ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Since entering the Australian market in 2000, Virgin blues has expanded its routes as time goes by (Gregory 2000, p. 21). In this case, it has employed a wide range of cost cutting measures and established itself as a low cost carrier airline. Apart from this and other competitive aspects that it has employed, the company has strong brand recognition. In this case, it has a link to the general group brand. All along, the company has used innovative tactics to remain competitive. This has been done by thinking out of the box. Although the company has been a big player in the market, it has also faced turbulent times in recent years (Virgin Blue 2011, p. 12). Therefore, this paper will evaluate various aspects as far as strategic competitiveness is concerned. Strategic management and strategic competitiveness Strategic management revolves around coming up with good decisions that can enable an organization to achieve its objectives. This is aimed at achieving its long term objectives as far as strategy formulation is concerned. Strategic competitiveness can be termed as a type of strategy and course of action that an organization will use to achieve its goals and objectives (Gladwell 2000, p. 21). Strategic competitiveness is based on the idea that there are many competitors around and that is why an organization needs to come up with special ideas that will enable the company to create wealth without any problem. There are new radical changes that have continued to take place in the current competitive landscape. In this case, the characteristics of the 21 st century have caused a lot of core competencies. As a matter of fact, their choices have been influenced in a great way and this is as far as competition is concerned. It should be known that the 21 st competitive landscape has increased opportunities for various companies because they have to think out of the box. These characteristics of the 21 st competitive landscape have had a lot of effects on Virgin Blue. For instance, the company has been forced to strengthen its marketing and code of alliances to remain competitive and strategic (Marx 2010, p. 18). It should be known that competition has forced Virgin Blue to think out of the box by being innovative. External Environment The external environment that a firm operates in is rarely stable and this means that various factors can change quickly as time goes by. As a matter of fact, all businesses operate in a changing world and this is a fact that we need to evaluate. This means that firms are subject to forces that are very powerful beyond their control. In this case, they can not come up with a good projection of what will likely transpire as time goes by and this is as far as their business external environment is concerned (Berry 1995, p. 21). The external environment has made businesses to known that they can not survive without interacting with the environment. The external environment has forced these businesses to be creative in doing business. Because a firm does not have control over the external environment, it has always affected performance depending on various aspects. In a broad perspect
I think that this poem is an effective one since the author was able to put a profound meaning in just ten lines. This poem is a metaphor for both Hughes’ life and the life of Black people in general. The author speaks for all African Americans and their ancestors who lived hundreds and thousands of years before. The poem describes their deep soul and path from their origins. Hughes implies Black people witnessed humanity’s outstanding achievements such as the Great Pyramids and decays such as slavery. Thousands of years of life and a path that flows like a river.
Ghoddousi, P., Yavari, H., & Hosseini, M. (2010). Competitive benchmarking of Iranian construction companies management performance. TTEM – Technics Technologies Education Management, 5 (3), 621-634. This article presents a benchmarking method in practice. Iranian companies are compared and contrasted with the purpose to understand the differences in performance of the similar issues. The article is focused on the specific benchmarking techniques used for analysis of the companies. Manoj, P. K. (2010). Benchmarking housing finance companies in India: Strategies for enhanced operational efficiency and competitiveness. European Journal of Economics, Finance & Administrative Sciences, 21 , 21-34. The article describes the benchmarking techniques used in India. The research shows the difference is small and large organizations’ development based on the difference in the cost structure. Milichovsky, F. (2010). Benchmarking as marketing support. Economics & Management, 15 , 678-681. Total Quality Management (TQM), benchmarking and EFQM excellence model are considered as quality methods used in the marketing processes in engineering. The article dwells upon the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods in industrial area. Benchmarking is helpful in achieving company competitive development by means of comparing and contrasting it with the leading companies in the sphere. Nikolić, M., Sajfert, Z., & Vukonjanski, J. (2009). Benchmarking of PR function in Serbian companies. South East European Journal of Economics & Business, 4 (2), 103-119. Benchmarking of the PR function in Serbian companies is the focus of discussion in this article. The article presents the possible methodologies for benchmarking PR managers in the existing companies. One of the main conclusions of the research is the consideration that such benchmarking techniques may be used for other business processes. Shah, D., & Kleiner, B. H. (2011). Benchmarking for quality. Industrial Management, 53 (2), 22. The article under consideration is focused on benchmarking as the way for quality control and improvement. Quality measuring is the main idea for discussion. The process of benchmarking and the steps for quality improvement on the basis of the chosen technique are discussed in the article. One should remember that continuous improvement, new product development, and identifying new markets are the areas of benchmarking influence. Tervonen, P., Alapiha, J., & Haapasalo, H. (2011). Benchmarking ESSQ management systems. Journal of Modern Accounting & Auditing, 7 (1), 59-66. The main purpose of this article is to use the ESSQ framework for analysis the Finnish international companies. The article helps draw the conclusions that the companies which have similar system, such as environmental, safety and quality, they usually have various performanc
Alexander and the Palace Setup Chapter one of the book Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault introduces the reader to the main characters of the book. It introduces life in the palace by giving the reader a description of how the palace was organized as well as governed in terms of security of the royalty. Philip, the king, is the husband to Olympia. Together, they have a four-year-old son called Alexander and a daughter called Cleopatra. The kids have their own rooms where their Spartan nurses take care of them at night away from the royal bedroom. The setting of the book is in a Greek society where Philip is the king. Olympia is the king’s wife who practices witchcraft. At this point, she has introduced her son Alexander to the art of snake charming against his father’s will. She keeps a snake called glaukos. When Alexander finds a snake coiled around him, he thinks it is glaukos only to realize that it is a new one when he takes it to his mother’s room. He names it tayche (Renault 1). While in the royal bedroom, Alexander witnesses firsthand the feuds between his parents. When he steps in between his parents, though on his mother’s defense, his father throws him mercilessly down the stairs out of the room. Philip is a one-eyed king full of battle scars that make his own son view him as ugly: His son likens him to Polyphemos. Alexander is a smart child who knows how to have his way in the palace and places where he may not be allowed to access. Philip loathes his wife’s witchcraft. Alexander has a friend called Ptolemy whom he has heard guards say that he is Alexander’s brother. However, Ptolemy does not want to talk about it at all. Alexander shows how bright he is when he engages the envoys to his father in hard questions some of which they refuse to answer. He explains to them that they do not need to greet his father by lying on the ground with their faces touching it. Philip’s empire is exceptionally large spanning across Europe, Asia, and Africa from where he draws his soldiers of war. He rules above kings making other kings of certain kingdoms
Foreshadowing is one of the stylistic tools in literature employed by many authors. It involves giving the reader hints of what is likely to happen later in the story as it unfolds. It is therefore employed to create suspension and tension. It also prepares the reader for a shocking turn of events later in the story. Flannery Conner uses this stylistic device quite effectively in her literary works. ‘A good man is hard to find’. This essay critically analyses how the author has used this tool in one of her short stories. Foreshadowing has been used in the story “a good man is hard to find.” The reader is introduced to a nuclear family that wants to go on a vacation to Florida. However, the grandmother who is to be part of the vacation is against going to Florida, she prefers Tennessee. She happens to be aware of a killer called Misfit, who is on run to Florida and is afraid they may meet him. The family however ignores her view. Foreshadowing is used effectively as the grandmother advises her son Bailey about Misfit, telling him “what he did to those people” (Kennedy & Gioua 117). The grandmother is predicting that just as it happened to those other people, it may happen to them. The author thus creates the suspense of what is bound to happen later in the story. The grandmother still agrees to go for the vacation. She is the first in the car, and June Star states “she has to go every where we go” (Kennedy & Gioua 118). This foreshadows that as the family is killed, the grandmother will not be spared. Later, despite the grandmother’s plea, she is still killed, true to the young girl’s statement; the grandmother follows the rest in death. More about A Good Man is Hard to Find What Are the Main Characters in a Good Man Is Hard to Find? 5 178 A Good Man Is Hard to Find: What Does the Ending Mean? 5 1313 What Is the Time Period of A Good Man Is Hard to Find? 5 277 How Does A Good Man Is Hard to Find Depict Co
The language of a people is mostly a representation of how the respective people view their world and interpret their experiences. The structure of a people’s language can therefore be used to make inferences about their unique ways of life therefore providing a means by which we can reconstruct the life of a civilization. In this paper, I shall attempt to reconstruct the life of a lost tribe, the Amiable people. The Amiable people civilization has just recently been discovered by archaeologists. The reconstruction efforts shall be achieved by analyzing some words that linguistic anthropologists have highlighted as characterizing the society’s language. I shall use these linguistic characteristics as a basis for making plausible claims about the tribe. Although it is impossible to pinpoint the exact geographical location that the Amiables lived, their language sheds some light as to the nature of the land that the tribe may have occupied. It is probable that the tribe lived in a plain or prairie region. Their words for describing the terrain of their land are limited to “absolutely flat,” “rolling,” and “slightly hilly.” It is therefore quite unlikely that the tribe lived in a mountainous region as their language does not accommodate words for such terrains. The fact that the tribe also has a dozen terms for grains including eight for wheat alone also suggests that the tribe was extensively involved in wheat farming. This further reinforces the possibility that the tribe was from the plains and prairies since these are the areas in which wheat farming thrives. It is possible that the Amiable’s lived deep inland as their language lacks a term for “ocean.” Their lack of a word for “fish” also hints that they did not live near any large water bodies as it is inconceivable that any costal tribe would fail to engage in fishing as an economic activity. From the Amiable’s language, we find that they had several words for precipitation with most translating as “rain” and only one meaning “snow.” One might suggest from these that their climate was characterized by regular rains and snow falls were only periodically phenomena. The Amiables language offers us some valuable insight into the type of foods that the tribe may have consumed. The prevalence of words for grain in their language might be a possible indication that grains, and particularly wheat, was the staple food of the people. In as much as their language gives a positive indication that these people reared animals such as cows, pigs and sheep, there is no indication th
Innovation is the art of making things amazingly different to advance modernity. Tesla Company became one of the leaders in innovation in the car industry. Its announcements of new models, new battery technology, and patent release enabled it to make a lot of progress in the market. Elon Musk, the chairman, and CEO of Tesla had a plan to revolutionize the automobile industry. The introduction of the electric vehicles helped to provide cars that were eco-friendly and efficient for the market. However, there were a few problems. The infrastructure in the industry was not viable for the new developments. Its technology was not compatible with the national adaptation to the new system. Most customers still preferred oil-fueled vehicles because oil prices had dropped over the period. The electric cars were very expensive (Grant 237). Therefore, Tesla allowed the use of its patent to increase the level of uptake of the electric vehicles in the market. Tesla had made advancements in the electric cars. Its battery innovation was and still is the basis for its uniqueness. It also developed a wholly new electric car from scratch. The system of charging with the newly developed supercharger made Tesla a company to beat. Within 30 minutes its system can charge a car to travel for over 100 miles (Grant 237). The other national chargers are slow and a charge of 30 minutes can only take the vehicle for not more than 10 miles. The architecture of Tesla’s car battery packs, high voltage cables that connect to the battery, and the advanced computer system that manages the charging system are its unique points. It is not easy to patent such technology. Such unique features led the company to protect its patents through registration. They were its competitive advantage. Tesla’s unique range of cars gives the company an edge in the market. The company partnered with Panasonic Company to provide the cars with the much-needed support of quality batteries (Johnson 502). It has the S-Model and the X-Model which took the market by storm due to their structure and speed. The battery only adds to this beauty with the supercharger system and ability to store energy for long distance performances. The lithium-ion batteries were already in use even before Tesla Company came into being. Other companies like Nissan partnered with NEC to produce lithium-ion batteries from scratch. Tesla bought off-the-shelf lithium-ion cells which were smaller but capable (Grant 237). They also did not overheat like other batteries. Later, Tesla and Panasonic partnered in 2014 to build the world largest manufacturing plant for lithium-ion batteries. It has projections to ensure that the electric cars become affordable to acquire and to maintain. The anticipation was that the move would free up its patent to other companies. It would then speed up the market for the electric vehicles. When there are many supplies in the market, the price tends to drop. The decrease in prices leads to the increase in demand. It leads to more purchase. Ho
Introduction Management styles entail ways of making deliberations in a team or organizations (Lussier, 2008). Styles of management can be grouped into two major different styles, permissive and autocratic. Styles of management can also take the form of democratic and consultative (Lussier, 2008). This paper discusses the management style at J.C. Penney. The paper will touch on the use of celebrities, the ability to adapt to the changing needs of clients and other issues relating to management. Radical management style to Iterative management style Radical management style was previously adopted by J.C Penney. The style was highly advanced and then removed by Johnson, the general manager of the company. The manager started by offering sales discounts on products. Not enough, he also introduced other marketing tools such as coupons to attract more clients. One of the things that the general manager did wrong is that he made radical changes yet merchandise in store had not finished. He also did not consult other people especially the customer relations section to know what exactly customers wanted. In other words he failed to introduce new brands in line with his strategy. Iterative management style In recent times, J.C Penney has adopted a new brand identity that entails new models of pricing its products, a new policy of attracting back its customers as well as restructuring of the layout of its shops to make it more attractive shopping at its stores (Daft, 2012). Mainly, the current, management adopted this style as a way of strengthening the position of the company in the market whilst maintaining links with the existing clients and appealing to a new clientele. Personal opinion J.C Penney is not managed properly. Taking the example of its processes in recent times like in 2010, the company was not able to traffic on its websites and social sites making it hard to serve its customers. Other competitors like SARA have managed to deal with this issu
Mass communication has been a powerful force that has determined many social and political events. It includes various sources such as radio, television, newspapers, books, journals, magazines, and, more recently internet. The latter is believed to be increasingly pervasive and more influential than any previous media sources. Therefore, this essay attempts to discuss what impact the internet has on online audiences by analyzing how it can shape views, opinions and values, and who is the most susceptible to its influence, and why. For that purpose, the advertisement of the Apple iPhone 12 on the YouTube platform will be taken as an example (Apple, 2020). iPhone 12 commercial is intended to affect customer behavior by addressing the most common demands of young smartphone users. Firstly, the major emphasis is made on entertainment, including fast internet, good camera with night vision, retina display to enjoy the visual content, and fastest chip for gamers. Secondly, the advertisers introduce functional advantages of their product which include the usage easiness, increased protection from physical damage, and water resistance. Moreover, the video is recreating and formalizing certain behaviors as normal defining what average experiences should look like, and an average person should act daily. People may start thinking that any adventure should be accompanied by the smartphone, and that entertainment equals games, movies, and listening to music. That probably is not intentional, though, but it certainly may influence people due to the brand’s association with prestige and successful life. Therefore, people may look to correspond to the beautiful picture because their favorite company communicates that. Apple’s commercial is primarily aimed at young people as most of the actors in the video are of that age. Moreover, the information is provided mostly through visual means almost without text, and the speech of frames is very high, which would make the older generations struggle to perceive the content. Contrary, younger generations are comfortable with such a style of message delivery. Overall, the current essay discusses how the iPhone advertisement persuades customers to purchase their product by successfully addressing their demands. Moreover, it is argued that such an advertisement might also shape the values and opinions of the viewers due to brands’ association with good and prestigious life. Finally, it is found that the commercial primarily aims at young people and uses special effects that older generations would not comfortably perceive. Reference Apple. (2020). Meet iPhone 12 — Apple [Video]. YouTube. Web.
There were times when people were sure that everything had been created by God. However, in the eighteenth century, not all people shared such views. So, many philosophers tried to justify the divine creation of the world. Thus, Paley tried to prove in simple terms that everything was created by God. One of his analogies evoked many discussions. It is necessary to add that it is still disputable. Paley compared the Universe with watches. He stated that watches represented a piece of sophisticated work where every element functioned in a specific way, so the Universe, which was also sophisticated had its designer. Paley concluded that this designer was God since there could be no other designer who could make such perfection. It is also worth mentioning that Paley regards watches as a part of something bigger: he suggests that he comes across the watches while walking along the beach. So, people are regarded as a part of some more sophisticated system created by a certain perfect force, God. So, Paley used watches as a simple, and understandable example justifying that everything had its creator. This simplicity must have led to so many objections. Nevertheless, this analogy was criticized by many philosophers. One of Paley’s critics was Hume. In his Dialogues , Hume objects to Paley. One of Hume’s characters, Philo, provides several arguments against Paley’s theory of divine designer based on the analogy with watches. In the first place, Philo argues that it is inappropriate to compare some human made artifacts with the entire Universe. For example, it is impossible to say that since houses are sophisticated enough and plants are sophisticated as well, they are the same. If to develop Philo’s argument it is possible to state that according to Paley, if a thing created by a man can be compared to an animal, it is possible to assume that the animal was created by humans. Of course, at that time, it was impossible to imagine that humans could design an animal. Nowadays, people are more accustomed to the thought that it is possible (due to cloning), but it is still obvious that people had nothing to do with the creation of the world of animals. So the major objection concerned the relevance of such comparison. Another argument provided by Philo deals with the peculiarities of human perception. In other words, Philo claims that people know that houses are built by people and paintings are created by artists because they have already se