Feature Writing and Journalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Feature Writing and Journalism - Essay Example At one home, she was even denied the right to study. She had early realized that education is very important to earn money. After she had run away from her second foster home at thirteen years of age, she had ensured that till sixteen years she would remain at the orphanage and study. Thereafter, she would move to a new place and pursue higher study while working. She had left Dakota when she was sixteen. She is a very determined young lady who is not only smart but also very intelligent and focused. She does part time cleaning job at the IT firm and works late night shift at the local bar as waitress. As jobs are scarce, she believes that any work would do so far as it is able to pay her college fee. Her black belt in Judo has helped her to ward off the attention of street Romeos and drunkards while working later night shifts or attending night classes of management. She shares her accommodation with two other girls who have now become her best friends and family. While this may not give her the requisite privacy, it nevertheless has helped her to survive in new place Her short term goal is to get management degree and later do apprenticeship in some established company. She has already talked to her supervisor at the IT firm who has assured her that once she gets the management degree, she would be considered. The firm employs young talents and gives them huge opportunities for growth. She had also made friends with many people at the firm who also help her in gaining computer skills. She also believes that campus interview would also help her in getting a job. She therefore has kept her options open. I really liked her focused approach to dealing things and issues. She has her priority well defined and works towards it with utmost seriousness. She tells me that she has already passed three semesters and after fourth one, she would be eligible to apply for junior management position. This is a great achievement, especially considering her

The Analysis of a Joke Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Analysis of a Joke - Essay Example Although we think of the joke as a cultural constant, it is a form of humor that comes and goes with the rise and fall of civilizations.†1 The joke that was chosen was the following: A doctor walked into a bank. Preparing to endorse a check, he pulled a rectal thermometer out of his shirt pocket and tried to write with it. Realizing his mistake, he looked at the thermometer with annoyance and said, ‘Well thats great, just great... some asshole’s got my pen.’2 The category that this particular joke probably belongs in is the scatological category, because it deals with a reference to the rectum. It’s unsure why, but these types of jokes can be particularly compelling—because excrement seems to be something that humans find very funny. Of course, a simpler way to say that is to just say, â€Å"Poo is funny.† But why? What is so funny about our own feces? Fundamentally, excrement is elemental. If we didn’t have it, there would be no jokes. But why is humor about feces, farts, and, in fact—the entire range of human bodily functions, fodder for jokes? One must wonder. What makes this particular joke funny is that, through a play on words, we imagine the pen being stuck in some patient’s behind. That seems pretty funny that there would be a mix-up like that. Thus, there is a play on words and we find this joke, for the most part, funny—if not at least a bit crude. ... Now, it’s not using very polite language either. This is where the aggressive element demonstrates itself. It’s not a polite joke, and it probably wouldn’t be polite to share in mixed company, unless the mixed company were to be as foul-mouthed as the language used in the joke. Although the joke’s language is not overly offensive, it does say something about the medical profession as well. Doctors are sometimes inept, and it’s easy to make jokes about doctors and lawyers because they both have high-stress professions. Humor can be a wonderful way to deflect problems, as well as provide a platform for expressing one’s personality. This is why comedians like Jerry Seinfeld did especially well with his show Seinfeld, and why, subsequently, comedians like Larry David did so well with his show Curb Your Enthusiasm. Many times, these humorous shows have something in common—they use real-life situations as fodder for something called situatio nal comedy (or a sitcom). Situational comedies bring real-life problems to light. Who could ever forget the following bits: â€Å"Are you sponge-worthy?† â€Å"She’s got man hands!† Pig Man. The Soup Nazi. â€Å"You double-dipped the chip.† â€Å"Serenity now!† â€Å"Give me that, you old bag!† Who will ever forget these classic moments in Seinfeld history? These, and a series of other vignettes in his subsequent spin-off hit HBO comedy series--Curb Your Enthusiasm--were brought to you by none other than comedian, writer, actor, and executive producer Larry David. Larry David was the head writer and executive producer of Seinfeld, winning him a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Outstanding comedy series in the run of the show’s fourth year. Seinfeld made

Discussion Compilation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Discussion Compilation - Assignment Example The age of enlightenment denoted the epoch of an intellectual movement back then in the 18th century. This took place in zones of central Europe and North America. The end of the thirty years of war in 1648 sparked this era and the French Revolution in 1989 marked its end. The 20th century has carried the label of the tag the age of anxiety (Eder, James and Seth 70). In this notion, the dominant perception is the idea of one using technology to obtain power over the citizens. At this level, one can easily realize the span of time since the 16th century to 20th century digital era took many ideological perceptions and inclinations by different personality who helped shape the history of philosophy, politics, and leadership. In the discernment of Freud, his contribution got right the making of history. According to Freud, the development of civilization with age would definitely bear a striking similarity with the development of the individual. In this realm, what Freud insinuated was that the society would one way or the other grow. The growth, be it social, political or religious perspective, it is borne by individual actions within the society (Eder, James and Seth 84). ... His philosophical inclination stems out from the fact that he was a child of enlightenment. What one would require an insight from Freud and Karl Max, if they were around is their belief and concentration on the power and influence of non-rational drives and impulses as guiding human thinking and his behaviour? For Karl, the human capacities have an insinuation of freedom of their thinking. He might have got this perception wrong since he relates to every human achievement as the outcome of false consciousness (Eder, James and Seth 70). The fact is that even since the age of enlightenment, much development in human capacity and their ideas do not entirely subscribe to the ideas of the ruling class. If Karl were alive today, he would have risen to the fact that conscious thought, as Freud sides with it, has played a big role towards linking these two ages, the age of enlightenment and the age of anxiety. During the age of enlightenment, as the world of civilization drifted onto the un known future of the age of anxiety, nature was put at a distance so as to rationally observe and classify. According to Locke, there was an erosion of the hierarchical great chain of being and the development of science of government, which sprouted the aspect of egalitarianism. This path seemed to bear the theory of natural light to equality and the security of self and the body of self (Eder, James and Seth 65). These extensions by Locke help to link the two ages together. He comes out as the first ideologue for capitalism. The contribution of personalities as from Locke to Equiano, one can see the emergency of possessive selfhood. The philosophers of this time assumed an amazing intellectual turn toward the end of 18th century.

Organization Development and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organization Development and Change - Essay Example There is a marketing office which is tasked to employ marketing techniques to get people to enroll in a class or classes. Courses offered varied from Basic English to special-type classes like IELTS or TOEIC. Teaching positions are open to anyone who can speak English fluently, has stable Internet connection and can work within the offered class hours. Weekly, teachers would plot their own schedules; that is, select the times they can be online and provide classes. I did not work for the company for a long time because the teaching hours took its toll on me. Although I only worked whenever a student would book a lesson with me, the knowledge that someone was waiting for me at a set time became a source of stress because when something came up at school or at home, I would worry about my online class. Also, there were instances when I would adjust my other tasks around my online class but then the class would be cancelled at the last minute. This left me disappointed since if I had known earlier about having no class, I could have scheduled other tasks during those hours. Overall, the experience was a good one though as, through my students I learned tidbits about the culture and life in Korea and China. I can say the company has a few problems. Based on the Weisbord Six-Box Model, (Weisbord, M., 1976), my previous employer’s problems had to do with Structure, Leadership and Rewards. As per Structure, there were really just one or two persons who interacted with the online teachers and these were not the ones with authority to make decisions. So, whenever I had problems with, for example, students or schedules the resolution would take a while and then it was only temporary because when the same thing happens again, there would be a different solution. The next problem would be in Rewards. There was really no such thing as rewards in the organization, I believe. Teachers were only given their compensation. There was no bonus

Individual Reflective Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Individual Reflective Report - Essay Example The company will also create an online meeting place for the players to play against each other or just participate in different tournaments depending on their ranking. A Fair Play policy will be enacted and implemented in order to ensure all customers are satisfied with the gaming experience and receive the games in a fair manner (Minniti, 2007). Some of the benefits of the game prepaid card include the convenience for the Chinese customers who do not have bank accounts or credit cards such as VISA. The card will also allow the redeem gifts such as energy packs, air travel tickets and household equipments thus enhancing the customer experience. The game prepaid card will ensure customer privacy and reduce the chances of online fraud since customers will not necessarily need a credit card in order to subscribe to the games (Minniti, 2007). The players will have the opportunity to select their own gaming mode. For instance, there will be an option of tutorials, custom games, ranked ga mes and normal games. The ranking will be done according to individual player’s performance whereby highly ranked players will have an opportunity to play for a $ 1,000,000 global final. Idea generation Business idea generation entails the process of generation, developing and communicating new business ideasThe business idea generation process was the most challenging for the team. However, we maintained a clear focus and creativity through reviewing different ideas. Accordingly, our idea generation approach followed a entrepreneurial approach since we were interested in coming up with new and innovative ideas that could meet the needs of Chinese game players with no access to domestic online gaming products. As a group, each individual was tasked with doing a market research on the gaps in consumer needs in the online gaming industry (Minniti, 2007). We held several brainstorming sessions whereby each member was supposed to provide numerous suggestions on business opportuni ties that could be viable within our budget. For instance, several methods recommended establishment of online ticketing business while other preferred the establishment of food chain restaurants. However, our criteria in reviewing the several ideas was aimed at ensuring the viability of the business, minimal capital infrastructure and innovative idea that is exciting to the customers in order to ensure quick market penetration. The team considered the several strengths and weaknesses of each business idea including the consumer market trends and demand. The idea generation process also considered the competitors products and human capital requirements for the prospective business. The second phase of idea generation was screening the benefits that the targeted market would receive from the business and the growth prospect of the business idea. Other issues that were considered include the technology requirements and legal framework surrounding the business idea (Minniti, 2007). The next step involved product development and testing in the market. This involves understanding the consumer purchasing behaviour for the game prepaid card and costs of marketing the prepaid game card. In this stage, we outlined several perceived benefits that could be used in the

International Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Strategic Management - Essay Example On the other hand, firms of each particular industrial sector have to align their marketing strategies in accordance with the characteristics of the specific sector but also the position of their competitors. Specifically referring to firms operating in the pharmaceutical industry White (2006, 175) noticed that ‘the pharmaceutical sector regularly forms alliances, partnerships, and joint ventures with kindred industries such as biotechnology, diagnostics, health care, and information services’. In other words, firms operating within the pharmaceutical industry should carefully review their marketing strategy as the qualities, the effectiveness and the safety claimed (through the relevant marketing messages) can have a significant effect on consumers (patients) around the world. The development of consumer-directed advertising has helped towards the improvement of the marketing campaigns of pharmaceutical firms around the world (referring not only to the qualities of the products advertised but also to the effectiveness of these products). Moreover, consumers can be better informed on the solutions available for the treatment of a specific disease. Regarding the specific issue it is noticed by Holtz (1998, 199) that ‘the increase in consumer-directed advertising has helped to foster a health care atmosphere in which it is the patient, and not the medical practitioner, who initiates a discussion regarding possible drug therapy’. The importance of consumer-directed advertising in the pharmaceutical industry has been also highlighted by Wang et al. (2004). The above researchers referred to a specific form of advertising, the 4-C model which has been found to refer mainly to the following issues: ‘First, what the customer want should be sold; second, enterprise should take every efforts to decrease the cost of fulfilling the customers demand; third, enterprise should take every efforts to give

Effects of monopolies in the Usa economy Essay Example for Free

Effects of monopolies in the Usa economy Essay The concept of a monopoly is largely misunderstood and the mere mention of the term evokes lots of emotions that make clear judgment almost impossible. The standard economic and social case for or against monopolistic businesses is no longer straightforward. According to Mankiw (2009) a monopoly is defined as a market structure characterized by a single seller of a unique product with no close substitutes[1]. When a business dominates a market, it becomes a monopoly by virtue of its power. A company (or a group of affiliated companies) is considered to have a dominant position in a particular market if it exerts a decisive influence over the general conditions of trade in that market or can restrict access to that market for other businesses. Markets keep changing with the times and so are the conditions in which businesses must operate regardless of whether they have any noticeable market power. [2] Monopolies have contributed significantly in transforming the US economy to be the leading economy worldwide. This is largely due to the benefits arising from legal monopolies created by the Patent and copyrights law. Monopolies are in effect powerful tools of spurring economic growth in the US. How do monopolies arise? Two major conditions contribute to formation of a monopolistic trade environment. A product which has no close substitutes faces no competition thus its producer becomes a monopolist. Exclusive ownership of a key resource may lead to creation of a monopoly. A classical case is exemplified by the control of the computer hardware, market by International Business Machines (IBM) for nearly forty years. Due to its market dominance over the hardware, institutions that intended to initiate a project had to do so with IBM. (Rise in Monopolies, n. d. ) Monopolies also develop where there are barriers to market entry. These barriers are obstacles that make it difficult or impossible for any potential competitors to penetrate a particular market. Such barriers could either be natural or legal constraints that protect a firm from competitors. A natural monopoly arises when technology for producing a product enables one firm to meet the entire market demand at a lower price than two or more firms could. Legal monopolies develop in a market in which competition and entry are restricted by the concentration of ownership of a natural resource or by the granting of a public franchise, government license, patent, or copyright. When Microsoft licensed an operating system from Seattle Computer Company in 1981 their explosion into dominance began. Microsoft’s dominance over the operating systems enabled it to diversify into producing spreadsheets and word processors. These new software were made such that they worked best with its operating system hence tightening Microsoft’s grip of the market. (Mises,1981, p. 86). Certain circumstances do lead to creation of near monopolies or oligopolies. An oligopoly arises when a small number of firms have relatively large market shares. Though each firm is independent, interdependence may arise whereby one firm’s actions influence the profits of the other firms. In addition, when a small number of firms share a market, they can collude to increase their profits by forming a cartel and acting like a monopoly. Default monopolies may arise when there is lack of sufficient knowledge or interest on a particular subject[3]. A firm may end up being a small monopoly by having an upper hand when it comes to accessing knowledge on a particular trade. A case in point is the sole garbage collecting company in Taos. Are monopolies beneficial or detrimental to the US economy? Monopolies have been in existence throughout business history and several corporations have achieved complete dominance over a wide array of industries. The monopolies have been accused of charging exorbitant prices to earn super profits with little regard to consumer welfare . A fundamental question is; Are these business practices ethical? (Haas, 2006) Citizens of The United States value competition in their market system. Competition not only keeps prices low and encourages production of new products to the market place but also fosters innovations that help to bring down the cost of doing business. Contrary to popular belief, monopolies are not illegal in the United States . Indeed a government-created monopoly is exemplified by the patent and copyright law. This is a law that governs intellectual property. A pharmaceutical company that develops an original drug can patent it for several years during which it enjoys exclusive production rights. Such a patent offers the producer monopoly status where the producer can charge higher prices and earn greater profits. On the other hand, such a law is beneficial because it encourages innovation and continuous research within pharmaceutical companies to develop new and more superior products. Moreover only big monopolies with significant market power have the capacity to carry out research and development on their products. This leads to innovation since new knowledge is applied to the production process. The nearly twenty year monopoly enjoyed by Microsoft in manufacturing of its computer software has not only ensured harmony and uniformity in computer software but also facilitated accessibility of computers by the greater population. Consequently, this has lead to the information technology revolution characterized by easier access to information by US citizens and thus the US economy remains to be the world’s superpower. It is through such innovations that new channels of business for example e-commerce have sprung up . Citizens can now buy items and find good deals through iPods and other innovative devices arising from research and development by giant firms. From a different perspective, in the absence of real competition a monopolist may lack an incentive to invest in new ideas or consider consumer welfare. Monopolies may in certain instances offer inferior services or products. Amtrak enjoys a monopoly status in the passenger rail system. It has been criticized severally for failing to develop hybrid high-speed locomotives that save on energy consumption as well as failing to service some of its tracks that remain to be under- par conditions. Donald,D (1997) suggests that monopolization can be advantageous to the consumers by enabling cheaper production due to economies of scale. A monopolist may manage to maintain lower marginal costs due to economies of scale and the advantages of division of labor . Consequently; this translates into higher output at lower prices than would have been possible under competitive conditions. Such economies of scale also tend to guarantee uniform output and harmony in product characteristics. The benefits arising from economies of scale may be eroded due to X inefficiencies[4]. Monopolistic organizations cut on expenses that would have been wrought about by competition and by so doing they deny business opportunities to various support organizations like advertising and public relations firms. This has the net effect of creating unequal wealth distribution since vast wealth ends up in the hands of a few individuals. Another issue to ponder over is what to make of those monopolies that have come into existence simply by being better than all the rest. A case in point is the Wal-Mart stores which has been accused of running small shop-owners out of business in locations where it opened stores due to its retailing efficiency. Sometimes a market dominated by few firms/sellers does not always indicate the absence of competition, it can reflect the success of leading firms in providing better quality products, more efficiently, than their smaller rivals. Some monopolies throttle the creativity of enterprises and are a detriment in certain sectors. A classical example is the United States Postal Service that has continuously offered US citizens poor quality services at the expense of taxpayers. This sector needs to undergo restructuring in order to give market access to potential investors and thus improve on service delivery to the citizens. Inefficient production firms that enjoy monopoly status in essence fail to make optimal use of their scarce resources and in such circumstances, government intervention may be warranted through application of competition policy of market liberalization. A major preposition that makes monopoly undesirable is that monopoly leads to a failure in the market mechanism because the monopoly price is generally higher than both the marginal and average costs. This in turn results in the monopolist offering an exploitative price to the consumer since this price is above the cost of resources used to make the product. Such actions restrict free trade and consequently the consumers’ needs and wants are not properly satisfied because the product is being under-consumed. Some monopolies especially in the pharmaceutical industry have been criticized for monopolizing drugs for certain ailments like cancer and Aids though the patent laws. Such giant pharmaceutical companies have been accused of engaging in profiteering schemes at the detriment of the welfare of the American citizens. The higher average cost of production that may arise if there are inefficiencies in production also means that the firm is not making optimum use of its scarce resources. This may necessitate some form of government intervention for example by market liberalization in order scale down the monopoly dominance. Government created monopolies in sectors that require enormous capital outlays have ensured consumers have access to certain crucial services which would not have been possible were such ventures to be entrust solely to private investors. These state-run monopolies are service providers whose main motivation is not profit but to cater for the welfare of the citizens[5]. Their services are crucial in providing enabling environments for the citizens to explore and achieve their goals in life. Monopolies arising from merges and restructuring can operate more efficiently and thus provide better quality services to the citizens. The mergers eliminate several layers of bureaucracy and create efficient standardized processes. [6]However it is worth noting that some mergers may deprive consumers the benefit of choice. Conclusion Monopolies apparently exist because the quantity demanded in the market is completely satisfied by the monopoly (Peter 2003). The widespread view that the monopolist can fix prices at will is erroneous because the laws determining monopoly prices are the same as those which determine other prices. A monopolist can best serve its interests by separating consumers into classes based on their purchasing power. A company that controls all aspects of a field can ensure harmony and uniformity. Microsoft offers an outstanding example on this front whereby the greatest proportion of computers run on their software thus enhancing compatibility. Monopolies have resulted in great innovations and immense growth in several sectors of the economy while in others they have been detrimental for example through collapse of small enterprises or delivery of poor quality services. Monopolies are both beneficial and detrimental to the economy and a cost benefit analysis needs to be done to ascertain the role played by individual monopolies in any particular market. This demands a precise definition of what actually constitutes a market because in almost every industry, the market is highly segmented into different products. Globalization has made it very difficult to ascertain the real effects of monopoly power in any particular market more so due to the effects of the rapidly increasing competition. With proper regulation, monopolies have not only positively contributed towards economic progress but they also provided a stimulus for liberalization of major market segments. Liberalization in return has opened up many channels of investment and the net effect has been a great expansion in available business opportunities on a global scale. References Donald,D. (1997). Microeconomics: The Analysis of Prices and Markets . New York, Oxford University Press. Haas,W. (2009) Microeconomics : The Effects of Monopolies . Retrieved Nov. 17, 2009, from http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/85453/microeconomics_the_effect_of_monopolies_pg3_pg3. html? cat=3, Mankiw,N. G(2009). Principles of Microeconomics: South Western Cengage Learning Mises,V. L. (1981). Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. Peter,P. (2003)†Bullying the Monopoly Arflington VA: Security Management. .47, 12; Rise of monopolies. Retrieved Nov. 17, 2009, from http://cse. stanford. edu/class/cs201/projects-95-96/corporate-monopolies/development. html [1] This applies largely to pure monopoly where by the monopoly has total control over output and prices within a free and fair market with near perfect competition. [2] A common assumption is that a company is said to dominate a market if it controls over 65% of that market. As a rule of thumb, if a company gains control of 30 % of a market, it poses the risk of acquiring monopoly status but this depends on the size of other competitors in the market. [3] Default monopoly is in reference to a hypothesis advanced by Mankiw in an effort to explain how some non-convectional monopolies come into existence. [4] X inefficiency is a term first coined by Harvey Libenstein. It refers to the production losses incurred by monopolies arising from economies of scale and lack of incentives to be innovative. [5] The services of some of the state run monopolies are crucial in supporting the American citizens carry out their daily duties and thus their output in all spheres of their lives is thought to be enhanced by such ‘enabling environments’ [6] Mergers create more stable organizations that can guarantee continuous output of quality services and for an extended period of time unlike smaller companies that can be under constant threat by negative market threats.