The Grapes Of Wrath - Economic Battle Essays - U.S. Route 66

The Grapes of Wrath - Economic Battle The Grapes of Wrath is a novel by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate conditions under which the migratory farm families of America during the 1930's live under. The novel tells of one families migration west to California through the great economic depression of the 1930's. The Joad family had to abandon their home and their livelihoods. They had to uproot and set adrift because tractors were rapidly industrializing their farms. The bank took possession of their land because the owners could not pay off their loan. The novel shows how the Joad family deals with moving to California. How they survive the cruelty of the land owners that take advantage of them, their poverty and willingness to work. The Grapes of Wrath combines Steinbeck adoration of the land, his simple hatred of corruption resulting from materialism (money) and his abiding faith in the common people to overcome the hostile environment. The novel opens with a retaining picture of nature on rampage. The novel shows the men and women that are unbroken by nature. The theme is one of man verses a hostile environment. His body destroyed but his spirit is not broken. The method used to develop the theme of the novel is through the use of symbolism. There are several uses of symbols in the novel from the turtle at the beginning to the rain at the end. As each symbol is presented through the novel they show examples of the good and the bad things that exist within the novel. The opening chapter paints a vivid picture of the situation facing the drought-stricken farmers of Oklahoma. Dust is described a covering everything, smothering the life out of anything that wants to grow. The dust is symbolic of the erosion of the lives of the people. The dust is synonymous with "deadness". The land is ruined ^way of life (farming) gone, people ^uprooted and forced to leave. Secondly, the dust stands for ^profiteering banks in the background that squeeze the life out the land by forcing the people off the land. The soil, the people (farmers) have been drained of life and are exploited: The last rain fell on the red and gray country of Oklahoma in early May. The weeds became a dark green to protect themselves from the sun's unyielding rays....The wind grew stronger, uprooting the weakened corn, and the air became so filled with dust that the stars were not visible at night. (Chp 1) As the chapter continues a turtle, which appears and reappears several times early in the novel, can be seen to stand for survival, a driving life force in all of mankind that cannot be beaten by nature or man. The turtle represents a hope that the trip to the west is survivable by the farmer migrants (Joad family). The turtle further represents the migrants struggles against nature/man by overcoming every obstacle he encounters: the red ant in his path, the truck driver who tries to run over him, being captured in Tom Joad's jacket: And now a light truck approached, and as it came near, the driver saw the turtle and swerved to hit it. The driver of the truck works for a large company, who try to stop the migrants from going west, when the driver attempts to hit the turtle it is another example of the big powerful guy trying to flatten or kill the little guy. Everything the turtle encounters trys its best to stop the turtle from making its westerly journey. Steadily the turtle advances on, ironically to the southwest, the direction of the mirgration of people. The turtle is described as being lasting, ancient, old and wise: horny head, yellowed toenails, indestructible high dome of a shell, humorous old eyes. (Chp 1)The driver of the truck, red ant and Tom Joad's jacket are all symbolic of nature and man the try to stop the turtle from continuing his journey westward to the promise land. The turtle helps to develop the theme by showing its struggle against life/ comparing it with the Joad struggle against man. The grapes seem to symbolize both bitterness and copiousness. Grandpa the oldest member of the Joad family talks of the grapes as symbols of plenty; all his descriptions of what he is going to do with

Youth, Crime, and Violence

Youth, Crime, and Violence Introduction Written by Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce, the book Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50cent is a fiction book that attempts to give an insider view on the situation of gun culture in the American society. The violent gun culture in society has become one of the biggest talking points for leaders at different levels who are either supporting or opposing it.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Youth, Crime, and Violence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The book therefore explains why the gun culture has become a runaway problem by trying to link it to the popular hip-hop culture, which is believed to be a catalyst to the present-day gun violence culture in society. Therefore, the writers of this book give the perspectives of the issue from an insider point of view and hence their choice of the title Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50cent. With this hint in mind, the paper therefore reviews the book in details based on the link between the authors’ career and content in an attempt to unveil their sole message that the issue of associating gun shootings with hip-hop is not always true. The Content of the Book and the Authors’ Career Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce who are the co-authors of the book under review are accomplished journalists and owners of Pound (the hip-hop music and culture magazine). Pound is rated the top most hip-hop culture and music magazine in Canada. Bascunan and Pearce (2007) therefore have an in-depth and authoritative opinion about the hip-hop world specifically how it operates and its relation with the gun violence culture. They therefore come out to paint an unknown picture about the hip-hop culture and its link with guns by dispelling beliefs that hip-hop escalates gun violence in society. The authors write this book from a Canadian perspective, which has embr aced hip-hop music and culture like the American society. The book is written as a defence for the hip-hop society, which has come under a lot of attack from old members of the society as well as those who do not appreciate the hip-hop culture.Advertising Looking for assessment on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, the authors are people who mix with hip-hop artistes daily thus having the experience of real situations as they happen on the ground. The writers have done the writing of this book in an honest way in that there are no denials to accusations about hip-hop culture and gun violence. They have put facts on the table for readers to judge for themselves. Review Based on Content only The book has been written in defence of the hip-hop culture due to the accusations pointed at it as being the cause of gun violence in society. It has based its story on facts about the gun culture by providing a history of the culture in the American society from the days of Samuel Colt who invented the colt pistol to artiste 50cent who glorified gun and violence in his music in the present society. The history in this case provides a comparative plane to judge the facts about gun culture and gun violence. From the authors’ perspective, it has shown that the problem with guns is a historical dilemma dating back to the 19th century. This information is compared to the history of hip-hop, which is too recent to conclude that the hip-hop culture is the cause of gun violence. The book therefore aims to exonerate hip-hop as the cause of the runaway gun madness. Recent times have been characterised by an escalation of mass shootings in school as well as in neighbourhoods thus leading to answers for the question of why the gun culture is getting out of hand. This situation has seen many people in society point a finger to the hip-hop culture as the cause without giving statistical figures to boost their accusations. In fact, as an industry and culture, hip-hop has embraced gun culture in a big way. Because of its visibility, it has come out as the main culprit in the eyes of society. As Bascunan and Pearce (2007) found, researchers could not give any figures that could conclusively pin down the culture as the main problem. Hip-hop is about expression, bragging, and glorification.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Youth, Crime, and Violence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One way of bragging and self-glorification is to be tough. The book strategically brings out guns as the best weapons for self-defence and elimination of perceived enemies. Just as the rest of the gangsters accomplish their missions, hip-hop has been sucked into the ideas of killing for one to be perceived as being tough thus bringing guns into hand. The writers therefore admit that hip-hop has had its role in this problem. Howe ver, their point of departure is that hip-hop is just part of the problem and not the main cause of the problem. The chapters in the book are short and easy to read because they have been presented in a very simple language. They give a blow-to-blow narration that captivates the reader of the book to reading it to the end. Bascunan and Pearce wrote the book on a basis of credible research that brought together data derived from different fields. The composition of the book includes stories of hip-hop artistes as reported in the media, the history of the gun, lyrics from hip-hop songs, interviews by hip-hop artistes, and society in general (Bascunan and Pearce 2007). The writers give the story a new bend by delving into the world of guns broadly. The book explores the manufacture and distribution of guns in society. In the end, it points out that a few who are known to governments and ones who escape without blame from society do the distribution of guns. The book therefore points to a direction where people do not look at. There are so many guns in society so far that seem to appear from nowhere. The society is bended on blaming proliferation of guns on the hip-hop culture though it does not look further to find out the true sources of guns. The two writers have endeavoured to gather credible information on matters to do with where guns are manufactured, the reason behind the manufacture, and their distribution process. Besides, they have also sought information on people who engage in this risky venture of gun production in an attempt to disapprove the claim that hip-hop fanatics have a connection with gun ownership and misuse.Advertising Looking for assessment on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The book paints the gun problem in society as an infectious problem that does not just affect the Canadian society but also the whole world. It goes ahead to show how guns are being used in society today by the military, police, and rebels in conflict areas as well as unlicensed criminals ruling the streets. The authors have made it simple for readers to understand guns by defining the difference in different guns. According to Bascunan and Pearce (2007), the Canadian society lays the blame on America for the proliferation of firearms into the Canadian society besides going ahead to show how the problem is home-grown as much as it has been influenced by the American hip-hop culture. The book names some of Canada’s own home-grown gun makers who are responsible for supplying guns to society. Though licensed gun owners acquire most guns legally, somehow, guns enter wrong hands in one way or the other. The authors name the National Rifle Association as one group that does not liv e to its intentions. They describe the group as people with borderline psychotic intentions due to their ultra campaigns to legalise guns into civilian hands regardless of the misuse of guns. Bascunan and Pearce have been very meticulous in defining most sources that inspire violence. They direct readers to video games as sources of inspiration that have created some of the worst mass shootings in society. Most video games that are on the market nowadays are based on war games involving virtual guns. A DVD or VCD player offers a variety of choices to make on the type of weapon to display. In most cases, the weapons used on the game are actually the same make of real weapons found in the market. Therefore, regardless of age, video games tend to expose society indiscriminately to information on a variety of weapons that can be found in the market. The authors tend to point this exposure as the source of most mass shootings in schools. White students who have no links to hip-hop mostly do it. Whereas shootings happen in neighbourhoods where they are said to be connected to hip-hop, there are more criminal elements to it than the cause being the hip-hop. The writers merge their views by providing real life stories of young men who were shot in the streets. Although the men were hip-hop artistes or fans, their murders were more to do with drugs and gang rivalry than to do with hip-hop. The authors concede that hip-hop culture has so much embraced the gun culture and violence that it is not easy to separate the two. The difference is only to be found in findings that indicate that only few hip-hop fans worldwide are involved with gun violence. The writers have therefore gained ground in their pursuit of exonerating hip-hop from all the blame in gun violence. This goal has been achieved by the authors’ effort to interview a whole host of stakeholders who may have a role to play in the whole issue in one way or the other. Conclusion Rodrigo Bascunan and Christi an Pearce have come out in their best way possible to defend the industry that earns them their daily bread. They have achieved their purpose in pointing to society the direction it should look at when trying to solve the gun problem issue. By being brutally honest and admitting that hip-hop has played its role in escalating gun violence culture, the authors have been able to capture readers’ trust through this strategy. The authors have done a comprehensive research on the gun problem around the world in a bid to present it as a universal problem that cannot be blamed on the hip-hop culture alone. Otherwise, the book is an informative piece of work. Reference Bascunan, R Pearce, C 2007, Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent, Vintage Canada, Toronto.

Enrique's Journey Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Enrique's Journey Reflection - Essay Example ain character meets on his way forced me to realize, how precious is the family and what a price should some immigrants pay for to reunite with their families. Before reading this book I never thought that the government should somehow support the immigrants. I thought that the problems of immigrants are the problems of their own countries, ut nit the USA. I’ve heard the terrific statistics telling how many people crossed the USA boundary, but that people were only numbers for me. Earlier I never thought about the fact that those people who immigrate to the USA leave their families on the other side of the boundary. I thought of them as about people who just can’t find a job or don’t want to live in their own country and therefore come to the USA. While reading this book I got deep into the inner world of a boy, whose mother left him in Honduras and went far away to make his and her life better. The move allows her to send money back home to Enrique, due to that he can go to school. Mother promised Enrique that she will return quickly. But she had troubles in America. So due to this very book I saw how difficult it is to survive in the foreign country, where no one is really interested in your being here and someone even want you to leave. Also I saw the inside of the world of poverty, unemployment and hardships I never met in my life. I really reconsidered my opinion about immigrants after reading this book. Now I even think the government has to provide the immigrants children with a humanitarian care, shelter and legal assistance, especially for those children who have faced horrific violence in their native countries. Unfortunately not all he officials and parties are ready to help the immigrants. The book Enriques Journey helped me to open my eyes and see the other side of the both immigrant’s and my own worlds. They differ a lot. I have never been really far from my family, without staying in contact with them, without a smallest opportunity to see

Chronic Schizophrenia with Co-Morbidity as Large Bowel Obstruction Essay

Chronic Schizophrenia with Co-Morbidity as Large Bowel Obstruction - Essay Example Chronic Schizophrenia with Co-Morbidity as Large Bowel Obstruction Thus, collectively, co-morbid conditions affect a patient’s life, implying that both conditions should be cared for in equal measure according to their seriousness. The care in this sense goes beyond the conventional medical models of investigating diseases; rather more emphasis is laid on promoting patient health and wellness. The health care needs arising due to co-morbidity make it imperative that nurses play their roles and undertake their responsibilities to meet and exceed client expectations. In the recent past, a lot of studies have been conducted to examine single co-morbidities with schizophrenia. Notably, most of these studies have been done on small and unrepresentative samples. In other words, many of these studies have failed to take a broader approach to the subject of the schizophrenia with single co-morbidities, instead focusing on the testing of hypotheses. Nonetheless, there are a few cases of studies, which have explored thousands of discharge records from hospitals to ascertain the proportional morbidity ratios. Although many studies show that approximately 45% of co-morbidity is accounted for by behavior-related and psychiatric diagnoses. Studies also reveal that those diagnosed with schizophrenia and those with similar diagnosis in their families report that other diagnoses precede or follow schizophrenia diagnosis. Besides psychiatric conditions, schizophrenia patients are also reportedly being diagnoses with conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular conditions, type 2 diabetes, essential hypertension, chronic airway obstruction, hyper alimentation disorders, asthma, and acquired hypothyroidism. Researchers have noted that these conditions could actually be occurring at a greater rate in schizophrenia patients than they are found. Thus, endemic under-diagnosis is cited as the reason these co-morbidities are not detected. Second, schizophrenia patients also tend to receive low standards of medical care, resulting in the under esti mation of their conditions and the treatment to accompany. This paper explores the concept of co-morbidity/complexity with reference to chronic schizophrenia co-morbidity with large bowel obstruction. In addition, the paper explores the role of the nurse when working with such as patient and their family in the community, considering. In particular, the paper outlines the health care needs for both chronic schizophrenia and large bowel obstruction for patients as well as their families and the immediate community. The possible nursing interventions with specific focus on person-centered approaches, client education, and empowerment are also explored in the paper. Chronic Schizophrenia with Large Bowel obstruction Co-Morbidity Many authors and researchers continue to research the subject of schizophrenia co-morbidities with psychiatric and non-psychiatric condition, seeking to determine whether it is spontaneous that psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are co-morbid with non- psychiatric medical conditions such as large bowel obstruction or diabetes. The other issue that researchers seek to address is whether lifestyle, behavioral factors are associated with chronic schizophrenia and whether there exists a biological connection between schizophrenia and non-psychiatric conditions such as large bowel obstruction. Importantly, the public health ramifications for the treatment of both chronic

Case study2 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Study2 - Case Study Example he teacher needs to keep active for as long as possible in order to prolong her life, and this is only easy when the teacher is allowed to engage teaching which has been her job for long. It means that the teacher really has no option than to just continue teaching even though it has been realized that her output in class with her students is declining by the day. This is also a serious matter given that the students also should not get low marks or underperform at the expense of retaining an under-performing teacher. However, as a good principal, there is the need to balance the needs such that both the students and the teacher will not have to lose. The teacher can be allowed to teach for a few hours the students be given a replacement to help them pay for the lost time. If the teacher is left to continue teaching, at least this will help her family to be able to find some ease in dealing with her health issue. As a Principal, it would be wise to find more information about such a case from the doctors who specialize in such health issues before making any decision. This will help the principal to find out more about the disease in order to make an informed decision that will be of ethical value to the teacher and not go against the interest of the students. In case the principal does not want to consult the doctor or a victim of the situation, they can still get the information related to such issues from the internet, newspapers and magazines. Through this way, the principal can know how the victims of such cases are supposed to be treated and taken care of. Instead of allowing the teacher to teach full time, there are alternatives that can be applied. She can teach for fewer hours, leaving the rest of the time for the other teacher to help the students. Alternatively, the teacher can be allowed to work in other departments such as disciplinary or counseling. This will be done after being in touch with the employers or the supervisors who will assess and

Corporate Environment: Bharti Airtel

Corporate Environment: Bharti Airtel The report looks at analyzing the corporate environment and the market forces that influence the functioning of Bharti Airtel in Indian telecomm industry. It has been observed that the political scenario of the country primarily affects the telecomm sector. Also, economic factors like the unemployment rate and foreign direct investments play a crucial role here. Though Airtel faces a cut-throat competition, it mains its competitive edge on its rivals by the adoption of better customer management, new technologies and focusing on its corporate social responsibilities. It has also been deduced from research that the power of supplier of Airtel is Moderate, whereas the buyers posses a stronger hold as compared to Airtel. Furthermore, it is observed that the company faces negligible threat of new entrants into the oligopolistic market as the entry barriers are significantly high. The threat of substitutes is also quite low since Airtel has adopted the latest technologies available and exhibits this trend thereby eliminating the risk of customer shifting their focus to other kinds of products. The report finally draws a conclusion based on the above mentioned factors. Introduction Background Bharti Airtel Limited, a leading global telecommunications company spans its operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. It offers mobile voice data services, fixed line, high speed broadband, IPTV, DTH, turnkey telecomm solutions for enterprises and national international long distance services to carriers. Ranked as the sixth best performing Technology Company in the world, Bharti Airtel has 200 million customers across its operations. (www.businessweek.com) Since its establishment in 1985, Bharti Airtel has been an establishing force in the telecomm sector with many innovations to its credit, which range from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private basic telephone service provider in the country, first Indian company to provide comprehensive telecomm services outside India in Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch National Long Distance Services in India. Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited was integrated on July 7, 1995 for the purpose of promoting investments in telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries are operating telecomm services across India. Bharti Airtels operations are mainly handled by two companies: the Mobility group, handling the mobile services in 16 circles out of a total 22 circles across the country; and the Infotel group, handling the NLD,ILD, fixed line, broadband, data, and satellite-based services. In mobile service industry, Bhartis footprint ranges across 15 circles. The strat egic objective of Bharti Tele-Ventures is to capitalize on the growth opportunities which the company believes are available in the Indian telecommunications market and strengthen its position to be the foremost integrated telecomm services provider in the Indian key markets, with a prime focus on providing mobile services(www.airtel.in). Macro-Economic forces- PEST Analysis: Political and Legal Government of India exercises its control over the telecomm market through its authoritarian bodies one Called as TRAI (Telephone Regulatory Authority of India) founded in 1997, and DOT (Department of Telecommunications) founded in 1989. As on May 1994 NTP(New Telecomm Policy) announced its intention to open basic telecomm services to the private sector so they form these authorities and issue licenses for six circles for basic telecomm services.(Demand for telephone usage in India , Information Economics and Policy, Volume 11, Issue 2, July 1999, Pages 177-194 Pinaki Das, P. V. Srinivasan http://www.trai.gov.in/Default.asp). One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition. The directions, orders and regulations issued cover a wide range of subjects including tariff, interconnection and quality of service as well as governance of the Authority. (http://www.trai.gov.in/aboutus.asp) TRAI also plays a major role in the allocation and auctions of spectrum given to the service providers. (Spectrum auctions in India: lessons from experience, Telecommunications Policy, Volume 25, Issues 10-11, October-November2001, Pages 671-688 R. S. Jain). Although, spectrum is the most important resource for the company yet, it is important for the authorities to check and ensure the following targets ensuring efficient use of it and promoting competition in services (Falch Tadayoni, 2004) The Telecomm Commission and the Department of Telecommunications are responsible for policy formulation, licensing, wireless spectrum management, administrative monitoring of PSUs, research and development and standardization/validation of equipment etc. (http://www.dot.gov.in/profile.htm) Political scenario of country has a strong effect on company. Moreover, total Indian telecomm industry is based on the rules and regulations of authorities governed by political ministers. So in case of a political overturn, the aftermath would reflect in the companys stability and could work in favor or against it. . Economic Airtel -Boon to Indian economy India now has the third largest telecommunications network in the world (Telecomm Regulatory Authority of India, 2005b) Bharti Airtel spent more than INR122.9546 billion in acquiring the pan India license. The company is Indias largest network service provider. Earlier, the inflation rates of Airtel were very high but now in the present scenario Bharti Airtel registered a growth of 21% to Indian Economy. (Annual Report 2008, 09, 10) http://www.tradingeconomics.com Unemployment High unemployment rate (From 4.3% in 2000-02 it has jumped to 5% in 2004-06) leads to poorer consumer spending, due to which users are not able to spend on mobile services and that leads to low revenue for company. http://www.tradingeconomics.com Investment Opportunity Bharti Airtel provides the best investment opportunities to the investors. The company recorded the highest growth rate of 37.2% in urban and 62% in rural areas amongst operators in 2009-10. Bharti Airtel posted a growth of 4.25% in 2009-10 fiscal with revenues of INR418295 million (Annual Report, 2009). Airtel provides the BRAND in Relation within the market so it is a good decision to invest in Airtel. Airtel always comes up with new schemes ideas and launches new products in the market. http://www.tradingeconomics.com Foreign Direct Investment and Domestic Investment Investment from foreign companies increases the quality of infrastructure and services provided by the company and that affect the decision scenario of customers. Hence telecomm industry not only effected by domestic but also from foreign investment of FII (Foreign Institutional Investors). SingTel, Warburg Pincus is amongst the key investors of Bharti Airtel. In Basic, Cellular Mobile, Paging and Value Added Service, and Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite, Composite FDI permitted is 74% (49% under automatic route) subject to grant of license from Department of Telecommunications subject to security and license conditions. (para 5.38.1 to 5.38.4 of consolidate FDI Policy circular 1/2010 of DIPP http://www.dot.gov.in/osp/Brochure/Brochure.htm). Moreover, Company attracts equity investments from National Telecomm Projects of about US$ 460 million. This investment in company shows a strong confidence of Indian government http://www.tradingeconomics.com Foreign Exchange Reserves Bharti, Indias biggest mobile phone company had an agreement to buy the African assets of the Kuwait-based mobile-phone company Zain, will be signed within days, Zain said in a statement today. The purchase would be the largest overseas acquisition by an Indian company since 2007. (Businessweek, news, mar10) [http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-25/india-s-stocks-advance-bharti-airtel-gains-on-zain-agreement.html] http://www.tradingeconomics.com Social Environment Responsibilities Indias language, religions, and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indian subcontinent and traditions that are several millennia old. Indian culture is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy. Airtel is extremely proud to support a range of local places in line with our commitment to our Corporate Social Responsibilities. Environment Airtel is committed in managing business in an environmentally responsible manner reducing our carbon footprint and protecting the natural environment are high on our CSR agenda. This is a relatively new area of social awareness. Community Airtel recognizes the importance of supporting and educating members of the community in order to help them to experience life to the fullest, and is committed to providing opportunities for learning and development. The company actively promotes initiatives which it believes to be of benefit to our society, and in the future, aims to continue to build upon these. Considering Local community in mind the company has introduced courses at GTA and Highlands universities.(www.airtel.in/annualreport ) Socio Responsibilities Company took some decent steps as a loyal citizen of India. For any country; its growth depends upon the education percentage of country and Indian literacy rate is a bit low. Considering this, Airtel is providing quality education to poor and underprivileged children. Moreover, it set a target to educate 100,000 children in due course of time. Currently, the company is educating 30,000 students with the help of its employees and 1,200 private teachers in 236 schools. (Annual Report, 2010) Technological Companys infrastructure is always equipped with latest telecomm technologies. It has been the trend of the company to be in top position among its competitors regarding technologies, as Indian market shows a rapid growth that can only be paired with latest technology. Based on the writers common knowledge, Airtel is the first company to launch roaming and value added services in country. Company is having the best E-commerce portal in industry. Moreover, except government firm (BSNL) length of its optical fiber network is the largest. Apart from all of the above mentioned technological benefits, the company is also involved in new generation fields like Broadband and long distance call services. It can be easily understood by analyzing the number of customers of company that in todays world the customer is more concerned about service and technology and Airtel is no.1 in terms of users. (as shown in below Graph) Airtel-Porter Five Forces According to Michael E. Porter in his article The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy In essence, the job of the strategist is to understand and cope with competition. Often, however, managers define competition too narrowly, as if it occurred only among todays direct competitors. Yet competition for profits goes beyond established industry rivals to include four other competitive forces as well: customers, suppliers, potential entrants, and substitute products. The extended rivalry that results from all five forces defines an industrys structure and shapes the nature of competitive interaction within an industry. (Harvard Business Review, January, 2008, p.25.) 1. Threat of New Entrants Low While fact suggests companies normally find it hard to recognize the new emerging competitors in their market but that is not the case in the mobile operator industry. Since the mobile phone operators had to compete for spectrum licenses, and in India all spectrum licenses are provided by a government organization TRAI. So, Companies can easily identify their rivals in the individual markets. Moreover, it is very costly to enter the market for new players. The arrangement requisite to launch a network operator is complex in terms of resources and infrastructure .To start with, an network operator is required to have the sufficient Tools (in the form of different softwares), mobile base stations, switching centers and the most important license for bandwidth. A heavy amount of money needs to be spent on promotions advertising as well as on manpower, security and transportation. As Airtel is providing the best services in its market so any new competitor has to pay out a decent amount to compete with similar services and network quality. However, India still need to invest 12.5% of GDP till 2015 more in infrastructure to reach international level as of china.( World Bank, 2006 ) http://www.tradingeconomics.com The threat of new entrants bringing additional production capacity should be downplayed in this industry, because technology should assumed to be similar and thus new entrants do not necessarily bring additional production capacity, nor does their entry hold consumer cost down. The fixed-line operators and VOIP do however present a risk to mobile phone operators, because they will certainly provide extra production capacity and lower the consumer costs as a result of this competition. In spite of all the above stated problems, a risk of sharing your market space with a new rival is always there. India became a lucrative market in telecomm after global slowdown; many of the foreign companies are approaching here to setup their business in this industry. Also some mobile phone manufacturers (recently Videocon) expanding their business to become network operators. Also a new entry can cause price war between companies as reduction of price is only option to sustain on top because in India call duration and distance both are combined to produce a unit call.( Munoz, 1996 Demand for telephone usage in India Information Economics and Policy, Volume 11, Issue 2, July 1999, Pages 177-194 Pinaki Das, P. V. Srinivasan). 2. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Moderate As long as Airtel is considered it is a service based company. According to Indian Telecomm market conditions, requirement of input source is high but the number of suppliers is also high so considering current situation supplier power is not that lofty. Mobile phone manufacturers are the primary supplier to the company. There are number of mobile phone manufacturers like Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, LG, HTC and Motorola in the market. Airtel has collaboration with some big manufacturing giants (Blackberry and Nokia) to reduce suppliers hold in the company. Moreover, some big firms like Reliance and Tata even have their own manufacturing units of mobile phones. That constitutes the low supplier power. However, network operators are not a major customers for the supplier group since the suppliers have direct approach to consumers and they work in far more international level markets than the mobile phone operators. Also, Mobile phone manufacturers could combine into the industry and may start their own services. Moreover, in India the mobile manufacturing brands are more valuable to customers than the network operators as mobile phone characterize their status. That constitutes High bargaining power of suppliers. The other major suppliers for company are NSN and Ericsson for mobile services and network equipment e.g. BTS, jumper cables and antennas again NSN, Cisco and Alcatel for Telemedia services. IT service is provided by IBM who also outsource in call centre services with Hinduja. As table-1 Shows Company is not relying on a single supplier and had multiple supplier firms for single task either it is hardware software equipments or out sourcing, that all conclude MODERATE supplier power. SERVICES Network Equipment Mobile Services Telemedia and long Distance Services Information Technology Call Centre Operations Equity Partner {Strategic} 3. Threat of Substitute Products Low Substitutes Products are basically divided into two categories namely: Old Communication Technologies New Communication Technologies In India telecomm sector provide various services with different technologies like fixed wire phone, Pagers, GSM phones, CDMA phones, dial up internet, broadband, Wimax, VSAT and VOIP. Out of which some are no longer in peoples choice these days as they are bulky and have less features in comparison to new ones and on other hand some may become in high interest due to latest technology and smart features. Airtel is providing almost every service in both old and new segments. However still some services are there which are not given by the company such as VOIP calls and VSAT but these substitute products price are not cheaper, and their quality and performance capabilities are approximately same compared to mobile phone products. Moreover, Switching costs are too high as for these services consumer has to buy special devices which cost extra so the advantage goes to the mobile phone service provider industry as there are less chances of switching to these services from mobile phones. There are no major substitutes in the market till a new better technology with cheap price is introduced. 4. Intensity of Rivalry among Competitors High Airtel is facing too many competitors in domestic as well as international market and many of them are almost equal in market share such as Vodafone, Idea BSNL in domestic market whereas O2, Three and Vodafone are competitors in international markets. Rivalry among competitors in telecomm depends upon several factors like: (a)Numerous or Equally Balanced Competitors High Many competitors in this industry are equally balanced in services and quality, and due to this balanced nature this industry has strong rivalries. Some of these companies have slight edge on each other e.g. Vodafone has a marginal advantage in 3g services on Airtel as Vodafone already has 3g services in other countries. (b) High Fixed Costs or High Storage Costs High Companies in this industry have high permanent costs, as they have to spend heavy amount on establishing wireless infrastructure (such as BTS, Towers and cables) and to obtain spectrum licensing which may be the costliest asset for the company as the cost of these license depend upon the space available in bandwidth of spectrum (Hills Yeh, 1999). Moreover the main aim of any company is to maximize its profit, due to which operator try to increase its capacity and productivity and that leads to intense rivalry. (c) Lack of Differentiation or Low Switching Costs High This fact actually depends upon the suppliers. Primary supplier for Airtel is mobile phone manufacturing industry; and rivalry within mobile phone industry is too high that affects service providers. For the reason that customers in the mobile phone industry believe that mobile phone service is a commodity. Also Switching cost for mobile phone user is also low, so by offering cheap price with decent service competitors can easily catch the attention of users. (d) High Strategic Stakes or Share High This strategy belongs to the geographic conditions as just about all operators in the industry consider India as their primary market, so competitive rivalry is extreme. India is a lucrative market for telecomm operators, so competitors want to maximize their market share as much as possible. (e) Rapid Industry Growth High As the telecomm Industry is rapidly growing in country, so there is extra pressure on company to take customers from rivals. (f) High Exit Barriers Low Already discussed company spends a lot on specialized assets such as spectrum licenses but they also have a high resale value. Predetermined costs of exit, tactical interrelationships, emotional obstacles, government regulations and social rules all constitute negligible impact. http://www.coai.com/statistics.php 5. Bargaining Power of Buyers High Airtel caters to mass market as its product can be used by any consumer who owns a mobile phone. A large variety of options are available to customers as there is very little differentiation in the service provided by mobile phone operators, and also the switching cost is too low. Moreover, the companies have to compete for better network quality, higher level of service and low tariff rates than their rivals, to account for the users profit. The complete segment of the network operators industry output is acquired by Mobile phone users. Annual revenue of the company depends upon the sales of mobile service. In this cut throat competition company cannot expect any loyalty from consumer as they can switch to other operator on slight profit. Concluding above facts states the High bargaining Power of Buyers. Conclusion After having analyzed all of the above environmental forces and also taking into consideration the PESTEL analysis, it can be concluded that Bharti Airtel has played an imperative role in the growth of the Indian Telecomm sector. The political scenario of the country plays a crucial role in the companys growth, which is also supplemented by the economic factors like the foreign direct investments and the unemployment rate of India. Though Airtel has been the market leader since the past ten years and has been a lucrative investment option for investors all throughout, it still faces some threat from its competitors and to counter that it has adopted several measures like better pricing strategy, latest technology and best quality service. The company has also indulged in co-branding with several subsidiaries to increase its market share and gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. Moreover, according to the Indian market condition, it is recommended that the best option for Airtel is to work on new technologies as it would enhance revenue as well as customer satisfaction and eventually help the company to retain its stature. Appendices Appendix 1 Explanation of Terms TRAI Telephone Regulatory Authority of India Government Authority for Telecomm Sector DOT Department of Telecomm Government Authority for Telecomm Sector COAI Cellular Operators Association of India Government Authority for Telecomm Sector IPTV Internet Protocol Television New Technology of TV DTH Direct to Home Television New Technology of TV GDP Gross Domestic Product VOIP Voice over Internet Protocol BTS Base Transreceiver system Instrument used for transmitting radio waves. NSN Nokia Siemens Networks GSM Global System for Mobile Communication Cellular Technology CDMA Code Division Multiple Excess Cellular Technology VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal A Satellite Communication system BSNL Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. Government Authority for Telecomm Sector NTP New Telecomm Policy Rules Regulations for Telecomm industry

Toni Morrison Essay example -- Biography Toni Morrison Author Essays

Toni Morrison In the mid twentieth century, the Civil Rights Movement influenced African-American writers to express their opinions. Most African-American writers of the time discussed racism in America and social injustice. Some authors sought to teach how the institution of slavery affected those who lived through it and African-Americans who were living at the time. One of these writers was the Toni Morrison, the novelist, who intended to teach people about all aspects of African-American life present and past. In Beloved like all of her novels, Toni Morrison used vivid language, imagery, and realism to reveal the interior life of slavery and its vestiges which remained in African- American life. Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18,1931 in Lorain, Ohio to George and Ramah Willis Wofford. She was the second of four children. Her parents influenced her writing because of their contrasting views. Her father had a very pessimistic view of hope for his people; however, her mother had a more positive belief that a person, with effort, could rise above African-Americans’ current surroundings (Carmean 1-2). Her parents also influenced her because they were â€Å"gifted storytellers who taught their children the value of family history and the vitality of language†(Carmean 2). Toni Morrison graduated with honors from Lorain High School. She went to Howard University where she majored in English Literature. While at Howard, she changed her name from Chloe to Toni. Toni Morrison went to graduate school at Cornell University. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from Howard and a Master’s degree from Cornell. Toni Morrison met Harold Morrison, her husband, at Howard University where he was an architect student. Toni Morrison and Harold Morrison later divorced. Though they had two sons. Their first son was Harold Ford. Slade Morrison, their second son, helps Toni Morrison in her writing of children’s books. Toni Morrison has held many jobs as a writer, teacher, and an editor. As a teacher, she taught general composition and literature classes at Howard University. Some of her students at Howard were Houston Baker and Claude Brown. At Yale University, Toni Morrison taught creative writing and African-American literature. As an editor, she worked as senior editor at Random House in New York City. She worked her way up to that position from... ...using realism and vivid language. â€Å" Morrison had cast a new perspectives on the nation’s past and even suggests- though makes no promise- that people of strength and courage may be able to achieve a somewhat less destructive future† (Bakerman 173). Works Cited Bakerman, Jane S. â€Å"Toni Morrison.† American Women Writers. Taryn Benbow-Pfalzgrat. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 2000.172-174. Carmean, Karen. Toni Morrison’s World of Fiction. Troy, NY: Whitston Publishing Company, 1993. 81-100. Johnson, Anne Janette. â€Å"Toni Morrison.† Black Contemporary Authors; A Selection from Contemporary Authors. Eds. Linda Metzger, et al. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 1989.411-416. Mobley, Marilyn Sanders. â€Å" Toni Morrison.† The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Eds. William L. Andrews, Frances Smith, and Trudier Harris. New York: Oxford UP, 1997.508-510. â€Å"Toni Morrison.† Literature Resource Center. Feb. 2004. Gale Group. 8 Apr. 2004. http://galenet.galegroup.com Toni Morrison Uncensored. DVD. Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2003. â€Å"Works of Toni Morrison.† Big Chalk Library. Jan 1990. Big Chalk. 8 Apr. 2004.http://library.bigchalk.com