ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The global automotive industry faces increasing competitive pressure to diversify into eco-friendly car models that meet sustainability demands/policies. The purpose of this report is to analyze Tesla’s strategic plan of technological leadership in the energy segment to strengthen its competitive position. The report begins with an overview of Tesla’s products/services, competitive strategy, and financial performance. The next section will involve an in-depth analysis of the automaker’s strategic/competitive position – internal and external environments – using SWOT analysis. Subsequently, Tesla’s overall strategy and recent strategic initiative will be analyzed and a conclusion based on the findings provided. Company Overview Products/Services Tesla is a vertically integrated American automaker producing electric vehicles (EVs) with the potential to replace gasoline-powered vehicles. The firm designs manufacture and sells electric vehicles through its subsidiaries in N. America, Asia, and Europe (Tesla, 2017). Its main electric cars include high-performance and stylish Model S sedan and Model X SUV installed with an autopilot functionality (Tesla, 2017). Tesla also launched a low-priced sedan model that will be released for mass consumption by the end of 2017. There are also plans to produce commercial electronic vehicles in the future. The EVs superior benefits include recharging flexibility, high-performance (autopilot software), and better energy efficiency than hybrid cars. In the energy segment, Tesla provides energy storage systems (lithium-ion batteries) for residential and business premises. Examples include the small-capacity Powerwall 2 suitable for home use and the high-capacity (200kWh) Powerback system designed for industrial use (Tesla, 2017). It also offers proprietary solar energy systems and dual motor power trains to other automakers, namely, Daimler and Toyota (Stolze, 2015). Strategy for Attaining Competitive Advantage Firms can pursue any of the five generic competitive strategies – low-cost provider, broad differentiation, best-cost provider, focused low-cost provider, or focused differentiation (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, & Strickland, 2015). Tesla utilizes a focused differentiation strategy that entails targeting the high-end market (middle and upper-income clients) through high-performance EVs fitted with unparalleled autopilot systems. Tesla Model S car retails at a premium price compared to Nissan or Ford models. A focused differentiation strategy is characterized by a narrow market niche with product features tailored to client needs/preferences (Thompson et al., 2015). Tesla is committed to providing EVs and energy storage systems and does not compete in other market segments. In the energy sector, Tesla’s innovative offerings include battery systems and solar energy systems. The basis for Tesla’s competitive advantage lies in a strong in-house R&D department (over $900m invested) that develops innovative designs and proprietary technologies (Tesla, 2017). Other
The courts in the three cases do not interfere too much with private ordering. Instead, the cases indicate the connection between private ordering and public ordering—both should be legally guided. In Joanne Strawn v. John B. Canuso, for example, the court determined that the State of New Jersey did not have a specific statute that guarded or interpreted the issue of caveat emptor, which the plaintiffs had relied on as their defense. The judges first guided the court into understanding the origins of caveat emptor and why it would no longer apply in the issue at hand before suggesting a review of the applicable rule. The actors in the industry, therefore, would be guided by the decision to consider revising the disclosure rules, which will eliminate the impositions of caveat emptor in the future. However, such would have been impossible without public ordering. In Clifton Jones et al. v. Star Credit Corp., the judges also tackled the issue of caveat emptor and guided the court to understand the need for having contractual terms that would maximize benefits for the poor and illiterate instead of taking advantage of their situation to exploit them financially, as the court found of the defendant. The judges did not set any standard procedure or contractual terms, which means that the issue was up to private ordering. In Jacob & Young’s Incorporated v. George E. Kent, the judges also guided the court into determining circumstances that would warrant a review of contract laws. The three cases collectively point at the possibilities of public ordering being applied to formulate laws that would better promote the wellbeing of contracting parties in the wake of growing legislative challenges that are industry-specific. Differences between Edgewater and Riviello Cases The approaches differed in the fact that while in Edgewater the judges interpreted whether by being found in a motel room at the time of the alleged incidence the employee was acting in the scope of his work. The court advised that in determining vicarious liability, it was necessary to first understand if the defendant was acting in the interest of his employer. The judges found that indeed, the client had checked into the motel room to fill his expense account, which affirmed the argument. During his time at the motel, he engaged in negligent cigarette smoking, which caused a fire that damaged a section of the building. Therefore, the court found that while the defendant had been in the building for agency issues, it would not shift the whole blame of his actions to the respondent since his negligent smoking was outside the scope of his professionalism. Contrarily, the court did not need to ascertain whether the defendant in Riviello was acting in the interest of his employer. Instead, the judges wanted to determine if the employer would be held liable on account that the activities of the employee had deviated from his standard workplace procedures or whether he would have f
In their article, He, Chen, Wang, Guo, and Zheng assessed the relative significance of paternal and maternal education on children with disabilities (1-10). The noteworthy association involving every parent’s contribution portrays that the connection is robust over about two decades irrespective of the variation in values for every variable. The information in the article is helpful for parents of children with disabilities and other parents since it assists them in appreciating the significance of each parent’s education in lessening the incidence of child disability. This signifies that policymakers ought not to just mull over reinforcing health systems to offer quality services but also take into consideration the social aspects of child fitness, for instance, educational achievement amid parents. The mistreatment of children, particularly the physically disabled, is a global problem that has severe lifetime effects (Jumma and Çerkez 527-532). Children with disabilities are threefold highly probable of suffering mistreatment from parents when judged against their able-bodied counterparts. The outcomes of the study illustrate the difference between maltreatment of children with boys having a higher susceptibility than girls. Divorced parents have a higher possibility of mistreating disabled children than married parents. The study could be used to help tackle the challenges encountered by parents of children with disabilities and other parents, especially the ones divorced, in an effort to reduce the prevalence of maltreatment among disabled children. Studies across the globe have established that parents encounter a range of negative impacts while giving care to children with intellectual disabilities, encompassing a high rate of stress and the possibility of depression and anxiety (Kimura and Yamazaki 455-458). This stress poses a great burden to parents and has a severely negative influence on disabled children. A child with an intellectual disability has a higher probability of experiencing violence when judged against one with any other disability. The article is helpful as it creates a vivid explanation of the problem faced by parents of children with disabilities and facilitates the creation of child abuse prevention approaches. Works Cited He, Ping, et al. “The Role of Parental Education in Child Disability in China from 1987 to 2006.” PloS One, vol. 12, no. 10, 2017, pp. 1-10. Jumma, Bader, and Yağmur Çerkez. “Parents’ Mistreatment towards Physically Disabled Children.” International Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 11, no. 1, 2017, pp. 527-532. Kimura, Miyako, and Yoshihiko Yamazaki. “Physical Punishment, Mental Health and Sense of Coherence among Parents of Children with Intellectual Disability in Japan.” Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, vol. 29, no. 5, 2016, pp. 455-467.
Introduction In the world today, there are very many companies that have become obsolete and they have shrunk their market share because many other companies have emerged thereby taking the market share that was previously occupied by the fallen companies. For example, the world’s leading carmakers such as Ford and General Motors lost their market share considerably in 1985 and they are today struggling to turn around in order to recover the market share that they once had (Cokins , 2010). In addition, industrial firms such as ITT restructured itself in order to become a fortune 500 company. However, companies such as Wal-Mart, Banks and technology firms engaged in production activities which replaced the activities of ITT in the market. Other companies such as Wang Laboratories and Digital Equipment, which were some of the leading computer firms, disappeared from the market completely (Newman, 2010). It is therefore true that companies that were once successful may fail and therefore face difficulties while trying to meet the needs of the market. This paper will therefore look at the various reasons why once successful companies fail in the market. Discussion With the advancement in technology, customer needs change from time to time. It is therefore important for a company to ensure that its production processes meet the needs of the customers. However, there are those companies which are unable to change their production processes to fit the needs of customers. The demand for services being offered by such companies goes down significantly thereby driving such companies out of the market. Advancement in technology influences the production processes of organizations. Investing in new technology is a very expensive venture and it adds complexities to the production processes. As a result, the businesses that cannot manage to implement new technology leave the market thereby creating room for those businesses that are capable of implementing new technology to meet the demands of the customers adequately. Competition plays a very significant role in determining whether a company in the market has chances of failure. Competitors may come up with production processes that are much efficient and cheaper thereby making a company to lose a significant market share when customers shift to the new company that adopts efficient production processes. This case has been evidenced
Introduction Rachel is a highly dedicated teacher who is keen on ensuring that her students achieve success in their academic and social lives. Most of her students are LBOTE (language background other than English) hence there are terminologies that may be problematic to them. She has done everything within her powers to prepare these students and she is sure if the right vocabularies are used in the exams, they can excel and proceed to higher levels of education. However, she notices that the exam has been set using very complex terminologies that will negatively affect her LBOTE students. She raises the issue with the staff, as a concerned and responsible teacher, but her concerns are ignored. Determined to make her students pass, she contemplates spending some time with her students before the exams to explain these some of these terms. However, she is legally obligated not to leak exams to her students in any way because that would defeat the very purpose of the exams (Millan 2014). The principal has reminded all the teachers of this obligation. She faces a serious ethical dilemma on how to ensure that the interests of her students are taken into consideration by having an exam that is fair both to the English as First Language (EFL) and English as Second Language (ESL) students (Epstein 2001). In her mind, there is a feeling that what the principle does not know does not hurt, and as such she is tempted to help them out without letting the authorities know about it. In this scenario, there are a number of ethical and professional issues that brings about dilemma to the teacher. Teacher Rachel is fully aware that she has done everything within her capacity to make her students pass the exams. She knows that her students have also done their best to understand the concepts taught in class and the syllabus is fully cove
Adolf Hitler was a Nazi dictator who was based in Berlin, German. He was a German ruler for over a decade despite being one of the cruelest dictators of the century. The fall of Hitler was imminent since the Western Allied forces had started to engage and push the German soldiers towards Berlin. These pushing forces on the soldiers prompted some military commanders to plot how to assassinate Hitler. The assassination failed and he ordered the execution of those who tried to execute him. The siege of Berlin by the Soviet soldiers marked the end of his rule. His purported reports of death were met with skepticism across the globe. Hitler took his life on April 30, 1945, while in an underground bunk at the Reich Chancellery after the Soviet army closed in on where he was holed (Sommerlad). In the process, conspiracy theories have come to play with others stating the likelihood of the Nazi leader failing to take his life. Despite different versions of the stories behind his demise, most sources suggest the German Nazi ruler, Hitler, committed suicide by shooting himself while in the bunker. It is believed the Nazi ruler took his life by shooting himself through the right temple. The suicide is believed to occur on April 30, 1945, while he was holed beneath the Reich Chancellery’s underground bunker (Sommerlad). To dispense the likelihood of arising questions about his survival, Hitler took a capsule of cyanide before shooting himself. His death would force him to abandon his dreams of building an empire likely to last thousands of years. Hitler and his wife took their lives to avoid being captured and made answerable for the performed unprecedented atrocities by the Third Reich, who were following the ruler’s directions (Sommerlad). Therefore, Hitler took his life by shooting himself to avoid being made answerable for the atrocities he initiated under his watch. Bodies of Hitler and his wife Eva Braun were found in the Reich Chancellery underground bunker. Their bodies were found at 3.30 pm on the same day by the individuals close to him (Sommerlad). The people included Joseph Goebbels, Otto Gunshe; Hitler’s adjutant, Heinz Linge; the leader’s valet, and Bormann. They found the Nazi ruler’s body to have disorganized and fell a vase containing daffodils and tulips as it stumbled from the gunshot. Hitler’s wife Eva followed the ruler’s action and took her life too. The two feared being captured and later prosecuted for the crimes committed against humanity (Sommerlad). The individuals mentioned herein, therefore, provide proof of the leader’s act of committing suicide. The research was conducted on the fragments of the Nazi ruler’s skull to establish how he died. The study was performed by pathologists from France who not only examined the skull but also the teeth. These remains were kept in Moscow after their recov
Negotiations are part of our daily activities. In commerce, effective negotiations are the pillars of all successful businesses (Fowler 3). Companies who adopt effective negotiation strategies can be able to generate assessable business values for themselves and for their clients. Unlike in the past, negotiations have become very important to every business organization. This has been brought about by deals becoming more complex, more professional buyers joining the marketplace, competitive behaviors in the market, and increase in internal negotiations within companies. Business experts classify negotiations into several types based on critical variables such as time, conflicts, and participants (Sparks 12). In this regard, this case study seeks to analyze the Renault-Nissan alliance negotiations. Through this, this paper will bring into light the negotiation strategies that enabled these companies to reach a winning coalition despite the mutual challenges that faced the two companies. Prior the year 1999, Renault and Nissan companies were faced with numerous fiscal challenges that threatened their future business successes. As such, Nissan was virtually insolvent in the year 1999. From the year 1990, the automobile company had progressively lost its money and market share. By the year 1998, its automobile production had decreased by 600, 000 units. On the other hand, Renault was slowly regaining its production and market share after a devastating loss of $ 680 million in the year 1996. Equally, before the alliance Renault was still trying to come into terms with their much-publicized alliance with Volvo that failed to materialize. In the year 1999, the two companies initiated approaches towards an alliance. Several meetings were later held to assess the prospects of their alliances. Notably, the media and the business experts have applauded Renault’s approaches during the negotiations for their unique negotiation strategies. As such, the Renault negotiating team applied the six steps needed to reach the target and a winning coalition as described by Lax and Sebenius in their article A Guide To Complex Negotiations Published in the year 2012. According to the Lax and Sebenius, a successful alliance can be achieved by identifying the right parties and grouping them into fronts, assessing inter-dependencies among fronts, determining whe
Introduction Environmental psychology refers to the study that deals with the relationship existing between the behavior of human beings and the environments in which they operate and how the human behaviors and the environments affect each other. It seeks to find the answers to such questions as to why some spaces are comfortable while others are uncomfortable to operate in. The study also seeks to find the solution about the way the environment is supposed to be improved to bring about stress reduction in order to realize higher efficiency and bring down the level of accidents (Conaway, 2000). This article is going to look at what stress is, what causes it, and how one can try to minimize or avoid this stress. The influence of stress in the field of environmental psychology will also be considered. Practical stress reduction Stress can be defined as a state that is unpleasant, which is aroused by emotions and physiological activities that people go through in circumstances they perceive as a threat to their comfort. Stress stems from the peoples’ perception of circumstances or situations and this is the reason as to why people see things or situations differently. Peoples’ system of beliefs, their background, and personalities vary from one person to the other implying that their reactions and the way they perceive things is as well different. However, something that is common among all the people is that excessive stress affects their health. If this stress is not controlled in an appropriate manner it can result into big problems. By one getting exposed to chronic stress, this can lead to physical illness as well as mental illness (Woolrich, 2004). Stress tends to have two effects on the human body. The first effect is that people who go through stress may respond to this by undertaking activities that are destructive to their health such as drug abuse and alcohol taking, poor eating habits among other behaviors. The next effect is that stress may bring about changes in the immune system in a direct manner through changes in hormones. When there is perception by a person of a situation as being stressful, his or her body goes through several adjustments that bring up the arousal of emotions and physiological activities. This in turn brings about the production of the adrenaline and norepinephrine hormones. In response to this, the rate of the heart beat goes up, the tension in muscles goes up, likewise the blood pressure goes up, and eventually there is the diversion of the flow of blood from the skin together with the internal organs to the brain as well as to the muscles. This series of reactions lead to the energizing of the body to either face the threat or to run away from the threat. According to Woolrich (2004), there is a three-stage model of stress response proposed by Selye and the three stages include alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. The alarm stage refers to the general condition in which there is emotional and physiological arousal in the course of the first reaction of the body to the stressor. The resistant stage refers to the stage in which the body get