Social Media and Social Change

Social Media and Social Change: A Closer Look at the Revolutionary Qualities of Social Media In Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase, â€Å"the medium is the message† (McLuhan). McLuhan suggests that messages are greatly affected by the medium in which they are delivered. Messages must be received in the proper channel to create social change. On July 21, 1969, the American astronaut Neil Armstrong created history when he sent his message to 3. 31 billion people via radio and television, â€Å"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind†. Forty years later another astronaut created history by sending the first tweet from outer space, â€Å"Launch was awesome!!! I am feeling great, working hard, and enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun! â€Å"(AP). While many people see online activity on social media sites as a past-time, a growing trend and even a fad, it is actually the biggest key player in creating social change. This is why NASA has more Twitter accounts than any federal agency. The biggest reason NASA has been extremely keen about adopting social media is because of the collapse of interest in space programs, said the NASA chief of public affairs Bob Jacobs. NASA also has plans to incorporate YouTube on their next shuttle flight to field questions from space (AP). The message is clear, NASA looks to generate more interest in space programs or to create social change and they look to social media tools to help them. We are in the midst of a communicative revolution fuelled by social media and driven by the masses. Social media possesses the intrinsic power to change the world even in the most marginal of ways. A closer look at the ability social media has to generate dialogue, its ability to change perception and persuade, and its ability to connect and unite the masses democratically, will demonstrate the power that social media possesses to enable a revolution. It will demonstrate a profound shift in the way that we communicate and denounce social media as a current fad or passing trend. Many people credit the television for its ability to deliver a high quality message. In fact it would be extremely hard to misunderstand a message delivered through such a high sensory communicative channel. Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter have been criticized for its â€Å"dumbing down† qualities. In Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes our Future, Mark Bauerlein suggests that Generation Y, that is – a generation of youth born in the late 1970's to the late 1990's – spend wasteful hours on social networking sites posting useless updates and sending mundane messages (Bauerlein 12). But the Harvard Law professor Jonathan Zittrain reminds us that â€Å"the qualities that make Twitter seem inane and half-baked are what makes it so powerful† (qtd in Cohen). It is the same qualities that give social media a high quality communication channel for inspiring social movements amongst participants. Participants of social media are often required to create accounts or profiles and as a result participants are left with a sense of community. Because all content on social media sites are user-generated, any information or message posted on a given site is automatically received as word of mouth dialogue and this is the powerful nature of social media. It is important to note that dialogue is unrestricted to mediums. It can occur via face to face interaction, by telephone, by email or even a social media site such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or MySpace. Danah Boyd suggests that comments in a world of social media act as conversation in the real world (Boyd 124). Her compelling article, Why Youth Love Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life argues that profiles, friends and comments â€Å"differentiate social network sites differentiate from other types of computermediated communication† (124). Boyd explains that comments are what engage and encourage users to participate and when they do they become participants (127). In Sociability and social interaction on social networking websites, Andrew Keenan and Ali Shiri identify the emphasis social media outlets place on transferring your existing â€Å"real world† experiences, connections, networks and information to the web and making them accessible (Keenan & Shiri 443). Naturally users are inclined to do the opposite. Any dialogue generated online is not limited to or even discouraged from entering the real world. What Boyd, Keenan and Shiri remind us is that social media sites are not only encouraging us to socialize on their sites, they are encouraging us to participate and to socialize in the real world. In The Power of Dialogue, Patrick Jenlink highlights the contributions dialogue makes in creating social change: The primary challenge to global society, as we pass the threshold of a new millennium, is to transform existing social systems, and therefore American society, in such ways as to embody a more inclusive, democratic, and open-ended communicative spirit. Necessary to this transformation is a social discourse that enables the power and potential of global citizens to be realized. Dialogue is such a discourse that enables citizens in unconcealing societal patterns and structures, which guide and direct individual and collective interactions within and across events and activities. Engaging in dialogue, as a social discourse of creative possibility, with others in our daily lives can contribute to change in our selves and society (Jenlink 1). One example of social media's ability to use dialogue to create social change is the recent use of Twitter to coordinate protests. The Iranian government's attempts to restrict and censor media outlets was challenged by citizens that used Twitter to spread the word about the Iranian Election (Cohen & Stone 2). When the Chinese government censored citizens from accessing the internet the Global Internet Freedom Consortium provided Chinese movements with software that helped evade censorship. When asked about the increase of traffic from Iran, the founder of the organization suggested that â€Å"the Iranian people actually found out by themselves and have passed this on by word of mouth† (Cohen & Stone 2). Furthermore, Zittrain suggests that â€Å"Twitter was particularly resilient to censorship because it had so many ways for its posts to originate – from a phone, a web browser or specialized applications – and so many outlets for those posts to appear† (qtd in Cohen & Stone). Similarly, word of mouth messages are difficult to avoid because they can be delivered from so many places – a neighbour, a teacher, a coworker, a classmate or even an astronaut. In short, the intrinsic nature of social media sites to turn user generated content into word of mouth information, that is – unrestrictive dialogue – allows for users to spread messages quickly and effectively. Social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace have not only given us a way in which we can converse, they have given us a space in which conversation and dialogue can start and continue to grow. When John E. Kennedy first tried to define advertising in 1904 he did so with three simple words, â€Å"salesmanship on paper† (O'Reilly). While he might rework this phrase, first to include all forms of advertising media and then to comment on some form of social change; he would certainly be forced to include social media tools such as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter as they have changed the way in which we choose to communicate. When considering social change it is imperative to consider advertising. The first step to creating social change on any level is to change public perception and there is no other industry known more for changing perception than the advertising industry. It is best explained by notorious ad man who persuaded millions to watch MTV and wear Tommy Hilfiger, George Lois who said, â€Å"Great advertising can make food taste better, can make your car run smoother. It can change your perception of something. Is it wrong to change your perception about something? Of course not. I’m not lying; I’m just saying, ‘This one’s more fun, this one’s more exciting. ‘† The advertising industry is typically always the first one to recognize the capability of digital technologies to create social change. This is why Katalyst Media, a media agency dedicated to producing content on social media has more campaigns than they can handle. The founder and CEO of Katalyst Media, Ashton Kutcher uses social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to send his message and to persuade others to join his causes. It started with a message to promote World Malaria Day that read â€Å"Every 30 seconds, a kid dies of malaria. Nets save lives. $10 buys a net† and was followed by a link to Malaria No More's web site where people could donate (Macsai & Wilson 80). The celebrity's tweet persuaded millions to join and the donation website had more traffic in one month than it did the previous twelve (80). Kutcher was able to tally nearly 90,000 nets in a very short time. What Kutcher did was raise awareness to a cause and by taking advantage of the most popular space in modern times to have a conversation he created action. Another celebrity to cash in on free advertising, that is – the process of attracting public attention to a product, business or cause through multiple forms of media with the ultimate goal of delivering a message to create action – is Bill Cosby. Cosby recently held a virtual town hall to discuss issues that face the African-American Community and to promote this town hall he advertised his message on social media sites, Facebook and Twitter (Hein). Cosby launched his ad campaign in a few simple words, â€Å"Our children are trying to tell us something, but we are not listening† followed by a link to Ustream – a website that streams footage live alongside a comments box where the streamer can read at the same time. Cosby was capable of generating 1. 3 million views which set a record behind President Obama's inaugural address (Hein). Similarly, companies are taking advantage of social media sites by gathering positive word of mouth dialogue to create a social change, that is – a higher demand and positive brand relationship with consumers (Schmitt). Companies like Nike, Red Bull and Samsun all have their own Twitter and Facebook pages where consumers post reviews and experiences with relative products. In The Last Campaign: How Experiences Are Becoming the New Advertising, Garrick Schmitt highlights the increasing awareness that companies have for social media (Schmitt). He also argues that companies unwilling to adapt are unlikely to survive (Schmitt). The ability that social media has to change perception is largely fuelled by its ability to generate dialogue in a public space. In creating a public space social media sites provide a space where the masses can rule, even if the masses are as marginal as a group of chess players. In Explaining Why Young Adults Use MySpace and Facebook Through Uses and Gratifications Theory, Mark Urista, Qingwen Dong and Ken Day assert that â€Å"the uniqueness of social networking sites is not in their ability to allow individuals to meet strangers but rather their ability to enable users to shape and make their social networks visible to others (Urista et al. 17). Because social networks are visible to the public it is easy to find the best or most popular product. Persuasion and the changing of perceptions becomes easy when 500,000 people think the same way you do. This is why Bill Cosby was capable of generating 1. 3 million hits when he only had 650,000 Twitter followers and 26,000 fans on Face book. In short, social media sites present users and companies with a platform for persuasion through a visibly public space. Effective companies and social change movements relish critical feedback via social media and used correctly can persuade the masses to take part of revolutionary change. Perhaps the most powerful quality that social media possesses is the ability to connect, unite and democratize traditional forms of communication. All of which help to generate social change albeit unintentionally. The most recognizable form of social media's ability to democratize and unite can be found in its language. Twitter for example opened up its ever evolving language to its users. Tweets is a term that refers to a Twitter post. the letters RT is a negotiated term amongst all users that stands for Retweet which means to forward, like an email or repost. As more and more uses are found for social media sites such as Twitter, the language evolves. For example, Tweet-Up is a recently added term that refers to a real-world meeting of people who connected via Twitter (Wired). Another way in which social media acts as a democratic force is its ability to give power to the masses. User-generated content certainly adds to the democratic nature of social media sites because the content on them can become important or redundant but it is up to participants and users to decide. When something becomes popular often times groups will be started and streams of meta data are collected and grouped to provide easy access. In Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business , Erik Qualman suggests that â€Å"human beings have the dichotomous physiological need to be our own individual, yet we also want to feel like we belong to and are accepted by a much larger social set. People are willing to have an ‘open diary' as a means to stay connected – as their ultimate desire is to feel connected† (Qualman 43). This idea suggests that we are rewarded for participating so a simple call to action is in fact rewarding: Part of this lies in a yearning to have a clear understanding of what the majority is ding. It was much easier to know what the majority was doing when all on had to do was tune into Casey Kasem's â€Å"American Top 40† to find out the latest and greatest in music or to flip through â€Å"Vogue† magazine to quickly grasp ever fashion trend. â€Å"Social media help us make sense of information overload by quickly seeing what our friends find important, helpful or interesting. It also helps eliminate people performing he same tasks – if three of your friends have already performed the task (finding a good hotel in Bermuda), why should you be redundant? (Qualman). Danah Boyd also highlights social media outlets call to participate as a reward (Boyd 126). Social Media makes participation in social movements rewarding and democratic. Participation in social medi a allows users to connect and unite as the public platform used by social media sites makes it easy for users to connect and to participate with others. These qualities are the underlying reasons surrounding the profound shift in the way that we choose to communicate. Social media has become the biggest change to our society since the industrial revolution (Qualman). Qualman states the following statistics while arguing his case for social media revolution: 96% of Generation Y have joined a social media network, is the number one activity on the internet today, 1 out of 8 couples married in the US last year met via social media, it took the radio 38 years to reach 50 million users, the television took 13 years, the internet took 4 years, the iPod took 3 years, Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months (Qualman 2). Along with it are the intrinsic qualities social media carries with it, that is ability to generate dialogue, to change perception and persuade, and its ability to connect and unite the masses democratically. The social media revolution is incipient and inchoate. The creation of every new medium brings with it a learning curve and as its strengths are developed and its language invented, social change will be one of its many uses.

Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions Essay

5 Ethical Dilemmas You live next door to an Arab family, and you hear the husband talking negatively about the United States. Your friends at work tell you that you should report him to the police because he might be a terrorist. What would you do? Why? Georgia says that she would observe the man and the house to watch and take notes on what was going on and if her suspicions went further she would call the police. But I personally believe that I would go ahead and report what I had heard that way when I do find more evidence I can turn it in to the police so they have evidence against him instead of just going on one mishap that they know of. You are a prison guard supervising a tier. One of the inmates comes to you and asks a favor. Because he is a troublemaker, his mail privileges have been taken away. He wants you to mail a letter for him. You figure it’s not such a big deal; besides, you know he could make your job easier by keeping the other inmates on the tier in line. What would you tell him. Josh would tell him he needs to request to speak with someone in a higher position and he needs to talk to his counselor because it’s a federal crime to do the favor and that being bribery can get him put in segregation. I would have to completely agree with him because I wouldn’t want to get fired or even sent to prison for helping give someone a break just to get a little respect from the prisoners and one bribe leads to blackmail and a lot more trouble. You are a deputy prosecutor and have to decide whether to charge a defendant with possession and sale of a  controlled substance. You know you have a good case because the guy sold to the local junior high school, and many of the kids are willing to testify. The police are pressuring you to make a deal because he has promised to inform on other dealers in the area if you don’t prosecute. What should you do? Ciara would lock him up because he was selling to kids not adults. And she wou ld tell cops to do their jobs, because if he could tell them the names of the other dealers then they work closely and she would just go down the chain. I agree with Ciara, but I think I would give him a deal but he would still have to do some time because they were kids but it would be less time and probation. But he still has to give me everyone he knows not just a few people. There is a well-known minor criminal in your district. Everyone is aware that he is engaging in a variety of crimes, including burglary, fencing, and drug dealing. However, you have been unable to make a case against him. Now he is the victim of a crime where he has been assaulted and robbed at gunpoint. How would you treat his case? Jennifer feels like he still deserves justice, whether the guy is a criminal or not and it may get him to change his ways. I agree with Jenni that he does deserve justice but I would still try to get him to talk about his criminal activity as well to find out why he was targeted because he may have robbed the other person before. You are asked to enforce a law that you believe to be wrong. For instance, you are supposed to protect a member of the Ku Klux Klan during a speech when your feelings are directly contrary to the views expressed by this individual, and you don’t believe that he should have the right to speak. What would you do? What would you do if you were told to deliberately perform your job in such a way as to ensure that the speaker will be injured by a hostile crowd? Avise would just leave she wouldn’t be forced to do something that goes against her beliefs. And with her being mixed she would not want to hear him talk bad about other races. I believe I would protect the person to the best of my ability whether I agree with them or not. It’s still my job and I would not care if I was told to let the person get hurt.

Analysis of Human Migration

An Analysis of Human Migration Ever since humans learnt to grow crops as a steady source of food humans have migrated In search of conditions better suited to their needs and comforts. Although all of us but the 30-40 million that choose to live the nomadic life have abandoned that lifestyle and moved on to a more civilized modern era, migration still remains an option for those of us seeking to take residence In an alternate region of mother earth. The National Geographic Society [1] defines human migration as The movement of people from one place in the world to another for the purpose of taking up ermanent or semipermanent residence, usually across a political boundary. Migration Inside a landmass or political region Is called Internet migration and outside a physical or political border Is called external migration. For example Inside moving inside the continent of Australia would be internal migration but moving into a different continent overseas would be external migration. There are a variety of causes for migration, but they havent changed much through the years and remain fairly similar to the reasons our ancestors chose to migrate. These reasons can be categorized into two sections; these being push factors and pull factors. Push factors are reasons for leaving a region because of negative properties of the location and Pull factors are reasons for moving into a place because of positive properties of a location. Such factors can further be divided Into Environmental factors like climate, Political Factors Ilke war, Economic factors Ilke work, cultural factors Ilke education and utility factors like geographic location and socioeconomic status. Statistically speaking, the humans are extremely successful as a species. The 7 billionth human was born not long ago and the 10 billionth Is not far away, calculated to be born around the end of the century. The human race Is not only vast, we are also incredibly diverse and this is what defines us as a species. Meaning when we lost a part of our culture we lose a bit of what it means to be human. This brings us to one of the biggest drawbacks of migration, known as Cultural Extinction. Cultural extinction occurs when a family that Is part of a smaller culture migrates and the next generation of the respective family is only exposed to the native language and culture, since culture and tradition is only carried through families, the prospective bearer of this culture is burned out, ending a vein of this precious cultural blood. But our cultural diversity Itself poses a question. How Is It that we as a human race are so diverse in culture, and yet so similar? A research project named The Genographic project Was created by Spencer Wells for the purpose of answering this question and tracing human movement in prehistoric times. Even though the fields of palaeoanthropology and archaeology already enable us to access this Information, the Genographic project uses a newer method that allows us to find out how closely we are related to each other, enabling us to map out a family tree going back millions IOF4

Globalization and Postmodernity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Globalization and Postmodernity - Essay Example The terminologies will be discussed at length to challenge past proposals while ensuring the final resolution is substantive. Globalization is a term that almost everyone knows because it is a buzzword. Academics, journalists, business executives, politicians, economists, and other people frequently use the term (Ritzer, 2003, p. 193). In all instances, the common meaning of the term denotes that something great is happening, including a new world economy, a new political and cultural dispensation, and a changing world overall (Robertson, 2001, p. 458). The use of the term in numerous contexts makes it lose meaning because it is difficult to know what exactly the term means, what function it serves, and how it affects contemporary politics and theory. Social theorists have lodged arguments to the effect that the contemporary world is shaped by globalization (Anangst, 2006, p. 510). Essentially, globalization is strengthening the capitalist economic system, and this supplants the sove reignty of nation states. Corporations and organizations are slowly taking over state power. Local cultures and traditions are also eroding slowly as the global culture sweeps across nations (Robertson, 2001, p. 458). Weberians, Marxists, functionalists, and other theorists have admitted that globalization is an unmatched trend in today’s world. Advocates of postmodernism have also not been left behind as they argue that changes in transnational capitalism have led to a new historical configuration of the world – postmodernism (Brandzel, 2010, p. 1). Social theories of today, therefore, consider globalization as an indispensable feature of the modern world. Nevertheless, globalization has been conceptualized differently. The term is applied in various contexts differently.  

Analysis of Watson's theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Watson's theory - Research Paper Example This short essay will explore few of Watson’s ten (10) carative factors including how each of these factors can be applied in the practice of nursing. After providing the concept statement, the phenomena behind the need to care for the patients as a person, the environment, health issues, and nursing as a profession will be tackled in details followed by discussing the philosophies behind Jean Watson’s theory. Prior to conclusion, the caring model as a conceptual model in nursing will be explored accordingly. The metaparadigm in nursing is actually composed of four (4) major concepts known as: â€Å"person, environment, health, and nursing† (Daly et al., 2005, p. 137). Under the metaparadigm of nursing, person is pertaining to the patients. According to Watson, a person is in good health provided that his mind, body, and spirit are in harmony (Kim & Kollak, 2006, p. 301). For this reason, nurses should not only apply the principles of humanity into their job but also make sure that the physical environment where the patient is resting is suitable for their fast recovery. Since nurses are directly serving the needs of the patients, Watsons strongly suggest the need for nurses to apply the use of â€Å"humanistic approach to nursing† (Kim & Kollak, 2006, p. 301). To be able to deliver a humanistic approach in nursing, Watson’s ten (10) carative factors can be used in guiding the nurses on how they can effectively promote the health and wellness of each patient. For example, the third carative factors suggested by Watson stated the need to â€Å"cultivate sensitivity to one’s self and to others† (Daniels, 2004, p. 61). It means that the nurses should at all times be considerate of the patients’ feelings. Therefore, nurses should avoid saying something that can be harsh or emotionally disturbing on the part of the patient. Instead, nurses should make it a habit to treat each patient with respect. With regards to the environment, Watson explained the

Is health care a right or privlege Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Is health care a right or privlege - Essay Example Getting good healthcare is not possible for everyone as you need a background of money for that, but every individual has a right to an average rated healthcare. These people are not asking for the best, they just want somebody to help cure them and help them live a little longer. In America 20 per cent of the people are below the poverty level which means that they can not afford to pay for health insurance or for any other medical expenditure incurred by them. This level of poverty shows that one out of every six children goes to bed hungry. The government to solve this problem of health care can allocate a bigger portion of the budget for this service and especially help those people out who are in dire need of it. Another approach that can be used to provide proper heath care is to take it as a personal responsibility. If every individual himself starts living healthy by eating the right diet and causing less of self harm by smoking cigarettes and drinking less alcohol, it would make things much easier. It is not just the government or the doctors who are responsible for health it is every individual. (Christopher et. al, 2004) People who belong to different social strata hold differing opinions about health care. Health care is directly related to the amount of money a person has. The richer you are the more you are concerned about your health. While people who belong to the lower income groups are not really bothered and will not take precautionary steps to reduce the risk of getting sick. In America there are 45 million people who do not have health insurance. (Papadimos, 2007) Aristotle believed that anything that has a soul displays life. The body can grow, decay and provide itself with nutrition while the soul has powers of sensation, thinking and motivation. According to Aristotle, "If the whole body was one vast eye, sight would be it soul. As the eye is a tool for seeing with, but a living tool which is part of ourselves, so the body is like a tool or instrument for living with. Hence we may say of the soul that it is the 'end' of the body, the activity to which the body is instrumental, as seeing the 'end' to which the eye is instrumental." (Papadimos, 2007) What Aristotle is trying to say is that for the soul to be nourished, health care needs to be provided to individuals so that they can grow to their fullest extent. According to Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), man would eventually realize the things that are needed to preserve life. He gives us the law of nature which says, "A law of nature (lex naturalis) is a precept or general rule, found out by reason, by which a man is forbidden to do that which is destructive of his life or taketh away the means of preserving the same, and to omit that by which he thinketh it may be best preserved." (Papadimos, 2007) Basically he said that every human being has a right to anything he wants, even if it is another human's body. He considers three aspects: seeking peace, laying down the right of nature and making covenants, and performance of covenants. By seeking peace he means that if an individual has a problem such as a hearing defect then seeking peace

Role of marketing in helping charities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Role of marketing in helping charities - Essay Example The focuses in this paper are on charitable organizations which, just like any other organization, need to be marketed to succeed in their operation. The urge to show ability to spend and compete favourably in the larger market contributes highly for the reasons for marketing. Owing to the ever dynamic marketing techniques and messages, the ancient techniques and approaches of the charitable organization have proved to be irrelevant for the success of these organizations. Similarly, as a result of the ever increasing numbers of channels that conducts marketing for various organizations, consumers have had the opportunity to acquire more information on different organizations. This has also resulted into people being selective on their taste and choice. The internet has been of great importance when it comes to enlightening them on the best choice to go for at any given time. This is because they have been able to get access to prices, quality, benefits and value cutting across a wide range of goods and services. For instance, various sites have contributed greatly in exposing various charitable organizations, and help them acquire supports inform of donations and contributions. In addition, many charity organizations have created websites in order to make such efforts effective and the need to indulge people in true dialogue rather than just simply broadcasting messages to them. One of the obligations for the success of this technique is the use of softer skills and collaborations; this must be accompanied by open sharing of information, honest discussion of views and goals amongst others. (Wymer, Knowles & Gomes, 2006). . Understanding and getting appropriate answers is very crucial for charities just as commercial brands, this becomes useful when communicating with supporters and reaching out to supporters who need their services and support. Unlike commercial brands that tend to be faster in investing in new routes to market, charities are more reticent in t hat, the resources allocated to them is always insufficient, and this has always called for wise spending of the allocated donations (Wymer, Knowles & Gomes, 2006). According to Wymer, Knowles & Gomes (2006), for many years, media option such as mail, press and television have been of considerable help when it comes to fundraising, marketing and even communication. Despite the fact that their returns have always taken a downward trend in the recent past, ignoring these techniques proves difficult as their success or failure depends on the charity organization at stake. It will therefore, be significant to identify where people, who need help have interest as far as the charity services is concerned. It is always significant to engage or concentrate more on people and goals and not technologies or techniques used in marketing these organizations. This would mean that there is no need of setting up ones presence in a social network that brings no benefit to any of these charity organi zations. This can be determined by checking whether the charity is capable of attaining any of its set goals or objectives and if not then there is no need of being in such network. For cases where resources are limited, it is advisable to be in only those networks or channels that best meet the set goals or objectives (Wymer, Knowles & Gomes, 2006). It has always been thought that charities organizations don’t need go online in terms of marketing simply because they don’t deal with physical products. However, the validity of this observation is doubtable since they can use online marketing for their brand awareness and cause(s), get more donors and raise more fund which will enable them achieve their set objective and goals. Online marketing takes the form of online fundraising, charity auctions, acquisition of members and retention, lead generation and advocacy amongst others (Wymer, Knowles &

The Trouble with Scotland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Trouble with Scotland - Essay Example The background score in this scene, just prior to the "They'll never take our Freedom!" Exhortation while not misplaced in terms of cinematography at that moment the musical choice does not seem to be evocative of the type of emotions that would rouse reluctant men to battle and death. Rather the total quality or we use an emotional tapestry of soothing memory and simple pleasures when one might argue that a harder-edged sound choice might better foreshadow the carnage to come. But one might argue that the message being portrayed by the particulars of the musical undercurrents in this scene being that for untrained men to rise up as one and engage in a peril-fraught, blood-soaked exploit of such deadly danger they require something other than themselves for which they are fighting. Even as Wallaces speech would seem to evoke personal pride within them, to spit in the devil's eyes. Asking them if they would truly trade all of the potential days and years of complacent old age for one chance, just one chance, to defy the great Martial might of England's professional army. Here we have a juxtaposition between the selfless need to fight for something greater, while at the same time asserting a piss&vinegar, devil may care disregard for mortality. The portrayal of the larger war against the British is structured during the film to grant a pivotal role to the French-born princess. (played by Sophie Marceau) integral to this war effort and to the film, on the whole, is the Princess's journey. Her transformation from Royal pawn of perpetually feuding nations bartered away as a living stamp of approval upon a flimsy peace accord between Britain and France - to become a traitorous, adulterous Queen. In the betrayal of her unwilling vows, she discovers the means to become true to herself; her personal journey of becoming.

Develop marketing options for small business operations Assignment

Develop marketing options for small business operations - Assignment Example Currently, Vodafone and 2degree and telecom sell so many brand cell phones like nokia Samsung LG Motorola IPHONE Blackberry etc... There about 80% market for them. We do special mobile phone in the market that’s different with them. We can sell mobile phone price cheaper than them but with good quality and more features. Future growth of the market/products is projected in the following areas: Dual sim card: that’s mean people don’t need carry two phones on every day. Two sim card and works at same time. People can get two different numbers in one mobile. TV function: people can watch on the tv in anywhere with mobile phone they have. That’s totally free no cost for that. Picture message: people can send and received text with it. Java game: people can download and play java game with it. Potential customers Business People, Professionals, Students, Parents, Senior Citizens. Potential suppliers Our potential suppliers would be coming from China to ensure cost effectiveness making us competitive in the market in terms of price. Competitors Nokia C2 LG KS660 Dual-SIM Touchscreen Mobile Phone Spice D-1100 Dual SIM PDA Mobile Phone Spice D-88 Dual SIM Mobile Spice D-90 Dual SIM Mobile Phone Complementary business operations and affiliates Mobile Phone carriers like Vodafone, Telecom and 2degrees because they require celphone unit to be able to connect on their network. Publications Local news paper, Chamber Newspapers, School Publications, Market Research providers Can be done in-house to save on cost Market source Industry organisations Local market business organizations like Avondale, business and chamber organizations. Government agencies and departments SEC, Department of Trade and other regulating agencies Local Body organizations Avondale market business organizations. Internet Marketing Trade Me and Stella online shopping website. b) Give a brief description of the foll owing Market Research methods. (P.C. 1.2) i. Questionnaires Questionnaire is a quantitative form of getting information about the market in a form of written questions to obtain useful statistical information from a given sample from the market that determines consumer preference, customer behavior, market hypothesis, etch. ii. Surveys Survey is a quantitative form of getting information about the market’s individual characteristic that comprises the market from a given sample that represents the entire market. iii. Interviews Is qualitative method of getting information from the market through a structured and prepared conversation. iv. Product demonstrations Product demonstration is marketing research method whereby potential customers are asked to sample the product with a condition that tjeu will report its feedback that will be

KEPAK STRATEGY Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

KEPAK STRATEGY - Literature review Example                     Ã‚         Introduction Kepak was founded in the mid-1960s by Noel Keating as a retail butcher’s business supplying wholesale beef to the food service sector and into other markets. Kepak had a turnover of Є750 million in 2010 and had 1700 employees. The company processes 300 000 cattle and 1.5 million lambs each year. It operates through nine manufacturing facilities in Ireland and UK. The company’s principal activity is animal slaughter and the sale of meat in cut and processed formats through Kepak Meat Division. The firm has substantial business interests in convenience foods operated through Kepak Convenience Foods and an agricultural commodities trading business, Agra Trading. This paper explores Kepak’s business strategy in response to industry challenges and opportunities (Bell, Mcloughlin and Shelman, 2011, P.3). Examination of Kepak’s business environment The most popular tool in strategic management for analysing the business environment of a company is PESTEL. In the case of Kepak, the economic environment was affecting business negatively as the industry lacked predictability in financial performance. This according to the company CEO from 2010, John Horgan, made it difficult for Irish beef processors to plan for growth. In addition, Kepak was not a listed company thus limiting its access to capital to borrowing or trading profits in a very capital intensive business (Bell, Mcloughlin and Shelman, 2011, P.3). Supply chain consists of producers who sell cattle to processors who market the product internationally. Most of the cattle are grass fed and takes up to 30 months to mature compared to cereal fed beef which can finish in 12-15 months. The presence of agents hampers innovation in the supply chain as their role is historical and; therefore, they added little value (Bell, Mcloughlin and Shelman, 2011, P.3). Political and legislative factors are seen to influence the firms busi ness where the EU-wide introduction of decoupled Single Payment Schemes moved subsidy payments from actual production of commodities to other objectives contributing to a reduction in beef production. These factors negatively affected the firms business as there was an increase in live beef exports after 2008 as it was more profitable to export live-calf than to mature, slaughter and process them in Ireland. Change in the economic environment caused an increase investment by farmers in dairy products leading to a reduction in beef production as well as a concern among processors that this would lower the quality of beef products (Bell, Mcloughlin and Shelman, 2011, P.3). With respect to porter five forces, there were three major players in the beef processing industry and who accounted for 60-65% of the capacity and output. The perception was that these competitors would rather suffer lower margins than take compromises and retailers used this weakness to play processors against eac h other. Therefore, there was a negative effect of competitor rivalry in the beef business and, which affected the firm’s bottom line. According to literature by Porter, rivalry limits profitability in an industry as it transfers profitability directly to customers through price cuts and in this case customers try to achieve the same by playing firms against each other. Britain is Ireland’s major market for beef exports and shares similarities in both markets in beef tastes, systems of

Fascism and communism Essay Example for Free

Fascism and communism Essay The term fascism refers to a modern political thought that seeks to rejuvenate the economic, cultural and social status of a nation by basing the country on a sensitive sense of ethnic identity and national belonging. Fascism is opposed to certain liberal ideas such as individual rights and freedom; it calls for the destruction of legislatures, elections among other democratic elements. Despite the fact that fascism some goals which can be considered to be idealistic, attempts to come up with fascists societies have in most cases resulted into persecutions and wars which have claimed millions of lives. Thus it is in most cases associated with strongly with racism, violence, totalitarianism and the right wing of fanaticism. On the other hand communism is a universal society which has been able to overcome all classes and their distinctions; all the relations and systems of exploitation have been abolished; all social institutions which are oppressive and are used to enhance inequality such as men domination over women and racial discrimination are all done away with (Brown, Para 3) Fascism Fascism was founded by veterans of world war one led by Benito Juarez Mussolini who had been fed up by decisions being made by the government of Italy and the treaty which expressly excluded the land gains made by Italy. This form of government essentially is a form of dictatorship which results in pride of the nation commonly referred to as nationalism. Fascism is not totalitarian rule despite the fact that the fascist from Italy described it in that manner, by comparing it to Russia which was a communist state and Nazi in Germany. Fascism in Italy was a form of government which was not as cruel and strict as communism in Russia. Fascism helps in the development of extreme advances in agricultural practices, industrialization, national security and population growth. It is anti communism or socialism, pro elitism and pro productivism. In this form of government decisions are made promptly as solutions are simplified and at the same time problems are solved properly and swiftly. Many governments borrowed the fascism thoughts from Mussolini, who is referred as the father of fascism by all the fascists (Brown, Para 5). Fascism was developed because of the intellectual revolution and social changes that happened in the western countries in the twentieth century. It was an original and a modern thought that pressed for change and a new approach of governing among Europeans young people who refused to follow the middle rank values of their parents. Fascism as an ideology represents nationalism synthesis which simply implies that one is highly devoted to his own country. It also calls for the rejection of liberalism, Marxism, democracy and materialism opinions also held by the socialists. Fascism is pro political rule in its absolute form through political leaders; it is opposed to the idea of important decisions being made by common people as it is the case in ideal democratic governance. The central government of the state has the responsibility of holding high the fascist values and also making of vital decisions for the entire nation. Fascism attempts to bring about new civilization, which is based on the entire community. In this case the, all the classes and sectors of people within the community will be in a position to look for their niche. The whole nation is thus strengthened and revitalized. Each person in the community will in turn be more less a cell as far as the community organism is concerned. The fascism mode of governance also poses a revolution which can be compared to the spiritual revolution (Brown, Para 8) In maintaining the unity of a country, fascism applies two instruments, that is, totalitarianism and corporatism. In a state that is corporative, its social, economical and political powers are in the hands corporations, the group of these corporations comprises of both the employees and the employers. The group of corporations in this case is mandated with the task of settling social classes’ differences and also planning the national economy. In a state that is totalitarian, the central government has absolute control and it has the duty of intervening at any point and every aspect of the life of an individual (Brown, Para 10) Communism Communism form of government on the other hand results into a state that operates under a single party and is based on the Marxism Leninism or its derivatives. Although, the states under communism can have many political parties, only the communist party is under the constitution guaranteed to play a central role in the communist government. This makes the state’s institutions to be highly intertwined with the communist party. In most cases the communist states adopts the economic policies that are centrally planned, these states are thus related to economic development in both scholarship and popular thought. Legitimacy in communist states is mainly maintained through claims of promoting national long tern interests. The communist parties attempt to justify their political and monopoly powers by claiming to follow the objectives of the historical statutes. They therefore, consider political dissent and opposition to be treasonous and counter productive. The minor parties in communist states have to follow the communist party. Such parties are only allowed to criticize the future policies which have been proposed, but such criticism should not in any way jeopardize the political system as it is under the communist state. The states under communism are commonly criticized due to their totalitarian and dictatorship of one party in the control of the society and the national economy. It results into a state where the civil liberties of the citizens are repressed, its economic policies mainly emphasize on heavy industrialization to the detriment of those oriented to the production of consumer goods which creates an acute shortage of essential products and in most cases results into a national famine. The communist form of government uses propaganda and militarism in its attempt to cover up its evils. Communist societies experience very high fixed costs with minimal uncertainty. The countries under communism can only have their economies growing under the conditions of stable environments when they are likely to experience reduced marginal cost. They have a lot of difficulties in adjusting in the event of a swift change in the environment since they are quite rigid. The communist states, the economic policies are centrally planned and commanded. Conclusion The fascism form of government results on the good of the entire nation which is clearly not the case for communism. Nationalism is not enhanced under communism and the government represses the civil liberties of its citizens, the communist state also uses militarism and propaganda to hide the evils it has created, this is not the case under the fascism where the nationalism takes center stage and the citizens have a strong sense of belonging. Fascism is not as cruel and strict as compared to communism which uses military dictatorship and suppresses all other political parties in the state thus denying their followers any tangible contribution in their country which implies that nationalism is not enhanced at all. Fascism form of governance is thus much better compared to communism.

Every Child Matters Strengths and Weaknesses

Every Child Matters Strengths and Weaknesses In todays rapidly changing society there is one factor that remains constant; childrens individual needs. These needs vary greatly from child to child, with some children needing lots of support to achieve a little. The Salamanca Statement (1994) believes that every child has unique characteristics, interest, abilities and learning needs. It carries on to state that every child has a fundamental right to education and the education systems should be designed, and programmes implemented, to take into account of the wide diversity of these characteristics and needs. It was the Warnock Report (1978) that first placed emphasis on a greater integration of pupils with special educational needs into mainstream schools, and has had a wide ranging influence on policy and practice that has followed in subsequent years. The SEN Code of Practice (2001) supports the Warnock Reports (1978) inclusion in to mainstream schools by providing guidance on policies and procedures aimed at enabling pupils with special educational needs to reach their full potential, to be included fully in their school communities and make a successful transition to adulthood. One of the most important frameworks that schools are bound to in supporting childrens individual needs is the Every Child Matters (2003) framework. The Every Child Matters green paper was published in 2003 as a response to the report by Lord Laming into the death of Victoria Climbie through being mistreated and abused. The paper proposed a range of measures to reform and improve childrens care. This framework resulted in the Childrens Act (2004) and provides the legislative spine for Every Child Matters. The aim of Every Child Matters was to create a joined-up system of health, family support, childcare and education services so that all children get the best start possible. Even though it arose from a child protection issue it is essentially for all children and is based around a few fundamental principles. Firstly, society should pursue five goals for all children: Being happy Staying safe Enjoying and achieving Making a positive contribution Economic well-being Secondly, services for children and their families need to be organised around the childs needs. Thirdly, ECM aims to create an effective working practice between different practitioners. These fundamental principles relate very closely to the SEN Code of Practice (2001). The Code sets out guidance on policies and procedures aimed at enabling pupils with special educational needs (SEN) to reach their full potential, to be included fully in their school communities and make a successful transition to adulthood (SEN Code of Practice 2001). It would appear that the SEN Code of Practice (2001) and Every Child Matters framework support the work that each does. The arrival of the Every Child Matters framework signalled a change in the context that the SEN Code of Practice (2001) functioned. The focus is now on making sure that all children are supported, well taught and make progress, and this applies to children with special educational needs. Children with special educational needs and their families often need support from a range of different services if they are to overcome barriers to learning and participation. The creation of Sure Start Childrens Centres and Extended Schools through the Every Child Matters framework will extend the range of services to children and families and bring them together in single locations, enabling children and young people with SEN and disabilities and their families to have better access to the support they need, when they need it and where they need it. This is a prime example of the Every Chid Matters framework providing support to the SEN Code of practice. For the SEN Code of Practice (2001) to be fully functioning and effective, it needs the Every Child Matters framework also to be fully functioning and effective. Both work together towards the same goals, for children to achieve their full potential despite any hurdles that may be in their way whether social, physical or emotional. An umbrella of support is provided, for the children and their families to strive towards the goal of providing a better future. Q.21 b Introduction Children today are faced with many challenges outside of school that affect their ability to come into school and learn effectively. Recent years have seen schools providing support to children other than as an educator. The Every Child Matters agenda is there in schools to support every child whatever their background and ability. There are a group of children however, who have additional struggles that affects their ability to learn; and these children are provided with extra support from the SEN Code of Practice (2001). These children will have been identified as having special educational needs (SEN), and will have been placed on the schools SEN register with their parents permission. From this, differing levels of support will be given depending on the childs code of practice stage. The support provided will enable them to access the curriculum within school. The aim of this child study is to consider the learning needs of a child and to assess how these needs are met in their school. To carry out this task effectively there were a number of factors that needed considering. Firstly, the child chosen for the study and their school will be introduced. For the purpose of this study, the child will be known throughout as Child A, and their school as School A. Numerous observations were carried out of Child A within different contexts of the curriculum (see Appendix One). Then, the study will look at learning theories and styles. This is to help build up a picture of how children learn in general. From this, and coupled with the observations of Child A, their preferred learning style will be identified. To link into this, the teaching styles within School A will be highlighted and the impact of this on Child As capacity to learn will be discussed. Finally, conclusions will be made on the impact of the Every Child Matters framework on School A and how this has affected Child A. Q.21 b Child A and their School The School Child As school is a much larger than average school due to the amalgamation of the infant and junior school in 2004. Most pupils come from a socio-economically mixed catchment area on the edge of the central town area. While most pupils are White British, over a third come from minority ethnic backgrounds. This proportion is increasing year-upon-year with most of these pupils also having English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils within school having learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below average. There is provision for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage; this is provided through the Nursery and in three Reception classes. Child A Child A is a Y5 pupil whose birthday is in the summer term. The child comes from a stable and affluent background where both parents live together, and is the eldest of three children (a brother in Y3 and a sister aged 8 months). During Y3 of Primary School, Child A was highlighted as being a cause for concern and was eventually placed on the schools SEN register in February 2010 while in Y4. Child A has also been placed on the Gifted and Talented Register for creativity. This is due to their Y4 teacher assessment of Child As unusually detailed pictures and Design Technology skills. Child A also excels in gymnastics. In April 2010, Child A was assessed for the first time by the local authorities Learning and Language Team; Reading: 1 year and 1 month below that expected of a child of their chronological age. Spelling: 3+years below their chronological age. Writing: right-handed using a reasonably neat print style with good spacing between words. The initial summary stated that Child A appeared to have some indications of specific learning difficulties in literacy (Dyslexia), Dyslexia can not be diagnosed as a one off event; rather it will follow on from a cumulative assessment over time (taken from Child A SEN file, see Appendix Two). For the purpose of this study and from advice from School As SENCo, it will be assumed that Child A will receive support for that of a dyslexic child, with programmes tailored towards Child As strengths and weaknesses. The Local Education Authority states in its dyslexia policy that difficulties with dyslexia occur on a continuum, from mild to severe, and estimates suggest that between 4 and 15% of all pupils are affected. Q.21 a The Theories Showing How Children Learn Before the learning needs of Child A can be identified, the ways in which a child learns must be analysed. There are two main theories of learning that this study will focus on; behaviourist and cognitive. The Behaviourist Theory This theory suggests that learning is gained by associating a stimulus with a response, as with Pavlos dogs www.nobelprize.org (Accessed 6th October 2010). Skinner suggested that reward and reinforcement of a response increases the frequency of response; this is known as operant conditioning, and assumes all behaviour (e.g. learning) can be controlled in this manner. These are the principles of conditioning that form the basis of the behaviourist approach to learning. These assumptions of the behaviourist approach can be seen and are easily applied in Child As classroom. For example, the Teacher would use positive and negative reinforcement to strengthen the behaviour that conforms to classroom expectations. Positive reinforcement is also used to increase motivation; for example reinforcing good performance with praise may improve confidence and thus motivation within the next task which is essential for Child A who suffers from low self esteem. However, the validity of the behaviourist approach must also be questioned. It assumes that all behaviour (e.g. learning) is under the control of reward and reinforcement, ignoring genetic inheritance. The Cognitive Theory Pollard (2010) states that this theory suggests people learn through an interaction between thinking and experience, and through the sequential development of more complex cognitive structures. Piaget developed the notion of cognitive stages to describe the childs cognitive structure at different stages. These stages are the sensory-motor (birth to 2 years), pre-operational (2-7 years), concrete operations (7 12 years) and formal operations (12 years upwards). Piaget also devised the term schemas, a unit of knowledge, each relating an object/experience in the world; For example, a child my have a schema relating to eating a meal at a restaurant, this schema will have a stored pattern of behaviour (looking at the menu, eating the meal). Vygotsky disputes Piagets cognitive stages, implying that social interaction plays a more important role, instead of trying to fit a child into a box based on their age. Vygotskys theory places more emphasis on social contributions to the process of development. His theory views interaction with peers as an effective way of developing skills and strategies. He suggests that teachers use cooperative learning exercises where less competent children develop with help from more skilful peers within the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Vygotsky believed that when a child is at the ZPD for a particular task, by providing the appropriate assistance (scaffolding) it will give the child enough of a boost to achieve the task. Once the child, with the benefit of scaffolding, masters the task, the scaffolding can then be removed and the child will then be able to complete the task again on his own. Child A relies on scaffolding within their learning and has shown that this does aid their success at a task. However, working with their peers is something Child A does not find comfortable. Jerome Bruner, another cognitive theorist, also disputes age related stages, tending to lean towards Vygotskys view. Bruner states that what determines the level of intellectual development is the extent to which the child has been given appropriate instruction together with practice or experience. Again, Child A requires this but in an adapted format. In his research on the cognitive development of children (1966), Jerome Bruner proposed three modes of representation: enactive representation (action-based), iconic representation (image-based) and symbolic representation (language-based). Modes of representation are the way in which information or knowledge are stored and encoded in memory. This is related to how the VAK theories work. Multiple Intelligences Howard Gardner suggests that there are eight learning styles; interpersonal, intrapersonal, mathematical and logical, visual and spatial, kinaesthetic, musical, naturalistic and linguistic. He suggests that many people have elements of some or all of the above. Gardners approach recognises the diversity of children and appreciates that ability and intelligence should not be dominated by language skills. Gardners theory seems to be backed up by Riddick, Wolfe and Lumsdon (2002) whom state it is generally accepted that providing teaching in a variety of styles is the most effective way to develop students learning. Child A and the Learning Theories. Where does Child A fit in to the learning theories? Stated throughout this section are references to how Child A may fit into these theories. Child A, it seems, strives for an essence of all the theories discussed. From the behaviourist point of view, Child A responds well to positive reinforcement and would help to improve to a certain extent their low self-esteem. From the cognitive point of view, Child A craves scaffolding, constantly looking for help from adults within the class when unsure. It does help Child A to successfully complete tasks, and this proves why Child A relies heavily on scaffolding. Again, it helps to improve their low self-esteem. With regards to Gardners multiple intelligences, child A leans more towards the bodily kinaesthetic and visual spatial elements of his theory. Therefore, Child As learning must come throughout these areas to help learning and understanding to be effective Q.18 Teaching Styles The Assertive Teacher The assertive discipline method of behaviour management was pioneered by Lee and Marlene Cantor in the 1970s. The goal of assertive discipline is to teach students to choose responsible behaviour and in so doing raise their self-esteem. This in turn should lead to an increase in their academic success. Having a good classroom environment in which to teach gives the pupil the best possible chance of learning effectively. A basic principle of assertive discipline is that pupils need to know your behavioural expectations. They must be given limits and the teacher must be consistent in his / her approach at all times. Pupils need positive recognition and support as well as discipline so that they are motivated to behave well. It is very easy to criticise a pupil for being badly behaved but some teachers fail to comment on good, appropriate behaviour. The teacher who uses assertive discipline effectively has a classroom plan, which she shares with pupils so that they are clear about the consequences of their actions. The teacher will have a list of classroom rules on display and will remind the pupils what they are at the start of the lesson. The Non-Assertive Teacher When a teacher reacts to pupils disruptive behaviour it is known as either a non-assertive or hostile response. The non-assertive response is one where the teacher is passive and does not give clear directions; the teacher responds to inappropriate behaviour as and when it happens. She will be inconsistent in her response and will allow poor behaviour to go unchallenged one day and respond angrily another. When a pupil thinks that he can behave in any way he chooses and not suffer any consequences then he will see how far he can push the boundaries at every opportunity. The Hostile Teacher The hostile teacher is one who keeps the class under control but only through intimidation. They do not set a good example of how to behave and often put down pupils with remarks that lowers their self-esteem and hurt their feelings. They promote negative feelings and expectations where pupils believe that they cannot achieve goals or succeed. The hostile teacher rarely makes a positive comment and takes every opportunity to make a negative one. Teaching Styles in School A Assertive teaching is shown and encouraged throughout School A based on various observations throughout the school. It is also evident in the school behaviour policy in the form of an assertive discipline routine. There are strict guidelines on the wording of personal reminder, final warning and then time-out for those children that are failing to follow school rules; this is consistent throughout. Positive praise of good behaviour is a strategy used to try and encourage other children to do the same. Child A responds very well to this style of teaching; behaviour problems are never an issue with Child A, who follows school rules at all times. Child A also benefits from the teacher having control over the class; as stated in Child As SEN file (see Appendix Two) there is a preference to work in quiet which is quite common for a child with dyslexia (Reid, G 2010, Learning Styles and Inclusion Sage Publications Ltd: London, P23). There is evidence to show that behaviour management strategies, such as the assertive discipline techniques, do help to improve behaviour, achievement and attainment. Good behaviour leads to good attainment because there is an effective learning environment, and therefore the child achieves. It states in the Steer Report (2005) that a consistent experience of good teaching engages pupils in their learning and this reduces instances of poor behaviour. It also relates to the Every Child Matters strand of Enjoy and Achieve. This identifies that children should feel safe, be healthy, and enjoy and achieve in school. Q.19 The Learning Needs of Child A According to information received (Booth, Personal communication, 8 September 2010) Child As learning style is that of a multi-sensory learner. This is also stated in the SEN file of Child A (Appendix Two) in a report from the Senior Learning Support Teacher. Pupils with dyslexia learn best when all the senses are used; this is the VAK model of visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning. VAK is an accelerated learning approach where visual learners learn best through pictures, charts, diagrams, video, ICT etc; auditory learners learn best through listening; kinaesthetic learners learn best through being physically engaged in a task. There is further research by Glazzard (2010), stating that teachers should aim to make a childs learning multi-sensory, catering for all the VAK learning styles. With regards to Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligences, a dyslexic child will have a greater imbalance of strength and skills. It is important that Child A is provided with the opportunities to develop their preferred learning style so to work to their strengths. Support should be provided in areas of weakness with specific teaching and a demonstration of strategies that aid learning. This is also evident in the Local Authority Dyslexia Policy stating Some pupils who have dyslexia can frequently display marked differences between their abilities. It goes on further to state that it is important to identify strengths as well as weaknesses, in order to make the most effective provision (see Appendix Three). It has been suggested that Child A has access to a structured, cumulative, multi-sensory programme of work with opportunities for interleaved learning and repetition (see Appendix Two). Interleaved learning is a psychological process where new and old materials are practised together. It is also important to remember that to help with Child As self-esteem issues, extra measures of support provided within the class should be available for Child A to access them when required, and not draw attention too. Child A also has low-self esteem that requires attention. The Local Education Authority Dyslexia Policy also backs this up by stating we recognise the particular links between dyslexia and low self-esteem (see Appendix Three). From what is known about Child A and through research, it can be stated that when looking at Maslows hierarchy of needs (1968) diagram (see Appendix Four), Child A has had the biological and physiological needs, also safety needs and belongingness and love needs satisfied. On the other hand, esteem needs have not been realised and as this continues to be a problem, the childs self-actualisation stage can not be fulfilled. Again, positive reinforcement and working with School As Learning Mentor to build up self esteem is required. It is vital, as a teacher, that Child As successes are shared with the class/school to help improve self-esteem. Impact of Every Child Matters Framework in School A There has been a great impact on School A since the Every Child Matters framework was introduced. Some aspects were in place before, but a lot has changed in recent years. A holistic approach has been taken by School A to implement the Every Child Matters agenda. A significant commitment has been made to the nurturing and education of the whole child. Be Healthy Through the curriculum the children receive at least 2 hours of exercise a week. Also, they receive education on health, drug awareness and sexual health education. Healthy snacks are provided free to children in foundation stage and KS1. Children in KS2 are offered fruit juice at morning break for a minimal cost. Most recently, the school has had a kitchen built which now allows for food to be cooked on site, giving the school greater control on they type of food being provided. Stay Safe There are child protection measures in place that all staff are aware of. Three members of staff are contacts for child protection issues that may arise. Any concerns would be expressed to these people and the appropriate action would then be taken by them. Other support within school is provided by the Learning Mentor. This role encompasses many of the aims of the Every Child Matters Framework. The Learning Mentor is part of the Child Protection Team. The Learning Mentor has created a Peer Mediators team created of Y6 children to help support children in the playground when problems arise. There has been a big emphasis placed on the prevention of problems arising in the playground through the creation of play leaders, friendship and singing squads; again, this is through the support from the Y6 children who carry out activities with the younger children at playtime. Enjoy and Achieve Special Educational Needs provision kicks into action when there are concerns about an individual child with regards to behaviour issues or academic difficulties. Under the guidance of the schools SENCo this would involve the child monitored as a cause for concern. If the child showed no improvement or deteriorated, they would then be placed on the schools SEN register with the parents permission. School Action would see the child receiving extra support from within school to support their learning and well-being, and again if the child showed no improvement or deteriorated, they would be place on School Action Plus which then brings in the involvement of outside agencies to help and support the child. Again, the Learning Mentor plays a crucial role here, working very closely with extended schools, helping to provide after-school clubs with family involvement. A homework club is also run for children who regular fail to complete homework for a variety of reasons. Another critical role that the Learning Mentor provides for under the Every Child Matters Framework is liaising with parents. As well as involving them in family clubs after school, she will also provide support for them on an individual basis. This area has an additional staff member to help, the Parent Support Advisor. The School employs a Parent Support Advisor (PSA) who runs activities at the Sure Start centre, and has particularly provided support to the Muslim community within School. This has taken the form of English classes to help those parents who struggle speaking and understanding English so they can then support their children at home with their reading and writing. The PSA, with the help of the Maths co-ordinator, ran a similar scheme for parents called Ocean Maths. This meeting provided parents with an understanding of how they can help their child at home with maths, and they were also able to purchase very cheaply a resource pack that will help support the child at home. Wrap around care is also provided by the school in the form of breakfast and after-school care which has been running now for a number of years. This provides parents with the extended support that they may need to be able to return to work. Extended Schools, through government funding, helps children to access activities that they may have been unable to afford in the past. During the summer holidays, activities were available for children to take part in; those children that receive free school meals were able to access these activities free of charge. Extended Services have also provided support to Teaching Assistants within school by running a course on Playground Games so that these may be taught to the children in the playground. The school places a big emphasis on assessment and how it is used to ensure that pupils make the best possible progress both in the curriculum and in their personal development. Assessment for Learning techniques are used in order to enable pupils to progress as individuals. Self and peer assessment techniques are especially relevant in relation to reflecting on the process of participating. The children know where they are at in their learning and how to progress in terms of their next steps. Make a Positive Contribution to the Community There is a school council that is made-up of one child from each class. These children meet regularly to discuss how things can work better for the children. They also take views of the other children to these meetings and feedback to the children. A new recent development is the creation of learning challenges. These aim to let the children have the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge to a range of different real life situations that makes a positive contribution to an individual, class, school or a local, national global community. A big emphasis is placed on entrepreneurship being encouraged at all times. Achieve Economic and Social Well-being At a Primary school level, this is where the seeds are sown to help achieve economic and social well-being, by providing the children with literacy, numeracy and ICT skills. The learning challenges mentioned in the previous section also help towards meeting this. There are many more aspects of school life that exist due to the emergence of the Every Child Matters Framework. Child A has benefited hugely from this having taken part in after school clubs with their family. There is the support network in place for Child A should they wish to access it, and the relevant people providing support for them already. This is also the case for other children, and has had a positive impact on lots of children throughout School A in supporting their learning. Conclusion This child study has highlighted the significant impact that the Every Child Matters framework has had on Child A, other children with and without personal and learning difficulties, and School A as a whole. Every Child Matters now underpins the whole school ethos, and provides support to children, their families and the school. The understanding of how children learn is essential to my practice as a teacher so that the childs education can be moved on and supported. There are elements of behaviourist and cognitive learning in School A through rewards systems of team points and positive reinforcement of good behaviour, and also through the assertive teaching methods used. The cognitive approach is seen in the pedagogy of the teacher through effective scaffolding techniques, which have been seen to help Child A in the achievement of tasks. In a personal communication with the class teacher of Child A, intervention groups have been arranged so that the supported learning of Child A can take place not just through the effective inclusion of all pupils by quality first teaching. As a teacher it is my responsibility to cater for Child As additional needs, and also to regularly review and assess them so that they are continually being met. It is also important that within my practice I regularly consult the class teacher, SENCo and the Learning Mentor who also aid Child A to overcome the difficulties presented, so that the best possible support is being given. Child A has a positive approach to learning and does not display any of the behavioural difficulties that can be seen in some pupils who have learning difficulties (see Appendix Three). Appendix One Observations of Child A General Observations Child A is someone who is very well behaved in class. There are no behaviour problems associated, and conformity is shown at all times. There is interaction between their peers in the class but this is very infrequent and short lasting. Outside in the playground this is the same; Child A has a small circle of friends who have played together for quite a few years. There is interaction between this group, but again, Child A takes a rather passive role of listening rather than initiating. Numeracy Lessons Child A again always gave the teacher their attention but fiddled with their pen in an undisruptive way. Facial expressions throughout suggested uneasiness. During observations of Child A in Numeracy it was quite evident that there is a low self esteem. Individual tasks saw Child A begin by looking around, gaining the attention of the teaching assistant and teacher to provide the support. Working with a partner was something Child A seemed to shy away from. Child As partner seemed unbothered by this and was happy to discuss with others on the table. A little interaction did take place but this was towards the end of the task as their partner had realised that they must complete the task. Child A also had some number reversal, especially number five and 9. Literacy Lessons Child A is very conscious of their problems with spellings as their reading age is far better than their spelling ability so when they read their work back they can see the errors. The childs commitment and determination is excellent, and after a recent writing assessment was able to identify improvement points that were not linked to spellings. Child A also prefers to work in quiet, which they communicated to the previous years teacher. Art and DT A familiar pattern is also seen here; lack of interaction with their partner and a tendency to allow their partner to be more dominant and do most of the work. P.E Child

Macro Environment Analysis: PEST

Macro Environment Analysis: PEST With the increasing of international business, there has been growing interest in how a successful organization to create a appropriate international strategy. This article provides an expanded approach to an organizations strategy and linkages that exist in international business operations. Geely Holding Group as an illustrative case to be evaluated by suing PEST analysis, Porters Five Force Model, SWOT analysis, and Integration-responsiveness Framework. By analyzing all internal and external elements and variables factors, this paper proposes a list of recommendations and solutions to promote Geelys international process. Key words: Internal Business Environment, External Business Environment, industry globalization and localization drivers, Critical Success Factors, competitors Integration-responsiveness framework. 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of Automotive Industry The automotive industry is growing with globalization since the first automobile was built in 1885. To the present day, more than 70 million motor vehicles were produced extending throughout the world. China , Russia , Brazil and India became the major markets rapidly. In 2008, the Figure 1 shows there were about 73.2 million new motor vehicles were sold worldwide (OICA, 2009). The production has continuously increased, whereas sales started decrease in late 2007. The whole industry was weakened by a substantial increase in the prices of raw materials and fuels cost. Furthermore, the recession began in 2008 had a profound influence on the auto industry. By 2008, a series of damaging blows drove the automobile manufacturers include American Big Three to the verge of miserable condition. Dugigg (2008) has referred to such a language as The automotive industry crisis occurred between 2008 and 2010 is a part of reflection of global financial downturn. The crisis primarily affected the American and European automobile manufacturing industry. Decline in productivity has resulted in less output, meanwhile, due to the economic crisis, oil price shock and environment expectations, more and more automobile buyers turned their attention on a higher quality and more fuel saving auto vehicles. This phenomenon of changing product demand gives many automobile manufacturers a heavily shock. Therefore, many famous automobile manufacturers have no choice to sell some of its famous brands in order to relieve financial pressure. Undoubtedly, it provides opportunities to other private enterprises entry the market. China became both the largest automobile producer and market in the world after experiencing massive growth in 2009. For example Ford, the one of The Big Three of American au tomobile manufacturer and the fourth-largest in the world based on cars sold number annually (OICA,2008), battled against the weak currency market and sold decline. Failing investments and an increasing unemployment rate has exacerbated the impact of the crisis. 1.2 Geely Holding Group Profile According to the company brief of Geely (2010), Geely Holding Group is one of Chinas top ten private automakers and also among the countrys top 500 organizations. Geely is founded in 1986 and is today a fully integrated independent auto firm with a complete auto eco-system from design and research and development to production, distribution and servicing (Li Shufu,2008,p 9). Although Geely has achieved great success in domestic automobile industry, it pays more attention to explore global market. About 40000 vehicles are exported for sales in 2008, ranking second place in automobile export in China. In March 28, 2010, Geely Group signed a contract to make an acquisition of Ford Motors Volvo automobiles brand for the cost of $1.8 billion (Nordstrom, 2010). Through acquisition, Geely can rapidly accelerate its international business in automobile industry and become a leader in this area. 2.0 Geely Business Environment Analyses 2.1 Conceptual Background on Business Environment John Kew and John Stredwick(2005) similarly argued that business environment is a situation largely outside the control and influence of an organization, and the factors in business environment car potentially have both benefit and passive impacts on an organizations present or future activities. It is useful to divide into two the micro-environment and the macro-environment. Middleton (2003) elaborated that the macro-environment involves factors such as the economy, government policy and social change, outside of the direct control of the business. These factors such as the economy, government policy and social change can have a significant effect on a firms success but the relationship is fairly one way. The PEST (or PESTLE) analysis appears to be by Francis J. Aguilar in 1967 can analyze the macro-environment efficiently. The individuals and firms belong to micro-environment and have direct activities of a business. The members of it include suppliers, distributors, competitors, c ustomers and employees. These factors will affect the performance of any organization. Thus, the micro-environment plays a critical role in the success and behavior of a business. Use the Five Forces analysis to gain insights into the competitiveness of the micro-environment (Cliff, 1990). 2.2 Macro-environment Analysis by use PEST Analysis PEST is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social and Technological. Organization can use this tool to reduce risks associated with operation. The Oxford University Press was strongly shaped and influenced by PEST analysis. As the relevant article published in 2007 shows A PEST analysis is helpful understanding the position, potential and direction for a business. PEST Analysis on Automotive Industry Political Political factors relate to government policy that firms have to operate, such as trade regulation, political stability and trading policies. Political decisions can impact on many vital aspects for organizations. Automotive industry has propelled by government incentives. For example, China government used stimulus measures to support vehicle sales, such as cuts in sales tax for engines smaller than 1.6 liters. Indeed, Geely as a famous independent privately owned firm in China, it has a strong support from the government. Moreover, America saved the American Big Three of the automobile manufacturers in 2009. Furthermore, governments make no difficultly with automobile merger of cross border or oversea purchase domestic brands. A great deal of mergers and acquisitions activity from auto manufacturers to parts suppliers (Gaughan, 2008). For instance, Geelys international acquisition is evident to that. Economic Economic factors include interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates. Above of these impact the profit of firm and customers purchasing power. Exchange rate fluctuation influences on vehicle international trade, a weak currency may make export easier. An economic slowdown in many parts of the world during the financial crisis. In this term, interest rate and inflation are unstable. In fact, recession let automotive industry has a huge problem. However, China has remained the only one of the worlds major economies that continued to show growth through the global recession of 2008-2009. Chinas strong economic boom of recent years continues to lift incomes and bring more of the population within financial reach of car ownership, vehicle sales arrived at 13.6million units in 2009 CAAM reported (Just-auto). Social Social factors include lifestyle trends, culture, buying access and trends. These factors affect consumers demand and the size of potential markets.Focus on social trends can improve on the firms reaction to customers need. Consider of fuel cost and environment pollution, increasing consumers need small cars. In other words, customers prefer to high quality, low price, complete service, and added value for an auto vehicle. Technological Technological factors involve new technologies create, rate of technological diffusion and change, replacement technology and so on. Individuals and governments are set up to promote new technology in renewable energy and create electric vehicles. Conclusion Above of these factors could be important macro-environment elements in an automobile manufacturer. It is vital to gain an insight into the macro-environment of the industry to guide strategic decision-making. In political aspects, although most governments propel development of auto industry, some of them take a system of tariffs or other measure of protecting domestic producers, especially compare with Chinas new stimulus measures. It doubtless impacted automobile international trade. If the firm choose a place with abnormal inflation rate, high taxation and may lead to production cost and operation fee, taxation and unstable exchange rate, the firm will have high risks associated with operation. Consider social and technological factors, companies in should focus on research and development to environmentally-friendly products like electric vehicles. 2.3 The Porters Five Forces Analysis on Micro-environment Porters Five Forces analysis is a simply tool to analyze the determinants of an organizations profit; it can be summarized through his Five Forces Model in figure 3. (Chris, Stewart and martin, 2008). This model attempts to explain relationship between competitors, new entrants, suppliers, customers and substitutes. Understand of critical issues is vital to establish what the best competitive position and gap is (Michael E. Porter, 1980). 2.3 The Porters Five Forces Analysis on Micro-environment Porters Five Forces analysis is a simply tool to analyze the determinants of an organizations profit; it can be summarized through his Five Forces Model in figure 3. (Chris, Stewart and martin, 2008). This model attempts to explain relationship between competitors, new entrants, suppliers, customers and substitutes. Understand of critical issues is vital to establish what the best competitive position and gap is (Michael E. Porter, 1980). Rivalry Among Existing competitors Rivalry competitors always have similar products or services in the same industry. Strong rivalry is likely to generate profits damage. The degree of rivalry is high when competitors have become more equal in market share and capability, tempted use price war or other competitive measures to boost sales, low barriers to entry, demand for the product is growing slowly, the costs of leaving the market is high and a little brand loyalty because of so similar that customers are easily switch products. According to automotive industry, rivalry can be intense and cut-throat due to more and more competitors undertook the vehicle manufacture. 2. Threats of New entry For other Chinese firm enter the automotive industry it is expensive to set up a nationwide network in marketing and equipment. Geely established in 5 strategy markets, such as CIS, Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Central and South America. The existing automobile manufacturers have gained high reputation in market and established excellent brand image. However, the existing firms have no control of the supplies; new entries have opportunities to development. In recent years, Chinese domestic auto companies that have experience in host country like Chery, Chana, Saic and Baw, have active performance in international market. Therefore industrys profitability was affected. Like Porters view, In a market with low barriers to entry, the threat of newly competing rivals is high only when the level of profitability in this industry is high as well. To illustrate, in March 2nd, 2006, Chery had exported its own products to American. Chery has gained a certain market share in Europe, Africa, South America and North America in 2009. 3. Threats of substitutes A substitute is something has similar function as existing product in the industry. According to Porter, the threat of substitutes also influences the bargaining power of companies. (Chris, Stewart and martin, 2008,p.37)If substitutes have lower price, good performance or both, then some customers will be tempted to move new products. Substitutes are not in direct competition but have nonetheless a massive impact on existing companies, for example decrease goods price and raising investment to improve products or services. However, there was no obvious evidence of substitutes in automotive industry. Although some countries have complete public transfer, but all of these 4. Bargaining Power of buyers Powerful buyers will be able to force down prices thus can bargain away profits of firms that sales goods or services. Porter argues that the profitability of an organization depends on the bargaining power it exercises in negotiating prices with suppliers and customers. Buyer power will be higher if they are scale important in this transaction. For example they purchase in large quantities or purchases represent a sizeable percentage of the industrys total sales. However, this kind of powerful buyer are difficult appear in global auto industry, it could be happen in a small area. Especially, there are a few buyer of the firm, big buyer is vital to them. Moreover, when the industry emerge large numbers of small sellers or customers can easily switch to other provides, consumers have powerful negotiation to extract a high quality service at a good price. In fact, international auto market has a great many vehicle brands not only in low-end car market but also in high-end auto market. Buyers have a very wide selection. 5. Bargaining power of suppliers The strong bargaining power of supplier is leading to a squeeze on profits through higher input costs. If there are relatively few suppliers within the industry or organizations are difficult or costly switch from one supplier to another, the suppliers of raw materials, power, skilled labors and components will have power of high prices negotiation. According to China Association of Automobile Manufactures research (Plunkett, 2007) shows cost, design, security and extra capability are decisive factors in a cars value. It requires suppliers to enhance the quality of their products and service. Global competition in auto industry: Along with the continuous impact of financial crisis, the international market is shrinking. Meanwhile, the profit of international auto market decrease along with the shrinking revenue. Consequently, the competition in international auto market is becoming fiercer and fiercer. The automobile market is at the maturity stage of the life cycle, locally and globally, due to an increased number of competitors from domestic and foreign markets. The automobile market is characterized by a low potential for market growth, but high sales and limited profit margins. Competitive forces are high in each segment of the overall market, Geely currently face fierce competition against Lifan, whos marketing strategy is price oriented, its model series LIFAN520 has gain a considerable proportion of the market due to its low price strategy. After the buy out of Volvo, it is expected that Geely will shift its current strategy to differentiation. Hunt (1972) proposed a strategic group analysis to identi fy and group strategic characteristics, following similar strategies or rivaling on common bases. Criticism offers that the study of strategic groups is merely from cognitive perspective, notwithstanding the framework have obtained prominence over the years (Hodgkinson 1997:623). Profit Margin High Low Sales Volume Low High High sales with average margin Toyota, Chrysler, Honda Low Sales Volume with high margin BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar High Sales Volume with low margin Lifan, Geely Low Sales and low margin Chery, Chana, Saic Baw Figure: Strategic Group Analysis To sum up, along with the recovery of international economy environment, and Chinese governments policy on private enterprises access to internationalization, it provides convenience and opportunity for Geelys international strategy. Nevertheless, due to deficient consumer confident on private enterprise and the restriction of consumption environment, Geely faces mighty competition pressure. Thus, what is needed is the improvement of Geelys ability to respond to external factors after acquisition. When we make an international strategic plan for a multinational enterprise, we have to take the corresponding relationship between local factors and global factors into account. The IR framework provides a visual diagram for us to demonstrate the diverse and conflicting pressures that firms confront. The two major concepts that will influence MNE are integration and responsiveness. By integration, Prahalad and Doz (1987) refer to the coordination of activities across countries aimed at building efficient operations networks and taking maximum advantage of similarities across locations. By responsiveness, they refer to the attempt of responding to specific needs of host countries, and note that businesses can choose to emphasize one dimension over another, or to stress both dimensions. Thus, firms have basically three strategic options at their disposal: the global integration strategy, the locally responsive strategy, and as sort of an in-between option, the multi-focal strategy. The choice between the three strategic options is governed by the perceived intensity of two forces in the firms operating environment: the pressure for global integration and the pressure for local responsiveness (Prahalad Doz, 1987, pp. 18-21). The global integration and local responsiveness pressure of Geely is listed in Figure 8 Integration Pressure(Globalization drivers) Responsiveness Pressure(Localization drivers) Economies of Scale. Geely needs to set a brand of subsidiaries to achieve economies of mass production. Consumer trends and universal needs. The word Consumers are God should be a basic principle of Geelys cultural. Uniform service to global customers. Services are essential to win global consumers enthusiasm. Global sourcing of raw materials, components, energy, and labor. Source from large-scale, centralized suppliers provides benefits from economies of scale and consistent performance. Global competitors. Global cooperation and coordination is necessary to resolve competitive threats in foreign and domestic markets. Availability of media that reaches customers in multiple markets. Geely should take advantage of the Internet and cross-national television to advertise their products in different countries simultaneously. Unique resources and capabilities available to the firm. Each country has its own abundant resources. Diversity of local customer needs. Different people in different region have different appetite and requirements on vehicles. Local competition. When competing against numerous local rivals, centrally-controlled MNEs will have difficulty gaining market share with global products that are not adapted to local needs. Geely should diversify its products. Cultural differences. MNES have to adapt to local history, language, custom, ways of dealing with people and culture. Local government requirements and regulations. Local governments usually impose trade barriers or complex business regulations to protect local trade. Apparently, Geely has great ambitions to become a top automobile manufacturer giants in a few years. However, due to the reason that Chinese automobile industry has started later than many developed countries, Geely has a huge gap between other large manufacturers. Although Geely has already acquired Volvo, it has numerous obstacles such as international humanresource integration and management, autonomous technology RD, and cross-cultural conflicts. According to the analysis of Figure8 and IR framwork, we can conclude that Geely has to seek to achieve both global effectiveness and local responsiveness. Geely must achieve simultaneously requirements for strong central control and coordination of subsidary companies and decentralization and empowement to local responsiveness. 3.3 Key Factors for Success in Automotive Industry The Critical success factors (CSF) is a notion which is applied to understand the elements necessary for an organization to archive its objectives, it is initially applied in the data analysis and business analysis (Rockart, 1979), later it extended its use in IT projects to enhance the user involvements (Boynlon, 1984). In the automotives industry, there are a set of critical success factors for firms to achieve in order to obtain unique competitive advantage. First, engineering and innovation in car designing, a firm can gain remarkable advantage via superior quality of engineering in automotive production, skilled labour force, fashionable design and luxury taste. Second, Brand image is of essence in todays auto mobile competition. E.g. BMW claims its brand as ultimate Driving Machine (BMW, 2004), excellent brand image can lead to fanatic loyalty towards the brand thus create advantage. Third, safety is guaranteed by the quality of vehicles, premium quality mobile, sophisticated testing methods and strong safety record will all contribute to competitiveness of a firm. Fourth, cost reduction, sophisticated techniques e.g. JIT system or host country advantage can have direct impact on the cost reduction of a firm. Fourth, if a firm can tightly control its distribution network, it can manage its bran d more efficiently and make more effective communication with its distributors. Fifth, a firm has an excellent grasp on supply chain management enables the firm to maintain a good relationship with suppliers in the long run, to ensure that the customer needs are satisfied. The strategic positioning model is widely applied to demonstrate how a firm shifts its strategy in a variety of ways (Boston, 2000). Chesbrough and Rosenbloom (2002) argued that the application of strategic position model enable the user to gain a clear picture of the competitive advantages of the chosen firm. In Geelys case, due to the host country advantage now Geely possess the cost advantage in the low end market from global scale. However the acquisition of Volvo may help Geely to gain the engineering expertise and a positive brand images, consequently create more competitive advantages for the firm. 4.0 International Strategy of Geely 4.1 Internal and External Factors Analysis by Using SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a simple and useful tool for strategic alternatives from a business environment analysis. SWOT formed from the initial letters of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It through analyze the internal and external environment to help organizations understand current situation and make decision easily. The SWOT analysis was provided by Albert S. Humphrey in the 1960s, but now it development into an absolutely necessary part of the strategic planning process (An Soff, 1965). Indeed, it is considered the first step of forming a strategic picture. SWOT analysis divide into two aspects, one is external factors as opportunities and threats, the other aspect is internal factors include strengths and weaknesses. Strengths and weaknesses are essentially internal to an organization and relate to matters concerning resources, programs, and organization in key areas. Opportunities and threats tend to be external- from competing organizations, global trends, and other environmental factors. (Charney,p 170,2005) The SWOT analysis reduces the relevant information from internal and external environment to a manageable quantity of primary issues. Logically, it is helpful optimize the firms resources and capabilities, therefore a firm can better leverage its strengths, correct its weaknesses, capitalize on golden opportunities, and deter potentially devastating threats. (Menon,1999,p 30) Thus, a comprehensive SWOT analysis of Geely contributes to a better understanding of Geelys international business environment at internal and external. The figure below is the SWOT analysis on Geelys acquisition of Volvo. SWOT analysis on Geely Internal factors External factors Strengths Opportunities Owns many patents. The maturity of domestic market. Ranking 2nd place in automobile export in China. Supports from government policy. A mass of honest customers in the low-end car market. Geely got further research and developed new energy vehicles. Effective cost control of manufacturing and sale while has high performance price ratio. Increasing needs at abroad. Vehicles have gained high reputation in overseas market and established excellent brand image. Advanced production facilities and technology in low-end car. Local competitors have poor products. Geely can launch 4-5 brand new car models and engine models every year. RD is greatly improved to provide efficient guarantee for the overseas business development. Geely successfully acquired the worlds second largest automatic transmission company called DSI. Capital rising by entrust loans from reliance group. Product innovations ongoing. An increasing trend on global market shares. A billions credit limit from China Everbright Bank and the support from Goldman Sachs Investment Bank. Weaknesses Threats The scale gap with other large automobile manufacturer in the world. Brand appeal is low, oversea consumers have little confidence on new private brands. Marketing network is incomplete, oversea staff need training. Consume circumstance of automobile market is depressed since financial crisis. No takeover experience at automobile company abroad could be called up. It has risks in culture and operation. More and more domestic private brands emerge in automobile industry likely entry of new competitors. Management cover insufficient, Lack of management depth A high safety standard of international import and export motor vehicles Inadequate financing capabilities. Capital situation is unstable. Culture difference impact management style and sales product, oversea customers maybe refuse to adapt new products. It will invest huge number of money to operate in the further years. The market system is incomplete. Manufacturing technique is deficient, poor quality vehicles and less value. New regulations exposed to political problems in the countries that operate in, besides, taxation maybe introduced on product or service. 6.0 Current Situation and Recommendations Independent Research and Development There is no doubt that core technology is the essential of every company in every industry. Moreover, when Geely grasp the unique core technology in automobile industry, it will have the pricing power and cost control, which is the key factor of its globalization strategy. Therefore, Geely has to put more energy on research on its own patents. It is advisable for Geely to set up its own lab. Geely can attract scientists and technicians by offering well-paid position and reputation. 2. Pay attention to domestic market Chinese market is a huge cake which contains abundant human and raw material resources. More and more foreign have rushed into China in order to seize the new prosperous market. As a domestic enterprise, Geely has many unique advantages such as human network, government supports, and public patriotism. Domestic market is the solid back supports for Geelys international development. 3. Cross-cultural management After acquisition, Geely has to take over a series of overseas factories, which means Geely has recruited hundreds and thousands of foreign employees. How to manage them effectively will be the first challenge for Geely. Cultural shock, language barriers, miscommunications, and staff turnover will be the main obstacles in Geelys management. It is suggested that Geely should pay attention to leadership theories. Empowerment, motivation and teamwork are the key factors involved in Geelys management. 4. Government supports In order to expand international market, Geely has to face with different laws and regulations. Building a harmonious and cooperative relationship with governments is essential. Geelys investment and development can enhance local employment rate and increase local tax revenue. Simultaneously, government can provide unique supports for Geely. Cooperation with governments is a win-win strategy. 5. Building a talents training system Experts and technology are the core productivity for a MNE. Geely can set up its own talent base through establishing independent labs and donation to famous universities. Through collaboration with universities and labs, Geely can gain a reputation for thousands and hundreds of students, who have potential to contribute for Geely in the future. Unauthorized Intrusion Or Hacking Information? Unauthorized Intrusion Or Hacking Information? This survey paper will give us the brief overview of what cyber attacks are, what are their types and their causes and what steps should be taken in order to control or counter them with respect to information security management. With the current advancement in cyber technology and mass adaptation of this technology by most of the organizations and businesses cyber security becomes the key concern. Most of the operations like financial, industrial and commercial are interlinked and dependent on each other and ever more dependent on information technology. At the same time, the rapidly growing interconnectivity of IT systems, and the convergence of their technology towards industry-standard hardware and software components and sub-systems, renders these IT systems increasingly vulnerable to malicious attack. (Randel, etal,1998) Introduction: As technology progress and capabilities of information warfare have developed significantly in recent years, the probability of cyber attacks have increased as well. Computer-network attacks mainly known as cyber attacks can destroy adversary data, computer systems, and networks, and can have a major effect on an adversarys ability to wage war (Bayles, 2001). In the cyber arena, the situation is, in some ways, worse than simply paying too little heed to a potential new threat until it manifests itself. Threats in the cyber arena have manifested themselves. We are reminded constantly of our vulnerabilities to the threat, yet we still are not doing enough. Every hour of every day, some individual or group is writing or disseminating a new disruptive virus or worm or is breaking into a computer network or to harm a network by some other means (Vatis, 2004). It is usually said that it is very productive and simple to bring computer in our systems and to increase its usage but at the same time it is significantly difficult and far more expensive to develop technologies to make it secure mainly because of the internet, a network which is used to share information rather than hiding it. Most cyber attackers are attracted to high value targets such as networks, servers, or routers, whose disruption could yield financial or political consequences (Vatis 2001). Types of cyber Attacks: According to (Arnold and Pangi, 2003) Main objective of the cyber attacker is to steal, destroy, remove or change information or to block the functionality of the system which they want to target. We can divide these attacks typically into three main categories, Unauthorized Intrusion or Hacking Destructive Viruses or Worms Denial of Service attacks (DoS) Unauthorized Intrusion or Hacking: Unauthorized attacks are attacks in which attacker get access in to the system by the means of different hacking or cracking techniques. This type of activity will be performed by some outsider who wants to have access of the system in order to use it for some negative purpose. Second type of threat is from an insider who illegally wants to access the system which he or she is not authorized to in order to do harm the network or system. We can divide hacking further in to three more categories, system can be shut down by hacker after regular interval but this kind of hacking activity easily recognized by the administrator and can be easily fixed. Sometimes there are defacements which change the information on the computer system, this type of activity is also easily traceable as sometimes hackers place a note like you have been hacked à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. Defacements are potentially more disruptive as they subtly change figures or alter information. Another common type of defacement is website defacement. Hackers regularly deface information on organizations or government websites in order to ridicule the entity that sponsors the site or to put hackers own message. Most of them are just nuisance not a serious threat. Semantic hacking is one fo rm of defacement which is potentially more harmful as it changes the content of a web page deviously so that the change could not be obvious which results in the dissemination of the false information. An example of possible semantic attack with significant impact would be change in the website of disease control and prevention system which could have a disastrous effect on research and analyses or treatment of the disease. Thirdly the possible threat is of Trojan horse programmes. These are the silent operations and aim to pass undetected by virus scanners. They get the information from the system and send it to the hacker. (*, 2007) Destructive Viruses or Worms: These types of attack usually spread through emails or some other source of data transfer between computer to computer and can cause the loss of functionality of parts of the network. Worm and viruses are malicious computer program example of famous virus is love mail which use to shut down the system and another example of this kind of virus is I love you email as soon as attachment is opened it start sending copies of the same email to all address in users address book. Denial of Service attacks (DoS) Denial of service attack is a sort of attack in which hacker bombard the system with number of messages with such a frequency that system cannot able to process anything else. It overload the computer system which results in effecting the functionality of the system. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks is another useful mean of putting computers off network for some time. In Distributed Denial of service attacks hacker bombard the web and email server from great number of messages, by receiving such a high numbers of fake messages system functionality becomes slow or sometime system get crashed. Hackers can easily increase the effect of their distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks by using malicious codes to get control of other systems and using these Zombie machines to send more messages on to the servers(Arnold and Pangi, 2003). Domain Name server (DNS) Attack: According to (Arnold and Pangi, 2003) Communication between two computers on the internet is done by using internet protocol address of computers. To map the name of the website computer consult domain name servers and if DNS give wrong numerical address than user will connect to a wrong server without any information that he is on wrong server. This sort of attacks will be useful in spreading incorrect information and to divert a customer of e-commerce site from the original site or sometime block access. DNS is hierarchal there for the cascading effect on remote servers would result in traffic to selected site to be redirected or loss. (Cortes, 2004) Compound attacks: As the word compound itself describes these attacks are the combinations of 2 or 3 different attacks simultaneously. Purpose of these attacks is to increase the destructiveness of some sort of physical attack with the help of coordinated cyber attacks e.g. terrorist might place some boom in densely populated area at the same time with the help of cyber attacker they disable the communication setup of emergency services like ambulance, fire, police to impede there response. (Arnold and Pangi, 2003) Routing Vulnerabilities: Router controls all the traffic on the internet that is there they make it sure that the information in the form of packets, get from the source to destination. In general router is not a primary threat for disruption, but if the routing operation is not well diversified than it can lead to a massive routing attack. So it now a primary concern for the router manufactures to follow standards and regulation for maintaining the security on routers. (Cortes, 2004) Sources of Attacks: Cyber attacks can be launched from different sources depending upon their motives and the target they want to attack, generally we can group them in three categories terrorist groups, targeted nation-states and thrill seekers. Terrorist Groups Terrorist activities are the great threat for the whole world. Terrorist are not only targeting the physical infrastructure of the countries but now they are targeting the IT infrastructure as well. i.e. hacking the government websites and causing serious damage to vulnerable information (Cortes, 2004). Targeted Nation-States Most of the countries which dont have the friendly relation with one of the some countries use cyber attacks to sabotage the IT infrastructure of their potential enemy in order to safe guard their own national interests. e.g. India and Pakistan both are trying to attack government an defense resources in order to harm each other. Similarly China, America and Russia try to initiate attacks on each other national infrastructure primarily security network (Cortes, 2004). Thrill Seekers These sorts of attacker are not attacking the network for specific purpose rather they do it for fun and check their ability to break the secured networks. Because of the advancement in technology probability of these attacks are high (Cortes, 2004). Countering Cyber Attacks: Due to technology advancement and use of IT in almost every field of life and day by day increasing cyber attacks it is mandatory to counter all this cyber attacks and to secure the IT infrastructure as much as possible. Although countering these cyber attacks is not an easy job rather much complex and consist of several layer of defense. It take time to develop a mature program. The ratio of threat is changing day by day probability of risk is increasing and organizations should change their approach towards information security and take it as a primary concern. Establish threat intelligence gathering Capability Threat monitoring Risk analysis Security strategy validation Minimize delivery of malware Security awareness enhancements Continuous controls update Website protection Threat monitoring Application security testing Prevent execution of malware Application whitelisting Least access privileges Network restrictions/segmenting Identity and access management Protect the data Protect the data/data loss prevention Detect and respond Host and network anomaly detection Incident response program Forensics Source: insight of IT risk 2010 Established threat gathering capabilities: In order to understand the continuously changing threat landscape organization should develop an intelligence gathering capabilities to supervise and plan strategic and tactical responses to threats. This team should consist of qualified professionals who can keep an eye on the current threats and interpret how the organization can be effected by these potential threats and what necessary steps should be taken to modify the organizational security controls and overall security strategy. The prime objective of this time is to monitor the threat level than analyze it that how it can effect their organization and than to develop a strategy (Ernst Youngs, 2010). Minimize delivery of malware: By strictly implementing the traditional security measures in the organization the threat of malware can be greatly reduced below mentioned are the ways how we can reduce the threat level. Social engineering: It is one of the most common methods of reducing the threat or malware environment. There are number of ways by which this threat can be introduce like phishing or dropping USB in organization premises and hoping some one will use this USB in company computer, resulting employees unintentionally perform a harmful action. Regardless of implementing the entire advance technical controls human factor will remain the weakest link in spreading malware. So the solution of this problem is to aware the employees as much possible against these threats so that the employees protect them self to unintentionally become a source for spreading these malware. Research shows that companies are not doing well in promoting awareness to their employees. The organization should conduct the information security programmes on regular intervals. So that there effectiveness will be increase (Ernst Youngs, 2010). Security awareness: Mean to educate the employee about the common threats which are used by the cyber attackers. This awareness can be increase by including security awareness programs in the companies overall defense in depth strategy. These programs should include education about new threats different examples how employees contribute to the success of the attack and lesson learned what means are used by cyber attacker using social media etc. to target organizational networks and than take the feedback from the employees (Ernst Youngs, 2010). Malicious software: Another way which can reduce the threat of cyber attack is a use of registered softwares on all user computers. Corrupted or pirated softwares are also the main source of introducing malware in the network. Phishing and DNS redirection: Threat can be introduced in the company network by redirecting the DNS to a malware site while preventing the user from visiting the hack or fraudent site to begin with would be preferred but it would not happen most of the time. So it is preferred to block the sites but it is infective to block the sites on domain name bases because they can easily be change. So it is more effective to block the sites by IP address. Install the tools which can tell the users when they visit the site whether the site is safe or unsafe the network. At the end decision is again in the employees hand, so awareness to employees is really very important (Ernst Youngs, 2010). Protect the data: Data is the most important aspect in information system because at the end it all about the data. By implementing the Data Loss Prevention DLP solution can help stop malware collecting the sensitive data and from sanding data back to attacker home network. On the basis of predefined policies host based DLP can be implemented in order to control the information which user has access. In order to keep the check on the flow of data on the network, network DLP can be use which keep the record which data is going in and out of the network and block the specific data to going out of the network ( Ernst Youngs, 2010). Conclusion: After considering all the factors in mind which we have discussed above we came to conclusion that As technological advancement reaching at its peak, at the same time Cyber crime is also increasing day by day but different organization and agencies are working to overcome all such crimes. As cyber crime become a global issue so globally Governments are putting all their resources against these crimes by imposing legislation against these activities and most of the country have consensus to help each other against cyber attacks. Software companies are developing most sensitive tools and controls in order to protect organizational or government assets from these threats. The most important thing is to implement all those advance controls along with conventional security measures to safe guard all sort of assets from cyber attack.