Business Analysis Porters Five Forces Model Information Technology Essay

Business Analysis Porters Five Forces Model Information Technology Essay An appropriate system is essential for Aalsmeer to support its e-business. Once the system is installed, Aalsmeer has to ensure the new system is stability, safety and suitable for all their business partners and customers. Additionally, the system security is important too. All the business processing, buyers and sellers information, financial information etc. should be protected. Lastly, must be sure that all these new system has already tested and always keep maintenance to improve and increase the business partner and customers confidence for their business dealings. 1.3 Business Analysis Porters Five Forces Model For many enterprises, they keep contend the problem of gaining profitability. Porters five forces role provides suggested points which we can extend a broad and sophisticate analysis of competitive position. This typically use for creating strategy, plans or making decisions in a business (Maxi-Pedia, 2011). Simultaneously, it is a useful way to conduct five forces analysis of an industrys attractiveness to construct a checklist based on Porters seminal work. (Walker, Jr., O.C. Mullins, J.W., 2008) Porters Five Forces Explanation Supplier Powers A firm that supply the flowers and services to Aalsmeer. A large number of suppliers provide more options to Aalsmeer and the end buyers-customers. The size of supplier effect the ability of substitute. Substitutes The buyers willingness is affected by the affordable price and high quality service. The elastic price affects the demand because the customers having the alternative of choices. Similar product with different price will lead buyers change their buying substitute. Rivalry The competitors in the same industry provide the similar products and services. The new market entrance in the same industry to share the market space. Introduce the new or unique product to attract the customer. Buyer Powers A profitable company is depends in the large amount of customers and buying volume that affected by buyers. Provide delivery service by using product differentiation strategy to attract the customers. The price should be relatively elastic to buyers with the relatively elastic of demand. For example, charge high price during the peak season. Expect the ability of buyer and potential buyer for Aalsmeers product to compete with same industry. New Market Entrance There are high barrier to entry in flower industry with traditional way of transaction. It is better to maintain the high cost to compete with other new competitors. Also, the stability cash flow and profit of a firm can be reduced the risk. New market using e-Business to enter the new market, so Aalsmeer might be knowledgeable for new market entrance. A firm should be competed in order to improve their ability in the same industry. Table 2: Porters five forces Figure 2: Porters Five forces Model (source from: http://www.maxi-pedia.com/Five+Forces+model+by+Michael+Porter) 2.0 Strategies 2.1 Low-cost Leadership Low-cost leadership strategy is useful for Aalsmeer Flower Auction which is achieves the lowest operational costs and the lowest prices. Low-cost leadership able to provide lowest-cost goods but high quality services meanwhile reduces problems towards the consumers. The key element of Aalsmeers low-cost leadership strategy is the interface to supply chain in order to respond to the change of customer requirements. In order to gain competitive advantage, Aalsmeer has to change the traditional business way, it is because of the electronically driven flower market (FTMS college, n.d.). Firstly, its create innovation in Aalsmeer from traditional way. These strategies redefine value chain means that Aalsmeer do not need to go through middle man and will straight forward to customers, wholesalers or retailers. Meanwhile, retailer can straight away order the flower with the auction and do not have to pass through the process that transaction with cash and carry stores and others. Consequences, things would go on easier if retailers can access to their information to serve their needs and suppliers knowing stock availability to respond to their needs. In this case, Aalsmeer able to continuous replenish once receive order for new merchandise of fresh flowers from retailer when stock are limited. This enables the higher speed in production, order, and payment cycles meanwhile reduce operation and procur ement cost and increase productivity. Through the web site, the customers, wholesalers, exporters, importers, cash and carry stores or retailers can place their order through online. Because they are order with large amount of flowers, the auction can give them discount or offer in order to strengthen the link between wholesalers and retailer. So that they will have more resource and more capital to compete with each other with low-cost leadership strategy because once they change from traditional business way to internet, for sure the flower cost will be cheaper than market price. The competitive advantages with satisfy consumer tastes which are provided fresher flower compare with market and deliver it to door step in the shortest time. In this case, the better example is Air Asia. Customers can book air flight ticket through Air Asia website with the requirements of personal details and make payment by credit card. The whole process will be done in 15 minutes. This is convenience, efficiency and effectiveness for the public. By applying this strategy in Aalsmeer Website is able to deliver the highest customer satisfaction by adapt retailer trustworthy. Through Aalsmeer Web site, visitors gain equivalent advantage as the walk in shoppers in the sophisticated services, for example online customer support system that able to track the ordering from customers and disclose the time of delivery to the customers. Customers able to shop through their personal page, refer to the online catalogue, place orders and deposit into the shopping cart. In addition, it will enable the innovation of auction because website selling or e-business is very unfamiliar at the earth. 2.2 Product Differentiation Product differentiation strategy can use to achieve the objective. Product differentiation means that use IS to enable the new services and products or even change the convenience of customers by using existing products and services (Laudon, K.C. Laudon, J.P., 2009). Nowadays, people prefer online order flower rather than walk in (Articlesbase, 2005-2011). Through the internet, customers can ask to send flower to anyone who lives in the other side of world. It is amazing that technology can do nowadays. (Riversdale Flowers, n.d.) Another example will be Dell Inc. They make sell directly to their customers using assemble-to-order manufacturing (SCM Focus, n.d.). Means that, customers can buy computers directly from Dells through the website or using a toll-free telephone number. Once Dells production received order, it will directs an assembly plant from an on-site warehouse to assemble the computer by using components based on the configuration specified, and then send to their customers. Therefore, Aalsmeer has to start to use product differentiation strategy which is create service that is personalized and customized to fit the accurate specifications of individual customers and strengthen the link with wholesalers and retailers. They can get supply and purchase from growers and buyers by using toll-free telephone number or by accessing Aalsmeers web site. Customer will also surely experience great convenience when they order flowers online. By using standard software to order tracking the product available, Aalsmeer would have the advantage to view through the inventory level from local growers or even growers from outside of the country by just one click without billing and traditional phone calls. In this case, the software able to ensure the supply fulfills the market demands especially during peak season like Valentines Day, Christmas Day etc. Apart from this, Aalsmeer can get the advantage to distribute flowers and plants to end customers. In the meantime, Aalsmeer can position itself to compete on the uniqueness of its products and services with characteristics of well-known brand image, a strong reputation. Obviously, product differentiation and low-cost leadership strategies helps Aalsmeer to increase market share because it can non-stop operate, which means 24 hours a days, as long as the internet connection is on. Therefore, it can be the whole world business. Simultaneously, with the strategy, the auction can gain more customers and gain more order, they can manage to have a more accurate ordering system. Hence, it will be a good opportunities for the auction to try out the new strategy. Information System (IS) and Information Technology (IT) IS and IT are used by organisations to develop their business through the electronic. It is to complete new efficiency level, profitability and competitiveness. Although the terms are typically used interchangeable, they are different. IS is interrelated components that manage information to support decision making and control and to help with analysis, visualization and product creation. It also more efficiency to tolerate and flourish, expand their reach to far-off locations, offer new products and services, reorganize jobs and workflow and significantly change the way they operated to reduce the expenditure. Additionally, IT is the hardware and software a business uses to achieve objective. (Scribd, n.d) 2.3 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Nowadays, internet technology had created a highly synchronized industry value chain which called value web. This value web is a group of independent company, so Aalsmeer can use this IT to organize their value chain to online delivery service for their current market collectively. It will result in a less linear fashion that drives and operates by more customers than the Aalsmeers currently traditional value chain. Figure 3 shows that value web synchronizes the Aalsmeer online business workflow of customers, trading partner, and supplier in florist industry. Figure 3: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) (Source from: http://joomlacenterng.com/beta/open-solutions/erp-solutions) ERP is a system for Aalsmeer to easily keep tracking for wholesalers, importers, exporters, retailers and stock aging through internet. Moreover, when the customers place an order, the data will flow automatically to other parts of the auction. Meanwhile, wholesalers and retailers can get the latest Aalsmeers stock balance available and current prices through internet and also able to order on the spot. Customer relationship management (CRM) system helps to establish a single tool for Aalsmeer website and also in everyday business processes with retailers and growers. The internal CRM able to lowering inventory cost which link with the growers. Key values of external CRM are improved understanding with the high bargaining power of customers and speed up on decisions making, which can shorten the project durations on delivering services using e-business. The strategic necessity for front-office CRM and back-office, core-operation ERP comes from the differences in Aalsmeer vendors across the countries. Most of the companies used different systems but each system unconnected, thus CRM and EPR of enterprise application are chosen to close the gaps of suppliers and buyers. The essential of two systems is where it coax the independently front-office and back-office operations to work well together and incorporate as integrated suit to prompt replenishment of stock for the customers. Moreover, Supplier chain management system is for Aalsmeer to insert supplier database. This included term and offer prices by supplier, supplier companies detail and also flowers purchase entry data, reference number and prices (Tech-FAQ, n.d). Furthermore, the accounting department will be notified and send invoice to the customers. The representatives of customer service will record the progress of order through every step to update their orders and then inform the customers. Human resource management system is to manage the workers record. It offers benefits administration to workers by self-service for the contract information. The main objective of this system is to reduce the paper works once the Aalsmeer become wide transaction. (EXTOL, n.d.) Additionally, the manufacturing resources planning system is a highly integrated and complex solution controlling the entire manufacturing management activities. It included supply chain planning, inventory management, sales order administration, claim processing, procurement planning, transportation and distribution. This system increases the plant utilization capacity and production rate. (EXTOL, n.d.) ERP enable the auction the flexibility to respond rapidly to customers requests while producing and stocking inventory with what is needed to fulfill existing orders. Their ability to increase accurate and on-time deliver, reduce costs and increase customers satisfaction adds to firm profitability. Additionally, ERP provide company-wide information to help the manager of the auction to analyse the profitability or cost structures easily. (Laudon, K.C. Laudon, J.P., 2009) 3.0 Applying Methodology on New System In order to build up the ERP system, I would like to recommend Aalsmeer to use the alternative method which is System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) to build up the system. Indeed, SDLC is a sequential series of activities that structured step-by-step for the information system of development. It includes six key phases which from initial feasibility study to maintenance of completed application. Figure 4 below shows the traditional SDLC method which referred to as Waterfall methodology. (Haag, S. Cummings, M., 2008) 3.1 System Development Life Cycle model (SDLC) Figure 4: SDLC traditional method (Source from: http://www.websoftwareqa.com/2011/01/applying-qa-to-waterfall-development-wait-what/) Feasibility Study Before the system approve, feasibility must be assessed which is the first stage of SDLC. Feasibility study is used to determine and produce a project plan and budget planning for the development future if the project will be proceed (Start vb dotnet, 2004-2010). Meanwhile, the auction should provide more detail description that required identifying the technical, economic and operational feasibility analysis. (Ambysoft, 2005-2010) Typically, transactions benefits is gained from new system, technical concerns, related costs and development time, if these analyses are feasible, then the auction can be proceed to next stage. However, if the proposal is unfeasible then that should be abandoned and redo. Requirement Analysis The analysis is the following stage, it is for Aalsmeer to verify how the system is processes, what kind of information and new systems are needed and where there are problems. Indeed, Aalsmeer can pass through the existing documentation and questionnaire or interview with workers to determine the problems and then improve it. Meanwhile, business transaction details and standard of performance need to be specified and examined. After that, analyses the information and prepares a document which should include user requirements, managements and recommended plan to develop the new system. (Zwass, V., 1998) Design The primary goal of design phase is to construct a technical blueprint based on the question of how the proposed system will work (Haag, S. Cummings, M., 2008). This stage is for Aalsmeer to learn how the software should perform when they create a layout and the design will based on Aalsmeer needs like purchases and sales records. Moreover, analysis is constantly made from the layout because this is the first thing to show customers. And the final result and structure are typically based on the initial design. Aalsmeer has to carefully explain each step and make sure everything is done because it is very crucial in the whole development cycle. Any glitch in the design phase could be very expensive in the implementation stage or perhaps the other developers will understand the software and then break it, so it will be threaten the Aalsmeers operation. (GeekInterview, 2005-2011) System Implementation The following phase will be the implementation system. This phase will take all the detail design documents from design phase and transform to an actual system. It is for the Aalsmeer to improve, integrate, and purify for several times until they are ready for testing. Software artifacts was build such as catalogs, ordering format, payment format with an online help system to guide customers in their connections with the systems. Testing In this phase the system is tested as a whole and to ensure that interfaces between modules work (integration testing), the system works integrated into the total system when function well and that the system does what the user requires (acceptance testing) (Haag, S. Cummings, M., 2008). As a case study for Aalsmeer, it will be a test whether every data is converts from old system to new system. After that, Aalsmeer will use the new system directly. For sure, the old database have to keep as backup will be better. Maintenance Maintenance is the final phase of SDLC. It is necessary for the finished of successful project on a development to ensure the new system is supported and monitor for the business goal. But, it is clear that changes arise when the project is passed to the end user. So, the developers must find a way that can be adaptable to those changes when they implement the project. Lastly, Aalsmeer has to ensure that those changes are not influence the key operation of software. This is the overall system methodology run which will help Aalsmeer to cope with the changing environment. 4.0 Impact and Effectiveness Once a new system had developed, there will be some effect and impact to few parties, such as organisation, management and employees. And the impact can be advantages and disadvantages. 4.1 Organisation Systematic play a very important role because when an organisation without system, it will be in disorder, and everything will go confuse. Moreover, new system can increase efficiency of the whole organisation process, which means from the top to bottom of the organisation can communicate well with a systematic transaction process. It is sure that will be decrease on employees workload and increase in long-term profit for the decrease of number of employee caused, because everything will do through the new system automatically. For instance, manager can just through the system by one click to get the total sales immediately. Beside, when starting a system, an unexpected cost will be needed at the first time. Of course, the system is difficult to maintain and changes if the system error was occurred. Moreover, Aalsmeer hard to verify the customers tastes and everything computerise that will estrange the customers. 4.2 Management On the management aspect, a new system will generate the statement, invoice, report or arrange document systematically time by using computer. The whole process will be more effectiveness and save time, because all can be done in shorter. The new system will organize the workload automatically to reduce the burden to the management. Furthermore, there will not have any excuse from employees when they do not perform well, this obviously can avoid argument between manager and employees. Additionally, there will a huge amount of orders from customers by using the new system and all business transaction data will be recorded clearly and quickly. However, there are such of disadvantages for the applying new system too. It will very difficult to repair if the system process error occurs during the working hours and hard to continue the operation, because the system might down or even has to stop the operation for the repairing. Perhaps, they will get a lot of complains from their customers too. 4.3 Employee Manpower will be affected too. Firstly, amount of employees will be decrease, because everything can be done by automatically with the new system. For the long-term, it can be save cost for Aalsmeer. Next, the quality and efficiency of employee increase because they just need to follow the system to do what they should be done without the confusing document processes. Obviously, the working flow will be more efficiency and reliable. Otherwise, before the new system applying, Aalsmeer should train their employee in order to get use for the new system. Then there will be a large amount of training fees. Beside, senior staffs prefer old system because of well practice whether its complicated. Of course, the use of new system will decrease the job opportunity to the public. 5.0 Conclusion In conclusion, although there are such advantages and disadvantages on the new system, the system is useful nowadays because the people habits are always changing with the new technology. Furthermore, the electronically had already driven to the flower market and the standing of electronically cannot be ignored in this world. Therefore, implement the new system into an organisation is very important and it is not only for increase of profit, and also can compete with the competitors with positive competition.

Insights on Style :: Style Writing Styles Essays

Insights on Style A writer sits down on his hickory brown leather upholstered chair in a lowered den of a cape-cod house in the country. He slips his bifocals up the ridge of his nose and pulls his typewriter with both arms to a comfortable typing distance. He is now ready to write and write with style. He has in mind that his certain eloquence will provide cohesion, concision and elegance that will be clear and concise so the reader will be able to determine exactly the message he is portraying. He begins with the intent to be clear, concise and understood. Making an impression on a reader is the idea I have about style. When a completed composition is read, there should be a feeling of understanding and comprehension about a certain idea, thought or consciousness. But, â€Å"Who can confidently say what ignites a certain combination of words, causing them to explode in the mind (Strunk and White, pg. 66)?† This is true in most cases; it is not the combination of words that cause a mind to stir but the way it creates thought and stimulus that create an explosion. There is a conscious effort required to give a work of writing style. Two major contributions to the subject of â€Å"good writing† are the books Style: toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams and The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. Before I explain about what it is I gained from these two books about style I want you to get an overall, summed-up insight to the books. Strunk Jr. and White have an idea and knowledge of â€Å"g ood writing† and call it style. In their book, The elements of Style, I can depict it like this: they give you the paint, paintbrush, canvas and the tools and say â€Å"This is what style is made of.† Williams, in his book paints a picture and says â€Å"this is style,† leaving the color out and letting that be determined by the reader. â€Å"We visibly organize essays, articles, reports, memoranda into paragraphs, subsections and major sections to signal readers that we have finished developing one part of an idea and are moving to another, to a new thought.

Argentina and Bose Corporation :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework Essays

Argentina and Bose Corporation Bose Corporation has had products of audio system, called â€Å"Home Theater System†. It’s a perfect audio system, just like or even better than the sound we can hear from movie theaters. On the system, there is a music center, which is connected to all input and output cables and a big amplifier, which controls the bass and treble. For your information, in music center, you can both enjoy the CD player and radio for basic functions; and outputs for surrounding sound quality for video watching, and tape listening. Categories: LifeStyle 30 & 25 & 20 & 12 & 8 & 5 & 3 *Below is the Picture of Bose LifeStyle 25 Home Theater System 1. Driving global forces: a) Market needs and wants: Many people may think that in Argentina, the economic may not be that well since it is between underdeveloped and developing country. However, after I talked to my friends, who has ever lived in Argentina for a while, I know that in Argentina, there are still many people who are rich. The situation in Argentina may be extreme disparity between the rich and the poor, however, that doesn’t means that people there does not have marketing needs and wants. I believe that for those rich people, they might want to have the best quality of music and sound. Besides, the restaurant and disco club owners may want to have a better sound quality in order to attract more guests and customers. I guess most of people would know that most of Argentines love music, and they think music is one of the most important thing in their lives. Therefore, I believe marketing needs and wants is one of the forces. We may see from the following article that I picked up from the web that how Argentina accepts business of imports and exports of electronics: â€Å"Argentine companies involved in the appliance and electronics industries produce primarily for the domestic market. Exports are shipped mostly to Mercosur countries. Products include refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, air conditioners, television sets, radios, and video cassette recorders (VCRs). In recent years production of refrigerators and washing machines has been about 700,000 units each. Little Argentine production is exported outside Mercosur, although certain niche markets are served by high quality Argentine manufacturers. These include specialty high-fidelity equipment designed for audiophiles willing to pay in the range of US$10,000 for equipment and for concert halls, theaters, and other buildings in need of high quality

Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum :: essays papers

Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum This AD is about an alcoholic beverage called Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum. When you first see this AD you can clearly see that the focus of this ad is to make you want to drink. It jumps out and says â€Å"drinking is cool†. It’s saying not directly but indirectly. The focus of it is to make you want to buy this beer because those people are drinking it. They’re having a fun and great time, so the ad can get those people that want to have a fun and great time. The tone of this ad is pretty funny. As you can see the headline of this ad says, â€Å"take off your pants and stay a while†. You can make different interpretations of this ad which makes it even funnier. The voice is also very funny, because of that line. The language is quite funny to me, but some people that do not understand it probably would not enjoy this ad. Some people might think the language is ridiculous and inappropriate. Most young people would find this ad very natural to them. I am not saying that old people wouldn’t like this ad, but some of them might not get it or understand the humor of the ad. It all depends what your definition of humor is. The audience is mainly designed for younger people. I can conclude this by seeing that all the people in cabin are young, maybe in there 20’s. Also they could be snowboarding and not a lot of old people snowboard. So this ad is mainly to attract the younger folks. The design of this is pretty thought out. The whole logo is in red, and the ad is in black and white so they try to catch your attention by doing that. You turn the page in the magazine and all of sudden you see â€Å"take off your pants and stay a while† you probably are going to see what the ad is all about. I think its smart advertising that they have the main logo in red and the alcohol colored but the background in black and white.

Grevious Grendel (Beowulf)

Beware of Grievous Grendel! We have all heard of the great epic poem Beowulf; one of the first major works in English literature. Grendel is a monster in this epic poem, in which he terrorizes people. He is a huge, powerful descendant of the biblical Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. In the same way as Cane, Grendel was cursed and condemned by the mighty Creator. Grendel is envious, resentful and angry toward mankind. He may attack at any time, for no reason at all and there is no way to reach an agreement with him to make him stop what he is doing. He exists to devastate and to murder human beings.Grendel may be a part of fiction in this poem, but he also exists in real life. In modern life we can find the character of Grendel in natural disasters and human beings. A citation from the poem, translated by Kevin Crossley-Holland, would give a good picture of what Grendel caused to human kind; think of a beautiful place, a mead-hall, where peop le came together every night to eat, drink, sing and feast. People were living in harmony, until one night Grendel turned up and started the terror upon Hrothgar’s people, which would continue for the next twelve years: Then, under cover of night, Grendel came o Hrothgar’s lofty hall to see how the Ring-Danes were disposed after drinking ale all evening; and he found there a band of brave warriors, well-feasted, fast asleep, dead to worldly sorrow, man’s sad destiny. At once that hellish monster, grim and greedy, brutally cruel, started forward and seized thirty thanes even as they slept; and then, gloating over his plunder, he hurried from the hall, made for his lair with all those slain warriors. Grendel turns up out of nowhere, kills, murders people, and then disappears. In modern life we deal with natural disasters in a similar way.There are earthquakes, tornados, volcanic eruptions and floods, which cause loss of life and property damage. A natural disaster comes without giving any notice, shatters homes, takes lives and leaves a population helpless with the ruins of its attack. People in modern civilization experience the same feelings as Hrothgar’s people, who were attacked for years and years; living in fear of horror, never knowing when to expect disaster to strike. Besides natural disasters, human beings can be Grendels themselves. Before going further into this topic, I would like to mention Freud’s Ego theory.According to Freud, we are born with our Id. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle. In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation. When a child needs to be changed, the id cries; when the child is hungry, the id cries again. The id does not care about reality, or about the needs of anyone else; when the id wa nts something, nothing else is important.Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop. Freud called this part the Ego. The ego is based on the reality principle. The ego understands that people have needs and desires and that something being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run. It is the ego’s job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the situation. Around the age of five the Superego develops.The superego is the moral part of us, which can sort right from wrong, and develops due to the moral and ethical discipline taught by our parents. In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation. If the id gets too strong, impulses and self gratification take over the person’s life. If the sup erego becomes too strong, the person would be driven by rigid morals, would be judgemental and unbending in his or her interactions with the world.So when the ego is incapable of maintaining control of the id and superego, some kind of abnormality arises; here we meet the terrorists and murderers in modern life who we can compare to Beowulf’s Grendel. We never know when they will show themselves and their cruel intentions. But when they do appear in our lives, we suffer pain, become afraid and sad because of their actions. We know they are there and can’t stop them from doing harm to people. As a conclusion we can say Grendel is not fiction and he is not in the past.Grendel is still among us, keeping us afraid of what might come to harm us or our loved ones. When the next natural disaster will arise is a surprise and we’ll never know when an unhealthy person or group will decide to attack us. So be aware of grievous Grendel and be ready to suffer, because you mi ght be next in line! Leyla Doner Dugdu – 285533 – evening References: http://psychology. about. com/od/eindex/g/def_egostrength. htm http://www. betterlivingthroughbeowulf. com/? p=328 Beowulf, translation by Crossley-Holland, K. Grevious Grendel (Beowulf) Beware of Grievous Grendel! We have all heard of the great epic poem Beowulf; one of the first major works in English literature. Grendel is a monster in this epic poem, in which he terrorizes people. He is a huge, powerful descendant of the biblical Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. In the same way as Cane, Grendel was cursed and condemned by the mighty Creator. Grendel is envious, resentful and angry toward mankind. He may attack at any time, for no reason at all and there is no way to reach an agreement with him to make him stop what he is doing. He exists to devastate and to murder human beings.Grendel may be a part of fiction in this poem, but he also exists in real life. In modern life we can find the character of Grendel in natural disasters and human beings. A citation from the poem, translated by Kevin Crossley-Holland, would give a good picture of what Grendel caused to human kind; think of a beautiful place, a mead-hall, where peop le came together every night to eat, drink, sing and feast. People were living in harmony, until one night Grendel turned up and started the terror upon Hrothgar’s people, which would continue for the next twelve years: Then, under cover of night, Grendel came o Hrothgar’s lofty hall to see how the Ring-Danes were disposed after drinking ale all evening; and he found there a band of brave warriors, well-feasted, fast asleep, dead to worldly sorrow, man’s sad destiny. At once that hellish monster, grim and greedy, brutally cruel, started forward and seized thirty thanes even as they slept; and then, gloating over his plunder, he hurried from the hall, made for his lair with all those slain warriors. Grendel turns up out of nowhere, kills, murders people, and then disappears. In modern life we deal with natural disasters in a similar way.There are earthquakes, tornados, volcanic eruptions and floods, which cause loss of life and property damage. A natural disaster comes without giving any notice, shatters homes, takes lives and leaves a population helpless with the ruins of its attack. People in modern civilization experience the same feelings as Hrothgar’s people, who were attacked for years and years; living in fear of horror, never knowing when to expect disaster to strike. Besides natural disasters, human beings can be Grendels themselves. Before going further into this topic, I would like to mention Freud’s Ego theory.According to Freud, we are born with our Id. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle. In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation. When a child needs to be changed, the id cries; when the child is hungry, the id cries again. The id does not care about reality, or about the needs of anyone else; when the id wa nts something, nothing else is important.Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop. Freud called this part the Ego. The ego is based on the reality principle. The ego understands that people have needs and desires and that something being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run. It is the ego’s job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the situation. Around the age of five the Superego develops.The superego is the moral part of us, which can sort right from wrong, and develops due to the moral and ethical discipline taught by our parents. In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation. If the id gets too strong, impulses and self gratification take over the person’s life. If the sup erego becomes too strong, the person would be driven by rigid morals, would be judgemental and unbending in his or her interactions with the world.So when the ego is incapable of maintaining control of the id and superego, some kind of abnormality arises; here we meet the terrorists and murderers in modern life who we can compare to Beowulf’s Grendel. We never know when they will show themselves and their cruel intentions. But when they do appear in our lives, we suffer pain, become afraid and sad because of their actions. We know they are there and can’t stop them from doing harm to people. As a conclusion we can say Grendel is not fiction and he is not in the past.Grendel is still among us, keeping us afraid of what might come to harm us or our loved ones. When the next natural disaster will arise is a surprise and we’ll never know when an unhealthy person or group will decide to attack us. So be aware of grievous Grendel and be ready to suffer, because you mi ght be next in line! Leyla Doner Dugdu – 285533 – evening References: http://psychology. about. com/od/eindex/g/def_egostrength. htm http://www. betterlivingthroughbeowulf. com/? p=328 Beowulf, translation by Crossley-Holland, K.

Meaning of life †United Kingdom Essay

1. How does Pontiac understand the meaning of freedom? In his notion freedom meant getting rid of the English who had conquered the French and had gained more control over the Indians lands than ever. He believed they had to fight the English and pushed them out of their ancestors lands. As he said â€Å"Although you have conquered the French, you have not yet conquered us! We are not your slaves. These lake, these woods and mountains, were left to us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance; and we will part with them to none. 2. What elements of Indian life does Neolin criticize most strongly? He criticized Pontiac for using European technology, doing fur trade with the Whites, using their cloths and consuming alcohol instead of fighting against the English which he called them â€Å"the dogs who dressed red† and surrendering himself to them. He argued that he (Pontiac) should clothe himself in skins and use the bows and arrows and his tradition to fight back against their enemies. 3. How does this document relate to and inform the related part of the Chapter in the main text? This document discusses on how Pontiac started his journey to meet with Delaware religious prophet Neolin and on how Neolin guided Pontiac on how he should fight back in opposed to the English by getting back to his tradition that he inherited from his ancestors. 4. What impact did the primary source had on your understanding and beliefs? It was very interesting to see how much Indians cared about spiritual beliefs and how strong their viewpoint were when it comes to their traditional faith. Even though, the English had believed they were faithless and savages, but the truth was they were full of spiritual thoughts.

Anarchy State and Utopia Essay

Distributive Justice Robert Nozick From Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 149-182, with omissions. Copyright @ 1974 by Basic Books, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books, a subsidiary of Perseus Books Group, LLC. The minimal state is the most extensive state that can be justified. Any state more extensive violates people’s rights. Yet many persons have put forth reasons purporting to justify a more extensive state. It is impossible within the compass of this book to examine all the reasons that have been put forth. Therefore, I shall focus upon those generally acknowledged to be most weighty and influential, to see precisely wherein they fail. In this chapter we consider the claim that a more extensive state is justified, because necessary (or the best instrument) to achieve distributive justice; in the next chapter we shall take up diverse other claims. The term â€Å"distributive justice† is not a neutral one. Hearing the term â€Å"distribution,† most people presume that some thing or mechanism uses some principle or criterion to give out a supply of things. Into this process of distributing shares some error may have crept. So it is an open question, at least, whether redistribution should take place; whether we should do again what has already been done once, though poorly. However, we are not in the position of children who have been given portions of pie by someone who now makes last minute adjustments to rectify careless cutting. There is no central distribution, no person or group entitled to control all the resources, jointly deciding how they are to be doled out. What each person gets, he gets from others who give to him in exchange for something, or as a gift. In a free society, diverse persons control different resources, and new holdings arise out of the voluntary exchanges and actions of persons. There is no more a distributing or distribution of shares than there is a distributing of mates in a society in which persons choose whom they shall marry. The total result is the product of many individual decisions which the different individuals involved are entitled to make. Some uses of the term â€Å"distribution,† it is true, do not imply a previous distributing appropriately judged by some criterion (for example, â€Å"probability distribution†); nevertheless, despite the title of this chapter, it would be best to use a terminology that clearly is neutral. We shall speak of people’s holdings; a principle of justice in holdings describes (part of) what justice tells us (requires) about holdings. I shall state first what I take to be the correct view about justice in holdings, and then turn to the discussion of alternate views. Section 1 The Entitlement Theory The subject of justice in holdings consists of three major topics. The first is the original acquisition of holdings, the appropriation of unheld things. This includes the issues of how unheld things may come to be held, the process, or processes, by which unheld things may come to be held, the things that may come to be held by these processes, the extent of what comes to be held by a particular process, and so on. We shall refer to the complicated truth about this topic, which we shall not formulate here, as the principle of justice in acquisition. The second topic concerns the transfer of holdings from one person to another. By what processes may a person transfer holdings to another? How may a person acquire a holding from another who holds it? Under this topic come general descriptions of voluntary exchange, and gift and (on the other hand) fraud, as well as reference to particular conventional details fixed upon in a given society. The complicated truth about this subject (with placeholders for conventional details) we shall call the principle of justice in transfer. And we shall suppose it also includes principles governing how a person may divest himself of a holding, passing it into an unheld state. ) If the world were wholly just, the following inductive definition would exhaustively cover the subject of justice in holdings. 1. A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in acquisition is entitled to that holding. 2. A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in transfer, from someone else entitled to the holding, is entitled to the holding. . No one is entitled to a holding except by (repeated) applications of 1 and 2. The complete principle of distributive justice would say simply that a distribution is just if everyone is entitled to the holdings they possess under the distribution. A distribution is just if it arises from another just distribution by legitimate means. The legitimate means of moving from one distribution to another are specified by the principle of justice in transfer. The legitimate first â€Å"moves† are specified by the principle of justice in acquisition. Whatever arises from a just situation by just steps is itself just. The means of change specified by the principle of justice in transfer preserve justice. As correct rules of inference are truth-preserving, and any conclusion deduced via repeated application of such rules from only true premisses is itself true, so the means of transition from one situation to another specified by the principle of justice in transfer are justice-preserving, and any situation actually arising from repeated transitions in accordance with the principle from a just situation is itself just. The parallel between justice-preserving transformations and truth-preserving transformations illuminates where it fails as well as where it holds. That a conclusion could have been deduced by truth-preserving means from premisses that are true suffices to show its truth. That from a just situation a situation could have arisen via justice-preserving means does not suffice to show its justice. The fact that a thief’s victims voluntarily could have presented him with gifts does not entitle the thief to his ill-gotten gains. Justice in holdings is historical; it depends upon what actually has happened. We shall return to this point later. Not all actual situations are generated in accordance with the two principles of justice in holdings: the principle of justice in acquisition and the principle of justice in transfer. Some people steal from others, or defraud them, or enslave them, seizing their product and preventing them from living as they choose, or forcibly exclude others from competing in exchanges. None of these are permissible modes of transition from one situation to another. And some persons acquire holdings by means not sanctioned by the principle of justice in acquisition. The existence of past injustice (previous violations of the first two principles of justice in holdings) raises the third major topic under justice in holdings: the rectification of injustice in holdings. If past injustice has shaped present holdings in various ways, some identifiable and some not, what now, if anything, ought to be done to rectify these injustices? What obligations do the performers of injustice have toward those whose position is worse than it would have been had the injustice not been done? Or, than it would have been had compensation been paid promptly? How, if at all, do things change if the beneficiaries and those made worse off are not the direct parties in the act of injustice, but, for example, their descendants? Is an injustice done to someone whose holding was itself based upon an unrectified injustice? How far back must one go in wiping clean the historical slate of injustices? What may victims of injustice permissibly do in order to rectify the injustices being done to them, including the many injustices done by persons acting through their government? I do not know of a thorough or theoretically sophisticated treatment of such issues. Idealizing greatly, let us suppose theoretical investigation will produce a principle of rectification. This principle uses historical information about previous situations and injustices done in them (as defined by the first two principles of justice and rights against interference), and information about the actual course of events that flowed from these injustices, until the present, and it yields a description (or descriptions) of holdings in the society. The principle of rectification presumably will make use of its best estimate of subjunctive information about what would have occurred (or a probability distribution over what might have occurred, using the expected value) if the injustice had not taken place. If the actual description of holdings turns out not to be one of the descriptions yielded by the principle, then one of the descriptions yielded must be realized. The general outlines of the theory of justice in holdings are that the holdings of a person are just if he is entitled to them by the principles of justice in acquisition and transfer, or by the principle of rectification of injustice (as specified by the first two principles). If each person’s holdings are just, then the total set (distribution) of holdings is just. To turn these general outlines into a specific theory we would have to specify the details of each of the three principles of justice in holdings: the principle of acquisition of holdings, the principle of transfer of holdings, and the principle of rectification of violations of the first two principles. I shall not attempt that task here (Locke’s principle of justice in acquisition is discussed below. )†¦ . How Liberty Upsets Patterns It is not clear how those holding alternative conceptions of distributive justice can reject the entitlement conception of justice in holdings. For suppose a distribution favored by one of these non-entitlement conceptions is realized.