Daedalus and Icarus Essay

When you take everything into detail, you will notice that the artist, Anthony Van Dyck, painted Icarus (left) very pale. While Daedalus, Icarus’ father, was painted with a darker complexion.The background resembles the color gray, whereas in the story Daedalus and Icarus are surrounded by brick walls, with a lone window that will soon become their escape route. I took into account that Anthony Van Dyck dressed Daedalus in a toga, whereas Icarus is trying to cover himself with what seems to be a blanket that resembles the color of his father’s toga. The wings seem to be more life-like then described in the story. In the story it states that Daedalus made the wings from wax and feathers, and that is what led to the death of Icarus. To conclude, Anthony Van Kyck used pale colors that seem to bring to mind death. Analysis As I said before, Anthony van Dyck used pale colors to paint and this seems very smart because it seems that there is a hint of sadness. With Icarus’ coloring it seems as if he is already dead and the blanket is the burial shroud that the ancient Greeks were either buried in or burned in. Like I said before, the background is gray and unlike the story, it doesn’t show a brick wall with a lone window. This once more brings to mind that it is to foreshadow the tragic end of Icarus. Daedalus seems to have been painted with a darker complexion than his son Icarus which tells you that Daedalus will stay alive and well. If you take into account what the characters are doing in the painting you will notice that while Daedalus is trying to explain how to use the wings, Icarus is daydreaming about flying. This seems to be the reason for his later on demise. Sadly this paintings shows nothing of Icarus’ actual demise, but Anthony Van Dyck does a wonderful job of showing th e creation of the wings and the reason of Icarus’ downfall. Theme The morals of Daedalus and Icarus were listening to superiors, and fear in god(s). The reason for ,listening to superiors, being incorporated with the story is because if Icarus had listened to his father than he would have  never flown to his doom. This is shown in the painting where Daedalus seems to be explaining something to Icarus, but Icarus looks to the distance as if already imagining his upcoming flight. In the book Daedalus explains to Icarus that if he flies too low the ocean spray will cover his wings and make him too heavy to fly. If he flies to high then the sun’s heat will melt the wax and cause him to fall into the ocean, where the strong waves will drown him. Icarus, despite his father’s warning flies high believing he could go higher then the gods themselves and then plummets to his death because the sun’s heat melted the wax. The reason this has to do with fearing the gods is because since he believed he could achieve something that gods coul d angered them. In a way the gods did repay Icarus with misfortune, because Apollo is the sun god and it was his heat the melted the wax and sent Icarus to his watery grave.

Grading Summary Essay

Question 1. Question : (TCO A) The Financial Accounting Standards Board employs a â€Å"due process† system, which: has all CPAs in the United States vote on a new statement. enables interested parties to express their views on issues under consideration. identifies the accounting issues that are the most important. requires that all accountants receive a copy of financial standards. Points Received: 5 of 5 Question 2. Question : (TCO A) The cash method of accounting  is used by most publicly traded corporations for financial statement purposes. is not in accordance with the matching principle for most publicly traded corporations. often is used on the income statement by large, publicly held companies. All of the above Question 3. Question : (TCO A) Which of the following is an ingredient of relevance? Verifiability Completeness Neutrality Predictive value Question 4. Question : (TCO A) The characteristic that is demonstrated when a high degree of consensus can be secured among independent measurers using the same measurement methods is relevance. reliability. verifiability. neutrality. Question 5. Question : (TCO A) Which of the following is not a basic element of financial statements? Assets Balance sheet Losses Revenues Question 6. Question : (TCO A) Which basic element of financial statements arises from peripheral or incidental transactions? Assets Liabilities Gains Expenses Question 7. Question : (TCO A) Which basic assumption may not be followed when a firm in bankruptcy reports financial results? Economic entity assumption Going concern assumption Periodicity assumption Monetary unit assumption Question 8. Question : (TCO D) Balance sheet information is useful for all of the following except to compute rates of return. analyze cash inflows and outflows for the period. evaluate capital structure. assess future cash flows. Question 9. Question : (TCO D) The amount of time that is expected to elapse until an asset is realized or otherwise converted into cash is referred to as solvency. financial flexibility. liquidity. exchangeability. Question 10. Question : (TCO A) The quality of information that gives assurance that is reasonably free of error and bias and is complete is relevance. faithful representation. verifiability. neutrality. Question 1. Question : (TCO D) The basis for classifying assets as current or noncurrent is conversion to cash within the accounting cycle or one year, whichever is shorter. the operating cycle or one year, whichever is longer. the accounting cycle or one year, whichever is longer. the operating cycle or one year, whichever is shorter. Question 2. Question : (TCO A) What is FASB Codification? Explain in detail. Instructor Explanation: The codification takes the statements and other pronouncements and arranges the information by topic. Per the FASB, the new system will 1. reduce the amount of time and effort required to solve an accounting research issue; 2. mitigate the risk of noncompliance with standards through improved usability of the literature; 3. provide accurate information with real-time updates as new standards are released; and 4. assist the FASB with the research and convergence efforts required during the standard-setting process. Question 3. Question : (TCO C) At Ruth Company, events and transactions during 2010 included the following. The tax rate for all items is 30%. (1) Depreciation for 2008 was found to be understated by $30,000. (2) A strike by the employees of a supplier resulted in a loss of $25,000. (3) The inventory at December 31, 2008 was overstated by $40,000. (4) A flood destroyed a building that had a book value of $500,000. Floods are very uncommon in that area. What would the effect of these events and transactions on 2010 income from continuing operations net of tax be? Instructor Explanation: $25,000 – $7,500 = $17,500 Question 4. Question : (TCO C) For the year ended December 31, 2010, Transformers Inc. reported the following. Net income $60,000 Preferred dividends declared $10,000 Common dividend declared $2,000 Unrealized holding loss, net of tax $1,000 Retained earnings, beginning balance $80,000 Common stock sold during the year Retained earnings, beginning balance $80,000 Common stock $40,000 Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, Beginning Balance $5,000 What would Transformers report as the ending balance of retained earnings? Instructor Explanation: $80,000 + $60,000 – $10,000 – $2,000 = $128,000 Question 5. Question : (TCO C) Madsen Company reported the following information for 2010. Sales revenue $510,000 Cost of goods sold $350,000 Operating expenses $55,000 Unrealized holding gain on available-for-sale securities $40,000 Cash dividends received on the securities $2,000 For 2010, what would Madsen report as other comprehensive income? Instructor Explanation: Other comprehensive income = $40,000 Question 6. Question : (TCO B) Allowance for doubtful accounts on 1/1/10 was $50,000. The balance in the allowance account on 12/31/10 after making the annual adjusting entry was $65,000, and during 2010, bad debts written off amounted to $40,000. You are to provide the missing adjusting entry. Please indicate DR (debit) or CR (credit) to the left of the account title, and place a comma between the account title and the amount of the adjustment. Instructor Explanation: DR Bad Debt Expense 55,000 CR Allowance for Doubtful Accounts 55,000 Ending balance $65,000 Beginning balance 50,000 Difference 15,000 Written off 40,000 Adjustment $55,000 Question 7. Question : (TCO B) Allowance for doubtful accounts on 1/1/10 was $75,000. The balance in the allowance account on 12/31/10 after making the annual adjusting entry was $60,000, and during 2010, bad debts written off amounted to $30,000. You are to provide the missing adjusting entry. Please indicate DR (debit) or CR (credit) to the left of the account title, and place a comma between the account title and the amount of the adjustment. Instructor Explanation: DR Bad Debt Expense 15,000 CR Allowance for Doubtful Accounts 15,000 Ending balance $60,000 Beginning balance 75,000 Difference -15000 Written off 30000 Adjustment $15,000 Question 8. Question : (TCO B) Allowance for doubtful accounts on 1/1/10 was $60,000. The balance in the allowance account on 12/31/10 after making the annual adjusting entry was $55,000, and during 2010, bad debts written off amounted to $40,000. You are to provide the missing adjusting entry. Please indicate DR (debit) or CR (credit) to the left of the account title, and place a comma between the account title and the amount of the adjustment. Instructor Explanation: 12/31/10 Ending Balance 55,000 1/1/10 Beginning Balance 60,000 Adjustment -5,000 Written off 40,000 Adjusting entry 35,000 DR Bad Debts Expense, 35,000 CR Allowance for Doubtful Accounts, 35,000 Question 9. Question : (TCO B) Prepaid rent at 1/1/10 was $30,000. During 2010, rent payments of $120,000 were made and charged to â€Å"rent expense.† The 2010 income statement shows as a general expense the item â€Å"rent expense† in the amount of $125,000. You are to prepare the missing adjusting entry that must have been made, assuming reversing entries are not made. Please indicate DR (debit) or CR (credit) to the left of the account title, and place a comma between the account title and the amount of the adjustment Instructor Explanation: DR Rent Expense 5,000 CR Prepaid Rent 5,000 Rent expense $125,000 Less cash paid 120,000 Reduction in prepaid rent $5,000 Question 10. Question : (TCO D) Which of the following should be reported for capital stock? The shares authorized The shares issued The shares outstanding All of the above Question 11. Question : (TCO D) An example of an item that is not an element of working capital is accrued interest on notes receivable. goodwill. goods in process. temporary investments. Question 12. Question : (TCO A) Financial information exhibits the characteristic of consistency when expenses are reported as charges against revenue in the period in which they are paid. accounting entities give accountable events the same accounting  treatment from period to period. extraordinary gains and losses are not included on the income statement. accounting procedures are adopted which give a consistent rate of net income Question 13. Question : (TCO D) The current assets section of the balance sheet should include machinery. patents. goodwill. inventory. Question 14. Question : (TCO D) Houghton Company has the following items: common stock, $720,000; treasury stock, $85,000; deferred taxes, $100,000, and retained earnings, $313,000. What total amount should Houghton Company report as stockholders’ equity? $848,000 $948,000 $1,048,000 $1,118,000 Instructor Explanation: General Feedback: b. $720,000 – $85,000 + $313,000 = $948,000.

Chapter 4 and 5 Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chapter 4 and 5 - Research Proposal Example ive behavior in students, the climate within which both educational failure and negative behavior emerges and the relationship between the educational climate and education- based prevention and intervention programming. There are many reasons in the surrounding environment of the education as well as in the students’ life that emerge as a cause of failure in the educational performance and gives rise to negative behavior. The risk associated with the high school students basically comprise those who have low performance and are drop outs, they due to such factors tend to develop negative behavior. It depends upon the educational system to identify such students and develop program to change them (Wormer, 2006). The students who are dependent upon the single mother’s income for the education purpose tend to develop negative behavior due to low level of income and lesser affordability to get educated. It is the climatic condition that is present in the lives of the student which gives birth to negative behavior and causes low performance resulting to educational failure. The relationship shows a positive link between the two. The academic climatic condition is responsible as well as the students environment is also responsible for such state. But with the education- based prevention and intervention programming it can be minimized and the performance may increase as well as the students’ negativity may turn into positivity in terms of behavior. (McKinney, n.d). The social support, family cohesion, personality and sources of income of the single mother impact the behavior (either positively or negatively) of the children. The income level brings the change in the attitude along with the impact of social support from the mother, mother’s attitude, and personality traits. The low level of income is the risk factor which that can lead to the negative outcomes in the behavior and performance of the student. It is not only the factor that causes low

Nursing capstone phase 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing capstone phase 1 - Assignment Example The problem and event are to be defined and described factually, which will include quantitative and qualitative properties/attributes of the harmful outcomes. In this case, this will include a specification of the timing, location, magnitude, and nature of the event. Another component that will be used in this particular RCA will be the collection of data to ascertain that the problem does exist, the length of time that the problem has existed, and the impact the problem has portended on the patient (De Silvestro et al, 2013). The hemolytic transfusion reaction will be analyzed fully prior to examining the contributing factors, which will involve assembling experts from several disciplines that comprehend the situation. A third component of the RCA will involve the identification of possible causative factors, in which the RCA will seek to investigate the sequence of events leading up to the hemolytic transfusion reaction, the conditions that allowed the reaction to happen, and other problems associated with occurrence of the reaction (De Silvestro et al, 2013). As many causal factors are to be identified in this component as possible using various tools. These are appreciation to determine every possible consequences of a specific factor, using the 5 why’s to get to the reaction’s root, breaking down the problem into smaller and more detailed portions, and using cause and effect diagrams. Finally, the RCA will also use the recommendation component by seeking to provide solutions about how to prevent another occurrence of a similar reaction and the prevalent risks in implementing the provide solutions (De Silvestro et al, 2013). This component will involve an analysis of the cause and effect process, as well as identification of changes required for the department. Tools that can be used here include the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, Impact Analysis, and Continuous Improvement Analysis. During

Adaptive Portfolio Management using Evolutionary Algorithm Essay

Adaptive Portfolio Management using Evolutionary Algorithm - Essay Example Introduction: Portfolio management is the process of managing assets i.e. stocks, bonds, etc., such that a large return with a low risk is obtained. Forecasting price movements in financial markets is an important part of constructing portfolios. Most traders believe that the financial markets are not fully efficient and that there exist temporary predictability, which could be exploited for collecting excess returns above the market average [1]. Consequently, many financial institutions have developed decision support systems to help traders and analysts make decisions about portfolio management more quickly and more effectively. Technical indicators use statistics to determine trends in security prices and are often used by financial markets and private traders to assist with portfolio management. A survey of foreign exchange traders in London [2] estimates that up to 90% of traders use some form of technical indicators and trading rules in their daily trading. Technical indicators assume that securities move according to trends and patterns that are continued over a short periods of time until another trend is triggered by the change in the market condition. The success of technical indicators depends on how one interprets the signals. Expert human traders are capable of combining several technical indicators and trading rules to arrive at composite strategies which are used in portfolio selection, execution and risk management. The process of arriving at such strategies requires high experience, expertise and often long and tidies hours of observation of historical and current market data to test and fine-tune different combinations of technical indicators and trading rules. Although there are agreements that financial markets do sometimes show periods where certain trading rules work [3], it is very hard to find evidence that a single trading strategy can function over an extended period of time. This can be due to the fact that financial markets are const antly evolving, and that when a trading rule is found to work it would not take long before it is exploited until it no longer harvests a significant profit. This forces the traders and technical analyst to constantly create new strategies or retune the existing strategies so that they would work under the new market conditions. The goal of my research would be to create a system that emulates human behaviour in combining a set of simple rules and technical indicators to create sophisticated trading strategies. The system then would constantly evolve those strategies or creating new strategies that would adapt to changing market conditions. 2. Motivation: In the past several years, there has been a notable increase in the use of financial modeling and optimization tools such as algorithmic trading and automated portfolio management in financial industries. In addition to the pressure on asset management firms to reduce costs and maintain a more stable and predictable performance in the aftermath of the downturn in the world’s markets in recent years, three other general trends have contributed to this increase. First, there has been an increase of interest in predictive models for asset returns. Predictive models assume that it is possible to make conditional forecasts of future returns—an objective that was previously considered not achievable by classical financial theory. Second, the wide availability of sophisticated and specialized software packages has enabled generating and exploiting

Art and the Artist Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8750 words

Art and the Artist - Coursework Example It is such an emphasis on individualism that usually lays the ground for a career in the arts and defines an artist's identity along the way. In the US, sponsors of an art enrichment program interviewed children aged 8-11 to explore how children perceive their own development in terms of artistic and creative identities. The answers are instructive and say a great deal about what it takes to develop an artistic identity. The youngest said they chose their subject matter based on what they liked or thought others would like if their artwork were a gift. The 9-year-olds in the group said they were focused on making their work look "real" by using their knowledge in a combination of work and enjoyment. The 10-year-olds expressed interest in subjects that pose a technical challenge, pointing out that an artwork did not have to look real to be considered art. The 11-year-olds, on the other hand, wanted to explore different painting styles and find something interesting and then persist in accomplishing this desired style. The oldest children demonstrated elements of artistic decision-making skills, selecting among these elemen ts and modifying their knowledge and skills to create the desired end (Rostan, 1998). All the children interviewed were unanimous in saying that being an artist involves a combination of knowledge, motivation and purposeful work. How this combination of these factors come in their order of importance differed according to age. The youngest children said knowledge or an inborn talent is the most important, the older ones believed it was motivation and the oldest said purposeful work should take precedence over the others. Any study of the rise to fame of contemporary artists would also show that family and friends and the milieu in which an individual grows up bear an influence on the development of an artistic identity. Childhood experiences also provide inspiration for one to take up arts. For example, Louise Bourgois is considered very effective in conveying such feelings as anger, betrayal and jealousy because of an adulterous father whose mistress the governess lived with the family even as her mother refused to acknowledge the immorality. The best way to capture the development of an artist's identity is to chronicle the odyssey of artists from obscurity to the halls of fame. Medium as Message Sculptors create things to express an idea or feeling, which may or may not be shared by others. For example, a classic creation of Barbara Hepworth called "Corinth" looks like a big red apple that someone took a bite out of, but it was really not meant to be a sculpture of an apple. Two colors and a variety of textures, which cannot be seen in apples, were used to add interest and certain meaning to the abstract shape. In effect, the artist merely used the figure of an apple to convey a personal message, with sculpture as medium. There are many known art mediums by which artists can express their own ideas or feelings and it is a popular belief that the identity of an artist emerges as result of his/her chosen medium. The medium may also be an art movement, such as Abstractionism and Cubism, which could give an artist his/her own identity. It appears that

Final paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Final - Research Paper Example Making it; therefore, sometimes a casualty of the American desire for security in times of crisis (Milton, 1989). In the essay, the historical evolution of habeas corpus, which includes its English and American traditions, will be examined. The suspension or rescheduling of the habeas corpus in the U.S. history and its relevance to the contemporary U.S. situation in the time of war on terror will also be examined. The American philosophy of habeas corpus originates in the common law that was brought into the United States from England. Sir William Blackstone in his commentaries on the Laws of England, credited the origin of the Writ of habeas corpus principles to the ancient Saxons who conquered England immediately after withdraw of Roman Empire from British Isles (Howard, 1995). Habeas corpus, therefore, denotes to the legal precedent that holds that an accused may not be detained in custody when there is not just cause. Blackstone described the early purpose of the writ of habeas corpus as ensuing from the assumption that the president of the king should have account at all times, why the liberty of any of their citizens or subjects is restrained, wherever that hold back might be inflicted. Articles 1, section 9, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution upholds the practice of the use of the writ of habeas corpus (Howard, 1995). In the North American history (USA), there has been instances where the writ of habeas corpus procedure being suspended. For an instant, Abraham Lincoln, the president of U.S. succeeded in having it suspended during the Civil. This led to allowing the imprisonment of military members, prisoners of war and any suspended traitors and spies were to be held for the time of the war without being given trial. In addition, Confederate President Jefferson Davis had habeas corpus suspended in the Confederate States of America. During the World War II, the

Reflective Report On Class Debate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflective Report On Class Debate - Essay Example The report concludes with the learning outcome on how arguments over a topic are developed, structured and evaluated in a debate. Discussion The motion of the report was that the companies should have limits or makes a fixed value for the wage of the senior management in the companies. My team members were against the motion of the debate i.e. the companies should not put limits or doesn’t make a fixed value for the remuneration of senior management in their compensation policy. First, my team members worked hard in identifying the possible arguments that supports our point of view and go against the topic of the debate. Secondly, my team members organise and structure the arguable points in the most meaningful manner that convinces the opponent debating group. My group members would have worked better if we had used some known evidence or statistics from literature and research. My Team Members’ Argument The key points developed in support of the argument were to discu ss the idea and purpose of the compensation system and policy, addressing the worth of senior management for companies in a broader context, the changing perspectives on the reasons why management wages are not kept fixed, and identifying reasons that justify the extended worth of senior management. Before arguing over the topic, it is important to first understand the rationale behind the wage system and policy of companies. The compensation policy by which companies reward their employees is not a mere system of paying off workers for their time and efforts, rather a compensation policy is often a strategic competitive edge by which companies retain the human capital to their organisations for a longer period of... This paper approves that the key points presented by the opponents were that wage discrimination leads to professional jealousy, influences motivation, detainment of financial resources around senior management and that performance criterion are reflective of job description, responsibility and skills. The other side argued that the companies should have limits for wages of senior management, as this wage discrimination creates a negative internal competition, decreases employee motivation and professional jealously amongst the lower and top management employees. Management personnel and seniors in a company serve as assets because; one, there is no substitute of experience; second, the cost of attracting new talent is too stupendous than retaining the old ones. This paper makes a conclusion that when preset performance standards systematically justify the professional worth of every individual irrespective of the management level then what is the reason for delimiting the wage scale for senior management on behalf of their extended worth? It is an unfair company policy which consumes a large proportion of organisational financial resources for around a small group of individuals. This limits a company’s ability to leverage and transfer benefits to a major portion of employees working for that company. The strength of the argument was it develops logical link between the supporting statements, though the researchers and authors have commented on both the arguments and there is no right conclusion for this debate found in the research.

Hamas, hezbolla and islamic jihad Essay Example for Free

Hamas, hezbolla and islamic jihad Essay Hamas is an Islamic resistance movement formed in 1987 to fight for Palestinian occupied land of Gaza strip, West bank and east Jerusalem. However, its initial creation was to destroy Israel and form a Palestinian Islamic state. It is highly known for its suicide bombings and other violence against Israeli military facilities and civilians. Despite these, Hamas has performed various social, military and political activities having provided social and welfare services, such as schools and hospital facilities to Palestinians. It dedicates much of its funds to the welfare, cultural and educational services, which are meant to influence Palestinians so as get their support in their military actions against Israeli. Most of these funds originated from OPEC countries such as Kuwait, Iran, and Saudi Arabia etc. Hezbollah or party of God is a political and paramilitary organization found in Lebanon. It was formed during the Lebanese civil war as the army of Shia followers and they were trained, organized and financed by Revolutionary Guards of Iran. Its main aim of creation was to put to an end Western colonialism, punish the phalaghists and develop a political Islamic nation in Lebanon. To many Western countries, it is considered a terrorist group after being connected to Beirut bombing in 1983, but to Arabian and Islamic countries it is viewed as an organization opposed to Western ideologies and policies. More so, it is highly popular in Lebanese and of them in support of its activities as to them it is legitimate organization. It receives its training, financial and military support from Iran. The organization has its leaders in Lebanese Government, a radio station and a satellites television as well as social and welfare programs such as provision of health and educational facilities. In addition, it is believed to be one of the first Islamic groups to use suicide bombing, assassination and kidnapping of foreigners so that they grievances could be attended to; but later on, they turned to military actions such as firing of missiles etc. Islamic Jihad refers to religious wars, which are declared by Muslims whenever they feel like their Islamic religion is being attacked or threatened. The Islamic groups or organizations have no big difference between them, as they were created to fight for certain grievances or policy changes those they felt inappropriate to the Islamic society. In most cases, they wage terrorist attacks and wars against their opponent without regard for the innocent citizens. They actions are out of desperation and bitterness, given the fact they have to rely on other Arabic and Islamic nations for military and financial support. Without these aid, they have no other way to let world know their grievances and that is why they have to use each and every opportunity to ensure that they point is home, even if its suicide bombing. They differ in terms of their location, financial and military powers, and possibly, their grievances. For instance, Hezbollah is more powerful in terms of its political, economic and social influence than Hamas, this can be attributed to the fact that it is highly effective in its tactics and its policies. The radical groups pose a very big danger to the United States, due to the fact they have a well trained and organized network of their dedicated army strategically positioned waiting for any chance to hit the Americans. These has been portrayed clearly in their current effort to bomb United Kingdom, though one may believe that they are enmity is focused towards Israel. Nevertheless, the fact remains that U. S. support is biased towards the Israelites hence the enmity. At the same time, Muslims believe in religious wars so to them war is part of their religion, hence when they kill a person in the name of protecting their religion they believe there is a reward. Lastly, the fact they are financed by other Islamic and Arabian countries implies that they have the means and the capabilities of attacking the U. S. For instance, Hezbollah was able to defeat Israel with the help of Iran out of Lebanon, and considering that, there is Muslim unity that it is just a matter of what believes. These forms their network which highly in detectable even with the most accurate detecting gadget. Before any negotiations are made, there are several factors, which should be considered: the inducement to commit a terrorist attack is highly determined by the result of a certain terrorist operation, hence the attack that has notably positive impact for the groups are highly and that is the only time when a negotiation is initiated. The Kurdish occupied territories of the Middle East came under the governance of indigenous Kurdish chiefs during the middle era, though they never formed a unified government. However, from 14th century the territories were incorporated to the Ottoman Empire. The incorporation of the Kurdish occupied regions of turkey of eastern Anatolia into turkey angered many Kurds and ended up in a long running war where many people lost their lives. There were major Kurdish conflict in the territory and it was declared a no go zone for foreigners by Turkish authorities for its military use in the year 1925 and 1965. However, turkey first president undertook serious actions to curb the Kurdish cultural and political activities, and this trend followed closely under his successors. For instance, a number of regions were put under martial law to curb the activities of Kurdistan workers party (PKK), and this resulted to severe violent guerilla warfare. This caused much of the country be evacuated and a number of Kurdish inhabited villages destroyed and various judicial execution carried out by both turkey and Kurdish. Since 1999, the state of affairs has cooled down with the abduction other PKK leader Abdullah Ocala, and with the European Union encouragement for official tolerance of Kurdish cultural actions. There are countries that have stake in the Kurdish, turkey and Iraq conflict. These include members of European Union and the western states like U. S, U. K. etc.

Contemporary Management Essay Example for Free

Contemporary Management Essay Trivia: Did you know that 280 years ago, the British government announced if not the world’s first, then certainly the world’s largest prize for innovation at 20,000 pounds reward for anyone who can â€Å"discover the longitude†- according to John Brandt. What is innovation? Why do organizations pay so much on research and development just to develop more of these? In a nutshell: 1. Innovation is something that is created as â€Å"new†. * According to Marion Hembrick: Deliberate use of resources to create something new whether a new product, process, policy or procedure. Ex: An example of an innovation is that of a three-wheel car in 1886 by Mercedes Benz. * People use innovations for competitive advantage or to increase market share or ta have a better system, but is innovation alone essential in an existence of an organization? 2. Innovation is a game changer: Something that is perceived to be different and could contribute to a change in lifestyle. As said by Sheremata in â€Å"Strategy in Network Markets† there are two types of innovation: radical and incremental. -In competing with market leaders, challengers do innovations to gain market shares. * Radical * provide large improvements, costly and risky. Challengers hoping to gain monopoly power. * high possible return and embodies new knowledge * may affect competitive outcome * DISRUPTIVE-can penetrate and be widely accepted or it can fail and may bring about signification loss/cost an organization according to Christensen * Example: radical innovation of a 3-wheel petrol car to a 4-wheel petrol car which change lives and made it so easy with the convenience of driving or riding. * The move of a four wheel car was a game changer because it was an radical innovation that was widely accepted, where it changed lives. * Combined, adapted and improved and introduced as a â€Å"new and independent† innovation replacing the new from the old. * In technology, progress has been achieved through small incremental innovations that build upon each other: Jeff Lill of Microsoft said: A competitor comes in and does something interesting, then we come in and basically clone it and do it marginally better and throw some marketing clout behind it and then relentlessly make it better through the years. That is our strategy and it has worked†. * Incremental * Small or minor improvement. * Sustaining according to Christensen. * Market leaders merely do incremental innovations * Cheaper, doesn’t give impact in market share, but still done for sustainability * Ex: a minor change in a car’s dashboard, door or design. According to Everett Rogers: Innovation has five stages: 1. Knowledge stage- awareness stage 2. Persuasion stage- gather interest through be informed about the dimensions of the innovation 3. Decision- adopt or reject 4. Implementation- using the innovation 5. Confirmation- continue using or acceptance of innovation/ market penetration Innovation comes a long way not only with products. There are lots of successful innovations and there where those that failed as well. Innovation comes in different forms with the hope of improvement in shares, systems, and process. It may be changing the policies in your workplace to gain a more conducive environment. Is innovation important in your industry, because in this fast changing world, innovation plays a very big role in technology, but is it the same with other industries? With your company perhaps? Today the group is going to show you different views of different situations where innovation came distinct. Listen and Decide. Angelmar, R. 1990, Product innovation: A tool for competitive advantage, European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 182-189. den Butter, Frank A. G, Mà ¶hlmann, J.L. Wit, P. 2008, Trade and product innovations as sources for productivity increases: an empirical analysis, Journal of Productivity Analysis, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 201-211. Hambrick, Marion E. Diffusion of Innovation. Encyclopedia of Sports Management and Marketing. Ed. Linda E. Swayne and Mark Dodds. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2011. 388-90. SAGE Reference Online. Web. 2 Feb. 2012 Innovation as a Strategy In Network Markets 2008, , Sage Publications. Jon Hughes 1999, The Innovators Dilemma. Neal Wyatt 2009, A History of Innovation and a Future of Possibility, Reference User Services Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 116. Product Innovation and Development in UK, German and Irish Manufacturing, 1997, Long Range Planning, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 315-315 Richard Gray, Stavroula Malla Peter W.B. Phillips 2006, Product innovation in the Canadian canola sector, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 65-7 Sheremata, W.A. 2004, Competing through Innovation in Network Markets: Strategies for Challengers, The Academy of Management Review, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 359-377. . Quality of Presentation Purpose: * to make audience think whether innovation is important or not * to prove that innovation, solely, doesn’t necessarily prove success nor failure * examples shown gave wide perspective and opened awareness to audience that there are different ways of achieving success depending on the industry and situation of the company: innovation may be or may not be important for survival * the presentation portrayed different scenarios to give the audience an overview of the different situations to gauge the risks on the success and failures innovation can give. * To some extent, the group agrees with the survival innovation can bring about, but there are other factors that should be put into consideration with bringing innovation in the market such as: compatibility of innovation in the industry, marketing, and timing * Why?- * Because innovation is dependent on the company or industry that it may give a positive or negative effect on. In conclusion, it depends whether a company needs innovation to live because with the different scenarios and examples presented, it showed that it does not necessarily follow that a company dies because there is no or weak innovation. Structure and Content: * Introduction- a brief overview of the definition of innovation and the introduction of the different views of situations where innovation and none innovation helped or failed in different companies. Answers the question why people or companies innovate. * Why?- proposing different views on whether innovation is needed in a company’s survival or existence * Brief examples: * Innovate and Live- (Apple, Google, 3M, Toyota, Microsoft) * Discussion of the Culture of Innovation * Senior Management Innovators: Steve Jobs * New and well designed products * Steady innovation in technology and tools where there is tough competition * Empowers innovation and balance products to cost requirements * Successful production (TPS) with management hybrid * Take existing products to improve * Didn’t innovate and Live- (COKE) * Not innovative * Used 4 P’s in Marketing-Product, Place, Price, Promotion * Acquisition and Risks of Acquisition * Innovate and Died- (KODAK) * Brief definition and situational examples of disruptive and sustaining innovations * Middle management resistance/CEO whether to innovate or not * Culture, core competencies- core rigid * Didn’t Innovate and Died- (Onetel, Fletcher Jones, Borders) * Reselling Optus-corporate Governance failure * High cost of production (producing) compared to import * Not embracing technology Wrap up: * Reiterating of the definition of innovation, how innovation is perceived in the presentation * How innovation is accepted in the society * Historical innovations: * modeling the different examples and the stands of each of the previous examples presented * going behind the culture of innovation * Today and innovation:survival, acceptance * Globalization in the market place and the build of innovation * The success and decline of different innovations: short term and longterm like facebook, networking, etc. * What affects innovations and how people accept or reject innovation * By-products synergy, networking what waste is produced by the company and finding a market place for the waste produced * Philanthropy * Dynamic management Delivery: Middle and Senior Management Individuals * Make them think whether they need innovation in their company or not may it be in the innovation of products manufactures, process, policy and procedures in the system. * Show them risks of innovation and make the audience aware that innovation may be beneficial for some and may be a cause of bankruptcy for others like KODAK * Why should you care?

Pest Analysis Macro Environment Marketing Essay

Pest Analysis Macro Environment Marketing Essay The purpose of this report is to analyse the food retail industry in the United Kingdom. The reasons of the industry selection can be concentrated to the broad range of provided products and services, the financial activity of the industry, the influence in the peoples life and the various external factors that affect the sector. The analysis will begin with a presentation of the food retail industry and a highlight of its significant features. Furthermore, to assess the remote environment of the industry a PEST analysis will be conducted, analysing the political, economical, social and technological factors that affect the industry. Furthermore, a Porters 5 forces analysis will be used to evaluate the operating environment and the nature of competition. Moreover the major competitors and their competition strategies will be identified. Additionally, the effect of the remote and operating environment on the players of the industry will be highlighted. Also, a critical analysis of the industrys strength and its future will be presented. Finally, a critical evaluation on the used business analysis techniques will be illustrated. The UK food retail industry is an established sector of the UK economy. During the last thirty years the food retail corporations expanded their activities to serve various consumer needs. The products that are provided to the public include food and its sub-products, but also alcohol, tobacco, health and beauty products, clothing, electrical products, homeware, fuel and financial services. However, according to the Mintel report 2009, more than half of the total sales in 2008 were assigned to food. Furthermore, concerning the size of the industry an increasing trend of sales can be observed of about 4% per year from 2004 to 2008 and a total amount of 108.1 billion pounds in 2008 (National Statistics Mintel report 2009). The food retail industry is mainly controlled by large supermarket chains that possess the overwhelming majority of the industrys market share, as it will be analysed further in the report. Concerning the size diversification of the retail stores, the majority are large units like hypermarkets, supermarkets and discounters with a percentage of 62% of the total number of stores. Furthermore, small units as convenience stores and gas stations represent the 21.2% and food and drink specialists the 11.3%. The minority are drug stores, warehouses and cash and carry stores (Datamonitor 2009). 3. PEST analysis Macro-environment To analyse the macro-environment or otherwise known remote environment of the food retail industry, a PEST analysis will be used to specify how Political and legal, Economical, Social and Technological issues affect the industry. 3.1 Political There are many political and legal factors that affect the food retail industry. Future political decisions concerning taxation or the retail industry legislation will definitely have an impact in the industry competitors policies and strategies. The current legislation and regulation concern competition, employment, environmental, food and grocery safety, financial services and health issues. Specifically, the UK food retailers are obliged to follow food hygiene legislation set by the Food Standards Agency and the equivalent European Union regulation such as the General Food Law Regulation. In the UK the food safety act of 1990 was enacted to set the food safety requirements for food intended for human consumption. The Food Standards Agency was created in 2000 after the food standards act of 1999, which was enacted to further secure the public health related to food safety (Office of Public Sector Information, 1999). The UK food retailers are obliged to follow the above regulations in conjunction with the General Food Regulations 2004 that set the rules about the transportation, distribution, quality, hygiene, maintenance, advertising and selling of food and its substances. Especially for the food hygiene and maintenance the rules and requirements of the Food Hygiene Regulations of 2006 and the internationally recognised Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) must be followed (Food Standards Agency, 2010). Therefore, possible disobedience of the above regulations by the supermarkets will cause legal problems and the enforcement of fines, harming their budget and social image. The competition in the UK is observed and controlled by two government bodies, the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading. The two government bodies ensure that the companies in the UK comply with the competition law and practices. Therefore, they observe and interface the market to avoid monopoly, oligopoly and cartel phenomena. Their role beyond the control of competition between the competitors within the industry is to ensure the fair trade between the supermarkets and their supplies. According to recent press publications the fair trade is currently the most important issue (Haurant S., 2009). In 2001 the Office of Fair Trading enacted the Supermarkets Code of Practice to regulate and assure the trade between supermarkets and suppliers, who include amongst others, farmers and breeders (Office of Fair Trading, 2001). Additionally, the major supermarket chains had been often accused for anticompetitive, unfair practices and failure to meet the necessary requirements . For example, in April 2010 the Office of Fair Trading fined nine retailers for anticompetitive practices at their tobacco pricing between 2001 and 2003 (Mintel report, 2009). For this reason the Competition Commission planned to change the existing Supermarkets Code of Practice to a new Grocery Supply Code of Practice (Haurant S., 2009). The new code of practice added intensive pressure to the Grocery retailers because they were forced to comply with stricter regulation and to cover the costs of the observation body. This new regulation led to greater competition which toughed the operations of the supermarkets but reduced slightly the prices to benefit the consumers. Another important group of regulations are those concerning the planning and environmental law. The grocery retail companies need to comply with the planning law to be able to expand their activities in new places. During the past years, the grocery retailers tended to expand their stores in places away from town centres. The reason was primary the reduced property prices and the ability to construct large supermarket units, maximising their profits. However this trend provoked a series of issues such as the increased pollution from the consumers transportation leading the government to change the legislation, demanding the presence of town centre stores at first. Therefore, the reaction of the supermarket chains was to increase the number of mid-size and small stores who complied with legislation and increased the supermarkets points of presence (Tescopoly; Butler S., 2006). Furthermore, the grocery retail corporations need to comply with environmental law and regulations concerning goods transportation pollution, aesthetics, proper disposal and recycling. For example the supermarkets were forced by new legislation to charge their customers a certain cost for each provided plastic bag (Brogan B., 2008). There is a significant percentage of the workforce that is employed in the food retail industry. Therefore, the food retail companies are obliged to comply with the UK and EU employment legislation exactly as the rest of the employers. Labour law such as the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Employment Act 2002 specify the workers rights including wages, working conditions, work hours and job security Also, during the past thirty years, a series of anti-discrimination laws were enacted to establish equality and diversity in the workforce (Businesspme.com, 2008; direct.gov.uk, 2010). Also, the food retail corporations are obliged to comply with health and safety standards in the workplace in operations like the use of machinery, electrical equipment, transportation of goods, violence etc (Shropshire, 2010). These regulations are mainly set by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Workplace regulations of 1992. Therefore, any political decision leading to more complex employm ent legislation can increase the labour costs in the industry and reduce the profitability. Additionally, non compliance with the labour regulations can lead to long term litigations with former or employees or the government. During the last years the large supermarket chains expanded their activities to provide financial services such as credit cards, loans and deposits. Therefore the supermarkets are obliged to comply with the legislation and regulations enacted by the Financial Services Authority (Financial Services Authority, 2010). Therefore, a possible change in financial services taxation or regulation will affect their profitability. Furthermore, the supermarkets are obliged to pay the equivalent corporate tax at the HM Revenue and Customs. 3.2 Economical The economic factors, incidents and situations that affect the food retail industry can be concentrated in the following categories: Consumer spending and disposable income, inflation, taxation, interest rates, unemployment, monetary issues, and the recent financial crisis. The recent financial crisis has definitely brought many important changes in the food retail sector as well as to the majority of the industries. However, the effect of the financial crisis did not affect negatively the consumer demand. On the contrary the consumer spending in the food retail industry increased from 2007 to 2008 especially in the food products and continues to increase at an approximately rate of 5% (National Statistics; Mintel report, 2009). The main implication for this trend was that because of the recession, the consumers cut their eating out expenses and started to consume food at home as it is much cheaper. Furthermore the sales of organic food, specialised products such as television and sound systems and expensive products declined (Mintel report, 2009).On the contrary, the sales of own brand products and hard discounters chains increased indicating the consumers turn in low cost products. The price competition and the importance of food increased the consumer demand and expenditure; however it is doubtful if it will continue to rise mainly because of the general economic uncertainty and the higher upcoming personal income taxation. In macroeconomic terms, the GDP after a massive decline in its change rate started to increase after the mid 2009 to reach a positive 0.5% in early 2010. Also, the inflation after a decline during the recession increased in late 2009 which probably led to an increasing trend at groceries prices (National Statistics, 2010). However, the Bank of England continues to maintain the interest rates at a low level (0.5%), to protect the fragile economy (BBC, 2010). This low interest rate will lead to increased consumption because consumers will favour to spend than to save their funds and the food retailers will be able to borrow funds at a low costs to cover their liabilities. This fact will act as compensation to the increased inflation and will probably maintain the prices. Concerning the monetary issues, during the last three years the sterling faced a significant decline of approximately (-26%) towards the euro and approximately (-25%) towards the dollar which increased the cost of imported goods in the UK (Yahoo Finance, 2010). Therefore, this situation might force the UK food retailers to construct food manufacturing plants in the United Kingdom and prefer UK suppliers. Thus, the grocery retailers will be able to have a stable pricing policy and larger price margins. From 2009 to 2010 the exchange rates fluctuated causing uncertainty and maintaining the food prices high One of the most important parts of the economic factors that affect the food retail industry is taxation. This is divided to personal income tax for the consumers and to corporation tax for the supermarkets. After May 2010 elections a coalition government between the Conservatives party and the Liberal Democrats party formed and changes are expected in taxation. Concerning income tax an increase in tax contributions is expected in 2010/2011 which will lead to a decline in consumption possibly affecting the more expensive goods and food retailers. On the other hand the corporate tax will be probably reduced during 2010 to boost economy and development. (Vincent, 2010) Therefore, the food retail corporations will be able to afford larger margins to price competition. The above facts will possibly lead the supermarkets to a trend of decreasing prices in basic goods and making offers to maintain consumer spending levels. For example there is a trend at supermarkets to offer products in r ounded prices ( £1,  £2) creating an offer impression (Felsted A., 2010). 3.3 Social The next sector of the PEST analysis is consisted by the social factors that affect the industry such as the demographics, lifestyle, culture and population trends. It is well known that Europes population is getting older and as years are passing this phenomenon will be more intense. In the United Kingdom (Mintel report, 2009) the average age and the percentage of retired people are rising. This trend has many implications to the food retail industry. First of all, elder people tend to consume less than younger people. This happens because their income which mainly comes from pensions is lower. Secondly, elder people tend to shop from the cheaper discounter retailers. Therefore, the market share of the discounter chains will increase against the rest of the competitors in the industry (Mintel oxygen, 2009). Also, the additional needs of this age group leads to an increasing trend of online and distance shopping which increase the home grocery deliveries. Thus, the operational costs of the supermarkets increase due to increased expenses for vehicles and personnel. Another implication coming from the ageing population will be the need for new product lines designed for people with various chronic ailments which are common amongst elder people. An important issue that concerns the society is obesity. According to the Health Survey for England, there is an increasing trend of obesity especially in children (NHS, 2009). The health problems and their consequences led the government and various organisations to promote a healthier lifestyle in Britain. Therefore, the consumers health awareness increased and they turned their interest to healthier foods and to more fruit and vegetables. Thus, it can be supposed that the food retail corporations will continue to adapt to the consumers demand enhancing their existing product lines with new healthier products such as organic foods, low fat and low sugar products and healthy food campaigns. Also, it will be possible to appear products for specific social groups such as people suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and allergies. Therefore, by targeting these consumer groups the food retail corporations will increase their income and improve their corporate social image. Furthermore, the increasing trend of more women entering the workforce, led to the need for ready meals at the supermarkets because women had less time to prepare food after work (International Labour Organisation, 2008). As this trend continues the supermarkets will expand their ready meals variety and create new categories depending into cost, calories and taste covering different needs. Also, the presence of different people from different background and culture in the UK changed the structure of the society. According to the UK National Statistics approximately the 10% of the UK population is non-British (UK National Statistics, 2001). Different cultures mean different habits and different food preferences. Therefore, the food retailers often provide goods from all over the world to serve those needs. 3.4 Technological The final element of the PEST analysis concerns the technological factors that are related to the food retail industry. The technological development affected and changed the industry in different categories including consumers, environment, cost, distribution, and logistics. During the last decade, the supermarkets in the United Kingdom took advantage of the internet and they are offering online shopping to the consumers. Through this innovative feature the supermarkets offer their entire catalogue of products to the consumers and the ability to compare prices, search for a product, pay and order for their groceries. Therefore, the food retailers reduce their personnel costs while they are able to advertise almost free and make consumers aware of their offers. Also it is not unusual that many products cannot be found inside the stores and are available only through e-commerce (Tesco annual report 2009). This is another example of minimising operating costs while increasing sales. Furthermore, the food retail corporations used the information technology to organise their operations and maximise the organisations efficiency and profitability. Specifically, the management of each organisations functions is assigned to specialised software and digitalisation of processes. Through the use of innovative technology the cost and the paperwork is reduced and time is saved. Also, the logistics department increases its efficiency because the supply chain is more efficient controlled and the stock management provides a real and immediate view (Sainsburys annual report 2009). The implementation of technology can be beneficial for both retailer and consumer. The self-checkout machines reduce the labour costs of the company because they usually require one person per five machines to observe. Also, in that way the consumers save time and control their groceries shopping. The introduction of point earning cards offers discounts and rewards to the consumer while it provides valuable information to the supermarket company about the preferences and habits of each individual. The analysis of this information assists to the companys advertising planning and strategy while it offers the ability of targeted marketing (Moody, 1997). The effective application of technology in the distribution and transportation process through energy efficient vehicles protects the environment as it reduces the vehicles carbon emissions. Furthermore, the food retail company improves its corporate social responsibility and reduces the goods transportation cost. Finally, the Universal Product Code or in other words bar-code was an innovation that brought a revolution in the industry. Each product could have its specific bar-code, simplifying the pricing and check-out while saving time and establishing accuracy. Also, the use of wireless technology and the attachment of electronic chips on the products can prevent theft and measure the product availability on shelves. Therefore, the inventory is the supply process becomes faster and the food retail corporations avoid unexpected losses that due to their volume can have a significant cost for the organisation (Food Marketing Institute, 2010). 4. Porters five forces analysis Operating Environment To analyse the operating environment of the food retail industry and evaluate its competitive nature, a Porters Five Forces Analysis, created by E.M Porter professor at Harvard University Business School, will be used. According to Porter the five forces are: the industry competitors rivalry, the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers and the threat of substitutes products or services (Porter, 2004). 4.1 The industry competitors rivalry. The competition in the food retail industry is intense. The named big4 supermarkets which are: Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons own the 73.3% market share, fact that makes the industry an oligopoly (Mintel report 2009). Below are the identified the major competitors in the industry and their competitive strategies. 4.1.1 Tesco Tesco is the market leader with a market share of 31%, and a total number of outlets 2,282, is traded in the London Stock Exchange and had  £41,520m sales and  £2,381m profit in 2009. Beyond food products it sells electrical equipment, health products, petrol, clothing, homeware, telecommunications through a joint venture with O2, and financial services through Tesco Bank (Datamonitor, 2009). Also, Tesco is expanding to land telecommunications, construction and youth clothing (Parker; Felsted; Poulter; Minton, 2010) Tescos expansion plans target to the development of the small Tesco Express who satisfy the legal size requirement of Sunday trading act to operate on Sunday (DEFRA, 2006). The objectives of Tescos strategy are concentrated in five areas: to be a successful international retailer, to grow the core UK business, to be as strong in non-food as in food, to develop retailing services such as Tesco Personal Finance, Telecoms and tesco.com and to put community at the heart of what we do (Tesco Annual report 2009). 4.1.2 Sainsburys Sainsburys is a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom with a market share of 15.4%, and a total number of outlets 792, is traded in the London Stock Exchange and had sales  £18,911m and  £466m profit in 2009. Sainsburys sells food products, home and garden products, electrical appliances, clothing, health products, sports and leisure products, petrol and offers financial and insurance services. Also, Sainsburys is expanding to Electricity and Gas, broadband and digital TV. Furthermore, Sainsburys collaborates with convenience store chains Bells Stores, Jacksons Stores, and JB Beaumont Stores in a strategic alliance move to increase its market share in the convenience stores battle. Sainsburys concentrate its corporate objectives in five areas: Great food at fair prices, Expansion in non-food products and services, Reaching more consumers through alternative distribution channels (online shopping), growing supermarket space and active property management of existing stores (Datamonitor, 2009; Rigby and Killgren, 2008; Sainsburys annual report, 2009). 4.1.3. Asda Asda is a supermarket chain owned by Walmart a United States of America supermarket corporation. Asda operates in the United Kingdom with a market share of 15.1% and a total number of outlets 356 and had sales  £18,573m and  £520m profit in 2009. Asda sells food products, health and beauty products, household products and petrol. Also it offers telecommunication services through its own mobile network Asda mobile and clothing through the George stores. Asdas competitive strategy is to differentiate from the competition emphasises in the fresh food, including bakers and butchers in its stores. Also, Asda operates a discount store Asda Essentials with own brand products competing directly with the discounters Lidl and Aldi. In a generic view, Asda targets in price competition boasting better prices and offers. (Datamonitor 2009; Corporatewatch.org.uk, 2004) 4.1.4. Morrisons Wm Morrison supermarkets or otherwise Morrisons is the fourth supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. Morrisons have a market share of 11.8% and a total number of outlets 420. Morrisons sells groceries, household products, petrol and dry cleaning and photo services. Morrisons operates through its own stores and its subsidiaries with Safeway among others. Morrisons target is to become the Food Specialist for Everyone as it owns 13 manufacturing plants and a fresh food factory. Morrisons concentrates its strategy around three brand values: Fresh, Value and Service. This means that Morrisons targets to offer fresh food in competitive prices in a premium consumer service. Generally, Morrisons is an emerging power in the industry and tries to gain competitive advantage by connecting the gap between value and high quality products. (Datamonitor, 2009; Wm Morrison annual report, 2009) Examining the nature of competition and the competitive rivalry it can be observed that the market share of mid-size and local grocery retailers is too small and the increasing appearance of big4 convenience stores and the large fixed costs. This leads to the implication that the competition in the industry is mainly concentrated among the major competitors. The major competitors are operating in a mature market, which pushes them to fiercely compete for market share through price, range and service (DEFRA 2006). In a mature market with a stable population like in the UK the consumption cannot be increased significantly. Thus, the main objective is to acquire a bigger percentage of the market share pie. Therefore, this situation has driven the grocery retailers to compete in a price war to maintain their customers and if possible to attract more to increase their revenues (Felsted, 2010). For this reason the grocery retailers aim to innovate and minimise the cost to be able to allow larger price margins. Also, taking into account the recent financial crisis and the recession it can be observed that the consumers were cutting their expenses and turned to hard discounters chains such as Lidl and Aldi. (Mintel report, 2009) This situation strengthens the price competition from sophisticated to basic products such as milk, poultry and bread. Also, the major competitors adopted aggressive advertising policy comparing often their prices with competition (Leroux, 2009). Furthermore, to increase their competitiveness supermarkets expand their activities and increase their product range. For example they offer in their stores non-food products like electrical equipment, homeware, pharmacy, financial services etc. This action widened their competitive arena, as they compete with a large portion of the retail sector such as electrical equipment, clothing, DoItYourself, furniture and health and beauty stores. The existence of petrol stations at the supermarkets competes directly with the petroleum providers e.g. BP and SHELL. Also, the supermarkets expansion to financial services e.g. Tesco Bank, place supermarkets to compete with retail banks. It can be suggested that the supermarkets because of the mature food market aim to provide a total package of products and services to their customers covering all their consuming needs; thus increasing the food retail industrys sales and profits. 4.2 The threat of new entrants. The entrance of new competitors in the food retail industry faces several difficulties. The creation of a new supermarket chain requires large capital investment, funds for corporate planning, advertising and trading capital. Furthermore, the majority of the industrys market share is acquired by the established big4 chain supermarkets and the margins for expansion are very limited. Also, the acquisitions are very difficult to realise because of the high value of the existing chains. However possible mergers or strategic alliances might take place. Other barriers to entry in the industry are the large fixed costs and the developed supply chains. Also, the existing dominants of the market benefit from the economies of scale which gives them the ability to adopt an aggressive pricing strategy. Therefore, it is very hard for the smaller retailers to compete and survive in that environment. According to the Competition Commission (2008) there are three different factors that lift entry barriers to the industry: a) cost advantages that large grocery retailers have b) the planning regime for grocery retailing and c) the control of land of large grocery retailers. The Competition Commission report divides the large grocery retailers cost advantages in two categories: distribution costs and purchasing costs. The large grocery retailers gain benefits from reduced distributions costs occurring by economies of scale and economies of density. The economies of density benefit the supermarkets because they operate satellite distribution centres that serve groups of stores. This process reduces the distribution costs because the distribution centres supply only the short and medium distance branches saving time distance and transportation costs. The economy of scale impact is that the supermarket chains use technology to control the products availability, to maintain the sensitive groceries such as meat and vegetables. Also, the supermarket maximise the efficiency of the distribution from and to suppliers, supermarket stores and consumers. Therefore this acts as another barrier to entry because the large supermarket chains have established channels of distribution and a cost effective distribution network supported by their own distribution fleet which covers the majority of the British territory (Competition Commission, 2008). The purchasing costs act as a barrier to entry to the food retail industry. The large supermarket chains because of their high volume purchases are able to deal better prices with their suppliers. Therefore, they are able to offer their products at a lower price in contrast with the smaller retailers who are obliged to purchase at a higher price (Competition Commission, 2008). Also, the big4 chains have already a competitive advantage because they possess knowledge and information about the suppliers. The volume of their sales gives them the ability to make large orders of supplies in lower prices. Another barrier to entry in the industry is the current planning regime for grocery retailing. The planning regulation sets limitations to the ability of new and existing competitors to open new stores in the positions they want. The reasons for this include environmental, competition and town planning issues. Also, the continuous development of supermarket outside towns led the UK government to demand the town centre development since 1996 (Competition Commission, 2008). Additionally the large supermarket chains already control the suitable land and the best locations, which make the rest of the sites expensive and difficult to find. All the barriers to entry in the industry are beneficial to the oligopolistic big4 supermarket chains and allow them to increase their profitability through the reduced costs and by controlling the goods prices. 4.3 The bargaining power of suppliers. According to the Datamonitor report (2009) the suppliers in the grocery retail industry include: food manufacturers, food processors, farmers, and agricultural co-operatives. The most powerful suppliers are the food manufacturers and the food processors because their number is smaller and in some cases they are irreplaceable. The bargaining power of the suppliers is high when they supply the supermarkets with branded goods that are highly demanded by the consumers. The supermarkets cannot apply big pressure to secure low prices and the suppliers can negotiate better prices. Therefore the supermarket chains make long term contracts with certain suppliers while maintaining their deals with a variety of suppliers to keep the switching costs low. Furthermore, the presence of the supermarkets own brands weakens the position of the suppliers and reduces their bargaining power. For example the supermarket chain Sainsburys includes in their product line their own branded Sainsburys ham and the Danepak ham and the consumers prefer them because they are usually sold at lower prices (Ali, 2009). The implication is that the supermarkets gain bargaining power because they are able to change suppliers or to make big orders. However when the food retailers choose to cooperate with only a few suppliers they give bargaining power to suppliers. For example big food manufacturer like Nestle have loyal consumers who give high value to the brand. Therefore, the supermar

The Cruel and Bitter Miss Havisham in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens :: Great Expectations Charles Dickens

The Cruel and Bitter Miss Havisham in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens At one point in the novel, Dickens tells the reader that Miss. Havisham was a wonderful, beautiful woman and is considered to be a great match. In contrast, when the reader first meets her she is a frightful old woman who cares about nothing but herself. She is determined to live her life in self-pity and seek revenge on all men. In the novel, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Miss Havisham is established as a cruel and bitter old woman trapped in the past, nearly a century ago, when she was abandoned on her wedding day, and is now raising an adopted daughter to seek revenge on all men by breaking their hearts however, near the end of the novel when she converses with Pip about his love for her daughter over the years, it is evident to her after that she has made a dreadful mistake and changes most drastically before she dies. "I had heard of Miss Havisham up town-everybody for miles round had heard of Miss Havisham up town as an immensely rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers and led a life of seclusion." Even before meeting Miss. Havisham the reader is introduced to her and has an idea of what she is all about. Anyone who lives secluded from society for years is going to be considered eccentric. The town perceptibly gossips about her since everyone has heard of her. The first time Dickens has the reader meet Miss. Havisham is through Pip. The young boy is told to go visit her and play and as he sees the house he describes it in bleak detail. As he is led to Miss. Havisham through the dark halls by her daughter, Estella, the tone of the house is set. There are cobwebs, antique furniture, and clocks all stopped at twenty minutes to nine. Finally Miss. Havisham is introduced. She is seen in her once white, now yellow, wedding dress. All of this description, the old house, the clocks, the wedding dress, explains how Miss. Havisham was left on her wedding day many years ago and that was when her life stopped. She even says as Pip is leaving, "There, there! I know nothing of days of the week; I know nothing of weeks of the year. Come again after six days. You hear?" Dickens creates the house and Miss. Havisham as a unity. The condition and aspect of the house shows the gloom in her mind. The way the house is dark is just fuel for her desire to seek The Cruel and Bitter Miss Havisham in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens :: Great Expectations Charles Dickens The Cruel and Bitter Miss Havisham in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens At one point in the novel, Dickens tells the reader that Miss. Havisham was a wonderful, beautiful woman and is considered to be a great match. In contrast, when the reader first meets her she is a frightful old woman who cares about nothing but herself. She is determined to live her life in self-pity and seek revenge on all men. In the novel, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Miss Havisham is established as a cruel and bitter old woman trapped in the past, nearly a century ago, when she was abandoned on her wedding day, and is now raising an adopted daughter to seek revenge on all men by breaking their hearts however, near the end of the novel when she converses with Pip about his love for her daughter over the years, it is evident to her after that she has made a dreadful mistake and changes most drastically before she dies. "I had heard of Miss Havisham up town-everybody for miles round had heard of Miss Havisham up town as an immensely rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers and led a life of seclusion." Even before meeting Miss. Havisham the reader is introduced to her and has an idea of what she is all about. Anyone who lives secluded from society for years is going to be considered eccentric. The town perceptibly gossips about her since everyone has heard of her. The first time Dickens has the reader meet Miss. Havisham is through Pip. The young boy is told to go visit her and play and as he sees the house he describes it in bleak detail. As he is led to Miss. Havisham through the dark halls by her daughter, Estella, the tone of the house is set. There are cobwebs, antique furniture, and clocks all stopped at twenty minutes to nine. Finally Miss. Havisham is introduced. She is seen in her once white, now yellow, wedding dress. All of this description, the old house, the clocks, the wedding dress, explains how Miss. Havisham was left on her wedding day many years ago and that was when her life stopped. She even says as Pip is leaving, "There, there! I know nothing of days of the week; I know nothing of weeks of the year. Come again after six days. You hear?" Dickens creates the house and Miss. Havisham as a unity. The condition and aspect of the house shows the gloom in her mind. The way the house is dark is just fuel for her desire to seek

Hockey vs. Football Essay -- Sports Compare Contrast Hockey Football E

Hockey vs. Football Football and hockey are two sports, which are similar in objective, but very different in their rules and guidelines. In each of these major sports there are rules and guidelines that the players must follow. The topics that will be covered are the weight differences between the players in football and hockey, the use of Creatine Monohydrate, and last the equipment restrictions. This first paragraph will discuss the weight difference between the players in the NFL (football) and the NHL (hockey). Although there is no written rule as to how much a player can weigh in either of the sports, there is the unwritten rule that the players and coaches follow. The average hockey player weighs about 185 pounds. The average weight of a full NHL hockey team consisting of 24 players is about 4,500 lbs. Coaches in the NHL do not want their players too weigh more than 200 though because as Mike Milbury the coach of the New York Islanders put it â€Å" when a player is as big as a football player (approx. 250 lbs.). It is harder for a player to move quickly and elude an upcoming check†. In the NFL, it is the opposite of the NHL. The coaches don’t want their players too weigh less than 200 pounds. The Punter/Kicker is the only position that it doesn’t really matter what the weight of player is. On average the weight of a NFL player is 250 lbs. The averag e team consisting of 48 players weighs about 12,000 lbs. This paragraph talks about a very controversial substanc...

College Tuition Essay

Liberal views on college tuition is that it should be affordable and not increase the average debt an American should have. Recently Obama capped the federal student loan payments at 10% of income and stopped federal student loan interest rates from doubling. Liberals tend to believe strongly in public education and are against the high tuition of private schools, many believe that the high prices of private schools take away from the education system and increase the price of public education. Conservative views on college education is to switch from community schools to trade schools, increasing training instead. They believe you would cut the amount of money you owe by attending a trade school and not investing in a 4+ year college, but they believe also that this opportunity should be possible for most Americans. Many Conservatives believe that federal government has no business in originating student loans and encourages private loan investing. Many believe in shifting the role of federal government in student loans to make government the guarantor for private sector student loans. Demographics The raising of any college tuition funds or loan rates would have a direct effect on the younger generation of 18-30 year olds that would be trying to access education early on in their lives. The United States ranks 9th in the world in the amount of young adults enrolled in college, but 16th in the world of 25-34 year olds graduating with a higher education. The ideas of the liberal party would settle well with the younger generation going into college after high school or returning to college at a young age. The older generation from 65 and up would see faults in this idea by questioning why not raise interest rates or where the funding would come to support the growth of public schooling, but also the idea of do you really have to go to college? Many people of the older generation do not see purpose in being in high debt at such a young age in life. Major difference between the two parties is how the money is received to pay for higher education. They both believe that college tuition should be lowered and more possibilities should be available for lower class Americans, but how those Americans get the money for this education is a widely debated topic.

Critical Infrastructure Protection Essay

The mission of the Department of Homeland Security is stop acts of terrorist within the United States, not have the United States be vulnerable to terrorist attacks, and reduce the damage to the United States if there would be a terrorist attack. Since this department inception in 2003, the Department of Homeland Security has a component in place to support its mission and has been a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community. In July of 2005, the DHS was reorganized and called the Second Stage Review or â€Å"2SR†. The former Secretary of DHS, Michael Chertoff, began a strengthened office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) and made the Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis the Chief Executive Officer for that department. He also tasked I&A with ensuring that intelligence is coordinated, fused, and analyzed within the Department to provide a common operational picture; provide a primary connection between DHS and the IC as a whole; and to act as a primary source of infor mation for state, local and private sector partners. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, assigned the original DHS intelligence component—the Directorate of Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection—with responsibility to receive, analyze, and integrate law enforcement and intelligence information in order to— â€Å"(A) identify and assess the nature and scope of terrorist threats to the homeland; (B) detect and identify threats of terrorism against the United States; and (C) understand such threats in light of actual and potential vulnerabilities of the homeland.† Congress also made information sharing a top priority of the new DHS intelligence organization, requiring it â€Å"to disseminate, as appropriate, information analyzed by the Department within the Department, to other agencies of the Federal government with responsibilities related to homeland security, and to agencies of State and local government and private sector entities, with such responsibilities in  order to assist in the deterr ence, prevention, preemption of, or response to, terrorist attacks against the United States (Randol, 2010)†. A critical infrastructure is defined as any facility, system, or function which provides the foundation for national security, governance, economic vitality, reputation, and way of life. In short, critical infrastructure is by definition essential for the survival of the nation. The US Patriot Act defines it as â€Å"systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.† FEMA defines critical infrastructure as â€Å"personnel, physical assets, and communication (cyber) systems that must be intact and operational 24x7x365 in order to ensure survivability, continuity of operations, and mission success, or in other words, the essential people, equipment, and systems needed to deter or mitigate the catastrophic results of disasters.† Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) consists of all proactive activities to protect indispensable people, physical assets, and systems (especially communications or cyber systems) which are guided by a systematic and reliable decision making process which assists leaders to determine exactly what needs protection, where, and how. It is proactive in the same sense that mitigation in emergency management is proactive and goes beyond normal security, defensive postures. The basic steps of CIP consist of: identifying the critical infrastructures, determining the threats against those infrastructures, analyzing the vulnerabilities of threatened infrastructures, assessing the risks of degradation or loss of a critical infrastructure, and applying countermeasures where risk is unacceptable (â€Å"The Safety†, 2014). Within the Department of Defense, a streamlined command and control structure and growth of the cyber force in size and skills, including offensive capabilities, are required to effectively operate as well as to provide some deterrent to attack. Meanwhile, legal code for cybersecurity has not kept pace with technological developments. Comprehensive cybersecurity legislation is required—beginning with mandatory participation of critical infrastructure owners and operators in federal information-sharing programs in a way that incorporates appropriate safeguards for industry liability and citizen privacy—in order to completely  bridge the current public-private division of responsibilities for collective defense. Cybersecurity has grown to be a key issue for the administration and indeed for the nation in the last several years even though concern for the integrity of Critical Infrastructure (CI) functions was evident in the 1990s. For CI, which includes a range of sensitive data and performs valuable functions that support the health, safety, and economic vitality of our modern nation, the growth of networked connections in cyberspace has meant the introduction of new threat vectors to systems that were not des igned to securely connect to today’s Internet. Because improving the cybersecurity of CI encompasses such a large body of work, widely distributed across government and private sector entities, unity of effort is difficult to achieve. President Obama admits that â€Å"when it comes to cybersecurity, federal agencies have overlapping missions and don’t coordinate and communicate nearly as well as they should – with each other or with the private sector (La Bash and Landis, 2013)† The vulnerabilities that should concern IS professionals who protect the U.S.’s critical infrastructure is not having a system that would advise them of current, present, and future vulnerabilities. A system of this would be able to advise you of early indicators of vulnerability In order to accomplish this task, a survey of all operations should be undertaken. The survey should include: General Administrative Information, Management Awareness and Control Programs, Identification of Hazards/Potential rises; and Business Characterization. The ultimate benefits to be gained from this type of survey are in terms of identifying areas in need of attention, establishing a list of potential crisis situations, determining what commitments your organization is comfortable with and documenting current efforts. Once the survey program has been developed and implemented, it must be evaluated and kept up-to-date. This can be accomplished by reviewing actual responses and by conducting a detailed audit of each element of the business. The survey program is the initial step, toward reducing vulnerability. Next, you must organize the operation. The management chain is critical to this process. You must ensure that all levels of management become part of the program. (Sikich, 1998). Make a senior manager directly responsible to top management and the board of directors. The formal assignment of a senior manager to the position of â€Å"Crisis Management Programs, Director,† or some other appropriate title, can accomplish the initial portion of this item. Set aside specific time for reports on crisis management preparedness issues. This can be accomplished by preparing an agenda for senior staff and board of director meetings that includes a discussion of crisis management preparedness as a mandatory item. You have to give it more than lip service though. Also, you must make the discussion substantive. Provide more than the dull and tiring statistics on reportable accidents, etc. Communicate compliance through all levels of the organization through company policy and procedures. This can be accomplished through formal adoption of policy at the highest levels of the company. The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, was introduced last June by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and revised in December by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. It calls for the formation of a National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that would be responsible for protecting both federal computer networks and critical infrastructure owned by the private sector against cyber attacks. Although the White House already has broad wartime powers, making aspects of the proposed act redundant, opposition to the bill has centered on its provision to give the federal government the authority to define what is meant by â€Å"critical infrastructure.† According to the bill the government can â€Å"take measures to protect any computer system whose destruction or disruption of reliable operation would cause national or regional catastrophic effects.† This could include cutting off the system from the Internet. Owners of facilities labeled as critical infrastructure would be notified as soon as this designation is made. An owner could appeal this designation but, as the bill is currently written, the government would make the final decision to disconnect, which is not subject to judicial review (Greenemeier, 2011). References Greenemeier, L. (2011). What is the Best Way to Protect U.S. Critical Infrastructure from a Cyber Attack? Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com La Bash, M. and Landis, C. (2013, August). Legal, Policy, and Organizational Impedients to the Protection of Critical Infrastructure from Cyber Threats. Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/mits/files/mits2-paths.com Randol, M. (2010, March). The Department of Homeland Security Intelligence Enterprise: Oper- Rational Overview and Oversight Challenges for Congress. Retrieved from http://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R40602.pdf Sikich, G. (1998). Critical InfrastructureVulnerability. Retrieved from http://www.disaster-resource.com The Safety and Security of Critical Infrastructure. (2014, January). Retrieved from http://www.drtomoconnor.com/3430/3430lecto1a.htm

Evidence of Neocolonialism in African Trade Relations Essay

Athow Brian and Robert G. Blanton present their study of African trade relations before and after European colonialism in â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies: Trade Patterns in British and French Africa. † This study is quite important as it is an effort to scientifically assess the colonial trade legacy in a comparative manner. In fact, it is the only research of its kind analyzing trade relations of previously colonized states of Africa between 1938 and 1985. The authors’ goal is to discover whether neocolonialism continues to exist in the previously colonized African states with respect to trade relations. In other words, do the previously colonized African states continue to depend on the colonialists for trade? The underdevelopment of Africa is attributable to many factors, including the fact that it takes economically powerful governments with a strong sense of their goals to empower their people and develop nations. It is a well-known fact that the European colonialists had their own interests at heart. Their mercenary objectives could not accommodate the goal of developing Africa. African states that came to be ruled by Europeans were forced to produce agricultural goods as well as raw materials to meet European demands alone. The â€Å"traditional agricultural economies† of the colonized states of Africa were forced by French and British colonialists to start specializing in cash crops that were solely meant for export. Although the French and British colonialists came to hold significant political power over the African people, the local needs of the latter were utterly disregarded. No wonder, although Africa continues to appear lush green to the human eye, its people suffer from severe hunger. After all, their needs have been disregarded even after independence was attained from the European colonialists. As a matter of fact, the authors of â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies† found that the African states that were previously colonized by the French continue to have France as their chief trading partner. Similarly, African states that were previously colonized by the British continue to trade with the British in addition to other states that had been colonized by the British. What is more, the trading style of the colonialists continues to be used by the African states that were colonized by the French and the British. French colonies of Africa were under a centralized rule. For this reason, they continue to consider France as their chief trading partner. British rule was decentralized to a large extent. Moreover, the British had already established trade relations between the African colonized states and other nations across the world that had been colonized by the British. These trading patterns continue to this day, which is the reason why the authors of â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies† refer to neocolonialism in African trade relations. According to the authors, old habits die hard. Africa continues to suffer from severe poverty because its resources do not support the Africans. Rather, previously colonized African states continue to produce for the French and the British peoples. Africans are dependent on the moneys they receive for the goods they export to France and Britain, in addition to previously colonized British states in other parts of the world. Seeing that Africa appears to be on the losing side of this deal, the article, â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies† calls for massive structural changes in the political and trade patterns applied in Africa today. It would take African governments to develop a strong sense of their goals to achieve economic independence for the Africans – this time having the interests of their own people at heart. Bibliography Brian, Athow, and Robert G. Blanton. â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies: Trade Patterns in British and French Africa. † Journal of Third World Studies (Fall 2002). Available from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa3821/is_200210/ai_n9134671. Internet; accessed 27 November 2008.

Moby Dick Essay

In this video, we immediately learn of an obsessed captain who wants revenge. Why does he want revenge and against whom or what? He wants revenge against a white whale for taking his leg. 2.Who is the narrator of Moby Dick and what is the first line of the novel? Ishmael narrates the novel. 3.There are two significant Biblical allusions[->0] mentioned in the film. To whom do these allusions reference? How are the names significant? the name Ahab describes a king who turns vile. This suggesting that the Ahab of this novel will be a similarly conflicted leader. Also Ishmael shows independence and shows that he just wants to take care of himself. 4.The narrator states that Moby Dick symbolizes three different meanings for three different characters. List the characters and the meaning which Moby Dick symbolizes for each of them. Ahab sees Moby Dick as an evil thing. Ishmael sees Moby Dick as just a fish and an evil thing. while Starbuck sees Moby Dick as just a fish 5.Why did Melville choose to write about whaling? Why was the industry significant? He choses to write about whaling because he himself was in the industry. The industry gives light to the world because of the oil from the blubber. 6.What did Melville do when he was 21? He went to sea for whaling for about a year and a half. 7.What established writer did Melville befriend while he was writing Moby Dick? Melville befriended Nathaniel Hawthorne. 8.Comment on the four harpooners of the Pequod; politically, why were they significant? Queequeg’s dad was a king, Tashtego was an Indian, Dagoo was a African American, and Fedallah was a Farsi or Parsee. They were significant because they have already been to sea and they all want to live a life of adventure, not to mention it is bringing many cultures together for a common cause. 9.What happens to the Pequod towards the end of the book? Ahab? Ishmael? The boat was destroyed by Moby Dick, Ahab was killed by Moby Dick, and Ishmael was found by a whale ship after being washed out to sea. 10.What were the final years of Melville like? He became an employee of the customs house. New York Times Why do you think Ahab wanted to kill Moby Dick so bad? Why do you think that the captain hired so many different types of people from different cultures? Why do you think that you survived when Ahab didn’t?  Why was Moby Dick gunning for Ahab?  How was it possible for the ship to be destroyed by a whale? [->0] – http://learn.flvs.net/webdav/educator_eng3_v13/module3/lesmod03/glossary_3.htm?#allusion