Apple Business Marketing Strategy

Apple Business Marketing Strategy |1 1 Introduction Apple is one of the leading companies in IT industry and during the last decade it has created a high level successful brand image and blazed the trail for the personal computer industry with its innovative products and strong marketing strategies.Apple Inc. has incorporated numerous features that are unique and well known in the market today. We consider that there are several Apple products with several appealing features such as: iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. These products represent a revolutionary era for the development of Apple. By placing such products in the market, Apple Inc. has attracted a lot of customers in one way or another. Highly advanced technology, simplicity and design, and the sense of luxury are the main features integrated in these products. Moreover the comfort and convenience that these products provide are very crucial.This market plan aims to analyse the marketing strategies that have been used by Apple In c. in order to develop its worldwide domination in all aspects of the computers (PC, Laptops and Tablets), digital music players, mobile phones, and multimedia and telecommunication industries. Furthermore, the core competence and company mission will be analysed in order to determine which focus points Apple should try to enhance in the future. 1. 1 Company Background Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne established Apple on April 1, 1976 in order to sell the Apple 1 computer kit that was hand built by Steve Wozniak.Demand convinced Jobs that there was a distinct market for small computers and with a clear vision and consumer friendly product, Apple went public in 1980 and became the most successful initial public offering since Ford Motor Company in 1956. Meanwhile, Steve Jobs left the company and stiff external competition with other companies such as IBM and Microsoft throughout the 1980s nearly forced apple into bankruptcy by the mid-1990s. However, to stay afloat, Apple started to innovate their PC products lines and expand into the digital music players industry. Apple was a company that was based on innovation and when I left Apple we were ten years ahead of anybody else. It took Microsoft ten years to copy Windows† said Steve Jobs. In 2001, apple introduced its new innovated iPod portable digital audio player. The product was phenomenally successful at the time (over 100 million units were sold within six years). In the last decade, Apple has achieved unparalleled success in different markets and now designs, manufactures and markets PCs, Mobile Phones and Music player with its unique applications and iTune software.However, Apple’s revolutionary CEO, Steve Jobs, passed away in 2011, and today Apple continues to lead in industry in innovation with its award-wining computers, OS X operating system and iLife professional applications. Apple Business Marketing Strategy |2 2 Situational Analysis Apple makes enormous efforts to different iate its products from its competitors by developing products that have already been out in the market, making them exclusive and giving them new features. In most of the scenarios Apple has not been the first to the market and as a result, the risk of being first to the market is lower.Moreover, Apple always focuses on one rather than many. Compare to their closest competitor, Samsung, Apple make people and customers excited and wait for their new technology and product. For instance, by introducing Siri technology (which had already been existed before Apple iPhone 4s) Apple could make the iPhone 4s special from other smartphones at the time which the leads Apple commands a one third share of the smartphone market. However, the iPhone and iPad have combined to help iOS dominate competing mobile operating systems with a two-thirds share of the market.The graph below indicates that after Apple introduced the iPhone 4s, the iOS market share has reached to the peak of 61% among all th e smartphones. Figure 1: Smartphones Market share *Retrieved from http://seekingalpha. com/article/839661-the-iphone-s-growth-rate-has-peaked on 24/11/2012 2. 1 Market Growth Apple Inc. ’s Market started growing in 1997 then decreased slightly, until 2000. From then on it is steeply growing. Starting in the U. S. , after the comeback of Steve Jobs, Apple started selling overseas as well.Since many of Apple’s parts and products are produced outside the U. S. (Europe and Asia), not only are the production costs lower, but Apple also got to have better insights in those markets According to the latest Apple annual report announcement, Apple Inc. has made the total net sales of 156,508 million dollar in 2012 which as compare with 2010 it is considerably increased by 240%. The financial history of Apple over the past three years is shown by the table below which illustrates a very successful growth. Apple Business Marketing Strategy 3 Figure2: Apple annual financial report *Retrieved from http://investor. apple. com/financials. cfm on 24/11/12 However, the largest income of the Apple has come from the iPhone product which approximately consists of 58% the entire products have been sold by them. Furthermore, the enormous increase of Apple income is done by introducing iPad mini as their one of recent product. According to the Apple announcement in November 2012, they have sold three million iPads in just three days which is their biggest achievement in the last decade. . 2 Porter Five Forces Analysis Porter five forces analysis will be used to determine the attractiveness of the market and to analyse the needs and trends in the macro-environment. It is also used to identify the situation of iPhone, iPod, iPad and iMac among its competitors and customers, and clarify what the general environment for their operations is. 2. 2. 1 The Bargaining Power of Buyers Generally, Apple buyers have not many options for a specific product and one of the biggest issu e for the customers is the high price.In this market segmentation, the buyer concentration is medium, since a lot of young people are using iPod or Mac from apple, so they think iPhone will be a revolution mobile phone that contains a lot of especially features. Apple intends to introduce one model per year whereas Samsung gives variety of options with lower prices. As it is mentioned earlier, Apple focuses on â€Å"One† rather than â€Å"Many† which it makes customers think this is something special from the others. 2. 2. 2 The bargaining power of suppliersAlmost 90% of the Apple products are procured and manufactured by other suppliers which are mainly the chipmakers and touch-sensitive display producer (for touch screen products). Apple Inc. has been cooperated with many chipset produce manufactories for long time, including Intel Apple Business Marketing Strategy |4 (Provided CPU), Micron Technology (Provided digital camera CMOS) and Samsung (Flash memory chip). A lot of chipset producers have a good long term relationship with Apple Inc. Therefore, the bargaining power of supplier is low. 2. 2. The threat of new entrants Since there are considerable investments to be made for setting up PC industry, new entrants would be reluctant. Though there is scope for white-box PC’s having a share of 35% world-wide in 2006, but since the existing companies have created strong branding awareness, this threat would be low. 2. 2. 4 The threat of substitute products The more differentiation of product the less likely the switch to a substitute will occur. Of prices are higher then, the company with the higher price has to provide justification for the increase.But what makes Apple the winning company among the very competition intense sector in several industries that they work in, is their unique brand image and customer loyalty. However, with technology undergoing paradigm shifts, coping with these changes can make life difficult for the players i n the sector. 2. 2. 5 The intensity of competitive rivalry Apple faces stiff competition from Dell, HP, IBM and Microsoft in the computer industry and Samsung and HTC in the mobile and tablet industry. However, in the Digital Music industry apple dominate among all its competitors.Moreover, there is one important factor which makes industries less competitive including the brand equity and expensive switching costs. Overall, the intensity of competitive rivalry is medium high in most of the markets that apple is involved in. 2. 3 SWOT Analysis 2. 3. 1 Strengths Apple’s current strengths are the huge market share they possess when it comes to music players, iTunes as well as mobile phones (iPhone), tablets (iPad), and personal computers (MacBook and iMac). 2. 3. 2 Weaknesses A weakness that recently occurred is that one of Apples founders passed away.Steve Jobs, one of the big inventors and main persons in Apple died earlier this year after a long time struggle against his can cer. Timothy D. Cook was announced as the new CEO, after being chief executive officer. Critics have claimed Timothy does not have the same charisma and visions like Steve Jobs had, and it is just a matter of time before Apple will lose its edge to their competitors. Apple has also been criticized for its latest product, the launch of Apple iPhone 5. 2. 3. 3 OpportunitiesTo reverse this downward trend of negative critics, Apple has to continue developing its product and be extra cautious about what the market and consumers want. They have to be more creative in design and invent new and improved products to meet the expectations from the market. They do not have to necessarily invent the iPhone or iPad again. But to meet the threats they would have to improve their products and create an urge for their new products so they can conserve their market shares and sell more products and eventually capture bigger market shares. Apple Business Marketing Strategy 5 2. 3. 4 Threats As it is mentioned earlier, Samsung lead position in the mobile phone market after they released their new mobile phone Galaxy S3. Their products are based on the Android operative system, while Apple’s system is based on their OS X system. Sony and Nokia (Windows mobile phone) have also recently managed to capture huge market shares from Apple and Samsung and in the future they might overtake them. 3 Marketing Strategies 3. 1 Products Apple has a solid track record of innovation in different markets, often changing the way we view those markets entirely.Apple in most of the time has not been First to the Market and according to the â€Å"five secrets of the world’s best marketing machine† by Steve M. Chazin the former Apple Marketing executive, Apple tries to make something good greater. A clear example for this could be the iMac. At the time iMac was introduced by Apple there were Windows All-in-one computers competing with Apple but what actually made iMac so special was its unique design, free of noise and being fast CPUs inside a thin monitor.Steve Chazin believes that The Mac, iPad, iPod, iTunes and iPhone are all successful because they were late to market and improved on existing designs and functionality. Apple does one thing very well and that is, making complex things easy and elegant, It is no coincidence that Apple users compliment about the exceptional user interface of their iPads, iPods or iPhones. In addition, Apple tries to exert control over the users’ experience with its products. So, apart from the hardware, the company also develops the software so that the user has the best possible experience. . 2 Pricing Strategy Apple is usually referred to as the technology industry’s â€Å"high-price† leader. However, of late, the company has been offering its products at lower price points in a clear effort to expand its market. Even so, Apple, at the launch of its products, targets early adopters with higher-than-c ompetition prices. It initially adopts skimming strategy and later launches lower-price versions with fewer features or launches a newer version while continuing to sell older versions at lower price. 3. 3 Promotion StrategyApple’s promotion strategy is centred on creating hype. The late Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, was known for hyping up. His theatrical style and panache were successful in creating excitement before the launch of Apple products. These efforts have succeeded in making Apple products aspirational. 3. 3. 1 People Buy what Other People Have If you look at when apple was promoting iPod on TV adverts, they did not show and focus on the product like other adverts you would watch on television, instead there were a long white headsets that could show other people you have an Apple iPod.The other reason that Apple only advertise Apple Business Marketing Strategy |6 long white headsets with white iPods and they did not show a closed-up picture of their product is th at they do not want to only sell their product to customers; however, they want people to experience of joining to a special and exclusive Apple lifestyle and to become a part of iPod community which allows them to buy music through their unique software program (iTunes) and put their music in whatever order they want. 3. 3. 2 Help your Customers Help youWhen Apple first introduced their PowerBook, they made them outstanding buy making them in silver colour and have big Apple logo at the back so owners can feel proud and to be different therefore they try to show it off to other people. Apple earned nearly 40% market share on the back of early PowerBooks users. 3. 3. 3 TV shows and Movies Apple relies heavily on working closely with Hollywood in order to promote their product. This gives them opportunity to get their product used by Hollywood stars which have an enormous influence on public. . 4 Placing and Distribution Channels Apple works with number of network providers that they deal with the placing. However, online shopping from Apple. com or giving order in store for a new launched product can take up to two weeks due to the high demand. 4 Conclusion â€Å"An Apple computer on every desk† –Steve Jobs. Apple Inc. states its vision very clearly. They have changed our life with their products and services. They have demonstrated the world, that a human has a strong capacity to create huge things with a big impact.The analysis of the different elements of a marketing plan outline the various aspects involved in the penetration of a new market and the successful launch of a new product or service. Being aware of its own position and capabilities, and seeing opportunities in a new trend a company can enter a new market and develop. On its way, the company has to use its strength, respect its internal weaknesses and consider the outer world with its opportunities and threads Apple Business Marketing Strategy |7 5 Bibliography ? 5 secrets of world 's best marketing machine. 2007). Retrieved 11 24, 2012, from Marketing Apple: http://www. marketingapple. com/Marketing_Apple_eBook. pdf ? Apple Sells Three Million iPads in Three Days. (2012, November 5). Retrieved 11 24, 2012, from Apple: http://www. apple. com/pr/library/2012/11/05Apple-Sells-Three-Million-iPadsin-Three-Days. html ? APPLE THREE-YEAR FINANCIAL HISTORY. (2012, October ). Retrieved 11 21, 2012, from shareholder: http://files. shareholder. com/downloads/AAPL/2199577444x0x444195/E7A8FE5F-883546AB-ACC2-6FA28DFB546D/Three_Yr_Financial_History. pdf

A Brief Description Of Aldosterone

The body’s adrenal gland is responsible for the secretion of the steroid hormone aldosterone. The latter’s main function is to regulate and balance water and salt in the human system (otherwise known as the electrolyte metabolism of the body). As an extremely potent hormone, aldosterone promotes sodium retention and enhances potassium excretion in the system. The hormone also helps regulate blood pressure and bodily fluids; hence if the aldosterone levels are low or too high, symptoms can result.Aldosterone directly acts on the kidneys’ tubules and controls their reabsorption of more sodium and water from the urine. Secretion of potassium in the tubule replaces the sodium, which is then reabsorbed. Another function of the hormone is to operate on a person’s central nervous system to influence the increase of a person’s appetite for salt and their thirst. Aldosterone secretion is the result of two different bodily mechanisms. It is hypothesized that if sodium concentrates in the system are severely limited, it may cause increased rates of aldosterone.Another theory is that reduced blood flow to the kidney engages it to release the enzyme rennin which then converts inactive globulin in the blood. Other than these, studies showed that the hormone may have other target cells than originally remarked on. The editors of the Kidney International Journal in 2000 (Farman and Verrey) commented on Dr. Haim Garty’s observation that there is â€Å"Aldosterone action in non-epithelial cells. † Hence it is seen that aside from the kidneys, the hormone is also linked to the central nervous and cardiovascular systems as well as various membrane lipids.Amplified levels of aldosterone secretion often cause salt retention which in turn results in edema. Extremely high levels of the hormone can result to high blood pressure, muscle cramps and over-all fatigue. On the other hand, low levels may be an indicator of diabetes. It is prove n that the variation of the hormone levels are influenced by the person’s sex as well as the amount of sodium consumed in his or her daily diet. Pregnancy may lead to higher levels of aldosterone in women. Other symptoms of higher than normal levels of aldosterone may also result to primary or secondary hyperaldosteronism.Primary hyperaldosteronism is considered as a rare syndrome caused by an abnormality in the adrenal gland. More often than not, the gland is affected by a benign tumor and this often transpires between t hags of 30 and 50 years old. Secondary hyperaldosteronism is generally related to high blood pressure and other disorders such as cardiac failure, cirrhosis of the liver and nephritic syndrome. Various mechanisms affect the disease and causes the imbalance of the hormone’s levels in the human system.Another extremely rare disease linked to aldosterone is the Barrter syndrome which also affects the kidneys. Patients diagnosed with the Barrter Syndrome experiences loss of potassium and an increase in aldosterone. This results to potassium wasting where the kidneys remove far too much necessary potassium from the body. Incidentally, there are tests to check the aldosterone levels in the body. It is often don concurrently with other blood tests or provocative tests to determine over or under production of the hormone.

The Mobil-Marathon case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Mobil-Marathon case - Essay Example The Directors of Marathon Oil Company filed an antitrust suit against Mobil at United States District Court in the Northern Ohio District. In the case, the director of Marathon argued that Mobil violated section seven of Clayton Act. The Act rejects the ideas of holding companies since they encourage the development of monopolies. The directors of Marathon wanted the court to restrain Mobil by preventing the company from purchasing shares of the company and permit the company to keep looking for other companies with which to form an appropriate merger. The district court ruled in the favor of Marathon Oil Company, which then proceeded to look for other companies. The directors of Marathon settled for United States Steel Inc., which was just newly formed. Just as the two were about to form a merger, Mobil Corporation filed a suit at the District Court in Southern District of Ohio arguing that Marathon had violated the Williams Act by withholding substantial information in its communication with its shareholders about merger and while filing with the country’s Stock Exchange Commission. Mobil Corp argued that the directors of Marathon had not disclosed adequate material facts of USS, Inc.’s tender offer. Mobil therefore requested an injunction on the merger. The district court denied the injunction. Mobil Corp appealed the ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court. The Circuit Court determined that Mobil indeed had the standing to bring a case against Marathon Oil Company since it was a tender offeror. As such, the Court began investigating the operations of Marathon as tabled by Mobil Corp. the court found that in its defensive tactics, Marathon Oil Company had violated a number of provisions of the William’s act (Kwoka and Lawrence 21). The two interrelated cases above involved a number of legal issues in the United States key among which was the interpretation and application of both the Williams Act and the Clayton’s Antitrust Act.

Diversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Diversity - Research Paper Example Festivals function to meet particular needs, on top of providing amusement. These occasions of celebrations present a feeling of belonging for social, religious or geographical groups. A hobby refers to a habitual interest or activity, which is embarked on for joy, customarily done in one’s leisure. A mix of vegetables and meat and several kinds of white bread comprise the main diets. There is custom for baking white bread, which is flattened (tandyr, lavash,churek). Kuftebozbash (potatoes and meat in a reedy sauce) is also a widespread dish. Crammed pepper leaves, as well as soups likewise form a part of everyday meals. The broth borsch as well as other Russian food is part of the cookery too. Azeri’s restaurants offer numerous varieties of kebabas an international cuisine (WTG, 2013). At ceremonial occasions, steamed rice (Pulov) adorned with raisins and apricots are main dish during ritual festivities. It is taken alongside onions, meat and fried chestnuts. In the holiday of Novruz, wheat is sautà ©ed with nuts and raisins (gavurga) (Azer-embassy, 2012). Every homestead should have seven kinds of nuts upon a platter. Sweets like paklava (a rhombus-shaped finely coated pastry covered with sugar and nuts) as well as shakarbura (a pastry of thin bread covered with nuts sugar and nuts) are an essential part of festivities. On weddings, various kebabs and pulovare supplemented byshyra (a sweet nonalcoholic drink) as well as alcohol too. At burials, the major dish is usually meat and pulov, dished up with shyra and then followed with tea. The most observed traditional Azerbaijani festival is Novruz Bayram that is the customary festivity of the primordial New Year. Bayram Novruz is a festival celebrated by family. During the evening, a fore the feast the entire family assembles around the feast table arranged with numerous dishes to

Describe a situatio in which you showed your leadership Essay

Describe a situatio in which you showed your leadership - Essay Example During these months, my FOBS group would end up coming to school, taking classes, having lunch, and go back home unlike other native students involved in different activities and events. However, with effective utilization of my intellectual maturity and leadership skills, I began to indicate my dissatisfaction of such confrontation to myself, and decided to stop others to treat me as an invisible in the school. With such determination, I began to think of an idea that would enable me to alter such perspective of native students in the school. While crossing streets of Chinatown on Chinese New Year’s eve, I came across a very delicate Chinese knot representing good luck that spontaneously inclined my mind towards a very new concept of starting an ‘Asian Arts and Crafts Club’ along with support of my friends from the FOBS group. With a new wave of motivation and excitement, I convinced my friends to support me in establishing the group. Although my friends were Chinese, however, we lacked many traditional skills, therefore, I arranged an instructor who taught us different ways of creating Chinese artwork, which put a new ray of enthusiasm in us, and now, we had a purpose rather than only coming to school and going out for the shopping. During the lessons, I learnt new things while having fun, and with this observation, I came up with slogan of our club, ‘learn with fun,’ as everyone enjoyed process of acquiring different traditional skills during the sessions. Another difficult phase was acquiring official status for the group, which was the most complicated phase, as school management had mostly rejected such appeals. However, with effective utilization of my presentation skills, I was successful in persuading the school management to allow us to establish an official club in the school, and finally, after huge efforts of three months, I, as the

Ethical Decision-making project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethical Decision-making project - Essay Example Furthermore, as already reported in other studies, some people usually become violent upon intoxicating their minds. The supervisor cannot take the worker’s ability to become violent for granted because the employee has even refused to take a test sanctioned by the institutions policy (Towsley-Cook & Young, 2007, p. 49). Persistence by the supervisor that the worker should take the tests may present more problems. The conduct of the worker amounts to insubordination because of appearing in the workplace in a condition of intoxication and further refusing to take the necessary tests as required by the institution’s substance abuse policy (Towsley-Cook & Young, 2007). It is noteworthy that forcefully testing the worker will amount to a violation of the independence and privacy rights, which may attract legal proceedings. The ethical problem occurring in the case is associated with a locus of authority issue. This is because the supervisor upon being informed that the worker behaved in a drunken manner decided to identify with him the signs he also outwardly observed (Towsley-Cook & Young, 2007, p. 51). The supervisor reminded the worker that according the substance abuse policy, his conduct is a ground for drug testing. The supervisor acting within authority requests that the employee undergo a blood test, which he refuses. The supervisor then remains with the dilemma whether to force the worker to take the test or to send him away from duty, or whether to allow him to continue working. This is a critical case of a locus of authority issue (Towsley-Cook & Young, 2007). However, the supervisor can still manage to handle the situation by barring the worker from attending to patients. This conduct also amounts to the ethical dilemma for the supervisor. This is because while ordering the employee to take the test, the supervisor is already aware that the worker might be having health

How did southeast Asia use Western ideas of selfgovernance and Essay

How did southeast Asia use Western ideas of selfgovernance and modernity in their struggles for independence - Essay Example In order to resist this colonial rule and to attain independence, these nations employed several ideals. Of most significant, they applied the western ideas of self-governance and modernity in their struggle for independence (Ruiz, 86). Western ideas spread throughout the countries of Southeast Asia in form of governance and more sophisticated political infrastructure. It was through these established infrastructures that these nations organized several grassroots campaigns and resistance towards the colonial rule. Moreover, the extent and fashion of government, the rising centralization of power and the growth of domestic administrations reflected the impact of European organizational practices (Beeson, 3). Influence of Western Ideas in Southeast Asia Struggle for Independence The colonial period attributed a hypothetical division of independence by European public authorities. There was a lot of influence from the traditional leadership to the colonial rule. The systems of the colo nial rule acquired some privileges from native rulers, originally by publicly owned state ventures and later on, through executive colonial administrators from the European states. This inspiration would count within the bigger expression of European empires while the original drive of colonialism was purely mercantilist. In this way, the core global law standard of esteem for independent states, disintegrated into an adversative selectivity and arbitrariness of states believed to deserve of independence by other, more influential states (Desierto, 396). In most cases, the colonial authorities assigned some administrative powers to the co-opted local rulers thereby changing legal frameworks towards imbalanced relationships. However, the realm of customary law dealt with matters of personal status, although the legal administrations restrained the individual rights and freedoms by controlling and supervising instead of fostering and liberating. The imbalanced relationships sowed the seeds of aspirations towards nationalism, independence and autonomy. The aspirations were mostly because of the different laws applied to the Europeans and the native population (Desierto, 417). In addition, the power bestowed on the new leader brought about an old order, a western-educated middle-class. Of these, most of them were doctors, civil servants, intellectuals, businesspersons, lawyers, and even students. Some had received their higher education in Europe or the United States. The influence of western economic forces and the growth of social services during the last century of the colonial rule instigated this change. For instance, the peasant obtained new ideas concerning garbage removal, latrines, alterations in his farming techniques and other advances (Mills, 4). The root of the1898 revolution in the Philippines was the ideas of the European enlightenment, where they were against Spain first, and then against the U.S. It was a modern nationalist revolution brought back to the Philippines and incorporated freedom, individuality, and citizenship. However, it was also a pre-national resistance movement because it rested in the resistance of people enlightened by the values of folk Christianity. Actually, the struggle itself instigated the creation of a political society founded on Euro-American suppositions of national community (Ruiz, 84). On the other

Applying innovation idea of Grameen Phone(Grameen Bank Project) in the Research Paper

Applying innovation idea of Grameen Phone(Grameen Bank Project) in the new geographical location (Perhaps Kazakhstan) - Research Paper Example An exhaustive analysis of this business model shows that among the superfluity of explanations, three essentials are generally notable: The product or service anticipated for the clienteles. The manner in which the company is structured so as to provide this product and service to its clients. The profits concept. Social businesses could be viewed as a detachment of social private enterprise, which comprises both profit and non-profit ingenuities, and which could be notable from conservative entrepreneurship. Therefore, a social business is a novel formula of business that could be positioned anywhere between a profit-making and a non-profit-making business enterprise.2 In the year1996, in partnership with other three overseas enterprises, the Grameen Bank formed a mobile phone firm, the Grameen Phone, to spread telephone facilities through Bangladesh. Without any land-line facility in most of the Bangladeshi villages, mobile phone know-how was vital to usher the country into the ele ctronic communication age. By thought-provoking the conventional knowledge and rules of business, Grameen Phone had opened a novel market. In relation to the Grameen Phone innovation policy, its application in Kazakhstan would indeed be a real benefit when considering that the country has some imbalances in terms of poverty levels. It would allow most of the poor or middle class persons to access loans that would enable them change their financial stature. Precedencies for the innovation strategy are all hypothetically. To achieve long-standing strategic policies and innovation methods defies the distinctive focus that deals with developing a suitable environment to let the mechanisms of the Grameen Phone innovation policy. The worldwide practice demonstrates that a country: in this case Kazakhstan, with a market economy can collaborate with the private segment stakeholders in essential alterations in the economy.3 A good example of this case scenario is that of the current China wh ich also follows the innovation policy of teamwork with the private sector in scheming strategic innovation and industrial development ways. 1) Investment co-ordination- Like in most parts of Kazakhstan, the unfledged markets are not in a position to evaluate the demand for new improved quality services and 4products to be manufactured through development of the production channels. This investment innovation co-ordination model policy recommends certain dimensions at both the state and private establishments. 2) Business collaboration development ingenuities. Hands-on state business collaboration strategy could be unswervingly targeted to reinforce business contacts in the following groupings: Particular groups of investors formulate innovative market areas and are an indicator on information on invention criteria. Purveyors of equipment permit production involvement alongside it. Purveyors of inputs add to generation of new innovative ideas and invention approaches while consideri ng challengers as a rich basis for new concepts.5 Countries with unfledged market may require a facilitator to stimulate the snowballing market allowance and business collaboration procedures. Founded on the global experience, the approach implementation ought to put emphasis at initiatives pursuing investments synchronization and expansion of business collabor

Ethical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical - Essay Example From basic nursing care to the advance and critical nursing practices, to researches and home care system, every procedure to be carried out must be done with utmost understanding of the procedure itself and its implications for both the patient and the nurse practitioner. Butts and Rich (2012) stated in their book Nursing Ethics: Across the Curriculum and Into Practice that â€Å"Rules and theories matter little without the formation of good character† and believed that nurses are faced with ethical issues every single day. They added that imbibing textbooks ethics serves as a sturdy foundation for nurses to develop practical wisdom and virtuous character in practice. Assessment is the initial step in every nursing procedure therefore it is vital to first determine the nurse’s understanding of what ethical issue really means. A lot of people misunderstood ethics as mere observance of social norms, religious beliefs or the law instead of it being an impartial concept of its own (Paul and Elder, 2006). It may be understood as a moral principle of a specific individual, group, or custom and other author allows its usage to be interchangeable with â€Å"morality† (Deigh, 1995). ... and a process of enactment.† There is no absolute right or wrong in responding to ethical dilemmas but the goal for deciding how to act upon it is based on the basic notion of beneficence and non-maleficence. The knowledge on General Principles of Nursing Ethics is vital in facing these situations. It is important that nurses are aware of these virtues in order to be properly guided in decision making. These are beneficence, non-maleficence, respect for autonomy, justice, and respect for person. Beneficence is active promotion of good while non-maleficence means duty to do no harm. Respect for autonomy is acknowledging the patient’s rights, values and choices so as respect for person which equates to treating all patients as worthy individual. And lastly, justice is the promotion of equity or fairness in every situation a nurse encounters (Barnett, 2003). Ethical issues faced in the nursing practice can be clinical problems relating to patient right and care, professiona lism, philosophical, organizational and societal (Bosek, 2009). One of the most common face is conflict between patient autonomy and nurse’s belief such as denial of blood transfusion for the Jehova’s Witness or withdrawal from life sustaining treatment even if it can cause fatal consequences, or tending to post-operative abortion patients that are done not for medical purposes. An example of this was the quandary faced by nurses of University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey when they were directed by the hospital in September 2011 that all nurses are required to assist in pre- and post-operative care of abortion patients (Katarsky, 2011). Clearly this presents ethical battle against the nurses’ morality especially if they are pro-life or have opposing cultural and religious beliefs.

Verbal Communication And Nonverbal Communication Essay Example for Free

Verbal Communication And Nonverbal Communication Essay Communication is the expression of thoughts, feelings and ideas to inform, to persuade or to entertain. In business, communication has a vital role in promoting ideas, products or services and in building partnerships. If words are uttered or spoken, basically, it is a verbal communication. But if signs, facial expressions, body language, gestures and writing compositions are used, it is called nonverbal communication. Communication depends on the cultural setting of one country, for it may have certain rules and expectations to follow. Others may underline on the verbal communication and less to written compositions, but the American audience appreciates the use of nonverbal communications and may also prefer to have simple dialogues. Indeed, even in the Bible, verbal and nonverbal communications are important. At Proverbs 10:31-32 in New King James Version (International, G. C. , 2007), King Solomon speaks, â€Å"The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverse. † In these verses, the power of uttered words is revealed as they have always consequences when done. On the other hand, in Nehemiah 2:2-3 in New King James Version (International, G. C. , 2007), it is said that â€Å"Therefore the king said to me, â€Å"Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart. So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, ‘May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire? ’† The nonverbal communication sometimes depicts the true emotions behind the deceiving words that have spoken. Basically, there are four main topics that influence the business communication of the American audience. According to Brown (2007), these are religion, etiquette, customs and politics. Issues about these topics are often argued, stressing their points and ideas, or even defend their beliefs. With verbal communication, they are sensitive to the said jargons and slang. There are still phrases which are distinctive to American language, although some words may easily translate to other language; they still have different meanings for them. Also, using acronyms for the first time must be avoided; otherwise full version should be applied. Another complexity in American language is the humor, as it has been described by non-Americans, their humors are course and heavy-handed. P. H. Brown (2007) said that â€Å"Face to face communication is rated as, nonverbal language 55%, the voice 38% and the use of words as 7%. Movement cues and face cues are invaluable aspects of your daily communication. † Nonverbal communications are effective in giving out information to Americans as it helps in creating person’s business reputation. Color, time, distance, voice, body movements and clothing are often misused and misinterpreted. Shades of colors depict different meanings from one culture to another. Time should also be considered, as the Americans respect the deadlines and set of appointments. Proximity is also sensitive but the common space for a conversation is about two feet. Usually, Americans speak too loudly and too much that they do not give enough time for the others to respond. On the other hand, their social gestures may be understood by other cultures. But eye contact is an effective tool to see the sincerity of the person. And in terms of clothing, Americans wear liberately but professionally in accordance with the occasion. Meanwhile, in writing business letters, straight to the point is important, as well as its simplicity. Usually, the Americans would like to see the point in the start of the letter, especially if it is a bad note. However, too aggressive approach are not advisable, but in a gentle and respectful tone. Verbal and nonverbal communications, according to Kotelnikoy (2007), are both important in business talks with the Americans.But, they more appreciate the nonverbal behaviors, as their culture molded them, to discern the true meaning of the messages. References: Brown, P. H. The Nassau Guardian Online Edition [Electronic Version]. Nonverbal Language is Effective. Retrieved August 29, 2007 from http://www. thenassauguardian. com/social_community/299978900121692. php. International, G. C. (2007). Bible Gateway [Electronic Version]. Passages. Retrieved August 29, 2007 from http://www. biblegateway. com/. Kotelnikoy, V. (2007). Effective Business Communication [Electronic Version]. Business Communication Defined. Retrieved August 29, 2007 from http://www. 1000ventures. com/business_guide/crosscuttings/biz_communication_main. html. Laflen, H. a. (2001). Online Writing Lab [Electronic Version]. Writing for a North American Business Audience. Retrieved August 29, 2007 from http://owl. english. purdue. edu/handouts/pw/p_ameraudience. html. Myers, R. J. , Penrose, J. M. Rasberry, R. W. (2004). Business Communication For Managers: An Advanced Approach. Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

An Analysis Of Shaffers Equus

An Analysis Of Shaffers Equus The play is in two acts, the first consisting of twenty-one; the second of thirty-five scenes. It is not realistic in that it includes flashbacks performed onstage (like a movie). However, it is an explanatory one with Shaffers notes while read. It is a play consisting of individuals rather than types. Each character has his/her individuality along with his/her own perspective of life. We learn about the characters from what other characters tell about them; from what they tell about themselves; as well as from Shaffers explanation about them within parentheses. Although it is an open ended play it goes far from the lineer plot structure with its amazing climax. The forward and backward action of the play makes it a different one. Moreover while the play has speech when the time is present, it contains action when it is backward. It is a symbolic play and can be called a journey into the mind of Alan Strang, a seventeen year old boy. It analyzes Alans religious obsession with horses which is based on his complicated feelings due to his religious background and his increasing sexual side as a teenager. This confusion of religion, in fact, is a consequence of some signals from his religious, middle-class mother and his atheist, working-class father. Alans perception of religion and sexuality is conflicted and his way of praying becomes a fear of a horse spirit named Equus. He ends up with blinding six horses in the stable because of the fact that they have watched him with a girl. Rosefeldt states that Equus is inspired by a real-life event of which the author had very little details. Someone told Shaffer about a boy who blinded horses (Rosefeldt 89). Equus, the horse gradually becomes a source of freedom and worship for Alan. As he worships Equus passionately, Alan goes away from being normal. There are two main characters in the play, Martin Dysart and Alan Strang, the protagonist. While the play is Alans story, it soon becomes Dysarts story, too. Dysart is a psychiatrist and is asked to treat Alan Strang. Dysart admits to treat Alan as a patient, believing his lawyer friend Hesther Salomon that the boy has something special. In Act I, the audiences learn that Alan comes from a Christian mother Dora Strang and an atheist father Frank Strang who have argument in agreeing how to raise Alan. Alans mother tries to impose religion on Alan and does not avoid talking about sex as well. As he grows up and becomes a teenager, his mothers words become confusing for him. Alans obssesion with the horses is actually a typical result of his mothers words: Dora. I used to tell him a funny thing about falling off horses. Did you know that when Christian cavalry first appeared in the New World, the pagans thought horse and rider was one person? Dysart. Really? Alan. (sitting up, amazed) One person? Dora. Actually, they thought it must be a god. Alan. A god! Dora. It was only when one rider fell off, they realized the truth. Dysart. Thats fascinating. I never heard that before . . . Can you remember anything else like that you may have told him about horses. Dora. Well, not really. They are in the Bible of course. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha. Dysart. Ha, ha? (Equus 11) Dora has also let Alan watch some Western films without his fathers knowledge (Equus 12). She is the one in the play introducing the word equus stating that it is a Latin word for horse by which Alan is fascinated since he has not heard a word with two Us (Equus 12). As for Frank, he has never approved of his wife teaching Alan Bible since he is an atheist. For Frank, Alans psychology has been corrupted because of Doras teachings of Bible. Alan has been having nightmares in which he keeps saying Ek! . . . Ek! . . .Ek! (Equus 14). Dysart first tries psychotherapy to learn the reasons for Alans problems. However, those therapies consequently reveal some interesting clues about Dysarts own problems. Alan is a clever boy and he tries to work on Dysarts psychology in the way Dysart does: Dysart. Do you dream often? Alan. Yes, do you? Dysart. Yes. Do you have a special dream? Alan. No. Do you? Dysart. Yes. What was your dream about last night? Alan. Cant remember. Whats yours about? Dysart. I said the truth. Alan. Thats the truth. Whats yours about? The special one. Dysart. Carving up children. (Equus 14) Shapiro who analyzes the play technically, suggests for the relationship between Dysart and Alan: [T]he symbolic aspect is in the phrases Dysart uses to set the scene in motion. What they symbolize is Dysarts dishonesty, as Alans symbolic event also revealsAlan is playing a symbolic event with an iconic, truculent aspect, the object of which is the audiences recognition of Dysarts dishonesty In this case the audience knows from the Nurses previous indexical event that Dysart knew about Alans nightmares. Thus, they should recognize that Dysart began the interview with a lie. Consequently, the interview cannot proceed until Alan turns indexical. He will do this once Dysart becomes truthful. Hence, Alan suggests that they interview each other. (Shapiro 111) In the tenth scene of the first act, the audience is again introduced to a flashback. During this second therapy, Alan goes back to the time when he was six years old: Horseman. Whoa! . . . Whoa there! Whoa! . . Sorry! I didnt see you! . . . Did I scare you? Alan. No! Horseman. (looking down at him) Thats a terrific castle! Alan. Whats his name? Horseman. Trojan. You can stroke him, if you like. He wont mind. (Equus 19) In this scene Alans parents arrive and warn the horseman. His father takes him from the horsemans shoulders and they get angry with the horseman. Frank who is strictly against riding horses is sad to see Alan hurt, however Alan is glad to have ridden a horse. He explains his act saying I wanted to laugh! (Equus 20). It is here clear that Alan as a boy, demands to have joy; no matter how his parents think. It is the passion destroyed by his parents. What Dysart really wants to learn is the reason why Alan blinded the six horses in the stable. As a psychiatrist, Dysart wants to go into the deepest places of Alans psychology in order to give some meaning to this act of Alan. However, Alan neither explains why he blinded the horses nor tells something that can help Dysart find some reason behind it. He continues playing with the psychiatrist. In the eleventh scene we are told that Alan, when he was twelve, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ insisted on buying à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ {the picture of Christ loaded down with chains} with his pocket money, and hanging it at the foot of his bed where he could see it last thing at night (Equus 21). However, Frank, the atheist father tore and threw it away. Instead of the picture, he put a photograph of a horse which made Alan happy. In the fifteenth scene, Dysart has finally managed to have more clues about Alans situation. He has learnt from Frank about a girl in Alans life and decided to ask some questions about the stable. Alan takes the audience to the previous year when he first talked to Jill a middle-class girl in her early twenties. At this time, Alan is working in a shop and Jill has come to the shop in order to buy some blades for a clipping machine to clip horses (Equus 29). Jill is working in a stable owned by Harry Dalton. She suggests Alan ride horses however Alan is here hesitant since he knows his parents would be against it. He finally agrees to go to the stable and meet Dalton. As soon as he arrives the stable, Dalton tells him about the horses and teaches him how to ride a horse. Here we are introduced to Nugget, a horse which will soon have an important part in the play. When Alan is left alone with the horses in the stable, his passion returns. What Dysart wants to learn is whether Alan ha d a date with Jill; however Alan is again escapist in his answers and he instead tries to question Dysart about his own dates. It is in scene seventeen where the audiences come to realize the inner conflict of Dysart. Alan tries to catch Dysart from his weakest point. Dysart has never had any sexual relationship with any women in his life, including his wife. He is nervous when he is asked why he does not have any children and suddenly needs cigarettes. His soliloquy in this scene is a clear evidence about this psychiatrists psychology: What am I, then? . . . Wicked little bastard [Alan] knew exactly what questions to try. Hed actually marched himself round the hospital, making enquiries about my wife. Wicked and of course, perceptive. Ever since I made that crack about carving up children, hes been aware of me in an absolutely specific way. Of course, there is nothing novel in that. Advanced neurotics can be dazzling at that game. They aim unswervingly at your area of maximum vulnerability. . . Which I suppose is as good a way as any of describing Margaret. (Equus 32) The next scene reveals Dysarts problems with his wife Margaret. Dysart explains Hesther why they did not have any children. He blames Margaret for this. He states that Margaret sits beside [their] salmonpink, glazed brick fireplace, and knits things for orphans; for him, his wife is a domestic monster who is the Shrinks Shrink (Equus 34). While Dysart likes to read about Ancient Greece, Margaret hates such things. Their marriage is including two different persons, being very similar to Alans parents marriage. Shaffer prefers to give this marriage from one point of view that of the husband. We never meet the wife. Dysart is unhappy and uncomfortable in his marriage. He tells his friend, Hesther: Do you know what its like for two people to live in the same house as if they were in different parts of the world? Mentally, shes always in some drizzly kirk of her own inheriting: and Im in some Doric temple clouds tearing throuh pillars eagles bearing prophecies out of the sky. (Equus 34) In this scene Dysart seems to cure himself; it is his confrontation with his own confused psychology. He is obsessed with the concept of normal. According to Hesther, Dysart is trying to restore Alan to a normal life and Dysart is confused when he thinks about the meaning of normal and being a normal person. For Hesther, it is the smile in a childs eyes (Equus 35), and for Dysart, [i]t is also the dead stare in a million adults (Equus 36). Rosefeldt explains Dysarts psychology as follows: More than any other character, Dysart is aware that he is trapped in a chain of substitutions. Dysart longs to reach the passion of pagan worship. His wife reduces the sacred acrobats to absurred [50] freaks and equates the heroes of the Iliad with ruffians [50]. He cries out, Oh the primitive world. . . what instinctual truths were lost with it [50]. Alienated and alone, Dysart knows he has lost contact with these primitive truths and is hopelessly trying to regain them. For communicating with the gods, Dysart substitutes the vicarious experience of reading books on the cultural shelf [50]. Instead of reaching up to the gods, he brings home Kodachrome snaps of Mount Olympus [50]. The power of the gods rests in the Hellenic pantheonAlso, Dysart touches a reproduction statue of Dionysus [50}. The power and essence of the god is replaced by the physical presence of the god, which is replaced by the statue of the god, which is replaced by a reproduction of the statue. (Rosefeldt 92) Dysart, in order to learn more about Alan, now chooses hypnosis technique and Alans problems are revealed as follows: Dysart. Now, Alan, youre going to answer questions Im going to ask you. Do you understand? Alan. Yes. Dysart. Good. Now I want you to think back in time. You are on that beach you told me about. The tide has gone out, and youre making sandcastles. Above you, staring down at you, is that great horses head, and the cream dropping from it. Can you see that? Alan.Yes. Dysart.You ask him a question. Does the chain hurt? Alan.Yes. Dysart. Do you ask him aloud? Alan. No. Dysart. And what does the horse say back? Alan.Yes. Dysart.Then what do you say? Alan.Ill take it for you. Dysart. And he says? Alan.It never comes out. They have me in chains. Dysart.Like Jesus? Alan.Yes! Dysart.Only his name isnt Jesus, is it? Alan.No. Dysart.What is it? Alan.No one knows but him and me. Dysart.You can tell me, Alan. Name him. Alan. Equus. (Equus 37) Alan is now unconscious with the effect of hypnosis. In his imagination, the horse is chained like Jesus. Now it is clear that Alans imagination has been influenced by his mothers teachings of Bible as stated before by Frank. For Alan, Equus lives in all horses and is chained because of the sins of the world (Equus 38). When Alan goes back to the time he was twelve, looking at the picture of Equus, Dysart asks him questions about the stable. The stable is the temple of Equus where Alan washes and brushes him. Equus wants to be ridden by Alan but he does not show Alan how to ride him: He showed me nothing! Hes a mean bugger! Ride or fall! Thats Straw Law (Equus 39). Equus is no pagan idol; he is unmistakably the Judeo-Christian God, born in the straw [39] (stable of Bethlehem) and wearing the sandals [40] of Christ. As Christ suffered for mankind, Equus takes the punishment for Alans sake. The Ark of the Covenant symbolizing the contract between God and man becomes the Ark of the Manbit [41], which Alan holds in his mouth. The lump of sugar becomes Equus Last Supper [42]. Alan beckons Equus, Take my sins. Eat them for my sake [43]. Equus is Jesus, the Son of God, the Redeemer who takes away the sins of the world. Just as Christ launched his attack against the House of Mammon, Alan launches Equus against their mutual foes: The Hosts of Philco and The Hosts of Remington, the rulers of the shallow and materialistic world of substitutions. Equus is Alans redeemer, the Godslave [43]. (Rosefeldt 92) Alan rode Equus every three weeks in Daltons stable. He stole the stables keys and went there secretly to ride Equus. Dysart wants Alan to remember a scene in the stable: He throws out his arms and shows himself fully to his God, bowing himself before Nugget (Equus 41). Alan is pleased to touch Nugget but he is distressed when he remembers his eyes. He gives Nuggets sugar, the last supper before Ha ha. Here [Alan] whispers his Gods name ceremonially: Alan. Equus! . . . Equus! . . .Equus! (Equus 42), and he says: Stay, Equus. No-one said Go! . . . Thats it. Hes good. Equus the Godslave. Faithful and true(42). The Equus voice increases in volume Alan. (Shouting) WEE! . . . WAA! . . . WONDERFUL! . . . Im stiff! Stiff in the wind! My mane, stiff in the wind! My flanks! My hooves! Mane on my legs, on my flanks, like whips! Raw! Raw! Im raw! Raw! Feel me on you! On you! On you! I want to be in you! I want to BE you forever and ever! Equus, I love you! Now! Bear me away! Make us One person! He rides Equus frantically (Equus 44) The end of Act I is the climax, a strange combination of religion and sexuality. Equus is now the god that rules Alan. The word AMEN! ends Act I (Equus 44). In Act II, Frank is interestingly absent in the play. (That may be symbolic but we do not know why). Dora seems to realize her faults in rising Alan. She comes to see that it is not the child but the parent who is faulty. She sees Alan as a little victim who has done nothing at all (Equus 47). However in her speech to Dysart, she strangely puts the blame on Alan and blames Dysart for questioning her family as if they are guilty: Dora. (ignoring him; more and more urgently) Look, Doctor: you dont have to live with this. Alan is one patient to you: one out of many. Hes my son. I lie awake every night thinking about it. Neither of us sleeps all night. You come to us and say Who forbids television? Who does what behind whose back? as if we are criminals. Let me tell you something. Were not criminals. Weve done nothing wrong. We loved Alan. We gave him the best love we could. All right, we quarrel sometimes all pparents quarrel we always make it up. My husband is a good man. Hes an upright man, religion or no religion. He cares for his home, for the world, and for his boy. Alan had love and care and treats, and as much fun as any boy in the world. I know about loveless homes: I was a teacher. Our home wasnt loveless. I know about privacy, too not invading a childs privacy. All right, Frank may be at fault there he digs into him too much but nothing in excess. Hes not a bully . . . (Equus 47) This speech of Dora reveals both her and Franks faults although she typically insists that they have been good parents to Alan. Shaffer uses this technique for many characters in this play in order to be effective: The character is here revealing herself through her own words; that is to say Shaffer lets the character talk about herself in order to achieve objectivity. Dora, the religious mother lastly puts the blame on the Devil thinking that Devil came to Alan. She is portrayed as a typical irresponsible mother who is unaware of the process her son grows up: I only knew he was my little Alan, and then the Devil came (47). Both of the parents fail in dealing with their teenager son. It is a step of Alan for adolescence in which Alan is learning about life. Parents quarrelling is not something as trivial as Dora thinks. It really affects the child since he stays between two different versions of beliefs, two different truths those of the mother and of the father. Alans crisis has in fact begun when Jill Mason attempted to seduce him one night when Alans horse god, Equus was there in the stable. Alan blinds six horses with a metal spike (Equus 3) in the second act of the play and it is seen as a consequence of his guilt and shame. Although he does not want to remember anything about Jill, Dysart makes him tell about all at last. It is the most important flashback after the one about Equus. Dysart encourages Alan to remember it in order to get over it. Everything begins with Jills inviting Alan out. Although he has to go home, he accepts her offer and they go to the cinema. At the cinema, Alan tells Jill, there was no girl except for her. Soon, it is understood that the film is a pornographic one. Dysart asks him: Was that the first time youd seen a girl naked? and Alan says Yes! (Equus 58). Then suddenly, Alan realizes that his father is at the cinema, too. With the fear of being caught at such a film, he tries to hide himself. When he is caught, Frank shouts at Alan and the three leave the cinema. Outside, Alan tries to speak to his father: Alan. I I Ive never been there before. Honest . . . Never . . .(to Dysart) He didnt seem to hear. Jill tried. Jill. Its true, Mr.Strang. It wasnt Alans idea to go there. It was mine. (Equus 59) Alan. (to Dysart) The bus wouldnt come. We just stood and stood . . . Then suddenly he spoke. Frank. (stiffly) Id like you to know something. Both of you. I came here tonight to see the Manager. He asked me to call on him for business purposes. I happen to be a printer, Miss A picture house needs posters. Thats entirely why Im here. To discuss posters. While I was waiting I happened to glance in, thats allI had no idea they showed films like this. Im certainly going to refuse my services. Jill. (kindly) Yes, of course. Frank. So long as thats understood. (Equus 59) Interestingly enough, Frank explains why he himself is there instead of asking Alan why he is there. He has certainly come to the cinema for the same reason with Alan and Jill. Thus Alan and Frank are scared of each other. Frank leaves them and Alan stays with Jill. More importantly, Alan has been now introduced to the adult life with the film. He wants to make love with Jill. She takes Alan to the Stables because they cannot go to Alans or Jills house. Alan does not want to go to the Stables; he prefers a home. Alan. Why not your place? Jill. I cant. Mother doesnt like me bringing boys back. I told you . . . Anyway, the Barns better. Alan. No! Jill. All that straw. Its cosy. Alan. No! Jill. Why not? Alan. Them! Jill. Dalton will be in bed . . . Whats the matter? . . . Dont you want to? Alan. (aching to) Yes! Jill. So? Alan. (desperate) Them! . . . Them! . . . Jill. Who? Alan. (low) Horses. Jill. Horses? . . .Youre really dotty, arent you? . . . What do you mean? He starts shaking Oh youre freezing . . . Lets get under the straw. Youll be warm there. Alan. (pulling away) No! (Equus 62) Alan does not want to be seen by the horses since he thinks it would be a shameful act according to his religion. Although Jill shuts all the doors in order not to be seen by the horses, he is not comfortable. Alan cannot help but think of Equus and he sees Equus instead of Jill. Thus, his attempt to make love with Jill fails. Angrily, he shouts at Jill: Get out! (Equus 65). His psychology in this scene is horrible: Alan. (to Dysart) He was there. Through the door. The door was shut, but he was there! . . . Dysart. Laughing? Alan. (to Dysart) Mocking! . . .Mocking! . . . Standing downstage he stares up towards the tunnel. A great silence weighs on the square. (To the silence:terrified) Friend . . . Equus the Kind . . . The merciful! . . .Forgive me! . . . Silence. It wasnt me! Not really me. Me!. . . Forgive me! . . .Take me back again! Please! . . . PLEASE! (He kneels on the downstage lip of the square, still facing the door, huddling in fear) Ill never do it again. I swear . . . I swear! . . . Dysart. And He? What does He say? Alan. (to Dysart whispering) Mine! . . . Youre mine! . . . I am yours and you are mine! . . . (Equus 67) Equuss Nuggets eyes are rolling and Alan is sure that he has seen them make love. Eyes! . . . White eyes! . . . never close! Eyes like flames coming coming! . . .God seest! God seest! . . . NO! . . . (Equus 68). Alan stabs out Nugget and other five horses eyes. He yells in hysteria as he collapses on the ground (Equus 68). Dysart is about to finish his process of normalizing Alan. However he does not know whether he should be happy to have this patient cured. He calls it madness (Equus 68). In the end, Dysart appears to have cured him. {Equus is a] troubling play about a psychiatrists struggle to understand the passionately conceived but torturous personal mythology of Alan, a disturbed adolescent. If a psychologist of religion had gone after the young mans associations to G-o-d, he or she might have retrieved references to the pallid secondhand God of Alans parents, but would likely have missed Alans dramatic psychic creation of a personal diety he called Equus. Although it might be argued that this is the kind of exceptional case that falls more into the psychopathology of religion and is no basis for generalization, I am more and more struck by how distinctive and sometimes quite original are the spiritual formulations of individuals. (Mc Dargh 90) The play really includes the idea of passion versus reason. It is about a psychiatrist who thinks he can solve everything by reason and at the same time about an adolescent who is filled with passion but forced by his family to leave his passion. The battle of passion and reason in the case of Alan seems to end with the defeat of passion; however, Shaffer certainly prefers a combination of two. It is not only Alans but also becomes the inner conflict of Dysart. While the horses represent freedom and sexuality, Martin Dysart represents reason as a doctor. During the play, the two characters have difficult times. Dysart shows a change in his attitude towards passion. As for Alan, he is treated by the psychiatrist to become normal. Alan is caught up between his own creation of religion and what is expected by him. He has to feel himself acceptable (Equus 68) since reason rather than passion is what is accepted by society. Dysart lacks passion and is jealous of Alan (Equus 50); he is u ncomfortable in this process of normalizing. He gradually gets worried that he should not cure Alan because this would be the end of Alans passion, so he does not want to give an end to that passion which he lacks but desires. Dysart confesses to Hesther, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that boy has known a passion more ferocious than I have ever felt in any second of my life. And let me tell you something: I envy it (Equus 50). Dysart is thus obsessed with passion saying Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created (Equus 69). It is a disturbing play in which Shaffer makes use of sound effects to make it psychologically effective. The horses are performed by actors who wear horse masks. As for the scene props, Shaffer makes use of light in order to emphasize his themes (Innes 228). Light is used in the play as an indication of Alans psychology. There are dream sequences, and a scenic structure that cuts across the logic of time as well as cause and effect following the irrational associations of the subconscious, plus ritual chanting, stylized masks and mythic archetypes (Innes 228). Shaffer ignores the three unities of Aristotle; there are scenes belonging to different places and different times; and there is no unity of action. However, Shaffer directly connects the past action of the play to the plot of present events; and the scenery connects more with the psychological life of the character than to the surface plot. As for the setting, it changes from scene to scene it is both internal and external; even in a single scene being both internal and external. It begins when Alan is seventeen years old and goes back to the previous years. The point of view is also variable; Shaffer lets the audience see the things from each characters point of view and Shaffer uses the omniscient narrator in order to emphasize each point of view. The play is about an adolescent who has deep complicated conflicts in his relationships with his parents and his first flirt Jill. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ {The play is not only} an extremely useful source book for an understanding of madness and family processes, it is also an affirmation of the dramatherapists long-held credo: that art can tell us things that science cannot (Davis xiii). Shaffer is successful at portraying the psychology of characters and Equus is a good work of drama in which the themes of passion, reason and worship and the idea of normal and abnormal are linked by Shaffer in order to make his audience question their beliefs and society.

Adoption Essay -- essays research papers

Adopting a child is an experience that promises to bring great joy as it changes a couple or individual’s life forever. But what happens if the mother of that child wants to endorse their child? Those are the issues that many adopting parents and birth-right mothers are facing today. Many biological mothers want their child back. There are many concerns for adopting parents to know- that there is the possibly that the birth mother may file for the child. As a birth mother or the adopting parent one must realize consequences that could lay ahead. The legal and social transfer of all parental right, responsibilities, and roles from one parent or parents, usually biological, to a nonbiological parent or parents is the definition of adoption. In such a transfer, adoptive parents accept the same rights and responsibilities as the child’s birth parents would have had, while the child becomes a member of a family that provides the social, emotional, and physical nurturing that children needs to grow up to be healthy, functioning adults. But there are some legal issues or opinions that can lead to a halting backfire in the adoption process. But, as the biological parent(s) and adopting parent(s), they must be ready for the quickly, approaching pros and cons. Throughout the adoption journey, the gardein must be prepared and know what is best for them and their child. There are many positive feedbacks to adoption. Children are in need of adoption because some birth parents are unabl...

Comparison Between the Sunnis and Shiites Essay -- Religion Religious

A Comparison Between the Sunnis and Shiites Have you ever wondered about other religions that are out there and why they are out there? I have and that is why I chose to write my paper on the Sunnis and Shiites. Read on to learn more about a brief history and then I will break each of them into separate religions. In books written on Islam the word "hadith" usually refers to the sayings or "traditions" which have been given from the Prophet. Muslims hold these to be the most important source of Islamic teachings after the Qur’an. A lot of books have been written in English about what the hadith means in Islam and a number of important translations have been made. Almost all the studies have been limited to the point of view of Sunni Islam and based on Sunni sources and collections. Practically no one has ever paid any attention to the different nature of the hadith literature in Shiism and the different sources from which the hadiths are recieved. The main difference to be made between Shiite and Sunni hadiths is that in Shiism the traditions are not limited to those of the Prophet, but include those of the Imams as well. I will explain more of the distinctions later on. The difference between the two religions is still hard to distinguish even with easy to understand books like the Encyclopedia of World Faiths. There, the author of the article is aware that there is some difference between Shiism and Sunnism on the question of which hadiths are included, but he thinks that it lies in the fact that the Shiite collections accept "only traditions traced through 'Ali's family." But this is incorrect, since a lot of traditions are also gotten through other sources. What the author fails to mention is that the hadith literature as understood by Shiites is not limited to the sayings of the Prophet, but includes those of the Imams as well. The most famous and reliable collections of Shiite hadiths are four books. These books relate to the Six Correct Collections in Sunni Islam. These are al-Kafi fi 'ilm al-din (The Sufficient in the Knowledge of Religion) by Thiqat al-Islam Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (d. 329/940), Man la yahduruhu al-faqih (For him not in the Presence of Jurisprudent) of Shaykh al-Saduq Muhammad ibn Babuyah al-Qummi (d. 381/991), Tahdhib al-ahkam (Rectification of the Statutes) by Shaykh al-Ta'ifah Muhammad al-Tusi (d. 460/ 1068) a... ...egarding the holding of spiritual and political authority remained strong even after the end of the Caliphate itself in the 13th century. The Sunnites’ strongest belief has an emphasis on the views and customs of the majority of the community, as distinguished from the views of other groups. The Sunnites compromised by allowing the other groups to bring their beliefs and customs that had nothing to do with the Qur’an. The Sunnites recognize the six "authentic" books of the Hadith, which contain the spoken tradition attributed to Muhammad. In the 20th century the Sunnites constituted the majority of Muslims in all nations except Iran, Iraq, and perhaps Yemen. They numbered about 900 million in the late 20th century and made up nine-tenths of all the followers of Islam. In conclusion I would like to comment on a couple of things. First of all the Shiism makes up 10 percent and Sunnism makes up the other 90 percent of the Muslim religion. Second of all the Shiites and Sunnis both are closely related, but have many differences. The two religions are both very complicated and difficult to understand. I hope after reading this paper you have learned a little more about both.

Unit 12

Unit 12: Business Online Assignment Brief 2012-2013 Edexcel BTEC Level 2 in Business ————————————————- Date assignment issued: 1 March 2013 ————————————————- Task submission closed: 29 April 2013 Contents Scenario3 Task 14 Task 25 Task 36 Task 47 Task 58 Task 6:9 Task 710 Task 711 Task 812 Task 913 Task 1014 ScenarioYou are the winner of a Young Enterprise Award. You are pleased that the large cash prize will help you to start your own local business in the Croydon area.Your choice of business will be one of the following: * Luxury car hire * Designer bags * Cosmetics for men * Travel agents * Clothes for babies and small childrenYou will need to design a website for your business to include the following: * An online request system for your customers * Location o f the business * Products or services available| Task 1 Front cover Design a Front Cover for your assignment. It should include the name of your business a relevant image and your name. Introduction Outline the purpose of the assignment and introduce the business you will write about Business IntroductionIntroduce the business you will be writing about by writing a report to include: * Name of the business * Type of ownership (ie sole trader, private Ltd etc) * Product/service being sold * Proposed location * Who are your customers * Identify the resources and equipments you would require to get started Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 11 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 2 ————————————————-P6: D escribe the benefits to your business of marketing your product or service online Write a report that will describe 3 benefits to your business & 3 benefits to your customers of marketing your product or service online Check you have done the following: Used paragraphs to structure your work * Proof read your work using * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 11 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 3 ————————————————- P1 Describe three different business organisations which operate online.Write a report using the following to help you: You must select a business from each of the following sectors: * Commercial * Educational * Government For each business you must also describe the purpose of their online presence you may use the following to help you: * Direct online selling of services * Government ser vices * Information * Advertising and marketing * Education Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 11 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 4 ————————————————- M1 : Compare the features of three business organisations operating online Prepare a power point presentation comparing three business organisations operating online include the following: * Compare the features of each business * Explain how effective the features are for each organisation ————————————————- D1: Make at least three recommendations for a business organization considering go ing onlinePrepare a power point presentation giving three recommendations for a business organization considering going online Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline:25 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 5 ————————————————- P2: Explain how each of the three businesses operate their activities online. ————————————————- Write a report using the following to help you: Brochure * Mail order * Inviting online transactions * Providing information only You must explain how each business use their website to engage and interact with users Check you h ave done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 18 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 6: ————————————————- P3: Explain the issues your small business would need to consider to go onlineWrite a report to explain 3 issues your small business would need to consider to go online. You should investigate the functional areas behind an online presence and how these interact to support the website Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 25 March 2013 Time De adline: 4pm Task 7 ————————————————- P5: Create web pages to meet the needs of your customersCreating a web page Create web pages to meet the needs of your customers you must include some of the following: * Word, power point or other suitable packages * Hyperlinks, graphics, background colours, images * Images from scanners, digital cameras, clip art etc When you have finished your design you must check the: * colour combinations, hyperlinks are functioning, content, formatting, images etc M3: Explain how the website assists in achieving the aims and objectives of the business user| Write a report to explain how the website assists in achieving the aims and objectives of the business user.You must explain why marketing online fits in with the aims, objectives and operation of the organization. Task Deadline:15 April 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 7 D3: Justify the use of di fferent features in the design of your website| Prepare a power point presentation to justify the use of different features in the design of your website and how it contributes to the success of the final creation. Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline:15 April 2013 Time Deadline: 5. 00pm Task 8 ————————————————- P4: Explain the operational risks for your business organisation operating online Write a report to explain 3 operational risks for your business organization operating online and the problems caused with the lack of face to face interaction. M2: Analyse the benefits to business and customers of conducting business online| Write a report to ana lyse the benefits to business and customers of conducting business online.You should analyse the features of the web pages you have created; explain their suitability and how the online presence will benefit the business and its customers. D2: Suggest ways in which your business could deal with the operational risks associated with an online presence| Prepare a power point presentation suggesting ways in which your business could deal with the operational risks associated with an online presence. You must identify the risks and the methods a business could use to stop them. Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not opied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 22 April 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 9 P7 Outline the impact of online business on society| Write a report to outline the impact of online business on society. You should include the following: * Global presence * Level of response * Financial advantages * Effects on customer convenience Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 22 April 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 10 M4: Analyse the consequences on society of an increase in online business| Write a report to analyse the consequences on society of an increase in online business. Use an example of an existing business you are familiar with to analyse how people’s lives have been affected. D4: Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks to society of increasing business online| Write a report to evaluate the benefits and drawback to society of increasing business online.You must include in your report the impact of going online both now and in the future. Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 29 April 2012 Time Deadline: 4pm Upskills linkTasks 1-10 you will be required to judge how much to write and the level of detail to include. You must present information in a logical sequence using paragraphs where appropriate. Write in complete sentences, using correct grammar and spelling. |

Opportunity Advantage and main challenge for a foreign company that wishes to establish business in China Essay

Economic growth of countries is largely contributed by the competitive advantage that it poses and which puts it ahead in terms of resources over the other economies. Michael Porter describes competitive advantage under factors such as the demand conditions, related industries, factors of production and corporate strategy under his famous competitive â€Å"diamond† model. In this model he establishes the strengths of nations basing on their industries. The factors of production are essential for an industry in the production processes and they include logistics, skilled labor among others. These are the specialized factors of production which are created and not inherited. He also notes that other factors which can be termed as general factors include unskilled labor and raw materials and can easily be obtained by any company at any one time hence they do not lead to any competitive advantage of an economy whereas the specialized factors require sustained and heavy investment. These specialized factors lead to an economy’s competitive advantage because they can not be duplicated as they are valuable. Demand conditions on the other hand apply to the nature and the extent of demand that exists within nations which is concerned with the services or products. The higher the demand of products in a nation, the higher the pressure that is exerted on them to produce more through innovative practices in order to enhance their competitiveness in the market by producing high quality products. Related industries apply to the extent, international, and the existence of the competitive strength of the other industries in an economy. These industries enable the exchange of information hence resulting in a continuous exchange of innovations and ideas. Lastly corporate strategy, structure and rivalry refers to the conditions that exist in the domestic market which end up affecting the way corporations are created, grown and managed. Porter puts forward the idea that the home markets have to fight and work hard to increase the chances of surviving and succeeding in the international markets. This is because today’s markets are dynamic and firms have to work hard in order to increase its innovation and productivity and this can only be done through direct competition from these cor-operate organizations. In this â€Å"diamond† model, Porter states that the main role of the government is to act as a catalyst and at the same time a challenger by encouraging as well as pushing companies to increase their performance, stimulating demand that should be made early enough especially for advanced product, pay attention to the creation of specialized factors and stimulating the existence of local rivalry through the limitation of direct cooperation and also enforcing regulations concerning anti-trust (Porter, 24-30). In other words, Porter emphasizes on globalization by nations concerning their abilities to innovate and process a head of their competitors as the only means that nations can be able to increase their productivity gains hence gaining a competitive advantage. He also argues that in order to be able to gain this, competitive advantage, countries need to have the technological know how in order to enable them to capture greater value in the world market place by establishing areas that they would like to compete and it is the companies which have posed the ability to continuously innovate and improve that have been able to remain competitive (Harrison & Hargrove, 2005, 14). Porter also established five forces that are helpful in the analysis of competitive positions of nations. These forces are also helpful in the analysis of strategic plans as well as in the establishment of investment decisions that concerns organizations. The five forces include the existence of competitive rivalry between suppliers, threat of new market entrants, power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers as well as the threat of substitute products that includes the technological change. The new market entrants include ease and barriers on entry, geographical factors, new entrant strategy, and routes to market as well as the incumbents’ resistance. Supplier power applies to brand reputation, product/service level quality, and geographical coverage, bidding processes / capabilities and relationships with customers. Buyer power on the other hand refers to buyer choice, change cost or frequency, the buyer size, volumes and product/service importance. In addition, product and technology development includes the alternative price/quality, fashion and trends, market distribution changes and the legislative effects. Lastly, the competitive rivalry refers to the number and size of firms, fixed variable costs bases, the industry size and trends, differentiation and strategy as well as product / service ranges (Harrison & Hargroves, 2005, 14). According to Montgomery and Porter, the creation of a competitive advantage only exists through the creation of a process that is highly localized. They further argue that the factors that contribute to competitive success include the differences in culture, national values, institutions and histories and the economic structures (Porter & Montgomery, 135 – 136). This paper will focus on the opportunities, advantages and the main challenges for a foreign company that wishes to establish its business in China in some industry. China boasts of a good and stable economic growth which has mainly been linked to its domestic demand, foreign trade and investment that include foreign direct investment. This economic growth that China experiences has also been as a result of its emphasis on education and the constant monitoring by the government in order to enhance success at the local level. The Peoples Republic of China can also be described as one of the rapidly growing economies in history. It is also the world’s largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and China is currently focusing on the establishment of a free market economy. China’s Foreign Direct Investment is different compared with other economies. Its Foreign Direct Investment falls under the category of labor-sourcing which is mostly greenfield and it is mainly accompanied or stimulated by the low costs in production through the availability of the local labor which is cheap (Chung-Tong Wu, 122). This type of Foreign Direct Investment mainly comes fro a high-income economy and is eventually invested in an economy with a low income and not to those countries that poses similar income models. This is because during the process of development in an economy accompanied by high levels of economic development, the local currently of a country tends to generally appreciate and the production costs as well as labor costs also increase. The Foreign Direct Investment that exists in China which consists of the labor-sourcing is intended to effectively make use of the available cheap labor as well as performing some processes that are more labour-intensive or production activities. The products from this type of investment are mostly exported to third world countries or are sold in the domestic market belonging to this Foreign Direct Investment. The inflow of FDI results in a demonstration effect that identifies suitable market conditions necessary for fixed assets investment and this therefore causes an impact on the location of industries. This has also affected the regional income and export growth in Central West and East China since the 1990s. Moreover, the increases in the FDI – GDP ration has resulted in the increased industrial value added nationally in East China hence contributing to the positive growth in the regional income. However, this flow weakens the regional income. However, this flow weakens the regional income growth in central China (Chung-Tong Wu, 122). Domestic demand is also another factor that has contributed to China’s success in the global market, hence its future economic growth is highly dependent on this domestic demand and not the growth in its exports. The rise in incomes means that people will spend more and the state-owned enterprises, joint ventures, town-village enterprises and private enterprises are in a positive to increase their sales hence growth in domestic demand. The growth in domestic demand in China has enabled the country to attract foreign direct investment and the virtuous cycle of demand growth has been as a result of foreign direct investment growth and the growth in capital spending that is practiced by most Chinese firms (Huijiong, 36-38). The international trade that exists in China is also different from those that exist in other countries. 50% has been the share that involves the processing of export trade in China since 1995. In addition, the share of Foreign – Funded Enterprises has also been more than 50% since 2001. Moreover, the international trade in China can be linked to the inward Foreign Direct Investment. The labor-sourcing Foreign Direct Investment in China is export-oriented hence resulting in a direct and proportional relationship between the exports and Foreign Direct Investment. The higher the level of Foreign Direct Investment, the higher the level of exports in China. Therefore, China’s economic growth has been as a result of inward Foreign Direct Investment. China has been able to develop as a global location option for production by many economies because of the combination of its heavy and large investment accompanied by the existing hand working; inexpensive easily trained labor that is literate (Huijiong, 36-38). China has a lot of opportunities that favor anyone or any foreign investors who would like to establish their businesses in China. The country is also considered to be the third largest nation in the manufacturing industry specifically the semiconductor industry. Therefore China presents the best opportunity in the manufacturing sector and an integrated circuit market which is accelerating in which demand exceeds supply. China also has a market in PC that is the second largest in the world together with the largest market in handset. This therefore means that China has become one of the highest consumers of electronic products worldwide. The electronic growth in China is staggering hence emerging to be among the top leading nations in computing. Communications as well as consumer electronics. As a result, China has been able to be forecasted to be having the second largest market in semiconductor worldwide by the year 2010 (Huijiong, 36-38). China also has technological advances which have been able to attract foreign investment. This is as a result of the development of strict technological standards which have competed well with the more open standards around the world. The other opportunity and advantage is that China has been able to dominate mass manufacturing which has resulted into the provision of a low – cost base for manufacturing for foreign companies as well as for United States. The country is also considered to be a growing base for intellectual capital which is essential for scientific research work and development and provides a lot of opportunities in marketing for firm globally. China also boasts of having competitive advantage in areas of banking, insurance, retail and variety of services. Another opportunity is that the government of China has offered on-going government regulations which have lifted several restrictions on trade and this has made it easier for foreign companies and businesses to succeed. Moreover, several companies are now moving to China to establish their production processes since the country offers generous tax incentives, cheap labor as well as high productivity taxes. China also agrees to greater investment levels from multinational companies. Therefore, China offers both irresistible attractions to foreign investors and challenges as regards its cultural, legal and social differences (Huijiong, 36-38). In addition, the recent announcement made concerning local incorporation has led to the growth of foreign banks in markets in China. The factors that have led to the growth in investments in banks include a strong economy and a growing middle class, and the China’s terms on the World Trade Organization accession which has resulted in the opening up of China’s banking sector. The business climate in China is favourable hence providing the opportunities to open up markets and foreign investment. The country has also adopted a status position in the world Trade Organization. China is also increasingly developing to become a major supplier of various industrial products namely power transmission, machinery, telcom equipment, pipelines, distribution equipment, oil and gas industry equipment and automotive products. The existence of a favourable geographic location is also another opportunity that China presents. The country has unique geographic features including a climate that as favourable in the establishment of businesses, China also has a favourable cultural advantage since its culture forms the major source of Japanese and Asian cultures hence connecting East Asia and South economies. The majority of overseas Chinese worldwide have been able to control huge resources in the world hence aggressively investing in China. The local market available in China is attractive consistency of a large population of Chinese hence increasing the purchasing power of the Chinese. Therefore in terms of opportunities, China presents the opportunity for technology, investment, import, export, manufacturing among others which could be classified under social, economic, political and religious opportunities that are friendly to any one person or company that wishes to establish itself in China and succeeding in business (Huijiong, 36-38). China however has its challenges that affect the establishment of foreign companies. It is important to note that challenges are a part and parcel of the daily life that we undertake. These challenges also affect the way businesses are run and confronting them will require perseverance, knowledge and commitment. The challenges that are commonly experienced by today’s managers include risk management, changes that could be on-going in the business environment, management of the needs of the business people as well as fighting fraud. These challenges can be classified as under convergence, corporate reporting, fraud, corporate governance, intellectual property, managing change, improving business performance, managers and acquisitions, risk management, managing people, operating globally, sustainability, security and privacy. Shareholder value as well as job creation. These categories of challenges affect business operations as well as the opportunities for foreign investment in an economy. One of the main challenges that China poses to foreign investors is the cultural challenge as well as the political differences. This takes the form of language barriers and bureaucracy. People in China are not used to signing contracts which also includes the details concerning the joint venture and this takes a lot of time for them to be able to sign any contract for any business whatsoever. The business leaders in China are the ones who mostly study the behaviour of these people. They regard the written contract as secondary to the existing verbal agreement made. The challenge in Chinese culture can be best described by using coca-cola company as an example. This company came across this challenge in 1984 when it had tried to establish its business in China. Having signed a contract with the central government trading company in 1978, coke believed that it was in a better position and all the exclusive rights in the selling of their beverages in China (Harris and Robert, 120). Coke company encountered a rude shock since the government of China informed them that their exclusive rights were limited and not for the entire of China and they should sell their products in those places that they were initially allocated. In addition, since China is rapidly under the transformation from an agricultural economy to that of an urban society and also from a commanding economy to the more elaborate market economy, the government plays a huge role in the country’s planning activities and the entire economy more than any other western countries. This has resulted into the way the Chinese think which is bureaucratic. Therefore establishing a new business in China requires the knowledge of regulatory, monetary and legal issues that exist in China hence the need for respecting and understanding the culture of the Chinese people. The development of human resources and staffing a local team into management in China is also a challenge especially when it involves finding the right group of people to be in corpoorated into the business (Kirpalani, 1990, 186 – 188) As a challenge, there is lack of predictability in China’s business environment because of inexistence of a body of regulations and laws.