Hamlet Essays (714 words) - Characters In Hamlet,

Hamlet Roberto Santos Journal III Hamlet Hamlets Unknown Madness The marriage of the king and queen within two months of the death of Hamlets father had left Hamlet disillusioned, confused, and suspicious of Claudius, the King of Denmark. In Act I, Scene V, Hamlets belief in his fathers real ghost had him in an outrage and, he thus vows to avenge his fathers death. Ophelia encountered Hamlet in her private chambers and observed that he was disturbed. She was very disturbed and afraid because, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbracd; no hat upon his head; his stockings fould ungartred, and down-gyved to his ankle; pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other (1409). Hamlet truly loves Ophelia, but at that particular moment, he did not want to express his feelings to her. Ophelia tells her dad, Polonius, about her meeting with Hamlet and Polonius concludes that Hamlet is nothing but a love struck fool who has gone mad. Polonius wanted to assure the king and queen that he knows, the very cause of Hamlets lunacy (1411). The king and queen were skeptical to believe Polonius story of Hamlets lust and lunacy for Ophelia. Polonius effort to damage Hamlets reputation will not end there. Polonius approached the king and queen with a letter that can prove his theory of Hamlets madness. Polonius said, therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief: your noble son is mad (1412). Even though the king heard Hamlets letter cited by Polonius, he conspired to find a solution for Hamlets madness in his own fashion. The king had Guilderstern and Rosencrantz act as spies so that they could either find or gain information toward Hamlets madness. After Hamlets request to the players to act out the Murder of Gonzago, Claudius was beginning to feel the wrath of his offense. Claudius said, O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; it hath the primal eldest curse upont, a brothers murder, pray can I not, though inclination be as sharp as will (1439). This is when Hamlets agonizing struggles became difficult. Hamlet could have taken his revenge while Claudius was praying, but Hamlet was confused and couldnt avenge his fathers death while Claudius was purging his soul. Hamlet said, why, this is hire and salary, not revengeBut in our circumstances and course of thought, tis heavy with him: and I then revengd, to take him in the purging of his soul, when he is fit and seasoned for his passage (1440)? The king knows his guilt and when he prays he states, my words fly up, my thoughts remain below: words without thoughts never to heaven go (1440). It is in Act III, Scene IV, that we see Hamlet approach his mother Gertrude and question the way she had offended his father in which she married Hamlets uncle soon after her husbands death. The sneaky and witty Polonius was behind the curtain but Hamlet did not know it. While questioning his mother about the death of his father, he heard a voice coming from behin d the curtain: Hamlet turned with sword in hand and stabbed the person behind the curtain. He said, How now! A rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead (1441)! At first, Hamlet thought he killed the king, but instead he killed Polonius in which he felt was better, thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune(1441) Hamlet struggled throughout the play. Although he is an intelligent man, the madness that descended upon him with his supernatural observation of the ghost of his father leads to his death. Furthermore, toward the end of the play, I get a clear understanding that he had fulfilled the revenge of his father. From the unwary death of Ophelia, the poison drink that took Gertrudes life, the vengeful dual of death between Laertes and Hamlet, we see Hamlets unknown madness of revenge when Hamlet kills the king of Denmark Sports and Games

Bullying and Teasing Essay Essay Example

Bullying and Teasing Essay Essay Example Bullying and Teasing Essay Paper Bullying and Teasing Essay Paper Essay Topic: Cyber Bullying Abstraction The importance of the acknowledgment of intimidation is to acquire people to detect and be cognizant of what’s traveling on around them. For them to see the harm and injury it is doing every person. The statistics of intimidation is so overpowering that it rousing and scaring at the same clip. Bullying and Teasing: No Laughing Matter Unfortunately. tease is frequently portion of turning up - about every kid experiences it. But it isn’t ever every bit innocuous as it seems. Wordss can do hurting. Teasing becomes strong-arming when it is insistent or when there is a witting purpose to ache another kid. If more people were cognizant of the injury and harm cause by strong-arming. people would seek to forestall it more and there would be less victims of it. It can be verbal intimidation ( doing menaces. name-calling ) . psychological intimidation ( excepting kids. distributing rumours ) . or physical intimidation ( hitting. forcing. taking a child’s ownerships ) . How Bullying Starts Strong-arming behaviour is prevailing throughout the universe and it cuts across socio-economic. racial/ethnic. and cultural lines. Research workers estimate that 20 to 30 per centum of school-age kids are involved in strong-arming incidents. as either culprits or victims. Strong-arming can get down every bit early as preschool and escalate during transitional phases. such as get downing school in 1st class or traveling into the in-between school. Victims of strong-arming are frequently diffident and be given to be physically weaker than their equals. They may besides hold low self-prides and hapless societal accomplishments. which makes it difficult for them to stand up for themselves. Bullies consider these kids safe marks because they normally don’t retaliate. Effectss of Strong-arming If your kid is the victim of intimidation. he may endure physically and emotionally. and his school assignment will probably demo it. Grades bead because. alternatively of listening to the instructor. childs are inquiring what they did incorrect and whether anyone will sit with them at tiffin. If blustery persists. they may be afraid to travel to school. Problems with low self-prides and depression can last into maturity and interfere with personal and professional lives. Bullies are affected excessively. even into maturity ; they may hold trouble organizing positive relationships. They are more disposed to utilize baccy and intoxicant. and to be opprobrious partners. Some surveies have even found a correlativity with ulterior condemnable activities. Warning Signs If you’re concerned that your kid is a victim of badgering or strong-arming. expression for these marks of emphasis:* Increased passiveness or backdown* Frequent weeping* Recurrent ailments of physical symptoms such as stomach-aches or concerns with no evident cause* Unexplained contusions* Sudden bead in classs or other acquisition jobs* Not desiring to travel to school* Significant alterations in societal life - all of a sudden no 1 is naming or widening invitations* Sudden alteration in the manner your kid negotiations - naming herself a also-ran. or a former friend a dork How to Help First. give your kid infinite to speak. If she recounts incidences of badgering or strong-arming. be empathic. If your kid has problem verbalising her feelings. read a narrative about kids being You can besides utilize marionettes. dolls. or stuffed animate beings to promote a immature kid to move out jobs. Once you’ve opened the door. assist your kid get down to problem-solve. Role-play state of affairss and learn your kid ways to react. You might besides necessitate to assist your kid happen a manner to travel on by promoting her to make out and do new friends. She might fall in squads and school nines to widen her circle. At place and on the resort area: Adults need to step in to assist kids decide strong-arming issues. but naming another parent straight can be slippery unless he or she is a close friend. It is easy to happen yourself in a â€Å"he said/she said† statement. Try to happen an intermediary: even if the intimidation occurs outside of school. a instructor. counsellor. manager. or after-school plan manager may be able to assist intercede a productive treatment. If you do happen yourself speaking straight to the other parent. seek to make it in individual instead than over the phone. Don’t Begin with an angry relation of the other child’s discourtesies. Put the phase for a collaborative attack by proposing traveling to the resort area. or walking the kids to school together. to detect interactions and jointly express disapproval for any unacceptable behaviour. At school: Many schools ( sometimes as portion of a statewide attempt ) have plans particularly designed to raise consciousness of strong-arming behaviour and to assist parents and instructors deal efficaciously with it. Check with your local school territory to see if it has such a plan. Schools and parents can work efficaciously behind the scenes to assist a child meet and do new friends via survey groups or science-lab partnerships. If you are concerned about your kid: * Share with the instructor what your kid has told you ; depict any tease or strong-arming you may hold witnessed. * Ask the instructor if she sees similar behaviour at school. and enlist her aid in happening ways to work out the job. * If she hasn’t seen any cases of badgering. ask that she maintain an oculus out for the behaviour you described. * If the instructor says your kid is being teased. happen out whether there are any things he may be making in category to pull badgering. Ask how he responds to the tease. and discuss assisting him develop a more effectual response. * After the initial conversation. be certain to do a follow-up assignment to discourse how things are traveling. * If the job persists. or the teacher ignores your concerns. and your kid starts to retreat or non desire to travel to school. see the possibility of â€Å"therapeutic intercession. † Ask to run into with the school counsellor or psychologist. or bespeak a referral to the appropriate school professional. Bullying and suicide nexus together. Not many people see that. A batch of grownups still see strong-arming as† merely being a kid† . It is a serious job that leads to many negative effects of victims. including suicide. Peoples don’t see but a major part of victims of self-destruction are linked to being bullied. The statistics on intimidation and self-destruction are dismaying: * Suicide is the 3rd prima cause of decease among immature people. ensuing in approximately 4. 400 deceases per twelvemonth. harmonizing to the CDC. For every self-destruction among immature people. there are at least 100 suicide efforts. Over 14 per centum of high school pupils have considered self-destruction. and about 7 per centum have attempted it. * Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to see suicide than non-victims. harmonizing to surveies by Yale University * A survey in Britain found that at least half of self-destructions among immature people are related to strong-arming * 10 to 14 twelvemonth old misss may be at even higher hazard for self-destruction. harmonizing to the survey above * Harmonizing to statistics reported by ABC News. about 30 per centum of pupils are either toughs or victims of intimidation. and 160. 000 childs stay place from school every twenty-four hours because of fright of strong-arming Bully-related self-destruction can be connected to any type of strong-arming. including physical intimidation. emotional intimidation. cyber intimidation. and sexting. or go arounding implicative or bare exposures or messages about a individual. Some schools or parts have more serious jobs with intimidation and self-destruction related to strong-arming. This may be due to an inordinate job with intimidation at the school. It could besides be related to the inclination of pupils who are exposed to suicide to see suicide themselves. There are excessively many childs out at that place. which are being bullied and teased. I think ; I know if more people were cognizant of this issue more and the harm it causes to each person’s life. they would seek to forestall it. There would be a lower rate of bullied victims.

Gender Inequality Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gender Inequality - Research Paper Example Gender inequality in the workplace particularly has disastrous effects on the overall organization because the more stressful the working environment is the less effective is exhibited by employees. Between the years 1940 to 1995, a large number of women entered the labor force but unfortunately their exposure resulted in a whole new set of inequality problems. Unfortunately, inequality is also prevalent in the US government where men hold more than 85% of the elected positions and about 95% of the corporate executives are also males. On the other hand, women occupy two-thirds of the poor adult population. A substantial amount of the women population is still insecure because of problems such as sexual violence, occupational inequalities and feminization of poverty, continues to threaten them. We have encouraged women to pursue occupations once reserved only for their counterparts yet we have not encouraged men to follow traditional roles performed by women. Therefore, women continue to withstand the burden of undertaking family up bringing which inevitably limits the role they can play in the outside world. Therefore, it signifies that women are capable of contributing extensively towards economic and social development but their traditional responsibilities limit their capabilities. Despite the gender disparities that exist in our society, most of us do not consider it a serious problem and this is the very reason why the paradoxical legacy of inequality continues to plague our nation. (Rhode 2000). Our youth and adults feel comfortable discussing certain sexual issues such as sexual preferences, sexual relationships and sexual deviance but we feel uncomfortable discussing sexual inequality and its implications. In most conversations, the topic of sexual inequality is treated as an intruder which in most cases us unwelcomed. Ironically, most women’s rights activists fail to realize the fact that it’s about time we stopped discussing inequality, instead we need to act now and wage a war to eliminate it. On the other hand, we have only a handful of activists working to elevate the position of women which is another reason why the problem of gender inequality is so deep rooted. Despite the fact that women are continuously subjected to juvenile and benevolent sexism, only a quarter of the American women population believes that

Deontological Versus Teleologica Ethical Systems Essay

Deontological Versus Teleologica Ethical Systems - Essay Example This is because the helper injected the patient out of good intentions and the overdose could just be a result of misunderstanding the instructions given or forgetting them. Since the consequences of an action are of less importance, the system is deontological. Utilitarianism Unlike ethical formalism, the utilitarian system judges the moral worth of an action basing on its consequences. Therefore, a good action is that which results in the greatest benefits for the greatest number. This system seeks consistency with the belief that human nature seeks to avoid pain while maximising pleasure (Pollock, 2004). Because of this, people should always act ways that yield the greatest good/benefits verses to evil for all persons concerned. A notorious thief can be hanged so that the residents of the place can learn from it and have peace as well. It is not justifiable to hang a thief but this injustice is outweighed by the positive consequences achieved by all the town residents. The system is therefore teleological. Religion In the religious system, the moral worth of an action is judged in relation to its conformity certain beliefs. These beliefs provide religious ethics that direct and guide on how people should live. The authority of these ethics, particularly among the Christians and the Jews comes from a wilful and a rational God. For the believers, God is perfect and thus his authority is unquestionable and is not subject to further examination. Therefore, a good action is that which conforms to the will of God. For example, one should not steal even if the food was meant to save a dying person. The similarity between this system and ethical formalism is that the consequences of an action bears little weight and therefore this system is deontological.

Internationanl Business Essay Example for Free

Internationanl Business Essay The organization that I have chosen is Sony Corporation. Sony Corporation is one of the most successful multinational Corporations in the world; it is also one of the best-known names in consumer electronics industry. Since it was established shortly after World War 2, Sony has introduced a stream of revolutionary products, including the transistor radio, the Trinitron television, the Betamax VCR, and the Walkman portable cassette player (FundingUniverse, 2000). Over the years Sony has successfully developed into one of the biggest player in the consumer electronics industry, producing a wide range of products including Audio system, Video cameras, Television, gaming system, Semiconductors and also electronic Components. Valued at $17.12 Billion in the market (Forbes, 2011), Sony Corporation is a great example of successful Multinational Corporation that has competitive advantage in the global market place. Daniel Spulber’s Star Analysis is an analytical framework that helps strategy makers in gathering and processing data about global market (D.F.Spulbur, 2007). By identifying the culture, feature and structure of the business environment in different country, Spulber’s Star Analysis can assist the manager in developing a global strategy that provide their organization with the competitive advantage to succeed in the international market. Star Analysis is based around five major components, which is the features of the company’s home country, supplier countries, customers countries, partner countries and competitor countries. In this case, Star analysis will be used to evaluate the competitive strategy of Sony Corporation and how Sony Corporation improved their global competitiveness. Home Country A company’s home country refers to the country where the business has its headquarters (D.F.Spulber, 2007). In this case, the home country for Sony Corporation is Japan. D.F.Spulber (2007) stated the features of home country are often a good guide to the company’s business practices, corporate culture, and core competencies. D.F.Spulber (2007) also stated that a company can benefit from home-country strengths by using the home country as a launching pad for international expansion, and this is the case for Sony Corporation. Benefiting from the culture and features of Japan, Sony Corporation has developed a strong foundation for their international expansion. This can be justified using the Porter’s diamond theory. M. Porter states that basic factors of endowment, such as natural resources, climate, location and demographics, can provide an initial advantage that is subsequently reinforced and extended by investment in advanced factors, examples of advanced factor s are communication infrastructure, sophisticated and skilled labor, research facilities and technological know-how. Conversely, disadvantages in basic factors can create pressure to invest in advanced factors (Charles.W.L.Hills, 2010). That is the case in Japan, where they lack arable land and mineral deposit, and yet through investment from government and organizations has built a substantial endowment of advanced factors. Japan government’s subsidies and investment in education system, has created large pool of engineers, which is vital to Japan’s success in many manufacturing industries (Charles.W.L.Hills, 2010). This environment provides Sony Corporation with sufficient workforce and skilled labor. Japanese’s constant investment on Research Development has developed the technological know-how of the country. This practice can also be seen in Sony Corporation’s strategy, which spent approximately 6.99% of their revenue, which is $5.5 billion on RD annually and the percentage of employees engaged in RD is 32.49% (TechnologyReview, 2012). This gives Sony Corporation the competitive advantage in the global technological market. Another attribute in Porter’s Diamond is demand condition; In this case, the pressure from Japan’s sophisticated and knowledgeable buyers of cameras has helped stimulate the Japanese camera industry, including Sony Corporation, to improve product quality and to introduce innovative models (Charles.W.L.Hills, 2010). This constant demand for innovative and high quality product has forced Sony Corporation to invest in RD and hence, improved the performance of the company and therefore, gained competitive advantage in the global market. The next attribute is the presence of suppliers or related industries that are internationally competitive. In this case, most of the suppliers of Sony Corporation, for example, Dai Nippon Printing Co, Ltd are one of the top smart card vendors in Asia (Sony.Net, 2011) .Successful electronic IT manufacturers including Hitachi Ltd., Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp has contributed to the semiconductor industry in Japan, which provided the basis for Sony Corporation’s success in cameras and other technically advanced electronic products (DailyYomiuriOnline, 2012) The last attribute of Portal’s Diamond is the strategy, structure and rivalry of firms within a nation (Charles.W.L.Hills, 2010). ). In this case, there are many successful Multinational Corporation in Japan’s technological manufacturing field, such as Toyota, has come out with management philosophies like Total Quality Management, Just-in Time Philosophy and so on ( James et al, 2009). By practicing the same Sony Corporation has benefited from these practices and be more cost effective(Richard A.Gershon, 2007). Major domestic competitors such as Panasonic Corporation also induce Sony Corporation to look for ways to improve efficiency and produce more innovative products. All t hese factors have improved Sony Corporation’s overall global competitiveness. Supplier Country Supplier countries refer to those countries in which the international business transacts with its input suppliers and countries in which the international business manufactures its products (Daniel.F.Spulber, 2007). In this case, Sony Corporation previously had more than 2,500 suppliers around the globe; however after incurring heavy lost in year 2009, Sony Corporation has decided to cut down the number of suppliers (CRN, 2009). To achieve global competitiveness advantage, Sony Corporation’s strategy is to outsource, or externalize part of their value chain activities to different supplier countries, and internalize their core competence, which in this case is their innovative design and technology of their product. Their current major suppliers are companies from China and USA, for example Shenzhen LVSUN Electronics Co., Ltd, which supplied laptop batteries and Nvidia Corporation, which supplied Laptop’s graphic cards (Sony.Net, 2010). China are well-known for their l ow wage labor force so the cost of production for Sony will be much lower compare to their global competitors. USA is a technology-advanced country and by buying new technologies from firms in USA, Sony Corporation’s products are much more advance and better in quality, which in turn increased their global competitiveness. The company is vertically integrated in their supplier’s countries. Sony Corporation established production facilities such as manufacturing plants in Japan, China, USA, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand (Sony Supply Chain Solution. Inc, 2011). Country like USA and Singapore has low trade-barriers and their government policies encouraged Foreign Direct investment, which smoothen Sony’s plan to establish manufacturing plant in their land. Conversely, China and Malaysia has higher trade barriers and strict government policies that might increase the risk of recovering the cost of investment. This strategy has both positive and negative effects on Sony Corporation. By establishing their own manufacturing plants in suppliers countries, Sony are able to protect their proprietary product technology from their competitors, this view is supported by Charles.W.L.Hills (pg 558, 2010). Besides that, majority of Sony’s manufacturing plant are located in technologically advanced countries such as Japan and USA. Therefore with the advanced infrastructure and skilled labor, Sony’s production are more cost-savings and efficient. However, on the other hand, managing and operating plants and firms in different countries has increased Sony’s organization scope, which in turn will increase the organizational complexity and hence raise the firm’s cost structure, this cost is known as cost of hierarchical governance. This view is support by Charles W.L.Hills (pg 559, 2010). In fact, the high cost of governance in different country has been such a burden to Sony that the top management has decided to shutter some of the factories and manufacturing plants, in order to reduce overall cost (CRN, 2009). Furthermore, to overcome this issue, Sony has decided to outsource part of their production to companies in China and USA. Examples are Foxconn Technology Group for the manufacturing of Sony LCD TV and Blackboard Inc for the manufacturing of Sony’s FeliCa Card readers (Sony.Net, 2011). By outsourcing part of the manufacturing,, Sony was able to take advantage of less costly workforce in China and more efficient production facilities in USA. As a result, Sony has been able to avoid bureaucratic inefficiencies and reduce their cost of operation that arise from vertically integrate, and the resulting increased in global competitiveness. This view is supported by Charles.W.L.Hills (pg 559, 2010). Customer Countries In this case, Sony Corporation’s major customers, or target market are the home country itself, Japan, USA and Europe countries. The Japan market is accounted for 24.2% of Sony Corporation’s revenue while USA market is accounted for 23.6%, Europe market for 25.7% and others minor customer countries for 26.5% (Sony.Net,2010). Evaluating the Entry mode of Sony Corporation, the company has initially chosen wholly owned subsidiaries as their strategy to enter the U.S market. More specifically, Sony Corporation practices Greenfield ventures, by establishing manufacturing plants and retails stores in U.S. Sony Corporation first move was the establishment of a small television assembly plant in San Diego, California back in 1972. Sony then expanded and diversified its U.S operation by adding more production facilities in different region of U.S (Sony.com, 2011). In 1960, Sony Corporation of America (SONAM) was established in the United States to manage operation in U.S (Sony.com, 2011).Sony Corporation’s initial entry to U.S. market was facilitated by the unfavorable exchange rate between yen and dollars at that particular period of time, and also the U.S government policies that encouraged foreign investment (SonyNet-history, 2011). Similar scenario happened in Europe, where Sony Corporation initially enter the Europe market by Greenfield ventures, establishing operating firms such as Sony (U.K.) Ltd in United Kingdom, Sony G.m.b.H.in Germany and so on. This strategy proved to be beneficial because this entry mode allowed Sony to protect their technological competence and gives Sony the ability to engage in global strategic coordination. However, the drawback is that this method of entry can be very costly. This view is supported by Charles.W.L.Hills (pg 482, 2010) After establishing firms and production facilities in foreign market, Sony Corporation further strengthen their position by joint ventures with Tektronic Inc from U.S and Ericsson in Sweden, which later on has been wholly acquired by Sony (Sony.com, 2011). Besides that, Sony Corporation has also established strong distribution network, by having retail stores and distributors throughout the U.S and Europe region. Through the establishment of operating firms in foreign market and joint ventures with local companies, Sony Corporation has managed to get closer and understand the demand and preference of consumers in the U.S and Europe market. Consumers in the USA and EU are generally technologically savvy and have always been demanding innovative technological products; The income per capita for US is 47199 US dollars and research shows that the highest technology expenditure for households in US is at around $94 per month ( Huffingpost.com, 2011). They are certainly willing to spend more on technologically products (Accenture, 2010). By understanding these preferences and demand of consumers in USA and Europe, Sony Corporation is able to design and produce innovative products that satisfied consumers, hence achieving the global competitive advantage. Partner Countries According to Daniel.F.Spulber (2007), the features of partner countries are highly useful in determining the potential contribution that the business and its partner will bring to the joint activities. One of Sony Corporation’s most beneficial and strategic alliances is their partnership with Korea’s Samsung. Sony and Samsung shared complementary technology that would benefit each other. Sony was able to utilize Samsung’s knowledge and technology to make LCD, which is critical for the large flat –panel TVs that were in high demand. Samsung’s skills were complementary to Sony’s since they were tuned to computer displays while Sony brought TV display knowledge (Daniel F.Spulber, 2007). According to Charles W.L.Hill (2010), one of the benefits of strategic alliance is the share of cost and risk. This is certainly the case for the Sony-Samsung joint venture. The Sony-Samsung Joint venture set up a manufacturing facility in Tangjung, South Korea ( Daniel F.Spulber, 2007). The joint venture helped Sony and Samsung save significant cost in RD and manufacturing and helped the companies gain substantial economies of scale in manufacturing (Daniel F.Spulber, 2007). By sharing ideas between both companies, product innovation is enhanced, allowing Sony to boost its global sales of flat-panel TVs (Daniel F.Spulber, 2007). In order to keep up with advances in digital technologies that was driving innovations in the global market, Sony and Samsung agreed to share patents for a variety of technologies-13,000 patents from Sony and 11,000 patents from Samsung (Daniel F.Spulber, 2007). Another successful alliance for Sony Corporation is the research joint venture between IBM and Toshiba. This particular joint venture had developed the Cell chip that powered the Sony PlayStation 3 (SonyNet, 2011). The companies split the high development costs and employed engineers around the world. Besides that, Sony Corporation’s joint venture with Ericsson from Sweden allowed Sony to enter the mobile communication industry in Europe, which later expanded to Asia with the name of Sony Ericsson. Sony’s successful alliance with global companies like Samsung, IBM and Ericsson has allowed Sony to produce and design innovative products with high quality. Besides that, joint venture with Ericsson allowed Sony to understand Europe’s market condition better which smoothen their entry to Europe market and all these have helped Sony to achieve global competitive advantage. Competitor Countries One of Sony Corporation’s major competitors is LG Electronics. LG Electronics is a Korean-based company that sells electronic products such as televisions, mobile phone, Air conditioners, Home appliances and a lot more. The features of LG Electronics’s Home Country, South Korea, has played an important role in the company’s business culture and global strategy. South Korea’s government has set their goal to open new opportunities for the electronics industry and this has given LG Electronics an extra boost for expanding their market internationally (Frost-Sullivan, 2007), which is a treat to Sony Corporation in the global market. However, Korean’s culture of high uncertainty avoidance might be the reason they are less innovative, since LG Electronic employed their staffs from Korea, their products might not be as innovative as Japanese companies like Sony. As for LG Electronics supplier countries, their major suppliers are Hong Kong HuiChun Co.Ltd a nd Veise Electronic Co.Ltd from China mainland. Utilizing the labor of lower wages in China, the cost of production for LG electronics might be lower than other companies in the industry, which is a treat to Sony as well (GlobalSources, 2012). As for LG Electronics partner countries, LG Electronics has established strong alliance with multinational companies like Intel, Microsoft and Mozilla has given them the technological advantage to compete in the global market. These alliances have helped LG Electronics to overcome their lack of technological innovation in their home country. In order to compete with LG Electronics in the global market, Sony Corporation has initially practices the international strategy. According to Charles W.L.Hill, an enterprise pursuing an international strategy is confronted with low cost pressures and low pressures for local responsiveness. These type of enterprise tend to centralize product development at home but tend to establish manufacturing and marketing function in each major country or geographi c region in which they do business (Charles W.L.Hill, 2010). This is initially the case for Sony Corporation, who started their entry to foreign market in such pattern. By centralizing RD in Japan, Sony entered foreign market by establishing manufacturing plant and operating firms in USA, Europe and other Asia countries. However, as the cost pressure and pressure for local responsiveness increases, Sony Corporation has change to transnational strategy. According to Charles W.L.Hill (2010), a firm that pursue a transnational strategy is trying to simultaneously achieve low costs through location economies, economies of scale, and learning effects; differentiate their product offering across geographic markets to account for local differences; and foster a multidirectional flow of skills between different subsidiaries in the firm’s global network of operations. By partnering with strong suppliers in China and USA, economics of scale can be achieved. Besides that, multidirectional flow of technological skills and knowledge from different subsidiaries, such as Sony Ericsson in Sweden, and the Samsung-Sony joint venture in South Korea and so on is also happening constantly. However, such strategy is so difficult to implement that Sony Corporation has faced some negative impact, having too high cost due to differentiation of product in different market. Conclusion As a conclusion, by applying the Spulber’s Star Analysis, Sony Corporation was able to achieve global competitive advantage in the global market. By using their strong foundation in Japan, where they receive not only support from government but also the culture, knowledge and infrastructure, Sony successfully expanded their business worldwide. Economics of scale has been achieved with the help of strong suppliers from mainland China and USA. Sony was able to enter their customer’s countries easily with joint ventures with local firms and Greenfield ventures. Using the information gathered they managed to understand the demand and consumer preferences of each market. Sony further strengthens their positions in the global market with help from their strong alliances such as IBM, Ericsson, and Samsung and so on. Evaluating the function of Star Analysis, such analysis is fairly useful for international managers to plan their strategy. By studying the features of the home, suppliers, customers, partners and competitors countries, the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a organization can be found and this information can be use to help the organization achieve global competitive advantage. For example, the SWOT of Sony has been identified after applying the Star Analysis. Therefore, international managers should practice Star Analysis before implementing their global strategy. Reference Charles W.L.Hill (2010). International Business, Competing in the global marketplace. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. pg181-183, pg255, pg405-407, pg487-489, pg556-560. Spulber, F.Daniel (2007). Global Competitive Strategy. London: Cambridge University Press. pg 134-150. Michele Masterson. (2009). Sony Says Sayonara to 1250 Suppliers. News, Analysis, and Perspective for Vars and Technology integrators. 13 (2), pg23-24 Bob Ferrari. (2011). Sony’s Supply Chain Remains in Turmoil. Supply Chain Strategy. 12 (5), pg 5-6. Anon.(2011).PartnerSupplier.Available:http://www.sony.net/Products/felica/business/partners/index.html. Last accessed 29th Feb 2012. Anon. (2010). Sony said to be outsourcing production of high-end LCDs, Foxconn and Wistron getting the nod. Available: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/18/sony-said-to-be-outsourcing-production-of-high-end-lcds-foxconn/. Last accessed 29th Feb 2012 Anon. (2011). Sony Supply Chain Solution. Available: http://www.sonyscs.co.jp/english/index.html. Last accessed 29th Feb 2012 Anon.(2011).SonyCorporateHistory.Available:http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/history.html. Last accessed 29th Feb 2012. Anon. (2011). LG Suppliers. Available: http://www.globalsources.com/manufacturers/LG.html. Last accessed 28th Feb 2012. Anon. (2007). Government Policies Set to Position South Korea Among the World’s Top Industrial Nations . Available: http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/press-release.pag?Src=RSSdocid=103675273#top. Last accessed 28th Feb 2012.

The Rising Cost of Health Care Essay -- essays research papers

Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel. There are three issues when it comes to the health care cost rising. The first is the rising cost in prescription drugs. The second area of rising cost is the increased technologies when it comes to the medical industry. The third problem is the aging population. Prescription drugs are the area of the fastest growing health care expense, and it is projected to grow at 20 to 30 percent each year over the next several years. There are many newer, more expensive drugs on the market, and the use of these prescriptions is exploding. In addition, with so much television advertising, many consumers ask their doctors for expensive, brand name drugs when there may actually be a generic drug that works just as well. Over the past decade, scientists have made significant advancements in the treatment of certain diseases. Unfortunately, just like any new product, the cost of developing these new technologies and treatments is extremely high. Plus, unlike other technology, heath technolo...

The Challenge of Starting Up A New Internet Venture

Lui and Wong had made a good choice in choosing music as there online start up business, because of the nature of music itself is information rich, easy to distribute, consumption experience are indifferent between digital or physical product, also, without the space limitation of a physical store, MusicJuice. net can provide a large amount of selection for user to choose. In addition, internet landscape empowers the business model of Crowd-Sourcing, where millions of vertical interest group can form their own communities, share and support each other on the internet.And such business model has proven to be very successful in Europe, theoretically, MusicJuice. net should also be successful in North America where the potential market size was approximately 240,000 musicians. However, the company has been losing money month after month since launched in April 2008, only 70 artistes has signed up in July 2008 and none of them had reached the fundraising goal, and of course, no premium m embers at all. The two co-founders have to decide what could be done to save MusicJuice. et or whether they should close the business for good. Before jumping into conclusion, let’s examine the situation with the 5 Forces analysis. First of all, the threats of new entrants are too high, just like their competitor – Slicethepie. com was launched one month after MusicJuice. net began its development. Forming such music portal requires relatively low capital investment, and there is no customer or brand loyalty at all, because the users will only loyalty to the musicians. The threats of substitute products for MusicJuice. et is also very high, as people will enjoy and obtain the music they like in many different sources, CD Store, radio, youtube, iTunes, sharing between friends, or even download from piracy websites! Not only facing the threats of new entrants and substitute, what really bothers MusicJuice. net is the high bargaining power of supplier, i. e. the musicians . The business of MusicJuice. net is bet on the quality of their signed musicians, but what musicians really cares is to expand their fans network, but not to build any relationship with a particular platform.Even though the bargaining power of customers is comparatively low when the user addicted into any single musician, but such advantage is not sustainable once the musician switch to other platform. And the biggest force affecting MusicJuice. net is the high intensity of competitive rivalry, many companies including those major music labels and big IT corporations e. g. Microsoft also attempted to use MySpace to slice the pie of the profitable music industry, not to mention those giants like iTunes and Amazon.Even thought in such unfavorable situation, MusicJuice. net can still do something to rescue their business, not just working on marketing campaign or functional enhancement, but to focus on building the pure music community by forming strategic partners with indie band and independent music labels, line up with quality musicians to build few showcases of successful stories, aforementioned, their business is bet on the quality of their suppliers, they should provide a reason for the musicians to sign up on their platform.After all, people are looking for music as an enjoyment, not an investment, MusicJuice. net should provide more interesting free content for the user to enjoy music, but not just invest on music. (end)