Lord of the Flies Essay free essay sample

Following his career in the Royal Navy, William Golding began to compose his most famous novel, Lord of the Flies. Shortly after their plane crashes on a solitary island, a group of English school boys attempt to maintain order and civilization. Ralph, the chief of the group, struggles to gain power and leadership from his followers, especially, the defiant, violent boy named Jack. Throughout the years, critic’s have argued that the novel is a religious allegory that has numerous biblical allusions within the work. Lord of the Flies is, in fact, a religious allegory in which the island represents the Garden of Eden, the beast symbolizes the fall of man, and Simon acts as the Christ figure. First, the novel displays religious allegory characteristics through the islands similarities to the Garden of Eden. Golding describes that â€Å"The shore was fledged with palm trees. These stood or leaned or reclined against the light and their green feathers were a hundred feet up in the air† (Golding 9). We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The captivating imagery of the island corresponds to the flawless description of the Garden of Eden. According to Genesis 2:9 â€Å"The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. † The abundance of fruits and plants around the island provides visual similarities to the beautiful Garden of Eden. Although there are numerous graphic characteristics to the Bible, the innocence between Adam and Eve and the stranded boys also exist throughout the novel. After first arriving on the island, most of the boys were stripped of their clothing, but they do not experience any ashamed feelings at first. Golding expresses their innocence when he states â€Å"Some [boys] were naked and carrying their clothes; others half-naked, or more or less dressed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Golding 18). Their innocence is correspondingly similar to Adam and Eve during their time in the Garden of Eden. As the Bible states â€Å"Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame† (Genesis 2:25). The innocence they had was pure, but after they sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which they knew was forbidden, they felt shame in their bodies and tried to cover themselves. The resemblance demonstrates the same qualities that the boy’s portrayed, on the island, after their attempt to kill the first pig. The shame towards their nakedness occurs when jack begins to paint his face to hide his embarrassment. â€Å"He [Jack] made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw† (Golding 63). The shared characteristics among Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the group of English schoolboys on the island are clearly demonstrated in the novel, as well as similarities to the beast and the fall of man. The immeasurable amount of evil inside every human can either be disguised as holy and kind actions, or it can be flourished with anger and violence. The proper English boys thinking there is a beast on the island is a parallel to when Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve chose, with their own sinful mind, to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Therefore there is an evil within all of our souls. One of the younger boys describes as seeing a snake-like beast, and from that point the boys are frightened that a beast may be hunting them. Little do they know, the â€Å"beast† is only the evil inside of each of them. Simon travels to his serene, beautiful field where he goes at times he needs to be alone. While he observes a pigs head on a stick, he experiences hallucinations as he hears the dead pig head speaking to him. The sow describes to Simon, â€Å"Fancy thinking the beast is something you can hunt and kill† (Golding 143). This indicates that the beast is merely a figure of their imagination, which represents the serpent which tempts Adam and Eve. By making them think they need the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, is the same as the â€Å"beast† in the boys makes them think they need to kill to survive. It causes them to become more and more savage. 2 Corinthians 11:3 states â€Å"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. †. As the boys believed the beast was coming after them, the more violent they became towards one another. Simon, who is shown as the Jesus figure, had to show the boys that there was hope they would get off the island. Finally, the novel displays intriguing similarities between Simon and Jesus, and they are shown throughout Lord of the Flies. Throughout the Bible, Jesus leaves his disciples to go to a solitary place to calm and pray, â€Å"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed† (Mark 1:35). Simon, who symbolizes Jesus, was a wise and holy person. He was realistic to the other boys of the group, and he attempted to restore hope that they would be rescued. Although he was always kind and helpful to the group, his â€Å"friends† betrayed him when he came to warn them about the parachutist. This is similar to when Jesus was let down by his disciples. When none of the other boys would help Ralph build the huts, Simon was the one who stood by his side and encouraged him. Golding shows how loyal Simon was in Chapter three, â€Å"All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else† (Golding 50). When Simon was killed by the savage boys is a comparison to when Jesus was left by his disciples and crucified. The similarities between Simon and Jesus prove, once again, that Lord of the Flies is a religious allegory. When the island represents the Garden of Eden, the fall of man is shown by the beast, and Jesus is expressed by Simons hopeful expressions, Lord of the Flies, the famous novel by William Golding, is proved to be a religious allegory. As their attempt at a humane and civilized group fails, the correspondence to the Bible increases. Simon provides more hope of rescue to the boys and is helpful in building huts, as Jesus was also helpful. The beautiful Garden of Eden resembles the island the boys have crashed on, and provides the boys opportunities to become more savage. In conclusion, Lord of the Flies is, indeed, a religious allegory. Lord Of The Flies Essay free essay sample # 8211 ; What Evil Lurks In The Heart Of Jack? Essay, Research Paper By Sean Rioux The fresh Lord of the flies by William Golding nowadayss and defends a subject that human nature is indispensable immorality, and that a individual removed from society will be allowed to allow their evil inherent aptitudes to attest themselves as the individual becomes progressively barbarous. In this novel, Golding nowadayss a character ( Jack ) who takes on and exemplifies this passage to savagery through out the class of the book as the evil inside him is set free. We see Jack, who at foremost can non even kill a hog caught in the creepers, autumn deeper in deeper into his barbarian ways as his violent death of one hog, and his focal point on the Hunt turns to bloodlust. Then as it progresses his bloodlust begins to drive more than merely the Hunt for nutrient as he leaves the dead as forfeit for the animal, and he begins to turn his force out towards the other male childs, non merely his pray. We will write a custom essay sample on Lord Of The Flies Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As a concluding decent into the immorality that has consumed him the pray becomes one of the male childs as Ralph is hunted with the purpose to kill, forfeit and perchance even eat in an act of cannibalism. Before the immorality began to turn in strength within Jack, he was a boy much like the others and like the others he found the construct of killing another populating thing was non something easy to digest, but Jack learned. How of all time hard it was for Jack to first kill a hog, sloping its blood on his bare custodies, one time he had foremost killed another populating thing his way towards evil and savageness was good one its manner. Early on in the novel we find Ralph, Simon and Jack walking through the forest when they come across a little hog tangled and caught in the creepers. Although Jack does hold a knife with him his vacillation combined with the overpowering world of the state of affairs keeps Jack stunned in his topographic point and the hog escapes untasted. Jack swears to himself and the others that he will kill the following hog and this force per unit area to execute to turn out himself a true and worthy huntsman, leads him to compulsion over the Hunt. To Jack the Hunt becomes more than merely a game, or a beginning of nutrient, it becomes his mission, responsibility and aim on the island. When Jack makes his first putting to death he is spellbound by the power of life and decease he ex erts on the hog and is fascinated by the warm blood that pours from the lesion he cuts to slice the hogs pharynx. Now the Hunt has become something more for Jack as lecherousness for blood Begins to stir in him and the hungriness for that feeling of power over another existences mortality grows. The others on the island Begin to take involvement and exhilaration in the Hunt as Jack has provided meat, and the draw of the Hunt and its bloody Gore Begin to stir in the other male childs. This acts as a accelerator to the autumn of the brickle society Ralph protects as the male childs through Jack see the helter-skelter and barbarous game of the Hunt and the chance of more meat far more amusive and delighting than even acquiring place. Jack denies the importance of the fire or shelters proposing he is in complete obeisance to the draw of the Hunt, and the built-in immorality that comes with. Cruel as slicing a hogs pharynx may at first seem to Jack, as the lecherousness for blood that st irs in him begins to intensify, so does the power of evil deep within him, and for Jack the Hunt becomes that much more lust full and cardinal. As Jack # 8217 ; s grasp on the disregarded world he left behind fades off, the new more barbarous ways of his folk of huntsmans Begins to determine a civilization around the immorality of the island. Jack # 8217 ; s putting to deaths, as clip passes become more and more barbarous and without clemency as he begins to loss any morel construction or compassion for other living existences. When runing one twenty-four hours he manages to track a sow with immature still suckling at her nipple and he leads the male childs in a perverse, and lust full slaughter of the female parent hog. He does non see what harm he is making or the morality that would come into to play had he non been so far from modern civilisation. The caput of the sow is mounted on a stick as a forfeit to the animal who to the barbarians that where one time male childs, has become a kind of symbolic vengeful and evil God who the male childs commit incorrect behaviors in the name of. The animal in the fresh represents t he evil T chapeau exists within Jack and the boys themselves and therefore the forfeit to the animal represents them giving in even further to their ain immorality. The male childs are giving into their ain barbarian, cardinal ways more and more as the artlessness that they bore when they arrived on the islands begins to come crashing down even further. Jack focuses his violent energies for the most portion into the Hunt, but as the Hunt and the cardinal forces of immorality he exerts on the Hunt go more and more a portion of him it begins to ooze into the interactions he has between him and the other male childs. As Jack, through his action, denies rank to any civilised society on the island he beings to demo egoistic behavior toward any group but the huntsmans and his separate folk and begins to see his endurance as more of import than that of the others. Upon recognizing that the other group had fire ( which both groups needed ) and his did non, he decides that his group as the strongest deserved the rite to the fire, and that they would take it by force conditions necessary or non. This demonstrates the cardinal ways of nature in its Torahs of endurance of the fittest, and Jack # 8217 ; s belief that he was the strongest and therefore deserved to populate the most, and have the fire over any other. In modern civilisation we have ethical motives we instill in our egos to assist the weaker, and portion what we have to determine a better hereafter for those in demand. Ralph # 8217 ; s is really much willing to portion the fire but Jack gives them no opportunity and merely sees them as the w eaker link ready to be picked off, in his tribal island universe. With Jack # 8217 ; s contempt for the weaker less cardinal, less barbarous male childs of the island combined with Jack # 8217 ; s weak fond regard to society and its ethical motives, the immorality in him becomes of all time so powerful and enables him to disregard whatever societal construction that one time guided him and take his cardinal Hunt to a whole to savage degree. Jack # 8217 ; s concluding descent into the deepness of his ain darkness and savageness occurs when the mark of the Hunt, putting to death, and forfeit, turns off from the hog and towards Ralph. As Ralph # 8217 ; s little opposition to the immorality and lawlessness on the island takes its concluding blow with the devastation of Piggy and the conch, Jack chooses to stop what small is left to remind him of the civilised behaviour he one time knew by killing Ralph. Not merely slay him in cold blood, but Hunt and slaughter him like an animate being, and leave a meaningful and overpoweringly existent forfeit for the animal, Ralph # 8217 ; s caput on a stick. Ralph being sacrificed to the animal is meaningful in the context of the book as Ralph after the devastation of the conch represents all that is left on the island of society, and civilisation and therefore good. Jack is so dead set on seeing Ralph dead because he can feel that Ralph opposes the savageness traveling on. For Jack a nd the male childs they have given up on the thought of place and bury the artlessness they one time had. Now with Piggy dead and the conch ruined Ralph exists as a painful reminder that, some one is still believing about place, and the society they left so distantly behind. Jack goes every bit far as firing the woods of the island down to blush out Ralph without even sing that the wood is their lone beginning of nutrient. He has lost his internal balance of good and evil and therefore he can no longer ground and his actions and determinations have become like cardinal physiological reactions, everything for the putting to death. William Golding nowadayss this novel to us as a thesis statement on human nature, proposing that we are all inherently evil but it is society that keeps us civil and good. This construct although it might non use to the existent universe is portrayed rather nicely through the character of Jack who finds himself making things his society would look down on without the slightest spot of consideration. He hunts armed with nil but his inherent aptitude and a lance, lecherousnesss after the sight of blood. He even pursues a human pray, and bows to a sacrificial immorality God. What about this book that really has a footing in world and applies even to the fictional character Jack is that their is a delicate balance between good and evil and that it takes so small to countervail the balance that we as a society must protect and function these values we hold so beloved.

A Guide to Using MLA Citations

A Guide to Using MLA Citations A Guide to Using MLA Citations MLA referencing is common in the humanities. And if you are studying on a literature or language-based course, you may need to use MLA citations in your written work. To help you get this right, then, we have prepared a guide to using MLA citations in an essay. This will cover basic citations, citing multiple authors, and other tricky situations. 1. Basic MLA Citations Basic MLA citations use an author surname and a page number in brackets. Typically, you would give this before end punctuation: Bad news travels fast (Hawkins 201). Here, for example, the citation points to page 201 of a source by Hawkins. You would then give the full source details in the list. The main variation on this format occurs when you name an author in the text: Hawkins claims that bad news â€Å"travels fast† (201). As shown here, when the author’s name appears in the text, there is no need to repeat it in the citation. Instead, just give the page number after the quote. 2. Citing Sources with Multiple Authors When a source has two authors, name both in the in-text citation, using â€Å"and† as a connector (not the ampersand symbol): The exact speed of bad news is a mystery (Ptaszynski and Schreiber 14). Here, for example, we’re citing page 14 of a text by Ptaszynski and Schreiber. However, for sources with three or more authors, you should use the first name plus â€Å"et al.† in citations: Harkin et al. argue that good news is equally fast (101). â€Å"Et al.† here means â€Å"and others,† showing the reader you have left some names out. The same rule applies if a source has three or more editors or translators in the list. 3. Citing More than One Author with the Same Surname To cite more than one author with the same surname, you will need to adapt your citations. In MLA referencing, this means giving a first initial: News moves slower in water (A. Smith 32) than in air, but it moves much faster in a vacuum (Z. Smith 412-414). In the list, however, you should give the authors’ full first names and surnames as usual. 4. Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author Rather than using a year of publication to distinguish between citations of sources by the same author, MLA referencing uses the source title in place of the author’s name. For example, imagine that an author called Hawkins had written both a book called A History of Bad News and an article called â€Å"The Pace of News: A Comparative Study of Communicative Speed.† To cite both in the same document, we would need to include their titles in the citations: Bad news travels fast (Hawkins, A History of Bad News 201). Its speed seems to be increasing, too (Hawkins, â€Å"The Pace of News† 1136). We can learn two things about using titles in MLA citations from the examples above. In particular, you should always: Format titles according to the source type (e.g., italics for books and quote marks for shorter pieces such as articles). Shorten long titles (e.g., changing â€Å"The Pace of News: A Comparative Study of Communicative Speed† to just â€Å"The Pace of News†). In the list, meanwhile, you should organize sources by the same author alphabetically by title. In addition, use three hyphens in place of the author’s name for each entry after the first: Hawkins, Justin. A History of Bad News. London, PME Publications, 2007. . â€Å"The Pace of News: A Comparative Study of Communicative Speed.† The Journal of Alternative Telecommunications, vol. 9, no. 3, 2015, pp. 1124-1139. 5. Citing More than One Source at Once Finally, to cite more than one source in the same place, separate each citation with a semicolon. For example: Bad news moves faster than light (Hawkins 198; Smith 22). Here, we’re citing both Hawkins and Smith to support one same point. This can be useful for showing that many people share an idea or theory.

Anselm's Cosmological Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anselm's Cosmological Argument - Essay Example The above proof is crucial in that ultimately Anselm has to prove that God is the first cause of all things and of itself. Without the above conclusion, there would be some things that God must not have caused.   If there is more than one cause, then a) all things are the one being through which they all exist, or b) all things exist separately each by virtue of itself or they cause one another to exist. The next part of the proof is where Anselm goes back to each of the three parts of statement #5 and disproves each of the three subparts in order to prove in the end that there is only one being that caused the existence of everything: Using the notion of â€Å"master† and â€Å"slave,† it is impossible for one being to confer existence on the one being that had originally conferred existence on the former. Moreover, all things â€Å"do not at all exist mutually,† which means that it would be impossible that each one would cause one another, and so there must not be more than one being. Based on statement #6, #7, and #8, and employing elimination in #5, Anselm arrives at the conclusion that there must be only one thing that causes the existence of all things including itself. After Anselm has concluded that there must only be one being that caused the existence of all things including itself, his final task, through the last two paragraphs, was to prove that this one cause was the greatest of all beings: Such an ability to cause itself and others is, therefore, the attribute of the greatest being, while all other things cannot cause themselves. The last part of the proof is the part where Anselm tries to prove that this one being which is the greatest of all is God.

American Companies and Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American Companies and Globalization - Essay Example There is a raging debate on the impact of globalization. While one school of thought terms globalization as a sine-qua-non for economic prosperity, the other school of thought terms the concept as catastrophic. There may be reasons for fearing globalization and its impacts, for e.g. the developed world fears that free movement of labor between national boundaries may result in job losses in the home country, while the developing nations run the risk of losing political sovereignty and control over domestic markets. Venkitaramanan (2004) opines that unsound government policies, and not globalization, are to be blamed for rising inequalities in developing countries. Osland (2003) avers that empirical evidence reveals that globalization has accorded numerous benefits that far outweigh the negatives. In a globalized world, a company considers the entire world as a single market and chalks out its corporate business strategy keeping in mind the global business environment. Such companies give up the distinction between domestic and foreign market and also go in for global sourcing of factors of production like raw materials, components, labor and machinery. The phenomenon of globalization has not only resulted in availability of a variety of goods in many countries, but has also led to reduction in prices for many goods. The erstwhile local monopolies have been challenged in their backyard and thus have had to provide superior quality goods and that too at lower prices. Schneider (2010) avers that the U.S. market is huge and attracts large amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI). In order to restrict their susceptibility to trade disputes, foreign companies prefer to set up manufacturing units in the United States, thus providing the jobs to the citizens of the country. On their part, U.S. multinationals contribute significantly to the nation’s economy through capital investment and continued focus on research and development (R&D).

Get the latest report from Microsoft Corporation and analyze it for Research Paper

Get the latest report from Microsoft Corporation and analyze it for its investment potential - Research Paper Example Since then the company has been excelling in every department and has made itself as an exemplary icon for other companies to follow. Before investing in a particular company, it is prudent that the company’s performance should be properly analyzed. A company’s performance can be analyzed by referring to its financial statements, in other words, a potential investor should dig deep into the financial statements of an organization. Financial statements provide a clear picture of the company’s performance over the year. For and investor, there are many different techniques used to analyze the financial statements but the common approach used to analyze the financial performance is the use of ratio analysis. â€Å"Ratio analysis is a tool used by individuals to conduct a quantitative analysis of information  in a companys financial statements. Ratios are  calculated from current year numbers and are then compared to previous years, other companies, the industry, or even the economy to judge the performance of the company† (Investopedia). Ratios are further divided into different categories, with each ratio analyzing a different perspective. To analyze the financial performance according to the investor perspective, Investor/shareholder ratios are used. Earnings per share are the portion that an organization allocates to its outstanding share of common stock. EPS is a measure of a company’s profitability. Microsoft’s EPS for the year 2009 was $1.63/share as compared to its EPS of $1.9/share in 2008. This shows that the company was unable to have the same profitability as in 2008. The EPS figure seems discouraging for investors to invest in the company. Dividend per Share shows the company’s ability to give out dividends to its individual shareholders. Microsoft’s dividend per share had increased by $0.08/share. Microsoft’s cash dividend per share in 2009 was $0.52 as compared to $0.44 in 2008. Although the company’s net income

Yips Drivers Of Globalisation Management Essay

Yips Drivers Of Globalisation Management Essay There is an increasing trend to market globalisation for a variety of reasons. In some markets, customer needs and preferences are becoming more similar. The opening of McDonalds outlets in most countries of the world signalled similar tendencies in fast food. As some markets globalise, those operating in such markets become global customers and may search for suppliers who an operate on a global basis. The development of global communication and distribution channels may drive globalisation- the obvious example being the impact of the internet. Marketing policies, brand names and identifies, and advertising may all be developed globally. This further generates global demand and expectations from customers, and may also provide marketing cost advantages for global operators. Cost globalisation may give potential for competitive advantage since some organisations will have greater access to and/be more aware of these advantages than others. There might also be cost advantages from the experience built through wider scale operations. Other cost advantages might be achieved by central sourcing efficiencies from lower cost suppliers across the world. Country specific costs such as labour or exchange rates, encourage businesses to search globally for low cost in these respects as ways of matching the costs of competitors that have such advantages because of their location. For example given increased reliability of communication and cost differentials of labour, software companies and call centres are being located in India, where there is highly skilled but low cost staff. Other businesses face high costs of product development and may see advantages in operating globally with fewer products rather than incurring the costs of wide ranges of products on a more limited geographical scale. The activities and policies of governments have also tended to drive the globalisation of industry. Changes in the macro environment are increasing the global competition, which, in turn, encourages further globalisation. If the levels of exports and imports between countries are high, it increases interaction between competitors on a more global scale. If a business is competing globally, it also tends to place globalisation pressures on competitors, especially if customers are also operating on a global scale. Porters 5 forces (diagram p.80) Porters five forces framework was originally developed as a way of assessing the attractiveness of different industries. As such it can help identifying the sources of competition in an industry or sector. Although initially used with businesses in mind, it is of value to most organisations. It must be used at the level of SBUs and not at the level of the whole organisation. For example an airline might compete simultaneously in several different arenas such as domestic and long haul, and target different customer groups such as leisure, business ad freight. The impact of competitive force may be different for each of theses SBUs. Understanding the connections between competitive forces and the key drivers in the macro environment are essential. For example technological changes can destroy many of the competitive advantages and barriers that have protected organisations historically. The five forces are not independent of each other. Pressures from one direction can trigger off changes in another in dynamic process of shifting sources of competition. Competitive behaviour may be concerned with disrupting these forces and not simply accommodating them. Threat of entry will depend on the extent to which there are barriers to entry. These are factors that need to be overcome by new entrants if they are to compete successfully. These should be seen as providing delays to entry and not as permanent barriers to determined potential entrants. They may deter some potential entrants but not others. Typical barriers are as follows- Economies of scale The capital requirement of entry. The capital cost of entry will vary according to technology and scale. Access to supply or distribution channels. In many industries manufacturers have had control over supply or/and distribution channels. Customer or supplier loyalty. It is difficult for a competitor to break into an industry if there are one or more established operators that now the industry well and have good relationships with the key buyers and suppliers. Experience. Early entrants into an industry gain experience sooner than others. This can give them advantage in terms of cost and/or customer/supplier loyalty. Legislation or government action. Legal restraints on competition vary from patent protection, to regulation of markets through to direct government action. Threat of substitutes. Substitutes reduces demand for a particular class of products as customers switch to the alternatives-even to the extent that this lass of products or services become obsolete. This depends on whether a substitute provides a higher perceived benefit or value. Substitution may take different forms- There could be product for product substitution- for example email, substituting for a postal service. There may also be other organisations that are complementors-meaning that they have products and services that make organisations products more competitive-and vice versa. There may be substitution of need by a new product or service, rendering an existing product or service redundant. For example, more reliable and cheaper domestic appliances reducing the need for maintenance and repair services. Generic substitution occurs where products or services compete for disposable income, for example furniture manufacturers compete for available household expenditure with suppliers of televisions, videos, cookers, cars and holidays. The power of buyers and suppliers. Buyer power is likely to be high when some of the following conditions prevail. There is a concentration of buyers, particularly if the volumes purchased by buyers are high and/or the supplying industry comprises a large number of small operators. This is the case on items such as milk in the grocery sector in many European countries, where just a few retailers dominate the market. The cost of switching a supplier is low or involves little risk-for example, if there are no long term contract or supplier approval requirements. There is a threat of the supplier being acquired by the buyer and/or the buyer setting up in competition with the supplier. This is called backward integration and might occur if satisfactory prices or quality from suppliers cannot be obtained. Supplier power is likely to be high when: There is a concentration of suppliers rather than a fragmented source of supply. The switching costs from one supplier to another are high, perhaps because an organisations processes are dependant on the specialist products of a supplier, as in the aerospace industry, or where a product is clearly differentiated-such as Microsoft products. There is the possibility of the suppliers competing directly with their buyers(this s called forward integration) if they do not obtain the prices, and hence the margins, that they seek. Competitive rivals are organisations with similar products and services aimed at the same customer group. There are a number of factors that affect the degree of competitive rivalry in an industry or sector: The extent to which competitors are in balance. Where competitors are of roughly equal size there is the danger of intense competition as on competitor attempts to gain dominance over another. Industry growth rates may affect rivalry. The idea of the life cycle suggests that the stage of development of an industry or sector is important in terms of competitive behaviour. High fixed costs in an industry, perhaps through capital intensity, may result in price wars and low margins if industry capacity exceeds demand as capacity fill becomes a prerogative. Where there are high exit barriers to an industry, there is again likely to be the persistence of excess capacity and, consequently, increased competition. Differentiation can, again, be important. In a commodity market, where products r services are undifferentiated, there is little to stop customers switching between competitors increasing rivalry. The following questions help focus on the implications of these forces- Are some industries ore attractive than others? This was the original purpose of the 5 forces model, the argument being that an industry is attractive when the forces are weak. For example, if entry is difficult, suppliers and/or buyers have little power and rivalry is low. What are the underlying forces in the macro environment that are driving the competitive forces? For example, the lower labour costs for software and service operators located in India are both an opportunity and a threat to European and US companies. So five forces needs to be linked to PESTEL as mentioned earlier. Critical success factors-from the potential providers viewpoint it is valuable to understand which features are of particular importance to a group of customers(market segment). These are known as the critical success factors. Critical success factors are those product features that are particularly valued by a group of customers and, therefore, where the organisation excel to outperform competition. Strategic capability can be defined as the adequacy and suitability of the resources and competences of an organisation for it to survive and prosper. Tangible resources- are the physical assets of an organisation such as plant, labour and finance. Intangible resources- are non physical assets such as information, reputation and knowledge. Typically, an organisations resources can be considered under the following 4 categories: Physical resources- such as the number of machines, buildings or the production capacity of the orgnaisation. The nature of these resources, such as the age, condition, capacity and location of each resource, will determine the usefulness of suc resources. Financial resources- such as captal, cash, debtors, and creditors, and suppliers of money (shareholders, bankers, etc) Human resources- including the number and mix of people in an organisation. The intangible resource of their sills and knowledge is also likely to be important. This applies both to employees and other people in an organisations networks. In knowledge based economies people do genuinely become the most valuable asset. Intellectual capital is an important aspect of the intangible resources of an organisation. This includes patents, brands, business systems and customer databases. There should be no doubt that these intangible resources have a value, since when businesses are sold part of the value is goodwill. In a knowledge based economy intellectual capital is likely to be a major asset of many organisations. Such resources are certainly important but what an organisation does-how it employs and deploys its resources-matters at least as much as what resources it has. There would be no point in having state of the art equipment or valuable knowledge or a valuable brand if they were not used effectively. The efficiency and effectiveness of physical or financial resources, or the people in an organisation, depends on not just their existence bt how they are managed, the cooperation between people, their adaptability, their innovatory capacity, the relationship with customers and suppliers and the experience and learning about what works well and what does not. Competences is used to mean the activities and processes through which n organisation deploys its resources effectively. In understanding strategic capability, the emphasis is, then, not just on what resources exist but on ho they are used. Threshold capabilities are those essential for the organisation to be able to compete in a given market. Without these an organisation is unlikely to be able to survive in the market. The first 2 basic questions are- -what are the threshold resources needed to support particular strategies? If an organisation des not possess these resources it will be unable to meet customers minimum requirements and therefore be unable to continue to exist. For example, the increasing demands by modern multiple retailers made on their suppliers means that those suppliers have to possess quite sophisticated IT infrastructure to stand a chance of meeting retailer requirements. Threshold levels of capabilities will change and will usually rise over time as critical success factors change and through the activities of competitors and new entrants. An example is the way in which the premier league developed during the 1990s created a gulf between those who were able to spend money on players and who were not. While threshold capabilities are fundamentally important they do not of themselves create competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is more likely to be created and sustained if the organisation if the organisation has distinctive or unique capabilities that competitors cannot imitate. This may be because the organisation has unique resources. Unique resources- are those resources that critically underpin competitive advantage and that others cannot imitate or obtain. It is, however, more likely that an organisation is able to achieve competitive advantage because it has distinctive, or core, competences. Core competences- are taken to mean the activities and processes through which resources are deployed in such a way as to achieve competitive advantage in ways that others cannot obtain or imitate. For example, supplier that achieves a competitive advantage in a retail market might have done so on the basis of a unique resource such as powerful brand, or by finding ways of providing service or building relationships with that retailer in ways that its competitors find it difficult to imitate, a core competence. The summary argument is this. To survive and prosper an organisation needs to address the challenges of the environment that it faces. In particular it must be capable of delivering against the critical success factors that arise from demands and needs of its customers. The strategic capability to do so is dependant on the resources plus the competences it has. These must reach a threshold level in order for the organisation to survive. The further challenge is to achieve competitive advantage. This requires it to have strategic capabilities that its competitors find difficult to imitate or obtain. These could be unique resources but are more likely to be the core competences of the organisation. Cost efficiency An important strategic capability in any organisation is to ensure attention is paid to achieving and continually improving cost efficiency. This will involve having both appropriate resources and the competences to manage costs. The management of the cost base of an organisation could be a basis for achieving competitive advantage. However, for many organisations in many markets this is becoming a threshold strategic capability for 2 reasons; First, because customers do not value product features at any price. If the price rises too high they will be prepared to sacrifice value and opt for a lower priced product. Second, competitive rivalry will continually require the driving down of cost because competitors will be trying to reduce their cost so as to under price their rivals while offering similar value. Sustainable competitive advantage If capabilities of an organisation do not meet customer needs, at least to a threshold level, the organisation cannot survive. If it cannot manage its costs efficiently and continue to improve on this, it will be vulnerable to those who can. However, if the aim is to achieve competitive advantage then this itself is not enough. The question then becomes, what resources and competences might provide competitive advantage in ways that can be sustained over time? If this is to be achieved, then strategic capability has to meet other criteria. It is important to emphasise that if an organisation seeks to build competitive advantage it must meet the needs and expectations of its customers. There is little point in having capabilities that are valueless in customer terms; the strategic capabilities must be able to deliver what the customer values in terms of product or service. Given this fundamental requirement, there are then other key capability requirements to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Rarity of strategic capabilities Competitive advantage cannot be achieved if the strategic capability of an organisation is the same as other organisations. It could, however, be that a competitor possesses some unique r rare capability providing competitive advantage. For example some libraries have unique collections of books unavailable elsewhere. Competitive advantage could also be based on rare competences such as years of experience in, for example, brand management or building relationships with key customers; or perhaps the way in which different parts of a global business have learned to work harmoniously. Rarity may depend on who owns the competence and how easily transferable it is. For example, the competitive advantages of some professional service organisations are built around the competence of specific individuals- such as a doctor in leading edge medicine. An organisation may have secured preferred access to customers or suppliers perhaps through an approval process or by winning a bidding process. This may be particularly advantageous if this approval for access cannot be obtained without a specific history of operation or having followed a specified development programme-say with pharmaceutical products. This means that a competitor cannot find a short cut to imitation. Some competences are situation dependant and not transferable because they are only of value if used in a particular organisation. For example, the systems for operating particular machines are not applicable to organisations that do not use those same machines. Sometimes incumbent organisations have advantage because they have sunk costs that are already written off and they are able to operate at significantly lower overall cost. Other organisations would face much higher costs to set up to compete. Whilst rarity of strategic capabilities can, then, provide the basis of competitive advantage, there are dangers of redundancy. Rare capabilities may come to be core rigidities difficult to change and damaging to the organisation and its markets. Robustness of strategic capabilities (diagram p.128) It should be clear by now that the search for strategic capability that provides sustainable competitive advantage is not straightforward. It involves identifying capabilities that are likely to be durable and which competitors find difficult to imitate or obtain. Indeed the criterion of robustness is sometimes referred to as non-imitable. Advantage is more likely to be determined by the way in which resources are deployed to create competences in the organisations activities. For example, as suggested earlier an IT system itself will not improve an organisations competitive standing; it is how it is used that matters. Indeed what will probably make most difference is how the system is used to bring together customer needs with areas of activities and knowledge both inside and outside the organisation. It is therefore to do with linking sets of competences. Core competences are likely to be the liked activities or processes through which resources are deployed in such a way as to achieve competitive advantage. They create and sustain the ability to meet the critical success factors of particular customer groups better than other providers and in ways that are difficult to imitate. In order to achieve this advantage, core competences therefore need to fulfil the following criteria: -they must relate to an actitvity or process that underpins the value in the product or service features-as seen through the eyes of the customer. -the competences must lead to levels of performance that are significantly better than competitors. -the competences must be robust-that is, difficult for competitors to imitate. Stakeholders are those individuals or groups who depend on an organisation to fulfil their own goals and on whom, in turn, the organisation depends. Important external stakeholders usually include financial institutions, customers, suppliers, shareholders and unions. External stakeholders can be usefully divided into 3 types in terms of the nature of their relationship with the organisation and therefore, how they might affect the success or failure of a particular strategy. -stakeholders from the market environment such as suppliers, competitors, distributors, shareholders. These stakeholders have an economic relationship with the organisation and influence the value creation process as members of the value network. -stakeholders from the social/political environment such as policy makers, regulators, government agencies who will influence the social legitimacy. -stakeholders in the technological environment such as key adopters, standards agencies and owners of competitive technologies who will influence the diffusion of new technologies and the adoption of industry standards. These 3 sets of stakeholders are rarely of equal importance in any specific situation. For example the technological group are clearly crucial for strategies of new product introduction whilst the social/political group are usually particularly influential in the public sector context. Since the expectations of stakeholder groups will differ, it is quite normal for conflict to exist regarding the importance or desirability of many aspects of strategy. Stakeholder mapping identifies stakeholder expectations and power and helps in understanding political priorities. It underlines the importance of 2 issues: -How interested each stakeholder group is to impress its expectations on the organisations purposes and choice of specific strategies. -Whether stakeholders have the power to do so. Power/interest matrix(diagram p.182) It seeks to describe the political context within which an individual strategy would be pursued. It does this by classifying stakeholders in relation to the power they hold an the extent to which they are likely to show interest in supporting or opposing a particular strategy. Stakeholder mapping might help in understanding better some of the following issues: -whether the actual levels of interest and power of stakeholders properly reflect the corporate governance framework within which the organisation is operating. -who the key blocker and facilitors of a strategy are likely to be and how this could be responded to. -whether repositioning of certain stakeholders is desirable and/or feasible. -maintaining the level of interest or power of some key stakeholders may be essential. Equally it may be necessary to discourage some stakeholders from repositioning themselves. Stakeholder groups are not usually homogeneous but contain a variety of sub groups with somewhat different expectations and power. Most stakeholder groups consist of large numbers of individuals (such as customers or shareholders), and hence can be thought of largely independently of the expectations of individuals within this group. Power Power is the mechanism by which expectations are able to influence purposes and strategies. It has been seen that, in most organisations, power will be unequally shared between the various stakeholders. For the purposes of this discussion, power is the ability of individuals or groups to persuade, induce or coerce others into following certain courses of action. There are many different sources of power. On the other hand, there is power that people or groups derive from their position within the organisation and through the formal corporate governance arrangement. since there are a variety of different sources of power, it is useful to look for indicators of power, which are the visible signs that stakeholders have been able to exploit one or more of the sources of power. Corporate parent The levels of management above that of business units are referred to as the corporate parent. So, a corporate centre or the divisions within a corporation which look after several business units act in a corporate parenting role. The corporate parent refers to the levels of management above that of business units and therefore without direct interaction with buyers and competitors. The discussion does not only relate to large conglomerate businesses. Even small businesses may consist of a number of business units. For example, a local builder maybe undertaking contract work for local government, work for industrial buyers and for local homeowners. Product/market diversity An underpinning issue related to how a corporate parent may or may not add value to that created by its business units is the extent and nature of the diversity of the products or services it offers. Diversification may be undertaken for a variey of reasons some more value creating than others. These are as follows- First, there may be effieciency gains from applying the organisations existing resources or capabilities to new markets and products or services. These are known as economies of scope. Second, there may also be gains from applying corporate managerial capabilities to new markets and products and services Third, having a diverse range of products or services can increase market power. With a diverse range of products or services, an organisation can afford to susidise one product from the surpluses earned by another, in a way that competitors may not be able to. Related diversification can be defined as strategy development beyond current products and markets, but within the capabilities or value network of the organisation. For example procter and gamble and unilever are diversified corporations, but virtually all of their interests are in fast moving consumer goods distributed to retailers, and increasingly in building global brands in that arena. Related diversification is often seen s superior to unrelated diversification, In particular because it is likely to yield economies of scope. However, it is useful to consider reasons why related diversification can be problematic. These include- -the time and cost involved in top management at the corporate level trying to ensure that the benefits or relatedness are achieved through sharing or transfer across business units. -the difficulty for business unit managers in sharing resources with other business units, or adapting to corporate wide policies, especially when they are incentivised and rewarded primarily on the basis of the performance of their own business alone. Unrelated diversification is the development of products or services beyond the current capabilities or value network. Unrelated diversification is often described as a conglomerate strategy. Because there are no obvious economies of scope between the different businesses, but there is an obvious cost of the headquarters, unrelated diversification companies share prices often suffer. It is important also to recognise that the distinction between related and unrelated diversification is a matter of degree. It is the role of any corporate parent to ensure it does add value rather than to destroy it. Indeed how many corporate parents create value is central not only to the performance of companies but also to their survival. (diagram p.309)The portfolio manager is, in effect, a corporate parent acting as an agent on behalf of financial markets and shareholders with a view to enhancing the value attained from the various businesses in a more efficient and effective way than financial markets could. Its role is to identify and acquire under-valued assets or businesses and improve them. It might do this, for example, by acquiring another corporation, divesting low performance businesses within it and encouraging the improved performance of those with potential. Portfolio managers seek to keep the cost of the centre low, for example by having a small corporate staff with few central services, leaving the business units alone so that their chief executives have a high degree of autonomy. Synergy manager a corporate parent seeking to enhance value across business units by managing synergies cross business units. Resources or activities might be shared, for example, common distribution systems might be used for different businesses, overseas offices may be shared by smaller business units acting in different geographical areas. There may exist common skills or competences across businesses. The parental developer seeks to employ its own competences as a parent to add value to its businesses. Rather parental developers have to be clear about the relevant resources or capabilities they themselves have as parents to enhance the potential of business units. The parental developer; a corporate parent seeking to employ its own competences as a parent to add value to its businesses and build parenting skills that are appropriate for their portfolio of business units. Managing the corporate portfolio This section is to do with the models managers might use to make sense of the nature and diversity of the business units within the portfolio, or businesses they might be considering adding given the different rationales described above. A number of tools have been developed to help managers choose what business units to have in a portfolio. Each tool gives more or less focus on one of these criteria: -the balance of the portfolio, eg in relation to its markets and the needs of the corporation; -the attractiveness of the business units in the portfolio in terms of how profitable they are or are likely to be and how fast they are growing; and -the degree of fit that the business units have with each other in terms of potential synergies or the extent to which the corporate parent will be good at looking after them. The growth share (or BCG) matrix (diagram p.315) One of the most common and long standing ways of conceiving the balance of a portfolio of businesses in terms of the relationship between market share and market growth identified by the Boston Consulting Group. The types f businesses in such a portfolio are- -star is a business unit which has a high market share in a growing market. The business unit may be spending heavily to gain that share. -question mark or problem child is a business unit in a growing market, but without a high market share. Cash cow is a business unit with a high market share in a mature market Dogs are business units with a low share in static or declining markets. The growth share matrix permits business units to be examined in relation to (a) market (segment) share and (b) the growth rate of that market and in this respect the life cycle development of that market. It is therefore a way of considering the balance and development of a portfolio. It is argued that market growth rate is important for a business unit seeking to dominate a ma

Traveling West: Diary of Mary Graddy :: essays research papers

August 20th, 1821 Today is a day of hope and of great anticipation. John, my husband, has told me we are to leave to California tomorrow. We are to leave our small, pitiful home here in Massachusetts and find many opportunities in the west. We have heard of many men who have traveled west and discovered gold. â€Å"Gold covers California like a blanket,† they have told John. Our farm here leaves no opportunities for our family. Our two sons and three daughters are growing older and we wish for them to be prosperous. Not like now. Now, we have no money and our only value, our farm, is falling apart. I must pack very few belongings into our wagon and we must be ready to leave with the others when the sun rises in the morning. The elder girls, Anna, who is fifteen, and Lucy, who is twelve, are to help with the cleaning and packing all day. Fannie, seven years old, is very sick, and has some sort of flu. The doctor costs money, which we don’t have, so we are relying on our prayers and faith in God to help her. John and our two sons, William who is seventeen, and Andrew who is ten, are taking care of all last minute details for the farm, and my brother from Virginia is arriving tonight with his wife and baby daughter to care for the farm while we are gone and they are to live here unless we return. August 23rd, 1821 This is our third morning traveling and we are all anxious and eager to see this great place called California. The oxen are behaving well, and I believe we will make it there in a few months. Fannie is slightly better and she has ceased crying throughout the night as she did before we left. This is a sign from God. The Lord shall guide us through this and we shall overcome all obstacles and since Fannie’s fever has gone away I feel better about each new day. September 1st, 1821 Eight days since I have written and those days have been very relaxing. My children and I walk beside the wagon throughout the day and sing many joyous melodies. The weather is starting to cool down now and the breeze feels sensational as it whips through my hair and brushes over my skin. Traveling West: Diary of Mary Graddy :: essays research papers August 20th, 1821 Today is a day of hope and of great anticipation. John, my husband, has told me we are to leave to California tomorrow. We are to leave our small, pitiful home here in Massachusetts and find many opportunities in the west. We have heard of many men who have traveled west and discovered gold. â€Å"Gold covers California like a blanket,† they have told John. Our farm here leaves no opportunities for our family. Our two sons and three daughters are growing older and we wish for them to be prosperous. Not like now. Now, we have no money and our only value, our farm, is falling apart. I must pack very few belongings into our wagon and we must be ready to leave with the others when the sun rises in the morning. The elder girls, Anna, who is fifteen, and Lucy, who is twelve, are to help with the cleaning and packing all day. Fannie, seven years old, is very sick, and has some sort of flu. The doctor costs money, which we don’t have, so we are relying on our prayers and faith in God to help her. John and our two sons, William who is seventeen, and Andrew who is ten, are taking care of all last minute details for the farm, and my brother from Virginia is arriving tonight with his wife and baby daughter to care for the farm while we are gone and they are to live here unless we return. August 23rd, 1821 This is our third morning traveling and we are all anxious and eager to see this great place called California. The oxen are behaving well, and I believe we will make it there in a few months. Fannie is slightly better and she has ceased crying throughout the night as she did before we left. This is a sign from God. The Lord shall guide us through this and we shall overcome all obstacles and since Fannie’s fever has gone away I feel better about each new day. September 1st, 1821 Eight days since I have written and those days have been very relaxing. My children and I walk beside the wagon throughout the day and sing many joyous melodies. The weather is starting to cool down now and the breeze feels sensational as it whips through my hair and brushes over my skin.