Business Models and Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Models and Planning - Essay Example A business plan is the formal account of the venture’s goals, the rationales as to why the goals are attainable, and the step-by-step process to be used towards reaching the goals. Often, it may also contain fundamental information on the team or the organization trying to reach the set targets and goals. On the other hand, a business model is a description of the ways in which a venture creates, captures and delivers value – either social, economic, or in other form. Business model designing forms a part of the business strategy. The descriptions covered in a business model include the purpose, strategies, offerings, organizational structure, infrastructure, the policies, operational processes and the trading practices to be implemented. The core functions of a business model include the model by which the venture offers value to its customers, attracts customers into paying for the value offered, and the way it converts the payment to profit.1 Discussion From Zott, Am it, and Massa (2010), business models have formed a highly debatable area of inquiry among practitioners and scholars. This is evident from the high number of peer reviewed journals written on the subject – these amounting to 1,177. There has also been an acute rise in the number of practitioner-oriented inquiries, over the same subject. From a careful review of the issues of debate; the issues that scholars and practitioners do not agree upon include a clearly unanimous definition of a business model; the phenomena of importance, with regard to the areas of growth – these including e-business and use of technology, strategy issues like competitive advantage, value creation, and venture performance; and technology management and innovation. Thirdly, there are widespread acknowledgements – that the business model is an area calling for further analysis and that the field reaches beyond the venture. Acknowledgements are further offered on the fact that business mo dels accentuate a holistic, systematic view of ventures and that the activities of the venture act as vital contributors in explaining how ventures carryout business. Lastly, business models communicate the value creation and value capture aspects of a venture. These indicators were collected from a broad-based review of literature on business models, where the evaluation was done from a multi disciplinary approach – utilizing highly developed issues lenses.2 As depicted through a critical analysis of the different literatures and comparing these with other sources on the subject of business models, it was evident that the concept of the business is used to address an array of concerns, across varied contexts and with reference to a variety of management areas. Also, scholars are known to use the same term, â€Å"business model,† to explain and solve a variety of phenomena, including value creation, business types, and value capture by establishments – as well a s how technological innovation operates, towards solving the difficulties presented by the management of business ventures. Further, the lack of consensus in defining the field may be traced to its recent emergence – where conceptual and definitional overlaps and inclusions are bound to exist – especially due to the wide nature of the concept. However, despite the lack of consensus, the importance of the concept of business models include the identification of the importance of emergent business

Political World Leaders of World War II Research Paper

Political World Leaders of World War II - Research Paper Example The paper tells that both leaders have left significant different memories, one of which is the unforgettable holocaust initiated by Fuhrer Adolf Hitler and a successful giant leap of economic redemption of Singapore from a Third World country to become another Asian Tiger country within the three decades of Lee Kuan Yew’s rule. Each leader delivered significant changes that they now deserve to be called great icons in the history of world leaders. Adolf Hitler who was the reason for the outbreak of World War II and Lee Kuan Yew who transformed Singapore from a Third World country to another Asian Tiger country, have been chosen and juxtaposed to learn the similarities and contrasts of their qualities and styles as leaders as well as how their reigns brought impact to the world.   Credited to Hitler’s achievements were as follows: â€Å"awarded the Iron Cross, First Class in December 1914†; â€Å"annexation of Austria and Sudetenland†; wrote the book â⠂¬ËœMein Kampf’ where it was an anti-Semitic, anti-Communist diatribe outlining his strategy for remaking Germany and becoming a conquering power throughout Europe†. â€Å"By 1938 Hitler had made Germany the most powerful and feared country in Europe (and perhaps in the world)†. â€Å"Majority of the German people supported him because they saw during his early leadership to his credit how unemployment virtually disappeared, the rising prosperity of the masses, the new social institutions and the increase of German prestige in the 1930’s.’s. All these achievements of Hitler were unparalleled in the histories of other modern totalitarian dictatorship† (Hitler, A. 2011). On the other hand, achievements credited to Yew include: redemption of Singapore from a Third World Country to become an Asian Tiger country now aligned with other rich Asian countries like Japan, Hongkong, and Taiwan. Singapore is now an envy of many neighboring Asian countrie s. Of Lee Kuan Yew’s outstanding achievements in redeeming Singapore, eradication of corruption was best recognized and envied by many ASEAN nations because ‘Corruption’ has alwaysbeen considered a systemic problem commonly found and associated with Third World nations (underdeveloped countries) including most Asian countries. Other Yew’s achievements include the substantial â€Å"increase in the living standards (Loh,K. 2011)† in this country: â€Å"As Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew presided over an exponential increase in Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from US$704 million in 1960 to US$38 billion in 1990. This figure currently stands at US$222 billion, or over 300 times its level in 1960. Adjusting for cost of living differences, Singapore's GDP per capita was ranked 3rd

REFLECTION REPORT. Evaluation of Research and Analysis, gets students Essay

REFLECTION REPORT. Evaluation of Research and Analysis, gets students to reflect upon the case study based research project they - Essay Example The business problem being analyzed in this case study is the decline in the number of people who are undertaking Project Management training courses in the recent years. It is important that CUPE Ltd address this trend if they want to continue to grow and become successful. The purpose of this reflection report will be to provide a reflection of the process of researching a business problem. Additionally, this study will be aimed at critically demonstrating our knowledge and understanding level of the various processes involved in research and analysis while at the same time evaluating our own performance in the area of researching a business problem. This problem will be also addressing on how we chose the research and analysis methods that were used in the investigation of the business problem while at the same time addressing the strengths and the limitations of our research and the processes we adopted. Additionally, the report will critically address the various changes we woul d like to make in our approach to researching and analyzing the business problem given another chance to work on the project. ... dertaking Project Management Training include the decline in the number of project management jobs, the increased emphasis on prospective employees having experience as opposed to training, the increased number of competitors in the market, the presence of new innovative ways of delivering training including the growth in popularity of online training and the availability of various new and innovative ways marketing the courses. How the research and analysis methods used to investigate the business problem were chosen In business research, it must be understood that the questions asked at all times need to be not only valid, but also fair and must also directly relate to our need for information. What this generally implies is that it is important to have very clear objective purpose while conducting business research right from organizing for the research, through conducting the actual research to the end where there is report writing (Martyn, 2013: 142-149). Additionally, we unders tood of the importance of collecting information in a fair and systematic manner and the analysis of the data not only with great care, but also in a systematic way. It is the rigour of the analysis that determines the validity of the research results (Pia, 2013). While choosing the research question, we first started by first broadly discussing areas in management which were of particular interest to us and which most of the group members thought were practical and needed to be further studies into. We consequently did a literature review on various case studies to do with management before settling on CUPE Ltd which was not only practical, but also was related to the interests of all the members of the group. To refine the topic to investigating the decline in the number of people

Microeconomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Microeconomics - Assignment Example These goods are traded in the market where the buyer and seller first agree on a price level and then the buyer acquires the good. Thus, consumers have to pay for the good in order to acquire its benefits. Cars and cell phones are examples. In contrast, a public good is one that is available for all and does not necessarily need to be acquired by paying for it. For example, street lights or a light house benefit all instead of one person. The increase in the number of public goods by the government helps it to cut across the system of class disparity and allows everyone to benefit from them without actually paying for the goods. The government thus produces public goods to increase the social welfare of the society. Ans 3) Private goods are paid for by the consumers in order to get ownership of the good. Thus, only the person buying it acquires all the benefits. However, the free rider concept comes into play when one entity such as the government is responsible for providing all the benefits that are equally shared by the people. An example of this can be bridges and roads that are used by everyone while the government builds them. Ans 4) The optimal quantity of pollution can never be zero because any production activity in the economy makes pollution an unavoidable spillover effect. For instance, a car manufacturing company will cause air pollution and for an economy that is operating on a free market basis with no government intervention, even though the cost of the pollution will not be borne by the company, it will be a byproduct of that production process. Thus at any point, the optimal quantity of pollution can never be zero unless all forms of economic activity are halted (Mankiw, 2002). Ans 5) Increasing the gas tax would have a number of adverse effects. Firstly, the cost of other goods will increase with the increase in gas tax. The automobile, aviation and shipping industry rely heavily on gas and will raise their prices in accordance to the increas e in tax so that the costs can be covered. In addition to this, the purchase of automobiles will decrease since the gas tax would result in a higher cost of the car for the consumer. Secondly, the demand for gasoline is considered to be inelastic in the short run. This means that the gas consumption would not decrease with an increase in gas prices. Therefore, an increased gas tax would be a further strain on the costs of manufacturers and consumers. Also, this increase would be reflected on specifically the lower and middle income groups that own fewer vehicles than the higher income group. People in rural and remote areas depend on public transportation and thus a high gas tax would be unfair to the low income groups (O’Sullivan & Sheffrin, 2005). Ans 6) Pollution is defined as damage or harm caused to the environment that we live in. A pollution tax will thus reduce pollution by making large and small organizations to take responsibility for the pollution their economic ac tivities cause. The revenue from these taxes can be used to take measures to eliminate the pollutants that are responsible for harming the environment. For instance, a carbon emission tax can allow the government to invest in projects that reduces industry pollution such as CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage). Moreover, a pollution tax will balance the pollution costs that many organizations may not incorporate in their production proces

Tort Law - Principles limiting actions in negligence against public Essay

Tort Law - Principles limiting actions in negligence against public bodies - Essay Example This essay also analyses how the exclusionary rule compares to other principles used by the court to limit claims in negligence against public bodies. The Rule in Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire In Hill, the plaintiff’s son was the last victim of a serial killer known as the Yorkshire Ripper. The plaintiff claimed that had it not been for police negligence in detecting and apprehending the Yorkshire killer, her daughter would not have been murdered by him. The court ruled that the police do not owe the public a general duty of care in terms of apprehending criminals that are not known, unless failure to exercise care results in more risks. Moreover, police do not owe a general duty of care to individuals except in circumstances where there is proximity of relationship between the police and an identified victim.3 Lord Keith acknowledged that there may be a number of circumstances in which there may be a duty of care to the general public in the conduct of a number of activities that may require a higher standard of care. However, it is unreasonable to expect this kind of general duty to be applied to the activities that police conduct. Lord Keith went on to state: The general sense of public duty which motivates police forces is unlikely to be appreciably reinforced by the imposition of such liability so far as concerns their function in the investigation and suppression of crime. From time to time they make mistakes in the exercise of that function, but it is not to be doubted that they apply their best endeavours to the performance of it.4 It would therefore appear that in formulating and justifying the exclusionary rule, there is an assumption that in the investigation and suppression of crimes, police put forth their best efforts and any missteps are regarded as excusable errors. Such an assumption is unrealistic, but at the same time, police are accountable for intentional torts in terms of assault and battery. In such instances, proximity is clearly established. The court was very careful to emphasize that the exclusionary rule would apply only in some instances.5 Lord Keith clearly stated that it would be unreasonable to impose a duty of care I â€Å"some instances† as this â€Å"may lead to the exercise of a function being carried on in a detrimentally defensive frame of mind†.6 The court explained that the specific instances where it would be unreasonable to impose liability on police would be instances in which police were conducting investigations and suppressing crimes. Lord Keith specifically stated that the likelihood of the police conducting their duties with a â€Å"defensive frame of mind† when conducting investigations â€Å"cannot be excluded†.7 Thus liability could not be imposed when police were conducting investigations and this part of the ruling was prefaced by the presumption that police conduct their investigations putting forth their best efforts. The justification for the exclusionary rule may therefore be counterproductive. In safeguarding against the risk that police may become too distracted by the prospects of being found liable for negligence in the performance of

Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 13

Finance - Essay Example discounted payback period, accounting rate of return, net present value, internal rate of return, modified rate of return and profitability index (Shapiro & Balbirer, 2003, pp.242). However, I find Net Present Value (NPV) as the most reliable capital budgeting technique. I will support my point by providing a thorough comparative analysis of NPV with the four most common techniques, accounting rate of return, payback period and internal rate of return. Each method is explained with the help of numerical examples found in the Appendix. Net Present Value is a technique which takes into account the time value of money. NPV for a project is calculated by finding out the present value (PV) of all the future cash flows, which the investment in the project is expected to generate. The PV of future cash flows is found by discounting them at the expected rate of return or cost of capital. Then, sum of the PV of all cash flows is compared with the cost of investment (Hampton, 1998, pp. 328). The selection criterion of a project is that, if the PV of future cash flows is greater than the initial cost of investment, the project should be selected. In other words, NPV tells us the present worth of cash flows which would be generated by the project in future; hence, if the initial investment that we make today is less that the expected cash flows present value, it means we will cover our cost, only then it will be wise to select a project. The formula to calculate NPV is sum of present values of future cash flows minus initial investment cost. A rule says that any project which has NPV greater than $0 should be selected, however, in case of mutually exclusive projects; where you have to choose one out of all the alternatives, choose the one which shows a higher NPV. The following paragraphs will carry out an in-depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of using this technique, so that we can have a clearer idea about situations when it can highly aid investment

Jean Baudrillards concept of the orders of simulacra Essay Example for Free

Jean Baudrillards concept of the orders of simulacra Essay A commodity appears at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood. Its analysis shows that it is in reality, a very queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties (Marx). It has long been a condition of western culture to act for the accumulation of material objects. This is in part due to the capitalist nature of the world within which we live. Marx identifies in The Critique of Capitalism the emergence of two new classes of people, namely capitalists and labourers. The term capitalist describes any person who has personal ownership of capital, which consists of raw materials, instruments of labour and means of subsistence (Marx). In contrast a labourer has only the value of his labour (life activity), which he exchanges with the capitalist for a wage and as such the worker sinks to the level of commodity (Marx). Because the labourer produces for the capitalist a commodity of greater value than that of his wages and in addition those wages are paid back to the capitalist in return for subsistence, therefore social control in exerted over the working class, whilst providing the capitalist with excess commodity. The labourer consentingly becomes a slave to the system on which he depends. In addition Marx states that as the relation between capitalist and labourer (manufacturer and consumer) develops, so competition between rival capitalists becomes apparent. In effect the capitalist is forced to capture more of the market by selling goods more cheaply by the consolidation and exploitation of labour power e.g. by machinery. Such a strategy ultimately limits the demand for labour and so new industries must be developed for exploitation. These new industries are necessary because capital exists only in relation to its ability to command labour and social control and as such they reciprocally condition the existence of each other (Marx). These forced increases in demand and therefore production are evident in the contemporary world market. Important to the development of Capitalism is the use of money which abstracts labour and commodity values to a common unit for the purpose of trade. In effect the labourer discovers that the product of his activity is not the object of his activity (Marx) thus a level of abstraction occurs, which was consistent with the modernist values of the time. Karl Marx and early capitalism were mainly concerned with production which remains important but it was Situationist, Guy Debord, who gave the first insights into late capitalism and the theories that best apply to todays world economics and culture of commodities. Debord, in his book The Society of the Spectacle, bases his examination of commodities around consumption, media, information and technology. As such Debord suggests that in societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation. By this he means to describe the world and its products as mere appearances, where the real meanings and values of commodities are translated into signs. Essentially it is a world vision that has been objectified (Debord). Debord explains the phenomenon of the spectacle as resulting from the ever increasing production of capitalism. Because competition between capitalists inevitably leads to an excess of produce, so consumer demand must be increased. Such an increase is controllable by the spectacle as the real consumer becomes a consumer of illusions, (Debord) so he can be manipulated to believe he must consume beyond the basic necessity for survival e.g. leisure products. Therefore the spectacles form and content are identically the total justification of the existing systems conditions and goals (Debord). The spectacle is mediated in society as information or propaganda, as advertisement or direct entertainment consumption, (Debord). The effects of the mediated spectacle tend to lead the consumer to an experience of alienation as the consumers want for commodities is dictated to serve and maintain capitalism. In addition the spectacle constantly reinforces itself, for example the television, which is in itself a product of the spectacle that is then used by the capitalist to implement the advertisement of other spectacles. Essentially the spectacle is the nightmare of imprisoned modern society (Debord) and explains the transition from the degradation of being into having to having into appearing (Debord). Jean Baudrillard took Marxs Critique of Capitalism and Debords The Society of the Spectacle to their conclusions with his own theory of simulation and simulacra. Similar to the idea of the spectacle, Baudrillard describes a world where the subject of everything has been replaced by a semiological value that has become more important than the original, real meaning of the object. This object he calls a simulacra. In Simulacra and Simulation Baudrillard adds extra complexity to these ideas by establishing a hierarchy of simulation, which he gives four orders. In the first order the object is a copy of an original and so can be linked to a basic reality, for example a photograph of an actual event. The second order of simulation misrepresents the original subject; in the example the photography has been digitally manipulated in Photoshop to present a non-occurrence. In the third order a reality is recreated from a simulation of an original reality, when in fact, through the process of simulacra, the original has been lost, e.g. a scene is recreated from the digitally manipulated photograph of the original event. Finally, the forth order of simulation is the combined process of the first, second and third order to such an extent that the object bears no relation to reality or the original, for example the photograph has become a virtual reality. In this instance the link between reality and the signifying systems is almost impossible to ascertain, thus creating a hyper-reality. It is the use of one simulacra as a basis for the formation of another simulacra that shows the first signs of relevance to post modernity. Consequently, in post modernism, everything is understood in relation to everything that has come before, which in design manifests itself in referencing. Post modernism is also concerned with the fact that there is no right or wrong and essentially that no real truth exists. It is of course possible for a sign to make a transition through all four of the orders of simulation, constantly abstracting meaning and widening the gap between simulation and reality. However due to the complexity of repeated abstraction and signification it becomes necessary for an amount of speculation and simplification to occur when examining transitional examples. If we take, for example, the now famous emblem of automotive company Rolls Royce, it becomes apparent the extent to which a symbolic object can be re-simulated, each time loosing a part of its original meaning. Spirit of Ecstasy, designed by sculptor Charles Sykes and mass produced in 1911, is a cast metal emblem representing the figurine of a girl with arms outstretched to hold the folds of her gown blowing in the breeze. To the present day this emblem has been displayed on the bonnets of Rolls Royce cars and is the first order of simulation in terms of it being a representation of a real person from which the sculpture has been modelled. The object also references the figure heads of classic sailing ships in an attempt to convey the automotive product as an elegant, quite and reliable vehicle, which were the mediated associations with the brand during the early development of the company. In this instance the object enters the third order of simulation as a real event (model posing for sculptor) is created from an existing symbolic object (sailing boat figure heads) in order to be recreated as a new symbolic object (Spirit of Ecstasy emblem). At this point it is important to note that this example as an investigation could examine many more stages of referencing prior to the signs use as figure heads, though this could prove too difficult and inaccurate, again reinforcing the existence of a hyper-reality. The tea pot, designed by Michael Graves in 1985 for Alessi, brings the symbol to its conclusion. The tea pot employs a plastic emblem of a bird that is attached to the spout of the kettle and creates a whistling noise when the water is boiled. This creates a pun between the whistling of a kettle and the singing of bird but more importantly, its similar visual appearance (i.e. the wings of the bird and the outstretched arms and gown of the girl) makes a reference of Rolls Royce cars. Because during the late 20th century the values associated with Rolls Royce have matured to convey the brand as one of top class and status, so it are these value that are associated with Graves tea pot, supposed to the original associations that Rolls Royce was referencing from classic sailing ships. Therefore the product has clearly entered the forth order of simulation is it holds no relation to the original meaning that the original object as sign attempted to represent. Also, by referencing past signs, it can be described as a post modern object. Like Debord, Baudrillard agreed that simulation was important to the survival of capitalism as it, through mediation, can control the level of consumption within society. Baudrillard used the term valorisation to describe the process through which symbolic objects attain value. An excellent example of valorisation is Pokemon cards, which are essentially printed illustrations on card and so their use value is very low. However, via mediation, Pokemon cards have been given a simulated symbolic value that has made them desirable and powerful as a commodity. As well as design, Baudrillards theory of simulation and simulacra has also proved influential in film making, for example in The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski brothers. The Matrix is set in the future at a time when the real world has been reduced to a desert waste land by a war between humanity and machines; after the invention of artificial intelligence. Because the machines are dependant on solar power, the humans have caused the equivalent of a nuclear winter by blocking out sunlight. This has caused the machines to retaliate by imprisoning humans in gel filled pods so that energy can be extracted from them in the form of heat. In order to control the humans in this procedure a computer simulated world called the matrix exists, that all of the imprisoned humans are connected to, living their lives in what they believe is the late 20th century, oblivious to the fact that their real bodies are in stasis in the real world. The film therefore acts as a metaphor for contemporary western cultures. Firstly the matrix is an existence of the fourth order of simulation in that it is a system of mere signs that are completely detached from reality, i.e. hyper-reality. Just as in contemporary cultures, the people who live in the matrix are unaware that they are controlled by a system through simulation. You are a slave, neo, like everyone else you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch, a prison for your mind What is the matrix? Control. The matrix is a computer generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this (he holds up a copper battery) (Morpheus talking to Neo, The Matrix). In addition the film suggests that the prisoners of the Matrix are also dependant upon it, to the extent that they will fight to protect it. Baudrillards idea of mediasation appears in the film when it is suggested that there was a machine spawning a whole race of machines (Morpheus talking to Neo, The Matrix), thus the social control of the machines (mediation of signs) increasingly exert themselves with every new generation. Interestingly The Matrix seems to offer a solution to simulation and social control by the system, which is one of enlightenment. Once Neo understands the systems and can see the signs (computer code) of the matrix for what they really are, then he can choose to follow a different set of rules thus gaining control of his environment. As well as a theological basis on Baudrillard, The Matrix tends to convey the story via symbolic references and thus is post modern by nature. For example the follow the white rabbit scene employs a tattoo of a white rabbit, which is referenced from Alice in Wonderland in order to convey the uncertainty in discovering the truth of an alternate reality. In the same scene Neo also opens a copy Baudrillards Simulacra and Simulation in effect reinforcing links to that element of the film. In conclusion, I have identified the main themes surrounding Baudrillards orders of simulacra and simulation, shown how they relate to modern and post modern design and have given contemporary examples of their use in product design and film making. I believe that such an understanding of simulation has served well to better understanding referencing in post modernity. References Debord, G., (1977) The Society of the Spectacle, Black Red Poster, M., (1998) Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings, Polity Press Tucker, R. C., (1978) The Marx Engels Reader Second Edition, Norton Company Bibliography Hebdige, D., (1994) Hiding in the Light, Routledge http://www.geneseo.edu/~bicket/panop/baudrillard.ht http://www.artisanitorium.thehydden.com/nonfiction/film/matrix.htm http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/master_frame.html