ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Since the fall of the Soviet Union, capitalism has been the most dominant form of economy in the world. With the exception of China and Cuba, few socialist economies survive in the world today. Japan, along with the United States, has some of the oldest capitalist economies in the world. One of the most significant features of the market economy is the cycles that characterize it. Perhaps, the most severe of these cycles is depression which last occurred in 1933. However, recession is devastating as well, and it disrupts many economic processes including credit flow. Both the US and Japan have gone through these cycles and offer a good studying point on the same. While China dethroned Japan as the world’s second largest economy, Japan still presents a model case for world economists in studying its economic cycles. This discussion will focus on the “scrap and build” strategy that Japan employed early on its economic development especially in industrial development. Additionally, the discussion will take a look at the balance sheet recession that some scholars argue Japan has undergone since the bubble bust in 1989. Scrap and Build Strategy There has been an argument by Burkett and Hart-Landsberg that, since the end of the occupation in 1952, Japan, under the guidance of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), practiced a strategy of ‘scrap and build,” which eventually ran out of steam by the end of the 1980’s. Scrap and build strategy mainly focused on the postwar accumulation of assets and industrial restructuring in Japan with the primary aim of restoring the Japanese economy, mainly through exports (Rob 5). Before the oil crisis in 1973, Japan had run down light industries which in the prewar period ensured the country generated a surplus for a number of years. The government used this surplus to offer subsidies to heavy industries whose growth will later fuel Japanese capitalism. “Scrap and build”essentially derived its meaning from the Japanese government policy which emphasized on building heavy industry for chemicals and basic materials for processing imported raw materials while exporting iron, steel, ships and petroleum products (Rob 6). On the other hand, the policy advocated for the scraping of coal mining and agriculture as well as textiles. According to Rob, it is important to note that the scrap and build process involved many socio-political processes that eventually led to its decline (9). Rob adds that the scrap and build process demanded high-level political organization and a social structure that could accommodate the dislocations that the process brought (9). Most observers essentially agree that the scrap and build process was somehow a causality of the cold war and the resultant socio-p
Introduction Strategy has many different meanings; in business, it refers to the mechanism that an organization uses to create and reach its objectives (Poctor 1). Marketing serves as a concept of business that exists within the mechanism that the organization uses to achieve its objectives. Marketing concerns efforts by an organization to satisfy customer wants and needs as part of the purpose for the organization existence (Poctor 2). Business environments are competitive and organizations have to ensure that they satisfy customers, at least, as good as their competitors. An organization’s aim is to ensure that its products are positioned in the mind of the customers as different from the others. In this regard, competition dictates that an organization’s goods and services be more than physical entities, rather, they should claim value on the benefit they offer consumers beyond their physical entity (Poctor 2-3). Concisely, an organization’s marketing strategy will depend on five key factors. They are the emergence and disappearance of strategic windows, the sway of market drivers, the characteristics of the competitive environment, the position of the market in the industry life cycle and the skill base accessible to the organization (Poctor 4-10). This essay examines the strategic marketing of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer by annual revenue records (Fernie and Arnold 92). Wal-Mart’s Strategic Marketing According to Parry (186), the effectiveness of the Wal-Mart strategy is visible in the case where Gitano Group Inc. lost its high fashion appeal by collaborating with Wal-Mart. Although the partnership intended to increase the sales of Gitano Jeans brand through the mass-market distribution strategy, the brand reputation backfired because Wal-Mart’s brand associates with economy rather than affluence. While this is a sad incidence, it nevertheless highlights the strength of the Wal-Mart brand and its position in the market as a mass distribution retailer for low prices. Wal-Mart started in 1962 in Arkansas and has since grown into a worldwide mass-market retailer with over 1650 stores. Over the years, the company has relied on its formula of creating support services that ensure that it reduces its operational costs and passes the savings to consumers. On the other hand, the company has pursued growth paths that ensure it increases the volume of customer traffic to its stores. Because of the combination of high volume and low prices, Wal-Mart has successfully grown into a brand associated with its nametag of “everyday low prices”. An examination of the strategic marketing at Wal-Mart reveals that the company embraces a thinking strategy, as described by Fodness (20), to drive its foray into the market. The company uses critical thinking techniques to solve problems that arise with its expansion. Wal-Mart incorporates the critical thinking strategy
Introduction Environmental scanning is a control mechanism operated by companies in order to ensure growth and stability in the market. It may be internal or external. An internal environmental scan focuses on the companies’ internal control system. It checks on the effectiveness of its present and future objectives. This procedure assists the company to review the effectiveness of their policies and their capability in terms of facing future risks. The external environment encompasses the factors that may affect the companies’ performance with regard to issues that the management has no control over. These factors may include the market forces of demand and supply, political issues facing the country, environmental and social issues in the community. Discussion The coffee industry has shown tremendous increase in its market over the years that have passed. These trends fluctuate over time due to the market forces of demand and supply. They may be influenced by government policies over the export and import of the commodity. Climate change adversely affects the coffee industry where the temperatures in coffee p
Generally speaking, organisational development and change implementation refers to some particular insights offered into the process of modifying the operations of the organisation and the conduct of the people too. Outstanding performance clearly depends upon the organisation’s multiple element interaction with each other. Through embracing teamwork, commitment, coordination and creativity will be enhanced thus realizing outstanding organisational performance (Watson, 2000). This theory and practice of organisational change can be traced back to a famous psychologist, Kurt Lewin who highlighted the decisive role that is played by context in shaping behaviours of individuals. He further reasoned that creating dissatisfaction with the status quo is the only way of motivating an individual. In summary, he implemented a three-stage change implementation: unfreezing then moving and finally refreezing (Watson, 2000). It is therefore necessary for business leaders and government sectors as well to understand organisational development elements so as to link the desired novel behaviours to the key performing task requirements of the organisation and focus on the implemented organisation development efforts in order to improve performance. What design challenges should leaders take into account so as to address change processes in their respective organisations? Needless to say that every organisation is unique in their terms of operation, they nevertheless face some mutual design challenges in which organisational leaders ought to know before embarking on an effort of change implementation. They are; the challenges of creativity and control, of differentiation and integration and of decision making rights allocation (Watson, 2000). At what organisation’s level are decisions made on what activities to engage in, how to apportion resources or how to apportion work schedule so as to meet immediate demands? All these decisions ought to be made at one point in the organisation’s line. However, since they represent different decision making levels, they are probable to take place at different organisation levels (Denison, 1990). What are the organisation’s requirements in building teamwork and coordination? Ordinarily, effective teamwork deduces from four factors of design namely; shared intention, shared responsibility, team empowerment and team enablement, of which the absence of any will not bear out real teamwork within an organisational context (Watson, 2000). How do employees perform the assigned jobs? This can be done in many ways, say frequent communication pertaining work goals progress, combining employees into a team with common responsibility for the end product or still allowing groups or individuals to schedule and assign particular tasks consistent with t
Introduction Architectural firms all over the world are tacitly competing to see which of them can achieve the most outstanding results in urban development. Every year, people in developed countries see a large number of new urban developments that combine the latest in architectural aesthetics with environmental sustainability within the city’s ecosystem. While many of them do stir the human imagination and delight with genius, it seems that it is not just the geometric shape of the building that matters. Turning to the textbook example of the Louvre Museum of Art clearly demonstrates that even simple spatial shapes can be attractive from an urban and architectural point of view. It must be said that the Louvre Museum is a world-renowned art museum located in the center of Paris. Before the pandemic, the museum was visited annually by an average of ten million visitors, with almost five times less than the permanent population of Paris (SRD). So, the Louvre Museum is an important tourist attraction visited by a large number of local and foreign tourists interested in art. With regard to the Louvre, it is impossible not to note its unique architectural form, which gives the structure a particular attraction (Fig. 1). The museum has a form of a quadrangular pyramid, at the base of which lies a square. It is important to emphasize that the shape of the museum is not tetrahedral, as it may seem because the central composition of the visible part of the Louvre is directly a square, not a triangle. The pyramid first appeared in the center of Paris in 1989 and has since become an integral part of the city’s topography (PT). It should be said that the actual museum is not inside this pyramid, but it is more of a portal of entry. The pyramid lets visitors into an underground vestibule that connects the three galleries of choice, Sali, Richelieu, and Denon. Descriptive Geometry A mathematical analysis of the Louvre is helpful to begin with elements of descriptive geometry, which will give a more accurate idea of the pyramid’s forms. According to Pei, the maximum height of the pyramid at its peak is 20.6 meters, with each of the sides of the Louvre’s square base equal to 35 meters (Figure 2). The measurements of the other sides are not reported, so it seems possible to calculate them using the tool of analytical geometry. To begin with, it must be asserted that the base of the figure is a square: this is indeed so, since all its sides, and consequently, its interior angles, appear to be equal. Proceeding from this assumption, it becomes possible to determine the measurements of diagonals of a regular quadrilateral by the formula [1]. This formula is based on the Pythagoras theorem, which allows to determine the size of the hypotenuse of a blue triangle (Fig. 3) based on the size of two cathetuses (
Introduction Many inventions and developments in technology have been accomplished in the past century. The developments have spanned almost all aspects of life, among them, the communication sector. There have been developments in the means of communication. The communication sector has evolved from the original use of messengers to the current state of technology whereby the internet plays a major role in communication. This paper will discuss telecommuting, one of the applications of the developments in the communication sector. The paper will define the term telecommuting and give the effects, both positive and negative, that have been experienced as a result of telecommuting. Telecommuting Telecommuting refers to the act of conducting official duties away from the official workplace. The official workplace is the location which is designed by an employer to be used for undertaking official duties. Regardless of the place under consideration as the employers’ workplace there are times when employees have the option or even might be forced to work away from the official work places. Such off office working stations can be the employees’ homes or any other place that is not necessarily the officially designed working place (Business 1). Kizza has identified some social impacts associated with telecommuting. The social impacts have been categorized into negative and positive (Kizza 145). The social impacts are discussed below. Positive Effects/Advantages of Telecommuting Telecommuting makes life quite flexible and enables the employees to have more time around their homesteads. This is particularly clear if the person is working from his or her home or from a location that is closer to home than the official working office. Telecommuting therefore creates more time for the employees to stay close to their families. Staying close to the family is significant especially when the family members might be in need of some special attention. A good illustration is the case where a person is to work and at the same time has children or elderly people to look after. The employee would, in the absence of telecommuting, be forced to forsake one of the responsibilities. Telecommunicating however enables the employee to be available at home hence availing the opportunity to bala
The marketing strategies used by an organization play a pivotal role towards determining the success or failure of the organization. In order for an organization to market its products and services successfully, it must research and understand the needs of the consumers, and use this information to develop products and services that satisfactorily address those needs. One way of achieving this aim is by developing models that evaluate the consumer buying behavior within a given market. This paper shall describe the steps followed by consumers in the process of buying oatmeal manufactured by Quaker Oats Company. The cultural factors that influence consumers to buy this product shall also be discussed. There are five steps that consumers take in order to make a conclusive purchasing decision. The rate at which consumers pass through these stages depends on the price, place, promotion and product being sold. Below is a graphical representation of the consumer buying behavior: Figure 1: Consumer Buying Behavior Model In regard to the selected product (Oatmeal), the consumers recognizes the need or problem. This can be triggered by an internal stimuli (hunger), which drives the consumer towards buying this product. After identifying the need or desire, the consumer may or may not look for information about the product. If the consumer has used the product before, he/she may buy the product again. However, if the consumer has not yet used the product, he/she may obtain the information about this product from personal or commercial sources. For the oatmeal, commercial sources such as advertisements, packaging and dealers could be useful for potential consumers. The information gathered gives consumers a set of brand choices. In order to select the preferred brand, consumer compare and contrast the brand from a logical or evaluative processes. Some may use calculations (price and content preferences) or choose the product brand on impulse or intuition. After evaluating the alternatives, the consumer ranks the brands and decides which one to buy. The purchase decision is based on the price, income and expected benefits of the product. As such, the consumers may buy the oatmeal as a result of its competitive price, its health benefits and its impact on the consumer’s pocket. The post purchase behavior of consumers refers to the attitude and perceptions the consumers have in regard to the product’s ability to satisfy the identified need. During this step, consumers weigh their expectations against the performance of the product. If the gap between these two factors is large, the consumers will be disappointed, but if the gap is small, the consumers will be satisfied and delighted with the product. Cultural influences on consumers Buying Behavior According to Sheth (2011), cultural factors have a significant impact on a consumer’s buying behaviors. Cultural factors largely influence the wants and behaviors of an individual in regard to value systems, perceptions, material comfort and practicality among others (Sheth, 2011). In or
Personality refers to the long lasting traits in an individual. Generally, people tend to evaluate the personalities of human beings around them on a daily basis; this happens consciously or unconsciously. The difference between psychologists and other individuals, however, is that, whereas we appraise personality informally and focus more on individuals, psychologists employ the usage of personality conceptualizations that possibly applies to all persons. This explains the development of various theories. Fundamentally, personality may be defined as that which comprises behavioral and trait aspects that tend to distinguish one person from the rest. Therefore, the argument here is that personality comes from within an individual and remains unswerving even as he/she ages. Generally, there are four basic tenets of personality including Consistency; Psychological construction; Impact Behaviors and Actions, and Multiple Expressions. Personality does influence how people take action to their setting or stimuli, and causes individuals to do or behave in an exacting mode. Multiple expressions on the other hand provide the understanding that the expression of personality does not just occur in behavior, but also in how people think, feel and in their associations with others, as well as in day-to-day interactions. Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory According to Freud’s theory of Psychoanalytic development, a person’s personality appears within the first six years and remains more or less the same over the years. This theory is grounded on the fact that personality and behavior is unconscious and draws back from childhood and sexuality, an aspect he called fixation. He proposes that a child undergoes five stages of human development within the formative years (Friedman & Schustack, 2008). Freud imagined that sexuality begins when one is very young and goes through what he referred to as fixation. His basic argument is that if these stages are not successfully accomplished and done away with, then people tend to unconsciously maintain them and discharge them later in life as psychological defense mechanisms, so that they unconsciously eliminate anxiety associated with the conflict in abandoning such stages (Allen, 2006). For instance, oral fixation can have a number of effects, one of them being oral aggressive personality, where one becomes unreasonably aggressive, and antagonistic to the extent of getting to vocally abuse others. Perhaps, this explains why Tina Turner occasionally hauls insults at others. On the other hand, anal fixation brought about by stringent punishment when children undergo toilet training can have a number of effects including ‘The Anal Retentive Personality’. People who have this sort of personality tend to be very tidy and stubborn, and they tirelessly value perfection (Friedman & Schustack, 2008). Again, perhaps this is the reason Tina Turner has great impatience to non-perf
Mr. Matt Evans and Ms. Jennifer Dawson were terminated following negative postings on their Facebook accounts. The two employees were told the posts seemed negative and tarnished the company’s name. Mr. Matt Evans was accused of posting disparaging comments about Jackson Miller Properties on his Facebook account. He mocked the promotional sales provisions that were held on February 16, 2019. On the other hand, Ms. Jennifer Dawson was accused of posting negative comments about another company’s division on her Facebook page. She mocked the incident at the Bridgestone site, which handles commercial buildings, on March 3, 2019. However, the two argued that it was their Facebook accounts and had nothing to do with its operations. In 2011, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) made some provisions to protect employees’ conversations made on social media platforms related to work. In pursuit of section 7 of NLRA, employees have the “right to form, join or help labor organizations and be part of other activities which involve collective bargaining” (National Labor Relations Board, n.d). According to the employer, some specifics of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) pertaining to employee protection were violated. However, the facts presented in this case do not warrant the two employees’ termination. This follows from NLRA provisions, which protect workers’ rights in working together to address issues at work in or outside a union. The two employees engaged in an act protected since they were posting activities of the company (Starich, 2018). By doing this, they aimed at raising awareness of the unsatisfactory actions of the organization. However, the employer argues that the handbook provisions were subject to every employee. The employee handbook acknowledges that the company can terminate a worker’s contract anytime. Based on the manual, courtesy is the most significant factor that needs to be maintained. The CEO, therefore, argues that he had fired the two as they involved the internet in tarnishing the company and that it attracted “awful comments” from family, friends, and co-workers. It should, however, be noted that the NLRB prohibits posts that portray an organization as bad. In Mr. Matt Evans’s case, he had raised the issue in a previous staff meeting, but his boss rejected it. His posting was not cynical about the company but made constructively. Conversely, for Mrs. Dawson, it was not appropriate for her to celebrate an accident that occurred in a subsidiary company branch. The NLRA provisions require that postings be centered on criticizing an employer or vocalizing sentiments rather than the activities of a company (Schmidt & O’Connor, 2015). It was wrong for her to rush and post the incident as it embarrassed t