Comcast Business Report Essay

Abstract The purpose of this report is to dissect and learn about the strategies, management team, external environment and industry analysis that Comcast has put in place to become a booming and profitable corporation. Comcast, which is headquartered in Philadelphia and is a well-liked service provider for television, phone, and internet, has been around for many years with a positive reputation. Comcast is known for using the acquisition entry strategy by purchasing numerous TV networks, such as NBC Universal, and the cable company, Time Warner Cable. General Why did you choose this company? As a group, we decided to do Comcast for a variety of reasons. One being that the television, internet, and phone service provider is popular in the Hampton Roads area. It’s competitor for television and Internet service is Verizon. As a Fortune 50 leader, Comcast sets the pace in a variety of innovative and fascinating businesses and create career opportunities across a wide range of locations and disciplines. What Comcast does? Comcast is the largest cable and home Internet service provider in the United States and is ranked third for the largest telephone service provider. Comcast provides services for residents and commercial offices in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Additional, Comcast is a producer of film and television contents, operates cable channels including E! Entertainment Television, the Golf Channel, and national channels such as Telemundo. In February 2014, the company agreed to merge with Time Warner Cable in an equity swap deal worth $45.2 billion. Where/When it was established? In 1963, Comcast was found in 1963 (previously known as American Cable Systems) and is currently headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Comcast has come a long way since its beginnings as a single-system cable operator in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1963. Today, Comcast is a leader in the worlds of media, entertainment and technology and our story has unfolded due to an entrepreneurial spirit that is the foundation of everything we do. Company goals Comcast has many goals, but since 1963, Comcast continues to fulfill Ralph Roberts’ goal of building an organization with a close-knit, family feel. Comcast’s strategic objective is to gain long-term market share and dominance. The company is striving to become the most desired high-volume and low-cost service provider in the market Company Mission Statement â€Å"Comcast brings together the best in media and technology. We drive innovation to create the world’s best entertainment and online experiences.† (Comcast) Company Vision & Values In Comcast’s Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the company has a range of different values that the company as a whole would like to uphold. These values would be: Connect media, technology, and people Create media that matters Reduce environmental impact Operate responsible Deepening trust through stewardship Develop and engage employees Promote diversity and inclusion Bring the best out of people Number of Retail Units Although there is not an exact number for retail units throughout the United States, there is information about the number of customers for television, internet and phone services provider for residential and commercial. As of December 31, 2013, there are a total of 53.8 million customers receiving service from Comcast. Television service is provided to 21.7 million customers, high-speed Internet is provided to 20.7 million customers and phone service is provided to 10.7 million customers. Majority of these customers can be found in Maryland, New York, Massachusetts and Miami. Number of Employees Comcast has nearly 130,000 employees that help make the company successful. Comcast employees pride themselves with ingenuity and passion with everything that they do. The employees provide excellent service and have ideas for innovative products to create insightful and entertaining content. Comcast tries to create an attractive work environment and rewards their employees because of their dedication. Employees are rewarded with competitive pay, benefits, professional training and opportunities to build exceptional leadership skills Revenue Comcast is the largest mass media and communications company in the world in revenue. As of March 31, 2014, according to Yahoo! Finance, Comcast has earned $17.4 million revenue, which is a $1.5 million increase since December 31, 2013. Net Income Comcast’s net income last record on March 31, 2014 by Yahoo! Finance is $1.8 billion, which is a decrease since December 31, 2013. In December it was recorded that the net income of the popular service provider was $1.9 billion. According to ycharts.com, the net income (quarterly) range from $866 million being the minimum income in March 2010 to $2.113 billion being the maximum in September 2012. (See Fig NI for a line chart of net income since 2010) Number of Shareholders There are a total of 539,000 shareholders that hold a share in the company in either a direct or indirect form of share. Direct shareholder is if you hold a physical stock certificate, while an indirect shareholder is if you hold your stock through a broker. Top Management Team In today’s workforce, diversity is extremely important to equal opportunity employment. Women make up about 40% of the American workforce. Comcast believes in cultivating an inclusive and diverse workforce in an effort to leverage perspectives and remain on the cutting edge of innovation. Comcast believes strongly in diversity and the total team concept. According to the Comcast website (2014) Women roughly occupy eight positions on the top management team at Comcast. These women are known as â€Å"the women of Comcast and NBCUniversal†. D’Arcy F. Rudnay is the Chief Communications Officer for the Comcast Corporation. According to the website for corporate Comcast (2014) Rudnay serves as the communications counsel to the Chairman and CEO as well as other members of the executive branch. She leads the management of the company’s brand, reputation and strategic communications activities across the Comcast organization. Rudnay has years of experience in both the public  and private sector. Before joining Comcast, Rudnay worked at the Lincoln Financial Group where she served as Vice President of Corporate Communications and Media Relations. She also served as Vice President of Lincoln Financial Group Foundation. Rudnay has a long list of awards to her credit to include induction into the Public Relations Hall of Fame as one of the Nation’s top 25 communications executives. Her experience and skills has been a valuable addition to Comcast team. Amy Banse serves as the Managing Director and Head of Funds for Comcast Ventures. Banse has critical role in strategic planning for funds throughout the Comcast spectrum. According to the website for corporate Comcast (2014) Banse has accumulated over 20 years of experience in investing at Comcast. She began her career at Comcast in 1991 as an attorney responsible for investing, starting and building companies throughout Comcast. Banse became a central figure in the development of the TV Everywhere strategy. She founded Comcast Interactive Media and led the charge in overseeing multiple acquisitions to include Xfinity.com, Xfinitytv.com, and Fancast. These acquisitions led to the development of the TV Everywhere strategy. The experiences of Rudnay and Banse have been vital to the success of Comcast. Any organization that resembles Comcast must have some form of legal counsel who is responsible for the companies’ legalities and business ventures. Business ventures are critically important to growing and expanding the businesses to the Comcast level. Banse is an experienced team lead who is responsible for founding the Comcast Interactive Media. This venture led to the development of the TV Everywhere strategy. Her experience and expertise keeps the company moving forward and leading the charge in the digital age. Rudnay brings a wealth of experience from the communications side of the business. Rudnay has been elected to the Public Relations Hall of Fame for her diligent efforts. Together Rudnay and Banse provide the necessary tools and experience to keep Comcast at the tip of the spear in the digital world. My impression of the top management team is two-fold. Women are well  represented at the executive levels holding eight offices spanning from chairman to vice president. The positions held by these women represent a breakthrough for women as minorities. On the other hand, minority women such as African Americans and Hispanics were not represented. However the door to diversity remains open for minority women. In my opinion, the cast of executive women may be too small given the size and scope of the Comcast Company. According to the website for Comcast Executive Biographies (2014) Brian L. Roberts serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Comcast corporation. Roberts took the helm as President of Comcast Corporation in 1990. Under his leadership at Comcast, the company’s annual revenue has grown to over $64 billion Comcast has grown into a global Fortune 50 corporation under the leadership of Roberts. Roberts has numerous awards for his leadership and recognized by Fortune magazine as a â€Å"Business Person of the Year.† Duality does exist for Roberts who has served as chairman for three consecutive terms. Board of Directors The Board of Directors is a diversified group of professions. The Board of Directors is represented by a diverse group of men and women. The Comcast Board of Directors is comprised of 61 professionals and out of the compliment of 61 personnel, 16 are professional women. This group of professional women is represented by minority women as well. The Comcast Corporation has many moving parts. Considering the size and scope of the Comcast Corporation, in my opinion, the 61 members who make-up the Board of Directors, is the right number of personnel to oversee each aspect of the Comcast corporation. Most small businesses and large corporations have an obligation to shareholders to disclose what they do with the profits and how they obtain their profits. It is also a means to manage the corporations’ impact on the economy, society, and the environment. Comcast has a corporate social responsibility aimed at giving back and supporting the communities they serve. According to the website for Comcast (2014) the Comcast Corporation  seeks to empower local partners with the required resources to improve neighborhoods and create opportunities to change lives. Comcast also provides resources and funding for local supporting nonprofit organizations. Comcast hosts annual events to support different groups and organizations within the community. Comcast Career Day is an annual event that focuses on community service. The goal of Comcast Career Day is to send a goodwill message from the Comcast’s employees, families, and friends and to leave an indelible mark on the communities they serve. According to the website for Comcast (2014) â€Å"In 2012, approximately 75,000 employees of Comcast and NBCUniversal and family members volunteered in local community service projects. This effort spanned across 665 different locations logging more than 454,000 labor hours and awarded more than $1.5 million in Comcast Foundation matching grants in 2012†. In a continued effort of corporation social responsibility, Comcast also supports and works with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The website for Comcast (2014) reports Comcast partnered with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to connect Comcast employees with students in need. Comcast launched a program called Beyond School Walls. This program paired local student’s up with Comcast employees to serve as mentors. The Beyond School Walls program reported greater work satisfaction and the students showed improved grades which encouraged an expansion of the program. In recognition of Comcast’s support of the Big Brother Big Sister of America program, Comcast was honored with its President’s Award. Comcast: Business Level Strategy Comcast has been making significant investments to enhance their products, while improving the service and support being delivered to consumers. Comcast’s strategy is to mainly focus on providing consumers with the best and most content across all available platforms. Comcast’s vision is to give customers more content choices – all of which are available to consumers at the click of the remote, without having to buy any additional equipment. One huge business level strategy that Comcast has implemented is a new  brand. In 2010, Comcast began promoting â€Å"Xfinity†, the company’s rebranding trademark for the services provided. With this brand, Comcast is looking to improve customer perception and reputation with this new brand. Comcast’s networks and products now offer 100+ HD channels, 50 to 70 foreign language channels, incredibly fast Internet speeds and thousands of TV shows and movies online for a variety of customers of all ages to enjoy whenever and wherever they would like. With the â€Å"Xfinity† brand in full effect, â€Å"Xfinity Signature Support† is a new service for personal computers, home networking equipment and many other devices that customers connect to Comcast services 24/7. With Signature Support, Comcast customers have access to knowledgeable and experienced IT professionals who can provide support, troubleshooting and online technical support, either over the phone or in the home. This type of assistances is available either as part of a monthly subscription plan or for a stand-alone basis for those one-time fixes, such as virus removal or connecting printers or game consoles wirelessly. Customers are given the opportunity to choose an equipment protection plan that provides extended warranties for computers and televisions. Comcast will not have to change its strategy to continue to operate after the merger with Time Warner Cable. Comcast uses a focused differentiation strategy, since the company looks for innovations that television, high-speed internet and phone service subscribers will be interested in using. General Environment Demographics: In regards to demographics, the cable industries top 10 competing TV subscriptions are Netflix, Comcast, Direct TV, Dish, The Warner Cable, Hulu, AT & T, Verizon Fios, Charter and Cox. Video subscriber Netflix is the leading company with 36.2 million subscribers. Within the cable industry the subscribers between the ages of forty and sixty purchase the most subscriptions. As a result, certain channels are included on these cable networks in order to appeal to subscribers that purchase most of their service. Along with the aging population, many different nationalities & ethnicities make up the demographic market. Therefore within the cable industry, different channels are included in order to provide entertainment services to viewers of all cultural backgrounds. For instance, Comcast offers American Spanish language television and Telemundo in order to make their company more marketable to different cultures in the cable industry environment. Telecommunications and the development of broadband internet services are the rising affluence within the cable industry. Telecommunications have become very popular within the industry serving 26 million customers (NCTA, 1). Broadband Internet services within the industry make up five of the top ten residential phone companies in the country servicing 50 million customers (NCTA, 1). Socio/Cultural: From a socio cultural standpoint, society places a lot of emphasis on a diverse non-discriminating work environment where women and men are treated equally. Within the cable industry there has been emphasis on women employment due to pre-recession levels. However, Comcast is working with these socio cultural expectations by creating a diversified non-discriminating workforce for women with interest pertaining to their cable industry by hiring more women to be a part of their team. Along, with hiring women within the cable industry the pressure to accommodate older worker plays a major role in the socio cultural environment. According to the government data, â€Å"40 percent of workers older than 55 were in the workforce as of February 2012 up from just 29 percent in 1993. The number is expected to increase to 43.5 percent by 2018. This trend reflects the need for many older workers either to stay in or rejoin the workforce to beef up their retirement income by temping† (Greenberg 1). Temping plays a major role in society because it opens up the option for older men and women to work. However, the cable industry accommodates these workers by offering part-time positions and retirement plans with good pay. Comcast helps to accommodate older workers by providing retirement plans, salaries, and bonuses. Technology/Global: The cable industry delivers through broadband providing service to over 50 million customers as of year ending 2012(NCTA 2). Some trends that consumers are looking for in cable companies are fast broadband speeds and standard cable broadband speeds ranging from 10 mps to 20 mps. Comcast is  keeping up with this trend by creating innovative services in their technologies including online streaming of their cable channels and faster Internet services (Comcast 1). In regards to global, poverty can increase the amount of viewers that purchase TV subscriptions since; this can be used as an alternative to going to the movie theaters or purchasing movies. Also, poverty can decrease the amount of viewers that purchase TV subscriptions due to their lack of income. Economic/Political: There are a lot of factors that contribute to the economics of cable networks. The pay TV ecosystem in the United States has set the platform of growth for cable networks. In today’s society approximately 100 million US homes and business pay an average of $68 per month to a cable or satellite operator for 19 channels of video programming (Grimes 1). â€Å"They pay TV providers, in turn; pay some $20 per subscriber per month to the cable networks in carriage fees that aggregate to roughly $24 billion per year. Add U.S. advertising sales of $25 billion in 2011, another billion or so for the sale of content to alternate distribution outlets and a $50 billion annual revenue industry with 40+% cash flow margins comes into focus. And that excludes the contribution from international networks that is especially significant for ESPN, CNN, MTV and the Discovery network†(Grimes, 2). Therefore, it is evident that cable networks make a lot of profit in today’s economy as a result of subscribers. In the economy, more people are willing to pay a subscription for a small monthly fee and as a result this has fueled new growth in their revenues as an industry. The good news for cable networks is that advertising sales trends remain strong on a demand and cost per thousand (CPM) basis such that the industry’s ad revenue growth rate of 11%(Grimes 3). This just continues to add to the revenue of cable networks as a whole to continue to make their industry worth more profit. Events such as the London Olympics and U.S elections contributed a lot to their exceeding revenues. Along with cable networks with international broadcast, has increased the growth rates of non-U.S business which is the first time in years that this has exceeded domestic business. The less good news is that while cable and satellite carriage fees are expected to rise at the healthy, but lower, rate of 7% this year on a per-subscriber basis, the days of U.S. pay TV subscriber growth are over, probably forever (Grimes 4).  The year 2012 will be the first years in 33-year history of pay TV in the U.S. As a result subscribers will decline from the previous year. Younger people are paying for TV at lower rates than people of older generations. The downward slope of TV subscriptions will begin, however investors will be forced to think about a world in which cable networks are finally maturing assets (Grimes 5). Industry Analysis When looking at the Industry Environment of Comcast, The Five Forces of Competition Model, created by Michael Porter, can break it down. Rivalry among competing firms When looking at the different products and services that Comcast offers, their competitors come from several different markets. For their most known service as cable television provider, Comcast is the top cable provider, having a reported 21,690,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2013, which is sustainably more than the rest of the top 10 cable providers in the United States. The most known competitors in this market include Times Warner Cable, AT&T U-verse, and Verizon FIOS, all of which having 10,493,000 less subscribers in the country or more, making the current competition level in this area a low threat. With same companies as competitors in cable Internet services, AT&T is their highest competitor. Both companies with recorded 17 million customers and AT&T offer slightly better services compared to their prices. Even though this is the case, customers still have resided with Comcast, as they are known as the largest Internet cable provider as well. After gaining ownership of NBCUniversal, Comcast also has competition in the area of major film studios. NBCUniversal is the third largest film studio behind Warner Bros Entertainment, which is owned by their new business partner, Times Warner Cable, and The Walt Disney Studios. Respectively the firm’s own 17.1%, 15.9%, and 13.9% of the U.S. and Canadian market share in 2013, and have been in similar position since 2005. As Comcast begins to develop new online streaming services of its cable channels and other networking systems, it will meet other competitors as well. Threat of new entrants Because of the amount of time that is spent behind entering and becoming a competitor in these industries, and the fact that Comcast is the leader of them as well, the threat of new entrants that would affect the firm’s market share is very low. The difficulty behind making a successful worldwide cable provider is a high level barrier to entry and the current cable providers have been in existence for decades. Comcast’s threat of new entrants would not occur unless a firm was created that provided more innovating technology at a greater and widespread form. Threat of Substitute Products Due to the fact that new technology is being created constantly, Comcast has met new threats of substitutes in the recent years. Firms like Netflix and Hulu, which offer customers on-demand Internet streaming media, usually shows and movies that are offered on their cable channels, for low monthly rates, are substitutes that have been encountered within the past decade. This has lead to some consumers to use this service rather than paying heftier cable bills every month. This substitute threat is the reason why they are currently producing their own online streaming of their cable channels to compete with these companies, which is predicted to launch later this year. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Because Comcast is always searching for innovating technology and software to provide their customers with new services; Information technology suppliers have high bargaining power against the firm. These suppliers understand that they are necessary for Comcast to continue success so they will always be at high demand, and able to charge a heavy amount as well. Bargaining Power of Buyers Because there is a limited amount of communication and cable companies in the United States, the bargaining power of buyers of Comcast’s services are limited. At the same time, in order to compete with their competition in the industry, they also have to make sure that the services and the prices of those services are at levels that their customers are willing to pay. If customers believe they are not reasonable, they will convert to another  firm’s cable services. So, by voicing their opinion on Comcast’s services, customers are able to bargain for what they want from the firm. Recommendations The long term sustainability for Comcast will be based on their ability to streamline movies and sitcoms. This will allow them to maintain their market share from competitors like Netflix, Hulu TV, Livestream and other startup companies. In order for Comcast to attain long-term sustainability, the company will have to improve the reputation that they have when it comes to their customer service. Comcast has the lowest customer-service rating of any Internet service provider. (Berr, 2014) Comcast customers are not happy with the type of service they receive and that affects the company if they would like to have a future in the television, internet, and phone service industry. Although Comcast has stated that a goal of the company is to improve the customer service, the company is just not there yet. Improving the customer service will help the company tremendously for the present and for the future. Works Cited â€Å"Amy Banse.† Amy Banse. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2014. . â€Å"Brian L. Roberts.† Brian L. Roberts. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2014. . Comcast. â€Å"Comcast Corporation Form 10-K.† Comcast. Comcast, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. â€Å"CMCSA Income Statement | Comcast Corporation Stock – Yahoo! Finance.† CMCSA Income Statement | Comcast Corporation Stock – Yahoo! Finance. Yahoo! Finance, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 18 June 2014. . â€Å"Comcast Corp..† . Edgar Online, 31 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 June 2014.. â€Å"Comcast Net Income (Quarterly).† Comcast Net Income (Quarterly) (CMCSA). YCharts, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 18 June 2014. . â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility Report – 2012.† 2012 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. Comcast — NBC Universal, 1 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 June 2014. . â€Å"D’Arcy F. Rudnay.† D’Arcy F. Rudnay. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 June 2014. . â€Å"Develop and Engage Employees.† Develop and Engage Employees. Comcast — NBC Universal, 1 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 June 2014. . Cox, Kate. â€Å"Why Comcast Wants To Buy Time Warner Cable, And Why TWC Wants To Let Them.† Consumerist. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. â€Å"Developing Tomorrow’s Professionals and Leaders.† Developing Tomorrow’s Professionals and Leaders. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2014. . Fowlkes, Jasmine. â€Å" » Opinion: Why Social Media Is Destroying Our Social Skills USA TODAY College: College News and Information Powered by USA TODAY.†  » Opinion: Why Social Media Is Destroying Our Social Skills USA TODAY College: College News and Information Powered by USA TODAY. N.p., 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. Green, R. Kay. â€Å"The Social Media Effect: Are You Really Who You Portray Online?† The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Aug. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. Greenberg, Paul. â€Å"Temping: An Option for Older Workers. Web. 23 June 2014. Grimes Spencer. â€Å"Sunset of the Golden Age As Cable Networks Mature†. Web. 23 June 2014. http://seekingalpha.com/article/519831-sunset-of-the-golden-age-as-cable-networks-mature Horrocks, Bill. â€Å"Equipping Homes for Energy Efficiency.† Equipping Homes for Energy Efficiency. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. â€Å"Major Movie Studios.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. â€Å"National Cable & Telecommunications Associations†. Web. 23 June 2014. https://www.ncta.com/industry-data Pomerantz, Dorothy. â€Å"Comcast Looks Set To Buy Time Warner Cable.† Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 13 Feb. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. Stelter, Brian. â€Å"Comcast Agrees to Buy Time Warner Cable for $45 Billion.† CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 13 Feb. 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. â€Å"The Women of Comcast and NBCUniversal.† The Women of Comcast and NBCUniversal. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2014. . UELAND, SIG. â€Å"20 Top Internet Service Providers.† Practical Ecommerce. N.p., 11 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. Warrell, Margie. â€Å"Seduced by Social Media: Is Facebook Making You Lonely?† The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Nov. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. â€Å"XFINITY TV.† Comcast. Comcast, n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.

Economic Systems Essay

Socialism Socialism is an economic system where all the economic decisions are made by the government or a central authority. There will be no private property rights since the government officially owns all resources. It is also known as a command economy or a planned system. Socialist economics refers to the economic theories, practices, and norms of hypothetical and existing socialist economic systems. A socialist economy is based on some form of social ownership, which includes varieties of public ownership and independent cooperatives, over the means of production, wherein production is carried out to directly produce use-value sometimes, but not always, coordinated through economic planning and a system of accounting based on calculation-in-kind or a direct measure of labor-time. The term socialist economics may also be applied to analysis of former and existing economic systems that call themselves â€Å"socialist†, such as the works of Hungarian economist Jà ¡nos Kornai. Socialist economics has been associated with different schools of economic thought, most notably Marxian economics, institutional economics, evolutionary economics and neoclassical economics. Early socialism, like Ricardian socialism, was based on classical economics. During the 20th century, proposals and models for planned economies and market socialism were based heavily on neoclassical economics or a synthesis of neoclassical economics with Marxian or institutional economics. look more:  what is the basic economic problem essay Characteristics 1 Public ownership of resources All the resources are owned and operated by the state or the government in the interest of society as a whole. This is to ensure equal opportunity of all citizens regardless of their income. Public ownership also aims to fully utilize the country’s resources. 2 Central planning authority The central authority is responsible for making economic decisions for society. The authority plans and allocates resources between current consumption and investment for the future. 3 Price mechanism of lesser importance Socialism gives less importance to market forces. Prices are fixed by the government and not determined by demand and supply. Private profits are not allowed and public interest is emphasized in the command economy. 4 Central control and ownership A socialist economy is a fully planned economy where the government intervenes in all aspects of economic activity. The government controls production, consumption, and the distribution of goods and services. Merits of Socialism 1 Production according to basic needs Production in a socialist economy is mainly directed at producing the basic needs of the people such as food, clothing and building materials. It is not determined by the purchasing power of the rich in society. The phenomenon of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer does not exist in the socialist economy. 2 Equal distribution of income and wealth There is no difference between the rich and the poor. This system provides equal opportunity for all citizens in earning an income. Wealth is also equally distributed since private enterprise is limited 3 Better allocation of resourses Under the socialist system, the planning authority will allocate resources between current consumption and future investment. 4 No serious unemployment or recession/ inflation The unemployment rate and inflation are usually taken care of by the government to ensure economic stability in the country. 5 Rapid economic development In a socialism system, the economy grows faster. The main factors responsible for the rapic economic growth are the full utilization of resources, planning and quick decisions. 6 Social welfare The government will provide all citizens of the country with full social security benefits such as pension, accident benefits and others. Since the government is concerned, labour dispute and wastage of resources do not exist in a socialism system. Economic Decisions in a Socialistic System What to produce In Socialism, planning authorities decide what to produce. The Central Planning Authority will collect detailed statistics on the resource availability in the country and link it with national priorities. If the planning authority has a choice of producing computers using more labour or more machinery. How to produce The Central Planning Authority also decided on the techniques to be used in the production of different goods and services. The choice is between traditional and modern technique of production. For example, the planning authority has a choice of producing computers using more labour or more machinery. For whom to produce The distribution of the national product is decided by the Central Planning Authority. The distribution of various commodities among citizens is done through a set of administred fixwd processes. Necessity goods are fixed at lower prices, and luxury goods at higher prices. The purpose of these fixed prices is to reduce inequalities in the distribution of income. Demerits of Socialism 1 Lacks of incentives and initative by individuals Individuals have no profit motive. This will lead to economic inefficiency since jobs are provided by the government and individuals are not motivated to work harder. 2 Loss of economic freedom and consumer sovereignty Under a socialist economy, the central planning authority or the government directs all economic activity. There is no choice given to the consumer and they accept whatever public enterprise produce. There is little variety in the goods and services produced and availability is restricted. Limited private organizations exist in a socialist economy. 3 Absence of competition Since there are limited private enterprises, less research and development (R&D) activities are carried out. This results in low quality products since there is no competition. Socialist economies in theory Robin Hahnel and Michael Albert identify five economic models within the rubric of socialist economics * Public Enterprise Centrally Planned Economy in which all property is owned by the State and all key economic decisions are made centrally by the State, the former Soviet Union. * Public Enterprise State-Managed Market Economy, one form of market socialism which attempts to use the price mechanism to increase economic efficiency, while all decisive productive assets remain in the ownership of the state, e.g. socialist market economy in China after reform. * A mixed economy, where public and private ownership are mixed, and where industrial planning is ultimately subordinate to market allocation, the model generally adopted by social democrats e.g. in twentieth century Sweden. * Public Enterprise Employee Managed Market Economies, another form of market socialism in which publicly owned, employee-managed production units engage in free market exchange of goods and services with one another as well as with final consumers, e.g. mid twentieth century Yugoslavia, Two more theoretical models are Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar’s Progressive Utilization Theory and Economic democracy. * Public Enterprise Participatory Planning, an economy featuring social ownership of the means of production with allocation based on an integration of decentralized democratic planning, e.g. stateless communism, libertarian socialism. An incipient historical forebear is that of Catalonia during the Spanish revolution. More developed theoretical models include those of Karl Polanyi, Participatory Economics and the negotiated coordination model of Pat Devine, as well as in Cornelius Castoriadis’s pamphlet â€Å"Workers’ Councils and the Economics of a Self-Managed Society†. Additionally, Jà ¡nos Kornai identifies five distinct classifications for socialism: * Classical / Marxist conception, where socialism is a stage of economic development in which wage labour, private property in the means of production and monetary relations have been made redundant through the development of the productive forces, so that capital accumulation has been superseded by economic planning. Economic planning in this definition means conscious allocation of economic inputs and the means of production by the associated producers to directly maximise use-values as opposed to exchange-values, in contrast to the â€Å"anarchy of production† of capitalism. * Walrasian / Market Socialist which defines socialism as public-ownership or cooperative-enterprises in a market economy, with prices for producer goods set through a trial-and-error method by a central planning board. In this view, socialism is defined in terms of de jure public property rights over major enterprises. * Leninist conception, which includes a form of political organisation based on control of the means of production and government by a single political party apparatus that claims to act in the interest of the working class, and an ideology hostile toward markets and political dissent, with coordination of economic activity through centralised economic planning (a â€Å"command economy†). * Social Democratic concept, based on the capitalist mode of production, which defines socialism as a set of values rather than a specific type of social and economic organisation. It includes unconditional support for parliamentary democracy, gradual and reformist attempts to establish socialism, and support for socially progressive causes. Social democrats are not opposed to the market or private property; instead they try to ameliorate the effects of capitalism through a welfare state, which relies on the market as the fundamental coordinating entity in the economy and a degree of public ownership/public provision of public goods in an economy otherwise dominated by private enterprise. * East Asian model, or socialist market economy, based on a largely free-market, capital accumulation for profit and substantial private ownership along with state-ownership of strategic industries monopolised by a single political party. Jà ¡nos Kornai ultimately leaves the classification of this model (as either socialist or capitalist) to the reader.[16] What are the disadvantages and advantages of socialism? Advantages of Socialism * In environments with plentiful resources, socialism provides all members with their survival needs, creating a stable social environment. * Members that cannot participate economically – due to disabilities, age, or periods of poor health – can still impart wisdom, emotional support and continuity of experience to the system. * Freedom from work provides opportunity for some societal members to explore non-economically-productive pursuits, such as pure science, math and non-popular arts. Disadvantages of Socialism * Since there is no culling and no economic advantage to working harder, socialistic systems provide no inherent incentive to participate. This makes socialism internally unstable. * Due to a lack of incentives, socialistic systems tend not to be competitive, making them externally unstable. * In times of plenty, immigrants are drawn to the free resources offered by socialistic systems, while potentially adding nothing economically productive. * In times of scarcity, resentment of non-economically-productive members of society increases, causing a destabilizing effect on the society and economy History of socialist economic thought Values of socialism have roots in pre-capitalist institutions such as the religious communes, reciprocal obligations, and communal charity of Mediaeval Europe, the development of its economic theory primarily reflects and responds to the monumental changes brought about by the dissolution of feudalism and the emergence of specifically capitalist social relations. As such it is commonly regarded as a movement belonging to the modern era. Many socialists have considered their advocacy as the preservation and extension of the radical humanist ideas expressed in Enlightenment doctrine such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality, Wilhelm von Humboldt’s Limits of State Action, or Immanuel Kant’s insistent defense of the French Revolution. Capitalism appeared in mature form as a result of the problems raised when an industrial factory system requiring long-term investment and entailing corresponding risks was introduced into an internationalized commercial (mercantilist) framework. Historically speaking, the most pressing needs of this new system were an assured supply of the elements of industry – land, elaborate machinery, and labour – and these imperatives led to the commodification of these elements. According to influential socialist economic historian Karl Polanyi’s classic account, the forceful transformation of land, money and especially labour into commodities to be allocated by an autonomous market mechanism was an alien and inhuman rupture of the pre-existing social fabric. Marx had viewed the process in a similar light, referring to it as part of the process of â€Å"primitive accumulation† whereby enough initial capital is amassed to begin capitalist production. The dislocation that Polyani and others describe, triggered natural counter-movements in efforts to re-embed the economy in society. These counter-movements, that included, for example, the Luddite rebellions, are the incipient socialist movements. Over time such movements gave birth to or acquired an array of intellectual defenders who attempted to develop their ideas in theory. As Polanyi noted, these counter-movements were mostly reactive and therefore not full-fledged socialist movements. Some demands went no further than a wish to mitigate the capitalist market’s worst effects. Later, a full socialist program developed, arguing for systemic transformation. Its theorists believed that even if markets and private property could be tamed so as not to be excessively â€Å"exploitative†, or crises could be effectively mitigated, capitalist social relations would remain significantly unjust and anti-democratic, suppressing universal human needs for fulfilling, empowering and creative work, diversity and solidarity. Within this context socialism has undergone four periods: the first in the 19th century was a period of utopian visions (1780s-1850s); then occurred the rise of revolutionary socialist and Communist movements in the 19th century as the primary opposition to the rise of corporations and industrialization (1830–1916); the polarisation of socialism around the question of the Soviet Union, and adoption of socialist or social democratic policies in response (1916–1989) and the response of socialism in the neo-liberal era (1990- ). As socialism developed, so did the socialist system of economics. Utopian socialism The first theories which came to hold the term â€Å"socialism† began to be formulated in the late 18th century, and were termed â€Å"socialism† early in the 19th century. The central beliefs of the socialism of this period rested on the exploitation of those who labored by those who owned capital or rented land and housing. The abject misery, poverty and disease to which laboring classes seemed destined was the inspiration for a series of schools of thought which argued that life under a class of masters, or â€Å"capitalists† as they were then becoming to be called, would consist of working classes being driven down to subsistence wages. Socialist ideas found expression in utopian movements, which often formed agricultural communes aimed at being self-sufficient on the land. These included many religious movements, such as the Shakers in America. Utopian socialism had little to offer in terms of a systematic theory of economic phenomena. In theory, economic problems were dissolved by a utopian society which had transcended material scarcity. In practice, small communities with a common spirit could sometimes resolve allocation problems. Socialism and classical political economy The first organized theories of socialist economics were significantly impacted by classical economic theory, including elements in Adam Smith, Robert Malthus and David Ricardo. In Smith there is a conception of a common good not provided by the market, a class analysis, a concern for the dehumanizing aspects of the factory system, and the concept of rent as being unproductive. Ricardo argued that the renting class was parasitic. This, and the possibility of a â€Å"general glut†, an over accumulation of capital to produce goods for sale rather than for use, became the foundation of a rising critique of the concept that free markets with competition would be sufficient to prevent disastrous downturns in the economy, and whether the need for expansion would inevitably lead to war. Socialist political economy before Marx Charles Fourier, influential early French socialist thinker A key early socialist theorist of political economy was Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. He was the most well-known of nineteenth century mutualist theorists and the first thinker to refer to himself as an anarchist. Others were: Technocrats like Henri de Saint Simon, agrarian radicals like Thomas Spence, William Ogilvie and William Cobbett; anti-capitalists like Thomas Hodgskin; communitarian and utopian socialists like Robert Owen, William Thompson and Charles Fourier; anti-market socialists like John Gray and John Francis Bray; the Christian mutualist William Batchelder Greene; as well as the theorists of the Chartist movement and early proponents of syndicalism. The first advocates of socialism promoted social leveling in order to create a meritocratic or technocratic society based upon individual talent. Count Henri de Saint-Simon was the first individual to coin the term â€Å"socialism†. Simon was fascinated by the enormous potential of science and technology, which led him to advocate a socialist society that would eliminate the disorderly aspects of capitalism and which would be based upon equal opportunities. Simon advocated a society in which each person was ranked according to his or her capacities and rewarded according to his or her work. This was accompanied by a desire to implement a rationally organized economy based on planning and geared towards large-scale scientific and material progress, which embodied a desire for a semi-planned economy. Other early socialist thinkers were influenced by the classical economists. The Ricardian socialists, such as Thomas Hodgskin and Charles Hall, were based on the work of David Ricardo and reasoned that the equilibrium value of commodities approximated producer prices when those commodities were in elastic supply, and that these producer prices corresponded to the embodied labor. The Ricardian socialists viewed profit, interest and rent as deductions from this exchange-value. Das Kapital Karl Marx employed systematic analysis in an ambitious attempt to elucidate capitalism’s contradictory laws of motion, as well as to expose the specific mechanisms by which it exploits and alienates. He radically modified classical political economic theories. Notably, the labor theory of value that had been worked upon by Adam Smith and David Ricardo, was transformed into his characteristic â€Å"law of value† and used for the purpose of revealing how commodity fetishism obscures the reality of capitalist society. His approach, which Engels would call â€Å"scientific socialism†, would stand as the branching point in economic theory: in one direction went those who rejected the capitalist system as fundamentally anti-social, arguing that it could never be harnessed to effectively realize the fullest development of human potentialities wherein â€Å"the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.†. Das Kapital is one of the many famous incomplete works of economic theory: Marx had planned four volumes, completed two, and left his collaborator Engels to complete the third. In many ways the work is modelled on Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, seeking to be a comprehensive logical description of production, consumption and finance in relation to morality and the state. It is a work of philosophy, anthropology and sociology as much as one of economics. However, it has several important statements: * The Law of Value Capitalist production is the production of â€Å"an immense multitude of commodities† or generalised commodity production. A commodity has two essential qualities firstly, they are useful, they satisfy some human want, â€Å"the nature of such wants, whether, for instance, they spring from the stomach or from fancy, makes no difference,† and secondly they are sold on a market or exchanged. Critically the exchange value of a commodity â€Å"is independent of the amount of labour required to appropriate its useful qualities.† But rather depends on the amount of socially necessary labour required to produce it. All commodities are sold at their value, so the origin of the capitalist profit is not in cheating or theft but in the fact that the cost of reproduction of labour power, or the worker’s wage, is less than the value created during their time at work, enabling the capitalists to yield a surplus value or profit on their investments. * Historical Property Relations Historical capitalism represents a process of momentous social upheaval where rural masses were separated from the land and ownership of the means of production by force, deprivation, and legal manipulation, creating an urban proletariat based on the institution of wage-labour. Moreover, capitalist property relations aggravated the artificial separation between city and country, which is a key factor in accounting for the metabolic rift between human beings in capitalism and their natural environment, which is at the root of our current ecological dilemmas. * Commodity Fetishism Marx adapted previous value-theory to show that in capitalism phenomena involved with the price system (markets, competition, supply and demand) constitute a powerful ideology that obscures the underlying social relations of capitalist society. â€Å"Commodity fetishism† refers to this distortion of appearance. The underlying social reality is one of economic exploitation. * Economic Exploitation Workers are the fundamental creative source of new value. Property relations affording the right of usufruct and despotic control of the workplace to capitalists are the devices by which the surplus value created by workers is appropriated by the capitalists. * Accumulation Inherent to capitalism is the incessant drive to accumulate as a response to the competitive forces acting upon all capitalists. In such a context the accumulated wealth which is the source of the capitalist’s social power derives itself from being able to repeat the circuit of Money–>Commodity–>Money’, where the capitalist receives an increment or â€Å"surplus value† higher than their initial investment, as rapidly and efficiently as possible. Moreover this driving imperative leads capitalism to its expansion on a worldwide scale. * Crises Marx identified natural and historically specific (i.e. structural) barriers to accumulation that were interrelated and interpenetrated one another in times of crises. Different types of crises, such as realization crises and overproduction crises, are expressions of capitalism’s inability to constructively overcome such barriers. Moreover, the upshot of crises is increased centralization, the expropriation of the many capitalists by the few. * Centralization The interacting forces of competition, endemic crises, intensive and extensive expansion of the scale of production, and a growing interdependency with the state apparatus, all promote a strong developmental tendency towards the centralization of capital. * Material Development As a result of its constant drive to optimize profitability by increasing the productivity of labour, typically by revolutionizing technology and production techniques, capitalism develops so as to progressively reduce the objective need for work, suggesting the potential for a new era of creative forms of work and expanded scope for leisure. * Socialization, and the pre-conditions for Revolution By socializing the labour process, concentrating workers into urban settings in large-scale production processes and linking them in a worldwide market, the agents of a potential revolutionary change are created. Thus Marx felt that in the course of its development capitalism was at the same time developing the preconditions for its own negation. However, although the objective conditions for change are generated by the capitalist system itself, the subjective conditions for social revolution can only come about through the apprehension of the objective circumstances by the agents themselves and the transformation of such understanding into an effective revolutionary program Anarchist economics Anarchist economics is the set of theories and practices of economics and economic activity within the political philosophy of anarchism. Pierre Joseph Proudhon was involved with the Lyons mutualists and later adopted the name to describe his own teachings. Mutualism is an anarchist school of thought that originates in the writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who envisioned a society where each person might possess a means of production, either individually or collectively, with trade representing equivalent amounts of labor in the free market. Integral to the scheme was the establishment of a mutual-credit bank that would lend to producers at a minimal interest rate, just high enough to cover administration. Mutualism is based on a labor theory of value that holds that when labor or its product is sold, in exchange, it ought to receive goods or services embodying â€Å"the amount of labor necessary to produce an article of exactly similar and equal utility†. Receiving anything less would be considered exploitation, theft of labor, or usury. Collectivist anarchism (also known as anarcho-collectivism) is a revolutionary doctrine that advocates the abolition of the state and private ownership of the means of production. Instead, it envisions the means of production being owned collectively and controlled and managed by the producers themselves. Once collectivization takes place, workers’ salaries would be determined in democratic organizations based on the amount of time they contributed to production. These salaries would be used to purchase goods in a communal market. Collectivist anarchism is most commonly associated with Mikhail Bakunin, the anti-authoritarian sections of the First International, and the early Spanish anarchist movement. The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin, influential work which presents the economic vision ofanarcho-communism Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers’ councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle: â€Å"from each according to ability, to each according to need†. Unlike mutualism, collectivist anarchism and marxism, anarcho-communism as defended by Peter Kropotkin and Errico Malatesta rejected the labor theory of value altogether, instead advocating a gift economy and to base distribution on need. Anarchist communism as a coherent, modern economic-political philosophy was first formulated in the Italian section of the First International by Carlo Cafiero, Emilio Covelli, Errico Malatesta, Andrea Costa and other ex-Mazzinian Republicans. Out of respect for Mikhail Bakunin, they did not make their differences with collectivist anarchism explicit until after Bakunin’s death. By the early 1880s, most of the European anarchist movement had adopted an anarchist communist position, advocating the abolition of wage labour and distribution according to need. Ironically, the â€Å"collectivist† label then became more commonly associated with Marxist state socialists who advocated the retention of some sort of wage system during the transition to full communism. After Marx Marx’s work sharpened the existing differences between the revolutionary and non-revolutionary socialists. Non-revolutionary socialists took inspiration from the work of John Stuart Mill, and later Keynes and the Keynesians, who provided theoretical justification for (potentially very extensive) state involvement in an existing market economy. According to the Keynesians, if the business cycle could be solved by national ownership of key industries and state direction of their investment, class antagonism would be effectively tamed a compact would be formed between labour and the capitalists. There would be no need for revolution; instead Keynes looked to the eventual â€Å"euthanasia of the rentier† sometime in the far future. Joan Robinson and Michael Kalecki employed Keynesian insights to form the basis of a critical post-Keynesian economics that at times went well beyond liberal reformism. Many original socialist economic ideas would also emerge out of the trade union movement In the wake of Marx, â€Å"Marxist† economists developed many different, sometimes contradictory tendencies. Some of these tendencies were based on internal disputes about the meaning of some of Marx’s ideas, including the ‘Law of Value’ and his crisis theory. Other variations were elaborations that subsequent theorists made in light of real world developments. For example the monopoly capitalist school saw Paul A. Baran and Paul Sweezy attempt to modify Marx’s theory of capitalist development, which was based upon the assumption of price competition, to reflect the evolution to a stage where both economy and state were subject to the dominating influence of giant corporations. World-systems analysis, would restate Marx’s ideas about the worldwide division of labour and the drive to accumulate from the holistic perspective of capitalism’s historical development as a global system. Accordingly, Immanuel Wallerstein, writing in 1979, maintained that â€Å"There are today no socialist systems in the world-economy any more than there are feudal systems because there is only one world-system. It is a world-economy and it is by definition capitalist in form. Socialism involves the creation of a new kind of world-system, neither a redistributive world-empire nor a capitalist world-economy but a socialist world-government. I don’t see this projection as being in the least utopian but I also don’t feel its institution is imminent. It will be the outcome of a long social struggle in forms that may be familiar and perhaps in very few forms, that will take place in all the areas of the world-economy.† Meanwhile other notable strands of reformist and revolutionary socialist economics sprung up that were either only loosely associated with Marxism or wholly independent. Thorsten Veblen is widely credited as the founder of critical institutionalism. His idiosyncratic theorizing included acidic critiques of the inefficiency of capitalism, monopolies, advertising, and the utility of conspicuous consumption. Some institutionalists have addressed the incentive problems experienced by the Soviet Union. Critical institutionalists have worked on the specification of incentive-compatible institutions, usually based on forms of participatory democracy, as a resolution superior to allocation by an autonomous market mechanism. Another key socialist, closely related to Marx, Keynes, and Gramsci, was Piero Sraffa. He mined classical political economy, particularly Ricardo, in an attempt to erect a value theory that was at the same time an explanation of the normal distribution of prices in an economy, as well that of income and economic growth. A key finding was that the net product or surplus in the sphere of production was determined by the balance of bargaining power between workers and capitalists, which was in turn subject to the influence of non-economic, presumably social and political factors.

Analysis And Comparison Of 2 Sonnets Essay

How Soon Hath Time, by John Milton, and Mutability, by William Wordsworth are two excellent examples of a well-written sonnet. They have their similarities between one another, and also their differences. In the end, however, each is a quality piece of literature. How Soon Hath Time has a rhyme scheme of â€Å"a, b, b, a, a, b, b, a, c, d, e, d, c, e’. Therefore, this is a Petrarchan sonnet. The syntax of this sonnet is very regular. There are major punctuation marks after the fourth and eight lines, in this case periods. These periods effectively divide the octet into two equal quatrains. The sestet is then divided into two sections, the first one being four lines long, followed by a colon. After the colon are the last two lines, concluding both the poem and the sestet. The meter of this poem is also quite regular, it has a smooth rhythm, and flows out of the mouth nicely, for example â€Å"How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth† (accented syllables in italics). This poem is about Life, and Death. It is about how time affects out lives, in particular the life of the author, John Milton. I believe that this poem is partly about how fast time goes by, without us ever fully realizing it. A quote that reinforces this belief is â€Å"How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, / Stol’n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!†. There is also the theme of â€Å"Time the destroyer’ in this poem, a fairly common theme for sonnets from this era. John Milton reinforces this by personifying time, by capitalizing the â€Å"T’. This poem also refers to how inevitable death is. A quote that reinforces this is â€Å"Yet it be less or more, or soon or slow†Ã‚ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚ ¦.Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heav’n†. Overall, this is an interesting sonnet, to say the least. It definitely got me thinking about its meaning, which I think was the author’s intent. Mutability has a rhyme scheme of â€Å"a, b, b, a, a, c, c, a, d, a, c, d, c, a’. Therefore, it is a Petrarchan sonnet, although somewhat different than the rhyme scheme of How Soon Hath Time. The syntax of this sonnet is very  irregular, it does not fit the typical structure of a petrarchan sonnet. The first major punctuation break comes at the end of the third line, in the form of a semi-colon. The second major punctuation break comes at the end of the sixth line, in the form of a period. Therefore, this sonnet begins with its sestet, instead of its octet. The octet is divided into two sections by the semi-colon in the middle of the tenth line. However, it’s not divided equally, it’s divided into one that is three and a half lines long, and one that is four and a half lines long. The meter in this poem is fairly normal, with no major irregularities. This poem is about how all things are affected by the chaos in this world. It goes through the different things of this planet that are affected by chaos, including humans, Truth, and Time. The quotes to support this are â€Å"From low to high doth dissolution climb†, â€Å"Truth fails not; but her outward forms that bear the longest date do melt like frosty rime† and â€Å"Some casual shout that broke the silent air, Or the unimaginable touch of Time.†. The broader theme is that bad things affect everything. These are two quality sonnets, and have their similarities and differences. They are similar in that they are both Petrarchan sonnets, with a similar rhyme scheme. They are also similar in that the meter is relatively regular in both of them. They are also similar in that they both have an octet and a sestet, although they are arranged in a different order. One important theme that I believe they have in common is that they both involve in something being destroyed. In How Soon Hath Time, it is life itself that is slowly being destroyed by time. In Mutability, it is everything that is essentially being destroyed by chaos. These two sonnets also have their differences. For example, the arrangement of the octets and sestets is different between the two. Also, the themes are different in that the â€Å"destroyer’ and the â€Å"destroyees’ are different. The syntax in Mutability is also much different than it is in How Soon Hath Time. The syntax in Mutability is much more irregular. Although these sonnets do have their differences, they are both great in that they capture the readers’ attention, and make the reader think. John Milton and William  Wordsworth both obviously knew what they were doing.

Apple Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apple Inc - Case Study Example It is especially true considering the fact that Apple keeps its technologies totally secret. Though Apple has competitors in its markets, the innovations of Apple Inc. lower the intensity of competitive rivalry. However, the rivals are starting to offer a number of substitute products and services. At the same time, Apple has the advantage of relatively high bargaining power of both customers and suppliers. So, the greatest strength of Apple Inc. is the innovations they introduce into the market. However, as Marino et al (2008) outline, the success of the company is very dependent on its management. While Apple is still having the advantage of being innovative, its competitors are also working on developing and launching similar or even more innovative products. The revenue of the company cannot be said to be lowering. Nevertheless, the gross margin for the third quarter of 2008, as well as stock price, decreased. Still, Apple continues to invest great sums into research and development in order to be able to continuously offer its customers new and innovative products and services. The latest information shows that after 2008 Apple Inc. has become even more successful. Their products are being waited for and purchased. For instance, almost 21 million iPhones were sold in 2009 only, and the sales increased 100% in the first quarter of 2010 (iSellMac.com, 2010). Therefore, though the company does have certain weakness and experiences technical problems from time to time, their strategy of innovation is still effective and successful.

The Admissibility of Expert Witnesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The Admissibility of Expert Witnesses - Essay Example The battle of dueling experts has become somewhat counterproductive, with the reputations and persuasiveness of the experts involved becoming more important than the objective evidence they can provide. It is now possible to join The Society of Expert Witnesses in the UK. The motto of the organization, quisque ad praestantiam nitens is, ironically, translated with a lack of expertise to "each towards excellence striving" - when "each striving towards excellence" is surely the correct wording in modern English. The Society was only founded in 1995, but the Latin motto shows that it is attempting to suggest that it is somehow an established part of the legal system rather than a relative newcomer. Of course brevity of existence is no judgment of quality, but the attempt to create the sense of history that does not exist perhaps is. The definition of an expert witness has gone through a long development. Formal education in a subject is not necessarily needed, as was established as early as R. v. Silverlock (1894), in which a solicitor who had studied handwriting for more than ten years was accepted as an expert even though he had no formal training in the subject. R. V. Robb (1991) established a similar principle and qualified it through saying that the finder of fact (Judge or Jury) should be the one that decides how much weight to give to it. Thus the degree of "expertise" (or otherwise) shown by the expert witness should be decided by the finder of fact. The Society gives a succinct description of both expert and expert witness on its welcome page on the Internet. While these are not formal definitions found within the law, they are at least a starting point for the consideration of contributors to the trial whose role is somewhat uncertain. There is no comprehensive definition of "expert witness", so the Society may well be a help in studying such: An expert is anyone with knowledge or experience of a particular field of discipline beyond what is expected of a layman. An expert witness is an expert who makes his or her knowledge available to a court (or other judicial or quasi-judicial body) to help it understand the issues of a case and reach a sound and just decision. 1 The definition of expert would seem to be extraordinarily broad, and would include large segments of the population within an increasingly specialized society. No mention is made of educational qualifications, let alone the graduate degrees that might be expected for one who calls herself an expert. The Society seems to be attempting to have as broad a definition as possible for "expert", which is logical as its first listed aim is to assist "members in running their expert witness business by any suitable means."2 The fact that being an expert witness can now become a full time source of self-employment may be starkly contrasted to the early days of expert witnesses in the early to mid Twentieth Century, when they were experts within their fields (often scientific or forensic in

How do you define success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

How do you define success - Essay Example The most successful people were clearly those who had all the parties, had attractive boyfriends and girlfriends, and sat at the right lunch tables. Today I look back at this adolescent phase and consider that while my understanding of success was widely shared, I can’t help but feel it was rooted in an illusionary understanding of reality and what is important in life. Today I define success much differently. Rather than viewing success in terms of other people, I understand success as a matter of personal meaning and social contribution. I think that it’s important that human beings live their lives with purpose. Too often people are caught seeking acceptance from others and personal wealth as they believe these things constitute success and personal happiness, when in actuality they are a mirage. True success is living life to one’s full potential in ways that contribute to the world in positive ways. For me, this means seeking out and sharing new and interesting ideas, living with a social conscience, and a sense of morality. I’m not a stoic, and I believe life is full of enjoyment, but if we are to achieve a lasting sense of accomplishment it must come from a personally defined sense of meaning and purpose. This is the true definition of

The EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they Essay

The EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they have on the EU; Discuss - Essay Example European Union was originally formed for seeking targeted economic interdependence after the Second World War  to make new military conflicts in the future impossible. An adjoining objective for formation of the Union was to accelerate economic growth.  Over the decades, several European countries have joined in several rounds of enlargement of the union to further the cause of the Union (Krumm and Herz, 1997). Impacts of European Union have been significant on member countries. Member states of European Union have converged to the use of a common currency, the  euro. The union is attributed with furthering the presence in European  region of freedom, security and justice. The EU Member states work together in the interior and justice policy due to the common foreign and security policy, and they also seek a common occurrence in relation to third countries.  It is asserted that the EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they have on the EU (Gutià ©rrez a nd Urbano, 1996). The paper evaluates this assertion by comparing and contrast the impact of European Union on the member states in comparison to the one exerted by member states on the Union. The impact of European Union has been attributed with a number of key impacts on the European Union. Meuwese (2008) mentions that member countries owe much to the unification of Europe initiated by European Union. Enemy countries have become friends, and the common market provides millions of jobs to the citizens of these countries.  The enthusiasm for this new unification process has grows from one generation to another. Trade and commerce has grown among member countries. For instance, nearly two-thirds of German exports now go to EU partner countries and so are millions of jobs in Germany.  European Union has impacted member countries by improving educational systems too. One such example is that EU’s Erasmus

The Development of Amazon.com in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Development of Amazon.com in Europe - Essay Example They expanded their Seattle distribution center, and added a center in Maryland. This allowed them to offer speedy delivery to customers in the east and in the west. In 1997 they added additional product lines, music and DVDs, but in 1998 it was evident that other online companies such as Buy.com, BarnesandNoble.com and CDNow were offering serious competition. Amazon.com chose to expand quickly to offset competition, adding several product lines. By 1999 in addition to books and music, the company offered video, drugstore, auctions, electronics and toys, software and video games, home improvement, lawn, patio, health, beauty, kitchen, and in 2000 partnered with ToysRUs and launched a computer category (Hammond & Chiron). By that time, their distribution centers had been increased throughout the country. The addition of cell phones, used products, and e-book store increased their volume. The company utilized Six Sigma (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) to improve their i nventory and record accuracy, finding their errors reduced by 50% in a year. With global marketing the way of the future, however, Amazon chose to expand into the European market and found it necessary to meet different challenges. Challenges Addressed in Amazon.eu It was quickly evident that methods that were successful in the United States would not work in Europe. The first challenge was to standardize and improve supply chain processes across Europe in the areas of vendor management, sales and operations planning, customer backlogs, and inventory management. Tom Taylor, Director of European Supply Chain Operations managed to meet these challenges by 2003 (Hammond & Chiron 209). In the meantime, other challenges had to be addressed beyond their acquisition of major online companies in Germany and the UK. For one thing, Germany had only one wholesaler and France had none so different acquisition methods had to be found. Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de offered only books in 1998, adding music in October 1999 and auctions and zshops in November 1999. Amazon quickly became a leading online bookstore in UK and Germany. In September 2000 Amazon entered the French market with Amazon.fr built from scratch and offering books, music, video, and DVD produc t lines all at the same time. Amazon Japan was launched in November 2000 and the international segment of Amazon was beginning to represent a significant portion of Amazon's total revenue. Europeans, however, were less likely to have credit cards, less experience with mail-order shopping, and were more conservative in their shopping habits. In 2000 German retailers were not allowed to discount the price of books, and some online privacy issues were more sensitive in Europe than in the U.S., necessitating an agreement between EU and US government on treatment of personal and confidential data.

Comparison and critique of two English article Essay

Comparison and critique of two English article - Essay Example This shows how well informed the author is on issues affecting the English language. It is in relation to the command that ethos are applied to make the article appealing to the audience and the reader because, projects valid arguments backed by valid references into the history of language. On the other hand, â€Å"I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language† by John Humphrys also bears a form of ethos by referring to everyday events that the audience and readers of the article can easily relate (Humphrys). This is concerning texting and the influence it has on the daily use of language in today’s society. However, it fails to some extent to provide a strong argument for the degradation of language by texting. The above is due to the constant referral to personal opinions, albeit true, and over emphasis on a single consequence of texting. This is concerning the bias he has against violation of language rules rather that the positive side of ease in communication that texting has brought with it. Emotionally, none of the two articles is appealing to the audience if looked at in critical level. The only emotion elicited from both is that of sympathy directed at the mutilation of language especially in the texting article by John Humphrys. The article by Steven Pinker does little to capture the emotions of the audience except by giving hope of the language not dying, which elicits a sense of relief (Pinker). The purpose of both papers varies depending on the article; this is due to the target audience and the intended response from the audience. Pinker’s article dwells more on the hope that exists for the English language, as opposed to the dangers that English as a language faces in terms of extinction due to mutilation and evolution. In relation to the application of logic, Pinker does well by relating his ideas based on systematic thought. This occurs due to the numerous deductions that he makes based on the daily life occurrences, as

Perfume Fragrances Online. Online Cosmetics Retailer Essay

Perfume Fragrances Online. Online Cosmetics Retailer - Essay Example The company being established is a new player within the online retailing community, and more specifically operating within the cosmetics, perfume and fragrances sector of this retail market. The company is newly established and is focussing on the internet platform for a number of reasons including but not limited to the substantial reduction of overheads, based on the fact that retail venues, shops and locations are not specifically required to generate income for the company. In addition to this the company has identified a number of key issues, specifically within the online marketing, and search engine optimization fields that stand to benefit the company in boosting online sales via strategic brand marketing within the various products that will be sold via the online store. The brand of Perfume Fragrances Online will operate on a skeleton administrative staff, which includes staff for the processing of orders, based upon their wholesale accounts and contracts with established cosmetic companies, which do and will continue to provide drop ship services to Perfume Fragrances Online customers. This concept drastically reduces staff complements, and can realize a more significant contribution towards the marketing and brand strategy budget. This brand management strategy can be seen as focused entirely upon the internet opportunities that currently exist, and to this end the numerous platforms, such as social media marketing, pay per click and search engine optimization techniques and processes will be implemented in establishing the online presence of the company within the defined sectors and targeted segments of online users.

Show how the characters of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth change after the murder of Duncan Essay Example for Free

Show how the characters of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth change after the murder of Duncan Essay Throughout the preliminary scenes of the tragedy the character of Macbeth is portrayed as a brave and noble soldier. He does not seem the kind of man who could come up with the ludicrous notion of committing such a horrifying act as murder. However we soon witness brave Macbeth rapidly propelled into the obscure world of darkness and evil. Overwhelming confirmation that Macbeth has succumbed to the witches prophecies arrives when Macbeth reveals the greatest is behind. We also witness the transformation from a brave and admired gentleman to a traitorous villain. His downfall is caused by his strong and powerful vaulting ambition, which oerleaps itself to succeed in becoming king and his wife, Lady Macbeths, incessant goading. Macbeths personal obsession over the kingship eventually shows a certain kind of egotism. Ultimately Macbeth, the man once looked upon by king Duncan as a valiant cousin and worthy gentleman, and Lady Macbeth, are, in the concluding paragraphs of the play, described as a dead butcher and his fiend-like queen. Preceding the unlawful death of the king, Macbeth stated understandable uncertainties about committing such a crime, which indicates he has a sensible mind and conscience and is not lacking in morals. On the night on which Macbeth is supposed to be perpetrating the bloody business he is still expressing strong doubts. The assassinator expressed great guilt that Duncan was staying over night at his castle in double trust. Macbeth articulated how as Duncans kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then, as his host he should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself. At one stage Macbeth proclaims to Lady Macbeth his reluctance to go ahead and will proceed no further in this business as Duncan hath honoured me of late. Macbeths unwillingness shortly vanishes as he becomes settled, in spite of his guilt, and chooses to commit the crime of murdering the king. Immediately prior to the murder, however, Macbeth experiences a fatal vision when he sees a dagger before his eyes and asks the infamous question is this a dagger I see before me? The hallucination is a dagger of the mind, a false creation and the first of many to come in which Macbeths subconscious guilt is expressed. An additional display of his repentance is when he wants darkness to envelop his actions and requests stars hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires. Despite the noticeable fears Macbeth has he continues with the plan. Subsequently he is filled with regret and remorse for his actions and instantaneously registers his own evil as he states to his wife how he had most need of blessing, and Amen stuck in my throat. He is intensely aware of his wickedness and shall sleep no more! as he is afraid to think what I have done. In extreme juxtaposition to Macbeth however, his ruthless wife, Lady Macbeth exhibits no feelings of remorse and is miserably lacking in the morals of her husband whose nature she fears is too full oth milk of human kindness. She is excessively ambitious and at times appears unbelievably heartless displaying the more sinister side to her character when Macbeth wants to discontinue with her malevolent campaign. She endeavours to encourage and motivate Macbeth further by questioning his masculinity and argues that Macbeth would be so much more the man for killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth asserts that in order for one to succeed in being crowned withal they must screw their courage to the sticking place. It seems that she is completely and utterly obsessed with the concept of Macbeth becoming king and declares how these deeds must not be thought of after these ways; so, it will make us mad signifying her awareness of their evil actions and how she ironically believes they can be easily forgotten. The morning after the cold blooded murder of the King, Macbeth commences with the charade that he must continue as a consequence of his deeds. He seems genuinely shocked at the news he receives and pretends to grieve for the King, even paying compliments to Duncan in an effort to conceal his liability for the murder. So convincing is the act he puts on that no one would even envisage him having a part to play in the brutal murder of their beloved King, even less that he could have planned and carried out the murder himself. However, the cracks soon begin to show in his calm, collected exterior as his behaviour worsens and he starts acting more recklessly. He is filled with fear and anxiety and hurriedly kills the guards. He becomes obsessed by his fears and professes to his wife o, full of scorpions is my mind. Later Macbeth ironically states Theres nothing serious in mortality: all is but toys: renown and grace is dead, the wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees is left this vault to brag of. demonstrating, where appearance is he is lying, he truly feels there is now no reason for him to live. Proof of the continual guilt, anguish and remorse that Macbeth is feeling is expressed when he pronounces to Lady Macbeth that Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly. Macbeth is afraid that any future son of Banquo may become King eliminating any chance of himself becoming King and that his genius is being rebuked. Secretly Macbeth orders two murderers to slaughter his faithful friend Banquo. He keeps the truth from his wife telling her only that she must continue to be innocent of the knowledge exemplifying a considerable change of character from the man who once needed a great deal of goading to perpetrate such an act as murder. Subsequently Macbeths character change is displayed further in the banquet scene where he seems to be becoming progressively disturbed and deranged. He experiences a hallucination, certain that he can see the ghost of Banquo. He is sure the tables full but there is a seat unoccupied and as he paces to and fro in desperation and uncertainty he confesses how he feels that murders have been performed too terrible for the ear. After the banquet the panic of Macbeths guilt is vividly evoked by the repetition of the word blood when Macbeth declares it will have blood; they say, blood will have blood:. The banquet scene demonstrates an unexpected revelation of Macbeths guilt, which is now beginning to become more public. Macbeth soon comes to believe that it would be best if he acted before thinking about the consequences pronouncing that the strange things I have in my head that will to hand, which must be acted ere they may be scanned showing visibly the extreme anxiety and fear that he is feeling. These feelings are displayed further when Macbeth is so full of remorse he can no longer sleep. His strange and self abuse is the initiate fear that wants hard use illustrates further his beliefs that his delusions are simply the product of a beginners fear, and that he needs greater experience of evil deeds. It appears as if Macbeth is addicted to killing. Macbeths behaviour detiorates further when he is reduced to murdering innocent women and children, encouraged by his malevolent desire to intimidate and terrorise. These actions, for which he has no excuse, only further highlight the change that Macbeth has undergone from such a brave and valiant cousin to the character we now see before us. Macbeths mind is so occupied with horrors that he has forgotten what real fear is and the only emotion he shows is indifference to everything, including the death of his wife. He truly believes he has forgotten the taste of fears. On receiving the news of Lady Macbeths departure he impassively declares she should have died hereafter; there would have been time for such a word. Perhaps this is not quite the reaction one would have expected had Lady Macbeth died during the initial scenes of the play when Macbeth referred to her as my dearest chuck. Macbeths unavoidable demise was completed with clear feelings of despondency. He states how he believes he has lived long enough and claims that lifes but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage. The impact of his unspeakable deeds has resulted only in his longing for death. Lady Macbeth suffers similarly and transforms from the dominant, uninhibited woman who convinced Macbeth to commit the treacherous deed of murder into a scared, tormented woman overflowing with guilt and remorse for the actions she encouraged. Subsequent to the murder she becomes mentally disturbed and increasingly deranged. Lady Macbeth is ignored by her husband and descends further and further ultimately concluding in her death. Immediately after the murder Lady Macbeth faints, although she is described as seeming to faint. Was it a part of her act? If not then it seems she is already experiencing anxiety and fears about what she has induced. She later appears to have a strong feeling of isolation and alienation, enquiring How now, my lord! Why do you keep me alone? This seems strange as she was once such an independent woman who needed no one. She soon feels scared when it becomes apparent that Macbeth is no longer confiding in her and she has obviously lost her power over him. Lady Macbeth, like her husband, also finds sleeping difficult and is troubled with thick-coming fantasies, that keep her from the rest. When the murder had initially been committed she dismissively declared that a little water clears us of this deed but later questions will these hands neer be clean? revealing the extent of her remorse. These thoughts later result in Lady Macbeth becoming ill. When Macbeth enquires about her to the doctor treating her he refers to her only as your patient displaying how Lady Macbeth has deteriorated so much that he wishes to distance himself even further from his wife. Her behaviour goes downhill from there on and concludes in her committing suicide. In general both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have, by the end of the play, altered so much that you would hardly recognise them as the two characters that we perceived at the beginning of the tragedy. Macbeth appeared as a brave soldier who we witnessed turn into pure evil personified. Lady Macbeth began the play as a dominant, strong and independent woman and concludes the play as a pathetic, fragile creature. Both characters received the titles of a dead butcher and his fiend like queen. As a reader we cannot help but feel some compassion towards both central protagonists, however, it seems that both characters deserved their fate as we observe what happens when you choose the wrong path and descend into the world of darkness.

Humanistic and Psychodynamic Essay Example for Free

Humanistic and Psychodynamic Essay Abraham Harold Maslow- Humanistic Approach Humanistic is the psychology study of how the human works as a whole. This studies the uniqueness of the person through their behaviour. Rather than just observing the humans behaviour, humanistic psychologists try to study the humans behaviour first person rather than just observing. Meaning they try to understand the situation and the emotional feelings the person is going through for them to have that specific type of behaviour, they try to understand the behaviour of the person by looking at it from their perspective. Humanistic is a way of thinking and is an ability to solve our own personal problems. This meaning to focus on our own perspectives, experiences, thoughts, self-image and feelings to understand an individual. People can be capable of self-development and their own self-improvement. We have our own choices on what we choose to do and how we chose to take out this option. We chose how we want to behave and whether it’s right or wrong i.e. breaking the law. An individual chosen whether they want to break the law, knowing full well of the consequences. This is called free will; we have the right to choose what we want to do and how we want to behave. The court of law follows this principle because you know whether you have done right or wrong and there is no one to blame, except yourself, because you chose to behave that way. Abraham Harold Maslow was the first psychologist to create the ‘human hierarchy of needs’ which explains the different level that an individual has to move from throughout life. This hierarchy changes from one level to another and each level has its own specific needs. Most psychologist before Maslow had been concerned with the abnormal and the ill, he convinced and persuaded people to start acknowledging people’s basic needs before addressing them as having higher needs or being ill. Firstly on Maslow’s hierarchy he started with the basic needs of a person such as food, water, sleep etc. then lead to the physical needs of an individual. The highest needs of an individual are ‘self-actualization’ which is realising who you are as an individual and knowing your own moti vations. Not many people get to the self-actualization for many reasons, being that they didn’t get through the different levels of the hierarchy or because they think that they can skip the rest of the  levels, thinking that they know their own self-fulfilment etc. These hierarchies have five different levels of needs. Maslow’s level of human needs started with physiological which is basic survival, understanding the function of the living organism. Which is what an individual needs, their basic needs i.e. water, sleep, breathing and sex. Then safety which is basic need again and feeling secure. For example, freedom from danger, risks or injuries whether at employment, home or doing everyday activities. Love and belonging is the next need which is the emotional level/need. Meaning to understand what love is and what it feels like to belong, dependent on being part of a family or understanding what it is like to love through friendship or sexual relationships. Esteem is the fo urth need, which is respect and recognition. Understanding what your personal goals are in life and what you can achieve throughout life dependent on yourself respect and respect for one another. The final level is self-actualization which is what makes you who you are as an individual, realise your own potentials in life. Also, realising your own self-fulfilment and person growth from peak experiences. Everyone as an own personal desire to move up the hierarchy table towards self-actualization, although their progress is often disruptive by failing to meet the low level needs. As an example if someone doesn’t show love or feel loved then they won’t be able to succeed through the love and belonging section, if they’re brought up in an abusive home this would affect the low level safety so they would be decreasing in the levels. Only remarkable people are most likely to reach the highest level, self-actualization. Maslow’s theory was the best type of motivation for an individual, he proposed he hierar chy of needs in his paper â€Å"a theory of Human Motivation†. Hans J Eysenck and Otto Gross approach to Psychodynamic Hans is a psychologist famous for his work on intelligence and personality. Eysenck claims that Freudian theories can be falsified, also Gross claims that Freud’s theories are scientific but have been proven wrong so which he say is simply â€Å"bad science†. Psychoanalyst tends to only accept YAVIS patients for treatment, YAVIS means young, attractive, verbal, intelligent and successful. This is because YAVIS patients are more likely to recover rather than mentally unstable patients. When the criticism of frauds approach happened was because Gross and Freud were in a disagreement on the  subjects of repression, sublimation and perversion. The meaning of repression is to control and resist what you would want. Sublimation is doing things in an acceptable and respectful manner and perversion is far from normal for example being abnormal. They disagreed on Freud’s theory because they believe that the patients should be capable of feelings and having their freedom also they shouldn’t be forced to do something that they do not want to do. Both psychologists argued that Freud got too involved and attached with his patients because Freud was there 7 days a week. Sigmund Freud, Psychodynamic Approach to Psychology Freud was the founder of psychodynamic approach to psychology; this is because he created a new approach to understanding how the human works and the human individual personality. Freud’ theory was the conscious and unconscious mind, he believed that behaviour and personality derives from the constant and unique interaction of conflicting psychological forces that operate at three different levels of awareness. The three different levels are conscious mind, preconscious mind and unconscious mind. Conscious mind includes everything that we are aware, every single moment. Preconscious mind represents ordinary memory. Unconscious mind reservoirs our feelings, thoughts, urge and memories that are outside out conscious awareness. The theory of the conscious and unconscious mind is done to show our feelings, motives and decisions which are actually influenced by previous/past experiences, which are stored in the pre-conscious and instincts from the unconscious. Freud later made a structural model of the mind which was called ID, EGO and SUPEREGO. The ID, EGO and SUPEREGO link to the conscious, pre-conscious and unconscious mind. ID is the unconscious, EGO is the conscious and SUPEREGO is the pre-conscious and unconscious mind. Although these are not physical areas within the brain they’re the process of important mental functions. Explanation of each stage is; ID is driven by pleasure principles which strive us for immediate needs and desires, meaning that the person would be wanting things. Although the ID will try to resolve the tension created by pleasure. EGO and SUPEREGO, EGO is something that is developed through ID in the early stages of life, EGO is the component of your personality that deals with reality whereas SUPEREGO is developed a little later as it controls your guilt. For example, if someone wanted a  new pair of shoes ID would kick in because the desire to have them shoes would rise, whereas EGO would have to face reality and realise that you might not have the money to get the shoes then SUPEREGO controls the guilt so then you would start regretting buying the shoes if for instants a family relatives birthday was coming up and now you don’t have the money. EGO works on a reality principle meaning that it wants to please the ID but in a socially and realistic way, which some people deem as unacceptable. The reality principle contemplates the positive and negatives of an action depending on what it decides, it will either act upon the decision or completely abandon it. SUPEREGO is the basic rules and standards for good behaviour. The behaviours included would be those approved by parents and those in authority. The SUPEREGO goal is to improve and civilize our behaviour; it tries to supress all the unacceptable urges that come from the ID. Fraud’ theory claims that the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the ID, EGO and SUPEREGO. Carl Ransom Rogers, Self-Actualization Again, the humanistic approach is how we look at an individual as a whole observing their behaviour and personality. Rogers was a psychotherapist, which is someone who treats people with mental disorders through psychology rather than medical means. After years of work, Rogers compiled the Self-actualization theory which is the realisation of fulfilment of one’s talents and potentials. Rogers says that people have two basic needs which are positive regard and self-worth. Positive regard is a sense of acceptance from other people and self-worth is feeling adequate. Our feelings of self-worth are important both to psychological health and we can achieve goals and ambitions in life to achieve self-actualization. Rogers’s theory is that the individual is responsible for their own happiness and should not look towards others for it. He believed that a person is born with the desire to be and achieve the best they possibly can. Rogers’s overall theory is about feeling good and mentally healthy therefore meaning a person is cable of resolving their own problems without looking towards others. His therapy was ineffective to those who were unconfident, unhappy and had a lack of self-esteem. So he studied on clients opposite to this, clients who were confident, happy and have a high level of self-esteem. His theory was known as ‘Rogerian Counselling’ which was only effective on healthy minded  people which means it did not work on mental and physically damaged clients this only increased emotional problems such as depression, also the theory was more successful on children and young people. The theory key was communication, if the client wasn’t fully communicating with Rogers it would not work, this proved the therapy ineffective to people with phobias. In conclusion Rogers theory of self-actualization teaches people to become self-sufficient upon their own actions rather than seeking it from other people. This proved that people naturally desire to be accepted regardless of what they do, however the majority of people will only accept them dependent on whether or not they want to. Rogers self-actualization tries to help people understand their full potential and what they can achieve, also seek happiness for themselves without looking towards others for it. His theory helps people become more happier about themselves rather than looking for acceptance and happiness from others.