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

Internet Censorship - Research Paper Example nizations and individuals practice internet censorship because of maintaining the morality in the society, requirement by religion, to conserve the culture of the society, due to authoritative command or due to the requirement by law. There diverse opinions about internet censorship among the people of the modern whereby some support it at the same time others opposing it (Deibert 76). In addition, the degree of internet censorship varies from one country to another or from one organization to another. Some have got suppressed rules on internet censorship while others have extreme legal restrictions whereby even basic information like news that should be passed to the public is suppressed. Moreover, it occurs when sensitive occasions or activities are anticipated to take place. Such events include general elections in various countries to elect new leaders, protests and riots against something. Such censorship is meant not stir incitement among the public to cause more harm during such events. Other fields of censorship are done to protect the legal right to control written work, prevent offensive language against someone and to protect people from getting exposed to disturbing scenes that may cause psychological torture. Most occasions that require internet censorship are related to online censorship that is applied to media and internet. The existing difference between the two is that the limits of a nation sometimes can leak. People can get data which is prohibited in their own country other countries where the same information is not restricted. Therefore, internet censorship must be fully implemented and enforced to ensure there is no access of such information at all. To ensure that this is achieved then sites that should not accessed are completely blocked or only the information that should be communicated to people is filtered. Filtering information or blocking is implemented by use of blacklisting and intensive scrutinization of information that is

Competitive Strategy Essay Example for Free

Competitive Strategy Essay â€Å"Successful and unsuccessful strategies shape a company’s destiny† – R.A. Burgelman, Strategy is Destiny†¦ Competitive Strategy is the high-level strategy used by the firm to realize its business goals, and in particular, profitability, in the face of competition. We study competitive strategy within the overall context of technology firms, which operate within a so-called industry, e.g., the computer industry, the consumer electronic industry, the cellular phone industry. Each industry, ideally, serves a market, which denotes the buyers or customers of the products and services offered by the industry. The function of strategy, which has a time horizon of years, is, in general, to set the long-term direction or position of the firm, for example define the technology, product, or service that the firm intends to develop, and determine the intended market for the product or service. The function of planning, which, in general, has a time horizon of several months to years, is to translate long-term strategy into medium-term activities, e.g., the portfolio of projects that the firm should execute the time-phased planning of these projects, and resource allocation. The function of operations, which has the time-horizon of days to months, is, in general, to translate medium-term planning activities into short-term product design, development, and delivery activities such as prototyping, manufacturing, product release, and shipment. No company can follow only one strategy. For example, Johnson Johnson uses one marketing strategy for its common product such as BAND-AID Johnson’s baby products; and different marketing strategy for its High Tech healthcare products such as Vicryl Plus, antibacterial surgical sutures or NeuFlex finger joint implants. There are several different types of strategy, including competitive strategy, technology strategy, product market strategy, financial strategy, and supply-chain strategy. For a technology company to be successful all these strategies need to be aligned with each other, and with the business goals of the firm. Competitive strategy, is the highest level of strategy in the firm, and is intimately related to the mission and vision of the firm and also to setting the direction for all the other strategies in the firm. There are several schools of strategy formation: design, planning, positioning (Mintzberg, 1998). We focus on two important schools or frameworks for strategy-creation or â€Å"strategy-making† that are particularly important for high-technologycompanies. The first framework is the so-called â€Å"positioning† approach due to Porter (Porter, 1980), In this approach strategy is viewed as taking a generic position in a competitive market and which views strategy-making as an analytic process performed at the industry-market structural level (Porter, 1980) and the resulting dynamics between functional groups of players (e.g., competitors, suppliers) in the industry. The second framework analyzes strategy-making at the industry-level, company level, and intra-company level using evolutionary organization theory (Burgelman 2002). In this evolutionary organizational theory approach, each company is an organizational ecology within which strategy emerges through two basic mechanisms, external selection and internal selection. When companies start, because they are new and small ¸ the external selection mechanism dominates. As a company grows in size and becomes more established, internal selection plays an important role. Based on e volutionary organization theory, views strategy-making as an evolutionary process performed at three levels: industry-company level, company-level, and intra-company level. When these two frameworks are combined, an integrated approach to competitive strategy emerges: from industry-market level all the way to intra-company level. A unique aspect of creating competitive strategy for a company, and in particular, a high-technology company, is that the time-scales for the evolution of markets, industries, and technologies are, in general, much shorter (â€Å"faster†) compared to other industries. Therefore, the strategy frameworks of the positioning school needs to be augmented with functional maps (Clark and Wheelwright, 1993), which capture the evolution of the market, industry, and technology relevant to the company, and which can therefore be used to create strategy. The objectives of this chapter are as follows: 1. Describe the positioning framework for the creation of competitive strategy. 2. Provide an integrated competitive strategy process which is useful in developing competitive strategy in a technology company. 3. Demonstrate the application of the process of competitive strategy The objective of technology strategy (Clark and Wheelwright, 1993) is to guide the technology company in developing, acquiring, and applying technology for competitive advantage. An important part of technologystrategy is the definition of technical capabilities (e.g., advanced device design, rapid prototyping, automated assembly) that provide competitive advantage. The objective of product/market strategy is to clearly establish the following: define what differentiates the product from its competitors; identify market segments for the product, the customer needs of these segments, and the corresponding products (i.e., product lines) that will be offered to these segments; etc. An important outcome of produc t/market strategy is to define the product roadmap, including sales volume and price, necessary to realize the business goals. However, in the rapidly evolving industry and market landscape of high-technology, competitive strategy, in turn, depends on three levels of â€Å"strategy-making† as follows (Burgelman, 2002): 1. Industry-company level. At this level the firm must determine its strategic position, its core competencies, and its strategic action. 2. Company level: At this level strategy-making involves induced strategy and autonomous strategy. 3. Intra-company level: At this the internal level autonomous strategy is created. In successful companies, it is the tight coupling of strategy these three levels of strategy-making with the highest-level (i.e., industry-market level) competitive strategy that, results in successful strategic action where what the company actually does, e.g., the product lines it develops and markets, results in the realization of its business goals. It is also useful to mention two other strategies that are closely related to competitive strategy. Financial strategy in cludes issues such as capital budgeting and portfolio management, i.e., deciding on which technology and product development projects to fund in order to maximize the cumulative expected profit. Another important and related strategy is supply chain strategy (Chopra), which specifies the service, distribution, and operations functions, performed either in-house or outsourced, that the company should do well in order to successfully realize its intended competitive strategy. The â€Å"Positioning† Framework We first present a historical overview of the positioning or analytic school of strategy. Then, we develop the five forces framework (Porter, 1980) and the approach to creation of competitive strategy that is closely related to the five forces framework. We will use the personal computer industry to illustrate the approach. The positioning school of strategy which emerges from the competitive school is based on the following assumptions (Mintzberg, 1998): the marketplace is competitive strategy is a generic position in the marketplace; strategy formation is the selection of a generic position based on analysis. The underlying assumption is that industry or market structure drives position which drives the organizational structure of the firm. Matrices like the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) introduced two techniques: the growth-share matrix, and the experience curve. The growth-share matrix for a firm, developed in the early 1970s, is a 22 matrix with â€Å"growth† along one dimension, and â€Å"market share† along the other dimension. Each of these variables can take two values, â€Å"high† or â€Å"low† resulting in a 22 matrix. Therefore, the product portfolio of a firm can be decomposed into four combinations of growth and market share, each with a well defined meaning: (High growth, high market share) or â€Å"stars†, (high growth, low share) or â€Å"question marks†, (slow growth, high share) or â€Å"cash cows†, and (slow growth, low share) or â€Å"dogs†. The approach to strategy using this matrix would be to have a portfolio balanced mainly between cash cows (the stable business of the firm, e.g., â€Å"MAC† computers in the case of Apple) and stars (e.g., the iPod, in the case of Apple). The experience curve, developed in 1965-66, is based on the idea that accumulated experi ence by a firm influences costs and prices. The claim â€Å"for the experience curve was that for each cumulative doubling of experience, total costs would decline roughly 20% to 30% because of economies of scale, organizational learning, and technical innovation† (Ghemawat, 1999). In 1971, the consulting firm McKinsey came up with the GE/McKinsey nine-block matrix called the Industry Attractiveness-Business Strength matrix (Ghemawat, 1999), which plotted business strength [High, Medium, Low] along one axis, and industry attractiveness [High, Medium, Low] along the other axis. The basic idea was to divide the company into â€Å"strategic business units (SBUs)†, and then make the appropriate strategic recommendations for each SBU depending on its â€Å"location† in the matrix. The Five Forces Framework and Competitive Strategy In this framework there are two high-level stages in the creation of competitive strategy, each stage corresponding to a high-level determinant of profitability mentioned in the previous section. The first stage is the assessment of the attractiveness of the industry in which a given company is embedded based on a structural analysis of the industry. In this stage, called the five forces framework, five forces that influence industry attractiveness are identified, as well as the factors (e.g., number of competitors, size of competitors, capital requirements) that determine the intensity of each force and therefore the cumulative intensity of the five forces. The purpose of the five forces framework is to relate the degree (or intensity) of competition in a given industry, as qualitatively measured by the combined strength (or intensity) of five forces, to the attractiveness of the industry, defined as its ability to sustain profitability. Based on the structural analysis, a particula r company may be in a very attractive industry (e.g., pharmaceuticals) or in an unattractive industry (e.g., steel). However, though a firm exists in an unattractive industry, it can still be highly profitable by choosing the proper competitive position within the industry, for example, e.g., a mini-mill such as Nucor in the steel industry in the nineteen-eighties (Ghemawat). The second stage of strategy creation addresses the competitive strategy available to the firm in order to achieve a strong competitive position. Ideally, a firm would want to be in a very attractive industry (e.g., pharmaceuticals) and have a strong competitive position (e.g., large pharmaceutical firms such as Smith Klein or Glaxo) within the industry. The five forces framework for the structural analysis of an industry is as follows. First, we define the following terms used in the structural analysis of the industry: industry, market, competitors, new entrants, substitutes, buyers, and sellers. The term ind ustry denotes (1) the manufacturers (or producers) and (2) the suppliers of a primary product or service, as well as (3) the manufacturers of alternative products and services that could serve as a substitute. For example, the (conventional) personal computer (PC) industry would include PC manufacturers like Dell and Apple, suppliers of semiconductor chips like Intel and Micron, suppliers ofdisc drives like Seagate, suppliers of software such as Microsoft, etc. Substitute products could be pen-based tablet PCs or small hand-held personal digital assistants (PDAs). In the five forces framework described below, manufacturers and producers will designated as (1) competitors in the industry if they already have established products, or (2) new-entrants if they are trying to enter the industry, or (3) substitutes, if they provide alternative (substitute) products. The term market denotes the buyers (or customers) of the product or service. For example, the market for PCs would include enterprises and individual consumers. The analytical process of strategy analysis and creation can be decomposed into the following five steps. 1. Create a map of the industry in which the technology company is em bedded. There are five key sets of players that constitute the business landscape: competitors, new entrants, substitutes, suppliers, and buyers. Identify key players (companies) for each industry. 2. Perform a five forces analysis of the industry structure. The five forces that influence the intensity of competition in a particular industry, and therefore the profitability of the firms within the industry: Force 1: the degree of rivalry (or competition) between the competitors; Force 2: the threat of new entrants (or the inverse of this force, the barrier to entry); Force 3: the threat of substitutes; Force 4: Buyer Power (to demand lower prices); Force 5: Supplier Power (to increase material prices). For each force, determine the key structural determinants which affect the intensity of the force. Porter and Ghemawat provide a detailed set of the determinants for each force, some of which are given in the table below. In the last column of this table we indicate plausible values o f each force for the PC industry in the nineteen nineties. Table 1 |Force |Key Determinants |Strength of the force | |Rivalry between competitors |Concentration (number) and size of |Medium to high | | |competitors | | | |Fixed costs/value added | | | |Brand indentity | | |Barrier to entry |Economies of scale |Medium to high | | |Brand identity | | | |Capital requirements | | |Threat of substitutes |Price/Performance of substitutes |Low to medium | | |Switching costs | | |Buyer Power |Buyer concentration | | | |Buyer size (volume) |Medium to high | | |Switching costs | | |Supplier Power |Supplier concentration |Low to medium | | |Supplier size (volume) | | | |Switching costs | | In theory, one would, qualitatively determine the strength of each force, as indicated in the third column of the above table, and then determine the cumulative or combined intensity of the five forces. The collective intensity or strength of the forces will determine the structural strength of the industry, as characterized by attractiveness, or the profit potential of the industry. The profit potential is measured by the long term return on invested capital (ROIC). If the collective strength of the forces is high, as in the steel industry, then the corresponding profit potential or attractiveness is low, and vice-versa. At one extreme of this analysis is the perfectly competitive free market, where there are numerous firms alloffering very similar products that cannot be differentiated (therefore, the force of rivalry is high), entry is free (therefore, the threat of both new entrants and substitutes is high), and bargaining power of both suppliers and buyers is low. Using the PC industry of the 1990’s as an example, the qualitative values of the forces shown in the last column of the above table would lead one to conclude that the cumulative strength of the five forces was medium to high, and therefore the attractiveness of the industry, i.e., its profitability, was medium to low. The PC industry in the nineteen-nineties would therefore not be attractive to new entrants, and in fact, in the early 2000s, HP’s computer business was unprofitable, and IBM sold its computer business to Lenovo. (It is important to note that HP’s unprofitability in computer business in the early 2000s cannot be attributed solely to industry attractiveness being low, but is also due to issues associated with its acquisition of the computer company Compaq.) 3. Select a competitive positioning strategy The basic premise of Porter and Hall was that for a firm to be successful (in a market) it had to compete based on one of two sources of competitive ad vantage: cost, i.e., by providing low cost products, or differentiation, i.e., by differentiating its products from its competitors with respect to quality and performance. Porter also proposed that a firm needs to select its strategic target: either offering a product to the entire market (â€Å"market-wide†), or offering a product for a particular market segment. Using these two dimensions (source of competitive advantage, and strategic target), Porter proposed the following three generic competitive strategies: 1. Cost Leadership: offering the lowest costs products to the entire market 2. Differentiated: offering highly unique products (as perceived by the customer) to the entire market 3. Focus: offering products which serve the needs of a niche segment of the market Porter’s claim is that for a company to be successful in the industry in which it operates it must choose between one of the three generic strategies: cost leadership, differentiated, and focus. If one uses the personal computer industry in the US during the 1990’s as an example, then the competitive strategies of the major players was as follows: Dell was the low-c ost leader; HP had a differentiated strategy with high-quality products; Apple had a focus strategy, targeting a narrow marketsegment of users who whom the user-experience (look, feel, and graphical user interfaces) were extremely important; and IBM had a mixed strategy. 4. Link competitive strategy to strategic planning (Ghemawat 1999) In order for a company to derive competitive advantage (or position) within its industry, the company needs to maximize, relative to it competitors, the difference between the buyer’s willingness to pay and the costs incurred in delivering the product to the buyer. Therefore, the next step in the competitive analysis is for the company to link competitive strategy to strategic planning by analyzing all the activities involved in differentiation and cost, and, to this end, a value chain (Porter, 1985) is an extremely important tool. According to Porter, â€Å"the value chain disaggregates a firm into its strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behavior of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation.† A three step process for using these activities, first to analyze costs, then to analyze buyer’s willingness to pay, and finally to explore different strategic planning options to maximize the difference between willingness to pay and cost, is developed in (Ghemawat, 1999). 5. Competitive strategy needs to evolve, especially in a high-technology company where markets, industries, and technologies, are changing relatively rapidly. A good example of the evolution of competitive strategy is IBM’s strategic decisions to evolve from a product-based company in the early nineties to a services-led company at the present time. In the early nineties, when the company was in trouble, IBM closely examined its business model and strategic direction, and decided to â €Å"stay whole† by moving its focus from products and hardware to solutions. One result of this strategic shift was the creation of IBM Global Services in the mid-nineties. By the late-nineties the company moved into e-business solutions, and extended this model in the 2000’s to â€Å"business-on-demand†. One result of these shifts in strategy was IBM’s decision to exit the Personal Computer Market by selling its PC business to Lenovo. Functional Maps A functional map essentially is a time-based evolutionary map of a key metric for an important organizational function, e.g., a product performance metric map for the engineering function in a technology firm, e.g., the well-known Moore’s Law in the semiconductor industry. Since the time-scales for the evolution of markets, industries and technologies for technology companies, especially â€Å"high-tech† companies, is short compared to other industries, the creation of the appropriate functional maps is critical to strategy formation in a technology company. As an example, in the relatively short span of four decades, information technology evolved from mainframes through workstations, servers and personal computers to internet-based and mobile computing. An important feature of our approach to developing competitive strategy in a technology firm is the integrated approach to strategy for a technology company, which relates company strategy to the company’s busin ess goals, business strategy, technology strategy, and product marketing strategy. Since, markets, industries, technologies, and products for a technology company are continually evolving, an important concept that plays a vital role in the creation of strategy, and, in particular, competitive strategy, is the functional map (Clark and Wheelwright, 1993). Here are some useful â€Å"dimensions† along which to create functional maps for strategy creation: a) Evolution of the industry in which the enterprise operates (changes in technology, customer needs, competitive landscape, etc.) b) Evolution of strategy business, technology, and market of the enterprise c) Evolution of technology (including manufacturing), product platforms, and product lines of the enterprise. The processes used for technology, product, and process development within the enterprise. d) Growth (or decline) of the enterprise with respect to of market share, revenues, costs, profits, etc. e) Organizational structure of the enterprise f) Key decisions made at different stages in the life of enterprise, and the drivers for these decisions g) The interconnections and relationships between all the above dimensions A multi-dimensional functional map for Intel is given in the next section. A very simple example of how functional maps can shape strategy is in the information technology industry. A functional map of the Information Technology Industry from the 1990s to the 2000s would reveal a shift from â€Å"products† to services†. The Services business in 2007-08 is approximately $750 billion, with IBM, whose share of this market is $54 billion, being the leader. HP, whose own share in the market is $17 billion seeing this shift in the industry and the need to build competitive strength, acquired EDS, whose share of the market is $21 billion. The combined share of HP and EDS would then be $38 billion, allowing it to compete more strongly with IBM. Another simple example of the use of a functional map in creating strategy is in the software industry. In the 2000s the software market is moving from a â€Å"packaged† product to online software, where individuals can get software that is mostly free, supported by advertising. Google is using its leadership on the Web to provide online softwa re that competes with Microsoft’s packaged software. Understanding this shift from packaged to online, and the corresponding change in the revenue model from direct sales (of product) to advertising, Microsoft is aggressively entering the online advertising business. Process for developing competitive strategy in a company If we combine the positioning framework for competitive strategy due to Porter, the evolutionary organization theoretic framework due to Burgelman, and augment these with the creation of relevant functional maps, then the resulting process of developing competitive strategy in a company can be decomposed into four stages, as follows. Stage 1: Company Analysis 1. Establish the business goals and objectives (ROI, %market share, revenue, and growth aspirations). 2. Determine the technology strategy and product market strategy for the company. 3. Define the overall development goals and objectives to align business goals, technology, and market strategies. 4. Develop the functional evolutionary maps of the markets and industry in which the company is embedded. Create functional maps (time-based evolutionary maps) for technology, product market, and manufacturing strategy of the firm. These maps will be useful in the process of assessing and creating competitive strategy. Stage 2: Industry Analysis 1. Perform the structural analysis of the industry in which the company is either an active competitor, or a new entrant, or a substitute. 2. Determine the existing competitive strategy of the company within the industry. 3. Determine the relationships between the company and the other players in the industry Stage 3: Assessment and Evolution of the company’s strategy within the relevant markets and industries 1. Using the functional maps of the overall markets and industry in which the company is embedded, as well as the company specific functional maps, assess the evolution of the company’s competitive strategy. 2. Decide on what the company’s future competitive strategy should be, and the corresponding technology strategy, product market strategy, and manufacturing strategy. Glossary Autonomous Strategy (also see induced strategy). Autonomous strategy refers to actions of individuals or small groups within the company that are outside the scope of current high-level corporate strategy. While autonomous strategy is constrained by the company’s distinctive (core) competencies, it usually (1) involves new competencies that are not the focus of the firm, and (2) results in so-called â€Å"disruptive technologies† that could change the strategic direction of the firm (Burgelman, 2002). Company Structure (vertical vs. horizontal). A vertical company is one which uses only its own proprietary technologies. A horizontal company is one which (usually because of the existence of open-standards) which does not solely rely on its own proprietary technologies, but usually uses technologies and products from other suppliers. In the computer industry, traditionally, Apple is an example of a vertical company, while Dell is an example of a horizontal company. The co mputer industry, itself, moved from a vertical structure to a horizontal structure in the 1980s (Ghemawhat, 1999). Corporate Strategy (official corporate strategy). Corporate strategy is top management’s view of the basis of the company’s success. It includes distinctive (core) competencies, product-market domains, and core values (Burgelman, 2002) Industry. The term industry, e.g., the consumer electronics industry,denotes (1) the manufacturers (or producers) and (2) the suppliers of a primary product or service, as well as (3) the manufacturers of alternative products and services that could serve as a substitute (Porter, 1980). Market. The term market denotes the buyers (or customers) of the product or service. Typically markets are segmented, for example, a two-dimensional segmentation based on the types of product (product segmentation) along one axis, and the types of customers (customer segmentation) along the other axis. The market, as represented by â€Å"Buyers† is an important part of the industry analysis in Porter’s framework. Once youve established the key assets and skills necessary to succeed in this business and have defined your distinct competitive advantage, you need to communicate them in a s trategic form that will attract market share as well as defend it. Competitive strategies usually fall into these five areas: 1. Product 2. Distribution 3. Pricing 4. Promotion 5. Advertising Many of the factors leading to the formation of a strategy should already have been highlighted in previous sections, specifically in marketing strategies. Strategies primarily revolve around establishing the point of entry in the product life cycle and an endurable competitive advantage. As weve already discussed, this involves defining the elements that will set your product or service apart from your competitors or strategic groups. You need to establish this competitive advantage clearly so the reader understands not only how you will accomplish your goals, but why your strategy will work. [pic] References Burgelman, R.A., â€Å"Strategy is Destiny†, The Free Press, New York, 2002. Chopra, Sunil, and Peter Meindl, â€Å"Supply Chain Management, Strategy, Planning, and Operations†, Third Edition, Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2007. Clark, K. B., and S.C. Wheelwright, Managing New Product and Process Development, Text and Cases, The Free Press, New York, 1993. Edwards, Cliff, â€Å"Intel†, Business Week, March 8, 2004, Pages 56-64. Ghemawat, Pankaj, Strategy and the Business Landscape, Text and Cases, Addison Wesley, 1999. Mintzberg, Henry and Bruce Ahlstrand, and Joseph Lampel, Strategy Safari, The Free Press, New York, 1998 Porter, Michael, Competitive Strategy, New York, The Free Press, 1980 Porter, Michael, Competitive Advantage, The Free Press, New York, 1985 Figure 1: A strategic view of the technology firm, showing different types of strategy Revenue ($), Growth (%), Etc. Purpose of the company Financial Strategy Competitive Strategy Market Strategy Technology Strategy Business Goals †¢ Vision †¢ Mission

Predicted Impact of Environment on Psychological and Social Development of a Human Clone :: Human Cloning Essaysw

Debates continue to haunt the subject of human cloning, and will continue to do so for some time. Among the debates: How will the clones’ personalities develop? Would it be humane to create clones if they are going to be considered inferior, or if they are going to have a difficult time acclimating to society? Identical twins are essentially clones because they share indistinguishable copies of the same DNA. Due to the similarity between the two genetic situations, it has been suggested that clones will develop much as twins do. By looking at psychological studies that have been conducted on identical twins, scientists can predict how a clone will mature and how they will react to their world. Controversy and science have walked hand-in-hand through many discoveries and inventions. Cloning is no exception, as debates whirl around the various ethics, risks, and possibilities of creating human clones. Philosophers, religious leaders, scientists, and politicians continue to argue amongst each other, trying to determine how cloning will affect future generations of society and medicine. A few psychiatrists, sociologists, and other developmental scientists have focused less on the effects of cloning on modern society, and become more concerned with the effects cloning will have on the psychological development of the clones that may be created. These social scientists worry that clones might experience difficulties developing a healthy personality or functioning happily in society. In order to accurately project possible conflicts, scientists have resorted to the study of today’s natural clones: identical twins. Identical twins possess exact copies of each other’s DNA, and are essentially clones of each other. As such [clones], they may help us to understand some aspects of human clones (Levick, 2004). Trends in the psychological development of twins suggest that a person’s environment influences an individual and can alter their personal growth. By further exploring the psychological impact of having an identical twin, scientists hope to discover how clones will mature. Multiple studies and observations have indicated that the varying genes and environments of each twin can influence many aspects of psychological development such as falling in love, aging, personality development, talents and abilities, body characteristics, health, and physiological responses (University of Minnesota). If an identical twin is so affected by their environment, it is possible that clones will be just as influenced by their surroundings, perhaps even more so than twins if clones are subjected to discrimination. How a clone is regarded, treated, and taught will affect changes in the manner that the clone reacts to their world.

Logistics and E-Business in Dell Inc.

Introduction This brief purports to provide a critical evaluation of planning and organising efficient operations and networking. It also aims to analyse the problems associated with the control of component activities and quality. In particular, the critical discussion is centred on the effect of process technology and e-business on Dell Inc., evaluating such effect on its logistical and operational capability. Dell Inc. is a computer company founded in 1984, which became a market leader in the worldwide selling of personal computer products and services. It adopts a simple concept of direct selling of computer systems to customers, which enables it to establish every system to order and offer preconditioned systems for customers at well-competitive prices. Compared to its competitors, the company is able to introduce latest technology more rapidly, utilise supply chain techniques and customer-centred manufacturing, and provide an average of four days for inventory turn-over. This process has resulted in a ratio of 1:5, in which a Dell computer is being sold worldwide for every five standards-based computer system (Rushton and Walker, 2007). Dell also made a report in 2006 that 44 per cent of its sales came from the US, and its revenue in China grew by 29 per cent. Additionally, an 18 per cent increase was experienced for its shipments in Europe, Africa, and Middle East. It was able to maintain its number one position in the US market for personal computing, in which it recorded a market share of 32 per cent. In 2006, Dell opened 14 new manufacturing and development facilities vis-a-vis maintaining significant investments in the US, China, and Germany, amongst others (Rushton and Walker, 2007). Process technology and e-business in Dell Before directly addressing the effect of process technology and e-business on Dell Inc., it is deemed necessary to clarify the concept of e-business. According to Harsono (2014), e-business refers to as a set of business models and practices enabled by Internet technologies whose emphasis is on networks of customers, suppliers, and productive capabilities, pursuing an aim to continuously improve the performance of supply chain. E-business is a powerful concept in that it enables the adoption of the Internet in establishing integrative relationships amongst members of the supply chain. Chen and Popovich (2003) noted that Dell‘s example of customer relationship management exemplified success in combining information technology (IT) and front-and-back office operations. In addition, Dell adopted a build-to-order e-business design, which featured a rapid cycle of product development (Harsono, 2014). Moreover, Dell was amongst those who initially established a customer-driven configuration capacity for personal computers (Harsono, 2014). It established a web of components manufacturers and IT providers for its successful direct marketing system (Sushil, 2013). With the absence of retail stores and through call centers and phone orders, the company adopted a build-to-order assembly model through which it receives orders. Its website made a strong influence on software applications of its own customer service representations to establish a self service web application that enables customers to produce their own custom orders for personal computers. Dell allowed customers to explore a number of computer configurations with the use of a ‘choice board’ capability, showing price differences for components that customers intend to include in their order. This PC order is then submitted through the website ecommerce, translating the order data into a design, ordering the co mponents, and electronically scheduling the proper resources to complete the order (Kurbel, 2013). Customer demand is also integrated from direct-sales channel that is linked to its back-end supply chain (Harsono, 2014). The company is able to pursue an effective integration and implementation of e-commerce and supply chain management Noteworthy is the fact that Dell serves as a strategic supplier to British Airways, in which the former supplies desktops and notebook computers to the latter’s purchasing agents. Dell enables British Airways to buy and track orders to a Dell website that adopts customisation for the user’s needs. The airline has adopted Dell’s e-procurement tools on its intranet, allowing authorised staff to make PC purchases through a portal that is directly connected to Dell’s system (Harsono, 2014). Not only does Dell support its business customers with e-procurement tools, but it also utilises e-commerce for its own e-procurement. It was able to develop a specific e-procurement model aimed to be shared with its business partners. One feature of the model is the conduct of bids using electronic tendering, which Dell also uses when buying product components. Through Dell’s adoption of process technology and e-business, it is able to communicate and collaborate with a range of business partners. Its build-to-order capabilities allow it to pursue significant improvements in its demand planning and accuracy of factory execution, reduce the time entailed in order and delivery, and improve customer service. It is worthy of note that Dell also partners with Accenture to create and foster a high-performance supply chain solution for planning and design execution. Its factory scheduling and demand-planning capacity and inventory management also became automated, through informat ion technology utilisation and adoption of e-supply chain models (Harsono, 2014). Dell’s supply chain has been cited by several researchers as a model of excellence, which is made possible through a closed-loop supply chain and logistics techniques. Dell utilises a variety of techniques that maintain build-to-order operation. It has an assortment of process maps within its forward and reverse supply chains. Dell’s example suggests a need to provide emphasis on supply chain efficiencies in order to build customer value and carefully investigate its capabilities prior to the implementation of any specific collection of logistics approaches similar to its supply chain operation (Kumar and Craig, 2007). In addition, Dell is constantly adjusting and improving its processes over time, in which its business model consists of working directly with customers and providing better value (Teece, 2010). Dell organised its value chain around the choice of products that it sells through its distribution system whereby it enables developing efficient capabilities on selecting the specific products to produce. Certainly, the whole strategy is reliant on available suppliers who are able to produce at highly competitive prices. It must be noted nonetheless that Dell did not bring significant enhancements to the technology of personal computers but is noteworthy for its combination of innovations of both suppliers and its own distribution systems in delivering compelling value to its customers (Teece, 2010). An important point as well is that Dell does not utilise the Internet to create a marketplace; rather, it uses the Internet to exchange information on demand and inventory with its suppliers, thereby allowing suppliers to produce proper production levels and aid Dell’s supply chain towards improved complementariness of its supply and demand (Chopra and Van Mieghem, 2000; Harson o, 2014). By being a virtual IT department apart from being a PC vendor, Dell tracks all corporate-wide purchases vis-a-vis giving customers the convenience to order anytime at any place. Indeed. Dell has relied heavily on a few suppliers that also function as long-term partners (Chopra and Van Mieghem, 2000). Just-in-time production is implied in Dell’s logistics process, in which expected administrative problems related to large numbers of individual orders have been superseded by information technology. Dell has epitomised this move towards the system of building products to order and shipping them to the customer. It is important to note that the company has integrated its computerised management information system with its logistics software to aid the analysis of purchasing and selling of products. Further, e-logistics allows Dell to view the big picture by capturing data for procurement, in which logistics-generated data are being sent to strategic decisions formulated by other aspects of the organisation. Apparently, the Internet has provided Dell real information of supply and demand, rather than a merely forecast one. E-logistics likewise enables a closer integration of Dell’s internal business systems with web-based functions, allowing the facilitation of collabor ative solutions in the supply chain (Joseph, 2005). The company continues to integrate the Internet into its whole business process, such as procurement, online sales, and relationship management (Chou et al., 2004). Impact of Process technology and e-business on Dell The effect of process technology and e-business for Dell is increased customer value, in which the company enables to keep its retail customers to come back, helping the company to drive sales to more than $55 billion in 2004. Additionally, Dell utilises e-commerce to provide real-time information to its suppliers in the supply chain. In this regard, suppliers utilise this information to adjust their production time, in which they only produce the adequate components for Dell’s needs and adopt an appropriate mode of delivery to enable these products to arrive just in time for production (Ross, 2011). It must be noted also that the strong impact of e-business in Dell’s supply chain enabled it to deal with its more than US$ 100 million losses through a best practice example of impeccably incorporating e-marketing and supply chain management to boost its processes (Harsono, 2014). With Dell’s utilisation of e-business and process technology, the effect is its revolu tionisation of the business model in its core geo-product sphere with its manufacture and marketing of personal computers. Its adaptability and flexibility allowed Dell to acquire wealth by leveraging its revenue, utilising alliances to develop the right combination of products, and reducing change-related costs (D’Aveni, 2001). Another impact of process technology and e-business on Dell’s logistical and operational capability is its ability to deliver high customer value in relation to customisation, as well as lower process cost. Its direct selling of computer using web technology enables it to receive higher margins than conventional PC manufacturers, who need to share some margin with retailers. It is clear that retailers occupy a weaker position to utilise this e-business opportunity than other members of the supply chain. In terms of revenue, Dell’s direct sales model through its e-business channel made the company to continue obtaining increased margins compared to traditional computer manufacturers with resellers. It was able to effectively manage its ability to change prices and delivery times based on component availability. In the same manner, the company is able to work on its supply chain’s input and output ends to harmonise demand with supply (Chopra and Van Mieghem, 2000). Apparently, through Dell’s stance to use e-business, the results include increased efficiency in logistics and marketing processes, cost reductions, reduced inventory levels, decreased time-to-customer process to improve competitive situation, and lower time to market process (Shin, 2005). Conclusion This brief was focused on Del Inc. as it attempted to provide a critical evaluation of planning and organising in its efficient operations and networking activities. The discussion was centred on the impact of process technology and e-business on the company. Dell became a market leader in selling personal computers and services, employing direct selling to customers, enabling it to provide preconditioned systems for customers at a very competitive price. The company was successful in combining IT and front-and-back office operations. Its fast cycle of product development was based on a build-to-order e-business design. The build-to-order assembly model featured the use of call centers and phone orders rather than the usual retail store. Dell’s supply chain and logistics success is exemplified in its partnership with British Airways and Accenture. The company utilises e-commerce to provide e-procurement tools to its business customers and for its own e-procurement. The effects of Dell’s process technology and e-business are increased customer value; enhanced real-time information processes for suppliers; high customer value delivery in terms of customisation; lower process cost; increased margins; reduced production cycles; increased efficiency in logistics and marketing processes; and decreased inventory levels. These impacts are enabled by a demand-driven supply chain that replaced the traditional supply chain approach. References Chopra, S. and Van Mieghem, J. A. (2000) Which E-Business is Right For Your Supply ChainAccessed on 8 December 2014 from http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/vanmieghem/htm/e-business-scmr-april26.pdf Chou, D. C., Tan, X., and yen, D. C. (2004) Web technology and supply chain management. Information Management and Computer Security, 12 (4), 338-349. Chen, I. J. and Popovich, K. (2003) Understanding customer relationship management (CRM): People, process and technology. Business Process Management Journal, 9 (5), 672-688. Daniel Gmoe’s Blog (2010) Green Logistics. Accessed on 8 December 2014 from http://danielgmoe.wordpress.com/ D’Aveni, R. (2001) Strategic Supremacy: How Industry Leaders Create Spheres Of Influence. NY: The Free Press. Dignan, L. (2009) Dell Aims to Diversify Away From PCs, But How Accessed on 8 December 2014 from http://seekingalpha.com/article/148763-dell-aims-to-diversify-away-from-pcs-but-how Harsono, A. (2014) The impact of e-commerce in supply chain management at Dell Inc. Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology, 1 (3), 11-18. Joseph, P. T. (2005) E-commerce: An Indian Perspective. Second Edition. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India. Kumar, S. and Craig, S. (2007) Dell, Inc.’s closed loop supply chain for computer assembly plants. Information, Knowledge, Systems Management, 6 (3), 197-214. Kurbel, E. K. (2013) Enterprise Resource Planning and Supply Chain Management: Function, Business Process and Software for Manufacturing Companies. First Edition. NY: Springer. Ross, F. D. (2011) Introduction to Supply Chain Management Technologies. Second Edition. FL: CRC Press. Rushton, A. and Walker, S. (2007) Supply Chain Outsourcing: From Local to Global. London: Kogan Page. Shin, N. (2005) Strategies for Generating E-Business Returns on Investment. London: Idea Group Publishing. Sushil, S. (2013) Flowing Stream Strategy: Leveraging Strategic Change with Continuity. NY: Springer. Teece, D. J. (2010) Business models, business strategy and innovation. Long Range Planning, 43 (1), 172-194.

Diction, Syntax and Imagery Essay

Have you ever listened to a young child talk? I mean really listened? They don’t sound like a teenager or an adult, do they? In Eleven, Sandra Cisneros uses different techniques to help Rachel’s age come out in her speech and thoughts. Diction, syntax and imagery help the reader to better interpret Rachel’s youthful thoughts and feelings. Sandra’s use of diction helps the reader understand how Rachel is feeling when she is accused of the sweater belonging to her. â€Å"†¦She sees I’ve shoved the red sweater to the tippy-tip corner of my desk†¦all over the edge like a waterfall†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cisneros 20) Not many adults would say â€Å"tippy-tip†, so the use of the phrase helps get Rachel’s point across. Rachel’s youthful tone is shown through this choice of words. â€Å"†¦The sweater is still sitting there like a big red mountain†¦not mine, not mine, not mine.† Cisneros’s use of repetition here helps show how upset Rachel actually is. This helps show the youthful tone in her sadness. The use of diction throughout the story helps the reader comprehend Rachel’s sadness and embarrassment when the sweater is put onto her desk. The use of syntax in Eleven helps you see the youthful voice in Rachel’s thoughts. â€Å"Not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine.† (Cisneros 20) The short, repetitiveness shows the quick thinking of a child. It’s easy to see this small argumentative line coming from an eleven year old in comparison to a fifteen year old or a thirty year old even. â€Å" – Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one -†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cisneros 20) The continuous counting could be seen as a child counting down on its fingers. This is a way of showing the youthfulness in Rachel’s thoughts. Sandra Cisneros’s uses of syntax make it easier for you to notice Rachel’s youthfulness throughout the story. Sandra’s use of imagery also helps you see the youthful tone throughout Eleven. â€Å"My face all hot and spit coming out of my mouth because I can’t stop the little animal noises from coming out of my mouth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cisneros 21) This example from the text makes it easy to picture a young girl being this  flustered. It makes it makes it easier to see Rachel sitting there becoming more and more overwhelmed and upset. â€Å"†¦And it’s hanging all over the edge like a waterfall, but I don’t care.† (Cisneros 20) Cisneros’s use of imagery here helps the reader see just how far Rachel is going to prove that the sweater isn’t hers. It gives a more youthful vibe to the story with this use of imagery to help show the reader how she is feeling. There are several examples of imagery throughout Eleven that help show a more youthful tone. Age is very important in stories, and how the author presents the age is important as well. Young children and adults have such different opinions and vocabularies and ideas. Using different techniques such as proper diction, syntax and imagery help define a characters youthful voice, and help the reader have a better understanding of what is going through a character’s mind.

Appositive Adjective Definition and Examples

Appositive Adjective Definition and Examples An Appositive Adjective is a traditional grammatical term for an adjective (or a series of adjectives) that follows a noun and, like a nonrestrictive appositive, is set off by commas or dashes. Appositive adjectives often appear in pairs or groups of three (tricolons). Examples and Observations Arthur was a big boy, tall, strong, and broad-shouldered.(Janet B. Pascal, Arthur Conan Doyle: Beyond Baker Street. Oxford University Press, 2000)No Chinese emperor was more resplendently arrayed. As for the cigarette that he holds out, half smoked, to be taken and deposited by his valet, a whole civilization- urbane, authoritative, preposterous, and doomed- resides in that single gesture.(Anthony Lane, Life and Death Matters. The New Yorker, February 8, 2010)Much of the greatest poetry, ancient and modern, has been occupied with a similar image: the figure of the abandoned woman.(Lawrence Lipking, Abandoned Women and Poetic Tradition. The University of Chicago Press, 1988)Since then the starless night is gone,The warm south-western showers have passed;The trees, forlorn and bare, sigh on,And shiver in the northern blast.(Caroline May, Dead Leaves, 1865)Though Sfars fantastic visual excesses distort some facts, they perfectly reflect the spirit of Gainsbourgs life and reputation- exc essive, brilliant, controversial, and tortured.(Michael Rabiger and Mick Hurbis-Cherrier, Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics, 5th ed. Focal Press, 2013) Melrose in his skullcap, sitting sideways in his chair, his cigarette held aloft, presented a profile which might have been that of some Venetian Doge, old, withered and crafty.(Mary Augusta Ward, The Mating of Lydia, 1913) Characteristics of Appositive Adjectives Appositive adjectives, which hardly ever spring naturally to our lips, differ from regular adjectives both in placement and in punctuation. They are placed after the noun or before the determiner, and they are set off by commas. When there is no determiner, they are still set off by commas. Their functions are somewhat different, too, although the difference is hard to pin down. It should be fairly easy to feel, however, if you read these three sentences aloud, one after the other. Adjectives in normal position:The sturdy old cabin survived the hurricane.Appositive adjectives following the noun:The cabin, old but sturdy, survived the hurricane.Appositive adjectives before the determiner:Old but sturdy, the cabin survived the hurricane. In the second and third sentences, the placement and punctuation of old but sturdy lead you to place a stress on both appositive adjectives that they do not get in the first sentence... [T]he placement and punctuation of the adjectives focus special attention on the contrast. This is partly because the information is not there primarily to identify the noun. If the adjectives for cabin were old and red- The old red cabin survived the hurricane- we would not think of putting old and red in the appositive position. They describe, they modify, but they do not suggest the same idea as old but sturdy. Appositive adjectives typically suggest a relation between information found in a sentence and information carried by the adjectives themselves.Appositive adjectives hardly ever appear singly... When they do, they are almost always modified by a prepositional phrase.(Michael Kischner and Edith Wolin, Writers Choices: Grammar to Improve Style. Harcourt, 2002) A Loose Construction The Appositive Adjective. When an adjective is loosely joined, almost as an afterthought, to a substantive which has a separate existence in the mind, the construction is called appositive. It is the loosest of all constructions, as is shown by the fact that it is usually set off by commas. It resembles the noun in apposition as far as any adjective resembles a noun; i.e., it assumes a single attribute, while a noun assumes a group of attributes large enough to imply a partial identity. Example: All sizes, large and small, are sold here. (Irene M. Mead, The English Language and Its Grammar. Silver, Burdett and Company, 1896)

A description of mythological creatures found in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis and their origin

A description of mythological creatures found in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis and their origin DwarfA dwarf (modern plural dwarfs, older variant is dwarves) is a short humanoid creature in Norse mythology as well as fairy tales, fantasy fiction and role-playing games. Dwarves are much like humans, but generally living underground or in mountainous areas. Here they have heaped up countless treasures of gold, silver, and precious stones, and pass their time in fabricating costly armour. They are famed miners and smiths although, like humans, they specialize in any number of trades. Generally shorter than humans, they are on average stockier and hairier, usually sporting full beards. Dwarfish smiths created some of the greatest and most powerful items of power in Norse mythology, such as the magic ribbon which bound the wolf, Fenris.SatyrsIn Greek mythology, satyrs are mythological half-man and half-goat nature entities that roamed the woods and mountains, and were the companions of Pan and Dionysus.Satyrs are most commonly described as having the upper half of a man and the lowe r half of a goat or, less commonly, the lower half of a horse.Brygos PainterThey are also described as possessing a long thick tail, either that of a goat or a horse. Mature satyrs are often depicted with goat's horns, while juveniles are often shown with bony nubs on their foreheads.They are described as roguish but faint-hearted folk subversive and dangerous, yet shy and cowardly. They are lovers of wine, women and boys, and are ready for every physical pleasure. They roam to the music of pipes, cymbals, castanets, and bagpipes, and love to dance with the nymphs (with whom they are obsessed, and whom they often pursue), and have a special form of dance called 'sikinnis'. Because of their love of wine, they are often represented holding wine-cups, and appear often in the decorations on wine-cups.