Barriers that will inhibit my success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Barriers that will inhibit my success - Essay Example I lack strict time management. This is an issue since my understanding capabilities are highest in the morning. On several occasions, I have postponed revising for assessment tests scheduled for noon the next day with the promise that I would rise up early and revise accordingly. However, I have ended up frustrating myself by waking up late the next morning and ended up performing poorly in the tests. Additionally, postponing is a dreadful habit that I need to eliminate for my educational goals to remain valid. Poor financial planning will also hamper the attainment of my educational goals. I would say that I am good at saving money whenever I have some, but I am very poor at prioritizing school needs (Myers 74). Consequently, I end up using my money to purchase items out of peer pressure even when the money is sufficient to visit a library or I need little more to buy a useful

International and strategic marketing Assignment

International and strategic marketing - Assignment Example The several challenges faced over the years have also helped to propel the company into new heights. These include fierce competition from other consulting firms, the credit crunch which saw the company barely survive and the restructuring we had to do to increase efficiency and serve our clients better. The International Market After long consultations with the directors and other stakeholders, it was agreed that the company should move to another level and expand into the international market. This will be a great privilege to the company. After the marketing team completed its analysis on the first location outside the UK that the company should base its services on, we decided to take the business to Paris, France due to a number of reasons that will be outlined later. With the expansion to Paris, the company will also introduce a new product in the market. This is an area that the company has researched on and found high demand for, especially in Paris. The new product involves training programmes for International marketing. The most obvious reason as to the choice of this product is due to the fact that Paris, being a renowned historical city in the world, attracts several local and international tourists every year. The training programmes in International marketing will thus be very useful to the market. ... Secondly, new products in the market usually earn higher profits than old ones because of their unique qualities and the fact that competitors would not have caught up yet. This is especially advantageous in launching new products in new markets where such products tend to generate curiosity from the market. Thirdly, limiting the company to old products may make the company lose out on emerging markets or existing clients who eventually get bored of the same products presented in the same old ways (Husig & Kohn 2003). Seasonal variation in demand for products may mean that firms’ revenues keep fluctuating. Development of new products which are customized to be profitable during different times is one of the ways companies can use to ensure consistent revenues throughout the year. Technological advances today, especially in Information Technology have made it easy for companies to easily develop new concepts at a faster rate and with lower costs. Developing new concepts therefo re helps companies keep abreast with technological advancements (Kotler & Gray 2008). The first step undertaken included the brainstorming of ideas. Once it was made known that the company was going international, the employees in the company were very enthusiastic to pitch in ideas to help in the development of a product that would hit in the international market. Brainstorming on ideas is usually a great way to get new ideas on the table (Cateora & Graham 2002). Apart from contributions by the employees and other experts hired to do the job, clients of the company were also asked for their contribution and the feedback received was very useful. After the ideas were sifted through, the marketing department did further research on the most viable ideas and the ideas were screened. The

The Educational System in the United States Research Paper

The Educational System in the United States - Research Paper Example From this discussion it is clear that  everyday conversational skills such as writing, reading and collaboration can truly solidify the foundation of the student’s cognitive and linguistic skills. In the process of learning an additional language, ESL students must keep up with the daily strains that are placed in their program of studies.  ESL students must learn to excel in time management skills. Indisputably, each student has a unique set of literacy development needs. Most ESL students have a strict schedule and must be accommodated with personalized program of activities that is managed by the staff itself. One can only imagine the surreal experience of international students, who at times felt hopeless as a foreign student in a North American School. The point is to acknowledge that internationals students are faced with academic, social, and emotional challenges in every aspect of life, which makes learning English much more difficult.This study highlights that lea rning and applying that knowledge is a fairly non-trivial challenge for the average American. But what of non-natives who are required to learn and master one of the most grammatically complex languages? This is a struggle which is unquantifiable and difficult to overcome.  Many non-native English speakers who often feel confused, frustrated, and pressured to achieve in an environment of native English speakers are in continuous pressure to excel in academics.... Clearly, it is vital that students should ask for help and set goals on how to overcome each issue. Therefore, â€Å"procedure† becomes a necessary element to facilitate student growth as the tutor advises them to set goals and helps them accomplish these goals. In addition, it affords students the opportunity to discuss with the tutor any concerns they have.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     For majority of the ELL students, grammar is the biggest focal point. ESL students are often very knowledgeable in grammar yet fall into the trap of superfluity. ESL students are constantly struggling to write like their counterparts, yet they traditionally fall short because they approach the problem with a skewed mentality. ESL students aim for a high status instead of learning from experience.   The challenge of writing like a native English student extends beyond writing the ‘right’ word as the language itself contains multiple-word meanings. In addition, the American standard demands effective argumentation and synthesis at higher levels. This standard challenges students not only adapt to different writing styles, but to acknowledge other writing method - a seemingly painless task which is continuously compounded by a lack of familiarity with the language and its intricacies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As a tutor, it is important to account for the differences in writing style prevalent between ESL and native English speakers. The lack of context and organization present in ESL students’ writing stems from an overemphasis on grammar. Nevertheless, these differences do not correspond to a deficiency. Most ESL students get so caught up by wanting to get their papers fixed that they fail to understand the objective of the tutoring session, which

International and strategic marketing Assignment

International and strategic marketing - Assignment Example The several challenges faced over the years have also helped to propel the company into new heights. These include fierce competition from other consulting firms, the credit crunch which saw the company barely survive and the restructuring we had to do to increase efficiency and serve our clients better. The International Market After long consultations with the directors and other stakeholders, it was agreed that the company should move to another level and expand into the international market. This will be a great privilege to the company. After the marketing team completed its analysis on the first location outside the UK that the company should base its services on, we decided to take the business to Paris, France due to a number of reasons that will be outlined later. With the expansion to Paris, the company will also introduce a new product in the market. This is an area that the company has researched on and found high demand for, especially in Paris. The new product involves training programmes for International marketing. The most obvious reason as to the choice of this product is due to the fact that Paris, being a renowned historical city in the world, attracts several local and international tourists every year. The training programmes in International marketing will thus be very useful to the market. ... Secondly, new products in the market usually earn higher profits than old ones because of their unique qualities and the fact that competitors would not have caught up yet. This is especially advantageous in launching new products in new markets where such products tend to generate curiosity from the market. Thirdly, limiting the company to old products may make the company lose out on emerging markets or existing clients who eventually get bored of the same products presented in the same old ways (Husig & Kohn 2003). Seasonal variation in demand for products may mean that firms’ revenues keep fluctuating. Development of new products which are customized to be profitable during different times is one of the ways companies can use to ensure consistent revenues throughout the year. Technological advances today, especially in Information Technology have made it easy for companies to easily develop new concepts at a faster rate and with lower costs. Developing new concepts therefo re helps companies keep abreast with technological advancements (Kotler & Gray 2008). The first step undertaken included the brainstorming of ideas. Once it was made known that the company was going international, the employees in the company were very enthusiastic to pitch in ideas to help in the development of a product that would hit in the international market. Brainstorming on ideas is usually a great way to get new ideas on the table (Cateora & Graham 2002). Apart from contributions by the employees and other experts hired to do the job, clients of the company were also asked for their contribution and the feedback received was very useful. After the ideas were sifted through, the marketing department did further research on the most viable ideas and the ideas were screened. The

Defiance and Resistance Essay Example for Free

Defiance and Resistance Essay In both works The Crucible and The Bride Price by Arthur Miller and Buchi Emecheta, superstition and hysteria play key roles in destroying the morale of the Puritan and African communities. The setting in which both take place in between pre and post modernization effect the odd behavior demonstrated. In both texts, behavior different from that which is customary and accepted is interpreted as supernatural witchcraft. The fear of the unknown as well as jealousy fashions agitation, which in turn provokes individuals to turn on one another going against values and beliefs. In the play-write The crucible, Miller demonstrates the theme of the story which was rising over adversity, and standing for the truth even to death. Miller is displaying his interpretation of rise over adversity through John Proctor. John, in the beginning, wanted to keep distant from the trials. He did not want to associate or disregard his personal values by being part of the trials. When Elizabeth was arrested, he was forced to become part of it. He went to court first to set his wife free but after watching the proceedings, he saw that the evil was not only being done to his own wife but many others like his wife. As a result, he worked even harder to free the other innocent people, getting himself arrested. Despite this drawback, he did not give up. He had the chance to free himself if he testified against the others but he realized that this would be wrong, and even though he wanted to free himself, he would not if it meant bringing trouble upon others. He cleansed himself at the trial, standing for what he knew was right and died a righteous person. Though he stayed away from church, he became more pure than the common Puritans, dying as a martyr like the original apostles. He learned what truth meant through his suffering. In the novel, The Bride Price, Emecheta displays defiance and resistance through her protagonist, Aku-nna. In the Ibuza culture, it is not proper to marry or even associate ones self with an oseu. As the story builds to a climax, so does Aku-nnas courage build. Her courage, in turn, builds her defiance. After Aku-nnas menstruation has become public knowledge, she refuses to eat the chicken that has been slaughtered in her honor. At this point in the story, Aku-nna registers what very well might have been her first defiant thought. She was beginning to feel that it was unjust that she was not to be allowed a say in her own life, and she was beginning to hate her mother for being so passive about it all. As she stands in front of Okoboshi, the young man who has kidnapped her as a potential bride, Aku-nna loudly and forcefully speaks out in an attempt to save herself. It is out of fear of not only being raped but also of being deprived of ever seeing Chike again that she finds her voice and creates a story so vile that Okoboshi leaves her alone. The vile story that she creates is a lie, but the lie represents the epitome of her defiance. She tells Okoboshi that she is not a virgin; and, furthermore, she lost her virginity to a descendant of a slave. In so doing, Aku-nna risks everything, possibly even her life. Her uncle would surely kill her on sight but if she was forced to live with these people for long, she would soon die, for that was the intention behind all the taboos and customs. Anyone who contravened them was better dead and when you were dead, people would ask: Did we not say so? Nobody goes against the laws of the land and survives. Although Aku-nna has made her own choice to run away from her arranged marriage and marry Chike against her parents wishes, she cannot let go of the myth that plagues her: If a girl wishes to live long and see her childrens children, she must accept the husband chosen for her by her people if the bride price was not paid, she would never survive the birth of her first child (168). Though Chikes father offered to pay Aku-nnas bride price, her uncle simply refused to accept it, and therefore cursed her to die. In the end of the story, Aku-nna dies in childbirth, and her legend is used to further reinforce the threat of grim results for women who make their own choices. These stories remind its readers of an ugly blemish on human history. It reminds one that man is not perfect, and that we can make mistakes. However, even with these mistakes, we can cleanse ourselves and purify ourselves by making what is wrong right. As in The Bride Price where Aku-nna stands for what she believes in and what she loves and John Proctor standing for what he valued, both were defiant against their setting or community. The sufferings become to the sufferer like a crucible, and one must pay the price be it a bride price or the price of life. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

Phase Model of Globalization

Phase Model of Globalization The intention of this paper is to give an outline of the stages in the phase model of globalisation. It will talk about each of the four stages and some associated advantages and disadvantages with each. Also this paper will be looking at companies within Australia that represent each of the stages in the phase model. Introduction Globalisation is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. (StateUniversityofNewYork)Globalisation is a defining word of our age and the way in which we live; globalisation affects people, companies, their workforce and consumers. It affects all aspects, not just of the corporate world, but transactional and cultural relationships generally and so affects how we live and how we interact, no matter where we live (Stanley J. Paliwoda 2009). Globalisation has been accelerated by falling trade barriers, the spread of free trade and trade harmonisation in an electronic age, bringing a reduction in the bureaucracy surrounding international trade and increased speed to the way in which communications relay changes anywhere in the world (Stanley J. Paliwoda 2009). There are four stages in the phase model of globalisation they are Export ing, Cooperative contracts, Strategic alliances and Wholly owned affiliates (McWilliams 2010). In the following paper all four stages will be analysed and using Australian companies who operate at each stage the risks and major disadvantages will be identified and outlined. Body With todayà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s more and more globalised world the yearly value of global trade in the form of exports and imports is expected to exceed $12 trillion. In most recent years world trade has consistently grown at a more rapid rate than world productivity (BusinessVictoria 2008). The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country, in summary it means selling domestically produced products to customers in foreign countries (McWilliams 2010) the main risks with exporting are high financial costs, ever increasing trade barriers, and greater political, legal and cultural complexity. An example of an Australian company that uses exporting is the iconic Australian swimwear brand Speedo who export their items to countries such as UK, Japan, France, Italy and Germany (Speedo 2010), also many other well known Australian fashion designers such as Lisa Ho, sass bide and Ksubi (AustralianGovernment 2010 ) have increased the exportation of their designs and lines internationally over the past decade. The next phase in the model is known as cooperative contracts and it comprises of two commonly used types; Licensing and Franchising. Licensing is an agreement in which a domestic company, the licensor, receives royalty payments for allowing another company, the licensee, to produce the licensorà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s product, sell its service or use its brand name in a specified foreign market (McWilliams 2010). The use of licensing in industry can open up gaps for risks to occur, such as the licensor giving up control over the quality of the product or the service sold by the foreign licensee also licensees can eventually become competitors, especially when a licensing agreement includes access to important technology or proprietary knowledge. In Australia Telstra is a main company which is using licensee stores, the Telstra Licensed shops (Telstra 2010) can be located in all major cities and shopping centres. A business or company also has the option of franchising; th is is a collection of networked firms in which the manufacturer or marketer of a product or service, the franchisor, licences the entire business to another person or organisation, the franchisee (McWilliams 2010). Compared to licensing its risks are more numerous; at the end of the franchise term, the franchisor is not obliged to renew the franchise, in which case the business and its goodwill revert to the franchisor. Some franchises have restrictions in place which means you are limited where you may operate and/or promote your business; franchisees generally have to operate the business according to the franchisors operations manual. In Australia we have many well known franchised companies one being The Coffee Club which has 270 stores across Australia, New Zealand and Thailand (Reed 2010)and the popular chain of Healthy Habits which now has 32 stores nationally (Reed 2010) The Strategic alliance phase is an agreement in which companies combine key resources, costs, risk, technology and people (McWilliams 2010). Strategic alliances are becoming more and more prominent in the global economy, more than 20,000 corporate alliances have been formed worldwide over the past two years, and the number of alliances in the USA has grown by 25 percent each year since 1987 (Elmuti and Kathawala 2001). There are four types of strategic alliances; joint ventures, equity strategic alliance, non-equity strategic alliance, and global strategic alliances. The most common form of strategic alliance is joint ventures which involve two or more companies or individuals in a partnership for a particular purpose (Bambi Faivre Walters 2008-2010). The more valuable the complementary assets held by a local firm, the more likely a foreign firm will choose a joint venture as a means by which to enter a host market (Chiao, Lo et al. 2006). Some major disadvantages with this stage are ; the overcoming of language and cultural barriers, clash of egos and company cultures, dealing with conflicting objectives, strategies, corporate values, and ethical standards and the time consuming for managers in terms of communication, trust-building, and coordination costs (Ellay 2009). A recent joint venture was the merger of Vodaphone and 3 mobile who now fall under the joint company of VHA. VHA markets its products and services under the Vodafone brand, but retains exclusive rights to use the 3 brand in Australia (Gedda 2009) Wholly owned affiliates is the final phase in the model, these companies are foreign offices, facilities and manufacturing plants that are 100% owned by the parent company (McWilliams 2010). There is a distinct primary advantage to this which is that the parent company receives all of the profits and has complete control over the foreign facilities, but the biggest disadvantage to the use of this phase in business is the expense of building new operations or buying existing businesses, this is phase is also commonly referred to as build or buy. In situations of non-firm-specific assets, joint ventures are superior to wholly-owned subsidiaries, which are highly exposed to environmental uncertainty. In situations involving firm-specific assets, wholly-owned subsidiaries may reduce the risks of delay and opportunistic behaviour by partners in uncertain environment (Chiao, Lo et al. 2006). Mitsui EP Australia Pty Ltd (MEPAU) is an example of Australian company that is wholly owned affili ates. It is a 100% affiliated company of Mitsui Co., Ltd and Mitsuià ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s main investments are largely in the Australian and New Zealand energy sector (Mitsui 2010). While the payoff can be enormous if wholly owned affiliates succeed, the losses can be immense if they fail, because the parent company assumes all of the risk (McWilliams 2010) Conclusion In summary, all of the four stages in the phase model of globalisation have immense impact on how businesses and companies evolve through time. Some businesses may choose not to follow the phase model step by step, they can opt to skip stages on the way; there are also a majority of businesses choosing not to follow this phase model at all (McWilliams 2010). At first, globalisation was about taking advantage of minor expenses in offshore destinations, but now thriving globalisers recognise the additional major advantages to this and are taking on these advantages, where unsuccessful organisations are not. Each stage or phase of the model inherent its own levels of risks; but to make sure there is successful implementation of these phases requires conscientious planning, and also requires continuing management, and strong dedication from the business and organisation leaders.

Convergence in Technology Essay -- Essays Papers

Convergence in Technology The concept of a â€Å"global village† or a united community around the world has only in these last few years become a concept widely thought of. However, it seems that the idea of a large-scale sharing of information has long been developing, whether intended or not. The tools of communication have long served a single purpose, that of transmitting information from people to people. Direct communication was long ago realised with sign language and speech, but when people spread out, a kind indirect communication was needed. Thus we created (or rather, hired) the messenger. (Necessity is the mother of invention.) This evolved later into a postal service, connected around the world by a network of synchronised offices of a similar nature. For a long time, indirect communication was the only way to communicate over long distances. Once the telegraph came along, however, people were able to instantly communicate information over long distances. This evolved somewhat into the telephone, which spawned the radio and television. As these were developed, the efficiency and clarity of these transmissions improved, and this allowed the world to know what was happening anywhere else in the world at any given time. At this same time, programmable computers were finally coming to be used. Information was input to these machines and stored on tapes that could be put onto different computers to be run. This paralleled postal mail in a form of indirect communication. However, computers were also already based in intercommunication, because computers are systems of smaller functioning devices connected to perform a function or process. The evolution of computers’ communicating then evolved by extending direct connections between these large systems, sharing information. With the invention of the modem, computers could communicate piggybacking a system that people already used. As the modem developed, communications speeds increased. The state of convergence began when people were communicating increased types of information through these computers. First program data, statistics, stock market quotes, news, specific interest information, and finally personal information. Computers became a method of communication within themselves. The increased usage of modems for things like e-mail and on-line forums came about even... ... to use our computer, connected through the internet via our TV cable outlet and displayed on our High-Definition TV, to watch a â€Å"TV show† broadcast via the internet. The ultimate point of convergence I envision for the future is a single fibre-optic cable in our homes (perhaps brought to us by ShawTel?) as a conduit to what we know now as the Internet. Fad appliances like WebTV will be eliminated due to their inadequateness and will be replaced by integrated systems within a household. They will provide for our entertainment needs with interactive broadcast programs, news reports of only the stories or areas we request, and communication via a video and audio connection to anyone, anywhere in the world. This battle for supremacy over who will control the future of communication will be fought largely between the telecommunications companies and the Cable TV companies. Perhaps mergers will be sought, or some companies will be run out of business because of their inability to keep up. Millions of dollars will be lost and billions will be made, but the end product will create a closely-knit global community, able to communicate instantly regardless of language or location.