them because it is a work for all people in this earth, not for the designers. And every peoples wishes are same piece. On the other hand, in the new National World War II Memorial on Washingtons National Mall, there is a hodgepodge of stone slabs, arches, stars and wartime homilies. Some of designs and placements of these monuments have misleading and doubtable expressions. Too much things are going on therestone slabs, bronze, walls, pool, wartime homilies etc... Each sculpture appeals the fault of war and wish piece, but there are ...

Electronic fingerprint scanning for security at airports Research Paper

Electronic fingerprint scanning for security at airports - Research Paper Example Most of the loopholes that have been identified in the security processes are due to the use of fake identities borne by the criminals or terrorists. The exponential increase in the acts of terrorism has made it vital for organizations to be equipped with accurate and reliable modes of authentication. The identity cards cannot be afforded to be trusted anymore due to their vulnerability of being forged. Therefore, another alternate method is being widely accepted in organizations, government agencies and public premises- biometric authentication systems. Biometric authentication systems identify the individual on the basis of his unique biometric features. Biometric features include fingerprint scans, retinal image, palm prints, face gestures etc. Biometric authentication bears accurate identification of the individual since biometric features are unique in every individual and they cannot be as easily forged as other paper based authentication modes. Jain, Hong and Pankanti (2000) d iscussed a study of Jain, Bolle and Pankanti (1999); their research included a comparison of biometrics on the basis of different factors that play a part in the success of the authentication mechanism. The comparisons are given in the following table; Table 1: Comparison between different biometrics (Jain, Bolle and Pankanti (1999) in Jain, Hong and Pankanti (2000)) It can be seen from Table 1 that fingerprint scans do not give low performance in any factor, unlike all the other biometrics. The aspect of uniqueness is high in fingerprint scans therefore it provides accurate identification of individuals. Fingerprint scans can be easily extracted from fingerprint scanners and readers; it is due to this convenience and accessibility that they have been widely accepted around the world. The introduction of fingerprint scanning at public places can prove to identify the individuals who may be a threat to other people in the society. Airports are sensitive places where many incidents of terrorism have been witnessed in the past history; such incidents include hijacking of planes and making individuals hostages. The current authentication mechanism at airports relies on passports that can be easily forged; therefore the integration of fingerprint authentication mechanism in the boarding process of passengers will ensure that individuals with criminal records are not allowed to board on the plane. 2. Literature Review Much research has been done regarding the usage of biometric authentication systems for homeland security. Before the discussion of the approaches that have been adapted by different nations and organizations, it is vital to understand the attributes and processes of the respective systems. Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (2006) stated that the basis of an authentication process of any system resides on the following factors; Something that is known by the user, for example, PIN, password etc. Something that is owned by the user, for example, smart card, token ID etc. Something is inherently possessed by the individual, for example, fingerprints, face gestures, palm prints etc. The last factor is known to provide the highest level of security among all the other three factors since inherence based factors are unique in all individuals and cannot be stolen as easily as the other factors. The biometric recognition systems are used to perform two basic operations; identification and verification. The process of identification refers to

Cultural influence in Architecture. A casestudy of HSBC HEadquarter Dissertation

Cultural influence in Architecture. A casestudy of HSBC HEadquarter building, Hong Kong Norman Foster) - Dissertation Example The study will be focusing on the headquarter building of HSBC Bank (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) which is located in Hong Kong. Designed by Sir Norman Foster, the building emerges from the obscurity of the night time beneath to a dynamic new lighting scheme. HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations with its branches all over the world. Its headquarter building is one of the most significant architecture building of the world. It recently illuminated the building in what is a colorful dress of dynamic lights. This was launched in January 2004 and called as the HSBC illumination which became the integral part of the Victoria Harbour Lighting Plan. As part of the plan the permanent lighting and the special effects makes the building to be one of the most prominent planned building of the country. The HSBC headquarter building is built to preserve the values of the past. The place at which it is constructed is preserved to mak e sure that the land is still treated as the HSBC property. The structure of the building has been modified to modern terms but the initial roots of the structure were maintained keeping in mind the cultural values of HSBC and Hong Kong at the same time. History The first HSBC building in Hong Kong was Wardley House which was used as the office from 1865 to 1882. It was then demolished in 1886 before it was rebuilt in the same year. The main feature of the constructed building was the division of the structure into two separate buildings. The building which was on the Queen’s Road Central was in the Victorian style with a verandah and an octagonal dome. The arcade which was harmonized with the adjacent buildings was then constructed on the Des Voeux Road. The early settlers in the Hong Kong that came from Britain had a lot of interest in Feng Shui. This is the reason that most of the buildings that were created in Hong Kong at that time were on the philosophies that were ther e in the concept of Feng Shui. This made the British and the Chinese believe that the ones who had a direct view of the water, whether it is a river, a sea or an ocean, are more likely to prosper compared to the ones that are not build with keeping Feng Shui in mind which is directly linked to the wealth associated with water and what it can add to the construction of the buildings. Keeping this in perspective, the HSBC building was constructed in the area which was wide open view in front of it. It was made sure that there is no other building which blocks the HSBC building’s view of the Victoria Harbour. This benefited the traditionally followed concept of Feng Shui which had the country’s cultural belief associated with it. Thus, the HSBC building is consider having a good Feng Shui. The HSBC building illuminated Hong Kong’s capacity to stun the people who visit the country. Even though it is not the largest skyscraper in the country, or to be more precise, t he city, but it is considered to be the most extraordinary building of the country. The location of the building has remained the same at present to where it was initially constructed in 1965, but it has expanded itself in area with the passage of time taking over the space that could be occupied by four more buildings in the surrounding area. Design The design of the building was given by English Architect Norman Foster. Along with stamping the visible symbol of stability and power on the fabric of the urban city, the new HSBC

Individual Sales Management Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Individual Sales Management Paper - Essay Example Decisions that influence the performance of the sales team eventually determine the level of profitability. The sales personnel dictates the way an organization launches new products into markets, how new customers are acquired, how a business expands though using existing customers and achieving the targets set in revenue acquisition. It is therefore necessary that the team leaders adopt favorable techniques in managing the performance of the sales personnel. It involves understanding the important elements of a sales force and knowing why this be the case. Sales personnel management entails a number of interrelated mechanisms of influencing the fruitfulness of the team. It comprises of many techniques drawn from varying fields in psychology sociology and many others. These techniques include hiring, training, promotion, career development and motivation. Motivation as a way of sales force management entails giving a listening g ear to them and answering by the sales force leaders. It also entails adopting positive feedback verbally. By enriching the salesperson through information motivates the workers. The management can have salary variations as a way to motivate and encourage the sales personnel. Profit sharing and extending bonuses to the sales force also boosts personnel spirit of delivering. It raises self gratification for the personnel by increasing the hourly rate and other benefits. Motivation is therefore one of the mechanisms that the human resource managers employ in coordinating the performance of the sales force (Nicolescu, 2009, 6-12). . Promotion in human resource management entails appreciating the efforts of a person in one rank and rising by grading the level of his job prescription. It entails offering better remuneration to the person as he/she is ranked higher than previous position held. More too rising in ranks, promotion also involves getting involved at higher level of decision making, positions that were previously held by the mana gement team before. This is equally within the sales personnel field where the management ascends a person to higher posts within the same field of sales force, offering improved salary packages as well as involving the individual to decision making processes. Career development entails much more than just offering the sales personnel an opportunity to serve an organization but to grow in the career path. Good management practices for the sales force also involves understanding the need to continuously improve the career path for the sales force as part of the entire human resource. Among other practices that helps improve the career of a sales agent is clear job analysis, understanding and developing a clear career plan and engaging in proper tutorials for the job market. Mentoring entails walking the career path with other professionals in the career, through whom the sales agent, earns how to navigate through the job field. Tutorials and coaching are equally better methods throug h which the management assists develop the careers of their employees. This therefore adds to many other ways through which the sales force is managed. (Nicolescu, 2009, 6-12) Training As part of the mechanisms that the management undertakes in influencing the performance of sales agents, it involves assisting the force access better training through which the performance of the employees gets boosted. We find that managements of firm encourage individual study as part of their strategies to

Dominos Pizza: A Crisis Management Case

Dominos Pizza: A Crisis Management Case Josefina Vasquez According to (PRSA, 2009), in 2009, the company Dominos pizza experienced a tremendous PR crisis because of a couple of their employees. In fact, in a restaurants kitchen, in a slow working day, the two of them, with the employee uniforms, contaminated some food ingredients and then placed them onto sandwiches and pizza; they recorded a video and later posted it on YouTube. This video reached more than one million views in just three days because it became viral. The company realized that social media has the power to turn small incidents into huge marketing crises. This is a real case very interesting to analyze from the point of view of public relations and ethics. Because something simple could be the cause of the failure or success of significant companies, and what would construct the difference are the decisions taken in crises. In this review, we will be looking at this case from the point of view of the public relations professional and the ethical bases and how this addresses companies direction. Dominos Pizza: A Crisis Management Case According to (PRSA, 2009), the vice president, the communication team and the rest of Dominos corporate members sooner became aware of this situation. The first reaction was anger, but they channeled into action. The company proceeded to intercept the store, the authors of the video, took away the videos, and the company pressed charges against them. One of the first actions was to find out if the contaminated food was finally delivered to a client, fortunately, it was not. Domino has had the plan to introduce the company to Facebook, Twitter and some other social media sites by 2009 just before the crisis, but they did it during the crisis in order to communicate with the active core audience. The CEO decided to the response by YouTube instead of distributing a press release because even at a million views, they thought there were 307 million people in America, so they focused on that audience. They received criticism from the media during the first twenty-four hours, because people thought that they were not doing anything about it. The company understood that the most important thing was to keep the companys credibility with customers. Dominos pizza learned that is so important to keep in touch with media web community all times. (Randallreilly.com, 2015) stated that the company listened to their audience and later they admitted that their product was awful, so that, they started a campaign called Pizza Turnaround, in order to acknowledge the problems they were facing and reinvent their pizza, this along with an extensive media coverage, documentaries, promotions, advertising, etc. Problem Statement. The companys PR team faced an important challenge. The company had a disadvantageous place due to the lack of presence on social networks. Dominos faced the dilemma of obviating persons opinion by denying, and only focus on defending their brand or putting on the customers side and reinforcing their product. This crisis could have undermined this large multinational company, so they had to deal with some ethical principles such as fairness, honesty, expertise and loyalty. Personal Critique of the Case. In this context, is important to point out the conflict management life cycle concept from (Wilcox, Cameron and Reber, n.d.) which has a proactive, strategic, reactive and recovery phases, and the way the companys PR professional applied it during this situation. The proactive phase involves crisis-planning, issues tracking by creating strategy plans in ways that address the emerging issue. The strategic phase allows organizations to place itself favorably in anticipation of actions. The reactive phase occurs when the issue or conflict reaches a critical level of impact; it involves the implementation of crisis management plan, crisis communication and conflict resolution. The recovery phase involves reputation management and image restoration. PR professionals at Dominos pizza implemented both the reactive and recovery phases as well, once the issue became critical. They initiated a crisis management plan by establishing communication channels with the target audience through social media. They also implemented reputation management and image restoration when they decided to reinvent their pizza with a campaign called Pizza Turnaround by using an extensive media coverage, documentaries, promotions, advertising, etc. Once the crisis was overcome, they started implementing the proactive and strategic phases of establishing constant communication with customers through social media channels, with a strategy to pay special attention to customer feedback. References Wilcox, D., Cameron, G. and Reber, B. (n.d.). Public relations. PRSA. (2009). Dominos Delivers During Crisis: The Companys Step-by-Step Response After a Vulgar Video Goes Viral. [online] Available at: http://apps.prsa.org/Intelligence/TheStrategist/Articles/view/8226/102/Domino_s_Delivers_During_Crisis_The_Company_s_Step#.WNMO7PkrLIV [Accessed 23 Mar. 2017]. Randallreilly.com. (2015). Dominos Pizza: A Case Study in Customer Feedback | Randall-Reilly. [online] Available at: http://www.randallreilly.com/dominos-pizza-a-case-study-in-customer-feedback/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2017]. Tesco and Sainsburys: A Comparison of Strategies Tesco and Sainsburys: A Comparison of Strategies 1. Introduction Business strategies are largely unique to individual business organisations and depend upon the objectives of their primary stakeholders, namely the shareholders and the senior management. While these two entities are the main decision makers for the road maps followed by firms, which they exercise through formulation and articulation of objectives, mission statements, and strategies, many other issues like product or service features, strengths and weaknesses of business organisations, economic, legal and political environments, nature and intensity of competition, opportunities and threats, environmental and ecological needs, as well as technological advances, often play major roles in determining and implementing business strategy. Work in these areas, by management experts, have led to the development and construction of models and theories that attempt to elaborate, explain and demystify these issues. The tackling of these challenges previously depended upon the thought processe s and ingenuity of business owners, and played vital roles in the successes or failures of business organisations. The work of Igor Ansoff and Michael Porter led to the enunciation of well known strategic models for growth and the Five Forces theory for analysis of competitiveness. These tools, as well as decision making aids like SWOT and PESTLE analyses have become commonplace in today’s business scenario, and are widely used by managers all over the world. While most growth strategies deal with marketing, other areas like production, human resource, information technology and finance also need goal setting, and are important to overall strategy for optimisation of organisational wealth. Total Quality Management, for example has emerged in recent years as a necessary item in every strategic manager’s toolbox for achievement of organisational objectives. Apart from these tools, business strategies for growth and shareholder wealth appreciation are also influenced by t he ethics and value systems of individual corporations; while many firms chose to forsake both growth and profitability for ethics, the reverse, as evinced by scams like Enron and WorldCom is equally true. Every so often, companies in the same industry, and operating in the same national or global environment, adopt sharply different strategies with spectacularly divergent results. Search engines like Yahoo and Alta Vista existed for years before Google arrived on the scene and swept everything before it. Toyota, a Japanese car manufacturer, formed much after the end of the Second World War, entered the car market of the United States in the face of widespread scepticism, and over a few decades, orchestrated a business strategy that saw it overtake Ford, the iconic American car making giant. Among British companies, the last two decades saw the rise and rise of the retailing company, Tesco. The company changed its down market â€Å"pile them high, sell them cheap† public perception to emerge as the largest retailer in the country, first overtaking the much older market leader Sainsbury’s and then proceeding to widen the gap until its’ market share was twice that of its erstwhile condescending rival. This assignment aims to examine and analyse the different strategies adopted by these companies, which have similar products and services, and also operate in the same environment. 2. Commentary and Analysis Business organisations constantly face challenges in every sphere of activity, be they in marketing, sales, production, workforce, human resource management, information technology development, or in raising and controlling finances. Many of these challenges arise from the social, political and economical environments in which organisations operate. While businesses in the UK operate in democratic and market friendly environments with institutionalised legal and financial systems, they need to conform to the stipulations laid down by numerous regulatory bodies (of the UK and the EU) and governmental organisations, and that too in almost all operating areas. Furthermore, firms with global operations have to frequently function in conformity with different environmental requirements, necessitated by dissimilar political and legal systems, or by widely divergent local, infrastructural or market conditions. Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s both entered the UK retail market, as small convenience stores, not much different from the many such establishments that exist all over the UK. Both organisations outgrew and outperformed other businesses in their genre to become colossal retailing chains with countrywide presences. Sainsbury’s, a much older firm than Tesco’s was the market leader in the UK retailing sector, until 1995, when it was overtaken by Tesco’s. a. Sainsbury’s J Sainsbury, plc, is one of Britain’s most famous firms, represented across the country, through its chain of supermarket stores that operate under the Sainsbury’s brand. Apart from supermarkets, the company operates convenience stores, an internet-based home delivery shopping service, and Sainsbury’s Bank. The company, originally started as a partnership in 1869, and while incorporated as a private company as far back as 1922, listed on the London Stock Exchange only in 1973, in what was until then the LSE’s largest stock issue. Sainsbury’s grew to become the UK’s largest supermarket company and retained its privileged position for much of the twentieth century. Tesco’s overtook Sainsbury’s in 1995, and ASDA/ Wal-Mart relegated it to third position in 2003. (J Sainsbury, 2007) While the business, in the beginning, grew organically into a chain of convenience stores, its first major strategic decision came, in 1950, with the opening of the first self service store, in Croyden, London. This initiative was followed by increasing the number of self service stores, expanding the range of non food goods, opening of hyper markets, acquisition of smaller chains, and commencement of operations in Scotland and North Ireland. The company grew to become the country’s largest supermarket chain, fuelled by increasing economic affluence, changing buying habits, customer convenience, and the ability of Sainsbury’s to provide a large and diverse range of products under one roof. Large Sainsbury’s stores typically stock 50,000 products, of which 50% are home brands. While the company grew slowly in its initial years, real growth came only in the post war years, with the development of a strong market economy, economic prosperity, increased spending powe r, and customer desire for a large range of better quality goods. Sainsbury’s responded to this changed economic environment, by concentrating on the increasing and upwardly mobile middle class. The company refrained from taking too many risks or initiatives, possibly feeling that its reputation would enable it to grow steadily and retain market leadership. The strategy of least resistance was interspersed by a few initiatives like the introduction of Do it Yourself (DIY) products, and acquisition of chains like Bell’s Stores, Jackson’s Stores, and JB Beaumont, which served to add to and broaden its customer base. The company has more than 750 stores today, and with a turnover in the range of 16 billion GBP, is one of UK’s more successful corporates. A prima facie assessment regarding the company’s response to business and environmental challenges would tend to give credit to the company’s corporate strategies in an extremely competitive bus iness environment. This assessment would however be substantially incorrect. Even as the company continued to grow steadily, in both profits and sales, through the 1990s and into the 21st century (except for the difficult years of 2004 and 2005), it was overtaken, first by Tesco’s in 1995, and later by ASDA in 2003. Tesco’s , which had a turnover of less than 11 billion GBP in 1994 saw its sales touch 38 billion GBP in 2006 and now sells more than twice of what Sainsbury’s does. Very apparently, Sainsbury’s has committed serious errors in handling and responding to business and environmental challenges, and has yielded the high ground in supermarket retailing to younger and possibly more effective competition. b. Tesco’s Growth Path Tesco’s started off as a small one man grocery operation, in 1919, in London’s East End. It took Jack Cohen, the founder, 10 more years to start his first store, in 1929, a full 60 years after Sainsbury’s. The company grew organically in the initial years, spurred by Cohen’s hard work. In the beginning business strategy revolved around providing cheap and economical goods, (pile them high, sell them cheap) espousal of trading stamps to induce customers, and relentless opening of new stores. Strategies, broadly similar to those followed by Sainsbury’s in the post war years led Cohen to open Tesco’s first self service store in 1947, and the first supermarket in 1956. In retrospect, Cohen’s better understanding of the demands and changing moods of customers is possibly evinced by his decision to open his self service store, a full three years earlier than Sainsbury’s. When Cohen resigned, in 1977, the company had achieved significant growth and traction but was still much behind Sainsbury’s, both in size and reputation. The years that followed Cohen’s handing over of Tesco’s leadership were marked by strategic swings designed to take the company away from its image of a purveyor of cheap and low quality goods. This period saw the management launch an aggressive campaign for market share, a multi dimensional effort that involved (a) rapid expansion of stores, (b) acquisition of medium sized supermarket chains, (c) entry and consolidation in a number of foreign markets, (d) large scale expansion of non food products, (e) opening of a number of hypermarkets, (f) introduction of loyalty cards, and (g) exploitation of online markets. The company assessed the existing national and global environment and felt that it would be able to work towards significant increases in sales and profitability and make it into a global leader from i ts status of a lowly down market UK based retailer. These strategies, combined with effective systems and operational implementation, enabled Tesco’s to power past Sainsbury’s, the British market leader, and establish itself as the third largest retailer in Europe. With sales of 38 billion GBP and 2 billion GBP in profits, Tesco is today the undisputed market leader, way ahead of both Sainsbury’s and ASDA. It played for glory and won hands down. (Pringle and Cohen, 2007) c. Management of Environmental Conditions In the early 1960s, Cohen lobbied Parliament to have the Retail Price Maintenance (RPM) act abolished, efforts supported by Edward Heath. The RPM allowed manufacturers and suppliers to set the price of goods thus preventing large retailers, who could buy in bulk and had greater buying power, from benefiting from economies of scale and undercutting the prices of smaller shops. To get â€Å"around† this, Tesco offered another incentive to get customers through the doors Green Shield Stamps. These were collected by customers when they spent money in the store, and were then traded for goods in a catalogue. An effective discount (Tesco, a corporate profile, 2004) This extract serves to illustrate Tesco’s response to environmental challenges and the many innovative ways the company found to constantly improve customer value. The emergence of Thatcherism, in the 80s, coupled with the break up of the Soviet Union, the consolidation of a unipolar world, sharp improvements in internet technology, and the commencement of globalisation, created a number of opportunities that Tesco was quick to spot, grab, and exploit. The company closed down 500 stores, revamped and modernised hundreds of others. Store formats like Tesco, Tesco Express, Tesco Metro, and One Stop, catered to distinct sizes, products, and locations, and ranged from small street corner shops to huge all inclusive supermarkets. The company was quick to realise that its image as a purveyor of cheap products, with its perceived down market connotations, would not help growth in a society that was rapidly becoming richer, and did not hesitate to close down its coupon scheme. In a br illiant segmentation exercise, the company created three product categories, good, better, and best, across most of its product lines. While this enabled customers to access different price ranges, it also allowed the company to access an â€Å"inclusive† and huge market. Sainsbury’s, which had traditionally catered to the middle class clientele with zealously protected margins, tried to enlarge its product base, but was unable to make any headway, because of its lesser supplier base and inferior logistical capability. (Pringle and Gordon, 2007) Tesco’s introduced customer loyalty cards in 1995. While it took Sainsbury some time to catch up with the idea, the two companies used it for widely divergent aims. Even as Sainsbury’s used the cards primarily to drive repeat visits and purchases, Tesco’s processed the information feedback from the loyalty card customers, to assess customer demands and needs, and keep on adding to its product range. The company also foresaw the potential of the internet and globalisation, and established profitable online sales channels, as well as successful overseas forays. Tesco’s international business now accounts for nearly 25% of company sales, and the immediate priority is to drive it up to 50% of company revenue. Apart from maintaining strong market leadership, Tesco is now focussing on two major areas that are propelling the company’s growth and increasing the gap between the company and its competitors. Its aggressive growth in the non-foods market means that it is possibly selling more clothes than Next and more health and beauty products than all the others put together. (Hunter, 2006) The company has set up base in numerous countries in Europe and Asia and should soon have a significant presence in the USA. â€Å"Indeed, some 60% of Tesco’s floor space is now based outside of the UK.† (Hunter, 2006) Sainsbury’s, on the other hand has been too busy handling its inadequate stocking mechanism, half empty shelves, and falling market share, to be able to pay much attention to new thrust areas, and opportunities, made available by changes in environmental conditions and advances in technology. (Tesco, a corporate profile, 2004) 3. Conclusion While this analysis does not intend to eulogise Tesco’s management practices, or its planned and meticulous exploitation of available opportunities, the stark difference in the working of Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s tend to make any comparative analysis of strategy, and management practice, enormously one sided. Even as Tesco was using feedback from its loyalty card scheme to add enormously to its product range, Sainsbury’s was trying to adamantly protect its margins and cutting down on service quality, practices that inevitably led to further customer dissatisfaction and loss of market share. It was not until 2004, a full 9 years after Tesco overtook it, that the company realised that its major problem lay in under stocked shelves, inadequate logistics and poor supply chain management. While Sainsbury’s strategy appeared to be one of risk avoidance and slow growth, in reality it proved to be akin to that of an ostrich in the face of danger. The company however still remains a respected and successful retailer. Recent initiatives, taken after a change in top management, have seen a priority shift and led to revived sales, reduced costs and improved profitability. The company has its heart in the right place and contributes a much higher percentage of its post tax profit to charity than Tesco. The tremendous success of Tesco, in assessing customer needs and environmental opportunities, came about because of a new aggression that evinced itself after the departure of jack Cohen and is an indicator of the possibilities that exist for Sainsbury. The fact that Tesco lagged behind Sainsbury’s until 1995 is proof of the levels to which Sainsbury can aspire without being impractically optimistic. Sainsbury’s has a number of strengths, namely its goodwill in the UK market, access to enormous amount of shop space and property that have been built up over the years, very strong domain knowledge in the retailing business, and adequate capital resources. The company has also become active in the online segment, the fastest growing market segment in the retailing market. It however definitely needs to scan the environment constantly, look for new opportunities, upgrade technology, and be more fleet footed in responding to opportunities and challenges. Both the companies have seen rapid departures from existing strategies after changes in top level management. Strange as it may appear, changes in management appear to have been critical to Tesco seeing opportunities that were not explored earlier. Sainsbury’s too has commenced implementation of measures that should have logically been done much earlier, only after a change of guard at the top. The solution to the paradox possibly lies in realising that management theories, practices and strategies, in most cases, become relevant only if the CEO thinks them fit. The boss is the key. Bibliography Annual report and Financial Statements, 2006, J Sainsbury plc, Retrieved April 3, 2007 from www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/ar06/fullfinancials/notestofinancialstatements5.shtml Annual Review and Summary Financial Statements, 2006, J Sainsbury plc, Retrieved April 3, 2007 from www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/ar06/summaryfinancials Cavazza, M, 2007, Sainsburys bid is very close, thisismoney.co.uk., Retrieved April 3, 2007 from www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing-and-markets/article.html?in_article_id=418580in_page_id=3 Cole, R, 2007, Sainsbury’s progress offers reason to hold even if no bid comes, Times Online, Retrieved April 3, 2007 from business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing Hunter, H, 2006, Revolution in the British aisles: why Tesco will continue to rule the roost, msn.money, Retrieved April 3, 2007 from money.uk.msn.com/Investing/Insight/Special_Features/Markets_Comment/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1054991 J Sainsbury, 2007, Wikipedia, Retrieved April 3, 2007 from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Sainsbury Jordan, D, 2007, Tchenguiz adds to Sainsbury stake, Times Online, Retrieved April 3, 2007 from business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article1578864.ece 2 Apr 2007 Pringle, H, and Gordon, W, 2007, The Tesco Story, customerserviceworld.com., Retrieved May 27, 2007 from www.ecustomerserviceworld.com/earticlesstore_articles.asp?type=articleid Tesco, 2007, Retrieved May 25, 2007 from www.tescocorporate.com/page.aspx?pointerid=A8E0E60508F94A8DBA909E2ABB5F2CC7 Tesco,  A corporate profile, 2004, Corporate watch, Retrieved May 27, 2007 from www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?bid=28

tragoed Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex) as Greek Tragedy :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Oedipus The King as Greek Tragedy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The genre of drama is wide and contains works of varied forms and subjects. The first drama, on which all later works are based, developed in Greece and dealt with religious and social issues. According to AristotleÕs The Poetics, a Greek Tragedy must deal with a serious purpose, arousing a sense of pity or fear in the audience. The emphasis must be on plot over character development and the playwright must utilize suspense and unity of time, place and action. Aristotle writes that a tragic hero is a character who is renowned and prosperous, not necessarily perfect, but not an evil person either. The tragic hero must meet with a reversal of fortune brought about by either folly or fate. Based on these criteria, Oedipus the King by Sophocles is considered the prototypical Greek Tragedy. Oedipus, the playÕs main character, is also considered the model of a Greek tragic hero. Oedipus the King deals with several serious purposes, the greatest of which being the agnosticism Sophocles perceived in his community. Through Iokaste who ÒÉwould not waste a second thoughtÉÓ on oracles, Sophocles shows his audience the perils of disbelief in the gods, since each prophecy made by oracles in the play ended up coming true (l. 813). Sophocles uses his play to perform serious religious functions as well as to entertain theatre-goers. The fulfillment of the predictions made by the oracles led to the downfall of Oedipus, which created a catharsis in the audience, brought by arousing feelings of pity and fear for the fallen king. The Choragos gives the lesson, ÒÉlet none presume on his good fortune until he find life, at his death, a memory without painÓ (l. 1473-5). This scene allows the audience to leave the theater feeling purged of their pity and fear. The plot is the most important component of Oedipus the King, as it is of every Greek Tragedy. Development of characters is secondary, and the audience rarely Ôgets insideÕ any of the characters. Only characters crucial to the plot are introduced; there is no extraneous action on stage. This development of plot is a challenge. A tragedian must present a story with which the audience is already familiar and still make it interesting