A South African Investment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A South African Investment - Essay Example While comprehensive civil rights as well as freedom are critically imperative to all people in order that they can realize their absolute potential and assert their appropriate place in humanity, there are other, supplementary fundamental needs that ought to be satisfied prior to a person worries about spiritual, intellectual and related individual freedoms and rights. It may not be reasonable to offer an individual full government, social, as well as legal rights if they are deprived any reasonable sources of livelihood (Mbendi, 2008). Caltex had the power to influence political policies on the South African government in order that the government may revive its laws. This has happened in other parts of the world, whereby conglomerates influence government policies in order to create a conducive environment for business. Foreign financial investments mean a great deal in any country since it revitalizes the social-economic status of the population and the national economy as well (T obin, 2009). It is an ignominy that Caltex had no problem investing in a country whose laws were exceedingly abhorrent to humanity. In contrast it is factual that in that era, the living standards of the South African minorities as well as the Blacks were in a deplorable state. They vast majority of these populations lived in pitiable homes, and had poor access to high quality educational programs. They were also deprived the right to practice certain jobs or careers, and granted wages that were exceedingly less than that of the white population in South Africa (Nicholas, 2008). For numerous South African Blacks at the time, for whom so several outside the nation had the courage to confront the repressive regime may have chosen to take up jobs at the Caltex plant which granted them better living wages and better workplace environment than in the civil service. It is justifiable to imply that absolute freedom may not have been the priority for all Black South Africans who needed bett er living standards. Therefore, the Caltex plant may have been the category of investments that were essentially required in the country at the time. The only provision Caltex ought to have added would have been the maintenance of reasonable wages and reasonable housing for its black and colored human resources (Mbendi, 2008). Question 2. As a stockholder in Standard Oil or Texaco, it would have been appropriate to vote in agreement with the three stockholder declarations. While it is factual that under the utilitarian philosophies, it might not of necessity have been the most appropriate option for Caltex, Standard Oil or Texaco to desist from investing in South Africa. As a stockholder, it would have been appropriate to vote according to individual conscience. Any financial recompense, such as facilitating the generation of national income from the mining of natural resources or construction of national industries such as in petroleum, appears as unconscionable in regard to the fu ndamental premise on which the South African government operated and survived (Nicholas, 2008). The first resolution demanded that Caltex terminates all its operations in South Africa unless and until the government ceased

Who is Affecter in Labor Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Who is Affecter in Labor Market - Essay Example Labor implies the workforce needed. There needs to be market for services provided. The labor market is unique in the sense that it comprises people who lease their time to enterprises for a given period. The labor they provide is exchanged with wages; in other words, these people trade their idle hours for paid time to that they can earn a living and buy goods and services. In turn, businesses utilize the labor to generate goods and services that consumers demand.As mentioned previously, capital, labor, entrepreneurship and natural resources are the major components required in generating good and services. The quality and quantity of labor that people provide is a significant factor in influencing the rate of growth and level of production of an economy. Employed people, job seekers and enterprises looking for workers constitute the labor market. The contact between the suppliers of labor and businesses seeking human capital determines the salaries and wages that the employees are paid. It also dictates how many people will be employed. A major feature of the labor market is the role of the unique abilities and skills of everyone. Unique talents can be enhanced and changed through training and education so that the labor force becomes an evolving talent pool that businesses hire. Effective use of skills and training of people to meet emerging demands in the market makes the process of production more efficient. Another significant aspect of the labor market is the flexibility of its workforce.

Exploring The Illusion Of Conscious Will Philosophy Essay

Exploring The Illusion Of Conscious Will Philosophy Essay The experience of conscious will can be defined as the feeling that we are doing things, that we consciously cause our actions. However, this feeling may not be an accurate interpretation of what is happening in our minds, brain and bodies as our actions are produced. If we had access to a variety of information we could uncover the mechanisms that activate our behavior and we could explain why we are acting in a specific way. However, another way to explain our actions is that we consciously willed what we are doing. There is a confliction between the ideas of conscious will and psychological mechanism, having never been reconciled in a proper way. One solution for bridging the gap is that the explanation given from the mechanistic approach is preferred for scientific purposes, but that the persons experience of conscious will is very convincing and important to the person and must also be examined and be understood as well. Conscious will can be perceived in two ways. First, we can assume conscious will as the experience of consciously causing an action. This feeling of voluntariness or performing an action on purpose can be considered as an indication of conscious will. Secondly, we can think of conscious will as a force of mind, in other words, as the causal link between our minds and our actions. One might infer that this two interpretations of conscious will are corresponding to the same thing but it turns out that they are completely distinct and we are often tend to confuse them. This confusion is considered as the source of the illusion of conscious will. By examining conscious will as an experience it is concluded that will is a feeling. In other words, will is not consider as a cause or a force by itself but the personal conscious feeling of such causing and forcing. Also, this experience of willing an action is accompanied by a feeling of doing, which is an internal force that certifies genuinely that one has produced the action. Experiences of conscious will can only be confirmed by self- reports. The problem is that self- reports are not always corresponding with some other external evidence of the experience. There are several examples in which the experience of will does not seem to accompany actions that appear to be willed by other external factors. Considering the alien hand syndrome which is a neuropsychological disorder patients typically experience one hand as acting independently, in its own conscious intention. In this case there is a problem classing the alien hands movement as willed or unwilled. On the one hand the a ctions that are performed by the alien hand are seemed to be willful while on the other hand the person states that these actions are not consciously willed by himself. Another example in which the feeling of involuntariness is observed is hypnosis. People in this case feeling that their actions are happening to them rather than they perform the actions themselves. The only difference between hypnosis and alien hand syndrome is that in the second case the person cant predict what the hand will do but in hypnosis conscious will is lacking even though the person knows that the action is present. Considering these examples it is useful to draw a distinction between action and the sense of acting willfully. There are four basic conditions of human action. In the first two conditions we can observe the expected correspondence between the action and the sense of acting willfully. More specifically there is no controversy when a person does something and feels also that he is doing it or w hen a person is not doing anything and feels he is not. However, the case in which the person does not have the feeling of will when there is in fact action encompasses the examples of the alien hand syndrome and hypnosis. These instances can be classed as automatisms and draw a distinction between action and the sense of acting willfully. Another special case that highlights this distinction is the illusion of control. This term was used in order to describe instances in which people have the feeling that they perform an action when they actually dont do anything. This illusion of control can be observed in the interactions between humans and machines or when someone is rolling a dice or flip a coin in a specific way hoping to influence the outcome. Examining these two last conditions it is concluded that the action and the feeling of doing are not coexist inevitably. This might happens because the process of mind that produce the experience of will is different from the process of mind that produce the action itself. As it was mentioned before will is not only considered as an experience, but also as a force. Wegner states that conscious experience is an immediate perception of ones conscious mind causing an action. From this point of view will is considered as a quality of power that resides in the person and causes his or her actions. There are two fundamental problems arising from this concept. First, conscious will is considered as an entity that explains a variety of thing but nothing can explains it. In this way this entity cannot be examined in a scientific way because assuming that will is a force that causes a persons actions is like saying that God is causing an event. This is a barrier to any other explanation because it is not predictable what will is going to do as it cannot be said what God is going to do either. Secondly, the assumption that will is a force that resides inside the person creates further objections. As Hume pointed out causality is not an attribution inhering in obj ects. Another thing that was stated by Hume is that it cannot be seen causation in something, but must only be inferred from the constant relation between cause and effect. Causation is not a characteristic that is nestled in objects but an event. Thus it cannot be assumed that causation is an attribution of persons intention. It cannot be observed that an action is caused by ones conscious intention but it can only be inferred from the relation between the intention and action. One reason why people confuse the experience of will for a causal mechanism is because they try to make sense of themselves as causal agents. Most humans perceive themselves and the other people as entities that acting independently in order to achieve a future goal. The concept of causal agency is very important for people because it helps them understand in a deeper sense human action. Humans are considered to be agents that are acting in purpose and they have the capacity to discern their goals consciously in advance of action. Thus the experience of will seems to be a causal agent. People perceive their own minds as systems that have mental causing properties, as causal agents and in this way they need to accept that the experience of conscious will is real. 2. Theory of Apparent Mental Causation What are the mechanisms that give rise to the experience of conscious will? Why do people feel like they are doing things? Wegner states that the experience of consciously willing an action is departing when people interpret their own thought as the cause of their action. In this sense conscious will is experienced independently of any actual relationship between ones thoughts and actions. This perception of will usually arises when people think themselves before the action takes place and that produces the sense of agency. In other words people seem to see themselves as the authors of an action when they perceive relevant thoughts about this specific action in advance and in this way they tend to infer that their mental processes caused this action. However will is not perceived as s force that causes action but as a conscious experience that depicts weakly the actual causal connection between the persons cognition and action. In this way, there is a fundamental distinction between mental process and the perception and the verbal report of that process. The mental process does not reveal the person any further information about the mechanism of this process and in this case it may be that the person uses prior causal theories to explain his or her own psychological functions. The conscious will may depart from a theory that was formed in order to explain the constant relationship between thought and action. But many scientific findings support that conscious will does not reflect the real causal relation. In fact brain events are those that determine intention and action while conscious intention itself cannot cause action. According to many studies the feeling of will is not tied inevitably to voluntary action and so must be considered as a distinctive phenomenon. Wegner propose a model of mental system that explains how people end up having the experience of will which is consistent with various empirical findings. According to this model, there are a series of events that end up to a voluntary action. In this network conscious thought and action are activated by unconscious mental processes which are may be linked to each other. But the path that gives rise to the experience of will is not actual but apparent. More specifically, when someone believes that his conscious intention caused the voluntary action he is experiencing a sense of will, that he willfully caused the action. The problem is that the perceived conscious will is not always corresponding with the actual mechanisms that connect the thought and the action. In other words, the experience of conscious will is not an indication of the actual relation between the mind and the action. What is truly might be happening is that conscious will arises from a causal illusion, from a third variable that interferes. As it can never be drawn with certainty that A causes B because there is always exist a variable C that cause both of them, in the same way it is not certain that ones thought cause his actions because there are unconscious mechanisms that produce both of them. Wegners theory proposes that experience of will is arising when people infer that their thoughts have caused their actions, whether this inference is true or not. According to this people tend to infer that thought causes action when the principles of priority, consistency and exclusivity are fulfilled. First, the thought must be appear in consciousness prior to the action (priority) secondly, it should be consistent with the action (consistency) and finally there must not be other potential causes of the action (exclusivity). Studies have shown that the perception of causality is based on these principles in order to be established a relationship between the cause and the effect. In fact, these principles do not depict an actual causal relation because the perceptions of causality that are based on these principles arise from reality. In a nutshell, the theory of apparent mental causation assumes that the experience of consciously willing our actions is a construction. When a thought appears to be prior and consistent with the action and exclusive of any other alternative causes this construction produces the feeling that we are the authors of this action. However, this feeling is just an inference that our thoughts cause our action, not a direct perception of this causal relationship. 3. Why do we have the illusion? Why do people occupied with experience of intention if it is no causally effective? As we mentioned before conscious will departs from the interpretation that our thoughts cause our actions. In this way, apparent mental causation is produced by an interpretive mechanism that is completely different from the mechanistic process that forms the real mental causation. Thus, the experience of will is considered to be an indication that mind determines our actions, is the way that mind illustrates their functions to us, not their real functions. These prior thoughts that people have are not intentions that cause things but previews of what we may do. Wegner states that conscious will is the minds compass. More specifically is the experience that alerts our minds when actions are present and that these actions are the products of their own agency. Therefore the will is an indicator that informs us about the way we operate, does not cause our actions. Will also serve another purpose, is it a feeling that gives us information about our understanding of our own agency. In other words, it is an emotion of authorship and functions as a guide to ourselves and marks out our own functions. It informs us about who we are and what we are able to do. Finally, the most important thing is that will cultivates feelings about our responsibility for our actions and our sense of morality and guilt. 4. Empirical evidence Is free will exists? What is causing our actions? Libet (1999) had taken an experimental approach in order to give conclusive answers to these questions. In his empirical study, he found that free voluntary actions were preceded by the readiness potential RP, that is a specific electrical shift in the brain, that starts 550ms before the action. The awareness of the intention to act comes 350-400 ms after RP begins but 200ms before the action. Therefore, the processing of the voluntary acting was initiated unconsciously. In this way it can be drawn that if the brain initiate this voluntary action before conscious intention is appeared then consciousness is too difficult to be the cause of the action (Blackmore). However, the conscious processing can control the result if it veto the action and that confirms that free will cannot be excluded. It is supported that free will is not able to initiate a voluntary action but it can control it (Libet, 1999). Libet experiments had raised many philosophical and methodological problems. First of all, he has been critised Mele(book) tried to interpret Libet findings in an alternative way. According to him there is a crucial distinction between the concepts of deciding and intending on the one hand and other states such as wanting on the other hand. Libet uses the terms of intending, urging, wanting, deciding, willing alternatively without making any discrimination among them. In particular, in order to explain how does a specific intention for an action arises in the subjects he strongly claims that the brain decides to initiate or at least to prepare to initiate the act before there is any reportable subjective awareness that such a decision has taken place. Therefore, Libet believes that decisions are causing our actions and that this electrical shift that happens in our brains seems to be correlated with the causes of our actions because they precede of the muscle motion by approximately half a second. In this way the brain made the decision 500ms earlier before the subjects become aware of that. B ut this can lead to contradiction because decisions cannot be made without being conscious of them. According to Mele, deciding to do something is completely distinct from having an urge or wanting to do something. One might want to produce an action but finally not decide to do it. In this way it is more plausible that brain produces urges rather than decisions because urges correspond to an unconscious processing. Thereafter, this unconscious urges helps the decision to be generated in order for the act to be produced. As Libet point out the conscious self can control or permit or veto the final motor action by deciding to do so and in this case the decision to initiate the action is more direct from the unconscious urge that initiated the whole process. In this way the conscious self that is intending and deciding still has a causal efficacy.(mele) Trevena and Miller (2009) disproved Libets core assumption that the electrophysiological shifts of the brain that prepare the action, that are present before the subjects are consciously aware of making the decision to move, is not evidence that voluntary action is initiated unconsciously. It is also concluded that these signs are not related only with the preparation of the movement. In the experiment that it was conducted the researchers compared the electrophysiological sign before a decision to move with signs before a decision not to move and they found that there were no significant differences between the signs in the two conditions. In this way these signs are not in charge of preparing these movements. Thus, Libet findings dont prove that voluntary actions are initiated unconsciously.

Essay --

1. NAME OF THE SYSTEM E-Cab is a service of mobile Taxi application via online. 2. SUMMARY OF THE SYSTEM TO BE DEVELOPED E-Cab is a JoBa company, provide a complete taxi services using the latest equipment and technology to facilitate the travel of individuals in and around the Johor Bahru area. The value proposition is straight-forward for confirm your pickup point and order your cab with the press of a button. In seconds you’ll receive confirmation of the name, photo and car model/plate of your driver, and will be able to follow the vehicle’s location in real-time as it approaches you. You can save favorite addresses, check ride history and use many more features constantly being added. Since drivers are checked for compliance before joining the network, passengers do not need to worry about their safety and can simply enjoy their ride. E-Cab gives customers the opportunity to pay with a multitude of payment instruments. So, our customers can pay through debit and credit cards, account vouchers and also coupons. Other products being introduced are university student debit cards, private label cards, account cards, pre-paid single event cards and specialty payment cards. Our company pays our drivers and gives our customers a full account of their taxi transactions. As an added safety measure for both drivers and passengers, E-Cab cabs are fitted with Global Positioning Systems (GPS), which enable the cabs to be tracked or located in an emergency. All E-Cab taxi will be clean, well maintained, and inspected regularly for safety and comfort. E-Cab’s has a unique Global Positioning System (GPS) that pinpoints the nearing driver thus allowing the driver to give an accurate estimated time of arrival. The GPS will enable the company ... ... clean and tidy taxi, friendly and polite drivers, careful driving, most practical route taken, and drivers know more about maintenance/repair services. â€Æ' REFERENCES Easy Taxi. (2013). Easy Taxi: Your Taxi in One Clicks! Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Easy Taxi Web site: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=br.com.easytaxi Softusvista Inc. Venture. (2010-2013). Malaysia Taxi Auto Fare. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Taxiautofare.com: http://www.taxiautofare.com/my/Default.aspx The Atlantic Monthly Group. (2013). The Atlantic: Why You Can't Get a Taxi. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from The Atlantic Web site: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/why-you-cant-get-a-taxi/308942/ Wikipedia. (2013, June 25). Taxicabs of Malaysia. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_Malaysia

511 Midterm

511Part 1. Zomeworks: Four Decades of Design-Driven Innovation in the New Mexico Desert 1. )I believe that no, Zomeworks should not aggressively pursue the solar water heater market. I believe this for many reasons. Number one being that natural gas is one of the most abundant natural resources that the world has and if individuals are not being compensated for using a different technology then they will not change, it is sad, but it is reality. In today’s present society individuals do not like change nor do they like more expensive change.What I mean by that is it is quite expensive to have a solar water heater installed. I think that Zomeworks has a great opportunity to further maximize their current portfolio as long as they really start to focus on it. Zomeworks is a leader in Passive Solar Technology. I feel that this type of technology is not well known and that by pursuing the solar water heater market they are going to jump their innovative wave too soon. I think a go od indication of this is the fact that Zomeworks is producing products right here in New Mexico and I have not heard about them until this midterm.Zomeworks need to capitalize on the very valuable assets it has to offer. For example, Zomeworks Passive Solar Tracker is a great product for them to get their brand name recognized. While all of this is just my opinion I believe that in order to really make an educated analysis on whether or not Zomeworks should pursue the water heater market, the first thing I would look into is the overall goals of the outside investors, since they hold the majority stake in the company. I would want to look at the actual finances of the company.I would conduct research to find actual amount of quantities sold, revenues generated by each product type, and production costs associated with each product. In addition, it would be important to know the firm’s costs of optimizing its existing portfolio and its benefits against the costs and benefits i nvolved in focusing on the solar water heater market. Minimum Winning Game is defined as, â€Å"the first major market opportunity for a new technology that is limited enough to provide a clear target for the technology and product development efforts in the short to medium term and, nd sufficiently large enough to establish the foundation for the long term business and financial success. It requires iterative double linking process of understanding the business opportunity for the technology and linking that to technical priorities. † For example, a minimum winning game for Zomeworks would include many different facets. A winning strategy at Zomeworks would include further product and technological development that energizes and inspires its target consumer.The company knows that its target consumer base is mostly comprised of either â€Å"going green† supporters or those off the grid who require their specialized products. Zomeworks simply needs to use a more effecti ve strategy to communicate its message of â€Å"why† consumers should purchase its solar water heater. El Bulli accomplished the communication of its vision by highlighting an expression of innovation and a team that â€Å"constantly sought new techniques and new equipment with which to experiment†, rather than the message of running a restaurant to make money.Zomeworks needs to focus on redesigning the core meaning behind its entire portfolio before it can successfully expand its reach in promoting its solar water heater, Zomeworks currently caters to the niche buyer who has a definitive need for a solar product. If Zomeworks is going to expand into the consumer solar water heater segment, work needs to be done on communicating the environmental benefits of this product. A winning strategy at Zomeworks would include leveraging their customer target segments that show the most growth potential. . ) Full Credit Leadership is one of the key drivers in running a company. Leaders have many techniques and organizational structures to choose from depending on the type and size of the firm. When it comes to Zomeworks I think that an informal organizational structure and leadership technique would be the best. What I mean by informal organizational structure is the acceptance of input from all employees. Since Zomeworks is of a smaller scale they can afford the diverse inputs of their employees.While it is important for a business to have a structure in place as it grows, I feel a formal structure can have unique drawbacks while a company is still small. Employees in a startup business need to feel more like partners in the company's vision. Placing employees in rigidly defined roles when the company is small enough to ensure that all employees’ work together can create a rift in the relationship between business owners and employees, which can greatly affect the performance of the company.Strategic decision-making is generally more centralized in smaller organizations than in larger companies, again due to the relatively fewer number of managers found in small companies. What I mean by informal leadership is very well illustrated in the Monnalisa Clothing Case. â€Å"The founder is an essential element of our system of control,† says a Monnalisa product manager. â€Å"He knows when to feed the creative forces of the company or when to draw attention to critical production, financial, or quality indicators. As stated in the case, Monnalisa is a medium-sized Italian company that designs and sells clothes and accessories for children. Monnalisa is a great example of a company that has formal (results control) and informal (social control) mechanisms to manage its concurrent and ongoing need for creative design and efficient production processes. At Monnalisa, there’s no intention to limit creativity, but increasingly the company is trying to offer the stylists a minimum structure by running a series of internal meetings at the beginning of every collection.This collection briefing enables the team to define the objectives in terms of what to create (and its quality standards), when to create it (fashion weeks and availability at the shops for the beginning of the season dictate the timing), and at what target cost. Significantly, the company has introduced new software that allows the stylists to monitor the consequences of their creation(s) in financial terms (through cost cards) and in development terms (through technical cards) as ideas progress. With this tool, we don’t want to limit creativity at all—actually we want to maximize our creative potential and avoid the problems we had in the past when collections ended up to be incomplete on the shelves because we decided not to produce some low margin prototypes,† the CFO emphasizes. I think that for Zomeworks this type of managing between creativity and business would actually be pretty easy. Zomeworks management str ucture seems like it is very strong and they understand what each of their roles is.I think that the hardest part for Zomeworks would be the fact that the employees that work there are so smart and have so many different ideas that if would be hard keeping input to a minimum and explaining why management chose one idea over the other. 3. ) Full Credit Today, in order to be competitive it is essential to recognize the value of â€Å"knowledge† and to strive for an improved ROI and better management of your organization’s knowledge assets. Perhaps your organization has already recognized the value of the knowledge that it has spent its hard-earned capital to obtain.If so, you may already be taking steps to formalize the collection of valuable knowledge gained from experience and organizing knowledge in ways that benefit the entire organization. These new approaches are collectively referred to as â€Å"Knowledge Management†. â€Å"The fact is [knowledge managemen t and best practice sharing] is good for business. The faster and more effectively we can share ideas, the better we can make our product, the better we can serve our customers, the better we can build a committed team of employees, and—bottom line—the better we can earn profits for our shareholders. One way that Zomeworks can increase its internal knowledge capture and internal knowledge sharing is to build their collaborative competency. Collaborative competency is a firm’s ability to realign its internal resources and capabilities to the changing environment by leveraging on external resources and capability-acquiring mechanisms such as strategic alliances, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Zomeworks could greatly benefit from collaborating and sharing their passive solar technology.For example, lets say that Zomeworks collaborates with the company that is selling the majority of the solar water heaters in Europe. They could use this collaboration to learn fl aws that the Europe product might have or vis versa. Also, if they partnered with this European company their brand name would be out there more and this type of collaboration could eventually lead to a joint venture and the entrance into a new economy for Zomeworks. 4. )When it comes to the question of determining your target market you have to take into consideration what your product is and how your product is going to be used.Whether or not suburban residential southwestern United States is the right target market for the solar water heater is not the biggest concern for me. I think the bigger question to ask is, is it the only target market for the solar water heater and the answer is no, it’s not. I would agree that solar water heaters are more effective in the southwestern United States. I do not think, however, that the southwestern United States is the only target market to approach.If we again refer back to the scenario of just the Albuquerque area we know that the residents that live close to the natural gas lines are the residents that are going to be using gas water heaters because it is extremely cost effective. Therefore these individuals will have no financial incentive to give up their gas water heater for a solar water heater (refer to figure 1. ) The real target market for residential Albuquerque would be those residential areas that are further away from the gas lines since they are most likely using electric and propane heaters, which are around 10X as much to use than gas water heaters.Since customers are spending a lot more on electric and propane heaters they would be the best residential target market for the solar water heaters since even though the instillation of a solar water heater will be expensive in the beginning it will quickly earn its value compared to how much the resident owner was originally paying to operate an electric water heater. Figure 1 The key to remember is that there has to be a real problem that solar wa ter heaters solve in order to warrant mass adoption, something I don’t see happening in the United States, at least in today’s society.It appears that Zomeoworks is best positioned to pursue emerging markets, because these markets have conditions that produce problems that Zomeworks can solve. The Chotukool refrigerator further exemplifies the importance of having used a product to solve a problem. In rural Indian villages, traditional refrigerators were too expensive and an unreliable power source made them unconventional. The Chotukool merged the gap between having a functional and inexpensive refrigerator (something the Tata nano also did). Obviously this product would never serve as a primary cooling unit in the U.S. and I feel like solar water heaters fall into a similar category. The only target markets worth actively pursing are either idealists and those homeowners living off the natural gas line (self-centered). Since people with no gas lines typically use cos tly and inefficient electric and propane water heaters, installing a solar water heater would be a cost effective solution. The difference of course is that idealists have an emotional drive toward the product while those living off the natural gas line have a functional, self-centered need for the product. . ) I think that currently the company has a reserve the right to play strategy see figure 3 below. This means that the company invests enough to stay in the game, but avoid premature damages. This strategy may work for them now, especially since customers find them due to very little outside advertising, besides of course a magazine ad that targets the same consumers who are already are knowledgeable in the technology. Basically, Zomeworks is following a strategy aimed at maintaining production for the relatively localized and sporadic level of demand.I don’t see the company having as much potential by encroaching on the traditional energy market. Instead of adapting, Zom eworks needs to use a shaping strategy to redefine what it means to actually use solar. Lets face it, at the end of the day consumers are going to buy what they are most comfortable with and whatever is most popular. Incidentally the people making decisions for businesses act the same way. People want to be energy conscious consumers. Zomeworks needs to step into the wave and excite customers about the solar philosophy.How about designing a marketing campaign that shows which companies use Zoneworks products and how it has impacted the earth. This creates a popular group where individuals and businesses get social recognition for supporting rentable sources of energy. If I was going to make a shaping view for Zomeworks the biggest part would be for the based of Steve Baer’s philosophy. I think that Steve could have his engineers work quite diligently on producing a solar water heater that could be a leading example in the industry.It would set out and educate that population of what a big deal this type of technology is and how good it is for our world. I would really push advertising since we want to create a lot of demand. Figure 3 6. )B2C is defined as any business who sells primarily to the end customer while, B2B refers to any business who sells primarily to other businesses both online and offline. B2B markets are generally small vertical markets, often niche in size, comprised of a few thousand sales prospects to maybe as large as 100,000 prospects.B2C markets are typically large broad markets of tens to thousands to millions of sales prospects. I believe that Zomeworks should try a B2B approach instead of a B2C for the solar water heater market. I think that a B2B approach would be better for Zomeworks to pursue for many reasons. I think that the greatest reason that Zomeworks should go to B2B is to benefit their Research and Development department. If Zomeworks uses a big-box retailer to sell their products than it can increase the funding it h as towards R;D projects.If Zomeworks wants to have better product placement it needs to improve dealer relationships and further relationships with businesses that are possible customers. The benefit of using a B2B approach is that more effort can be spent on support and instillation, assuming that B2B results in a lower number of buyers. Instead of trying to cater to individual consumers, Zomeworks could appeal to servicing multiple needs of entire organizations and cultivating lasting relationships with its clients. Zomeoworks also needs to find a partner in the appliance industry.A reputable business partner would add credibility to Zomeworks and its products, and marketing multiple variants of its products would help diffuse solar technology into the market. Plus since brand identity in B2B markets is created through personal relationships and consultative selling with the other business Zomeworks doesn’t have to worry about product advertising. They can use the other bus inesses and resellers to do the marketing for them if they used the B2B approach. With their client base typically being repeat customers the transition would be easy. The lifetime value of a B2B customer is much higher due to the higher cost of sales and the likelihood of repeat or add-on sales to the same customer. † I think that with a B2B approach it would be easier to have multiple product configurations. I think that my having multiple product configurations Zomeworks is helping sell more of their product without the annoyance of pushing all of their products onto the customer, which in return could make them not want to buy the product since they will then be locked in. I elieve that by having a B2B approach it will help facilitate the diffusion of technology. I believe this because if you have many or even just another business selling your product they are able to advertise and speak to the value of the product. I believe that the one of the greatest ways to diffuse t echnology is to educate people of that technology. When individuals are fully educated on what the different products are used for etc. , they will be able to make an educated decision on whether or not the different products would be a right fit for them and their needs.The ever-changing market that is technology can very easily influence people, so by having resellers be able to answer questions and explain the products they are helping Zomeworks diffuse the technology. I think that a good example of a situation in where technology was diffused is in the example that Everett Rogers gives, â€Å"the implementation of water boiling to obtain higher health and wellness levels of the individuals living within the village of Los Molinas. † In this case the residents of the village have no knowledge of the link between proper sanitation and reduced levels of illness. In Los Molinas, a stigma is linked to boiled water as being something that only the â€Å"sick† or â€Å"u nwell† consume, and thus, the idea of healthy residents boiling their water prior to consumption was frowned upon, and those who did so wouldn't be accepted by their society. †3 Much of the reason for the lack of success is because the social norms and standards of acceptance into society greatly outweighed the idea of taking on this innovation. Zomeworks could also levarge what there target market should be in order to diffuse technology. With the proper market the customer base will be very accepting of this new technology.For example, bringing the technology to individuals that are very environmentally friendly. 7. )I believe that although Zomeworks is great at the R&D aspect of their company. I think acting as an R&D laboratory and licensing out technology and products would be a smart move for Zomeworks. They currently have a limited manufacturing layout (I am assuming since the one location is in Albuquerque), so switching to a pure R&D structure would be relativel y easy. If Zomeworks focused more on the R&D aspect of the business they could contract out to companies that would pay very well.TTTech faced a similar problem when deciding to either license out its time triggered system or become an engineering partner. The benefits of licensing its technology would be faster diffusion into the marketplace through various product variants. Its possible that firms would see alternative uses for Zomeowrks technology and products, just like how coolcell was designed because of a outside firms asking for a solution to cool batteries and increase there usable life. Another benefit of licensing includes focusing more on invention and innovation, which would help Baer diffuse his solar philosophy into a wider range of products.They could become a B2B company, which would free up the amount and time it would take set up stores everywhere and sell directly to the customer. I think that if Zomeworks handed over the sales operations to one or multiple compa nies then it would be a lot better off in the sense that it would really have the opportunity to perfect the products that it currently has and the time to invent new ones. I think that there are pros and cons to both solely being a R&D company or readjusting their sales strategy. I feel that with R&D come two main types.The first type of R&D is going to be the hardcore image processing and specialized stuff, which is giving you substantial competitive advantage. This is usually less than 5 percent of all the software developed, takes years, and gives you an edge and the ability to do projects others just won't or can’t do. For example, I currently am an intern at Sandia National Laboratories and the company performs a lot of WFO (work for others) and R;D research, but at the same time Sandia has corporate tools that they would not share with anyone simply on the fact that the knowledge an product are so valuable and crucial for the company.The second type of R;D can be descr ibed as general utilities written to spare time. For everything that falls under section one you have to be careful since this kind of stuff can either simplify the life of your competitors too much. To have in-house SW of this kind also usually means hiring a master in computer science or a genuine mathematician to actually develop it. For everything under section two you are doing a proactive disservice to the community by keeping these closed. You could spare a lot of people a lot of grief by giving them access to what you have, and get the same in return.The pros and cons of just revamping the sales process would be the fact that you would be able to monitor how your products are being sold and used. You could know that the purpose of your product is being used for what it is actually meant for. I personal feel that for Zomeworks I wouldn’t become solely an R;D company, but a lot of my attention would go to this aspect of my business. 8. )Steve Baer I believe is a very go od leader. He takes care of his employees and values the company’s vision and mission.A deeper meaning of Zomeworks’ products is that they present society with a decreased dependence on high technology, and therefore a more direct relationship with the sun and the natural world. â€Å"Industrialist, manufacturers, and scientists have made man so successful that he is becoming rude to nature. Let us not allow this. Engineers and businesses must lead the way a to good manners. With more energy, more experiment, and more study, man can spread throughout the universe while being polite to nature at home. Appropriate industry utilizing science will allow part of the earth to be left alone.Packing up to leave would show good manners. † I believe that the above quote really emphasizes what Steve Baer is trying to convey with the hidden meaning in Zomeworks’ innovative technologies. I believe the true meaning of the solar water heater is not that we can passively heat our water by ourselves, but is more about the idea of not subsidizing our natural resources mainly the sun in this case. I think it is greatly related to the fact that we should be able to take care of ourselves and if we continue to deplete the world of our natural resources then we are going to destroy our species.For Steve Baer I believe that the acceptance of the passive solar water heater would show that the world is moving towards a place where they are starting to appreciate the world around themselves. Zomeworks needs to communicate its products reliability and functionality in ways that support and augment high technology. A big question would be, how does one publicize the purchase of a water heater and how will they be socially rewarded for the purchase that sits hidden in the home.A water heater is much different than sporting a recycled water bottle or eco friendly clothing, but what if there was a way to publicize the product? 9. ) Full Credit When thinking about how Zomeworks could help the public in understanding its products I think that one of the first questions they should ask themselves is â€Å"who are our customers? † By asking themselves this question they put into perspective whether or not their customer will have any questions about their product. Usually Zomeworks customers are highly inquisitive individuals so making sure that their products are explained well is very important.Also, since many of the customers are returning customers they will want to be consistent on how they explain their products. The case illustrates to us that the potential United States solar water heater market is lower in comparison to foreign markets such as the European Union. Solar water heaters definitely have a positive public image, but public awareness is low due to poor publicity. If Baer does decide to produce his solar water heater he will definitely have to explain the benefits well enough so that the general public would be interes ted and want to purchase one.One way that Baer could inform the public on his products is through quick vignette tapings that he could easily post to his website or you-tube. I think that if Baer did want to pursue the solar water heater market he would have to explain the product to the public more. I think that he could easily do this without compromising his vision. He doesn’t have to offer bribes or subsidiaries in order to communicate the benefit that the solar water heater has to offer. He just has to explain how great the solar water heater is that way people will want to buy it on their own.I think that explaining the products better will actually help Baer in the selling of his products because to be honest people don’t want to buy something they know nothing about. I believe that no, Zomeworks should not expand into producing educational tools; I believe that the market is too small to make anything more than breaking even. Plus I think that if they were to e xpand into any other market they should shoot for what they are passionate about which is solar water heaters. Whether or not Baer’s water heater is an invention or an innovation is a good question.An invention is defined as, â€Å"A new device, method, or process developed from study and experimentation. † An innovation is defined as, â€Å"The act of introducing something new. †So in essence innovations lead to inventions. An innovation is the idea and invention is the creation and actual outcome of innovation. So based on what I understand the differences between the two to be I believe that the solar water heater is an invention that was based on the innovation of having a more direct relationship with the natural world. I feel that Zomeworks models a design process like Bang and Olufsens.It is very similar to a â€Å"Manhattan Project† type production place. Manhattan project design is a type of production development where many ideas are explored in parallel in early stages. It is a very design driven process. I think that the amount of controls in Zomeworks is pretty spot on. I think that everyone in the company shares the same values, which leads them stay on route to the mission. I don’t believe that Zomeworks engages their customers like Lego did. I think that they rely really on only the engineers and Steve Baer for the designs and input of the designs.I think that it would be very beneficial if Zomeworks did decide to leverage its passionate customer base. I think that by leveraging their customers they would be able to gather very innovative and diverse responses on their current products, or they could get ideas for new products. 10. ) I believe that Zomeworks’ innovations are not too radical for conventional houses. I think that the products they design are good for any type of house I think that their designs may be too radical for the conventional person.Conventional people don’t need the produc ts that Zomeworks produces. There is little incentive to buy a solar product that requires a labor-intensive expensive instillation, and periodic adjustment. Furthermore, its not likely that Zomeworks would be able to convince consumers to purchase multiple products to install in their â€Å"conventional homes†. Again, there is no problem conventional homeowners have that need to be solved with solar technology, unless they live off the grid or in an area with unreliable electricity, which is unlikely in the U.S. In today’s world there are all sorts of different people you have minimalists compared to the materialistic, you have the environmentalists compared to the contaminator. Zomeworks sell product not for the general public it sells products to a very specific kind of person and although the world in moving towards more an an eco-friendly environment there are still many people out in the world that will not buy Zomework products based on the fact that they are re ally not value added in a personal way.Unless there is a cost benefit to use these products Zomeworks is going to have a hard time appealing to the individuals who are just concerned about how it affects their personal bottom line. I think that Zomeworks should continue to sell their products to anyone who will buy them I think that there is definetly not a big enough market for Zomeworks to bring back the production of Zomes. What would be smart is to make Zomes available as an order to make strategy. You could order custom homes such as Lego did with the custom lego sets.This way you could personalize your Zome with all or none of the other Zomeworks products. I feel that Zomeworks would increase they sales of products quickly because everyone would want the most up to date Zome. 11. ) Zomeworks technology is different than a Nintendo game system or smartphone operating system. Zomeoworks cannot lease out the sun in the same way that Nintendo can demand money and incentives from g ame developers. If Zomeworks decided to sell its technology as a platform it wouldn’t work the same way as traditional â€Å"conventional† products.Whereas game system manufactures usually have tight controls over their platforms, Zomeoworks technology is not that advanced. Likewise, why would you give your technology away so that others can imitate your products? This is one reason why TTTech decided against leasing out its technology or even co-engineer products using its proprietary technology. The only product that I think Zomeworks could position as a platform are the Zomes. They could encourage architects to purchase their Zomes to build modern, environmentally friendly homes.Just like Apple pushed third party developers to come up with different Apps that individuals can download to their different Apple products. I think that Zomeworks should keep all the other products and possible just have re-sellers for them because I feel like the other products are what g ives Zomeworks their competitive edge. A winner-take-all strategy is defined as; a company – usually in a new space that is growing very quickly – should spend a lot of money today in order to achieve the top spot in market share, because they will likely keep that spot in the future.The polarization of winners and underperformers is intensifying. Once, a chief executive officer could claim that the performance of the industry, not the company, was the prime mover for stock prices. But with the advance of globalization and technology, companies whose products or service models have the slightest edge over the competition can quickly exploit that advantage. Investors are scrutinizing companies one by one, screening out those with merely average performance and investing the bulk of their money with the top one or two players in each arena.This phenomenon has created a â€Å"winner-takes-all† dynamic. There will be many companies who will destroy their companies i n the next 18 months by pursuing a winner takes all strategy. They will think they are doing what’s needed now to assure their future success. Instead, their reckless spending will exhaust their cash and they will likely find investors are too skeptical to keep giving them more money in the future. I don’t believe that the solar water heater market is a winner take all. I don’t believe this because although it is new space it isn’t growing quickly.The solar water heater product is going to have to be perfected before if can even become its own market. Yes, Zomeworks is going to be up against network effects in the because as time moves on competitors are going to start coming out to the woodworks in American and put peer pressure on Zomeworks to develop faster and develop a better product. Also, I believe that the R&D segment at Zomeworks is going to constantly be pushing themselves on different innovations to become the best solar water heater available. 12. )I think that Zomeworks has a very loyal customer base and really need to optimize the relationship between them.Zomeworks could even reward companies or individuals who buy their products by advertising a list of â€Å"socially responsible companies†. I think that Zomeworks could mimic the practices of Bang an Olufsen especially how Bang and Olufsen â€Å"think how their customer lives. † When you work with very specialized products you are not going to sell to that general public you are going to be selling to individuals that believe in the product just as much as you do. I feel that a very smart tactic that Zomeworks could use in order to leverage their customer base is to develop a loyalty program.All loyalty programs are unique, and they require ongoing and complex communications. If customers don’t understand a program or if the terms change, they will become disinterested at best or feel betrayed at worst. The characteristics of a good loyalty progr am might include: †¢ Clear benefits †¢ Achievable rewards †¢ Consistency †¢ Sustainability †¢ A feeling of appreciation †¢ Engagement †¢ Personalized, ongoing communications (print and electronic) †¢ Reward for referrals Loyalty programs in general are a huge opportunity for print and value-added services.These programs can be used for program planning, creative collateral development, customer support, or rewards and redemption management. In today’s market, success requires defining a targeted market, becoming an expert in understanding customers’ business issues, taking a cross-media approach to engaging customers’ clients, leveraging cross-media to drive interaction between print and electronic communications to improve and measure campaign response, and leveraging loyalty programs to generate ROI for you and your customers. I used to work for BCBG Max Azria, which is a high-end clothing store for women.Because our pri ce points were so high our sales greatly relied on the consistent client. This company uses a loyalty program and that is why I think they do so well. They make sure that every client that goes into the store is treated like a queen with a personal shopping experience. All of the clients at BCBG Max Azria always get first choice on sale merchandise. They do this by having events strictly for clients the day before the sale actually begins for the general public. Also, Zomeworks could give out samples of its technology in the form of small prototypes.Recall that G&B tested out its product experiments at religious festivals attracting thousands of people. After considerable excitement stewed among the participant, G&B used community members to distribute its Chiotokool in Godrej. Zomeowrks is not leveraging its current customer base or future customer base. Current customers need to be rewarded and leveraged to promote the products to untapped markets. 13. ) Full Credit I think that Z omeworks should create a business model for the solar water heater like the business model Tequila Mobile has.I think that a multi-sided would be the best choice for Zomeworks because it would allow them to have the best of all worlds. Their technological environmentally friendly products would prosper in this type of market. They would be able to have an R&D side that could sell solar water heaters to large industrial firms, and other large entities. They could supply solar water heaters to construction companies that are building homes and along with the solar water heater look into selling Zomes to the construction companies.To take that scenario a step farther Zomeworks could contract out interior decorating companies that can make household decorations (couches, desks, beds, etc. ) to fit nicely in the odd shaped Zomes. Some of the Indirect/Direct network effects that Zomeworks would run into are the having lower operational/overhead costs since re-sellers will take over the du ties of selling most of the items. They will also have lower advertising costs since the re-seller would take on those costs too. Also they would benefit from developing the Zomes and specialized products to equip the Zomes for example, the solar water heater.Users Traffic Partners 3rd Party Developers Billing Partners Multi-sided Platform 14. ) I think that Zomeworks would never use social media as a way to commercialize their water heater. I feel that Zomeworks could either greatly benefit or greatly suffer. Let’s talk about the negative aspect of using social media firkst. I think that Zomeworks would suffer greatly if they even tried to. I believe this because of the simple fact that Zomeworks is so against the use of high technology just because it is available to us.I think that if Zomeworks did try to use social media it would send the wrong message to the customers that know what Zomeworks believes in and stands up for. I will discuss below, the underlying causes of s ocial failures may be very different. Social failures represent opportunities for firms to step in and provide social functionalities that enable people to pursue new relationships or strengthen existing ties. Most of us are not accustomed to think about the social world in terms of social failures. We have been conditioned to think about the world in terms of the relationships and interactions we do have, rather than those we do not have.However, a moment’s thought will reveal that you may be facing some of these social failures yourself. Maybe you and your closest friend wish you could spend more time together, but you cannot, because you are separated by thousands of miles. Perhaps you and your dad wish that you could confide in each other more, but both of you are afraid of making the first move for the fear of being rebuffed by the other. When talking about Zomeworks I believe that social media would not solve any social failure besides advertising.When even considering advertising Zomeworks would have to consider the fact that they are a company that is completely against the use of high technology because the company believes that â€Å"high technology has disempowered us†. The company could come off hypocritical if the advertising choice they decide to use is one that involves the idea of high technology. On the beneficial side, Zomeworks use popular issues such as climate change to create a Facebook presence. Increasing exposure is not a joke. Zomeworks needs to make an emotional appeal to people and Facebook is the easiest way to communicate it.A lot of ideas could be generated for the R&D team at Zomeworks and real time demand information could be obtained by following the social media posts. Part 2. : Expressing the Terroir of Rioja 15. )If you refer to figure 3 on page 6 you can see that with a shaping view we are trying to take on the leadership role of deciding how an industry operates. The winemaker that I choose to make a shaping view for is Maria Jose Lopez de Heredia who runs the Marques de Murrieta Bodega. The reason that I picked Maria is the fact that I believe from the way she talks in the case to be very passionate about Rioja.I would want to base the shaping view on the fact that her grandfather was very modern and had the courage to change many of the historical and traditional practices of Rioja. I feel that she would be the most accommodating winemaker to challenge the process, which is the main goal of a shaping view. I think that it would be a good start to come up with a mission and vision, as well as the values that could be held by all in the industry. Our vision would center on keeping the traditional style of Rioja with bringing in modern flavors. Since there isn’t much research on the grapes the use to be used there would be a lot of rial and error. I think that from being a family member of one of the region’s most historic estates, the other bodega owners will most likely respect Maria and follow in the values that we set up for the industry. 16. )The term ‘dynamic' refers to the capacity to renew competences so as to achieve congruence with the changing business environment; certain innovative responses are required when time-to-market and timing are critical, the rate of technological change is rapid, and the nature of future competition and markets difficult to determine.Innovation occurs in a network of relationships between firms. Collaborative competency is a firm’s ability to realign its internal resources and capabilities to the changing environment by leveraging on external resources and capability-acquiring mechanisms such as (strategic alliances, acquisitions, and joint ventures. ) Nintendo’s strategy is open innovation. Open innovation is where you start optimizing your secondary talents that in return it creates a brand new market. So instead of competing head on, you bypass the other competitors by creating your own market.Dynamic marketing competencies enable firms to move into new territories by market sensing and technological shifts. Apple’s strategy is one of simplicity that was greatly fostered by the former CEO Steve Jobs who was probably one of the greatest visionaries ever. The company executed this strategy of simplicity by executing the timing of their products to the â€Å"T†. Also all of their products are capable of doing pretty much anything and all with just one button. I feel that I would use a mixture of those approaches.I would not fully commit to the idea of open innovation because I don’t think that it would be wise to leave the market of Rioja. It is not like a game console to where you can switch into different markets quite easily. I like the idea of using Apple’s competencies of innovation and superior quality. When markets are dynamic and ever-changing two things that you want to stay constant are your ability to always be innovative and the reputation of superior products. If I were a winemaker in Rioja I would reach out to the other Bodegas and see if any of them would want to start a strategic alliance.First off there is power in numbers and secondly you get access to more resources during all the different phases of development. 17. ) Full Credit The first scenario is that if I had a client that didn’t have a budget or didn’t care about the mass market I would want them to follow the business model of Elbulli. Elbulli didn’t care about anything except making the best most innovative meals and providing the most amazing experience. The only reason that I think my client should model the elBulli model is because money isn’t an option and the only thing that is a requirement is high quality.Elbulli has a very unique model in the sense that it isn’t about the bottom line, in fact ElBulli went out of business for a period of time and is now currently out of business again. Elbulli serv es this meal that is worth at least 800-1000 euros but is only charging 230 Euros, why is that? Ferran Adria the owner and top chief of Elbulli says it isn’t about the money it is about the customers and what they get out of the experience. Adria also teaches many culinary students how to develop this menu throughout most of the year. My client would manage the organization and their innovation strictly by creativity.I think that my client would express the Rioja Terrior in a very positive light since their whole process is run by passion. The second scenario is that my client wanted to be â€Å"born global† and compete internationally in the mass market I would recommend that they run their business like nano. My client could make a first mover advantage into different foreign markets. The first step in this move is they would have to conduct a lot of research in order to determine the different demographics that they would be selling to. Different individuals have di fferent taste buds for wine.They would have to know about the different market drivers for each area. I think that their attitude toward expressing Rioja terrior would vary depending on which foreign market it chooses. I think that yes the same company could operate with both of the two preceding goals. I think that it would probably be more difficult but that it could be done. All the company would have to do is be able to be both creative and structured. I think that if a company did decide to operate with both goals the leader of the company would have to know the happy medium between how to lead with creativity and structure.This company that wants to operate with both of the two preceding goals would want to follow the business model of Monnalisa. Monnalisa is a great example of a company that has formal (results control) and informal (social control) mechanisms to manage its concurrent and ongoing need for creative design and efficient production processes. At Monnalisa, there ’s no intention to limit creativity, but increasingly the company is trying to offer the stylists a minimum structure by running a series of internal meetings at the beginning of every collection. 18. I don’t think that the expression of terroir should be limited by tradition, but I do think that it should be tied to regional identity. Terroir is a traditional view, but I think that when things get stuck in tradition they loose innovation and change is good. I think that terroir has been limited by tradition and that is probably why there are so many arguments between the different bodegas because some are ready to accept the change and some are not. I do think that terroir should be tied to regional identity because along with regional idea comes culture and along with culture comes values.When the Rioja winemakers have the same values it would be easier to discuss issues that might arise in the industry as a collective group. Yes, I believe that the marketplace shoul d determine which expressions of terroir are â€Å"classic†. The reason that I think this should be the case is because there is no one else more suited for judging what is â€Å"classic† or not than the actual individuals that are involved in the market. You would never ask clothes salesmen to change your oil just as you would never ask a mechanic to judge you wine. I think that the authority of this decision should be given to the local market.I also believe that terroir should be combined with â€Å"locally produced† I think that by giving your product a local background it adds to the value. For example in the Zomeworks case how they refused to offshore their production. By being made in the U. S it showed how much Zomeworks cares for the local community. I think that it would be wise to have a board of directors for the Rioja and they could meet and discuss what the breakdown of payment should be, but if all of the Rioja territory is going to be considered â€Å"locally produced† then they all need to make the necessary payments.Just because a market is transnational, doesn’t mean that the expression of terroir should be transnational. I don’t think that by selling your product internationally you have to give up your cultures identity. 19. ) Full Credit Terroir is concerned with the relationship between the characteristics of an agricultural product (quality, taste, and style) and its geographic origin, which might influence these characteristics. The concept of terroir is frequently used to explain the hierarchy of high-quality wines. It can be defined as an, â€Å"interactive ecosystem, in a given place, including climate, soil and the vine. To understand the way terroir functions, it is essential to take into account the interactions among the factors that contribute to terroir. While very high quality wines are grown in various climates, it is impossible to define the ideal climate for fine wines in terms of temperature, rainfall (amount and distribution), or solar radiation. Nor can one define the best possible soil for growing high-quality wines in terms of pebble, clay or lime content, soil depth or mineral content. These factors of the natural environment have to be considered in terms of their interaction with the vine.Human factors, such as history, socioeconomics, as well as viticulture and oenological techniques, are also part of terroir. I believe that the actual managing of the terroir is a technology and a process, but I do not believe that the expression the terroir is a technology. The expression of terroir to me is more of a value that in engraved in the local community and culture. I think that terroir should be both expressed and managed. This could also relate back to Apple. While simplicity is the company’s strategy on how they execute their products it is also a vision for their company.It’s the belief that this is how they execute and will always execu te. Same goes for terroir, it is much more than just managing the land a certain way. It is an expression of local history. 20. ) Full Credit Are the denominacion de origen and France’s appellation d’origine controlee effective examples of regulation. Products labeled Denominacion de Origen, apart from being of superior quality, are expected to carry specific characteristics of geographical region or individual producer and be derived from raw materials originating within the region.Like most of these designations, a fundamental tenet of a DO label is that no product outside of that region is permitted to bear the name. I believe that yes the denominacion is a good/effective way of regulation I just don’t believe that there will be any such regulation that will help the winemakers at Rioja. Each winemaker is always going to believe that they have the superior product no matter what regulation is being used. I think that the government has gotten involved enough on the regulation aspect.I feel that regulation or no regulation the marketplace is going to always have its own view. I feel that a simple solution of an unbiased tasting took place. Even with that thought I feel that every individual has very different tastes which could again not provide a solution to this ever heated debate. Another way the this matter could be resolved is from the article Peer Power, from Potholes to Patents, â€Å"For two centuries, we have lived in a mass society defined by passive consumption, vast corporate hierarchies and the centralized control of state power.Those organizations didn't seem artificial to us because we couldn't imagine alternatives. But now we can. Peer networks are a practical, functioning reality that already underlies the dominant communications platform of our age. They can do things as ambitious as writing a global encyclopedia or as simple as fixing a pothole. † The bodegas could start a peer-networking group that could listen to the problems that the Rioja territory is having and come to an unbiased solution. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. scribd. com/doc/61931601/Minimum-Winning-Game [ 2 ].Susan Elliott, â€Å"American Productivity & Quality Center Conference Attendees Discover the Value and Enablers of a Successful KM Program,† Knowledge Management in Practice, Issue 5, December 1996/January 1997, p. 1 [ 3 ]. http://www. mymarketingdept. com/comparing-b2b-versus-b2c-marketing/ [ 4 ]. Rogers, E. â€Å"Diffusion of Innovation† 1962 [ 5 ]. Baer, S. Appendix 1 [ 6 ]. http://www. answers. com/topic/invention [ 7 ]. http://www. answers. com/topic/innovation [ 8 ]. SEGUIN, G. (1986) ‘Terroirs’ and pedology of vinegrowing, Experientia, 42, 861–873. [ 9 ]. Johnson, S. Peer Power, from Potholes to Patents. 2012

Symbols in to Kill a Mockingbird/Bless Me Ultima

Mockingbirds: The mockingbird is a symbol that is used to show the idea of innocence. A mockingbird brings nothing but good with its’ beautiful songs, so if you kill a mockingbird it is a sin because it is so innocent. Boo Radley is often connected to the mockingbird because he is innocent in his situation and it is wrong for people to assume bad things about him when they do not really know him, and he is slowly destroyed by the people of Maycomb throughout the book.The Mad Dog: Tim Johnson was a dog infected with rabies that needed to be put down. The dog is a symbol of racism in the novel. Racism is getting out of control (just like the dog), and it needs to be put to a stop. Atticus shoots the dog to put him down but racism is a harder challenge to try and defeat. Atticus has to do things he doesn’t want to, like killing a dog and facing the court room. Bless Me Ultima: Rudolfo Anaya Ultima’s Owl: Ultima’s owl represents Ultima’s life in animal form. Related article: Arguments Made in Take the Tortillas Out of Your PoetryThe owl that sings to Antonio every night comforts him during his dreams. This is just like how whenever Ultima is around Antonio he feels at ease. When Tenorio kills the owl, Ultima soon dies after because her animal force was killed. The Virgin of Guadalupe: The statue in this novel represents forgiveness and understanding. Whenever Antonio feels troubled he turns to the statue. The statue accepts Antonios failures and always forgives.

Knowing Your Audience When Choosing a Magazine Topic

Knowing Your Audience When Choosing a Magazine Topic There are as many magazines as there are special interests and nowhere is this more evident than the magazine racks of your local major bookseller. You can find magazines about gardens, magazines about guns, magazines about guns and gardens, and just about everything in between. So if youre a freelance writer, how do you get your foot in the door of an industry with such a wide variety of published topics and actually make good money at it?The answer is simple: find an audience you know well and write for them.Knowing your audience is one of the top qualifications for writing for a particular magazine- right up there with being a decent writer. If you know the audience, everything concerning voice, tone and content will fall into place naturally for you.Below are the primary considerations you should make when choosing the audience for which you want to write, and the concepts you should keep in mind when choosing a topic, tone and writing style for that audience.DemographicsDemograp hics play a major role in many magazines success or failure. Without the right demographics in a publications readership, the magazine risks failure from the onset. Thats why marketers for the magazines advertising sales will be focusing on demographics before the magazines first issue even goes to print.Demographics concentrate on the age, location, marital status, income level, education level and even racial profile of the magazines readership. With ads targeting a particular demographic (for example, college-educated, professional, single African American women), the magazine can ensure that those ads reach the right audience through careful attention to content that will attract that demographics interest. Editors are less likely to accept content that might not appeal to the magazines readership for this reason alone- its truly all about money and it has to be. Without the ad sales to companies wishing to target a particular demographic, most magazines cant stay afloat financi ally. Its all a simple matter of numbers and audience appeal, regardless of how riveting your content might be.TrendsFocusing on trends within a particular demographic is a great way to determine the type of content the editor of a magazine would be most likely to accept and approve for publication. One easy way to do this is to find a magazine that contains ads and content focused on your own demographic, whatever that might be. No one is better aware of demographic trends than a person within that demographic, because you know what interests you and your friends. You know what your demographic is doing, talking about, tweeting about, posting about or passing time with on a day-to-day basis. That knowledge gives you the unique qualification of writing for your own demographic effortlessly.For this reason, many freelancers begin their search for publishing venues by querying the magazines they read, themselves. This puts you in a unique place of knowing the content and knowing the a udience well, since you have been reading the magazine for some time and are familiar with the type of articles they tend to run.However, the downside to this is that focusing on a magazine with a large, established readership makes querying more difficult. Such magazine editors receive hundreds of queries per day and yours will inevitably end up at the bottom of a line of emails or a stack of mail that might not be answered quickly. A delay like that is enough to put the damper on any freelance writers dream of being published in a magazine, which brings us to the third point†¦Size mattersIf you take a moment to look at the magazines provided for free at local restaurants or grocery stores, youre likely to find a few upstart regional magazines that have a broader demographic readership base and are more willing to answer your query quickly. These smaller publications often pay freelancers a reasonable rate, although it might not be quite as high as the larger publications pay. If you are seeking a way to get published often and build a portfolio, however, the smaller publications are just the ticket. The editors running them are often more willing to hire local and a few feature assignments could easily turn into a steady gig writing a regular column or section for these types of magazines. The demographic focus is almost always broad (an audience within your region), so you already know what that audience wants to read.This should in no way keep you from querying the big guys. Youll still have the opportunity to focus on your dream of being published in a national or international publication, even if youre writing more for a small, regional one. In fact, if you go this route, youll have a lot more publishing credit under your belt when querying the larger magazines and a lot more experience with the process, allowing you to fine-tune your skills and eventually get published in the magazines you prefer.Grow with your audienceThe most significant factor y oull discover about choosing the right audience is that as a freelance writer, youll tend to grow with your audience if you focus on the right things. If there is a particular topic that your expertise particularly shines in, keep writing about that topic and submitting your writing to magazines, even the smaller, regional ones. If no magazine wants the article, start a blog and place those articles there, allowing it to be a sort of personal interest portfolio space for you that shows your most quality writing. Youll find that time spent writing those pieces is not wasted, regardless of where it is published, and you will start to gather a growing audience that is also interested in that niche topic- even if its through a blog. This same audience will be anxious to read anything you write and isnt that the point of writing in the first place?

Crisis on America essays

Crisis on America essays September 11, 2001 marked a day which will live in emphamy. Four domestic air carriers were hijacked by terrorists. Two were crashed into the World Trade Center Towers, one to the Pentagon, and one in Pennsylvania. Now the United States is known for being a state of freedom and unity, but were we too vulnerable and to open to this attack believed to be by Osama Bin Laden. The reasons for the attack on America are lack of security, the element of suprise, and a strong belief in freedom. First, the reason for the attack on America was a lack of security. Statistics have began to show that their is more security on international flights than on domestic air carriers. Obviously the terrorists studied this piece of information and was able to plan from it. Statistics and tests from the goverment have also proven that security sometimes judge people on how they look and decide whether they should check them or not. And buy this method, some of the goverment officials were able to slip by with knives and box cutters too. So should we blame the security for this traumatizing crime? I dont believe thats for us to decide. But we can state as a main factor that the reason for the attack on America was a lack of security. Secondly, the reason for the attack on America was the element of surprise. Lets just be truthful, The United States believed that this could never happen. We spend so much time helping other countries and continents that we left ourselves open to anything. And It just so happens that someone finally took advantage of that openess. Through years of planning and being taught in our country, terrorists were able to manipulate metal detectors and board airplanes with boxcutters and knives and hijack them. But not only did they hijack them, they took out the transponders and were able to fly the machines into what ...

Genie Wiley, the Feral Child

Genie Wiley, the Feral Child Genie Wiley (born April 1957) was a severely neglected and abused child who was discovered and taken into custody by authorities when she was 13 years old. While her circumstances until that point were undeniably tragic, they also presented an opportunity for psychologists, linguists, and other researchers to study psychosocial, emotional, and cognitive development in an individual who had suffered from severe social isolation and deprivation. In particular, the discovery of Genie presented an opportunity to study whether a child who was past the so-called critical period for language acquisition could learn to speak a first language. Key Takeaways: Genie Wiley Genie Wiley was abused and neglected for over a decade until she was discovered in 1970 when she was 13 years old.Known as the feral child, Genie became an important subject of research. Of special interest was whether she could acquire language, as she was no longer within the critical period for language development.Genies case presented an ethical dilemma between prioritizing her care or prioritizing research on her development. Early Life and Discovery The case of Genie Wiley came to light on November 4, 1970. Genie was discovered by a social worker when her mother, who was partially blind, went to apply for social services. Genie had been isolated in a small room starting at the age of 20 months until her discovery at 13 years and 9 months old. She spent most of her time naked and tied to a potty chair where she was given limited use of her hands and feet. She was completely cut off from any kind of stimulation. The windows were curtained and the door was kept closed. She was only fed cereal and baby food and wasn’t spoken to. Although she lived with her father, mother, and brother, her father and brother would only bark or growl at her and her mother was only permitted very brief interactions. Genie’s father was intolerant of noise, so no TV or radio was played in the house. If Genie made any noise, she was physically beaten. Portrait of Genie Wiley. Bettmann / Getty Images Upon her discovery, Genie was admitted to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for evaluation. She was severely underdeveloped. She was thin and looked like a child of six or seven. She couldn’t stand up straight and could only walk with a hunched â€Å"bunny walk.† She was unable to chew, had trouble swallowing, and spat frequently. She was incontinent and mute. At first, the only words she recognized were her name and â€Å"sorry.† Testing shortly after she came to the hospital revealed that her social maturity and mental abilities were at the level of a one-year-old. Genie didn’t walk at a normal age, so her father came to believe she was developmentally disabled. However, the researchers brought onto the case after Genie’s discovery found little evidence of this in her early history. It appeared she never suffered from brain damage, mental disability, or autism. Therefore, the impairments and developmental delays Genie exhibited upon being assessed were the result of the isolation and deprivation she was subjected to. Both of Genie’s parents were charged with abuse, but Genie’s 70-year-old father committed suicide the day he was supposed to appear in court. The note he left said, â€Å"The world will never understand.† The Rush to Research Genie’s case drew media attention as well as great interest from the research community, which considered it a rare opportunity to discover whether it was possible for Genie to mentally develop after such severe deprivation. Researchers would never deliberately conduct deprivation experiments with people on moral grounds. So, Genie’s sad case was ripe for study. Genie was not the child’s real name, but the name given to the case in order to protect her privacy. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) provided funding for research and a team was assembled whose goal was to rehabilitate and study Genie’s progress. Genie soon learned basic social skills like using the toilet and dressing herself. She was fascinated by her environment and would study it intensely. She especially enjoyed visiting places outside the hospital. She was talented at nonverbal communication, but her ability to use language did not proceed rapidly. As a result, psychologist David Rigler decided to focus the research on Genies language acquisition. Language Acquisition The discovery of Genie coincided with a debate about language acquisition in the scholarly community. Linguist Noam Chomsky, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, claimed humans are born with an innate ability to develop language. He believed language isn’t acquired because we learn it, but because it’s part of our genetic inheritance. Then, neuropsychologist Eric Lenneberg added a caveat to Chomsky’s ideas. Lenneberg agreed that humans are born with the ability to develop language, but suggested that if a language wasn’t acquired by puberty, it might never be. Lenneberg’s proposal was called the â€Å"critical period hypothesis.† Yet, there was no ability to test the theory until Genie came along. Within the first seven months after her discovery, Genie learned many new words. She had even begun to speak but only in single words. By July 1971, Genie could put two words together and by November she could put together three. Despite  signs of progress, Genie never learned to ask questions and she didn’t seem to understand the rules of grammar. After beginning to speak in two-word phrases, normal children experience a language â€Å"explosion† a few weeks later in which speech develops quickly. Genie never experienced such an explosion. Her speech seemed to plateau at creating two to three-word strings, despite four years of additional work and research with her. Genie demonstrated that it’s possible for an individual to learn some language after the critical period. Yet, her inability to learn grammar, which Chomsky believed was key to human language, indicated that passing the critical period was detrimental to the complete acquisition of a first language. Arguments and Ethical Considerations During Genie’s treatment, there  were disputes amongst the members of her team. In the early days after her discovery, she entered her first foster home with her teacher Jean Butler. Butler claimed she felt that Genie was being subject to too many tests and attempted to make changes to Genie’s treatment. She wouldn’t allow the linguist Susan Curtiss or the psychologist James Kent into her house to see Genie. Other team members claimed Butler thought she could become famous through her work with Genie and didn’t want anyone else to get credit. Butler’s application to become Genie’s permanent foster parent was rejected about a month later. Psychologist David Rigler and his wife Marilyn stepped in and fostered Genie for the next four years. They continued to work with her and let others continue their research throughout that time. However, Genie left the Riglers’ home after NIMH stopped funding the project due to problems with data collection. Throughout the four years in which Genie was being tested and studied, there was debate about whether she could be a research subject and a rehabilitation patient at the same time. The ethics of the situation were murky. In 1975, Genie’s mother regained custody after being acquitted of all charges of child abuse. Genie’s care quickly became too much for her to handle, though, so Genie began to bounce from foster home to foster home. She was once again subjected to abuse in those homes. Soon, she stopped talking and refused to open her mouth entirely. Meanwhile, Genie’s mother filed a lawsuit against Genie’s team and the Childrens Hospital alleging that the researchers prioritized testing Genie over her welfare. She contended that they pushed Genie to the point of exhaustion. The case was eventually settled but the debate continues. Some believe the researchers exploited Genie, and therefore, didn’t help her as much as they could have. However, the researchers say they treated Genie to the best of their ability. Historian and psychologist Harlan Lane points out that â€Å"theres an ethical dilemma in this kind of research. If you want to do rigorous science, then Genies interests are going to come second some of the time. If you only care about helping Genie, then you wouldnt do a lot of the scientific research. So, what are you going to do?† Genie Today Genie is believed to be alive and living in an adult foster home as a ward of the state of California. While the linguist who worked with Genie, Susan Curtiss, has attempted to get in touch with her, she’s been repeatedly rebuffed. However, she said that when she calls the authorities, they inform her that Genie is well. Yet, when journalist Russ Rymer saw Genie at her 27th birthday party, he painted a much bleaker picture. Similarly, psychiatrist Jay Shurley, who was at Genie’s 27th and 29th birthdays, claimed Genie was depressed and had withdrawn into herself. Sources Cherry, Kendra. â€Å"Overview of Feral Child Genie Wiley.† Verywell Mind, 9 March 2019. https://www.verywellmind.com/genie-the-story-of-the-wild-child-2795241Pines, Maya. The Civilizing of Genie. Teaching English Through the Disciplines: Psychology, edited by Loretta F. Kasper. Whittier Publications, 1997. http://kccesl.tripod.com/genie.htmlNOVA. Secret of the Wild Child. PBS, 4 March, 1997. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2112gchild.htmlFromkin, Victoria, Krashen, Stephen, Curtiss, Susan, Rigler, David, and Rigler, Marilyn. The Development of Language in Genie: A Case of Language Acquisition Beyond the Critical Period Brain and Language, vol. 1, no. 1, 1974, pp. 81-107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(74)90027-3Carroll, Rory. Starved, Tortured, Forgotten: Genie, the Feral Child Who Left a Mark on Researchers. The Guardian, 14 July 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/14/genie-feral-child-los-angeles-researchers

BMW's Market Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

BMW's Market Strategy - Essay Example As such, BMW’s market strategy will be evaluated and analyzed for optimal performance. Pros and cons of BMW’s market strategy BMW has been a leading auto manufacturing company that has maintained its niche market leadership through strategic market plans. The target segmentation and highly creative advertising have been its major elements of success. BMW has introduced different variants of its luxury cars to cater to the different segments of the market. The selective target marketing has helped it to exploit the requirements of people coming from myriad backgrounds. With the evolving times, people’s purchase behaviour underwent dramatic changes. While initially social class represented the high end BMW cars, consumers’ changing demands, vis-a-vis design variety, size, price, and style choices became the major factors in buying decisions. BMW started with 3, 5, and 7 series that only varied in size and not design. But 1980s was distinct in its populace of baby boomers, yuppies, and other fast upcoming segments of the market; the representatives of these segments had money to flaunt and expected new products and services from manufacturers. ... Shultz (2001) strongly believes that it is the end-users who now control the markets rather than the marketers. The fast changing demography of increasing pluralistic society has significantly impacted the market strategy. The socio-psychological paradigms have emerged as crucial elements that influence buying decisions. Personal choices representing people’s changing social status and family compulsions have become important issues. Indeed, according to Assael (1998), family is considered to be the most important consumption and decision making unit. A big comfortable family sedan may be required by affluent families for their family outing, or sleek and sophisticated fast paced machine may be the choice of new breed of young turks. The BMW’s decision to develop more categories within its various series was, therefore, not only necessary but also an extremely important ingredient of its strategic plans. It helped to penetrate new market and maintain its competitive adv antage in the market. Moreover, consumption pattern and lifestyle are intrinsically linked to the changing cultural paradigms in the contemporary environment of rapid globalization. Ennis (2009) argues that culture impacts the changing lifestyle of people and, consequently, influences their consumption pattern of the product. It is especially true for persons who are the main decision makers and control the finances. Furthermore, Kotler, Brown et al. (2010) assert that in the contemporary environment of globalization, brand creation and brand equity hugely facilitate in maintaining competitive leverage as the products are same. The brand provides the customer with a quality product which satisfies his or her needs and establishes a market