Ms hall

I have read your summary regarding your current challenge with changing marketing trends and the upcoming renewal of your 5 year contract with a large quick service restaurant. You have had a long and profitable relationship with this international fast food company and this relationship has been an Important part of your firm's growth. While you do face some obstacles, there are solutions to overcome these. First hand and most Importantly lets point out and discuss the problems you face.First the market trend issue: The marketing trend challenge you currently face is a decline in the sale of kid meals. With technology advancing kids no longer value the toys you market. In addition, child obesity and health problems are receiving greater attention in the media and the threat of advertising regulations is increasing, these regulations are already in place in Europe. Your manufacturing costs in China have gone up 40% due to an increase in raw material costs and export tariffs. And to t op it off the overall time to market these toys is lengthy.Last and most important your team has been ineffective in addressing these market trends, and working collectively to resolve these Issues. Renewing this contract and maintaining relationship Is important to your firm. Are you assuming the USSR wants to renew the contract and do they want toys? Is your firm prepared to take on this large account at this time? These are 3 recommendations to help you. Restructure of your organization this should be done prior to renewing the contract, ask the USSR for extension of contract renewal.Re evaluate and define your mission and goals. Establishing an innovation team or a R and D department. Teams and managers should have regular meetings with an agenda to implement your business strategy, improve communication and use critical thinking as a method to problem solving. Ineffective teams and quality assurance and Improvement should be monitored regularly to address future problems. A fac ilitator may be helpful to gulled the team's decision making process during meetings.You may have employee resistance and cost and there will be cost and time to train and recruit managers, but this must be done to endure success in your firm. Establish a technology based company relationship to market new products/incentives and incorporate into your marketing. Examples Tunes, Apple APS, Play station, Mineshaft, Game Stop, are a few technology ideas you can work with to offer new products or incentives in your marketing. The incentives should be correlated with some type of healthy choice the USSR offers. An example of this would be vegetables or fruit as part of the happy meal.Incorporating the product into a healthy choice will also improve the public and media perception of your organization and demonstrates your flexibility for new innovative ideas that adjust to market trends moving towards health and wellness. Move manufacturing to domestic location- you can respond to the ma rket quicker, avoid Import and export tariffs, and Increase positive media volleyball by supplying more Jobs In the U. S. You an contract or set up your own manufacturing plant to supply your other accounts that use toys and incorporate your new products into production.With and provide Jobs to low income workers and or migrant workers. You can publicize these new opportunities for Jobs and community growth to improve media visibility. One drawback to this would be time. You will have to establish resources and connections to build or contract a manufacturing plant. In conclusion I think you will find these solutions effective with some drawbacks but in the long run will help your organization thrive and adjust to the demanding changes of the future.

Low Fat Diet and Cancer Link

Cancer is a very concerning and alarming concept in the present society mainly because of its negative implication on the lives and health welfare of the people afflicted with the ailment. As such, the health society and other concerned organization channel much interest, efforts and resources to study the range and biological nature of cancer together with its likely causes, contributory factors and the long-awaited treatment for the problem. Among the targeted issue is the low fat diets and their link to certain cancers particularly the breast cancer. In the general health field concern, it is dominantly established that diet has a significant effect to the health of an individual namely the likeliness of breast cancer to women. This concept is already strongly accepted with the support of many scientific studies and researches. However, on a particular view, how is low-fat diets actually related to breast cancer problem and whether this is on a positive or negative perspective. Most of the studies in this context relate the diet nature to the reduction of the chances of each women of having breast cancer. A particular study conducted by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation establishes that low-fat diet significantly reduces breast cancer chances for women as according to their study, fat content of the women is directly related to the amount of estrogen she has to be converted to estradiol. This estradiol in particular is the biologically active form of estrogen that can promote the growth of breast cancer cells (Paskett, 2004). On another perspective, other studies have also established that low-fat diets can also significantly reduce breast cancer relapse. A particular experimentation conducted by the Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) has found that women who reduce their consumption of dietary fats have affected their breast cancer condition developing them to become estrogen receptor negative (ER-negative) (National Cancer Institute, 2005). These studies and other have indeed linked low fat diet to be a significant preventive mean against breast cancer. On the other hand, other studies and scientific journals claim a different look on the context, as their researches have found no significant link between low-fat diet and cancer. On the perspective of low fat diet as a preventive mean, the results of the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial have established that there are no significant benefits to be gained in a low-fat diet. Their subject assigned to this diet strategy did not gain natural defense or protection against known cancers such as breast, colorectal, and even cardiovascular diseases (Harvard School of Public Health; 2007). Another report derive from the findings of the American Medical Association states that the reduced risk with low-fat diet and the occurrence of breast cancer is not statistically significant to have a preventive effect or solution offering to the problem (Bhattacharya, 2006). However, it must be noted that the claims derive from this studies, though contradicting the benefits of low-fat diets, are not sufficient reasons to stack up on dietary fats and oils. It is still established and widely accepted that low-fat diets have a significant effects to the cancer problem and health aspect though still not specified by scientific supports and research findings. It is still important to follow help advices and intuition in pursuing low-fat diets that is high on rich-carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins which are equally beneficial to the overall health and the natural protection against certain diseases and health problems. Bibliography Bhattacharya, Shaoni (2006). Low-fat diet may not reduce cancer and heart risks. NewScientist.com News Service. Reed Business Information Ltd. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8697.html. October 11, 2007. Harvard School of Public Health (2007). Low-Fat Diet Not a Cure-All. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/low_fat.html. October 11, 2007. National Cancer Institute (2005). Low-Fat Diet May Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer Relapse. U.S. National Institutes of Health. http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/low-fat-diet0505. October 11, 2007. Paskett, Electra D. Ph.D. (2004). Low Fat Vs. Low Carb Diet Studied in Breast Cancer. Ohio State University Medical Center. http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/mediaroom/press/article.cfm?ID=1746&i=64. October 11, 2007. Â  

Do you think individuals or organizations should be allowed to own Essay

Do you think individuals or organizations should be allowed to own ancient artifacts that originated in another country - Essay Example As revealed by information by the British Museum (1), the ownership of ancient artifacts could also render some of these artifacts very useless in cases were some of their parts are still in the country of origin. In this case, none of the two countries really benefits by owning part of the artifacts. Although some organizations holding other nation’s sculptures may claim that the countries of origin do not have suitable location for display, this is not a good justification for holding such ancient artifacts. Had these artifacts existed in their country, they would certainly have motivated them to build a better place for them. Ancient artifacts are a symbol of a nation’s glory and nothing can substitute this including replications of these artifacts. Shyllon (2) explains, a replica of an irreplaceable cultural heritage can never be the best substitute. Shyllon Folarin. (2010). Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation: Oral Report of the Rapporteur. Online: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001925/192535e.pdf. Retrieved on 28th September,

Vietnam Country Report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Vietnam Country Report - Research Paper Example After achieving independence in 1945, the French nation did not offer financial support to Vietnam; furthermore, Americans intervened into the matters of this nation. The nation was divided into two; the northern socialist and the southern communist. Both sides faced major challenges despite the effort put by the first president to stabilize the whole nation. However, in 1976, the two regions merged and became one nation of Vietnam. This was a big step, which later led to economic development. The major vices faced by this country included dictatorship and corruption, even though in the recent past, the government have put efforts to negate these attributes, so as to rise more in terms of economy, hence gaining recognition by international communities. Keywords: Vietnam, Government, Colonial Powers, Colony, France, Rule, America, Independence, Nation, Socialist, Communist, Dictatorship, Corruption, International Community Political History of Vietnam Vietnam is a country that had bee n under colonial rule for a long time. It was ruled by the Chinese for around 1053 years, before the rule of Japan and some other regions by France. However in 1945, Vietnam was declared a free state by the then leader, Ho Chi Minh. In his independence declaration, he tried to sooth the Americans so as to support the move against France, from reclaiming any territory of Vietnam. After the Second World War, America associated itself with France to reclaim some of its territories in Vietnam. This was to the disappointment of Ho Chi Minh, and although this attempt failed, the Americans tried to colonize the Vietnamese, in a move to ensure that Vietnam was transformed to a western oriented nation. Vietnam had lost most of its valuables and could neither have freedom to have its own government, nor develop its own economy; instead it was constantly in war. This angered the then American president Roosevelt in 1944, who complained that France had milked Vietnam for many years (Bradley & Y oung, 2008). All along, with the separation of Vietnam into communist south and socialist north, the country could not make any substantial development. Instead it was a fight for supremacy, and there were many militias and foreign aggressions. However, in 1974, Vietnam was united, although it further faced segregation from the international community. It had been accused of invading Cambodia, faced cold war and had been granted sanctions by America. It was a difficult situation given that the currencies were controlled by these nations. The leaders struggled to progress with the limited freedom and with the unstable economy. Nevertheless, their effort began to bear fruits in 1986, when it adopted economic reforms, which saw the economy grow substantially. This is the country that had been affected most my political instability. Had such a nation been granted its independence earlier, then it would have grown long ago and reached greater heights in its economy. Its growth due to the independence is enough evidence to show that it had potential, but lacked the opportunity. Its restoration is also attributed to the Paris agreement of 1991, where it established diplomatic and economical relations with other nations. Vietnam Political system Vietnam is a presidential state. It is headed by the chief of state, who is the president, and the head of government is the prime

Arg Synthesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Arg Synthesis - Essay Example Additionally, the paper will define global warming. Consequently, it will analyze the causes of global warming and SDSU’s commitment in honoring the climate action plan (CAP). Global warming is primarily defined as the amplification and rise in earth’s temperature because of fossil fuels, industrial pollution and agricultural practices by human beings, and natural gas emissions (Chapin III et al, 1991). Due to these factors, greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere in large quantities. Short wave solar radiations are absorbed into the earth hence increasing its surface temperature. According to experts, greenhouse gases are the main cause of the rise of the earth’s temperature. Greenhouse gases increase the heat trapping ability of the earth. The major causes of global warming are divided into two groups; man-made causes and natural causes. Natural causes are the factors amplified by nature. For example, the emission of methane gas from frosty tundra and wetlands is an example of a natural cause. Methane gas traps heat in the earth’s atmospheres hence raising earth’s temperature. As such, it is a greenhouse gas. Meanwhile, man-made causes result from human activities on the surface of the earth. Man-made effects are the major cause of global warming. Pollution is the major cause of global warming. It results from coal, fossil fuels or oil burning pollutes the environment by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Also, methane gas is released into the atmosphere when human beings excavate fossil fuels or minerals. The increase in the human population is another significant cause of global warming. A higher population means more transportation methods are needed, which translates to more fossil fuels b eing mined and burned hence increasing methane gas in the atmosphere (Cox et al, 2000). Additionally, an increase in population means more land is being cleared for farming and settlements. This has an impact

One flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey Annotated Bibliography

One flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey - Annotated Bibliography Example The significance of the book in American literature is that it is a metaphor for society – the dehumanizing force of administrative and medical power is likened to mechanical â€Å"Combine† which is a huge machinery of oppression. Normal human behaviours are suppressed and the machinery of power is challenged by the tragic hero McMurphy. In the end he is lobotomized and finally killed by the narrator. It sounds like a horror story and it has very serious themes, but there is a lot of humor in the dialogue and in the quirky character of McMurphy. This book contains a short but fascinating discussion of the character of Nurse Ratched, the Big Nurse. Using Freudian and Jungian psychological concepts, Aguiar shows how McMurphy sets himself up to fight a huge battle with a typical â€Å"ball-cutter†, which reveals his fear of the castrating female. This is then described as an archetypal mother hatred scenario, and Aguiar suggests that all of the male patients in the asylum see Nurse Ratched as a mother figure, and they apparently masochistically project their fear of their own mothers onto her. The target of McMurphy’s rebellion is not just the authority that Nurse Ratched holds, but also her actual femininity, and this is made clear when McMurphy attacks her and exposes her large breasts. Aguiar explores a Jungian analysis of this act in terms of the Oedipus complex, but somehow this analysis is unconvincing. After all Nurse Ratched triumphs over McMurphy in the end, and it could be argued that she is as much a v ictim of the oppressive system as he is. This book pursues a very strong feminist line, but in Kesey’s novel it finds more questions than answers, throwing up a number of intriguing theories, none of which address the mixed male/female/machine persona that is Nurse Ratched, or the decidedly positive view that the young McMurphy formed of women and heterosexual love. This book examines issues around the religious nature of the

Paraphrase a reports and solve past exams papers Coursework

Paraphrase a reports and solve past exams papers - Coursework Example The funnel was shaken gently until no effervescence was observed. The top organic layer was washed with water followed by brine in the funnel. Both brine and water ought to be 40 ml. The top organic layer was then transferred into a conical flask before adding anhydrous magnesium sulphate. The mixture was swirled and filtrated in a round bottomed flask. The final product was then distilled in a pre-weighed flask that is ice-cold. The weight and melting point was then measured and recorded. In addition the sample of the IR spectra was carried out. Results: Boiling point: 50Â °C-52Â °C Volume: Number of moles: 0.5 mol R.M.M: 74 g/Mol Density: 0.775 g/Mol Mass: 74 0. 5=37 g Volume: Mass/density = 47. 74 ml HCl: Concentration 12 M Number of moles: 1.5 mol Volume=Number of mole / concentration . = = 0.125 L =125Ml. The weight of flask=74. 64 g The weight of flask + sample=92. 36 g Sample’s weight=92. 36-74.64= 17.72 g Theoretical yield = 0.5 x 92.567 =46. 28 g Percentage yield: 1 7.72 x100/46.28 =38. 3 % Discussion: At room temperature 2-Chloro-2-methylpropane was a colorless liquid organic compound. 2-Chloro-2-methylpropane was slightly soluble and spontaneously solvolysed when dissolved in water. 2-Chloro-2-methylpropane was volatile and highly flammable. ... For stability. The bondage existing between oxygen and carbon broke hydrolytically. The breakage formed carbocation and was used as electrophille: species’ lacking electrons. Absence of electrons made chloride ions to attack carbocation hence molecule stability. Carbocation assumed role of Lewis acid that welcomed electron from Cl- forming t-butyl chloride. It was then synthesized through SN1. http://1chemistry.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/synthesis-of-tert-butyl-chloride.html The excess HCL was neutralized by sodium bicarbonate which gave misleading results. The IR spectra are illustrated below: 2: Hydrobromination of trans-stilbene practical. Aim: When the electrophilic species are added to an alkene, the procedure were allowed prepare various functional group. The below reaction, N-bromosuccinimide acted as an electrophilic species which facilitated the addition of HOBr to the double bond. Method: A mixture of 60 ml of dimethylsulfoxide, 1 cm3, and 56 mmol of water, and 3.6 g, 20 mmol of trans-stilbene was transferred to a flask that is round bottomed (100ml). The solution then stirred hard at room temperature. For over ten minutes, 7.1 g with 40 mmol of N-bromosuccinimide was added portion by portion. The solution was left for twenty minutes to mix accordingly. The reaction was transferred to a separating funnel. The separating funnel (200ml) had iced water. Using 4 x 40 ml of diethyl ether after the ice is completely melted, the solution was extracted. Subsequently, the extract fron ethereal was drained with 50 ml of water and brine. The extract was thereafter dried by using MgSO4. On the bath the rotary evaporator concentrated the solutions. On the surface of the solution, white crystals were formed. Further

Music Genre of the Blues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Music Genre of the Blues - Essay Example From the discussion it is clear that dating back to the origin of different kinds of music genre, it is quite clear that they came about as a result of coordination of collection of human lifestyle and movement. Contextually, we can attribute the origin of the Blues music genre to human movement and farming and also a product of their deepest expressions. The Blues itself means being sank in melancholy or being depressed. The genre came about as a result of expression of plight and predicaments by the African-American slaves. At such times the Africans were being subjected to work in the North American Colonies Plantations. As the report declares music is influenced by climate through which it thrives. This is an implication that the Blues was also shaped by outside factors besides its human architects. Music was effected in religious activities and Africans who practiced Christianity used it to propagate their spiritual religion. As the Europeans strived towards transforming African pagans into faithful Christians, it can to their attention that these Africans were exceptionally talented in music. If you are to influence someone onto doing something then it is always better and much easier to employ what they have and like. The Europeans used the African music to spread the gospel of Christianity amongst their target population. â€Å"This "spiritual" music was the first instance of African music adapted to the social environment of the New World†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 

Job search project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Job search project - Assignment Example In addition, the work will present an in-depth study of the present shortage and the reasons behind. Environmental health specialists are professional health workers mandated to ensure safe and healthy condition within residential, commercial, industrial and even recreations settings. These professionals also carry the name environmental health or safety inspector. Their primary duty involves checking the presence of any health hazards and making proper plans to sort out the problems. Majority of environmental safety inspectors are found working in government institutions that monitor federal, state and even local safety and environmental policies. This takes in such duties as monitoring factories and plants for industrial wastes or any other pollution; inspecting hotels for cleanliness; and inspecting day cares institutions, schools and nursing homes to find if there is any heath hazards that may include lead paint or radon. In addition, environmental safety inspectors also check ho w hospitals deal with biological waste while at the same time ensure recreational facilities such as swimming pools are in good condition to be used by the public(NEHA). State employed environmental safety inspectors issue certificates and permits, which qualify that a certain recreational facility, place of business or residence has met the required safety and health standards to begin its operation. On the other hand private environmental health inspectors found working in private companies serve to keep the firms facilities within the standards prescribe by the government. Here, they ensure that environmental health specialists send from the government do not any violations of the set policies. In many cases, the environmental health inspector job requires that one possesses a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree in environmental science. Addition qualification in any course related to biology, chemistry, physical science, public health and environmental engineerin g is of great significant. Individuals intending to work with government agencies need to undertake a certification offered by the concerned federal, state or local institution. Such is the case that many states have set up a licensing board to examine possible candidates who are then granted certification after going through the process successfully. In this case, the certification granted depends much on the nature of the concerned facilities. Certification is also possible through the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA). In addition to the academic qualifications, a competent environmental health inspector should demonstrate certain skills deemed vital for this profession. First, he/she should display strong employee relation and good interpersonal skills. This will help one relates with other stakeholders in this field without much difficulties. Secondly, a professional in this field needs to have good skills in both verbal and written communication. Such is the cas e that this job will require proper record keeping and at the same time good presentation of the findings. Other important skills required are problem solving, analytical and organizational that will help in accomplishing the task given easily and more effectively (NEHA). Lastly, an environmental hea

Research Essay Example for Free

Research Essay 1. Dadaism- was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century. Many claim Dada began in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916, spreading to Berlin shortly thereafter but the height of New York Dada was the year before in 1915. To quote Dona Budds The Language of Art Knowledge. Dada was born out of negative reaction to the horrors of World War I. This international movement was begun by a group of artist and poets associated with the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. Dada rejected reason and logic, prizing nonsense, irrationality and intuition. The origin of the name Dada is unclear; some believe that it is a nonsensical word. Others maintain that it originates from the Romanian artists Tristan Tzaras and Marcel Jancos frequent use of the words da, da, meaning yes, yes in the Romanian language. Another theory says that the name Dada came during a meeting of the group when a paper knife stuck into a French-German dictionary happened to point to dada, a French word for hobbyhorse. 2. Cubism- is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement pioneered by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, joined by Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Robert Delaunay, Henri Le Fauconnier, Fernand LÃ ©ger and Juan Gris that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. Cubism has been considered the most influential art movement of the 20th century. The term is broadly used in association with a wide variety of art produced in Paris (Montmartre, Montparnasse and Puteaux) during the 1910s and extending through the 1920s. Variants such as Futurism and Constructivism developed in other countries. A primary influence that led to Cubism was the representation of three-dimensional form in the late works of Paul CÃ ©zanne, which were displayed in a retrospective at the 1907 Salon dAutomne. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form—instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context. 3. Impressionism- is a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists. Their independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s, in spite of harsh opposition from the conventional art community in France. The name of the style derives from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, soleil levant(Impression, Sunrise), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satirical review published in the Parisian newspaper Le Charivari. Impressionist painting characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles. The development of Impressionism in the visual arts was soon followed by analogous styles in other media that became know n as impressionist music and impressionist literature. 4. Expressionism- was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. Expressionist artists sought to express meaning or emotional experience rather than physical reality. Expressionism was developed as an avant-garde style before the First World War. It remained popular during the Weimar Republic, particularly in Berlin. The style extended to a wide range of the arts, including painting, literature, theatre, dance, film, architecture and music.

How Does Culture Affect Media?

How Does Culture Affect Media? Assignment question: How culture affect media, and media affect culture? Discuss. Introduction How culture affect media and media affect culture? Today in the twenty-first century, there is no doubt that with the social development media and culture have an intimate relationship, which can interactive affect each other. Media culture is the dominant form of culture which socializes us and provides materials for identity in terms of both social reproduction and change. Media can be any means of communication to influence the public broadly, such as television,newspaper,magazines, internet and other communications ways. Media is becoming to an essential part of our social life today. In my opinion, culture is more difficult to define. I found a definition, which is more accurate, is that â€Å"Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a groups skills, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs,values, hierarchies and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions.† In the definition of media and culture both mentioned about communication that can be the most important element for media and culture. It is undeniable that media and culture have an interactive impact for each other. In this subject I am willing to introduce how culture affect the media in the first part, I will describe culture affect media through two aspects which are technological development and different country culture. Then the second part I want to argue how media affect culture through some positive factors and negative factors that media not only bring cultural communication to people, but also may bring some destructive influences on culture. Culture affect media Culture has a huge impact on media communication ways and adoption. I have a point of view that media rapid development and the rise of new media are the result of the cultural needs of people. Science and technology culture Science and technology culture is a significant factor to promote media development. Media technology which enables communication has evolved with time because of the ever-accelerated updating of science and technology. 1. Newspaper Newspaper can be the main communication way in the recent period. Because written communication flourishes of ongoing technology, for instance, the invention of paper and the printing press. Also with the massive use of paper, newspaper as a carrier became the earliest mass media in the world. That read the news on newspaper was nearly the only way for people who want to take the latest information before the invention of television. 2. Television The invention of television was no single event or series of events. It depends on a complex of inventions of development in electricity, telegraphy, photography and motion pictures and radios. It can say to a big step of technology progressive advance. The first TV’s came back In the 1920’s accredited to Scotsman John Baird, then later on in the 1960’s color TV took off, a way of enhancing the viewing experience bringing the viewer closer to the real thing. Television directly leaded to a global media revolution when television started popularized to the average people around the world. Television use electric to transmit active visual image that can let more carrier such as television news, drama and even advertisements can spread information to more people. 3. Internet The advent of the Internet created a new media age after the traditional media. Media communication ways not only be limited to four traditional media of newspaper, magazine, television and radio. The beginnings of computer networks with the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPAnet) project in 1969 created by the United States Department of Defense. But the Internet actually began to rapid development and commercialization in 1990’s. For example, many valuable and well-known websites such as Google, eBay and Amazon established in 1990’s. After that, the world entered into the network age in the twenty-first century. New media gradually replace the power of traditional media due to the grow up in the cyberculture, also the impact of traditional media is diminishing slowly now. The ever-accelerated updating of science and technology brings a new media heyday for people. In addition, the rise of social media is fast and prosperous on the Internet and smart phone. Social media can be any website, technology or apps to allow people to write, share, discuss and communication. And social media is a platform or tool that people share ideas, experiences and perspectives with each other. And the Apps on the smart phone provided more opportunities to develop social media. I think that the smart phone is a great contribution of science and technological culture, which can changes people ‘s lifestyle and makes the mode of transmission more convenient. The invention of smart phone also accelerates the development of new media. Media structure is constantly changing, we never know how the media will change in the future with the technological progress. Science and technology culture is just one reason affect media. Cultural differences People have different behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, hierarchy and religions by cultural differences. I will focus on how different country culture and religious culture affect media next. 1. Different country culture At first, different country cultures always affect media. It is common that people usually have the similar way of thinking in the same country. Nevertheless, different counties must their own culture and lifestyles. So for media, the attitude of government can influence how people to think about media. The media control of government is a very important reason that impact the development of the media in some ways. We can through compare the Chinese media and western media to show the differentiation of media culture between different countries. Western media have the free press that they can report the news more objectives and rational. Government can allow media provide various views to them due to the capitalist system. Media can make a comment on their state leaders or an act of government to their options. In America, media sometimes will make some fun of their president Obama even they will criticize him some conduct if they think it is improper or incorrect. Western media be relaxed and have uncontrolled freedom of speech in the overall environment. But it is rarely possible to happen in China. China is one of only a few remaining socialist countries in the world. That is a unique existence when the world almost combines into a globalization capitalist system. It is exactly because of this socialist culture that Chinese media have been in a very embarrassing situation. The Chinese government has long kept tight reins on both traditional and new media to avoid potential subversion of its authority. Its tactics often entail strict media controls using monitoring systems and firewalls, shuttering publications or website. Chinese media still do not have freedom of speech even they have already improved this situation a lot due to social progress and the development of new media now. Chinese media always report the positive coverage for the reports which involved government. And the attitude of Chinese media is never can say the bad words against the Communist party and government. Especially the traditional media is fully controlled by the government. But the rapid development of the Internet helps people to get more information sources from new media. As a whole, because China is a single-party system country, government will still strictly control the media speech and I think it will be difficult to loosen the control in the future. Socialist culture can be the most important reason to affect the media in China. 2. Religious culture Secondly, religious culture also will affect people have different attitudes for media. The power of religious culture is formidable and unexpected for believers. The core values of religion are beliefs which can affect people’s ideology. But the news generally will involve religious issues sometimes. Inevitably, Media and religions usually have conflicts because some radical words will burn some believers which is religious extremist force up. Some media will yield to the pressures of religions and avoid to mention the sensitive topic of religious culture. Nevertheless, some media not afraid of religious forces. They believe no one can kill their ideas. I want to give an example that everyone must be heard the Charlie Hebdo shooting accident. It is appalling that three heavily armed masked gunmen opened fire in the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Jan 7th, 2015. It resulted in the death of 12 people, including four cartoonists. Gunmen reportedly shou ted We have avenged the Prophet! When they stormed the office. Charlie Hebdo was found in 1970. It uses satire to target politicians, police, bankers and religion with its inflammatory headlines and garish cartoons. This magazine has repeatedly caricatured Muslims and their beliefs finally cause this appalling accident. But many people around the world support Charlie Hebdo to resist this attack and they think Charlie Hebdo can be a symbol of the freedom of speech. People have different beliefs make religious culture sometimes are controversial. Some media ignore to report the religious issues just because they are afraid of the religious extremist force pay attention to them. Media must be more careful to report the topic of religious culture. Media affect culture Nowadays, the rapid development of the media has a huge impact on the communication of cultural exchange in the whole world. For mass media, the paper media started an extensive cultural impact from the beginning, then the digital media significantly affect the cultural communication in the twenty-first century. Although the traditional media have some limitation and unidirectional in some ways to transmit information. But new media have brought a digital communication age for the world, which can eliminate the obstacle of time and space via the media. I willing to focus on how new media affect culture in the following paragraphs. Online culture Online culture has formed from the development of the Internet and new media. An increasingly wide range of information, ways of business, services and entertainment are now commonly make available and accessed online or through digital media. The Internet is regarded as being unique and offering something they cannot get elsewhere. Online culture is an information culture based on the Internet without national boundaries and region. People enjoy the equality, freedom and virtual of the online information. As far as I concerned, media not only has many positive influences on online culture, but also has some negative impacts on it. 1. Communication and exchange Firstly, online culture brings the convenient and efficient communication and exchange for people through constantly the development of the Internet media. In the past, people maybe need to spend a lot of time searching the information before the rise of new media. But now people can find everything they want on the Google. Google is a carrier that has indexed billions of pages and makes it easy for you to find a website or page in an instant. It is no exaggeration to say that Google almost contain the culture of the whole world. Then Wikipedia provide an enormous knowledge network for people as the largest single source of free information in the world. I believe that Google and Wikipedia are irreplaceable media for the developmental progress of online culture. For instance, if we want to learn some information about America history, we will just have to open the Google website and enter the search keywords, then we can find the information in the Wikipedia website that we no longe r need to take some times to find and read books. Personally, all online media fully embody how online culture produce convenience and efficiency to people. Nevertheless, online culture is a double-edged sword. The past fifteen years weve made significant advances in technology. The internet became more popular and then we use many social media to online chat. Now we live in a digital age where almost every people use laptops, smart phone and iPad. Do you feel close to people or further away when we cannot separated from the social media? I dont know how many times Ive sat down in a room full of people and have seen nobody talking to one another. Ill see several people sitting there on their phone or other type of mobile distraction. People are increasingly lack of face to face communication, even always playing smart phone while friends meeting. Stop your smart phone addiction, we should look up at the real world what you are missing around you. Maybe we cannot deny new media bring too many contributions and conveniences for our life and culture, but I hope people can also find some good things around us in the real world instead of alw ays use smart phone and indulge in online culture. 2. The decline of traditional culture Secondly, the rapid development of new media actually impacts some existence of the traditional culture. Online culture is gradually becoming dominant culture while the communication media are continually going through significant transformations in the age of the Internet. However, facing the online culture rising, traditional culture is slowly declining is a crisis that new media bring to us. Because along with the e-book and various apps popularized, which people can finish those all thing just on their phones or computers, there are fewer and fewer people willing to use dictionaries, read newspapers or go to bookstores. I can understand the media development can be a mirror of social progress, but I am not willing to see the decline of reading from paper even many bookstores face collapse. In my hometown, my favorite bookstore has moved to a place where more faraway but have cheaper rent. They cannot pay the expensive rent due to the decline of customers and profits. Although we cannot stop the ever-accelerated development of society, but I hope more people can realize that we need to protect and retain our culture. Children This chapter describes the negative and positive effects of media on children. Computer and other media use can influence children’ s neurological development, cognitive development, sexual behavior, attitudes, knowledge and perceptions of self as well as involving the use of substances such as drugs and alcohol. The positive impact is media produce many learning opportunities to study all aspects of knowledge, and also media enrich the space time of children’ s life. However, negative media effects for children cannot be ignored. For example, children who view a large amount of violent programming, can become desensitized to the violence and become more aggressive in their own play and other behavior. Furthermore, media have negative effects on the health of the children. Children spend too much time listening MP3 will impact their hearing and use phone or computer for a long time will give children decreased vision. In my opinion, parents should encourage children rea d more books and do some outdoors sports. Economic effects New media have already formed industrial clusters to produce the huge effects of social economy and culture. Under the information-based society and market economies conditions, new media became the most important way for the modern economy to keep information communication with the social environment and the target public. In an era of information surplus, If the companies want to survive and development, they will be able to convey the product message to target audience effectively. Today because people devote a significant amount of their daily time to digital channels, the Internet has become a highly precise, interactive mass medium. New media can produce the best possible result for economic effects in public information communications. Business advertising on various digital media, such as search engines, email, social media and Apps. Advertisements make a contribution to business economics and bring great benefits to media at the same time. In addition, the advent of new media also brings the new culture of economic industry, which represented by internet industry, mobile communication industry and digital media industry. Especially, the continuous expansion of the scale of the new media drives the development of other relevant industries, such as website construction, website maintenance, content provide, technical service and other industry developments. New media give a new pattern for economic culture. Cultural globalization Media cross the distance between the people around the world to bring a globalized world for us. Cultural globalization is the inevitable result of social progress. But It is undeniable that the new media is an important role to promote the culture becomes more globalization and cultural fusion. In my opinion, culture has become more globalization with a variety of ways since World War two. Media make the range of cultural communication more broadly. Whatever the traditional media or new media, they both bring culture to people around the world. Social media is one of them have great impact for the communication of culture. The advent of social media makes information sources this proper noun becomes popular. Social media provide an equal and public platform for all people, including government, media, companies, personal and so on that everyone can release the information and see the information on the social media platform. If this platform becomes globalization, it will make people to share the various information and culture more convenient around the world. We are increasingly both bound together and separated by the globalized networks of information communication technology. Regardless of what kind of social media, such as Facebook, YouTube, Google and Twitter, they all play an increasing role in cultural integration and this influence of globalization. Facebook can be a good example to show how social media affects culture. Facebook is the biggest social media website in the world. This social media website has gradually changed people’s life since it founding in 2004. Facebook be successfully developed to have global users, then it resulted in the globalization of information and more cultural exchange. Different cultures are connecting and integrating while people from different places are communicating with each other on Facebook.

History of the Hydrofoil :: Watercraft Boat

Hydrofoil History Although a hydrofoil is defined by the Columbia University Press as â€Å"a flat or curved finlike device, attached by struts to the hull of a watercraft that lifts the moving watercraft above the water's surface†, the word is often used in reference to the watercraft as a whole. Using the same principles as an airplane wing, the foil develops lift as it moves through the water, eventually raising the hull of the boat above the surface as it reaches higher speeds. Thus, the drag experienced by the vessel is far less, making the ship far more efficient and economical to run. In fact, hydrofoils are now the vehicles of choice as ferries in many European and Asian countries, as well as for the American military. However, though the hydrofoil maintains the appearance of simple functionality, it is actually quite a complex mechanism with deep-rooted history. Let’s take a look: In 1906, an article published in Scientific American outlined the basic principles under which a hydrofoil should function. Logically, the principles made sense, but they had never been put into practice. However, always up for a challenge, Alexander Graham Bell got to work on the physical construction of such a vehicle, completing his work in the year 1919. His masterpiece, the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of 114 km/h – a record that remained unbroken for over ten years. During testing, Bell’s colleague, Casey Baldwin was said to describe a ride on the HD-4 as being â€Å"as smooth as flying.† As word of the speed and efficiency of this new marine vessel spread, many others became interested in the use of the hydrofoil, particularly for commercial purposes. Thus, in 1952, the first commercial hydrofoil was launched, with the capability of transporting 32 passengers at a speed of 35 knots. Given its simple mechanics, this accomplishment was deemed remarkable. As such, many other countries including Canada, the United States, and what was the Soviet Union began to commission research on high-performance military hydrofoils. The results were outstanding. Eventually, hydrofoils proved to be very fast and well-armed, capable of sinking nearly any and every other surface vessel. In addition to their service in the military, hydrofoils are still widely used today as tourist transportation. History of the Hydrofoil :: Watercraft Boat Hydrofoil History Although a hydrofoil is defined by the Columbia University Press as â€Å"a flat or curved finlike device, attached by struts to the hull of a watercraft that lifts the moving watercraft above the water's surface†, the word is often used in reference to the watercraft as a whole. Using the same principles as an airplane wing, the foil develops lift as it moves through the water, eventually raising the hull of the boat above the surface as it reaches higher speeds. Thus, the drag experienced by the vessel is far less, making the ship far more efficient and economical to run. In fact, hydrofoils are now the vehicles of choice as ferries in many European and Asian countries, as well as for the American military. However, though the hydrofoil maintains the appearance of simple functionality, it is actually quite a complex mechanism with deep-rooted history. Let’s take a look: In 1906, an article published in Scientific American outlined the basic principles under which a hydrofoil should function. Logically, the principles made sense, but they had never been put into practice. However, always up for a challenge, Alexander Graham Bell got to work on the physical construction of such a vehicle, completing his work in the year 1919. His masterpiece, the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of 114 km/h – a record that remained unbroken for over ten years. During testing, Bell’s colleague, Casey Baldwin was said to describe a ride on the HD-4 as being â€Å"as smooth as flying.† As word of the speed and efficiency of this new marine vessel spread, many others became interested in the use of the hydrofoil, particularly for commercial purposes. Thus, in 1952, the first commercial hydrofoil was launched, with the capability of transporting 32 passengers at a speed of 35 knots. Given its simple mechanics, this accomplishment was deemed remarkable. As such, many other countries including Canada, the United States, and what was the Soviet Union began to commission research on high-performance military hydrofoils. The results were outstanding. Eventually, hydrofoils proved to be very fast and well-armed, capable of sinking nearly any and every other surface vessel. In addition to their service in the military, hydrofoils are still widely used today as tourist transportation.

L.a. confidential :: essays research papers

Commonly, when we make value judgements about people we speak as if there were a single norm towards which everyone ought to be growing. They're supposed to succeed in becoming perfect specimens. You can tell whether they do by seeing how well they perform according to a checklist of desired features. We also speak as if people have an outside and an inside, and that on the inside, they're really either good or bad. It's hard to analyze Ellroy's characters in these terms. For Bud White we'd have to say that he was warped by his early trauma. What his father did to him made him a brute, yet he still has enough inner decency to try to prevent women from being abused. Or—Wait a minute!—is it the opposite? Maybe, he's a brute by nature and it's only thanks to the terrible thing that happened to his mother that he has some morality. Neither of these explanations seems to satisfy, because the framework on which they are constructed is inadequate. Bud doesn't seem to fit into a dichotomy of outside versus inside. Also, the things that make him bad seem more or less identical to the things that make him good: his hatred of violence towards women, his blind persistence. Bud White doesn't seem to have had any chance at perfection. So, what can he do then, assuming he wants to make a decent adult out of himself? Maybe Bud has to start out from where he is and we have to interpret his current actions against that background instead of comparing them to an abstract, one-size-fits-all standard. L.A. Confidential is about three men and a woman who find themselves in medias res. They don't get any single chance to decide forever what they'll be. They're already on the wrong side. They don't seem to be able to separate out their imperfections from their perfections, so their job seems to be to take all of what they've got, including their neuroses and the ghosts from their past, and to use it as raw material to continuously reconstruct themselves. They can't make themselves perfect: the moving finger has already written and moved on. The things that they go through, terrible as they are, do give them a chance to make themselves better.

Satire in the Eighteenth Century Essay -- Literature Essays Literary C

Satire in the Eighteenth Century      Ã‚  Ã‚   New ideas, original thoughts, and fresh interpretations characterized the spirit of the eighteenth century. Science was flourishing, and therefore it brought new discoveries that challenged the traditional dominating force of religion.   Influential figures of the age, such as Voltaire, Jonathan Swift, and William Hogarth, strove to assure human betterment and advance human thinking through truth and humorous criticism.   They employed the use of satire in order to accomplish their common goal.    According to A Handbook of Literary Terms, satire is defined as "a work or manner that blends a censorious attitude with humor or wit for improving human institutions or humanity" (Harmon and Holman 461).   The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics further asserts that satire is "both a mode of discourse or vision that asserts polemical or critical outlook, and also a specific literary genre, embodying that mode in either prose or verse" (Preminger and Brogan 1114).   In essence, satire emerges as a device to successfully diagnose human faults and offer a cure for society.    Satire often includes abuse, sarcasm, irony, mockery, exaggeration, and understatements.   Arguably Voltaire's most famous work, Candide presents a string of characters laced in exaggeration.   For example, the Baron's lady was not only a large presence, but she weighed a striking three hundred and fifty pounds.   Furthermore, the Baron's castle was considered a monument of prestige, "for his house had a door and several windows and his hall was actually draped in tapestry" (Voltaire 19).   It is apparent that the use of the hyperbole, among other elements, played a crucial role in the potency of satir... ...rs and improves judgment: he that rectifies the public taste is a public benefactor" (Preminger and Brogan 1115).   The eighteenth century was a time of transformation, in which society was in constant evolution.   The progress of the age was delivered to the common person's doorstep through literature and art and reached the common person's understanding through satire.   Hence, satire was both a furious weapon and a common medium that was utilized by the thinkers of the eighteenth century to promote the Enlightenment.      Works Cited "Art of William Hogarth". 7 July 2000. Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman.   A Handbook of Literary Terms.   New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1992. Preminger, Alex and T.V.F. Brogan, ed. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.   New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993. "Swift Biography".   8 July 2000.

Jhumpa Lahiri

The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165 The Treatment of Immigrant Experience in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Name Sake D. Ebina Cordelia Assistant Professor in English Holy Cross College,Tiruchirappalli Tamilnadu. Indian writing in English is one of the voices in which India speaks. It spreads the traditional and cultural heritage of India within India and also introduces it to the whole world.It is Indian in sensibility, thought, feeling and emotion and experience but submits itself to the discipline of English for expression. The contemporary novelists tread new paths and this shows the vitality of Indian fiction. Arun Joshi, Khushwant Singh, Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth depict the Indian social scene, the partition scene, the theme of alienation and the social, economic and psychological problems of modern man.Writers who are cultural hybrids like Maxine Hongkinstun, Gloria Naylor, Alice Walker, Bharati Mukherjee, Jhumpa Lahiri and many others take up is sues like identity crisis, nationalism, alienation, marginalization, insider – outsider and the hegemonic power discourses in the fiction that they are writing today. Jhumpa Lahiri as an immigrant novelist clearly fits into the school of writers better known as the writers of the ‘Indian Diaspora’. The word ‘diaspora’ has been taken from Greek, meaning â€Å"to disperse†. ‘Diaspora’, is the voluntary or forcible movement of peoples from their homelands into new regions†¦. Ashcroft, Griffiths, Tiffin] Normally, disapora fiction lingers over alienation, loneliness, homelessness, existential rootlessness, nostalgia, questioning, protest and assertions and the quest for identity; it also addresses issues related to amalgamation or disintegration of cultures, discriminating margins of two different social milieus, internalizing nostalgia and suffering a forced amnesia. We may call it a literary / cultural phenomenon with a distinc t melting pot syndrome or that of a salad bowl where the identity of each ingredient is under question. Diaspora is the communities of people living ogether in one country who â€Å"acknowledge that the old country as a nation often buried deep in language, religion, custom or folklore, always has some claim on their loyalty and emotions†. (qtd. in. Kaur, 192) Diasporic experience is a spring of agonized inspiration, multiple identities, new subjectivities, creative memories and fresh perspectives of language and life. The earlier immigrant works of the neo-colonial and post-colonial works were often a product of forced immigration of people running away from religious and other political or social persecution.But several Indians who migrated to America in the mid 1970s and afterwards were in search of a better life, and material success and prosperity. Vol. II. Issue. IV Th e C rit 1 er io n December 2011 www. the-criterion. com The Criterion: An International Journal in Eng lish ISSN-0976-8165 Jhumpa Lahiri was born in 1967 and raised in Rhode Island. She was the daughter of Bengali parents. She was influenced by both Indian and American culture and heritage. This multi-cultural life style plays a central role in many of her stories, which depict the alienation and loneliness of immigrants caught between two drastically different worlds.Her novel, The Namesake focuses on the lives of Indians and Asians who have migrated abroad. Her writings tell us about the adjustment problems of Indians (both first and second generations) who have now settled in America. The tension between adhering to Indian culture and imbibing American culture, between upholding family tradition and subscribing to the individual freedom and realization that one is an outsider even though one is born there is beautifully highlighted in her works. Jhumpa Lahiri portrays immigrant experience and the clash of cultures.The conflicts portrayed in the novel bring great empathy to Gogol a s he stumbles along the first – generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalities, comic detours and wrenching love-affairs. With penetrating insight, she reveals not only the defining power of the names and expectations bestowed upon us by our parents but also the means by which we slowly, sometimes painfully, come to define ourselves. The Namesake, is the story of the Ganguli family. Following an arranged marriage in Calcutta, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli move to the U. S. and settle in Cambridge and Massachusetts.An engineer working at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ashoke adapts more quickly to life in America in contrast to his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family, in Kolkatta. When a son is born to Gangulis, they are faced with the realization that they cannot wait for a suitable name for the child. Ashoke names the boy Gogol after a Russian writer, whose book he credits with saving his life. But Gogol who does not know the reason for gi ving him this name, is unable to identify either with the Americans or with the Indians.Intimately interacting with the American environment, the Indian diaspora continues to feel that they are the outsiders even though they have an insider’s insight. The question of cultural identity occurs in Lahiri’s writings. In India no single culture exists. Too many cultures have crossed and blended here, and produced a hybridity in us that cannot now unmix. The Indian cultural identity has acquired a heterogeneous composition with today’s youth who are on the move in search of better jobs.Hence the bonding between the people and the settlement is fast disappearing. The familiarity and uniformity of basic cultures across communities in the states of India makes for easier assimilation and preservation of one’s own culture. But when one leaves India and goes abroad, one realizes that even though one may try and assimilate with that culture, yet it is a baffling new world. The west which appeared alluring when one viewed it from one’s locale, appears complex and complicated when one settles there and realizes that one is exiled by choice from one’s home.Immigration is the movement of people from one country or area of the world to another to establish a new permanent residence. People become immigrants primarily for economic, political or religious motives. The U. S. has often been called the â€Å"melting pot†. The name is delivered from the United States’ rich tradition of Vol. II. Issue. IV Th e C rit 2 er io n December 2011 www. the-criterion. com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165 immigrants coming to the U. S. looking for lucrative jobs and having their cultures melted and incorporated into the fabric of the country.Most of them (immigrants) were not highly educated and did not possess wealth or power in their home countries other than these few commonalities of what they didnâ₠¬â„¢t possess, their backgrounds were vastly different. The thread, however, that bound these immigrants together was their vision of improving their current situation. Emma Lazarus, in a poem entitled â€Å"The New Colossus†, which is inscribed on the pedestal of the statue of liberty tells of the invitation extended to those wanting to make the U. S. their home. â€Å"†¦. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free†. Encyclopedia Americana, 1998, Vol. 637) To a question in an internet interview, regarding Lahiri as a child of immigrants in America and the conflicts she felt while growing up, she says, It was always a question of allegiance of choice. I wanted to please my parents and meet their expectations. I also wanted to meet the expectations of my American peers, and the expectations I placed on myself to fit into American society. She adds that it’s a classic case of divided identity, but depending on the degree to whi ch the immigrants in question are willing to assimilate, the conflict is more or less pronounced.Her parents were fearful and suspicious of America and American culture when she was growing up. Maintaining ties with India, and preserving the Indian tradition in America, meant a lot to them. The first generation immigrants try to stick to the mannerisms, values and beliefs of their own culture and any clash between their concept of â€Å"home† and their beliefs baffle them. In most of the second generation people these emotional links and ties with the past in most of the matters are loosened. They mainly go by American styles in food and habits, and their marital relations too are crumbling.The term first generation immigrant may be used to describe either of two classes of people. One may be, an immigrant to a country, possible with the caveat that they must be naturalized to receive this title. The second class may be the children of immigrant parents, first in a family lin e to be born in the new country. The ambiguity of this term extends to the term â€Å"second generation immigrant†, which may refer to the first generation born in the new country, or the first generation born to parents who were themselves born in the new country.The living ‘in-between’ condition is very painful and marginalizing for them. There is the yearning for â€Å"home†, to go back to â€Å"the lost origin†, and â€Å"imaginary homelands† are created from the fragmentary and partial memories of their homelands. The novel opens with Ashima recalling her homeland fondly. She is in an advanced state of pregnancy, admitted in a hospital for her delivery. To quote, †¦. nothing feels normal to Ashima. For the past eighteen months, ever since she’s arrived in Cambridge, nothing has felt normal at all.Its not so much the pain, which she knows, somehow, she will survive. It’s the consequence: Motherhood in a foreign land. â € ¦. It was happening so far from home, unmonitored and unobserved by those she loved. (The Namesake 6) Vol. II. Issue. IV Th e C rit 3 er io n December 2011 www. the-criterion. com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165 They also face cultural dilemma when their cultural practices are mocked at and there is a threat to their cultural identity. They stand bewildered and confused, and show resistance also to the discourse of power in various forms.In the following generations these confusions, problems and yearnings become less intense as they get influenced by the culture of that country and also adapt themselves to it. To a question in an internet interview, regarding her immigrant experience, Jhumpa Lahiri says, †¦The way my parents explain it to me is that they have spent their immigrant lives feeling as if they are on a river with a foot in two different boats. Each boat wants to pull them in a separate direction, and my parents are always torn between the two. They are always hovering, literally straddling two worlds†¦.She feels an immigrant must teach us so much about the world and about human beings, things we can’t understand if we are born and raised and live our whole life in one place. â€Å"The generational differences† of the migrants and their children occupy different spaces in the ‘representative’ culture but their experiences of feeling rootless and displaced can be similar on nature. Though the children born to migrant peoples enjoy better settlement and place in that country â€Å"their sense of identity borne from living in a diaspora community is influenced by the past migrant history of their parents or grand parents†.Ashima tries to settle in and adjust herself to her surroundings, but she feels strange and lost in this country and spends hours remembering her parents and family, and reading the same five Bengali novels time and again. While waiting for the child to be born, she relives the past until the point of her depature for Boston. The thought of bringing up a baby in an alien land terrifies her. †¦to raise a child in a country where she is related to no one, where she knows so little, where life seems so tentative and spare. (The Namesake 6) Ashima gives birth to a boy and he is named Gogol after the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol.She feels, without a single grandparent or uncle or aunt, at her side, the baby’s birth, like most everything else in America, feels somehow haphazard, only half true †¦. She never known of a person entering the world so alone, so deprived. (The Namesake 25) Gogol who does not know the reason for giving him this name, is unable to identify either with the Americans or with the Indians. Gradually Ashoke and Ashima’s circle of Bengali acquaintances grow and the cultural spirit of Bengal is recreated whenever the friends meet. Robert Cohen comments that distinct diaspora communities are con structed out of the, †¦. onference of narratives of the old country to the new which create the sense of shared history. As Ashoke and Ashima continue to maintain a solidarity with the community, they identify Gogol continues to search for his own identity, for a set code that will not make him feel an â€Å"insider – outsider†. Vol. II. Issue. IV Th e C rit 4 er io n December 2011 www. the-criterion. com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165 The first time his parents leave him alone overnight he goes with his friends Colin, Jason and Marc to a party in the university where his father teaches.This is his first visit to a dorm. There he meets a girl and he introduces himself as Nikhil and â€Å"he feels at once guilty and exhilarated†. (The Namesake 96)â€Å"Stunned at how easy it is† to say Nikhil, he who never dated a girl before and feels brave. He manages to kiss her before he goes. But it hadn’t been Gogol but Nikhil, â€Å"That Gogol had nothing to do with it†(The Name Sake 96) One must note the dual identity or identity crisis in Gogol. Prior to his depature for college, Gogol officially changes his name to Nikhil. But even though he had longed to change his name, he finds that he has to get used to being called Nikhil.And when his parents also refer to him as Nikhil he feels, â€Å"†¦ in that instant that he is not related to them, not their child†. (The Namesake 106) Ashoke and Ashima make adjustments which are absolutely necessary. They try to bring up their children the way it is done in India. Sonia and Gogol try to assert their individuality, and Gogol goes to the extent of reminding his parents that he is eighteen. Ashoke and Ashima cannot think of Pemberton Road as their home, but Nikhil refers to his New Haven hostel as his home. Ashima is outraged by his remark. â€Å"†¦. Sorry, I left it at home† (The Name Sake 108). Ashima says †¦. hat aft er twenty years in America, She still cannot bring Herself to refer to Pemberton Road as home. (The Namesake 108) Though Ashoke and Ashima have a large circle of Bengali migrants as their friends; the sense of alienation can be felt in them. Gogol and Sonia, American born and educated, want to be accepted as Americans. However, they feel alienated both from their parents and from their American friends who consider them as outsiders. The insider outsider feeling is prevalent in all migrants. It is through the eyes of the first generation settlers that the second generation learns about their homeland.The idea of ‘home’ is central to all human beings in every culture. Having sampled the pleasures and pains of the world, one longs to return to one’s home. Ashoke and Ashima’s body language and demeanour change, the minute they are in India. They are more confident and assertive. It is true that every time one returns one comes back to a different home, becaus e times change and so do people, but nevertheless it is a home where one’s roots are anchored. The first generation wants to preserve their culture and customs in the foreign land.It is significant that every other Saturday Ashoke and Ashima send Gogol for Bengali language and culture classes at the home of one of their Bengali friends. But, The children in the class study without interest, wishing they could be at a ballet or softball practice instead. (The Namesake 66) Lahiri also shows that most of the first generation people adjust well and make a space for themselves in the new country. Ashima is a good example of Lahiri’s first generation people. She tries to adapt herself with the society, she tries to work in a library and manages to drive a car by herself.They concede to Sonia and Gogol’s demand of celebrating Christmas, and having an American dinner once a week. However, when Gogol gets involved with Ruth, they disapprove openly saying ‘Youâ€⠄¢re too young to get involved this way. (The Namesake 117) Vol. II. Issue. IV Th e C rit 5 er io n December 2011 www. the-criterion. com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165 When Ruth goes off to oxford to do a course he misses her and he, †¦longs for her as his parents have longed, all these years, for the people they love in India†¦ for the first time in his life, he knows this feeling. The Namesake 117) He attends a panel discussion about Indian novels written in English. There the question about marginality is discussed. Teleologically speaking, ABCDs are unable to answer the question ‘where are you from? ’ the sociologist on the panel declares. (The Namesake 118) Gogol realizes that ABCD [ABCD stands for American born confused â€Å"desi†] refers to him also. He ponders over the question of identity. After graduating Gogol gets a job in a firm and is posted in New York. He meets Maxine and is invited by her for dinner. While eating dinner with Maxine’s parents, he recalls his mother’s hospitable nature and how, â€Å"She would never have served so few dishes to a quest. † (The Namesake 133) Lahiri shows that comparisons and contrast between Indian culture and Western culture are bound to occur. Cultural displacement involves the loss of language, family ties and a support system. Salman Rushdie says, A full migrant suffers, traditionally, a triple disruption. He loses his place, he enters into alien language, he finds himself surrounded by beings whose social behavior and codes are unlike and sometimes even offensive to his own.And this is what makes a migrant such a pathetic figure, because roots, language and social norms have been three of the most important parts of the definition of what it is to be human being. For the second generation the question of identity is a complicated issue. At home Indian culture and value system are adhered to, while in public the American co de of conduct is followed. This becomes doubly problematic. Added to this is the fact that Ashoke, Ashima and all first generation settlers want their children to do well and get good jobs.The American dream looms in their eyes and they want their children to exploit the situation and derive the maximum benefit for themselves, but they must follow the Indian moral and cultural code at home. However, Gogol, Sonia, as well Moushumi want to chart out their own lives. Gogol’s shifting in with Maxine is an assertion of his independence, and his desire to completely merge with the American culture. Gogol eventually marries Moushumi, but they are not happy and so they part. Ashoke dies, and Ashima decides to sell the house on Pemberton Road. Hence forth she would spend six months in India and six months in the states.True to the meaning of her name, she will be without borders, without a home of her own, a resident everywhere and nowhere (The Namesake 276) Initially when she had com e in 1967, she had been petrified of living in America. But now as she makes the journey back home alone, she is no longer terrified. Vol. II. Issue. IV Th e C rit 6 er io n December 2011 www. the-criterion. com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165 It is the last Christmas party at Pemberton Road after the death of Ashoke. Gogol, Sonia and her fiance Ben, and other guests gather around Ashima to enjoy this moment.Gogol goes to get his father’s camera and finds the book, which his father had given him on his birthday and which he had never bothered to open and read. As the party goes on downstairs, he sits on his bed and begins to read the book. The first generation migrants face cultural dilemma but do their best to retain their cultural identity and cultural practices in their beliefs, values, cloths and eating habits. These ‘beliefs, traditions, customs, behaviours and values along with their ‘possessions and belongings’ are c arried by migrants with them when they arrive in â€Å"new places†.The children of the migrants do not face the same problems because of their parents living â€Å"here now†. Thus Lahiri has shown dynamically the shifting concepts of ‘home’ and ‘displacement’ in the successive generations of migrants. Lahiri uses her own craft, technique, style, format and structure. Her narrative voice is elegant, bitter sweet and gentle. Her novel talks of Indian culture, traditions, including food and festival, clothes and customs. Her novel, The Namesake, exhibits her signature style and in it she revisits issues that she knows well, those of cultural displacement, sense of identity, and belonging with one foot in two words.Lahiri gracefully shifts the narrative focus from the Ganguli parents to Gogol as he reaches school age. Gogol struggles with his name, which he regards as absurd and inappropriate. The issue of culture permeates the novel, from the ear ly dislocation of immigration in the first half of the novel to Gogol’s departure from home to Yale University. This transition is marked by Gogol’s decision to change his name to Nikhil. Gogol’s college experience in one way resembles what might be called typical; he falls in love; he discovers architecture; he begins to assert, against his parent’s desires, his independence and individuality.And yet his experiences are always complicated by the particular, as in any life. Gogol can never, even when he moves to New York to work in a large architecture firm, shake his past, his culture or his name as he wishes to do. The novel exposes the fallacy of the American myth of selfcreation. Gogol grows up, moves out and goes through life suffering personal tragedies that also shape his identity. The novel ends with Gogol in his early thirties. Although the novel never feels busy or hectic, the characters are always in transit. America and the west have always be en idealized by the Indians.But when qualified Indian migrate to America then the adjustment problems begin between the traditions, one has inherited and the day to day life one encounters there. There is a gradual adjustment, and assimilation and then a hybrid culture comes to the fore. Gradually one develops a respect for other cultures even though one’s own culture remains ingrained within oneself. Culture is not defined now-a-days by a place, it is defined by time ‘the now’. As identity becomes the core issue, names become quite significant. The expressive function of a name varies from culture to culture.In Lahiri’s novel, Indian names, the Indian identity of her characters become potent symbols and tools to highlight the immigrant identity. Lahiri’s works are scattered with details of Vol. II. Issue. IV Th e C rit 7 er io n December 2011 www. the-criterion. com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165 Works Cited Bhadu r, Gaiutra. â€Å"An interview with Jhumpa Lahiri† www. citypaper. net Bhagava, Rajul, ed. , â€Å"Indian writing in English The Last Decade. Rawat Publications: New Delhi. , 2002 Dodiya, Jaydipsinh, K, ed. â€Å"Critical Essays on Indian writing in English†. – New Delhi : Sarup & Sons. 2006 Edwards, Paul. â€Å"The Encyclopedia of Philosophy 8 Vols. New York. Macmillan Publishing co. , Jha, Gaurishankar, ed. , â€Å"Current Perspectives in Indian English Literature. New Delhi : Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. , 2006 Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. New Delhi : Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. , 2007. Vol. II. Issue. IV Th traditional Indian names, food items, cooking details and wardrobe lists providing the Indian an ethnic touch. In Lahiri’s novel The Namesake the role of memory in a process of change is often used by the writer in an effective way. Memory plays tricks on all of us.Memory often idealises its perception of a place to convince oneself t hat there is one entity which remained constant in world of flux. Food in the novel is a talisman, a reassuring bit of the homeland to cling to. Spices and flavor waft through like themes in a piece of music as evidenced by the following passage. †¦with the samosas, there are breaded chicken, cutlets, chickpeas with tamarind sauce, lamb biriyani, chutney made with tomatoes from the garden. (The Namesake 148) Lahiri uses food as a tool to explain Bengali culture: and also tries to distinguish it from other cultures.For example : †¦. Gogol’s annaprasan, his rice ceremony thre is no baptism for Bengali babies, No ritualistic naming in the eyes of God. Instead, the first formal ceremony of their lives centers around the consumption of Solid food. (The Namesake 38) Ashima is shocked to see whiskey and wine bottles instead of cereals and tea on top of the refrigerator in Judy’s house. Here Lahiri emphasizes cultural difference through food. Lahiri is keenly sensiti ve to the fine ruptures and sudden disjunctures which make the familiar alien, which delink one from the ies of humanity, family kin leaving one with the acute sense of being alone. She maps the emotional lines of her characters. Lahiri’s elegant prose guides us through their lives. Toward the end of the novel Gogol’s mother, Ashima, thinks, â€Å"They are not willing to accept, to adjust, to settle for something less than their ideal of happiness† That pressure has given way, in the case of the subsequent generation, to American common sense†. The perpetual tensions between cultures, between individual minds, between the mind and the world beyond it, runs through this empathetic, beautiful novel. eC rit 8 er io n December 2011 www. the-criterion. com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165 Naikar, Basavaraj, ed. â€Å"Indian English Literature. Vol. 2† New Delhi : Atlantic Publisher & Distributors. , 2002. Patel, Vibhuti. â€Å"Interview : The Maladies of Belonging†. Newsweek International, 20 Sep 1999. Prasad, Amarnath, and John Peter Joseph. â€Å"Indian Writing in English : Critical Ruminations. New Delhi : Sarup & Sons. , 2006 Shankar, Radhika. â€Å"A writer Free to write All Day† . http. //www. rediff. com/news/1999/aug23 Vol. II. Issue. IV Th 9 e C rit December 2011 er io n

Barnes and Noble Case Study

Management Project 10th of december 2010 History In 1873, Charles Barnes opened a book-printing business in the USA. The first bookstore was set up by his son, William, in partnership with G. Clifford Noble, in 1917 in New York and it is the advent of Barnes and Noble. In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, the bookstore was moved to its current location on Fifth Avenue. Barnes & Noble was acquired by Leonard Riggio in 1971, who oversaw the growth of the business. Leonard Riggio, the company's chairman, began his bookselling career while attending New York University in the early 1960s.Working as a clerk in the university bookstore, he became convinced that he could do a better job serving students,  and he opened a competing store of his own. With a small investment, Mr. Riggio established the Student Book Exchange (SBX) in Manhattan's Greenwich Village in 1965. The store quickly became one of New York’s finest bookstores, known for its knowledgeable staff, wide se lection and great service. In 1974, Barnes & Noble became the first bookstore to advertise on television.In 1975, the company became the first bookseller in America to discount books, by selling New York Times best-selling titles at 40% off the publishers’ list price. During the 1970s and 1980s, Barnes & Noble opened smaller discount stores, which were eventually phased out in favor of larger stores. They also began to publish their own books to be sold to mail-order customers, enabling them mail-order to reach new customers nationwide through mail-order catalogues. In 1979 Barnes & Noble acquired a chain of retail stores called Bookmasters, and then bought up Marboro Books Inc. , a remainder company with discount retail outlets.Barnes & Noble continued to expand throughout the 1980s, and in 1987, the company made its largest acquisition when it purchased B. Dalton Bookseller from Dayton Hudson. This acquisition of 797 retail bookstores thrust the company onto the national sc ene, making Barnes & Noble a nationwide retailer overnight and the second-largest bookseller in America. The company also acquired Doubleday Book Shops from the Bertelsmann Company and the rights to the Scribner’s bookstore trade name from Macmillan. Barnes & Noble purchased BookStop, a company operating discount book superstores in Texas, in 1989.This acquisition gave the company key insights into the ingredients behind a successful superstore strategy, from real estate to operations to marketing and merchandising. In the late 1980s, Barnes & Noble tested selling books online in an early generation venue called Trintex, a joint venture with IBM. In the early 1990s, the company refined its superstore concept and established the modern generation of Barnes & Noble superstores, which today represent over 96 percent of their retail sales. Barnes & Noble became a publicly traded company in 1993, listed in New York Stock Exchange.In the mid-1990s, it sold books on CompuServe and l ater opened a full-fledged book superstore on America Online in March 1997. Before Barnes & Noble created its web site, it sold books directly to customers through mail-order catalogs. It first began selling books online in the late 1980s, but the company’s website was not launched until May 1997. According to the site, it now carries over 1 million titles, as well as a vast selection of music CDs and DVDs. (5) In the beginning of the millenium the company has made two acquisitions that expanded its publishing capability. * In 2001, Barnes & Noble purchased SparkNotes. om, a leading study aids website, offering free online access to literature notes and more than 1,000 study guides on everything from literature to chemistry to computer science. SparkNotes converted its top study guides into print publications, and they have rapidly become bestsellers. * In 2003, Barnes & Noble purchased Sterling Publishing. For 60 years, Sterling has been one of the world's leading publishers of non-fiction books. Sterling strives to publish high-quality books that educate, entertain and enrich the lives of their readers. In March 2009, Barnes ; Noble acquired Fictionwise, a leader in the eBook marketplace.Headquartered in New Jersey, Fictionwise was founded in 2000 by Steve and Scott Pendergrast. In July 2009, Barnes ; Noble launched the world's largest eBookstore as  part of its overall digital strategy. In October 2009, Barnes & Noble introduced Nookâ„ ¢, the world’s most advanced eBook Reader. It was awarded as the Best New Gadget of 2009 in January 2010. Institutional structure Stakeholders A stakeholder is defined as â€Å"an individual or group with an interest in the success of an organization in delivering intended results and maintaining the viability of the organization's products and services. Analyzing the economic interactions of Barnes ; Noble closely, it can be seen that there is a great variety of internal as well as external stakeholders t aking part in the economic and financial decision making of the company as a whole. Internal core stakeholders of Barnes ; Noble first of all include its 40,000 nationwide employees, which contribute to the economic functioning of the company by their direct interaction with customers in Barnes ; Noble’s 720 stores and 636 college bookstores.Also they are likely to contribute directly with their ideas, creativity and expertise. Their expectancies can be identified as job security, financial compensation of their contributions in terms of a salary, esteem, pensions, extended involvement in profit and a health care insurance, as well as a pleasant working atmosphere. Further internal core stakeholders of Barnes ; Noble, who are vital for its business making through their contributions of not only risk capital, but also of ideas and control, are its various shareholders.The expected reward of shareholders concerns capital gain in terms of dividends or a rising stock price, which usually is obtained through sustainable economic growth and a reasonable business strategy of Barnes ; Noble. Besides internal stakeholders, there are also many external forces and groups which indirectly influence the decision making of Barnes ; Noble. Especially competitors play an important role, as their decision-making might directly influence or initiate changes concerning Barnes ; Noble’ operating markets.Besides its fundamental core business, which concerns selling books through its 720 local bookstores in all 50 States of the USA, Barnes ; Noble’s online appearance, www. barnesandnoble. com, has gained on importance over the last years. Especially this sector is highly competitive as big players such as Amazon. com Inc. dominate the market. Possible interactions amongst competitors concern eventual collaborations in innovation. Another absolutely important group with respect of Barnes ; Noble’s stakeholders are its clients. Their contributions to the c ompany concern not nly purchases but also loyalty and most importantly feedback, which can be used to adjust Barnes ; Noble’s business plan depending on consumer preferences. The expectations of customers include quality, special offers and, in case of the book market Barnes ; Noble operates in, a broad variety of books available directly on demand. In a more general sense, also the American government takes part in Barnes ; Noble, as it ensures a fair competition in the market through regulations and a framework of rules which has to be accepted by not only Barnes ; Noble but also by all its competitors.Rewards, which are expected by the government, include tax payments, employment, and economic growth. Also banks are part of Barnes ; Noble’ shareholders, as they provide loan capital upon request as well as advisory in exchange for interest and mortgages. However, as Barnes ; Noble rents most of its stores, there has not been any significant need of loan capitals over the last decades. Ownership Structure The ownership structure of Barnes ; Noble is determined and ranked by the amounts of shares owned by a certain individual or group.The assembly of shareholders is therefore the most important event in terms of power and decision making for Barnes ; Noble, as it is symbolizes the top entity in the hierarchy of power distribution. First of all, 49% of the total available Barnes ; Noble’s shares are in the possession of Insiders and the Top-5-Percent Owners. The most significant position, equivalent to 27. 8% of the total distributed shares, is held by Barnes ; Noble’s chairman Leonard Riggio, as it can be seen in the underneath graph. Also the American business magnate Ronald Burkle is heavily invested in Barnes ; Noble with roughly 18. % of Barnes ; Noble shares in the possession of his Investment firm Yacaipa Cos. Another 49% of total Barnes ; Noble’s shares are held by Institutional ; Mutual Fund Owners, such as Aletheia R esearch ; Management Inc. which holds 15 % on Barnes ; Noble as seen in the underneath graph. The total number of Institutions holding Barnes ; Noble’s shares was 161 in June 2010. Governance Structure and its Mechanism Barnes ; Noble governance structure is equivalent to the standard American governance model: the assembly of shareholders elects the board of directors.Then, it is the task of the board of directors to successfully control Barnes ; Noble’s top managers (the executive committee) according to the expectations and conclusions of the shareholders and the board of directors. Therefore, the top managers are the ones who effectively control the daily business of Barnes ; Noble and who give feedback to upper entities upon developments. The underneath model summarizes the simple interconnection of Barnes ; Noble’s managerial entities: Assembly of Shareholders Board of Directors Top Managers Members of the Board of Directors Barnes ; Noble can be seen in t he underneath diagram:It can be seen that the chairman Leonard Riggio together with his son Stephen Riggio, controls the Board of Directors, whereas William J. Lynch, /as the CEO, is in charge of the executive committee of Barnes ; Noble. The members who are listed as â€Å"Director† are so called independent directors, who worked for other companies over the last years and who contribute mainly with their experience to the overall decision making. The power within the Executive Committee is distributed between three major committees, which are dealing with different areas of Barnes ; Noble economic functioning: The Audit Committee, which is in charge of assuring the integrity and reliability of the ? nancial records and the protection of assets though internal control as well as the external control through an annual independent report of BDO Seidman. -The Nominating Committee, which controls the composition of the members through recommending and selecting qualified individ uals to the full board in order to elect them as new members. -The Corporate Governance Committee, dealing with the overall economic efficiency of Barnes ; Noble, as well as with the distribution of rewards for employees.Core Institutional Goals Core institutional goals of Barnes ; Noble describe the overall strategy of the Board of Directors, to be carried out by the Executive Board. Primarily, Barnes ; Noble wants to become the biggest bookseller in the United States and therefore increase its market share. Also Barnes ; Noble wants to expand its product line by not only focusing on book sales, but also by successfully selling its eBook Reader Nook. Even though the expansion on international markets was already under discussion, this is not yet part of its core objectives.Also Barnes ; Noble wants to invest in restructuring its stores in order to make the stay at a Barnes ; Noble Book Store an experience and thus increase its loyal customer base. Interaction of Elements The interc onnection of the mentioned elements is vital for the understanding of the functioning of not only Barnes ; Noble but of every company. Metaphorically it can well be compared to the mechanism of a automatic watch – if one element is missing or separated from the others, the whole mechanism will not work.Despite their different contributions and expectations, all stakeholders together form the base of the company Barnes ; Noble. Essentially it is the interaction of provided capital, a business plan and employees, which forms the first preliminary framework of a company. However, power within a company has to be distributed, as only a structured hierarchy amongst employees ensures an efficient functioning of all sectors. Therefore a governance structure has to be developed in order to distribute tasks effectively.In order to be able to plan ahead and give investors an outlook in the potential future, institutional goals have to be stated. Thus, all these core elements are absolu tely vital for not only Barnes ; Noble but for all companies in order to successfully compete in their market environment. Institutional Components influencing the Financial Performance Having analyzed the ownership structure of Barnes ; Noble, it can be seen that Leonard Riggios amount of shares owned combined with Ronald Burkles proportion of shares together sum up to almost 50 % of the total shares in the market.Therefore the entire governance structure mechanism is heavily dependent on their, eventually subjective, opinions, which makes the mechanism inefficient. Even though this is a very particular observation, I personally think it might be of significant importance, as the poor performance of the organization in my opinion is mainly due to a lack of innovation. As the founder and chairman Riggio is said to be a very conservative shareholder, he might hinder Barnes ; Noble to modernize as well as to eventually readjust its institutional goals.Corporate strategy The Companyâ⠂¬â„¢s principal business is the sale of trade books (generally hardcover and paperback consumer titles, mass market paperbacks, children’s books, eBooks and other digital content, eReaders and related accessories, bargain books, magazines, gifts, cafe products and services, music and movies direct to customers through its bookstores or through its subsidiary Barnes ; Noble. com.In October 2009, Barnes ; Noble also launched NOOKâ„ ¢, the Company’s proprietary eReader that the firm considers the world’s most advanced eBook reader, because â€Å"it features groundbreaking lending technology, a color touchscreen and lets readers download books in seconds†. In addition Barnes ; Noble has expanded its approach to bookselling and the products it offers through its self-publishing program and through its Sterling Publishing and through the acquisition of SparkNotes.The company publishes over 500 titles annually, under a variety of imprints including Sterling, Sterling Children’s Books and Barnes ; Noble Classics. In 2009, the Company also acquired Fictionwise, Inc. (Fictionwise), a leader in the eBook marketplace, enabling the launch of one of the company’s eBookstore. Finally, as a result of the acquisition of B;N College (2009), the Company sells textbooks and course-related materials, emblematic apparel and gifts, trade books, school and dorm supplies, and convenience and cafe items on college and university campuses.B;N College sales account for approximately 14% of the Company’s fiscal 2010 sales. Products and Services Because Barnes ; Noble retail business is very complex, a deeper analysis is crucial to understand its main features: Since 1997 Barnes ; Noble has started redesigning its position in the business from a store-based model to a multichannel model centered in internet and digital commerce by launching its website barnesandnoble. om, but the biggest step forward has been done in July 2009 with the o pening of its Ebookstore and digital newsstand, which now allows customers to purchase over one million eBooks, electronic newspapers and magazines. Barnes ; Noble’s eBookstore is available on a wide range of digital platforms, including iPadâ„ ¢, iPhone , iPod touch and several smartphones, as well as most laptops or desktop computers. In Barnes ; Noble retail stores the company offers a huge selection of books, ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 titles.Complementing this extensive on-site selection, all Barnes ; Noble stores provide customers with access to the millions of books available to online shoppers at Barnes ; Noble. com while offering an option to have the book sent to the store or shipped directly to the customer. The online channel also offers the supplemental opportunity to buy not only common hard covers but also out-of-print, rare and used books. Moreover, many of the Barnes ; Noble stores have music/DVD/BluRay departments that typically stock over 20,000 titl es.The Company’s DVD and BluRay selection is focused on foreign films, documentaries and episodic TV shows. The music selection is focused on classical music, opera, jazz, blues and pop rock. The music department features RedDotNet, an advanced listening station technology that is connected to the Company’s online electronic music catalog and enables customers to listen to any compact disc in the store, sampling up to 300,000 music titles using scanner technology.In every store it is also possible to find an Home ; Gift section that offers items for the office and electronics and also Toys ; Games and PC ; Video Games departments with a selection of thousands of titles as well as consoles, accessories and strategy guides. Many stores are also have some cafes inside that offer costumers Starbucks beverages, and other products such as candies and sandwiches. Although the cafes are owned and operated by Barnes ; Noble, servers follow Starbucks' standards in beverage prepa ration.From 2004 all the stores offer a free Wi-Fi access using the AT&T FreedomLink network. Horizontal and Vertical Boundaries: While the company has a complete control on sales and hence has never franchised its retail stores, it has anyway signed many different trading agreements with third parties concerning purchases of most of the products sold, manufacturing, logistics and IT complements with the objective to reduce its operating costs. Below the most important are enlisted: NOOKâ„ ¢, the Company’s eBook reader, and other Company products are manufactured by a third-party manufacturer outside the United States and Barnes & Noble relies on components provided from a number of different manufacturers both within and outside the United States. Many of these manufacturers are concentrated in geographic areas outside the United States.. Barnes & Noble relies also on third-party digital content and applications. * The company is provided with national freight distributio n, including trucking services by Argix Direct Inc. The company’s B&N Retail segment purchases physical books from over 1,700 publishers and over 50 wholesalers or distributors. Barnes & Noble also acquires rights to distribute digital content from publishers and distributes the content on Barnes & Noble. com. * The company uses Intel-based server technology in a fully redundant configuration to power its website, which is hosted in two locations. At these locations, the company maintains computers that store its web pages in electronic form and transmits them to requesting users (known as hosting).The Company utilizes two hosting locations. One location is hosted internally by the company and the other is maintained by a third-party hosting vendor. Instead, the company decided to invest in the purchasing of two huge distribution centers: one in Monroe Township, New Jersey, which ships merchandise to stores throughout the country and to online customers and one in Reno, Nevad a, which is used to facilitate distribution to stores and online customers in the western United States.The company also owns another distribution center capacity for facilitating sales by Sterling Publishing to third parties. This investment has clearly enabled the company to source an increasingly larger percentage of its inventory through its own distribution centers, resulting in increased direct buying from publishers rather than wholesalers. Greater volume through the company’s own distribution centers makes it possible to lower distribution costs per unit, to increase both inventory turns and product margins.This has also led to improved just-in-time deliveries to stores and the ability to offer â€Å"Fast&Free Delivery† through its website and for in-store orders placed by customers for home delivery. The improvement in technologies and the changes in culture and society are making books obsolete goods whose demand is getting lower and lower, this reality force d an institution in book retailing like Barnes and Noble to change its strategy and to concentrate in new markets such as e-books production and selling as well as e-book readers manufacturing.This change in the course of action also drove the company to transform its superstores into community centers that host the most important social events as well as to turn into a multichannel distribution company by strengthening its position in the e-commerce industry. These improvements have made Barnes & Noble the only enterprise that nowadays offers readers the option of store visits, e-Commerce, and digital delivery of books to Barnes & Noble-branded devices or other devices of their choosing.The company also makes big effort in marketing and merchandising campaigns in order to drive traffic to both its stores and website: at the center of this program is Barnes & Noble. com, which receives over 450 million visits annually and most of all leverages the power of the Barnes & Noble brand b y offering online customers a premier destination for all the products sold by the company. In this way, Barnes & Noble. com serves as both the Company’s direct-to-home delivery service and as an important broadcast channel and advertising medium for the Barnes & Noble brand.Geographical scope From the point of view of the geographical scope, the aim of B&N has always been to collocate its retail stores and its college stores only in the USA in order to gain the leadership in the book-retailing market of the country. The firm has reached its goal thanks to its huge number of retail stores (720 located in all the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and 637 college stores) and has still no plans to open its stores anywhere else. Concerning the e-commerce B&N hasn’t instead created any geographical boundaries: in the USA b&n. om has a consolidated power that is still overcome just by Amazon. com whereas in Europe the firm is trying to gain shares in the market especia lly through a joint venture created in October, 1998, with the German publishing giant Bertelsmann AG. The purposes of this venture are mainly two: Bertelsmann wants to compete with Amazon. com in the U. S, while Barnes & Noble expects its partnership with Bertelsmann to help it expand into European markets. Organizational structure David Deason V. P. of Development Barnes & Noble, Inc.Chris Troia Chief Information Officer Barnes & Noble, Inc. Alan Kahn President of Barnes & Noble Publishing Group Leonard Riggio Founder and Chairman Barnes & Noble, Inc. William F. Duffy Executive V. P. of Distribution and Logistics Barnes & Noble, Inc. . Allen Lindstrom Control Allen W. Lindstrom V. P. , Corporate Controller Barnes & Noble, Inc. William J. Lynch Chief Executive Officer Barnes & Noble, Inc. Andy Milevoj Manager of Investor Relations Joseph LombardiChief Financial Officer Barnes & Noble, Inc Jaime Carey Chief Merchandising Officer Barnes & Noble, Inc. Mary Ellen Keating Senior V. P. o f Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Barnes & Noble, Inc. Stephen Riggio Vice Chairman Barnes & Noble, Inc. Mitchell S. Klipper Chief Executive Officer Barnes & Noble Retail Group Barnes & Noble, Inc. Michelle Smith V. P. of Human Resources Barnes & Noble, Inc. Mark Bottini V. P. and Director of Stores Barnes & Noble, Inc. Marcus E. Leaver President Sterling PublishingThere are no direct information about the organizational structure of the firm, but by looking at the chart it is quite clear that the company is divided in several functions that deal with both the two main operating segments: B&N Retail and B&N College; anyway the Company board of directors has decided to treat these two businesses as independent from one another, considering the manner in which the business is managed (focusing on the financial information distributed) and the manner in which its chief operating decision maker interacts with other members of management.The company has seasoned management te ams for its digital business and retail stores, including those for real estate, merchandising and store operations. According to its main strategy, the Company management team employs exclusively highly skilled professional with both media expertise and supply chain management skills in order to guarantee a positive customer’s experience regardless the preference for either physical or digital products.Field management includes regional directors and district managers supervising multiple store locations: Each store generally employs a store manager, two assistant store managers, a cafe manager and approximately 50 full and part-time booksellers. Many Barnes & Noble stores also employ a full-time community relations manager.Field management for all of the company’s bookstores, including regional directors, district managers and store managers, participate in an incentive program tied to store productivity. The company believes that the compensation of its field manage ment is competitive with that offered by other specialty retailers of comparable size. Store managers participate in annual merchandising conferences, and district managers participate in semi-annual training and merchandising conferences.Store managers are generally responsible for training other booksellers and employees in accordance with detailed procedures and guidelines prescribed by the Company utilizing a blended learning approach, including on-the job training, e-learning, facilitator-led training and training aids available at each bookstore and for adjusting the buyers’ selection to the interests, lifestyle and demands of the store’s local customers.Organizational Culture Since its foundation, the Firm has been trying to reach mainly one aim: to make its stores centers and active parts of the community life, places where people can meet, interact with the others, feel at ease and share their common passion for books.To achieve this goal the Company firstly h as built imposing bookstores in highly visible areas open seven days a week, secondly has focused on creating a warm and cozy environment with ample public spaces, comfortable settings, including lounge chairs and reading tables, a cafe, public restrooms and also children playgrounds, thirdly has added a calendar of ongoing events, including author appearances and children’s activities and also supports communities through efforts on behalf of local non-profit organizations that focus on literacy, the arts or K-12 education.As well as its stores, also the website reflects the efforts made by the company to offer a pleasant shopping experience: it is easy to browse thanks to a clear site map and a useful search bar and moreover is it organized in order to show to the visitors all the ranges of products and most of all the special offers. It is common knowledge that the artifacts are the direct expressions of some values that every company considers crucial and strives to teach to all the employees, from just a superficial analysis of the firm some of them appear quiet clearly: firstly the importance of quality and customers’ satisfaction.But what is considered absolutely vital for the effectiveness of the firm’s performance it’s both the collaboration among colleagues that can be maintained and strengthened by respecting, supporting and helping each other and the alignment with Barnes and Noble commitment and ethics. As it has already been said, the company has always believed that by concentrating its efforts on becoming a community institution and by satisfying in every aspect the customers it would encourage customer loyalty, word-of-mouth publicity and media coverage and it would have a successful and effective performance.This strategy has clearly worked and hence allowed the firm not to bother too much on competitors’ strategies and become anyway a leader in the book retailing market and one of the most powerful firms in the e-Commerce field. It is evident that the stores haven’t been created to be considered Just as dealers: the relationship that the customers establish with the company is rather more complex: per excellence books- buyers are hesitant, but in B&N stores they have the chance not only to be helped by highly skilled booksellers but also to feel at ease in special relax areas where they can peruse a book over some coffee.Also analyzing the company strategy in the e-Commerce field, the satisfaction of the customer is still the unique priority. The exploitation of the well furnished distribution centers through fast deliveries to all the USA guarantees an standoffish online service. Punctuality and fast delivery made Barnes & Nobles a leader in the e-Commerce. Competitive strategy Barnes & Noble competes in the book selling industry. The industry can be examined by using the five basic competitive forces.The threat of new entrants depends on the barriers to entry and the threat o f retaliation. There is low capital requirement for the industry, because the books can also be sold online, but the economies of scale is significantly high, because of its large inventories and diverse selection capacity. The book selling industry is a highly competitive market. The company has to compete with e-Commerce businesses (Amazon. com, Apple), mass merchandisers such as Wal- Mart, growing market for electronic books and digital distribution of book content.Additionally, it has to face a challenge because of specialty retail stores, furthermore, it competes with large bookstores such as Borders and Book-A-Million, as well as smaller bookstores such as Waldenbooks. That is why, the threat of retaliation in the book selling industry is low, because the profitability in the industry is already low due to intense competition. Legal restrictions are low for the e-commerce business and brand loyalty is also low for the industry. All of these factors approve that the barriers to entry for the book selling industry is low.The suppliers for Barnes&Noble are the third party manufacturers located outside the United States who are the producers of the books and store leasers. The threat of integration for the book manufacturers is low, so their barganing power can not be high also depending on their quantity. Besides, all of Barnes&Noble’s retail stores which are leased premises effects profitability in a very essential way. Its profitability depends on the company’s ability to find the optimum point for its store lease portfolio. number of retail store, store locations, lease terms &conditions). On the other hand the customers’volume of purchase is not that high, but the availability of information is pretty high especially for the Internet. Consequently the bargaining power of customers is high. There are no substitutes for real books except e-books, but Barnes & Noble also exists in that business. Barnes & Noble retail stores primarily c ompete on the store experience, quality of shopping and the price and availability of the products.Barnes & Noble’s most powerful competitor is Amazon. com. Amazon. com is the firm that dominates in the online book selling market, as well as web shopping. It has many advantages over Barnes&Noble, such as easy access and a highly secure information system. Also it has a book recommendation system which keeps the information of every customer by collaborative filtering and recommends books depending on the customer’s previous purchases. Unlike Barnes&Noble, Amazon. com does not have a physical bookstore.The firm has a very small inventory, but Barnes&Noble has to have a large inventory to provide a variety of selection to satisfy customers and it has to pay to the distributor within (at most) 3 months after the purchase which means that the firm has to carry the cost of the inventory for up to four months. This situation creates a disadvantage for Barnes&Noble, against i ts strong competitor Amazon. com. On the other hand, having many stores can be an advantage, because it reduces the advertising expenses of the firm.Only online book seller Amazon. com, has to advertise by links from other web sites and it has to have an advanced information technology which can offer individualized recommendations for the customers, billing and shipping systems. Barnes&Noble’s information system is worse than Amazon. com’s but it also has brick and mortar stores which can never face any technical problems that can lock up all of its sales for a period of time. Therefore, these stores have both advantages and disadvantages for the company.Another specialty that Barnes&Noble has is related to its horizontal boundaries. It majorly sells books but it also sells DVDs, toys, games and music albums. Therefore it does not have a narrow horizontal boundary. So just like Amazon. com it also has to compete with eBay, which is a very popular online auction site. As it can be understood from Amazon. com’s features, it has the market dominance, with the contribution of being the first one in the online book selling market. Still, Barnes&Noble has an advantage over Amazon. om, because Barnes&Noble is a profitable company unlike Amazon. com. It does not have high marketing expenses, because it markets its merchandise by creating a nice atmosphere and opening a coffee shop inside the stores, letting customers have a nice experience which increases their willingness to buy. Nevertheless, Barnes&Noble has to compete with â€Å"Borders† which is an international book and music retailer located in United States. Barnes&Noble is the largest bookstore chain in the US, but it still increases the concentration of the industry.One of the main competitive disadvantages of Barnes&Noble is its high overhead expenses and high cost of production, because the company has more than 1000 stores and 40,000 employees. (Amazon. com has only 7600 emplo yees, and 1600 of them are for book sales) On the other hand, its size allows it to offer some discounts to its customers and lets it have highly diverse selections, which also means that high economies of scale is an important factor for the companies in this industry.Therefore, another effective competitive strategy of Barnes&Noble is its nationwide discount pricing strategy. The current pricing is 30% off publishers’ suggested retail prices for hardcover bestsellers and 20% off select feature titles in departments such as children’s books and computer books. The Barnes & Noble Member Program offers members greater discounts. For an annual fee of $25, members receive discounts of 40% off publishers’ suggested retail prices on hardcover bestsellers, 20% off adult hardcovers, and 10% off on almost all other merchandise.These discounts are available to members for purchases made at Barnes&Noble stores. Barnes&Noble. com implemented an â€Å"everyday low pricingà ¢â‚¬  model that provides a single, low price for each item site wide for members and non members and enables the Company to offer better value to its customers. Members also receive free express shipping on eligible purchases made on Barnes&Noble. com. In addition, members receive exclusive offers and promotions via direct mail and email. Consequently, the switching cost of the industry gets higher.Barnes&Noble’s online customer base is a lot lower than Amazon. com’s. Therefore it developed or copied some strategies to overcome this dominance. For example, it made a deal with Microsoft to become â€Å"the exclusive book seller† for the book shopping category on the MSN network, which is an imitation strategy, because also Amazon. com has a similar agreement with Microsoft. Also, it sold 50% of its shares to the German Publisher Bertelsmann AG, right after Amazon. com’s similar partnership with it. Barnes&Noble’s main purpose was to grow into Euro pean markets.Besides, Barnes&Noble started to move into other markets such as the sales of dvds, toys and music albums, after Amazon. com. Amazon. com, manages to sell a lot in these areas with no profit, because of its high advertising expenses. So it is pretty useless for Barnes&Noble to copy this strategy of Amazon. com. Since Amazon. com has the dominance for the online book selling industry, only a few consumers prefer Barnes&Noble on its new market, unless it does not make any differentiations about it. Also this situation, prevents both companies to have a significant brand recognition.To sum up, Barnes&Noble, uses the Wal- Mart strategy to compete in this industry, which includes huge stores, low prices and a sophisticated technology to track its inventory and get rid of the undemanded products from its supply, but this situation can not actually help the firm to raise its profit, because an innovation is needed in this kind of a highly competitive industry. The company need s essential differentiation. Another copycat like strategy of Barnes&Noble was to create Nook (which looks like an imitation of Amazon. om’s Kindle). But this time there was a difference about this copying strategy, the company created an additional e-book software for PC, Mac and iPad and its own content library. With this strategy the company has vertically integrated. (only by a single layer which is content) Moreover, Barnes&Noble, sells content and makes its platform available to IREX and Plastic Logic devices’ users. This stack strategy, brings additional revenue to the firm and also makes the company’s options unavailable for its competitors.Unfortunately, this strategy is not good enough for the firm to dominate in the market, because scale, efficiency and little differentiations is not enough for a market with many competitors. The increased competition is likely to reduce Barnes&Noble’s sales and profits Finances Consolidated balance sheet of Ba rnes & Noble Inc. (2010-05-01) (in thousands of USD) Assets| Current Assets| Cash And Cash Equivalents| 60,965| Short Term Investments | -| Net Receivables | 106,576| Inventory | 1,370,111|Other Current Assets | 181,825| Total Current Assets | 1,719,477| Property, Plant and Equipment | 812,034| Goodwill | 528,541| Intangible Assets | 580,962| Accumulated Amortization | -| Other Assets | 64,672| Deferred Long Term Asset Charges    | -| Total Assets | 3,705,686| Liabilities| Current Liabilities| Accounts Payable | 1,624,408| Short/Current Long Term Debt | 100,000| Total Current Liabilities | 1,724,408| Long Term Loans | 260,400| Other Liabilities | 505,903|Deferred Long Term Liability Charges | 311,607| Minority Interest | 1,550| Total Liabilities | 2,803,868| Stockholders' Equity| Issued Common Stock  Ã‚  ($0. 01 per share)| 89| Retained Earnings | 681,082| Treasury Stock | -1,052,356| Capital Surplus | 1,286,215| Other Stockholder Equity | -13,212| Total Stockholder Equity | 901 ,818| Total Liabilities + Equity| 3,705,686| Consolidated Income Statement of Barnes ; Noble Inc. (2009/05/02 – 2010/05/01) (in thousands of USD) Total Revenue| 5,810,564| Cost of Revenue| 4,133,819|Gross Profit| 1,676,745| Operating Expenses| Research Development| -| Selling General and Administrative| 1,392,207| Non Recurring| 3,518| Depreciation and Amortization| 207,774| Earnings Before Interest And Taxes| 73,246| Interest Expense| 28,237| Income Before Tax| 45,009| Income Tax Expense| 8,365| Net Income| 36,644| Preferred Stock And Other Adjustments| -| Net Income Applicable To Common Shares| 36,644| Barnes;Noble Inc. financial ratios of the latest annual report (2009/05/02 – 2010/05/01) Return on equity| 4. 06%| Return on total assets| 1. 1%| Return on sales| 0. 77%| Asset turnover| 1. 57| Current ratio| 0. 99| Quick ratio| 0. 2| Debt/equity ratio*| 2. 2| Interest cover| 1. 29| Cost of capital| 1. 42%| *debt = long term loans + current liabilities Barnes;Noble Inc . financial performance evaluation The profitability of Barnes;Noble Inc. is very and despite it is mainly competing in the retailing business ROE = 4. 06% is unacceptable comparing to the average 5-year ROE=10. 5%. The same tendency can be seen looking at the ROTA which is 2. 7 times lower than the 5-year average.Company‘s profit margin is even below 1% and this means that Barnes;Noble does not manage to earn enough money but at least they are able to cover all their expenses on time without losses. Low profitability ratios as well as asset turnover can be partly explained that market was facing a sharp decline, which was caused by global financial crisis and even though it did not cause the reduction in sales which actually increased but made larger costs (i. e. interests) which increased more than sales and caused some financial problems for the company.Barnes;Noble Inc. current ratio is almost 1 and this theoretically allows for the company to cover all their short term fi nancial operations but quick ratio is very low (only 0. 2) and this means that company has much inventory which is about 80% of current assets. This means that company could possibly improve its‘ profitability ratios by increasing sales of the inventory but since Barnes;Noble is in the shrinking market which cannot buy all the goods it is almost impossible to reduce high inventory significantly.Turning to Barnes;Noble Inc. financial strength ratios situation is a bit better. Company‘s debt/ratio (2. 2) looks quite normal and we can deduce that it exploits all the available financial resources to keep its‘ sustainability as well as possible. On the other hand, interest cover is particularly low (only 1. 29) and since company is facing the shrinking market this can cause trouble in the near future and lead to negative net earnings. On of the factors which allows Barnes;Noble Inc. o have positive net earnings is low cost of capital and this means that average interest rate is 1. 42% and is lower than return on the risk capital. In overall, Barnes;Noble Inc. financial results are not very pleasant and acceptable since company is facing decreasin market there is not much it could do in order to improve its‘ situation: firstly, it should try to reduce their administrative expenses, maybe close less than the average profitable which generates higher costs.Secondly, it could try to reduce inventory by lowering prices but as I have mentioned before it is a very dfficult task to acomplish since it is facing shrinking market. Finally, it could try to use their cash which even though does not count much of current assets but this could allow company to pay at least part of their debt and increase its‘ liquidity in the short run. Bibliography http://www. google. com/finance http://www. barnesandnobleinc. com/ http://www. fundinguniverse. com/ www. barnesandnoble. com www. maths. tcd. ie/~nora/FT351-3/CS. pdf www. ichnet. org/glossary. htm