The Business Environment of Amazon

The Business Environment of Amazon The business environment consists of the factors that affect the operations of a business. These factors are identified through the environmental analysis, which is conducted either in the form of the SWOT or the PEST (EL) analyses (Powell, 863). Resources and capabilities are used by the business to gain the competitive advantage.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on The Business Environment of Amazon specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These are the inputs available to a business that makes it operate successfully, and these may either be tangible or intangible (Warf and Stutz 113). The coordination of resources is the key to the success of a business. On the other hand, capabilities refer to the capacity of a business to either coordinate or deploy the resources within an organization, and are developed progressively. In the case study, Amazon, the leading online retailer, and supercenter, can outdo the competition b y the adoption of new IT procedures to enter into the bookselling industry. This acts as turnaround in the aforementioned sector. One of the key environmental factors for Amazon is the competition within the industry due to the emergence of many publishers, and also due to the existence of other bookselling stores such as B M stores and Barnes and Noble. Owing to the first mover advantage and development of new IT marketing policies, such as the use of the internet for selling books, Amazon had a large clientele base and it was difficult for its competitors to attract customers the way it did (Hill and Jones 272). Another key factor is the customers (consumers). The company’s mission emphasizes on the goal of Amazon to be the most custom-centered company in the globe. After the enrollment or signing up to its website, it was difficult to get the customer sign into other firms’ websites due to the loyalty attached to the Amazon products (Hill and Jones 272).Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Finally, the industry itself was another key factor. After taking the first mover advantage, Amazon turned around the bookselling industry by offering fresh competition to bookselling giants such as the Borders (Hill and Jones 272). Amazon possesses key internal resources and capabilities. To begin with, the incorporation of a first mover advantage through the use of patented customer-oriented software would be of a great value to Amazon. Moreover, adopting exceptional IT policies would help in reducing the competition. Furthermore, shifting focus to the web-based approach of buying and selling books online would enhance its performance. As it is an online-based company, that offers its customers immediate and instant access to its books in print form, it helps to boost its sales. Finally, embracing the formation of strategic alliances wi th the largest book publishers would ensure that Amazon’s customers get products without any delays in the distribution. The key strategic choices undertaken by Amazon are outlined above, including formation mergers with the well-established firms in the IT industry. This has helped it to increase the profit margin significantly. Amazon has also acquired other websites such as ‘Exchange.com,’ ‘Jungle.com, and ‘Planetall.com’ as a way of developing new and superior website techniques in order to enhance efficiency and retain the clientele base. Amazon launched the digital bookstores, video and music, and also the Amazon’s ‘Kindle Reader’ in order to give its customers varied options. Finally, Amazon’s movement into the ‘cloud’ computing and leveraging of its key competencies helped it to realize the value of its assets, vital for global expansion the drawbacks notwithstanding.Advertising We will wr ite a custom case study sample on The Business Environment of Amazon specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The successful implementation of Amazon’s roadmaps enabled it gain the advantage over its competitors. Consequently, it realized record profits in the year 2011. Hill, Charles, and Jones Gareth. Strategic Management, An integrated approach (10th edition). New York: St. Martins, 2014. Print. Powell, Thomas. Competitive advantage: logical and philosophical considerations. Strategic Management Journal 22.6 (2001): 863-865. Web. Warf, Frederick, and Stutz Barney. â€Å"The World Economy: Resources, Location, Trade and Development.† Online Journal on Economic 16.1 (2007): 110-113. Web.

Valentines Day Quotes for the Single Person

Valentine's Day Quotes for the Single Person If you are single, then Valentines Day may not be the  best time of the year for you. In fact, some are calling it, Singles Awareness Day. Seeing other people celebrating their love can make you a little envious. Even if you have a great life and arent actively seeking a partner, its easy to start hating on the holiday and perhaps feeling sorry for yourself. However, dont be let down. Lift your sagging spirits by reading these Valentines quotes and by dreaming of your own happily-ever-after. It doesnt have to include a knight in shining armor or a princess to be rescued. Mike Primavera You are never alone on Valentines Day if youre near a lake and have bread. KushandWizdom.tumblr I am constantly torn between I dont need anyone and Hey you, please fall in love with me. Emily Heller Ive been single for a while and I have to say, its going very well. Like... Its working out. I think Im the one. Robert Burton No cord or cable can so forcibly draw, or hold so fast, as love can do with a twined thread. Alexandra Penney The ultimate test of a relationship is to disagree but to hold hands. Mignon McLaughlin No one can understand love who has not experienced infatuation. And no one can understand infatuation, no matter how many times he has experienced it. Anonymous A kiss is something you cannot give without taking and cannot take without giving. Theodor Reik The lover is a monotheist who knows that other people worship different gods but cannot himself imagine that there could be other gods. Henny Youngman A kiss is the shortest distance between two. Mae West I have found men who didnt know how to kiss. Ive always found time to teach them. Marguerite de Valois It is the same in love as in war; a fortress that parleys is half taken. Todd Ruthman It is the things in common that make relationships enjoyable, but it is the little differences that make them interesting. William Shakespeare Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Aerosmith Falling in love is so hard on the knees. Anonymous True love is when you put someone on a pedestal, and they fall - but you are there to catch them. Mignon McLaughlin In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing. Jacques Benigne Bossuel The heart has reasons that reason does not understand. Philip Robinson And when the future hinges on the next words that are said, dont let logic interfere, believe your heart instead. Luciano de Crescenzo We are, each of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another. Julius Gordon Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less. Aristotle Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.

1929 America crisis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

1929 America crisis - Research Paper Example In this paper, I will start with an overview of the great depression. I will also look through the causes that have been considered to lie in the base of the American crisis of 1929. Finally, I will also dwell on social and economic effects of the great depression on America and conclude by looking through the end of the Great depression in America (Burg 90). OVERVIEW OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION The years preceding the Great Depression were marked by economic recovery evidenced by a rise in stock prices in 1928. The situation of trade in the preceding year also greatly mushroomed, and Americans were so engrossed in their economic prosperity that it became very easy for an individual to access a credit. The signs of a fluctuating economic situation became noticeable in the autumn of 1929, and the crisis was a surprise and a major blow to those who were caught unaware. This was followed by several activities by financial movers to save the economy: it is on Tuesday in October 1929 that 16 million of stock shares were directly traded, and the industrial index declined by the amazing 10%. Within the period that followed, shares of stock continued to lose their value at more than a half. It is these events that marked the official beginning of the American crisis of 1929 (Watkins 67). CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION IN THE USA ... In the period of 1928 and 1929, however, the value of the shares of stock grew to so much higher levels than the value of the companies they represented that this resulted into an inappropriate situation where the companies could not meet up with the value of their stock shares (Fearnow 89). Another major cause of the Great depression in America was the behavior of Americans who used to buy on credit which was on the rise in the 1920s. This was a period of a marked economic boom, and this placed people in a situation of less thought and care about their future. There was a lot of installment buying where many people bought cars and electronics of high value which did not match the money they had in the possession or in savings. The availability of installment buying encouraged so many people to buy things on credit that when the stock market came to a crash, many people were left with huge debts to settle. This was followed by many people losing their jobs, and it became virtually im possible to settle their highly accumulated debts (Kupperberg 98). The supply and demand situation also played a great role in contributing to the start and lengthening of the Great Depression in America. During the period of economic prosperity in the 1920s, the American manufacturing industries and agricultural sectors produced large quantities of goods and services. This resulted in the market acting up with an increase in prices which was not marked by the adjustment in American workers’ wages which remained constant, but the workers had no more to keep up with the soaring prices, therefore, they stopped buying the goods and services. Factories, however, did not adjust their

Proposal that lays out the security challenges faced by a large health Research Paper - 1

Proposal that lays out the security challenges faced by a large health care provider. In a loose sense, you are doing a risk assessment for ABC Hospital - Research Paper Example The units that are under security threat include infant, pediatric, pharmacy and psychiatric unit. One of the major security threats facing hospitals is one of terrorism. Terrorism is the most common security threat facing the world today. Terrorism is perpetrated by a group of people as a show of opposition to a particular authority. Terrorism is also conducted with an intention of inducing fear or causing great anxiety to a large population so that the group may become coerced to accede to particular demands of perpetrators. Hospitals are not immune to terrorisms as victims in such case can make the government given in to terrorist demands. Terrorists may access hospitals disguised as visitors or they can get in ambulances pretending to be bringing in emergency cases. Consequently, ABC should understand that it is not immune from terrorism and must therefore put measures to control access into the facility (Shukla 50). The other threat facing hospitals is the threat of fire. According to Shukla (50), threat of fire is a great challenge facing health care facilities given that in this environment; patients depend on the staff during the case of fire. The risk of fire increase due to lack of alertness, limited mobility and fixed equipments found in hospitals. In addition, the activities conducted within hospitals where flammable gases and liquids are used, laboratory processes where hazardous chemicals are used, and clinical research enhance the risk of fire in a hospital setting. In addition to destruction of the physical infrastructure, fire destroys hospital records and medication. To address the threat of fire, hospitals must therefore be designed with escape routes that can allow easy movement in case of emergency (Hoke 31). Furthermore, it is critical to install fire-fighting equipments and train the staff on these skills. Hospitals are also required to use technology that will allow detection of fire and

Hybrid Vehicles Essay Example for Free

Hybrid Vehicles Essay The 21st century is considered as the time for more advance development and innovation of the human society. Prior to this era, mankind has already been busy with making ground-breaking design to significantly improve how people live their lives. However, due to changing times, these actions have resulted to some consequences that initiated changes for the better and for the worse. Some of the changes that have transpired in the past nine years since the commencement of the 21st century are the occurrence of global warming and the recently devastating global financial crisis. Evidently, these problems have been caused by humans but they are aware that these crises exist. Because of their realization, many learned as well as ordinary individuals have drafted solutions on how to mitigate the effects and even eradicate the problems at hand. In relation to the growing threat of climate change and fiscal recession, experts have devised a simple apparatus that would address these two problems. This wonder solution is the hybrid vehicle. Nowadays, it is common knowledge that global warming is mainly caused by the emission of harmful gases in the earth’s atmosphere. More so, the increase in oil prices has been one of the major factors for the decline of the US economy. Through the hybrid automobile, these alarming causes can be directly dealt with if this type of automobile will be utilized for public transportation. By doing this, the production of carbon emissions can be greatly reduced, fares would significantly decline and use of gas would be lessened thus helping millions of commuters to save money and at the same time the environment. A hybrid vehicle is a specific kind of automobile that has â€Å"two or more major sources of propulsion power. † This vehicle is usually made out of a â€Å"conventional gasoline and electric motor. † These two parts are the source of power for a hybrid which means that gas and electricity or any other renewable energy such as â€Å"hydrogen, propane, CNG and solar energy† are simultaneously used to run the vehicle. As a result, fuel â€Å"efficiency, increase in horse power, longer driving range and reduced greenhouse gas emissions† can all be accomplished by one single machine (What-is-what. com, 2007). In comparison with regular and other green cars available in the market, the hybrid vehicle is more beneficial to use. Hybrid vehicles can only accumulate an â€Å"average of 33 to 60 miles per gallon during city driving and 27 to 68 miles per gallon in highway driving. † According to the Environmental Protection Agency, these numbers are way better than the performance of other types of vehicles. This only shows that by using hybrid vehicles, users can definitely reduce their gas expenses. In a year, this type of vehicle can consume only $600 to $700 worth of gas which is lower to the average cost of $2000 annually using ordinary vehicles. Also, a hybrid is only low maintenance due to the fact that it utilizes less gas which results to less strain on the engine. Furthermore, the battery is another major part of the hybrid that supplies energy to the motor. This power source can be regularly drained and recharged but need not to worry about its durability because it was made to withstand various problems. Also, most manufacturers offer warranty just in case it wears out (Green Living Answers, 2009). In contrast with electric cars, a hybrid has smaller batteries which do not require constant charging. In addition, using electric cars can cause some drawbacks such as â€Å"availability of charging stations, lack of range, low top speed, and lack of acceleration† (Halt, 2009). Moreover, there are numerous initiatives pioneered by the government and business establishment in order to provided monetary incentives and perks to hybrid users. First, the â€Å"Federal Tax Credits for Advanced Vehicles† which entails â€Å"new tax credits for advanced vehicle technologies ranging from $250 to $3,400 depending on the vehicles level of fuel economy improvement. † Second incentive is giving out discounts for auto insurances on hybrid vehicles. Third, hotel discounts are given to users of hybrid vehicles (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2007). Given all these facts, it is apparent that hybrid vehicles can bring positive changes to the current global situation. By employing this innovation on a large scale, revolutionary transformation can immediately be seen and felt by the public. In this case, the looming threat of climate change and oil price hike can be alleviated by using Hybrid vehicles for mass transportation. References Green Living Answers. (2009). Hybrid Cars vs Regular Cars. Retrieved May 4, 2009, from http://www. greenlivinganswers. com/hybrid-vehicles/hybrid-cars-vs-regular-cars Halt, G. (2009, March 19). Electric Cars Vs Hybrids. Retrieved May 4, 2009, from http://ezinearticles. com/? Electric-Cars-Vs-Hybridsid=2120736 What-is-what. com. (2007, November 2). What is a Hybrid Vehicle? Retrieved May 4, 2009, from http://what-is-what. com/what_is/hybrid_vehicle. html Union of Concerned Scientists. (2007). State and Federal Hybrid Incentives. Retrieved May 4, 2009, from http://go. ucsusa. org/hybridcenter/incentives. cfm

The Major Catalysts in the Formation of the Internet and Digital World :: Internet Digital Essays

The Major Catalysts in the Formation of the Internet and Digital World Introduction There exisits two schools of thought concerning which components have been the major catalysts in the forming of the internet and digital world as we know it today. Both entertain stimulating and valid arguments. Manovich stipulates that the visual format of the internet is purely based on the visual reasoning that erupted out of the late nineteenth century as a result of constructivist principles and the tremendous introduction of the cinema, while Cook provides a good argument that although the assertions made by Manovich are true, Manovich overlooks an important component to the aesthetics and organization of the digital internet. Cook describes the importance of late Victorian logic in the form of diagrammatical information put forth by visual reasoning and mathematical pioneers such as Venn, Marshall, and Carroll. It is my opinion that a combination of certain elements of both Manovich's and Cook's arguments creates a visual reasoning amalgam of why the internet looks like it does today. Each school of thought represents a portion of what we see when we click on the little blue link called "e" and escape into a world of dazzling, creative expressions of information and interpretation. I believe that the methods of Victorian logic are the vehicles in which information is organized and made easily accessible to the interactive users; while Victorian logic has adapted into the utilitarian aspect of the internet, the principles of constructivism which had originally sprung out of the art historical movement called soviet constructivism (early twentieth century) have formed the aesthetic and more directly interactive part of the internet. Manovich's Argument "The techniques developed by the artistic avant-garde of the 1920's became embedded in the commands and interface metaphors of computer software. In short, the avant-garde vision became materialized in a computer."(1) Manovich declares that there are three main developmental stages in the historical context of visual reasoning; I believe Cook's description of these three stages is very clear and succinct, and generally gives overall essence of Manovich's basis for his argument: "First of all he outlines an early period between 1870 and the 1920's, during which there occurred 'a profound change in the cultural attitude toward vision.' This initial cultural shift paved the way for a second stage in the modern history of vision, a stage which arrived around or soon after the Second World

Movie Review Of Sin City Film Studies Essay

The film ‘Sin City ‘ directed by three manager that is Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Frank Miller was born in the twelvemonth of 1957 January 27 in Olney, Maryland. He is a amusing book author and besides an creative person. He is a celebrated dark movie manager and cartoon strips author. Fictional characters and films that created by Frank Miller is ‘Sin City ‘ , ‘Elektra ‘ and ‘Martha Washington ‘ . Robert Rodriguez was born in the twelvemonth 1968 June 20. He is an American Film manager and besides a instrumentalist for his films. Ever after his male parent bought him the first VCRs, he start to acquire interested with movie devising. Quentin Tarantino was born in the twelvemonth of 1963 March 27. He is a movie manager who utilizes nonlinear plot line and love to direct violent films. He won an Academy Award for his interesting movie. The chief subject of this film ‘Sin City ‘ is about violent viol ent death in the City. In this Sin City film, there are several parts of killing scene that deliver violent actions. The first portion killing scene is on top of the penthouse, a smart handsome cat have oning a suit offering a coffin nail to a beautiful lady have oning a ruddy dinner frock. In a minute subsequently, the cat shoots her and holds her stopping point in his arm until she is gone. The 2nd killing scene happens in the warehouse country. Hartigan is a police officer who wanted to salvage an 11 old ages old miss name Nancy which caught by a kid slayer name Roark. Somehow Hartigan is stop by his spouse Bob as because Bob do n't desire to acquire himself kill. Hartigan is being shoot by his spouse Bob as he ‘s the informer. Nancy lay on Hartigan laps and he knows she ‘ll be safe. The 3rd killing scene happens to Goldie, lover of Marv who is found decease the following forenoon beside him. Marv wanted a retaliation on the individual who kills Goldie but he is stop by Lucille, which is his parole officer. Surprisingly, Marv is being attack by a miss which looks likewise as Goldie. Marv hunt for Roark household farm a immature adult male name Kevin which is the individual who kills Goldie. Marv squad up with Wendy to pay a retaliation for Goldie. He is charge for killing Kevin and central. At last, he is sentence to decease in an electric chair. The 4th scene happens in Shellie flat, where she brings her new fellow Dwight back place. Jackie Boy with all his pack who ever abuse cocotte and they did a batch of offense in Old Basin City. Dwight gives him a lesson by diping his caput into the lavatory bowl. Dwight warns Jackie Boy non to trouble oneself Shellie once more or else he ‘ll acquire it from him. Dwight kills Jackie Boy and his pack and inquire why Shellie scared of him. Frank Miller is a manager and besides a comedian ‘s author for narrative books. This film ‘Sin City ‘ delivers batch of violent scene every bit good as the film ‘The Spirit ‘ . As we can see that Frank Miller love to happen those sexy hot ladies like Jessica Elba, Jaime King and another celebrated male histrion Bruce Willis. In the film ‘The Spirit ‘ show the same as Frank Miller take sexy hot ladies once more like Sand Saref, Lorerei Rox and Silken Floss. Those ladies actor are immature, sexy and really good in their playing. Jessica can dance sexily on the phase in the film of ‘Sin City ‘ but in the other side of her ; she can move so professionally in the film of ‘Fantastic 4 ‘ by salvaging people utilizing her ice power. Besides that, Bruce Willis is besides a celebrated male histrion in ‘Sin City ‘ . He willing to scarify and protect for an 11 old ages old miss. After old ages subsequently, the grown u p girl Nancy autumn for him as he plays a really good adult male by salvaging her in that film. The similarities of both films are Frank Miller utilizes the same manner of background colour for these two films. ‘Sin City ‘ contains merely a small colour for few of the peculiar objects and the others are all back and gray colour for the whole film. Lapp goes to the film ‘The Spirit ‘ , merely few scenes contain colour and the others are black and gray. As we can see, these two films use the same manner of background and the subject is somewhat same. Both films deliver violent actions about killing. The authorship of this film ‘Sin City ‘ is different signifier ‘The Spirit ‘ as ‘Sin City ‘ contain of several parts killing scene and is non connected to each other. The lighting of this film is really crisp. Although the film is full with black and gray somehow we can still see the characters and edifices clearly. This show they made a really good lighting work on the movie. Furthermore, the soundtrack of ‘Sin City ‘ that composed by Robert Rodriguez was antic. It matches the scene and motion in this movie. Every scene has own music background to do it interesting. As a decision, the subject of this film that deliver violent may convey harmful influence to the childs. Somehow I think that the manner of killing in this film is excessively unsmooth and may take the childs to larn. In add-on, the colour of this film is really dull particularly for childs and adolescents as we get attracted to films that are colourful. The mark audience that will watch this film may be in the scope of 40 to 50 old ages adult. I love Jessica Alba in ‘Sin City ‘ because of her amorousness and of class for her playing. She kisses Bruce Willis, a adult male that can be his male parent so emotionally in the film playing. This show how success is she to be a celebrated and gifted actress. Bruce Willis would be my favourite excessively ; he is a mature and steady adult male who can move really good in movie. What I enjoy the most in this film is when the xanthous asshole is being kills by Bruce Willis. Although is really disgustful, but it looks existent and I ‘ve ne'er seen this type of films before. Yellow blood dividing about, it truly show something different from what we ever watch. They show everything included coarse actions that most of the films sensor it.

Communication in an Organisation Essay

It is not possible to have human relations without communication. However, good and effective communication is required not only for good human relations but also for good and successful business. Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender’s intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast distances in time and space. It requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality and the communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the message of the sender so communication must include both the transfer and the understanding of meaning. I think that effective communication is needed within a business for both the manager’s and the organization’s success because it is required for the day to day running of the business . Effective communication is required at various levels and for various aspects in an organization so that there can be manager and employee relations. Effective communication of information and decision is an essential component for management-employee relations. The manager cannot get the work done from employees unless they are communicated effectively of what he/she wants to be done so therefore effective communication does not take place within an organization then employees will not know how to go about achieving company goals. Managers should also be sure of some basic facts such as how to communicate and what results can be expected from that communication. Most of management problems arise because of lack of effective communication. Chances of misunderstanding and misrepresentation can be minimized with proper communication system. When there is ineffective communication it leaves room for mistakes and sometime projects and reports have to be revised or done over thus causing resources to be squandered and may cause employees and managers to be frustrated. Finally, communication between management and employees can help the management better address concerns the employees may have, reassuring the staff and helping management to remedy potential problems facing the organization. Motivation can also arise from effective communication and this can make employees more productive which in turn will ensure the success of the business. When employees are able to easily communicate to their employers their opinions and problems they tend to be productive on the job and intent on working to best of their abilities. On the other hand manager can tell employees that they are doing a great job or ask for their opinions in the decision making process. Effective communication in the workplace plays a prominent role in developing long lasting employee motivation and one of many positive benefits gained from well-established organizational communication is improved relationships. Improving relationships between management and staff is quite important and is often overlooked. Things will go smoothly when everyone is on the same page, understanding of goals and the direction a company is going. The best process of communicating here is well thought out emails that follow the chain of command and face to face interactions. A company also uses communication as a way to maintain control over employees and their work environment. Written human resources policies and procedures dictate how employees are permitted to act in the workplace. Job descriptions outline the parameters of an employee’s job functions. Performance reviews control whether an employee receives a raise or attains a promotion. Communication allows employees to interact with customers and each other. A customer service department communicates with customers to help them resolve issues. A business letter can be used to introduce a company to a potential customer. Communication is essential for employees who work together on a project or during the training process. Employees may interact socially both at work and outside the workplace. Every organization offers a service or good so there needs to be an effective line of communication between the organization and its customers. Those organizations need to be able communicate about what they are offering with the consumer base they are targeting. Effective communication with consumers provides two benefits. First, it lets consumers know about what is being offered and why the organization’s offers should be preferred over the competitions. It also allows the organization to gain feedback from consumers so they can alter either their communication tactics or their offers to make sure they are appealing to the largest amount of consumers possible. Communication is necessary to effectively function, both inside an organization and when dealing with the outside world. The above inferences attest to the importance of effective communication within an organization if it is intent on both the manager and business success. Effective communication is not only important within the organization but also information should relay to stakeholders in order to guarantee the organizations attainment of its goals.

To what extent do market failures result in a similar optimal allocation of resources to the innovation process Essays

To what extent do market failures result in a similar optimal allocation of resources to the innovation process Essays To what extent do market failures result in a similar optimal allocation of resources to the innovation process Essay To what extent do market failures result in a similar optimal allocation of resources to the innovation process Essay Innovation has a crucial impact on the standards of living in particular economy. It is generally agreed that research and innovation are the main sources of growth and job creation in market economies. i. e. output is increased through greater acquisition of knowledge. Subsequently, 2 things matter for economic growth: savings and the state of the productive knowledge (i. e. shows how productivity the extra capital will be used). The production function diagram below can illustrate this Where labour productivity per worker experiences diminishing marginal returns This diagram shows how economic growth can be realised by accumulation of capital and/or higher levels of knowledge. It should be noted that productivity growth is the difference between the growth of inputs and the growth of outputs and that technological progress is measured as residual-so that any problems with measuring inputs or outputs, will be transferred onto measuring technological progress. There are 2 movements on the diagram: a to b due to the accumulation of capital and b to c due to the growth of productivity or technical progress. The difficulty with this is that if knowledge had not changed, the movement from a to b will not have been experienced. The only reason capital has been accumulated is due to the increase in technical progress. Generally speaking technological progress generates new wealth in two ways: either through innovative process which help to increase the productivity of labour and capital and thus enable production levels to increase and/or to save available resources, or through innovative products which lead to the creation of new markets and industries and give a boost to investment and create jobs, Hence the principal source of growth is innovation. A general consensus states a positive incidence of technological progress on growth, competitiveness and employment. Enormous amounts of money are spent on innovation and studies reveal that the economic return on innovation is very high in relative terms. Reviewing the diagram on returns to innovation below can see this. Graph2 The demand curve indicates the marginal valuations of this particular product and it is assumed that a single monopoly supplier produces the goods with constant marginal costs c and sets prices above marginal costs at P. The private rate of return is B as the firm exploits its product and receives a private rate of return extended over time against the cost of innovation. The social rate of return is larger as it is the sum of the private return and consumer surplus i. e. (A+D). Better measures can be seen empirically as Nadiri (1993) concluded that the private return on innovation was usually around 20 to 30% and the average social return close to 50%. This begs the question, why are such less resources devoted to innovation even though the rate of returns to society is so high? There are many reasons to this, which I shall discuss later, but crucially it depends on the view of markets and competition. There are 3 types of views: classical (emphasis on the rate of return equalises at the competition level), the dominant view of neoclassical state of equilibrium underpinning welfare economics and economic allocation) and the dynamic view of Austrians (looks at markets as creative and focuses on innovation as an economic process and entrepreneurs as key agents). In the early 1960s various specialist agreed perfect competition was incompatible with innovation as it required huge resources and exploitation of innovation suspected increasing returns. It was typically found that industries that regarded innovation as important were concentrated industries not perfectly competitive which were consistent with Pareto optimality, Hence the reason why neoclassical firms did not optimally allocate resources to organise and fund innovation. Numerous authors like Arrow (1960), Mansfield (1968) and Nordhaus (1969) pointed to market failure- that prevent the attainment of pareto equilibria by violating one or other of the conditions for perfect competition and explained that absence of the government in the free operation of the market would lead companies to under invest in basic innovation. Market failure may be explained in terms of four aspects: uncertainties (missing markets), appropriability, indivisibility and public goods. The innovation process both generates and is influenced by uncertainty and this aspect of market failure is particularly damaging to the possibility of a Pareto-efficient allocation of resources to invention and innovation. It is the inherent level of uncertainty, which most distinguishes an R+D project from a traditional industrial investment project. Innovation entails numerous scientific, technological and commercial uncertainties, which make it difficult for financial bankers to forecast results and monitor their investment project. Put briefly, missing or future markets for contingent claims in an uncertain world do not exist in any sense sufficiently for individuals to take risks in an optimal fashion. In addition to the uncertainties, providers of capital face another major difficulty: this derives from the intangible nature of innovation and the fact that investment cost is not recoverable. Consequently, the percentage of innovation projects, which are successful and generate a return on a large investment, is usually low. Thus financial backers insist on real guarantees to cover themselves if the investment fails. It is difficult to ascertain optimal levels of innovation in an uncertain world due to the existence of information asymmetries; Stiglitz (1991) makes it clear, that the resulting unequal distribution of knowledge creates problems of adverse selection and moral hazard, which deny the possibility of Pareto-optimality. Fundamentally, innovation and information asymmetries can be regarded as one, stating not only a trade-off between static and dynamic efficiency but also that innovation and pareto-optimality are incompatible. Another market failure is appropriation externalities. They have always been recognised as a major constraint on the incentives to innovate, as investors cannot appropriate to themselves the full amount of profits, which result from their funding of research and innovative activity. Furthermore, applied and/or industrial R+D is not altogether free of this imperfect appropriablilty of profits, which investors have. Despite advances in intellectual property rights in recent years, innovative processes and products developed by companies can easily be imitated by others and in some cases with relatively little effort and capital cost. For instance, studies in Europe put the total losses as a result of imitations alone of EU companies at nearly 50billion ECU in 1994. This led to lost earnings and huge numbers of job losses. However efficient the level of protection afforded by international law, there is no question of investors being able to appropriate the entire profits from their investment in innovation; not only for the reasons stated already but also because of the powerful external factors affecting innovation activities and the indirect spin-offs from them. As, had been stated earlier, the social rate of return may exceed private rates of return, private investors only receive a small return on their investment, and therefore it is necessary for governments to act to close the gap between private and social yields on technology investment. Next, the indivisible nature of the innovation process constitutes another major obstacle to optimum allocation of private capital. If R+D activity were perfectly divisible and it were possible to predict the social and private impact of each project, it would no doubt have been easier to separate funds required between public and private capital. However, phases of the innovation process are independent and the results are often unpredictable. Also indivisibilities inherent to the innovation process imply that there are increasing returns to the exploitation of technology and that it will be necessary for firms to retain some market power if they are to recover the costs to innovation. At best, an innovating industry can be monopolistically competitive, and from this different angle, Pareto efficiency and innovation are seen to be incompatible. The, last case regards science and technology as public goods i. e. non-rival, in the sense that the marginal cost of reproducing these is negligible and their owners exercise little control over the way in which they are used. In the free market economy it makes sense for the government to find the production and/ or dissemination of scientific knowledge. But this justification of the government role in funding basic research has been challenged by recent innovative approaches because the public good attributes of scientific and technological knowledge implies that market solution to the allocation of resources to innovation will not be efficient. Economists have identified other sources of market failure such as transaction costs, the national features of some corporate governance models, the reluctance of monopolies to fund innovative work, etc. The EU introduced a science and technology policy as to corrective for pervasive market failures and also due to the emergence of the single European market. The policy emphasised obvious areas of collaboration for R+D and innovation in order to be more competitive with USA and Japan and to compete with the low wages in South America. Currently, member states are spending 1. 9% of their resources on innovation compared with 2. 5% in Japan and 2. 7% in USA. Recently, the EU set the target at an overenthusiastic 3% The policy corrects market failures in uncertainties by appropriating price structures in the missing markets and thereby reducing distortions. Moreover, missing markets imply the need for agents to form expectations on the likely private values of their questions, expectations which policy can certainly influence. Given all these difficulties, which arise from the innovation process, it would seem to be wishful thinking to imagine that scientific and technological progress could be adequately funded in all the market economies without some form of government assistance. However one needs to recognise that government intervention can fail as well. Such examples are, imperfect information, the benefit between those who pay and those who benefit, bureaucratic capture and pressure group activity. It does not automatically follow that government policy will be welfare-improving. This is particularly so with respect to innovative activates, the formulation of which entails access to detailed microeconomic and social information

SAT 5-Minute Mess-Up, an Update

SAT 5-Minute Mess-Up, an Update SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips On June 6th, 2015, the College Board made a huge mistake. This mistake resulted in some sections of the test being canceled and forced the College Board to use an abnormal scoring method. To make amends for the mistake, the College Board offered a free retest for June 6th test-takers in October 2015. What’s the situation today? How did the retest go? What should you do if you took the June 6th test? I’ll address all of this and more in this news update. What Wasthe 5-Minute Mess Up? If you know the full story, feel free to skip this section and jump to the update.If you don’t know what happened on June 6th, I encourage you to read our full report on the situation, but here is a brief summary: On section 8 or 9 of the test (depending on your version), there was a typo in the test booklet which said you had 25 minutes to complete the section when in fact you were only allowed 20 minutes (which is what it says in the proctor instructions).As a result of this discrepancy, some proctors gave students 25 minutes for the section while other were given only 20 minutes. Due to the discrepancy, the College Board decided to cancel two sections of the test.They had to change their normal grading curve, which affected the reliability of the scoring.To pacify angry students (some of whom were threatening to sue), the College Board offered a free retest on October 3rd for all students who took the SAT June 6th. However, the College Board still released scores for all June 6th SAT test-takers, and the scores from that test date will still count as an official SAT score. Colleges should judgeSAT scores from June 6th the same as scores from other SAT test dates. In spite of the free re-test, many students and parents are still angry. Samuel Jester, who sat for the June 6th SAT, and his family are trying to file a class action lawsuit against the College Board for students who sat for the June 6th SAT and paid to have their scores verified. They're arguing that the test was not "scored in a consistent and reliable manner." The lawsuit is still pending. Update on the October Retest For those who took the retest on October 3rd, how did they feel? Here are some reactions from students on Twitter: The Good OMG YES IM HAPPY WITH MY SAT SCORE 💠¥Ã°Å¸â€™ ¥Ã°Å¸â€™ ¥Ã°Å¸â€™ ¥ - navigator (@shahrazadxx) November 12, 2015 Just saw my recent SAT score and i am very satisfied with it. 😊 - Cole Manfred (@Da_Man_Fred) October 30, 2015 Hard work pays off! Raised my SAT score 200pts. im not dumb. #ThankYouJesus - Greggy Wap (@lilsportster) November 2, 2015 The Bad SO GLAD I GOT A LOWER SCORE ON THE SAT YASSS - Gus (@augustagloverr) October 29, 2015 Crying because my SAT score is horrible. - Nina (@nphomphakdy) October 25, 2015 The In-Between LOL WHEN U GET THE SAME SAT SCORE THAT U GOT IN JUNE UGHHHHHH - Clark (@thisisclark) October 29, 2015 my SAT score went up a lot but it still isn't good enough - ï ¸  (@pescadomalo) November 25, 2015 Some Hadn’t Received Their Scores My SAT score reports are still "pending" ok ok - Harry (@harryhudome) November 1, 2015 When will I find out my SAT score The world may never know - Jesse Tompkins (@jessetompkins97) November 1, 2015 This delay was due to an issue with the College Board’s new electronic system.The issue has since been resolved, and all October 3rd scores were received by test-takers.However, the delay worried many students who’d applied Early Decision or Early action since many colleges require scores to arrive before November 1st. The College Board worked with college admissions offices on the issue, and many colleges still allowed students to be considered for Early Action or Early Decision in spite of the slightly delayed scores. SAT scores lead to a lot of emotions. What To Do If you took the June 6th SAT, what should you do? Whether you were happy, sad or ambivalent towards your score, I have advice for you! Option #1: Happy with Score from June If you’re happy with your score for the June 6th test, send that score!Colleges should view it the same as any other SAT score.Even if you took the free re-test in October, you could still opt to send the June 6th score.Your June 6th score still counts as an official score. Option #2: Very Unhappy with June Score If you were very unhappy with your June 6th score, you were not alone.I personally sat for that test date and received 760 in Math for one incorrect answer without skipping any questions (which would normally be a 780-800 on another test date). The grading curve was brutal, so many students were unhappy. If you fell into that unhappy group, hopefully, you did the free retest October 3rd, but if not, you should pay for a retest. I highly recommend doing SAT prep to try to improve your score. You could try self-study,tutoring, a class, oronline program; whatever prep path you choose make sure it is personalized to your needs. You need todetermine your areas of weakness andtry to improve in those areas. If you retest and improve your score significantly, you might be accused of cheating. Even if you’re not accused of cheating, your drastic score increase may seem suspicious to colleges (for schools that require all scores sent). I recommend that you use the additional information section of your common appto explain that you were very thrown off on June 6th by the timing confusion and that caused an abnormally low score. Option #3: Okay with June Score If you don’t love or hate your score, if it’s close to your target scorebut not exactly what you wanted, I’d consider re-testing if you have the time. Hopefully, you took the free October retest and did better, but if not, I suggest you make an effort to prep for your next SAT test either through self-study, tutoring, a class, oronline program. Check out our awesome guides to SAT prep. If you decide for some reason to use your June score, that’s great!Colleges should view it the same as any other SAT score. What’s Next? Need help with your college application? Learn about how to write a personal statement, how to write about your extracurriculars, and how to get great letters of recommendation. Interested in attending a top college? Learn about how to get into Harvardand Stanford. Still prepping for the SAT? Here are some useful SAT strategy guides. If you’re taking the SAT soon, I’d recommend you check out our guide to cramming for the SAT. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

High Carbohydrated food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

High Carbohydrated food - Essay Example Hence, the main danger is the excessive intake of wrong high-carbohydrate intakes resulting in increase in weight. Carbohydrates may be beneficial if they include a healthy balance of different fats. A single dietary intake may, on one hand, result in excessive fats of one kind and on the other hand, lack of other healthier fats, proteins and fibers. High Carbohydrate diet contains more of vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron etc. and low of Vitamin B12, Zinc and Sodium (FitDay). The carbohydrates low on Glycemic index provides a control on blood sugar level after having the meals. The unawareness of high Carb/high Glycemic index diet boosts the sugar level to extremes which later on results in fatigues and distress due to energy crashes. French baguette has a Glycemic index of 95 and Peanuts has an index of 14. Hence, Peanuts are less likely to affect sugar level, whereas, French Baguettes are more likely to boost sugar level and provide an unnaturally high energy to the human body. Diabetic, cardiac and other patients must be aware of their intake needs. High-carb/low glycemic index helps preventing high blood sugar levels and balanced weight and energy of human body (Greenberg, 2011). FitDay. "Low vs. High Carbohydrate Diet: Which is Better? / Nutrition / Carbs."  FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 26  Sept.  2013. . Greenberg, Riva. "The High Carb Diet That Keeps You Healthy, Fit and Trim."  The Huffington Post. HPMG News, 21  Mar.  2011. Web. 26  Sept.  2013.