Communistic Sparta essays

Communistic Sparta essays Government and Military, It could have been more. Societies have developed a pattern over the centuries of creating a government system of communism. Choosing this selection of government has allowed military machines to be born and reflect the civilization that created them. Nowhere in history is this more evident than in the Greek city-state of Sparta. The entire lifestyle that revolved around the state of communism had the goal of creating the ultimate military machine. Spartas government system contributed greatly to the strength of Spartas army, the sheer power of which is best demonstrated during the Persian War. The great flaws of Spartas society was that they chose their state of communism which resulted in their great power to impose their will on the rest of Greece, nor did they allow a strong culture to take root in Sparta, as was allowed to happen in Athens. The entire social system of Sparta was designed to spin on an axis of communism and to create a race of warriors. Merriam-Websters dictionary states that communism is a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls the state(Websters 228). In order to run her communist state, Sparta controlled the lives of her people at an early age. This can be found in Edward Tannenbaums A History of World Civilizations, the lives of Spartas citizens were tended and guided from cradle to grave, always for the purpose of creating strong, courageous, highly disciplined soldiers(Tannenbaum 112). Tannenbaum clearly reinforces the history that Spartans experienced communism in their daily lives. Also, A.H.M Jones writes, Each infant was examined shortly after birth by the elders of the tribesmen who either passed it or if it was weakly or deformed, ordered it to be thrown over a special cliff(Jones 34). This horrendous ancient history of throwing sick&qu...

Why Violent video games should not be banned

Why Violent video games should not be banned Introduction The essay is an argumentative one; violent games should not be banned. Recently there has been an endless and fierce debate on whether or not to banned violent video games. For instance, the countries that constitute the European Union are planning to ban some of the European games. However, it is the view of the majority of video games just like any other games are there to educate and entertain.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Why Violent Video Games Should not be Banned specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although there are strong reasons brought forth by those who want violent video games to be banned here are reasons why we should not; increases self-esteem, reduction of pain, encourages teamwork, sharpening players’ wit among others (Sterngold, 2006). With regards to those in support of banning the game they hold the view that the games continuously poison the minds of the viewers especially th e young individuals. The argument in support of violent video games It is worth noting that there are indeed strong points that need to be given a second thought before we rush in banning violent video games. It has been argued and even proved that when kids play such games especially when the multiplayer type of game is available, then the children get to learn at a very early age to work as teammate which require teamwork. Arguably, this is advantageous as it helps in keeping children together in times of needs (Lebrilla, 2010). For this matter when they grow up, such individuals will be in a better position to be good team players. This concept has been currently deemed very vital in ensuring the success of an organization. Through the game, it is indeed tough to beat the opponent. However, through concentration, acquisition of skills and knowledge on how to win which has been learned from each other, children are capable of the emerging winner. With this, they grow knowing that to win, there is a need to have a team behind. As suggested by Bissell, 2008 violent video games have been thought to help especially those with very high tempers to release their anger by not hurting anybody. When very angry and one feels like inflicting pain on another human being, or even kill others, it has been thought appropriate to transfer such anger to violent video games. When one engages in a shoot out with an enemy in a video game, he/she might feel that the mission is accomplished.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Aside from assisting young individuals to sharpen their wits and problem-solving skills, violent video game plays a significant role in helping young individuals even a few older members of the society to learn how to persevere. On the same line of thought, these games have made it possible for people to have a well-coordinated hand and eye movement (Cr aig et al. 2007). This has helped in making sure that reflex action/response is normal. The advantage of this is that it will play a significant role in keeping progressive illnesses at bay. Another major point that is in support of violent video games is that it helps in sustaining the country’s economy. It is apparent that the industry of violent video games has played a significant role in the economic growth of the country. The export of the same product to other nation generates foreign income for the country. Additionally, a good number of Americans derive their daily bread from the same industry (Konijn et al., 2007). For this reason, banning of violent video games will mean that the unemployment rate will go up and the money generated from the industry will be lost. The industry generates close to 21 billion dollars annually (Jones Ponton, 2003). Additionally, doctors have proved that despite violent games being useful; releasing anger, it is also helpful in helping a patient reduce pain. The current efforts hospitals show this is making to install such games. More importantly, the games help in entertaining the plays as well as the viewers. Just like when people feel entertained in watching a football match violent game provide the same to the affected party. Considering the fact that slightly over 70.0% of American teens play these games, if it is banned then they will indulge in even more risky activities in their quest to be entertained for instance drug abuse (Goldstein, 1998). Argument against violent video games It would not be rational if the argument that supports the banning of violent games are not brought to light. It has been brought in the violent limelight game pollutes the minds of American children.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Why Violent Video Games Should not be Banned specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When a young individual engages too much in these game s, they are addicted. The result is that they will grow up and may put into practice what they saw. A recent incidence where a student walked in an institution of learning and started shooting at others killing them on the spot has been linked to violent video games (Anderson Dill, 2000). Similarly, just like any other thing that can bring addiction, violent video game when making a young individual addicted can be detrimental in their quest to learning. This is because most of the time, whenever they are free will, spend time playing such games (Ferguson, 2008). Although it has been argued that the game fosters socialization skills, it is evident that when one plays in non-multiplayer support, they grow up being persons with poor skills to socialize. Conclusion From the review of the issue of violent games, even though the game is intense, banning it will bring more harm than good. For those who advocate for the banning, it would be rational to critically analyze the benefits of t he game to individuals and even the society at large. For instance, it enhances teamwork, helps reduce pain, aid in releasing anger, and improves wit and hand-eye coordination among others. However, the disadvantages include polluting or poisoning young individuals, and addiction eats their time hence cannot engage actively in other vital activities. This thus warrants careful consideration from relevant stakeholders such as parents and the government. References Anderson, C. Dill, K. (2000). â€Å"Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings and Behavior in the Laboratory and In Life.† Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(4):722. Ferguson, C. (2008). â€Å"Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games Be a Force for Good?, Review of General Psychology, 14(1): 68-81Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Konijn, E. et al. (2007). I Wish I Were a Warrior: The Role of Wishful Identification in the Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression in Adolescent Boys. Developmental Psychology, 43(1): 1-12 Craig, A. et al. (2007). Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy. Oxford University: Oxford University Press. Bissell, T. (2008). Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter. New York: Macmillan Publishers. Sterngold, A. (2006). â€Å"Violent video games† Web. Jones, G. Ponton, L. (2003). Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence. New York: Basic Books. P. 172. Goldstein, J. (1998). Why We Watch; The Attraction of Violent Entertainment. Oxford University Oxford University Press. P. 188

Business Ethics and Organizational Culture Essay - 2

Business Ethics and Organizational Culture - Essay Example The article stipulates that the organization theory along with the concepts of business ethics usually reflects on the organization of man’s cooperative activities and how they should actually be organized. However, the article suggests that the probable symbiosis that exists between the fields of business ethics along with organization cultures has not yet been fully identified. The article does provide a brief summary of organizational theories for the purpose of providing non professionals in the field of business ethics with appropriate information on the running of business. This article additionally provides information concerning the four research subjects that are applicable in the organizational culture field along with the business ethics one. It also offers several diverse theoretical perspectives on the business ethics along with organizational culture fields (Heugens & Scherer, 2010). Finally, the article also explores what organizational theories have to offer to the field of business ethics along with what could be the potential boundaries of this contribution. The author provides an upbeat description of the relationship that exists between these two fields while insisting that the latent symbiosis that exists between them is inspiring and enormous. It is relevant to business ethics since to the employees of an organization; their management utilizes them in setting the firm’s tone along with their general working environments. This is done by helping to state their professional rights along with private rights within an organization. They also greatly assist in determining how employees should behave in the course of performing their duties. In addition, they also help in ensuring that the working environments are safe while making the organizations work schedules to be fair and thoughtful of their welfare. This article states that when the management of an organization fails to uphold the employee’s ethical rights,

Difference between the British Parliament and the Indian parliament Term Paper

Difference between the British Parliament and the Indian parliament - Term Paper Example The Prime Minister selects other ministers, which forms the government and acts as supporting leaders of the different Government sections. Nearly twenty of the most superior government ministers constitute the cabinet and about 100 ministers comprise the government. According to the lawful convention, all the ministers are the components of the parliament or peers in the House of Lords. The prime minister is the leading in the cabinet and is accountable for leading the cabinet conventions, selecting Cabinet ministers, and planning government policy (Manning 27). A permanent politically unbiased party called the civic service carries out the implementation of minister’s resolutions. Its legitimate function is to support the government despite the political party in control. Contrasting other democracies, a leading civil servant continues to be in post upon a transformation of government. Ahead civil servant recognized as a Permanent Secretary leads the governmental administration of the department. Most of the civic staff work in executive groups, which are divided into operational organizations reporting to branches of state (Manning 27). The system in India covers loosely the official leader of the executive who is the president, the real executive, which is the council of ministers, and the permanent organization that is the public services. India is a democratic and a union state with a leader who is the voted president. Thus, it has the distinctive feature of being a once parliamentary polity and a state with a president.     

Human Capital Management Essay Example for Free

Human Capital Management Essay â€Å"It is important for HR Management in managing the knowledge capital of an organization and aligning it with organization’s strategic plan†. Critically assess the strategic role of HCM and challenges of managing the knowledge capital in an organization that you are familiar. The organization that I would like to choose is Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri Terengganu (JPNT). JPNT consists of more than 400 workforce and this agency is responsible for administrative and policy executioner of Ministry of Education in the whole Terengganu. In JPNT, there is a small unit of Human Resource Department and this department has 20 staffs. However, until the last day of my service there, the HR department did not establish any single policy about human capital management. Therefore I will attempt to answer this question while recommending what should be done by JPNT to succeed in maximizing their human capital. Before we discuss further the strategic role of HCM and challenges that had to be overcome by HCM specialist, let us look at the technical definition of this question. Knowledge capital is defined by Business Dictionary as the â€Å"know how† that results from the experience, information, knowledge, learning, and skills of the employees of an organization. Of all the factors of production, knowledge capital creates the longest lasting competitive advantage. It may consist entirely of technical information or may reside in the actual experience or skills acquired by the individuals (BusinessDictionary. com 2012) . Knowledge capital is an essential component of human capital. Human Capital is defined by (Baron and Armstrong 2007) as the knowledge, skills, abilities and capacity to develop and innovate possessed by people in the organization. This is one of the attributes of the intellectual capital. Intellectual capital is defined by the same author as the stocks and flows of knowledge available to an organization. It is categorized into three categories namely human capital, social capital and organizational capital. These capitals are usually combined with the physical resources which are the financial and physical assets for the purpose of value creation to the firm. As cited by (Sveiby 1998)Tom Stewart who in his June 1991 article Brain Power How Intellectual Capital Is Becoming Americas Most Valuable Asset, proposed the importance of intellectual capital to the management agenda. He defined intellectual capital in his article as: the sum of everything everybody in your company knows that gives you a competitive edge in the market place. Knowledge Management consists of managerial activities that focus on the development and control of knowledge in an organization to fulfill organizational objectives. (Sveiby 1998) Therefore it means that the integration of all management activities that focus on development and control of knowledge is what we call as knowledge management. Challenges of managing knowledge capital in JPNT will be diffused together as I explained about the role of HCM in the organization. Knowledge management is defined as the process of storing and sharing the wisdom, understanding and expertise accumulated in an organization about its processes, techniques and operations (Baron and Armstrong 2007). Therefore, the data that should be synthesized and acquired should explain the organization’s activity for instance the achievement of the employees in knowledge sharing among them and ensure that the knowledge is maximized in terms of its usage. Everybody must share their skill, knowledge and experience without any malicious intentions for the purpose of maximizing the performance of JPNT. However, it brings challenges to HR specialist in JPNT as it is not a culture of sharing. Some of the staffs afraid to share their know how because they thought that by doing so, it might jeopardized their career envelopment in the future. HR specialist overcomes this by implementing a fair assessment indicator to measure their performance without favoritism, nepotism and biasness. In my opinion, the most important attributes that distinguish Human Resource (HR) with Human Capital Management is the element of the workers as assets. As discussed by (Baron and Armstrong 2007) human capital theory emphasized on regarding people as assets of the organization, and investment in people will generate long run return. Scarborough and Elias noted that human capital theory is similar to physical capital theory but they differ in terms of the reference for human capital theory is made to people and skills while in physical capital theory reference is made to plant and equipments. Both emphasized on value creations to firm. Thus by applying this theory, JPNT needs to redefine the cost associated with training and development and career progression as the investment that will create value for the agency. Staff that undergoes training must be ensured that the new skills matched with their job description and the staff is using that new knowledge in order to effectively execute their job. For instance, the weekly training is not supposed to be done by the JPNT if on the purpose of fulfilling the quotas of training hours. Remuneration is not under JPNT’s jurisdictions however JPNT can recommend the salary of their staff to PSD (Public Service Department). Accepting staff as the asset of the organization will be mutually benefit to both parties involved. On the employee’s part, they will be feeling more motivated, appreciated thus will contribute better in their performances. As for the organization, it will boost the overall organization’s performance, decrease turnover rate, absenteeism and other negative behavior of the staffs. However this theory is not agreed by some scholar for instance Davenport(1999). Davenport argued that worker must not be treated as assets because of three main reasons. The first reason is workers cannot be brought, sold and replaced by their owner. Secondly, the principle of this theory is unacceptable and inappropriate in practice is because workers cannot be owned by the firm as the firm owned plants and machines. Lastly, there is not absolute way of calculating human value-no convincing method of attaching financial value to human resources. Therefore, treating workers sorely based on assets can create drawback to the organization. The interpretation of this concept should be made carefully and it should match with the objective of the organization. It is also not an easy task to convince the top management since the culture of bureaucracy is very strong in JPNT. The next part, I will discuss about the strategic role of HCM. HCM’s role as stated in the book Human Capital Management by Baron and Armstrong, HCM acts as business partner of the firm. Secondly, they are also responsible in developing, analyzing and using business data. Thirdly, they are also responsible for enhancing job engagement and commitment, fourthly, they are responsible to build ‘Business Case’ and lastly, they are also responsible for engaging with the other function of the organization. (Baron and Armstrong 2007)These points will be elaborated one by one in below. For the first one HCM acts as the business partner with the top management of the organization. This concept was introduced by Ulrich in 1998 where the author proposed that HR specialist should be share responsibility with management people to run the business. They must have the ability to understand and exploit opportunities and HR specialist themselves must understand how their role could help in achieving the objective of the organizations. Ulrich suggested that in order for the organization to create value, HR professionals must carry out their responsibility as strategic partners, administrative experts, employees’ advocates and as driver of changes. This can be done through strategy execution, improved planning by thorough discussion on how the firm should be organized to carry out the strategies. HR engagement with operating and marketing function is essentials in ensuring that all of their initiatives will become successful by answering the following issues- whether the initiatives is best aligned with strategy implementations, they make selection based on priority, and lastly the evaluations of the initiatives should be indicate positive linkage to business result. HR specialist must act as employee advocate, human capital developer, functional expert, strategic partner and lastly as leader in terms of HR function. However, the premise â€Å"HCM act as business partner† did not agreed by all practitioners. Tim Miller and Alex Wilson reported by Smethurst(2005) and Pickard(2005) are the examples of the top management who disagree with this premise. Convincing the top management will not going to be easy. Still HCM emphasized on the importance of evaluation of what had been happen within the organization and it also provides basis for value adding strategist. Therefore, according to this theory, HCM in this case the HR specialist in the human resource department should work together with the top management of JPNT in ensuring the creation of value to the firm. The value that we meant here is creating competitive human capital that at the end of the day this human capital will be able to serve successfully to their customers thus deliver excellence business service for the organizations. Secondly, HR is responsible to develop, analyze and use human capital data. The measurements that must be developed by HR should be able to measure issues relating to workforce, capable of measuring the levels and trends in performance achieved by both individual and business, can measure the impact of HR policies and practices on business performance or what Mercer HR Consulting called as â€Å"Business Impact Modeling†. It is also expected that HR should be able in building an effective measurement to measure the effectiveness of line manager in applying HR policies and the measurement tools should be able to measure the effectiveness of HR function (Baron and Armstrong 2007). The workforce matrix should provide data which allows the business to measure the key characteristics of the people it employs. Understanding the relationship between workforce matrix and people management is very important because the workforce matrix focus on the influences business performance and show the business of what need to be done to improved the added value from human capital resources. Therefore, HR cannot simply gain data without proper implementations of specific procedures and standards because gaining accurate data will never be easy. The data accuracy will show the current situation and trends of human capital within the organizations. In JPNT, the typical tool to measure the human capital is Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in human resource department reflect the organizational goal. They matched the number of training and types of training according to the need of the staff. Therefore KPI’s adopt by Human Resource department is quantifiable; they are defined in terms of the feedback that they gain through exit training survey. This KPI however is not emphasized on skills retention that the staff gained on the training. They are not focus workers as the assets of an organization; therefore, I think there are a lot of improvement needs to be carried out to improve this measurement method. Next, is on the aspect of measuring the overall performance. Human Resource department use Balance Score Card that is developed by Beatty et. Al (2005) to measure them. Balance Score Card highlighted four important aspects which are customer perspectives, internal perspectives, innovations and learning perspectives and lastly the financial perspectives. This scorecard focuses on balanced representation and analysis of data. In HR, four dimensions are being highlighted which are HR competencies, its practices, systems and deliverables. On the aspect of financial performance, the HR department always runs cost benefit analysis to choose the best trainer to train their staff or just simply using the internal sources that they have. Productivity is measure when the training course that undergo by the staff is beneficial and the new knowledge are continuously used by the staff. The operational impact or effectiveness is measure for instance creation of successful training course to the staff and when the staff perceived such programs contribute to their career developments. Lastly, is in terms of customer service. Through continuous training programs, the staffs become more skillful in treating the customers thus more of them will be delighted. Measuring the impact of HR policies and practices are one of the toughest roles of HR specialist. This is because it is hard to determine â€Å"causation†-what actions or factors that are specially cause the performance (Baron and Armstrong 2007). Genome II is a model that was developed by National Building Society proved statistically that the more committed the employee, the happier the customer will. Genome project had focus on recruitment and retention, deeper understanding of the commitment of the employees, reward system that is more transparent and flexible, increase the effectiveness of the execution on the first line management, promotes recognitions, and develop a culture where both managers and their subordinates demonstrate right behaviors. Focus area of GenomeII could act as a benchmark to be applied in JPNT. Effectiveness of the line manager could be improved with the intervention HCM (Bohlander and Snell 2010). Guidance, help and further training is available in case where they need them. With this, it was hoped that line managers can carry out their people management responsibilities effectively. For instance if the line manager of JPNT encounter any unsolved problem or the problem is not routine, they can always refers to HCM specialist to guide them. Human resource should be measure to indicate whether they are executing their role and meet the target of their department. Tsui and Gomez-Mejia (1998) cited in (Baron and Armstrong 2007) had clarified the distinction between process criteria- how well things are done and output criteria- the effectiveness of the end result. To distinguish them, ‘utility approach’ by Boudreau(1998) can be applied. Beside this approach, HR performances can also be measured using points suggested by Likierman (2005) that the budget allocation is in line with HR objectives- means HR has a say in changes in implementing the strategy, analyze and interpret the reason behind it, comparing internal and external benchmarking, enhance the usage face to face discussion to gain the feedback, and lastly the measurement should not expect to measure something that is impossible, and they should be noted that many problems just being mitigated, instead of being solved, and this is harmful to the JPNT. Another important role of HCM is in the terms of promoting job engagement and commitment. Job engagement happens when people are willing to commit to their work and willing to perform excellently in their job. Hay Group defined engage performance as a result that is stimulated by employee’s enthusiasm for their work and direct it to the success of the organizations. On the other hand, organizational commitment is defined as the recognition of goals and values of the organization, a sense of belonging to the organization and willingness to contribute effort for the organization (Baron and Armstrong 2007). Organization commitment and job engagement can be created by JPNT if JPNT set a great place to work, HR people promotes positive discretionary behavior, create excellence total reward policy and constantly measure job engagement and commitments. JPNT should provide conductive working environment- comfortable in nature, ergonomics, make sure that the job prospect is parallel with training, appraisal, and the superior staff should take care of the welfare of their subordinates. JPNT can adopt the criteria suggested by The Sunday Times in identifying the best 100 companies which are leadership of senior management level, good relation with their superiors, have the opportunities of personal growth and developments, balanced work-life issues, cooperativeness between colleagues, my company- the way JPNT treats its staff and lastly the fair deal- pay and benefits are provided to all, without nepotism and biasness. The superior should also act in discretion manner; it means that not everything must be solved black and white. For instance, if one of the subordinates absent for their work with a concrete reason, the superior should not punish he or her. Reward is categorized into two which are transactional reward (tangible reward-the pay and benefits) and relational reward (intangible reward-learning and development and work environment). That is the responsibility of HR to create the best reward model that can motivate their employees in the future. The tangible reward is easily to be copied by the competitors as everyone have the capability to pay and gives benefit for instance dental plan, but the intangible reward it harder to be imitated thus increase the chances of sustaining the firm’s competitive advantages. Next, another role for HR professionals is as strategist. Strategist here means HR professional should be able to address long term issues related to management and development of people and the employment relationships. This role is clearly demonstrated when HR professional are being regarded as business partner- they have the persuasion power to influence the top managers to develop business strategies that are maximizing the potential of human capital. (Baron and Armstrong 2007) As we discussed earlier, people are the assets of the organizations, thus they are one of the resource to achieve and sustain competitive advantage of JPNT HCM is also responsible to develop a good business case. Baron and Armstrong 2007) As I discussed previously, HR specialist should be able to persuade top management, a good business case can act as one of the convincing evidences on why the top management should agree to HR specialist’s proposals. The case should show how the purposed course will add value in terms of income will exceed the cost or by executing the proposal, it will yield positive return on investments (Bohlander and Snell 2010). The business case should present on how the available human capital data will impact on key areas of organization’s operation, show how it will the proposal will increase the business competitive edge, or presenting a successful pilot projects to be implemented to the entire organization, the proposal can be implemented without much hassles, it will also able to enhance the employer’s brand by promoting JPNT as the best place to work and lastly the points, data are presented in neat manner, simple and easy to understand. Challenges for managing knowledge are knowledge acquisition, knowledge modeling, knowledge retrieval, knowledge reuse and knowledge maintenance. In JPNT it is hard to get the information needed and turn the information to become useable. For instance, it is hard to transform the tacit knowledge to become explicit knowledge, to identify the gaps in knowledge, and difficult to acquire and integrate the knowledge that is cross departmental and different expertise. Therefore, it is important for the HR specialist in JPNT to be able to create an approach that is able to integrate all knowledge in the organization so that it can be benefited to all. On the top of that, knowledge modeling is also can be another obstacle for HR specialist in managing knowledge capital in the organization. The challenge that is faced by JPNT HR specialist is how to use the knowledge available in solving problems because knowledge possessed by staffs are varies from one another (Bhojaraju 2005). To overcome this, HR departments had introduce mentor and protege program. As a conclusion, the roles that are played by HCM are indeed complex and requires HR specialists to be able to multitasking, possessed multidisciplinary of knowledge and wide range of skills to execute their roles perfectly thus enable them to overcome the challenges of managing knowledge capital in JPNT. Top managements should also give full cooperation in favor of HCM so that the utilization of knowledge capital in JPNT could be maximized.

Galileo Galilei Essay -- Essays Papers

Galileo Galilei Galileo was born in Pisa along the Via del Cuore in 1564 to Vincenzo Galileo, a man known for his study of music, and Giuli Ammananti. When Galileo was ten he moved to Florance.1 At eleven young Galileo was sent to Vallombrosa for school. At fifteen Galileo decided to be a monk, but because of his father gave up his ambition. In the late summer of 1581 Galileo entered the University of Pisa and embarked on a course of study in medicine. Studying the Aristotelian system, which states larger heavier objects from high places, Galileo became increasingly skeptical. Evidence of Galileo’s brilliance was assured when in 1583, he was attending service in the cathedral and he saw that the flames of the candles osculated back and fourth. It was upon this observation that the pendulum was built. Not having enough money and not having the skills required to stay at the University, they kicked him out. To get by, Galileo began tutoring students. His continuous work with mathematics led Galileo to go to Rome and visit the famous Jesuit mathematician Christopher Calvis. From there on out, Galileo was able to hob-knob with Italy’s mathematical elite. As Galileo’s acquaintances grew, so did his reputation. He went on to make lectures and speeches about his mathematical findings. Unfortunately by 1593 Galileo was in dept. To make up for his financial problems Galileo invented what we know as the thermometer. There was no money in this so Galileo worked at a university teaching ptolemy and kept his job tutoring for a fair price. Time passed and Galileo moved from Giustina to a large three-story house behind the Basilica of San Antonio. Galileo still struggled to make ends meat, which also could be blamed on his mistress Marina... ..., Galileo was dumped with Michelangelo’s, his brother’s, wife and seven kids in May of 1627. When in 1627 Ferdinand II became lord of Tuscany, Galileo was appointed o the council of 200. A year latter in 1630, Galileo finished the controversial Dialogue. Galileo’s book drew much criticism and as a result, by January Galileo went away to be tried in court for believing in the Copernican opinion. After much deliberation on the issue, Galileo was sentenced to imprisonment. Though given many luxuries for a prisoner, Galileo was not allowed to speak or even carry out many of his creative ambitions.2 By Christmas of 1637 Galileo had gone blind and with all his illnesses was struggling just to live. Then on January 8, 1642 Galileo Galilei died.3 Sources 1 Field, Galileo Gaililei, 1 2 Reston, Galileo: A Life, 7-282 3 Unknown, Biography Galileo Galilei, 1 Galileo Galilei Essay -- Essays Papers Galileo Galilei Galileo was born in Pisa along the Via del Cuore in 1564 to Vincenzo Galileo, a man known for his study of music, and Giuli Ammananti. When Galileo was ten he moved to Florance.1 At eleven young Galileo was sent to Vallombrosa for school. At fifteen Galileo decided to be a monk, but because of his father gave up his ambition. In the late summer of 1581 Galileo entered the University of Pisa and embarked on a course of study in medicine. Studying the Aristotelian system, which states larger heavier objects from high places, Galileo became increasingly skeptical. Evidence of Galileo’s brilliance was assured when in 1583, he was attending service in the cathedral and he saw that the flames of the candles osculated back and fourth. It was upon this observation that the pendulum was built. Not having enough money and not having the skills required to stay at the University, they kicked him out. To get by, Galileo began tutoring students. His continuous work with mathematics led Galileo to go to Rome and visit the famous Jesuit mathematician Christopher Calvis. From there on out, Galileo was able to hob-knob with Italy’s mathematical elite. As Galileo’s acquaintances grew, so did his reputation. He went on to make lectures and speeches about his mathematical findings. Unfortunately by 1593 Galileo was in dept. To make up for his financial problems Galileo invented what we know as the thermometer. There was no money in this so Galileo worked at a university teaching ptolemy and kept his job tutoring for a fair price. Time passed and Galileo moved from Giustina to a large three-story house behind the Basilica of San Antonio. Galileo still struggled to make ends meat, which also could be blamed on his mistress Marina... ..., Galileo was dumped with Michelangelo’s, his brother’s, wife and seven kids in May of 1627. When in 1627 Ferdinand II became lord of Tuscany, Galileo was appointed o the council of 200. A year latter in 1630, Galileo finished the controversial Dialogue. Galileo’s book drew much criticism and as a result, by January Galileo went away to be tried in court for believing in the Copernican opinion. After much deliberation on the issue, Galileo was sentenced to imprisonment. Though given many luxuries for a prisoner, Galileo was not allowed to speak or even carry out many of his creative ambitions.2 By Christmas of 1637 Galileo had gone blind and with all his illnesses was struggling just to live. Then on January 8, 1642 Galileo Galilei died.3 Sources 1 Field, Galileo Gaililei, 1 2 Reston, Galileo: A Life, 7-282 3 Unknown, Biography Galileo Galilei, 1

Research Proposal Essay

1TITLE An assessment on how product branding effects consumer purchase decisions in Food Market Chain Group (FMCG) goods and durable goods. 2BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Branding is a vital element in a business. Without a brand, retailers may be confused or give the customers the wrong products, while the customers have to explain in detail the type of products they want to fully satisfy their needs and wants. It can therefore be assumed that a brand acts as a sign, name or symbol for products and services. The main aim of a brand is to identify the products or services of a seller or a group of sellers and differentiate an offering of a seller from that of its rivals (Kotler, 2003). In recent years, brand played a significant part in the market as the marketers added value to the brand to make it more preferable compared to other brands in the same market segment. For example, when quality rice is mentioned, most people will think of Tastic rice. This is just one of the successful branding strategies 3STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The purpose of the study is to know the effect of brand elements on customer purchasing decision. The brand elements are brand image, brand association, brand name, brand logo and brand awareness. The findings from the literature and the primary data shows that brand elements have significant impact on customer purchasing decisions as well as the success of the retailer. It is common knowledge that the customer’s choice is influenced by many surrogates of which the simplest of them all is the brand name. Products offered by the retailer may be equally satisfying but when the consumer is satisfied with some brand he or she is not willing to spend additional effort to evaluate the other alternative choices. Once he or she has liked a particular brand, the customer tends to stay with it, unless there is a steep rise in the price or discernible better quality product comes to his or her knowledge which may prompt the consumer to switch the brand. Companies spend a lot of money and time on the branding and thus it needs a careful evaluation on the effect of branding on consumer buying behavior. 3.1RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The above examples show that some customers prefer one brand over another even though that brand is more expensive. Price may not be the important factor while the psychological factor may be greater, for instance .Therefore, the research aims to achieve the following objectives: * To establish if any relationship exists between branding and consumer’s purchasing decision. * To identify the major aspects of branding that influence the consumers’ purchasing decision. * To examine the consumers tendency to recommend brands and its effects on purchasing decisions of their friends and family. * To establish the changes in the relationship between branding and consumers’ purchasing decision when other factors such as price are introduced. * To understand the choice of the customer on whether it is branded or non-branded goods. 3.2RESEARCH QUESTIONS The study will answer the following research questions: (a)Does any relationship exist between branding and consumer purchasing decision? (b)What are the major aspects of brand elements that influence consumer purchasing decision? (c)To what extent do consumers tend to recommend brands and the effects of consumer purchasing decisions on their family and friends? (d)How do other factors such as price when introduced affect the relationship between branding and consumers’ purchasing decision? (e)Is the choice of the customer branded or non-branded goods? 3.3Significance of the study To theory The research will help in a way because it equips readers with the requisite knowledge about how brands and their elements affect consumers’ purchasing decisions. Readers can learn through the suggested recommendations provided by the researcher hence they can be able to make wise purchasing decisions during shopping. Therefore it helps to bridge the gap in areas not being addressed and also to advance knowledge in product branding and consumer purchasing decisions. To practice The recommendations from the findings of the study may assist retailers in the Food Market Chain Group (FMCG) to effectively brand products that help them gain a competitive advantage by influencing consumers on their purchasing decisions. Therefore the research enlightens companies in the FMCG on not to spend a lot of money and time on branding and thus it helps them to careful evaluate on the effect of branding on consumer buying behavior. To self The research is conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirements to acquire a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Degree in Retail Management. The research also equips the student with the relevant skills and knowledge which he will acquire during the research. 3.4Limitations The following are the limitations envisaged in the carrying out of the proposed research: a)Availability of resources The researcher is a full time student with limited financial resources therefore it is a challenge to obtain the required material for the research. Money is needed for typing, printing and travelling costs to gather the required information. To cut costs the researcher will use questionnaires to collect data in order to cut expenses. b)Access to information The type of research will mainly depend on available information from leading retailers in the FMCG. Some of the Branch Managers may consider the information confidential depending on the aspects of branding asked to them by the researcher. They may fear that the information will be used against them by their competitors. Therefore the researcher will assure the information will be used for academic purposes only. c)Time constraint The research is running concurrently with final year semester courses therefore the time may be inadequate considering other important and competing academic commitments. Therefore to balance the forces the researcher will use a small sample of the population to save time. 3.5Delimitations The study will be carried out at leading retail supermarkets especially TM and OK supermarkets. The research is limited to the leading supermarkets because they offer all kinds of product brands. The respondents will include customers and employees of the retail outlet. 3.6Definition of terms Brand The name ,term, design and symbol that allow consumers to identify the goods and services of a business and to differentiate them from those of the competitors ( Jones and Hall 2008 ) FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) The industry includes food and non-food everyday consumer products that are usually purchased as an outcome of small-scale consumer decision so they are heavily supported ( advertising ) by the manufacturers. Customer Refers to a person, organization or other entity that buys goods or services from a store, person or other business. 4LITERATURE REVIEW 5 METHODOLOGY The sub heading outlines the techniques that are to employed by the researcher to collect the relevant data and its subsequent analysis.Haralambos (1992) postulates that methodology is concerned with detailed research methods through which data is collected and analysis of data are used. It discusses the research design ,target population and respective sampling techniques ,data collection methods and the research instruments. 5.1 Research design Fisher (2004) defines research design as the specification of methods and procedures for acquiring the information needed to structure or solve the problems.The function of a research design is to ensure that the evidence obtained enables us to answer the initial question as unambiguously as possible.Dawson et al (2002) postulates that a research comprises of redefining problems and is thus ,an original contribution to existing stock of knowledge making for its advancement.Therefore searching for information and presenting it is the job of the researcher. The qualitative approach is the best research methodology which leads to a better understanding of how product branding affects consumer purchasing decisions. The qualitative approach includes questionnaires, observations and interviews. Interviews will allow the researcher to probe the respondents for more information. Saunders et al (2007), notes that survey design is a popular and common strategy in business and management research. 3.2Study Population Frankel and Wallen (1996) highlights that the study population includes all individuals whom the researcher is interested in getting information from and making conclusions. They further explain that study population consists of those subjects whose characteristics are similar to those of the in the sample and one makes conclusions from the sample drawn from this study population. In this study a population will refer to TM supermarkets specifically in Harare, Gweru and Karoi.O.K supermarket Gweru can also be included for the research to be effective and also to cut transport costs to the researcher. 5.3Sampling Allison, Scott and Russel (2001) stress a sample as a group of subjects whom the researcher collected information. A sample is a small part of the population which has the same characteristics of the population. The concept of sample arises from the inability of the researcher to test all the individuals in a given population (Castillo 2009). Sampling is therefore a process of selecting group(s) of subjects for a study in such a way that the individuals represent the larger group from which they were selected. The main decision which the researcher has to make is to whether go for a census or sample research. The sample was selected on a random basis that avoids bias and makes the findings more representative and credible. According to Kothari (2007) census means each and every element which forms part of the research will be investigated and sample means few elements which represent the entire research would be investigated. Practically it is not possible to conduct a census. Hair (2003) defines sampling as a process of selecting a relatively small number of elements from a larger defined group of elements so that the information gathered from the smaller group allows one to make judgments about the larger group. Sampling Techniques a) Random Sampling Method Basically there are four methods of sampling under random sampling. Simple random sampling is a method, which ensures that each element of the population has an equal chance of being selected to become part of the sample (Peatman 1947). Systematic sampling is when elements are chosen from the population at a uniform interval that is measured in time, order or space. Saunders et al (2007) describes stratified sampling as involving the dissection of a population into groups of strata along some dimension that uniquely distinguishes each stratum from the rest and is relevant for the information sought after. Stratified sampling involves dividing the population into strata, with each stratum having relatively homogeneous elements. Once the strata have been identified a simple random sample is selected from each stratum separately, the sample corresponding to the proportion of elements in each stratum. Stratified sampling is used when the population is thought to consist of a number of smaller subgroups or sub populations such as male/female, different age/ethnic / interest groups, which are thought to have an effect on the data to be collected (Allison et al; 2001). Cluster sampling involves splitting the population into groups called clusters and is usually used when the population covers an area that can be divided by regions (Allison et al; 2001). The sample elements are then chosen from the different clusters to come up with one sample. b) Non Random Sampling Non-random sampling can be done through four ways, which are convenience, quota, judgmental and snowball sampling. Convenience sampling is where the sample is drawn for the convenience of the researcher. Convenience sample only includes those subjects that are immediately to hand (Allison et al; 2001). Quota sampling is where the respondent selection is in the same ratio as found in the general population. Judgmental sampling includes elements thought to be representative of the population and in this case the researcher attempts to come up with sample using judgment and the amount of error depends on the expertise of the researcher. Snowball sampling is commonly used when it’s difficult to identify members of the desired population (Saunders et al; 2007). The researcher adopted a non- probability sampling method because of limited resources at her disposal since it is based on available elements. Only operational managers and departmental heads of short term insurance brokers firms were targeted. Views were also taken from assistant insurance brokers. Sample Size According to Saunders et al (2007) the sample size is determined based on a 95% confidence rate interval, an estimate of margin of error and the total population which the sample was to be drawn. A general rule of thumb is to always use the largest sample possible. The larger the sample the more representative it is going to be, smaller samples produce less accurate results because they are likely to be less representative of the population (Wood and Haber 1998). The selection of respondents will the sample more representable of the retail sector and the findings credible. 2 questionnaires will be distributed per each retail supermarket. 5.4Instrumentation 4 Research instruments and Data collection For the purpose of this study, the researcher employed the survey design in which data was collected by way of questionnaires and interviews. This was done to ensure more internal validity of the research. According to Cohen and Manion (1980: 280), â€Å"the use of two or more methods in data collection is referred to as the triangulation method† The data sources can be divided into primary and secondary data sources. 3.4.1 Primary Data Primary data is that first-hand information collected directly from public. The data obtained through primary means usually accurate and provides more reliable information about the subject investigation. When primary data sources are used, data is acquired from the main source and is not derived from any pre-existing research. The primary data sources the researcher used in doing this research were (a) Questionnaires (b) Personal Interviews 3.4.1.1Questionnaires According to Saunders et al (2007) a questionnaire is a technique of data collection in which each person is asked to respond to the same set of questions in a predetermined order. Brian White (2000) postulates that a questionnaire is regarded as a series of questions; each one providing a number of alternative answers from which the respondents can choose. The questionnaire was used as this enabled the researcher to gather as much data as possible since the question was in both standard and open ended questions. Advantages (a) Questionnaires are cheap and the researcher does not incur high travel and accommodation expenses. They are printed on bond paper which is not costly though and need not to be necessarily colorful. (b) They provide anonymity of respondents and thereby giving assurance of their confidentiality. (c) Questionnaires are a relatively quick way of receiving a response. In some instances, the researcher had to wait while the respondents filled in the questionnaires and some of the questionnaires had to be collected a day after they had been dropped. (d) They avoid interview bias. Personal questions are often more willingly answered as the respondent is not face-to-face with the interviewer Disadvantages (a) As questions cannot be complicated, and need to be simple and straightforward, the richness of information that is sometimes collected with other methods is lost. (b) You may not receive a spontaneous answer as respondents may discuss the questions with others before completing the questionnaire. As all questions are seen before they are answered, the answers cannot always be treated as independent. (c) Respondents gestures and facial expressions could not be observed as these are essential communication signs that can effectively be used to evaluate responses. (d) The targeted respondents may not complete the questionnaire. For instance, a busy manager may ask a personal assistant to complete it on their behalf. Personal Interviews The targeted interviewees were busy people due to the nature and demands of their roles in their organizations therefore the researcher did not carry as many interviews as the number of questionnaires that were distributed. Appointments were made with respondents prior to interviews. Since the interviewees were busy with other company commitments, the researcher had to save on time and used a structured approach where a set of prescribed questions for the interview were set. Advantages (a) The real benefit of an interview is that you are face-to-face with the interviewee and thus any misunderstandings are cleared immediately. (b) In addition to the above benefit, also during the interview the researcher can re-word or re-order the questions if something unexpected were to happen. (c) The interviewer can encourage the respondents to answer as fully as possible and check as appropriate, that the question is correctly understood. (d) Response rates are usually higher than for other methods of questionnaire administration (e) Materials that need to be shown to respondents can be properly presented Disadvantages (a) They are time consuming, taking into consideration the length of the interview, the time taken traveling to and from interview and notes revision. (b) Interviews are subject to bias as some interviewees may tend to please the interviewer and as a result may not tell the truth. (c) Relatively costly time wise and in monetary terms. Secondary Data This refers to information from sources other than the main source, whereby some intermediate agent has compiled data or information in their own research and has now presented it as some part of a bigger study. This proved to be the most helpful method and thus accounts for much of the data used, especially in the literature review and the analysis sections of this research project. The Internet The internet unarguably forms the most endowed ‘library’ ever. The researcher accessed e-journals, e-books and works by other scholars and organizations via the internet. With ease, the researcher could check both technological and legal developments in electrical safety of other countries. Some of the questionnaires were sent to respondents via e-mail. Advantages (a) Provides the researcher with current updated information (b) The Internet is user friendly and provides the researcher with all referencing and cataloguing done electronically. Disadvantages (a) Internet speed and efficiency is dependent upon how congested the network server is and the higher the congestion, the slower it will be to retrieve information there from. (b) The internet is vulnerable to the virus risk. Computer viruses can easily corrupt documents before or after the researcher completes his work. Textbooks and Journals The researcher made reference to numerous text books and journals on competitive advantage. These journals and textbooks showed the researcher the different views of writers from all over the world. Data analysis and presentation Data collected from both primary and secondary sources will be analyzed and presented through tables, pie charts and graphs.

Maxis Essay

Introduction Maxis Communications Berhad is a leading mobile phone service provider in Malaysia. Maxis Communications Berhad was established in the early 1990s and commenced mobile telecommunications operation in August 1995. It was then listed under the first board in Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE). At present Maxis Communication Berhad is the biggest telecommunication provider in Malaysia. The company has total subscribers at 13.95 million as of December 2010. Maxis Communications Berhad, through its subsidiary, Maxis Berhad, engages in the provision of mobile, fixed line, and international telecommunications services in Malaysia. It also provides Internet and broadband services; and wireless multimedia related services, as well as owns, maintains, builds, and operates radio facilities and associated switches. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Maxis Communications Berhad is a subsidiary of Binariang GSM Sdn Bhd. It uses the dialling prefix identifier of â€Å"012†, â€Å"017† and â€Å"0142†. In 2002, Maxis purchased TimeCell, a rival mobile service provider, from Time dotcom Berhad. Prior to the purchase, Maxis offered phone numbers beginning with 012, and TimeCell 017. Now, subscribers can choose between the two. Maxis provide a variety of mobile communication products and services. They offer prepaid call plans, monthly subscription plans, global roaming, MMS, WAP (over both GSM and GPRS), Residential Fixed Line services, Broadband Internet plans, and as of early 2005, 3G services to both prepaid and post-paid subscription customers. Maxis Broadband make consumer can enjoy internet access in outdoor or indoor. It can go online at speed over 15 times faster than traditional dial up and do more, much more over the internet. Profile Maxis Berhad, with its consolidated subsidiaries (together, ‘Maxis’), is the leading mobile communications service provider in Malaysia. Maxis were granted licences to operate a nationwide GSM900 mobile network, a domestic fixed network and an international gateway in 1993. It commenced its mobile operations in August 1995 and launched its fixed line and international gateway operations in early 1996. Since its establishment, Maxis has been providing a full suite of services on multiple platforms to fulfil the telecommunications needs of individual consumers, SMEs and large corporations in Malaysia. Maxis’ mobile service is offered on a post-paid basis under the Maxis brand and via a prepaid format under the Hotlink brand. The use of these two distinct brands, underpinned by synergistic values, has enabled Maxis to develop its prepaid business successfully while maintaining growth in its post-paid segment. Maxis has also pioneered and led the Malaysian market in delivering innovative mobile products and services. It was the first to launch 3G services in Malaysia — known as Maxis3G — in July 2005, and in September 2006, it became among the world’s first to use HSDPA, a high-speed upgrade of its 3G network, to provide wireless broadband services. It was the first operator to bring the BlackBerryâ„ ¢ and Apple iPhoneâ„ ¢ smart phones to Malaysia. The company in April 2009 unveiled the first commercial NFC-powered service in Malaysia. Maxis provide enhanced post-paid packages to corporate and SME customers, based on its highly successful consumer post-paid plans. These plans are custom-made to meet the needs of enterprises, especially improved communications within and beyond their compound. Maxis’ international gateway services include termination of traffic into Malaysia from international telecommunications companies, supporting Maxis’ own outbound international direct dial (IDD) traffic, collecting international transit traffic and bandwidth leasing services. Maxis presently maintain bilateral  connections with more than 95 carriers in 38 countries and have capital investments in a number of submarine cable systems to carry its international voice and data traffic. Maxis’ significant growth and strong track record of bringing innovation, excellent customer experience and value to stakeholders has won the company numerous awards over the years. The latest awards include: Malaysia’s Top Ten Companies: Ranked 1 – Asia’s 200 Most Admired Companies, The Wall Street Journal Asia, 2006 Asian Mobile Operator of the Year – Asian Mobile News Award, 2007 Fourth Most Valuable Brand in Malaysia – Brand Finance, 2008 and 2009 Service Provider of the Year (Malaysia) – Frost & Sullivan, 2008 Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year (Malaysia) – Frost & Sullivan, 2009 Recipient of the Asia Pacific Super Excellent Brand Award – Asia Pacific International Brands Summit Malaysia, 2009 Maxis’ vision is to bring advanced communications services to enrich its customers’ lives and businesses, in a manner that is simple and personalised, by efficiently and creatively harnessing leading edge technology, and delivering a brand of service experience that is reliable and enchanting. Analysis of Market Structure Market structure classifies some of the key traits of a market, including: Number of firms Similarity of the products sold Ease of entry into and exit from the market. Comparison of Market Structures Market Structure No. of Sellers Types of Product Entry Conditions Examples Perfect Competition Large Homogeneous Very Easy Small crops, International commodity markets Monopolistic Competition Large Differentiated Easy Boutiques, Restaurants, motels Oligopoly Few Usually differentiated but sometimes homogeneous Difficult Car Making, Tobacco Products, Oil Monopoly One Unique Extremely difficult Public utilities MAXIS TELECOMMUNICATION FIRM. Few Competitors like DIGI, CELCOM, TUNETALK etc.. Entry into Telecommunication is Difficult. It requires a large amount of capital. Perfect Competition Perfect Competition Market has very large number of small firms, which acts independently rather co-coordinating decisions centrally. Perfect Competition is Price takers due to Huge Competition. Perfect Competition mainly deals with Homogenous Products. Homogenous mean Goods from one firm cannot be differentiated from other. Comparing Maxis with Perfect Competition Perfect Competition Maxis 1. It has very large Number of firms. 2. Entry Requirement is very easy. 3. Very less amount of Capital is enough. 1. It has few Competitors in the Market like DIGI, CELCOM, OKTEL etc.. 2. Entry Requirement is Difficult. 3. It requires large amount of Capital. On Comparing Maxis with Perfect Competition market structure. Maxis do not come under Perfect Competition. Monopolistic Competition Monopolistic Competition Firm has many Small Sellers. They involves in differentiated Product. It is free from Price Competition. It has Easy Entry as well as Exit. Comparing Maxis with Monopolistic Competition Monopolistic Competition Maxis 1. It has many small sellers. 2. Entry requirement is easy. 3. It’s free from Price Competition. 1. It has a few Competitors in the Market. 2. Entry requirement is difficult. 3. It has competition in price with their competitor. On comparing Maxis with Monopolistic Competition market structure. Maxis do not come under Monopolistic Competition. Monopoly Monopoly is a Single Seller in the market. It deals with unique product. Entry Barriers is very difficult. Comparing Maxis with Monopoly Monopoly Maxis 1. It has Single Seller in the market (free from Competitors). 1. It has its Competitors in the market. On comparing Maxis with Monopoly market structure. Maxis do not come under Monopoly. Oligopoly It has very few seller (which is dominated by a few large firms).. It deals with Homogenous as well as Differentiated Product. Entry Barrier is difficult. Comparing Maxis with Oligopoly Oligopoly Maxis 1. It has few Sellers in the market. 2. Entry Barrier is difficult. 3. It requires a large amount of Capital. 1. Maxis have few Competitors in the Market. 2. Entry barrier is difficult. 3. It requires the large amount of Capital. On Comparing Maxis with Oligopoly market structure. We came to know that Maxis is an Oligopoly. Behaviour of Maxis The behaviour of Maxis can be identified by considering the number and size distribution of firms (market share in terms of subscribers and revenue) in the market; the extent to which products are differentiated; how easy it is for other firms to enter the market; and the extent to which firms are integrated or diversified. However, as there are only 3 large cellular communication firms (Maxis, Digi and Celcom), individual market shares are used to measure market power. The basic conditions faced by the cellular communication firms are: Demand conditions †¢Price is relatively elastic as seen by huge swings in net additions leadership quarters to quarters as different cellular communication firms took on price-leadership. Source : MALAYSIA TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORT Q3 2011 Where the actions and the outcomes of these actions are interdependent among several agents and this interdependence is mutually recognized. Neoclassical economics assume perfectly rational agents, perfect information and zero transaction costs under perfect competition. However, due to limited cognitive capability and/or imperfect information, bounded rational agents experience limits in formulating and solving complex problems and in processing (receiving, storing, retrieving, transmitting) information. Routine standard procedures or heuristic approaches to decision-making are employed by bounded rational agents. The sum of the market shares of the n-largest firms. Maxis subscriber net addition dropped to a dismal 120,000 users in 3Q10 before regaining to 274,000 users in 4Q10. The relevant substitutes are provided by fixed-line Telco’s for local city calls (fixed-line rate of RM0.04/minute versus cellular rate of RM0.15/minute) and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) providers for IDD calls. However, these are not of major concerns currently as the mobile services are cannibalizing/substituting fixed-line services while the VoIP providers are competing in a value-conscious segment with an inferior product (i.e. poorer voice quality). Supply conditions The cellular technology adopted is the European GSM standards. However, due to constant technology changes, both Maxis and Celcom have launched 3G services earlier while Digi had its 2.75G (EDGE) services previously and recently added 3G services in order to be able to compete with both Maxis and Celcom. The market structure analysis summary of Maxis is as follows: Data Observations and/or Measurement Analysis/Comment No. of Firms 3 Regulated Oligopoly Market Share Cellular industry subscriber market share (overall) Cellular industry revenue market share (overall) Subscriber/Revenue market share: Celcom: 33% & 36.0% Digi: 25% & 25.3% Maxis: 41% & 42.1% There is no single dominant firm. However, Maxis is the leading firm in both revenue & subscriber market share, followed by Celcom and Digi. Product Differen-tiation Product differentiation based on calling plans and pricing structure to appeal to different customer segments. Value-added services (ring-tones, etc.) are quite homogenously provided by 3rd party provider. Minimal product differentiation as airtime is airtime and VAS contents are widely available across all 3 firms. Entry barriers Licensing and regulations Heavy capital investments & minimum efficient of scale required First-mover advantages: Network & Lock-in effects High entry barriers mainly due to government regulations Due to frequent technology changes, incumbents do incur substantial ongoing capital expenditures and face the dangers of being â€Å"leapfrogged† by potential entrants Numbers portability not implemented yet to counter the lock-in effects of personalized phone numbers. Exit barriers Huge sunk costs Bulk of capital investments are asset specific to Telco operations. Source : MALAYSIA TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORT Q3 2011 Price competition Using game theoretic model, Telco’s are assumed to provide a homogenous product and have sufficient capacity to serve the market demand. It is a non-cooperative game as there weren’t any enforceable agreements between them as they compete in the marketplace. It is a repeated one-shot simultaneous game as they were driven by quarterly performance accountable to shareholders. As such, they would decide on their pricing strategies independently and aware of rivals’ prices in the market while forming certain expectations about rivals’ pricing strategies. Actions available are Maintain Price and Undercut Price. Payoffs are ranked in order of preference (higher number is preferred). The most preferred outcome by firms is where one undercuts price while its competitors maintains price, leading to market share gain at the expense of its rivals. When all firms maintain prices, there is no change in market-share and profitability. When all firms undercut prices, market-share remains with reduced profitability. The strategic-form representation in a simplified 2-player model is as follows: Telco2 Telco1 Maintain Price Undercut Price Maintain Price 3,3 1,4 Undercut Price 4,1 2,2 Example of Game Theory Solving for Nash equilibrium, both players have Undercut Price as their dominant strategy resulting in a Pareto-inefficient Dominant- Strategy-Equilibrium at (2,2). This is a repeated Prisoners’ Dilemma game and these interactions are witnessed in the current market through an escalating price-war resulting in reduced Average-Revenue-Per-User (ARPU). Example of Starter pack price wars involving Maxis and Digi Launch Date Maxis Hotlink 017 Digi Beyond Prepaid Sep 8, 2005 RM20 to RM10 Oct 27, 2005 RM18 to RM9.90 Nov 25, 2005 RM10 to RM8.80 Dec 10, 2005 RM9.90 to RM8.50 Average Revenue per User Source : Articles from 2009 to 2011, Press release 2009 to 2011, Maxis reports 2009 to 2011, Digi Reports 2009 to 2011, Celcom Reports 2009 to 2011. If this game is repeated infinitely, collusive behaviour through the use of Tit-For-Tat strategy may result in non-competitive/monopolistic-like pricing which reduces public welfare. Though Maxis had a higher ARPU previously according to the above data, Maxis always need to be proactive in monitoring firms’ behaviour to detect possible tacit collusion through price-signaling. Product differentiation The above game theoretic analysis suggests that if the price-war continues,  Maxis and the other two firms will eventually be forced to price at their marginal costs – similar to a perfectly competitive firm. Therefore, it is rational to expect Maxis or the similar firms to soften the intensity of the price competition through product differentiation and customer segmentation. It is important to note that traditional microeconomic theory treats all consumers as homogenous. In reality, this is not the case and these firms are thus offering different calling plans, pricing structures (ON-Net/Off-Net), pre-bundled minutes and services, etc. Due to bounded rationality and heterogeneous consumption, consumers find it difficult to make head-to head cost-benefits comparisons and thus make the products appear to be somewhat non-homogenous and not fully substitutable for one another. These firms are also competing and differentiating through demand stimulation (‘shifting’ the demand curve) by organizing SMS contests, sponsoring shows like ‘Malaysian Idol’ which encourage SMS voting, etc. where the SMS charges are priced much higher than normal SMS charges in order to drive higher non-voice revenue and profitability as illustrated by Maxis, Celcom and Digi’s 2010 announcements below. Source: DiGi AGM 2011 IRwebsite One has to take note that the marginal costs are almost negligible relative to the huge fixed-cost investments required. ON-Net refers to calls within the same provider’s network. OFF-Net refers to calls made from one provider to another provider’s network. Decision-making based on imperfect information (uncertainty about future, costly to acquire perfect information) and/or limited cognitive capability. Through product differentiation, each differentiated product is addressing its relevant market instead of addressing a large homogenous market, thus allowing Telco’s to raise price above marginal cost (and reduce consumer’s surplus) without losing its entire market share. Thus, product differentiation can soften price competition and create a degree of market  power. We find from the above data that Maxis currently have the highest market power and leading company with the highest revenue. However, these type of firms balance between the reductions in welfare caused by product differentiation pricing above marginal costs versus the increased in welfare by allowing disparate consumers’ preferences to be closely met. Each firm also ensure proper ethical behaviour on the part of the Telco’s to ensure that public welfare is protected in SMS contests, SMS voting, etc. to prevent undesirable negative consumption externalities such as encouraging the habit of ‘gambling’, excessive spending, etc. Advertising Maxis often use advertising to create brand and/or product differentiation in order to soften the price competition. To the extent that persuasive advertising create customer loyalty through perceived differentiation over essentially identical products, they create market power in the sense that consumers may be willing to pay more for preferred brands, thus allowing these type of firms to raise prices above marginal costs. Following the previous assumptions with payoffs ranked in order of preference (higher number is preferred), the most preferred outcome by firms is where one advertises while its competitors don’t, leading to market share and profitability gain at the expense of its rivals. When all firms don’t advertise, there is no change in market-share and profitability. When all firms advertise, market-share remains with reduced profitability. Maxis uses similar strategy by advertising less gaining market share and more profit at expense of its rivals which we can see below: Advertising Expense of 2005 by Malaysian cellular communications industry Communications Sector: Mobile Line Services RM (million) Communications Sector: Mobile Interactive Services RM (million) Total RM (million) Celcom 52.3 Celcom 6.6 58.9 DiGi 37.7 DiGi 5.1 42.8 Maxis 47.8 Maxis 1.9 49.7 Source : www.mcmc.gov.my, Reports by Maxis, Celcom and Digi 2005 Customer Satisfaction Source : SKMM Consumer Survey 2007 at www.mcmc.gov.my The Customer-Satisfaction-Index (CSI) for the three firms are almost similar. We find that Maxis’ performance is satisfactory in the market and can be considered as a leading oligopoly firm among the three. Conclusion Maxis is one of the Malaysian oligopoly cellular communications industry with high entry barriers, mainly due to government licensing restrictions; and high exit barriers due to huge capital investments (sunk costs). However, frequent technology changes could potentially allow â€Å"leapfrogging† by competitors or potential entrants. The market share is with intense price-competition as the market gets more saturated. Non-price competition  is also intense, mainly through advertising. However, as price-competition escalates, other cellular communication industries are pricing closer to marginal costs as evidenced by the steady drop in ARPU over the past few years. Consumer satisfaction is high for Maxis though consumers are seeking for even lower communications charges and greater geographic coverage. Maxis is currently doing a good job and should continue to push ahead with its plan to allow greater customer choice. Maxis should also monitor for deceptive advertising, SMS contests & voting, etc. and also possible tacit collusive behaviour through price-signaling. It is also recommended that Maxis conducts benchmarking against regional and international cellular communication industries on key areas like profitability and/or returns on equity to determine fair-returns, service quality, technical efficiency, etc. to determine the success of its policies in future. _______ References www.theedgedaily.com Digi gains market share†, The Edge Daily, 5 Dec 2005 www.osk188.com www.digi.com.my www.maxis.com.my www.celcom.com.my Maxis Quarterly 2009 Report Maxis Quarterly 2010 Report DiGi 2009 Report DiGi 2010 Report Celcom Annual Report 2010 Maxis Annual Report 2010 DiGi Annual Report 2010 www.mcmc.gov.my www.mobileworld.com.my/ Profit_expense_2005 www.boardroomlimited.com Dixit, A and Skeath, S (2004): Games of Strategy (2nd Ed), W.W.Norton www.wikipedia.org Rosenberg, E.A. and Clements, M.: â€Å"Evolving market structure, conduct and policy in local telecommunications†, The National Regulatory Research Institute. SKMM Consumer Survey 2007 at www.mcmc.gov.my www.boardroomlimited.com/irdigi/†¦/DiGiAGM2011IRwebsite www.theedgemalaysia.com/†¦/170320-digis-2q-profit-up-187-divide†¦ www.digi.my/aboutdigi/media/mr_press_det.do?id=5240†¦4†¦ www.mysarawak.org/2009/10/30/digi’s-subscriber-base-to-grow.html www.boardroomlimited.com/irdigi/irdigi/FA220709.pdf http://telcoblog.nst.com.my/2009/05/celcom-vs-digi-q1-2009.html http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/29/business/1910200&sec=business http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/29/business/2675455&sec=business http://telcoblog.nst.com.my/2009/05/celcom-vs-digi-q1-2009.html axiata.listedcompany.com/misc/axiata_presentation_2Q2011.pdf http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/insider-asia/180047-maxis-and-digi-offer-yields-at-fairly-low-risks.html www.maxis.com.my/†¦/Announcement_04_2009_Financial_Result_†¦ axiata.listedcompany.com/misc/axiata_presentation_1Q2011.pdf www.maxis.com.my/personal/†¦/1Q_2011_IR_Pack_(FINAL).pdf Maxis_4Q10_Presentation_FINAL_2 http://www.maxis.com.my/mmc/index.asp?fuseaction=press.view&recID=452 www.maxis.com.my/†¦/Announcement_02_2010_Press_Release.pdf www.maxis.com.my/personal/about_us/†¦/Anmt-PressRelease.pdf www.maxis.com.my/mmc/index.asp?fuseaction=press.view†¦499 www.maxis.com.my/†¦us/†¦/Maxis_4Q10_Presentation_FINAL.pdf http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/insider-asia/179310-mobile-subscriber-additions-surprisingly-robust.html http://www.thesundaily.my/news/business/celcom-may-pass-service-tax http://www.scribd.com/doc/39862337/Telecommunications-Sector-Update-Sizing-Up-The-Pure-Mobile-Domestic-Players-%E2%80%93-Maxis-vs-DiGi-22-10-2010 http://www.scribd.com/doc/60333044/EN for MALAYSIA TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORT Q3 2011

How Monica Lewinsky overcame fear of presenting †and you can too

How Monica Lewinsky overcame fear of presenting – and you can too How Monica Lewinsky conquered her public-speaking demons In March 2015, Monica Lewinsky walked into the world-famous spotlight of the TED stage in Vancouver, Canada, to deliver a presentation called The price of shame. She was, of course, already world famous herself. Everyone knew her story –  her affair with former US President Bill Clinton, which had hit the headlines some 17 years earlier. In her own words, she was the Creature from the Media Lagoon. Her face was projected above her on two huge screens, revealing even the slightest expression of nerves. The tiniest glisten of moisture in her eyes would be highlighted a hundredfold in the glare of the stage lights. Somehow, just imagining the audience in their underwear wasnt going to cut it here. Talking about her presenting experience in an interview for The TED Guide to Public Speaking, she told TED Curator Chris Anderson: Nervous is too mild a word to describe how I felt. More like .  .  . gutted with trepidation. Bolts of fear. Electric anxiety. If we could have harnessed the power of my nerves that morning, I think the energy crisis would have been solved. Thankfully, most of us havent had to deal with ridicule on the scale Lewinsky has – but the all-consuming fear of presenting that she felt is something many of us can relate to. Presentations are among the most important things we do in our careers – whether were a newcomer proving our worth to our colleagues for the first time, or a senior adviser influencing policy decisions that could affect the lives of millions. Lewinsky used just about every trick in the book to calm her nerves before her talk. And they worked – her talk was widely acclaimed and quickly reached over a million views. So how did she overcome her fear of presenting? And how can you use the same techniques in your own business presentations? We talked to our expert presentation-skills trainer, David White, to learn more. 1. Dont rely on adrenaline You cant rely on adrenaline helping you throughout your presentation. All it does is give you an instant rush, says David. Too many people hope that adrenaline alone will see them through their talks – but it isnt enough. It fades after four or five minutes. Few people could have been more adrenalised than Lewinsky in advance of her talk. But she also used the techniques below – as the impressive final result showed. 2. Write a mantra Lewinsky had two mantras that David likes: One was IVE GOT THIS, and the other was THIS MATTERS. She wrote the latter on the top of the first page of her talk. I like these because sometimes we forget that we can do what were going to do, especially if weve done it before. So when writing your next presentation, try using your own mantra. Make it simple and straightforward. You may think youre just faking confidence – but keep in mind that many of the people you meet who you feel are naturally confident are doing just the same thing. 3. Use your fear as a motivation Public speaking regularly rates highly in surveys of peoples fears – even when pitched against competition like the fear of heights, or even death. But its the social costs that worry us the most – we want to be liked, included, respected and taken seriously by others. Being ostracised from a group of any kind – be it your peers while at school or work colleagues later in life – is a scary prospect. The key to dealing with this understandable fear is to use the fear as motivation. If youre scared, make it force you to practise more. Do more rehearsal, more preparation. Lewinsky went as far as giving her talk in advance to small audiences for feedback. When the negative feedback she was fearing just didnt come, she knew she was in a much better place to present. 4. Let your body help you Your state of mind is very attuned to the state of your body. You can test this for yourself: sit upright with good posture in your chair, moving your chair closer to your desk if necessary. (Seriously, try it now!) Do you notice how much more attentive it makes you feel? Its much harder to get the same feeling if youre slouched over your desk, even if everything else about the situation is the same. You can use this effect of the body on the mind to your advantage. Taking deep breaths is a classic technique in the same vein for calming nerves. And if you find your nerves are hitting you well in advance of your talk, try pausing now and then to take some deep breaths. It will help to prepare you. David uses a smartwatch app which taps your wrist at random points in the day, tapping out a slow rhythm for you to breathe in time with. (There are lots of apps which do this, including Breathe for Apple Watch, and Paced Breathing for Android.) As well as doing breathing exercises, Lewinsky went for a walk to clear some of her adrenaline. You may find that a stroll, or something even more vigorous like push-ups or star jumps, does the job. As with our tips to stop procrastinating and start writing, nothing is strange if it works for you. 5. Dont be afraid of appearing vulnerable or nervous When you have a fear of presenting, calming your nerves is important. But you dont need to eradicate them or be afraid of showing them. A show of nerves demonstrates that you feel what youre doing matters. This might be counterintuitive – but David asks us to consider the opposite case: Imagine your typical oily presenter of a game show. Hes competent, but hes not someone you really warm to. Compare that with Patti Smith, who recently stumbled through a Bob Dylan song after she had been asked to perform to mark the handing over of his Nobel Prize in Literature. She said, Im sorry, Im so nervous. She got a full round of applause when she stuttered, and some people in the audience cried at her performance. People were on her side. Lewinskys nervousness and vulnerability served the same purpose – at one point in her talk, she had to completely stop and take a moment. It reinforced the fact that the subject really did matter to her. If you cant show you care about your subject, why should anyone else? 6. Preparation, preparation, preparation Preparing your talk beforehand is the single biggest thing you can do to calm your nerves. David is emphatic about this: Nothing beats knowing youve properly prepared and rehearsed. If you dont have an audience to practise to, try rehearsing in front of the mirror. Get comfortable with your presentation. If possible, take the chance – as Lewinsky did – to perform your talk in front of an audience in advance. 7. Remember who is on your side Of course, speaking to an audience can seem like an intimidating prospect, particularly if its a large group. But knowing there is someone in the audience who is on your side, or sympathetic to your message, can be enormously important. David explains: You know there’s someone who is going to say, I think this person has got a really good point there. And even if youve got nobody familiar in the crowd, someone will still be on your side. As Lewinsky put it, when you address an audience, It means someone, somewhere, decided you had something of import to impart to others. Youve got this Lewinksys talk focused on the culture of humiliation – an emotion we have all felt intensely at some point, and which we want to avoid at all costs. But its impact showed the flip side of human nature – her talk got a standing ovation. At TED, as in business, audiences can be sceptical, hard to convince, or even hostile to a certain message, but audiences usually dont want to see a presenter completely fail. So when you next need to give a presentation, remember that you dont need to change your personality overnight to do a great job. Just prepare wisely and thoroughly – and then youll know, as Lewinsky did, that you really have got this. If you enjoyed this article, join over 16,000 professionals who keep up-to-date with the latest business communications advice: hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: '2645537', formId: 'bf5044be-d437-4f55-9e4d-bf1bea361bbe' }); Image credit: Monica Lewinsky receiving a standing ovation at TED, and looking right at Al Gore sitting next to me by Steve Jurvetson used under CC BY 2.0/cropped from original

Why the Model T Is Called the Tin Lizzie

Why the Model T Is Called the Tin Lizzie Despite its initial humble appearance,  the Model T became the most influential car of the 20th century. Priced so that the average American could afford it, the Model T was sold from 1908 until 1927. Many also may know Henry Fords Model T by its nickname, the Tin Lizzie, but you may not know why the Model T is called the Tin Lizzie and how it got its nickname. A 1922 Car Race In the early 1900s, car dealers would try to create publicity for their new automobiles by hosting car races. In 1922  a championship race was held in Pikes Peak, Colorado. Entered as one of the contestants was Noel Bullock and his Model T, named Old Liz. Since Old Liz looked the worse for wear, as it was unpainted and lacked a hood, many spectators compared Old Liz to a tin can. By the start of the race, the car had the new nickname of Tin Lizzie. But to everyones surprise, Tin Lizzie won the race. Having beaten even the most expensive other cars available at the time, Tin Lizzie proved both the durability and speed of the Model T. Tin Lizzies surprise win was reported in newspapers across the country, leading to the use of the nickname Tin Lizzie for all Model T cars. The car also had a couple of other nicknames- Leaping Lena and flivver- but it was the Tin Lizzie moniker that stuck. Rise to Fame Henry Fords Model T cars opened up the roads for the American middle class. The car was affordable because of Fords simple but ingenious use of the assembly line, which increased productivity. Because of this increase in productivity, the price dropped from $850 in 1908 to less than $300 in 1925. The Model T was named the most influential car of the 20th century as it became a symbol of Americas modernization. Ford built 15 million Model T cars between 1918 and 1927, representing  as much as 40 percent of all car sales in the United States, depending on the year. Black is the color associated with the Tin Lizzie- and that was the only color available from 1913 to 1925- but initially, black was not available. Early buyers had a choice of gray, blue, green, or red. The Model T was available in three styles; all mounted on a 100-inch-wheelbase chassis: The five-seat touring carThe two-seat runaboutThe seven-seat town car   Modern Usage Tin Lizzie is still most associated with the Model T, but the  term is used colloquially  today to describe a small, cheap car that looks like it is in a beat-up condition. But keep in mind that looks can be deceiving.  To go the way of the Tin Lizzie is a phrase that refers to something outdated that has been replaced by a newer and better product, or even a belief or behavior.

Role of ethics responsibility in developing strategic plan while Essay

Role of ethics responsibility in developing strategic plan while considering stakeholder needs and agendas - Essay Example The need to make strategies in accordance with business ethics and taking care of stakeholders’ financial investment in a responsible manner is a must for any corporation (Kotler and Lee, 2004). The company’s top management ensures social responsibility by contributing toward social causes and charity and spends a portion of revenues on helping the society work effectively. Also the management takes charge of those who could not find work or are permanently unemployed by offering job opportunities and providing a secure work package in their firm (Werther and Chandler, 2010). Therefore, a corporation goes a long way in acting in a responsible manner for the betterment of a society by ending unemployment and general poverty level. It is also the duty of the company’s top management to allocate the funds appropriately to be used for the social betterment. Furthermore, the ethical issues also include taking care of environment by refraining from spreading pollution through industrial waste. The ethics also lies in providing such goods and services to stakeholders that is beneficial for them and not harmful in any way (Werther and Chandler, 2010). One of the most important agenda to be taken care of for the social responsibility ensuring is the accuracy of financial statements of the firm. The case of Enron represents a worst example of crossing of ethical boundaries by its ever-famous accounting scandal. Enron was found guilty of fraud by producing fake financial reports for external users. It resulted in a big loss on the part of owners, stakeholders and employees of the firm when it got bankrupt. It happened because of the top management of the firm who was responsible for creating falsified accounting records of the company’ business transactions. They presented a bright picture of the firm through creating reports in which they showed the firm in profits when actually it was in big losses. It lost trust of stakeholders badly and mad e a history where unethical business activities are associated with Enron (Baron, 2009). In order to prevent such unethical happenings in the world of business again, it is important to first take care of the financial reports that reaches potential customers or stakeholders. It is because these reports are a way to demonstrate the company’s financial position and investors use these reports as a guide to make decision about their preferences of companies in the market. It can be made possible by communicating the financial condition of a company is an accurate manner without leaving room for errors. Not only in preparing accounting records the management also needs to take care of other matters that make a company sensitive to ethical issues. The main thing is the way to communicate the social effectiveness of the firm to stakeholders as different people have different opinions about various products and services a company offers (Baron, 2009). In case of British American To bacco, some people would not consider the goal of firm as of being socially responsible because of the product it is offering, that is, cigarette, however, the company has other policies such as protecting environment to show that it is ethical and socially responsible firm (Hollender, et. al., 2010). Therefore, taking care of the needs and preference o stakeholders is very important and other thing is to communicate the

Values Portrayed In Popular Media Research Paper

Values Portrayed In Popular Media - Research Paper Example The internet sphere is one that is witness to phenomenal growth which dynamically evolves to simplify things and complicate them almost simultaneously. Social networking on the internet has revolutionized the way people communicate and interact with their fellow beings wherein every facet of modern life is documented and reflected in the online medium via the social networks. The problem of random child molestation, pornography, stalking and even grievous crimes as murder have also found origin in the information gathered from the social networking websites. Thus this would be the best area for research that leads us to understand the current internet culture and its malignant effects with universal impact. Bard Williams credits the internet to be a culturally, racially, physically and sexually blind medium that facilitates the broadest exchange of ideas (Williams, 1999; p: 9) and yet after the euphoria over internet and its possibilities normalized the questions on values, ethics portrayed by the modern technological culture found light. The research shall take into consideration the broad aspects of development of internet sphere into a super-medium which has considerable influence in the way of shaping a modern internet culture that contributes to the value system of individuals. It narrows down the focus to contemplate on the value probabilities of networking websites and their impact on young minds who are seen as perpetrators of cyber-bullying and peer harassment.(Diem & Berson, 2010,p; 136) The paper shall emphasize on the emergence of a radical social culture via online networking which creates a paradoxical situation of degenerating social fabric while increasing the scope of interactions as a whole. Lovnik notes that internet idealism is difficult to attain as it calls for synthesis of critical micro practises and the vista of macro- sized speculative theory. (Lovnik, 2003; p5)Thus this paper