Competitive advantage - Definition and Examples of Wal-Mart and Apple
Course: MGT401 Name: Shu (Luke) Tang Professor: Luo Yadong Topic: Final essay . What is competitive advantage, and what is “core competence? For a company seeking competitive advantages, what are the generic competitive strategy choices it can use? What are the four building blocks through which it can establish its competitive advantages? . Based on power point definition, competitive advantage is when firm implements a strategy that creates superior value for customers and competitors are unable to duplicate it or find too costly to imitate it. 2. Core competencies are “crown jewels of a company”, the activities the firm performs especially well compared to rivals and through which the firm adds unique value to its goods or services over a long period of time. It can also be called as Strategic Assets, Strategic Capabilities, and Critical Capabilities. 3. For a company seeking competitive advantages, the elements of Low cost, differentiation, and focus are the generic competitive strategy choices it can use. 4. Specifically, firm is using four building blocks like Quality, Efficiency, innovation, and customer responsiveness to establish its competitive advantages. . Superior quality includes quality design, reliability, durability, and image. When people think of a product or services, they think in these terms. For example, when people are on the market for
Buddhism - Select, describe and explain the events in the life of Siddhartha Gautama which illustrate his religious development.
Buddhism Coursework Select, describe and explain the events in the life of Siddhartha Gautama which illustrate his religious development. Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha or 'the enlightened one' was born about 560 BC and died at the age of eighty. He was the founder of the Buddhist religion. Siddhartha lived in north-eastern India, an area which followed the Hindu religious tradition, which was, in those days a great variety of Indian traditions and practices. Indian society was then divided up by the Hindu caste system. The highest caste were the Brahmins or priests, with the next caste down being the Kshatriyas, who were rulers or soldiers. Siddhartha was born in a place called Lumbini, into the Shakya clan. He was a prince, and was therefore in the Kshatriyas caste. The story of his birth to Queen Maya, wife of Raja Shuddhodana of the Kingdom of Kapilavastu, said that his mother had a dream that eight Brahmins or priests said was a good omen. They said the child would be holy and achieve perfect wisdom. Siddhartha's mother died seven days after his birth, and his aunt brought him up. There is a tradition that a seer predicted that Siddhartha would become a great religious leader. His father tried to stop this by keeping all ideas of suffering from his son. Siddhartha lived a royal life and married a princess called Yasodhara. They had a son called Rahula.
War Poets.
Long Essay; War Poets By Toni Chan It is sweet and proper to die for your country, or is it? Writers like Wilfred Owen or Siegfried Sassoon use their poetry as a means of recording the social and historical realities of their time, such as the truthfulness and terror of what the war was really like. Friends and loved ones dieing, or returning home shell-shocked, these poets uncovering the blankets that had masked the poor families from the truth of the war. Some of their poems may shock and startle the reader into new ways of seeing or understanding the realities of their time from the poets point of view, consequently changing attitudes and values, these at the time being very patriotic and the belief that men should fight for our country while women stay at home or enrol as nurses. The most successful poets portraying these feelings through content and technique are Wilfred Owen's "Dulce Et Decorum Est," and Siegfried Sassoon's "Base Details." "Dulce Et Decorum Est," written by Wilfred Owen, appears to have an amazing effect on most people that read it, initially the title is very satirical. The intention was not so much to induce pity, but to shock, especially relations at home who believed war was noble and glorious. The poem is made up of four unequal stanzas, each playing their own part in telling the shocking story of these dieing soldiers. Stanza 1 sets the scene;
Form and Structure of ‘ A Streetcar Named Desire’.
Form and Structure of ' A Streetcar Named Desire' According to a 18th century French dramatists definition of 'A well made play', a tragedy should sequentially follow these points - 1.) Exposition (introduction of characters and situations) 2.) Conflict (a huge problem is bought to the surface) 3.) Complications (the problem develops) 4.) Climax (the most dramatic, and tension filled part of the play) 5.) Dénouement (the resolution) From studying 'A Streetcar Named Desire' it is possible to recognise that this play follows the plot formation points from the definition above. The exposition, occurs right at the beginning, when the main characters Stanley, Stella, Mitch are introduced, before they leave for the 'Four Deuces' (the local bowling alley). Following that, Blanche lands herself in front of Stella and Stanley's apartment engaging in polite conversation with Eunice (the lady who lives with her husband Steve directly above Stella and Stanley) and the Negro woman as to where she can find her sister Stella. It is not then until the Poker night in scene three when Stanley's friends Steve - Eunice's husband from upstairs and Pablo) are introduced The conflict relates to when Blanche arrives unexpectedly, there is obvious tension between Stanley and Blanche, as he is very wary of any ulterior motives she might have. This leads to tensions between Stanley and
How has the National Assembly opened up new opportunities for women in Wales?
How has the National Assembly opened up new opportunities for women in Wales? Within this assignment I shall firstly look at women's role within society and then I will look at representation of women in the National Assembly for Wales. I will look at how the different parties ensure more women are elected and what role they play in the assembly in both the cabinet and those who are committee chairs. I will need to use a variety of primary and secondary sources such as policy documents, interviews, books and articles, organizational and statistical information. This will give a wider perspective. Also by using a varied literature and information sources the subject can be analysed from a broader viewpoint. A variety of methods will be used to acquire this information. The interviews will provide first hand information, the internet is an up to date source, and newspapers will provide details of current issues and opinion. Books provide in depth specific information that is extremely relevant to the investigation. The National Assembly for Wales was established by an Act of Parliament following the approval of the Government's proposals in the September 1997 referendum. The first elections were held on May 6th 1999 and the Assembly took on its full responsibilities on July 1st 1999. This marked the biggest change in the governing of Wales since the creation of the Welsh
Question the nature of Russian society in the early 20th Century. Was a revolution inevitbale?
Question the nature of Russian society in the early 20th Century. Was a revolution inevitbale? Throughout the early 20th Century there seem to be many events which happened in Russia which built up tension and put pressure on the Tsarist Government. I personally think that the Russian revolution in 1917 was inevitable, no country could go on in the state that Russia was in without a revolution at some point. The revolution was going to happen sooner or later, and WW1 was the final straw, it sped up the reactions of people and made them realise that a revolution was needed due to the incompetence of the Tsar. Throughout this essay I shall look at events and aspects of Russia which I think helped cause the Russian Revolution. The revolution was the culmination of a long period of repression and unrest. From the time of Peter I (Peter the Great), the Tsardom increasingly became an autocratic bureaucracy that imposed its will on the people by force, with wanton disregard for human life and liberty. The road to the Russian revolution began with the end of the Crimean war in 1855, it was one of the many disastrousn military defeats that Russia was to see in her lifetime. Poor roads, antiquated weapons and low morale helped Russia lose, and defeat proved to the Tsarist autocracy that Russia was very far behind the rest of Europe. You would have thought that after losing a battle
Auditing Assignment
Auditing Assignment 1 Braithwaite and Company ) Memo Date 21/11/2007 To Philip Braithwaite From Agnes Carter RE: Preparation for JMU Visit The Joint Monitoring Unit (JMU), who are responsible for monitoring the quality of audit work undertaken by members of the institution of the institution of chartered accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), and as you are aware that they are due to inspect Braithwaite and co in three weeks time. I have been instructed by you to prepare for this inspection and I know that during this visit by the JMU, our aim is to show that auditing work carried out by us is completed according to professional ethics. Professional ethics extend beyond moral principles. It refers to the objectives of the accountancy profession to work to the highest standards, attain high levels of performance and meet the public interest requirement. In order to satisfy the JMU of our professional ethic, we must make sure that we follow the code of ethics. The codes of ethics are based on six principles which are; Integrity- Audit should be honest and straightforward. Objectivity- Audit partner should be fair and not allow prejudice or bias conflict of interest or influence of others to override objectivity. Professional Ethics- Audit partner should perform work with competence, due care and should be skilled at a level to ensure clients receive
Analysis of lines 125 - 300 of The Merchant's Tale
The Merchant's Tale // In Depth Analysis [Lines 125 - 300] The themes explored in the extract, lines 125 - 300, are that of love, deception and honour; both in general, and involving friends and women, religion in order to support and undermine marriage, and the overall purpose of marriage. The extract shows the fabliau nature of 'The Merchant's Tale' and the positive images of love contradict everything the Merchant has written about until this point. The fact that he commends the conveniences of marriage from another man's point of view, Januarie, initially displays a change in heart from the Merchant about the whole idea of marriage. It is really the start of a heavily ironic piece of poetry. A comical picture of the complete obedience of women in lines 130 to 134 'She kepeth his good ... She seith nat ones 'nay'' recaptures the fact that Patient Grisilde's story mentioned a few lines previously in the poem, 'Bitwix Grisildis grete pacience', is likely to be very unrealistic. The Merchant seems to dramatise the section and a sense of ridicule is felt by the way he is describing the level of obedience shown by women. We know the Merchant does not trust women and so the few lines are clearly sarcastic. The Merchant's ability to write about women in a positive light in lines 145 - 149 and the implication that men should follow their 'wyves reed', their wives advise as they
'Will the real Harry Potter please stand up...'
'Will the real Harry Potter please stand up...' A quote made by the famous creator of Harry Potter said, "The idea that we could have a child who escapes from the confines of the adult world and goes somewhere where he has power, both literally and metaphorically, really appealed to me." However, is this the way that millions of people have come to think of Harry Potter? What do you picture when you think of Harry Potter? Harry is Real Magic There is something magical about Harry. This magic has very little to do with the fictional magic that Scottish author J.K. Rowling has woven into her four books to date. For the last couple of decades or so, parents have been scratching their heads in concern and sometimes-real fear while their offspring gave hour upon hour first to television, then video and computer games and, more recently, the Internet. Hours that added up to weeks and, over time, to years of slack-jawed passive entertainment while technological marvels shovelled up activities that required little creative input from the growing young mind in question. J.K. Rowling had - seemingly with very little effort - managed to do what a cotillion of concerned coalitions collectively could not: she had gotten the children of the world reading, and, reading passionately and with abandon. Shut your eyes and picture Harry Potter. What do you see? I would put money on it
Assess The View That Material Deprivation Is The Most Important Barrier To Educational Attainment.
Assess The View That Material Deprivation Is The Most Important Barrier To Educational Attainment. Material deprivation is a lack of money, which leads to disadvantages, such as unhealthy diet and a lack of materials such as computer and textbooks. J.W.B Douglas examined education of 5,362 British children and grouped the children in terms of their ability, which was measured by IQ tests. He then divided them into four social class groupings and found significant variations between students of a similar ability but who were from different social backgrounds. Douglas believed that underachievement in education was related to a number of factors. These were the students health, the size of the students family and the quality of the school they attended. With health, working class children tend to have a poor diet, which leads to ill health. This in turn, leads to poor attendance and therefore children cannot catch up on work missed and so underachieve in exams. The size of the student's family is linked to underachievement because there is less money to spend on material objects for example textbooks and computers, and to an extent, personal tutors. There is also less room at home to do homework, as they may have to share a room with siblings, and so there is no-where quiet they can go to do homework. The quality of school also matters, as working class children tend to live
