Strategic Management and Amazon free essay sample

TMA 05 Block 4 Collaborative analysis Contents Part 1 External analysis (group A) 2 Internal analysis (group B) 4 Stakeholder analysis (group C) 10 Corporate-level strategy analysis (group D) 14 Competitive-level strategy analysis (group E) 17 Part 2 Critical assessment of the analysis 23 Part 3 Evidencing of contribution to groups 28 Part 4 Reflection on group decision making 30 Appendix 32 Part 1 1. Group A analysis INTRODUCTION Each member of team A used one of the many available frameworks to analyse the external environment of Amazon. com, focusing on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the organisation. The findings of each member’s analysis were amalgamated to form the content of the following report. Using the following frameworks we have identified the SWOT factors facing Amazon. com: STEP, Strategic Group Analysis/Strategic Group Map, Porter 5 Forces, Porters Generic Strategies and Competitor Analysis. ANALYSIS The far external environment STEP analysis has shown: High barriers to entry for new competitors in the same cluster as Amazon. com, as there is a large investment in technology and marketing required in order to compete. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Management and Amazon or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Economic factors can affect the cost leadership approach of Amazon. Political issues are linked with sociological and therefore, are amplified for Amazon’s market. The near external environment Porter’s 5 forces: Supplier power is limited, as Amazon is potent customer, suppliers would not wish to lose them. Buyer power is low, as Amazon tends to offer the most competitive all round customer experience. The threat of substitute products is low due to the high barriers to entry, and there are no switching costs for customers (easy to buy from competitors) Amazon has joined forces with competitors (or hosts a web site for them) and therefore it can profit from their sales. Competitive environment Strategic group analysis has shown that Amazon stands alone, with its nearest competitor being eBay. This tends to show that it is a market leader. Amazon is successfully implementing a cost leadership / differentiation strategy enabling it to increase its market share. This helps Amazon to continue as a market leader. Amazon’s collaboration with its competitors has allowed it to source new items and gain economic rents from its partners. Amazon’s cash flow cycle allowed it to receive money from a customer before it has paid its supplier giving the financial market more faith in Amazon allowing it to finance itself more easily. CONCLUSION Team A has identified Amazon. coms key opportunities and threats through framework analysis. Growth, Technological, Collaborative and Flexibility opportunities enable Amazon to take advantage of changing STEP factors, conversely, Growth and Operations  threaten  Amazons  current and future position. Amazon has been able to use leverage within the market in order to persuade competitors to collaborate with them and therefore, gain economic rents from these partnerships. This has enabled Amazon to create intense market growth, which has both opportunities and threats and Amazons response will determine its future success within these fluid markets. TEAM PROCESS The activity was split into smaller tasks assigned to each team member in order to carry out our individual analysis reports on Amazon’s external environment, with each of us responsible for a certain framework. Due to our different availability, we were unable to organize teleconference meetings to make real-time decisions, and we communicate through asynchronous means on the Team A forum instead in order focused on coordinating our final report analysis, in which we used a consensus with qualifications approach. Appendix 1: SWOT [pic][pic]Bottom of Form [pic] Appendix 2: Strategic group map for e-commerce originations[pic] [pic] [pic]Bottom of Form 2. Group B analysis 1. Introduction Amazon. com is one of the largest online retailers offering a one stop shop solution to their customers. This reports objective is carrying out a SWOT audit of Amazons resources and capabilities using conceptsmodels from Unit 2 of Block 3: VRIN/VRIS, Porters value chain, and links between resource, capabilities and competitive advantage from Unit 2 of Block 3 (The OU, 2010). This is an outcome of individual analyses in 3 subgroups, team discussions and collaboration through agreement on tools, responsibilities and wiki structure. 2. Internal Analysis, a Resource Based View Internal analysis is used to determine relationships between resources and capabilities and how they are used to create value. The RBV suggests that sustainable competitive advantage determines organisations distinct capabilities (Johnson et al, 2008). Amazon therefore needs to exploit their capabilities (Hooley et al. 2008), in order to develop sustainable competitive strategy. The audit of Amazons resources and capabilities is shown in Appendix 1. Figure 1 highlights Amazons resources and capabilities using Barneys (1991) VRIS/N concept: to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, a resource must have four attributes; it must be valuable, rare, inimitable and not easily substituted (Block 3, The OU 2010 p. 61-64) a strength for Amazon. [pic] Figure 1, VRIS analysis (Unit 2, Block 3) 3. Resources and capabilities in the Value Chain The Value Chain analysis (Appendix 2) highlights how value is created or lost through internal activities and can indicate a need to extend the development of resources / capabilities: primary activities are those directly concerned with creation and delivery of Amazons services (Unit 2, The OU, 2010). It is clear where Amazon is able to create value through efficient activities and a well established process. Since sustainable competitive advantage is based upon resources and capabilities, value needs to be maintained or enhanced for Amazon. om to retain their position of sustainable competitive advantage (Unit 2, The OU, 2010, p. 60). Amazons business model offers a synergistic combination of the following benefits which help them to remain competitive: †¢ Shopping convenience †¢ Ease of purchase †¢ Speed †¢ Decision-enabling information †¢ A wide selection †¢ Di scounted pricing †¢ Reliability of order fulfillment Amazon. coms combination of services and logistical processes creates value for their customers which in-turn creates  sustainable  competitive advantage. Although these links can be hard to substantiate (causal ambiguity) (Unit 2, The OU 2009), Amazons resources/capabilities are valuable as they are difficult to replicate (e. g. knowledge). 4. Amazon. coms Dynamic Capabilities Amazons capabilities can be described as dynamic: processes used to manage resources in response to dynamic environment (Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000). The impact Amazon. coms dynamic capabilities have: †¢ proactive flexible strategy †¢ re-shaping competitive environment / industry standards †¢ superior response to customers demand / KSFs (Unit 2, The OU, 2010) †¢ gathering knowledge utilise resources to their best potential Since Amazon. com operates in a dynamic enviroment, they should avoid risks or exploit new opportunities (SWOT The OU 2010, p. 191) by combining strategic flexibility with adequate resources, supported by their capabilities. 5. Conclusion In this report we collaboratively analysed Amazons resources and capabilities which informs their strengths and weaknesses (The OU 2010, p. 190), as illustrated in Appendix 3. For Amazon. com to manage change and to implement competitive strategy (Block 3, p. 92) is a challenge since they operate in a dynamic and global environment. Amazon. com will therefore need to continually renew resources and capabilities to react to the opportunities and threats in their external environment and to ensure that their cross functional capabilities are integrated. 7. References 1. Block 3, Reading 10: Hitt, H. A. , Keats, B. W. and DeMarie, S. M. (1998) Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 12, No. 4 Academy of Managment 2. Block 3, Reading 3: Grant, R. M. 1991) The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation,California Management Review, Vol. 33, Issue 3. By permission of the Regents. 3. Eisenhardt, K. and Martin, J. (2000) Dynamic capabilities: what are they? in The Open University (ed. ) Readings for Block 3, Milton Keynes, The Open University pp. 77-84 4. Grant, R. M. (2008), Contemporrary Strategy Analysis (6th edn), Oxford, Blackwell. 5. Leschly, S. , Roberts, M. J. and Sahlman, W. A. (2003) Amazon. com 2002, Harvard Business Review. 6. Lester, H. (2006), Creating a unique multi-channel customer experience, London, Fifty Lessons Ltd [online], http://openuniversity. fiftylessons. com. libezproxy. open. ac. uk/viewlesson. asp? 1=534 (accessed July 2009/2011) 7. Porter, M. E. (1985), Competitive Advantage, New York, Free Press. 8. The Open University (2009) B301 Making sense of strategy, Block 1 Introducing strategy, Milton Keynes, The Open University 9. The Open University (2010) B301 Making sense of strategy, Block 3 The strategy toolkit, Milton Keynes, The Open University 10. Viney, H. , Winchester, N. and Boojihawon (2010). B301, Block 3 The Strategy Toolkit: The Open University. 8. Appendices Appendix 1 [pic] Figure 1 Links between resources, capabilities and competitive advantage (adapated). [pic] Figure 2 Resources and capabilities of Amazon. Figure 3 The hierarchical structure of capabilities (The Open University, 2010 p. 80) (Adapted) Appendix 2 [pic] Appendix 3 [pic] 3. Group C analysis Introduction View comments on separate page Add your own comment Team Cs analysis is based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Amazons stakeholders as highlighted in the case study Amazon. com- 2002. The analysis is informed by a range of models including a stakeholder map and analyses of their power, classes and salience. Outcome of Group Analysis 3 most recent shown (view all) Add your own comment Strengths Amazon uses a superior online platform which can lead to competitors becoming partners so they can tap into that resource. This is a core organizational capability and exploits the technological skills of its highly qualified workforce, putting Amazon in a very strong position to build its businesses effectively, as evidenced by its other business areas (including warehousing, buying, shipping, security and distribution) and mutually beneficial partnerships (i. . with Toys R Us). Amazon has an experienced and accomplished CEO who has developed the Amazon brand into a household name following its successful diversification strategies. Customers use Amazon as a means of achieving convenience through shopping online with an established and recognized retailer with a reputation for secure handling of information and online safety. Weaknesses Amazons collaborative strengths also form part of its weakne sses in respect of reliance on third party distributors. This implies a shortage of expertise in some areas of Amazon’s operation, since they require this kind of collaborative relationship. Having such a strong reliance on the internet delivery model also leaves Amazon vulnerable to technological problems which could lose business and drive customers to its competitors who operate in broader ways (such as high street stores). The hasty expansion of Amazon’s businesses may affect internal procedures and systems. This could have a negative effect on levels of staff productivity and motivation which could have a detrimental effect on Amazon’s overall success. Opportunities Diversifying into new markets is an opportunity to grow its collaborative-focused businesses such as using Merchant. com to help other organisations manage their online services for a fee. This enabled Amazon to simultaneously exploit its superior technology and benefit its collaborative partnerships. Amazon has the potential to develop its technological advantages further in a similar way that it has with its Kindle. This could open up opportunities for collaboration with other high profile technology-focused companies such as Apple or Sony to design the next big gadget. Amazon has the potential to become ambassadors for Corporate Social Responsibility due to its local distribution channels (which are relatively green) as evidenced by the Kindle which has reduced the need for paperback books. This could support political affiliations, helping its long-term planning. Threats Hackers are a threat to Amazon’s online platform. If the wrong people get access to customer data it could destroy Amazon’s reputation for online safety. This could stop customers buying its products, and partners from collaborating. Changes in consumer buying habits can pose a significant threat. Between 2002 and 2007 the difference in spending between books and consumer electronics rose from $843m to $4,319m. Low entry barriers form a threat because there are potential competitors which Amazon must look out for to craft its strategies effectively. This, coupled with the potential for partners with ploys to gain best practice and then compete without collaboration means that Amazon must consider the true motives of its partners. Stakeholder Map I have identified Amazons stakeholders and attached a link to the stakeholder map. Stakeholders are described by Freeman ‘any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firm’s objectives’ (Freeman, 1984, p. 25) The stakeholders are prioritised by power, legitimacy and urgency, dependant on the number of categories they fit into they can be categorised in following sections: Latent Stakeholders – stakeholders who only have one attribute. Expectant Stakeholders – stakeholders who have two attributes. Definitive Stakeholder – stakeholders who have all the attributes. The more attributes stakeholders have the more of a priority they are to an organisation. Stakeholder Power Matrix View comments on separate page Add your own comment How should a business respond to variations in stakeholder power and influence? Completing a power matrix will help Amazon develop a communication plan that is aligned to each stakeholders focus and concerns. The matrix prioritises Amazon stakeholders in order of importance. The positioning on the grid is important; High power, interested people: these are the people with the greatest influence, every effort must be made to engage these stakeholders †¢ High power, less interested people: put enough work in with these people to keep them satisfied, but not so much that they lose interest. †¢ Low power, interested people: These people can often be very helpful with the detail of your project. †¢ Low power, less interested people: moni tor these people, but do not overburden them with excessive communication. †¢ Figure 1: Stakeholder power matrix of Amazon |High level of interest |Low level of interest | |High level of power |Shareholders, Partners, Customers |Government, Suppliers, creditors | |Low level of power |Pressure groups, the press, local communities, environmental agencies,|Every stakeholder will have some form of | | |employees |power | Stakeholder Classes Analysis Amazon. om stakeholder classes In carrying out stakeholders’ analyst (Mitchell et al, 1997) identify three attributes:   Power, legitimacy and urgency. He then formulated seven areas to class them in. |Stakeholder |Attributes: |Classification |   | | |power | | | | |legitimacy | | | | urgency | | | | | | | | |Management |X |Dominant |Bezos and his team are the brains behind | | |X | |Amozon. om | | |X | | | | | | | | |Third party sellers |X |Dependent |Z-shops/auctions | | |X | | | | |   | | | | | | | | |customers |X |dema nding |Always looking for new changes | | |X | | | | |   | | | | | | | | |employees |  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   X |Dangerous/dependent |The back bone of the company | | |X | | | | |   | | | | | | | | |partners |X |Definitive |Large corporation/Toys R Us | | |X | | | |   | | | | | | | | |suppliers |X |Definitive |close proximity | | |X | | | | |   | | | | | | | | |Government |X |   |Amazon. com have to abide by certain rules | | |X | |and regulation | | |   | | | | | | | | Stakeholder Salience Analysis The following analysis considered the salience of amazon. com’s stakeholders. STAKEHOLDER SALIENCE |  Ã‚   |Attributes Possessed |Stakeholder Classification | |Stakeholder |Legitimacy |Power |Urgency |   | |Bezos (owner) and Senior Management TeamBoard of Director|   |   |X   |Stakeholder dominant | | |X |X | |   | |Partners suppliers (eg Sotheby’s)    |   |   |Mutual power- dependence | | |X |X |   |relationship | |Shareholders |   |   |   |Mutual power-dependence relationship| | |X |X | | | | |   | | | | |Specialist employees and managers |   |   |   |Mutual power-dependence relationship| | |X |X | | | |Non specialist employees |   | | |Firm dominant | | |X | | | | |Small businesses Individuals that sell stock on website |   |   |   |Stakeholder interests – legitimacy | |   |X | | |not implied | |Third party sellers incl. mall Medium sized   traders |   |   |   |Basis for legitimacy of relationship| |that amazon purchased equity in |X | | | | |Media, Government, Customers |   |   |   |A relationship exists | | |X | | | | NB. Some legitimate stakeholders have little influencepower but it is important to remember that power can be acquired or lost (Mitchell et al, 1997). In addition, I have amended the table to reflect that stakeholders are more likely to move temporarily into a state of urgency. Managers need to pay particular attention if this occurs with stakeholders that possess both legitimacy and power. The first two listed have the highest salience  for managers. However, the needs of the other stakeholders need to be  considered in particular dormant shareholders who can  exert power  with urgency if necessary. References View comments on separate page Add your own comment The Open University, (2010) B301, Block3, The Strategy Toolkit, Milton Keynes, The Open University Stakeholder Map ( The Open University, Block 3, The Strategy Toolkit, 2010, p. 81-82) Stakeholder Power Matrix The Open University, Block 3, The Strategy Toolkit, 2010, p. 106) The Open University, (2010) B301, readings for Block 3, Milton Keynes, The Open University Stakeholder Classes (The Open University, Block 3, The strategy Toolkit, 2010, p. 101) The Open Univers ity, (2010) B301, Block 4,Collaborative Analysis, Milton Keynes, The Open University Amazon. com Case Study (The Open University, Block 4, Collaborative Analysis, 2010, p. 40-70) 4. Group D analysis Outcome of Group Analysis TEAM D – AMAZON. COM’S CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIC CHOICES Bottom of Form ANSOFF’S VECTORS Top of Form Bottom of Form Recommendation: Amazon continues to pursue both market penetration and diversification. Market penetration: †¢ Amazon places an emphasis on customer experience; there’re no switching costs for their ‘customers for life’. †¢ Their technological platform makes it hard to compete due to start up costs and high levels of technical staff required to run the website (valuable, non imitable). Diversification: †¢ It already meets minimum requirement for the market’s KSF, and capitalises on the organisations resources and capabilities. †¢ There’s no unacceptable financial risk to endanger liquidity of the capital structure. †¢ Should not affect the organisations internal systems and procedures, or relationship with its stakeholders. Weaknesses: Possible over-dependence on third parties: contingencies would be required. †¢ Non English speaking market is as yet untouched potential – forming new partnerships where necessary to allow for diversification into new geographic markets of non English speaking readers is suitable, feasible and acceptable. CORPORATE RELATEDNESS Bottom of Form Recommendation: diversification. †¢ Amazon. com offers a single portal to provide convenience to their customer for the online shopping experience. †¢ Book business success expanded to shippable consumer goods. †¢ Diversification approach born through strategic alliances. †¢ Intangible resources were developed forming foundation for capabilities and core competencies. Used expertise and scaling capabilities to enter new markets and offer backend services, therefore gaining positioning with a USP. †¢ Foundation and infrastructure in place, therefore allowing to support the diversity of the offering concurrently. †¢ Synergies between organisations provided an entry point for everyone but allowed each organisation to operate independently. Using the value-creating strategies of diversification table (Hitt et al, 2003), Amazon is located within the Low opportunity of sharing assets/h igh corporate relatedness quadrant (APPENDIX 2 – CORPORATE RELATEDNESS). The high corporate relatedness could partly be explained as the result of their strategic alliances. Although having positioned the company as low operational relatedness, in this company synergy exists as the value created offering several products in a single website exceeds the value the user would have in the possible event they had to pay double shipment costs. SUITABLE, FEASIBLE, ACCEPTABLE Bottom of Form Suitable: Diversification complies with Amazon’s KSF (Selection, Price and Convenience). It also maximises resources and capabilities through the application of Barney’s VRIN model. Diversification overcomes threats including reducing competitors through forming mutually beneficial alliances. It operates according to Bezos’ vision for an online shop where anything can be bought. Feasible: Amazon’s strategy can be resourced because it uses a relatively inexpensive online platform and draws on trustworthy suppliers and skilled staff. Diversification shouldn’t affect Amazon unless they use unknown partners who don’t deliver. The competition’s likely to emulate Amazon or form partnerships with them. Neither approach should pose a threat. Acceptable: Amazon has a developed marketplace platform meaning low input costs and the ability to exploit its existing technology. It’s well established partnerships, meaning that its stakeholder relationships are likely to remain positive. Amazon’s able to rapidly deliver its provision meaning that diversification is unlikely to cause problematic procedural issues. TEAM PROCESS Bottom of Form Project Lead was the only assigned role. Due to larger group-numbers and less areas to cover 3 subgroups were formed and final allocation for separate report areas were agreed upon. Individual reports were put forward and best-bits merged to create a summarised version. These summaries were merged once again for the final  wiki. Wordcount: (545 words) APPENDIX 1 ANSOFFS VECTORS APPENDIX 2 – CORPORATE RELATEDNESS REFERENCES. APPENDIX 1 ANSOFFS VECTORS Market Penetration The use of the internet and access to high speed internet connection has enable Amazon. com with the use of its open minded and innovative team, to launch and develop what is today the biggest online bookstore anywhere in the world. The results of the stage 2 analyses indicate that a market penetration strategy was used effectively. Strategically located, Amazon developed brand eputation through its superior technology, skilled workforce and logistical capabilities that facilitated rapid growth and allowed Amazon to gain price advantage. Market Development At one point Amazon was roughly doubling its sales every quarter: at this stage they had nearly 340,000 customers with further hits numbering 80,000. However despite some countries having internet restrictions, as more of the world becomes internet-enabled, there is still potential for further growth here. Another weakness is that there are a limited number of offers for non English titles. Product Development From their original market plan which was sales of books, Amazon not only developed their product range, but they also developed their services as well, providing the ‘ultimate customer experience’ They then went on to launch an entire host of other items, including the launch of the Kindle eBook which resulted in an existing product (books) being made available to Amazon customers in a new way. Diversification Five years after starting up Amazon. com embarked upon a new strategy â€Å"the marketplace initiative. †   Online auctioning was implemented by the firm; this however was done by third party companies and individuals. Amazon was just the source through which these third party products were sold and Amazon was not accountable for these goods and services. This lead Amazon to realise they now served 2 different sets of customers: buyers and sellers. APPENDIX 2 – CORPORATE RELATEDNESS [pic] Adapted from Block 3 The strategy toolkit p. 223 REFERENCES.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Block 3 – The strategy toolkit Making Sense of Strategy.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Block 4 – Collaborative Analysis Making Sense of Strategy.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Readings for Block 3 – Reading 15 Making Sense of Strategy.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Team A, B C wikis. 5. Group E analysis Outcome of Group Analysis Introduction Team E undertook an evaluation of Amazons competitive level strategy, reporting back using Gerry Johnson et al. (2006) three sets of generic testing criteria: a) Suitability: In line with Jeff Bezos vision of uilding a place where people find and discover anything they might want to buy online (Amazon2002), Amazon is consistent with and fulfils the market KSF (A ppendix, Fig. 1) that it operates within by offering product variety, order fulfillment and competitive prices in a truly virtual model that eliminates a large portion of fulfillment costs and inventory risk. In theory, Amazons cost-leadership and differentiation strategy is suitable, since they are able to meet their customers’ needs (Fig. 2) and it gives them the opportunity to exploit their strengths[i]. Their strategy can become problematic if their technology platform is not continually being developed and therefore able to cope with Amazons continuous expansion. Amazon capitalized their resources and capabilities,[ii] to build awareness, increase traffic and sales. They were also pursuing their online commerce opportunities and solidifying and extending their position in the large markets where they noticed substantial opportunities. [iii] Amazon has accelerated their online commerce by creating value for their customers (Appendix, Fig. 3) and obtaining sustainable competitive advantage. b) Feasibility In practice, Amazon can achieve the required level of operational performance by delivering cost leadership advantage (Fig. 4 and Table1), assigning the necessary market capital due to its IPO, to raise capital and invest $800 million in technology (Grant: economies of scale and learning. Drivers: Quality of purchased products, features and performance and complementary services), creating market share, which stems from its original success and good name (Grants input costs/economies of scale and learning) and lowering costs by initiating redundancies and closing distribution and customer service centers (Grant: residual efficiency / input costs. Drivers: Technology embodied in design, the skill and experience of employees, location and degree of vertical integration). c) Acceptability There is a risk that Amazons relationships with their stakeholders (Fig. 5) can be affected if their increased purposed growth does not take in account that: †¢ International growth can add pressure to their internal systems and procedures which could affect profits. †¢ Increase in oil prices affect delivery costs. †¢ Not enough expertise in markets they are diversifying into a loss in returns. Increased third party suppliers/sellers may not provide same level of servi ce as Amazon directly, could impact the reputation potentially losing customers One of the key issues in shareholders management is the maximization of the long term cash flow by maintaining dynamic capabilities to preserve a degree of flexibility that can allow it to react to changes and keep the shareholder returns acceptable. Recommendations †¢ Have service level agreements of what is expected of suppliers and continue to monitor and develop customer feedback. †¢ Source local suppliers and distributors in countries such as Germany, UK, China Amazons overall sales, resulting in higher efficiency and better quality service. Setup business in countries with stable economies and governments †¢ Ensure their technology platform is continually being developed †¢ Carry out market research into the suitability, feasibility and acceptability of new strategies, products and services offered Process used by the team Team E was split in three sub-teams that bought together all three headings of the framework into one single agreed final report. [pic] [i] (Team A wiki, Appendix1 SWOT) [ii] (Team B wiki Fig. 2 RC Amazon) [iii] (Team A wiki, Appendix 1 SWOT) References 1. Leschly, S. , Roberts, M. J. and Sahlman, W. A. (2003) Amazon. com 2002, Harvard Business Review. 2. Viney, H. , Winchester, N. and Boojihawon (2010). B301, Block 3 The Strategy Toolkit: The Open University. 3. Grant, R. M. (2008), Contemporary Strategy Analysis (6th edn), Oxford, Blackwell. 4. Porter, M. E. (1985), Competitive Advantage, New York, Free Press. 5. Lester, H. (2006), Creating a unique multi-channel customer experience, London, Fifty Lessons Ltd [online], http://openuniversity. fiftylessons. com. libezproxy. open. ac. uk/viewlesson. asp? 1=534 (accessed July 2009/2011) 6. Block 3, Reading 3: Grant, R. M. (1991) The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation, California Management Review, Vol. 33, Issue 3. By permission of the Regents. 7. Block 3, Reading 10: Hitt, H. A. , Keats, B. W. and DeMarie, S. M. (1998) Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 12, No. 4 Academy of Management. 8. 8. Viney, H. , Winchester, N. and Boojihawon (2010). B301, Block 3 The Strategy Toolkit: The Open University. 9. Leschly, S. , Roberts, M. J. and Sahlman, W. A. (2003) Amazon. com 2002, Harvard Business Review. APPENDIX Bottom of Form 1. Amazon. coms Key Success Factors. [pic] 2. Amazons customer needs. [pic] Figure 2, Amazon’s customer needs. 3. Markides'(1999) who, what, how’ framework (Block 3, p. 231). [pic] Figure 3, Markides'(1999) who, what, how’ framework (Block 3, p. 231). 4. Grants eight drivers of cost advantage (Block 3, p. 235) [pic] Figure 4, Drivers of cost advantage. 5. Drivers of Amazon’s cost advantage (Block 3, p. 242) |  Economies of scale |Technical input–output |Amazon can purchase in bulk the firm is able to spread the costs | | |relationships; |of the items over a larger volume of output. Large warehouse | | |indivisibilities; |stores like Amazon dominate the retail industry that used to be | | |specialization |made of small, local stores. The threat of substitute products is| | | |low due to the high barriers to entry, and there are no switching| | | |costs for customers (easy to buy from competitors) | |Economies of learning |Increased individual skills; |Organizations ‘learn by doing’. One of Amazon’s KSF is its | | |improved organizational |technologically experienced employees. . | | |routines | | |Production Techniques |Process innovation; |Amazon. com sells its entire inventory every 25 days! | |re-engineering of business | | | |processes | | |Product design |Standardization of designs and |Amazon have diversified into e-books via the Kindle, made | | |components; design for |possible by their knowledge of technology, research/development | | |manufacture |and unique resources | |Input costs |Location advantages; ownership |Amazon is successfully implementing a cost leadership / | | |of low-cost inputs; non-union |differentiation strategy enabling it to increase its market | | |labour; bar gaining power |share. Supplier power is limited, as Amazon is potent customer, | | | |suppliers would not wish to lose them. Buyer power is low, as | | | |Amazon tends to offer the most competitive all round customer | | | |experience. | |Capacity utilization |Ratio of fixed to variable |Amazon’s cash flow cycle allowed it to receive money from a | | |costs; fast and flexible |customer before it has paid its supplier giving the financial | | |capacity adjustment |market more faith in Amazon allowing it to finance itself more | | | |easily. |Residual efficiency |Removal of organizational |Team A identified Amazon’s $800m investment made in advanced | | |slack; achievement of |technology in order to stand as the platform above competitors. | | |X-efficiency; presence of |Team B identified that Amazon’s skilled staff and e-business | | |employee motivation and strong |systems as two of its most valuable attributes. | | |organizational culture; | | | |managerial effectiveness. | | Table 1, Drivers of cost advantage. 6. Amazon’s stakeholder map. [pic] Figure 5, Amazons Stakeholders. Amazon needs to consider the implications their strategic decisions have on their Stakeholders â€Å"any group or individual who can effect or is affected by the achievement of the firm’s objectives† (Freeman, 1984, p25) Part 2 Critical assessment of group analysis a) External analysis (Group A) Amazon’s internal environment was analysed to identify their opportunities and threats (Appendix 1, figure 3). The distinction of Amazon’s far, near and competitive environments (appendix 1, figure 1) could have been illustrated (Block 3, p. 18). a) Far environment Amazon’s far environment’ (Block 3, p. 18) include ‘sociological, technological, economic and political’ forces (STEP model Block 3, p. 18). The relationship between these factors was explained, but not identified. The ‘online retail spending forecast’ (Block 4, Exhibit 3, on p. 57) identifies a sociological force, showing the changes in their customer behaviour and the apparel opportunity. The increase in active and new customers and a rise in internet purchases are shown in Exhibit 1b (Block 4, p. 54). Technological development provides a opportunity for growth and is supported by the international internet statistics, 2002 (Block 4, Exhibit 11 on p. 0). ‘Legal’ and ‘environmental’ considerations should have been considered, referring to the extended model of Fahey and Narayanan’s framework (Block 3, p. 23). Amazon’s international expansion (Block 4, Exhibit 4b) lead to increased legal factors affectin g their operations due to different governments and regulations and can impact profitability (Block 3, p. 25). b) Near environment The failed to illustrate the analysis of Amazon’s near environment using Porter’s five forces framework (Block 3, p. 27). International internet statistics, 2002 (Block 4, Exhibit 11 on p. 70) shows that ‘government’ should be included as a sixth force (Block 3, p. 18 – Rugman and Verbeke), since it affect the structure of Amazon’s industry and profitability (Readings for Block 3, p. 17). See Appendix 1, figure 2. ‘Growth, technological, collaborative and flexibility opportunities’ was vaguely mentioned and further influences could have been identified i. e. brand development (Doyle, 2002), advanced technology and infrastructure which is not imitable (Block 3, p. 60 – Barney’s VRIN) and differentiation. c) Competitive environment The strategic group map (Block 3, p. 45 – Grant, 20 08, p. 118) clearly showed Amazon’s position in ‘geographical scope’ and ‘product range’. Amazon is a market leader since it is not easy to imitate their brand, their infrastructure or the way they do things (Barney’s VRIN). Although all the criticism on organisations pursuing a dual strategy I feel that they are correct in stating that Amazon compete both on a cost leadership and differentiation strategy (Block 3, p. 46 – Porter, 1985, p. 12). Porter’s generic strategies (Block 3, p. 46) could have been used to support this, as illustrated in figure 4. This report gave me an insight of Amazon’s industry, their competitors and competitive environment; they pursue both cost leadership and differentiation strategies. To identify the opportunities and threats they should have referred to the SWOT analysis in their appendix. b) Internal analysis (Group B) Amazon’s internal environment was analysed with the objective to identify their strengths and weaknesses. See appendix 1, figure 3 for the SWOT ordering framework (Block 3, p. 191). ) Internal Analysis, a Resource Based View Figure 1 (appendix 1) illustrates the ideal relationship between Amazon’s resources, capabilities a nd competitive advantage (Block 3, p. 67); which should have been adapted more specifically to Amazon. ‘Casual ambiguity’ (Block 3, p. 61) is noticeable due to the difficulty to link and establish Amazon’s resources, capabilities and competitive advantage. Their KSFs should have been identified, since resources and capabilities arguably will only have value if they permit to satisfy the KSFs (Block 3, p. 61). Amazon’s tangible, intangible resources and their capabilities were illustrated in figure 2, appendix 1. Further referencing could have been made to the case study for example Exhibit 2b (Block 4, p. 56), the comparison between Amazon and a typical book retail operating cycle. This shows Amazon’s unique resources and capabilities which are not easily imitable. Grant’s (1991) steps of strategy formation (Readings for Block 3, p. 49) could have been included and annotated with an example within Amazon. Barney’s VRIS concept (Block 3, p. 61) was illustrated well and it has been reported back to the SWOT analysis. The analysis did not identify which of Amazon resources have all four attributes and if it provides sustainable competitive advantage. b) Resources and capabilities in the Value Chain Value creation was shown (Appendix 2) using Porter’s value chain. Amazon’s services and logistical processes are seen to add value, for example their operating cycle in comparison to a book retailing operating cycle (Block 4, Exhibit 2b). This highlights the importance of Amazon’s assets in achieving competitive advantage. The limitation of the value chain analysis is that it mostly concentrates on identifying an organisation’s strengths and not their weaknesses. c) Amazon’s Dynamic Capabilities Appendix 1 the ‘hierarchical structure of capabilities’, illustrated Amazon’s excellence of customer support through their cross-functional capabilities. Capabilities are dynamic since Amazon is required to adapt their resources and capabilities to the changes in their competitive environment and to the industry’s KSFs. Amazon’s dynamic capabilities allow them to have a proactive flexible strategy which helps building on their strengths with the support from resources and capabilities to exploit opportunities or avoid risks. They concluded with a focus on Amazon’s strengths and weaknesses and looking at their resources and capabilities. They should have identified where Amazon need to renew their resources and capabilities to react to the opportunities. c)   Stakeholder Analysis (Group C) Team C analyzed Amazon’s stakeholders reporting back on SWOT. a) Stakeholder Map and Power Matrix The stakeholders map identifies Amazon’s stakeholders and is supported by the stakeholder power matrix which indicates whether stakeholders have the capacity to influence the implementation or the criteria upon which Amazon’s strategy is based. It is not clear if Amazon’s strategy is based on ‘criteria or operational power’ (Block 3, p. 106). This can be referred back to the ‘resource dependency theory’ (Block 3, p. 97 – Pfeffer, 1981), showing how one business unit within Amazon can be dependent on another. Amazon therefore needs to take stakeholders into consideration who contributes significant resources when strategy is formulated. b) Stakeholder classes To identify stakeholder types emerging from combinations of attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency (Readings for Block 3, p. 9) they should have used the ‘qualitative classes of a stakeholder’ (Readings for Block 3, p. 99). The analysis of Amazon’s stake holder groups, classified them with the use of the former mentioned attributes. It involves a different aspects to take into consideration which they supported with examples from Amazon but did not report back to the weaknesses and threats. c) Stakeholder Salience Analysis Amazon’s stakeholders were categorised in terms of salience. The possession of attributes should be treated as dynamic, since situations might arise due to urgency and this would influence the decision (Mitchell et el. , 1997). Stakeholders can affect Amazon’s objectives (Block 3, p. 6) due to salience which is linked to CSR i. e. they are using environmentally friendly packing. A stakeholder working in warehousing or distribution might have felt that this is urgent where others did not, but since more customers are environmentally focused this provided a coalition of power to make the decision. a) SWOT analysis This group should revise the structure of their outcome by ending with the SWOT analysis where they mainly had to focus on the threats and weaknesses (Appendix 1, figure 3). Amazon’s weaknesses such as their dependency on third party distributers could also be an opportunity to exploit, using their resources and capabilities. The changes in consumer behaviour identified as a threat; could also be an opportunity for them if the changes in the market are in their favour. They supported this with facts from the exhibits, increase in spending. Further evidence could have been used to confirm what attributes (power, legitimacy and urgency) their consumers have. From a stakeholder perspective they have identified Amazon’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and threats well. d) Corporate Analysis (Group D) Amazon’s corporate-level strategy was evaluated using Ansoff’s vectors with the recommendation to pursue both market penetration and differentiation strategies and reporting back to suitability, acceptability and feasibility (Johnson et al. , 2006). I do not agree with their recommendation; as they need to pursue another strategy when the market is saturated to continue growing. Amazon’s business plan included both the ‘retail model’ and their ‘marketplace model’ (Block 4, p. 40) which they then later integrated showing Amazon’s different growth strategies. a) Retail Model Amazon started as a book retailer with modest inventories, depended on distributors with a focus on growth following a ‘market penetration strategy’ (Block 3, p. 208 – Ansoff’s growth vectors). Amazon then evolved towards a ‘product development’ (Ansoff, 1987) growth strategy to incorporate a wider variety of products (Block 3, p. 40). During the expansion in 2000 (Exhibit 4, p. 8) they pursued a market development or a diversification strategy depending if they entered the new markets with existing or new products. Throughout Amazon’s evolution they have invested in buildin g out and integrating their technology to further develop their capabilities. b) Marketplace Model Amazon augment their retail commence model with the ‘marketplace initiative’ (Block 4, p. 40) focussing on third-party sellers. Retailers became interested in outsourcing their online presence. Amazon therefore served as an e-commerce outsourcing partner, developing commerce models and an auction capability, entering and building partnerships and they introduced zShops. Here they focussed pursuing on both market development and product development strategies. c) Integrating Amazon Amazon’s customer culture focuses on providing their customers with ‘selection, price and convenience’. They changed to a ‘single-store strategy’ from having third-party commerce in distinct areas to selling alongside them on their website. Amazon continually expands their product lines by diversification (Ansoff, 1987) of commerce and developing multiple partnership strategies such as marketing deals and syndicated stores etc. As a result Amazon remains competitive and continually grows. The apparel opportunity posed different options to Amazon i. e. partnerships or stocking the items themselves. I personally feel that the integrated approach would be better, as they would then share their resources and capabilities which will enable them to exploit further opportunities. d) Recommendation and suitability, feasibility and acceptability Amazon has to continually adapt to their growth strategy due to the importance of ’market share, service capabilities and differentiation’ (Barney’s VRIN), to exploit opportunities and overcome weaknesses. Looking at Amazon’s retail, marketplace and integrated models we have seen them pursuing multiple growth strategies (see appendix 1, Ansoff’s four growth strategies)which was suitable at the time and feasible due to their resources and capabilities and lastly acceptable (Johnson et al. , 2006) due to expanding the selection available to customers. I agree with their recommendation to pursue a strategy of diversification especially looking at the apparel opportunity but in other areas of the business they might consider product development or market development strategies depending on the SWOT analysis. e) Corporate relatedness Since Amazon establish economies of scope with their operating models (Block 4, Exhibit 2b) and have the ’technology, processes and competencies’ which other retailers prefer to outsource. I therefore agree that Amazon has an opportunity of sharing their assets whilst having low corporate relatedness (Hitt et al. , 2003 – Block 3, p. 223) with the retailers or partners. e) Competitive analysis (Group E) The outcome of Amazons competitive level strategy evaluation did not recommend which of Porter’s competitive strategies should be pursued (Block 3, p. 245). a) Resources and capabilities available to the Amazon Amazon integrate, build, and reconfigured their internal and external competencies to address changing environments and to build their dynamic capabilities (Reading’s for Block 3, p. 77 Teece et al. ). Investments resulted in online retailing technologies, website personalization features, warehousing, reliable IT systems, customer relationship systems and new products leading to competitive advantage through both cost and differentiation (Block 3, p. 245) strategies. b) The industry key success factors (KSFs) KSFs refer to the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance† (Rockart and Bullen, 1981). Amazon needs to focus on their success to build their capabilities, this helps to understand the key areas in which they should invest their time and resources. Amazon’s KSFs is identified in Appendix 1, figure 6. c) The nature of Amazon’s external environment To evaluate Amazon’s competitive level strategy they need to look at their external environment to identify their competitive position and determine opportunities and threats (Porter’s five forces framework). Group A’s external analysis should have been used. Supplier power is low as Amazon provide their customer base a ecommerce platform. Buyer power is low, since Amazon provides the most competitive all round customer experience (SWOT – strength); including variety based on their operating cycle (Block 4, p. 56). Amazon capabilities of ecommerce platforms (Barney’s VRIN) give them competitive power; supported by their customer-centric culture (Block 3, p. 247). Competitors fail to compete directly with Amazon, as they provide customer experience which is not imitable. The threat of substitution is moderate; customers can find the products from competitors i. e. Barnes Noble or Ebay. Their selection, price and convenience (SWOT – strength) makes them unique. The barriers to enter are high; Amazon therefore exploited their capabilities in commerce and by developing partnerships with other retailers (SWOT – opportunity). d) Objectives of key stakeholders Markides'(1999) who, what, how’ framework (Block 3, p. 31) gives an overview of who Amazon’s customers are, what value proposition do they make to customers i. e. variety of products at low cost. And the way the value is delivered i. e. through their reliable web infrastructure. Amazon’s stakeholderâ₠¬â„¢s main objective is a ‘vision of ultimate selection’ by providing ‘a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online’ (Block 4, p. 40). With their focus on serving customers (see appendix 1, figure 6) they started embracing ‘selection, price and convenience’ on which they base their customer experience. In addition to these objectives, also feel that the main focus for the key stakeholders for Amazon is growth and profit maximisation. ) Recommendation and suitability, feasibility and acceptability Amazon’s core competitive strategy has been to focus on the customer experience; however, they also compete on time, price, convenience, loyalty, reputation and innovation. They focussed on Grant’s ‘drivers of cost advantage’ (Block 3, p. 235); this shows that a competitive strategy should not only be based on a cost focus. My recommendation is that they continue pursuing both a co st and differentiation advantage; by developing their capabilities across functions. Creating a sustainable competitive advantage, Amazon differentiates with service and cost sectors made possible with their strong, supportive and complex organisational culture (Block 3, p. 246) Amazon’s integrated cost leadership and differentiation strategy is ‘suitable’, as it identifies their opportunities i. e. he apparel opportunity where they capitalise their resources and capabilities which conforms to the KSFs. Their strategy of both options is ‘feasible’ but I feel that the partnership option is more feasible, due to the complexity of the apparel industry. The strategy is ‘acceptable’ since the apparel commerce was forecasted to grow at 34% from 2002 – 2007 with an estimated market segment at $203 billion per year. Although this seems like a profitable option there is still a risk involved due to the complexity of the industry. Part 3 Ev idencing of contribution to groups a) Stage 2 Group B was responsible to undertake an analysis of Amazon’s resources and capabilities. We were divided into three subgroups, where my subgroup was responsible for identifying Amazon’s resources and capabilities and their attributes; evaluate their competitive advantage and strategic implications. Amazon’s resources and capabilities provide the basic direction of their strategy and I incorporated this into Grant’s strategy formation framework. Drawing from the internal analysis I was able to identify Amazon’s strengths and weaknesses (SWOT analysis) and we illustrated the links between Amazon’s resources, capabilities and competitive advantage (Block 3, p. 67). See my individual contribution (Resources and capabilities/strengths and weaknesses, 20 June 2011, 00:30): http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=541629#p4181476 Once everyone posted their individual analysis I took on the role as ‘project manager’ to encourage each sub-group to combine their contributions, see my post (Sub-group planning for wiki draft, 20 June 2011, 14:15): http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=539832#p4187538 I chased the progress of both sub-group 1 and 3 to post their collated contribution for their group. (Sub-groups 1 3, 21 June 2011, 23:13) http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=539832#p4216747 I was assigned the task to produce the final report in SWOT format based all the contributions with a deadline for day 12 (22/06/2011) and my efforts was then reviewed. See final SWOT Analysis, 23 June 2011, 09:27: http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=547063#p4236069 I was assigned the role as editor of all the contributions and posted the information onto the Wiki, which was further checked by Nadia. We have been corresponding in regards to the outcome of the group analysis and wiki structure on the forum (wiki structure): http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=542800#p4143951 Further evidence of my contribution is evident on the editing I have done on the wiki; please see the link for the history: http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/ouwiki/history. php? id=530424group=181907 I really enjoyed working as part of Group B, the communication and team work between members was really good. The project manager (Nadia Curtis) assigned everyone’s responsibilities out well including the deadlines. b) Stage 3 Group E was undertaking a critical evaluation of Amazon’s competitive-level strategic choices. This group started off slowly and it seemed that most people were reluctant to be the project manager. I suggested that we all should post the important aspects that needs to be included in the analysis and from there assign responsibilities (Responsibilities delegation, 25 June 2011, 14:08): http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=556960#p4264437 Diana Sacuiu took lead and decided on subgroups and delegation of responsibilities reporting back to suitability, acceptability or feasibility. My sub-group was responsible for looking at Amazon’s competitive-level strategy from a ‘suitability’ point of view. My individual task was to identify Amazon’s resources and capabilities and the way they relate to external opportunities (Diana Sacuiu, 26 June 2011, 20:20): http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=558651#p4277348 I identified Amazon’s resources and capabilities and explained how they are used to exploit opportunities, how capabilities are developed and enables them to pursue both an integrated cost-leadership and differentiation strategy (Block 3, p. 247). See link (Competitive level strategy from a suitability point of view, 28 June 2011, 23:36): http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=558823#p4305912 We put our sub-groups information together which I edited and included figures to reduce our word count: 1. Draft 1: http://learn. open. ac. k/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=562267#p4310586 2. Draft 2: http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=562267#p4313345 3. Draft 3: http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=562267 #p4322730 4. Draft 3 (2): http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=562267#p4324685 I further supported sub-group three with a figure to help reduce their word count, see my post (30 June 2011, 16:05): http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? d=562267#p4324971 I also checked the spelling, format and I added the relevant references to our group’s final report (1 July 2011, 14:05): http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/forumng/discuss. php? =562267#p4335805 Although this group did not collaborate as much, we were able to finish our evaluation of Amazon’s competitive-level strategy and reporting back upon its suitability, acceptability and feasibility, see final wiki link: http://learn. open. ac. uk/mod/ouwiki/view. php? id=530430group=181907page=Outcome+of+Group+Analysis Part 4 Reflecting on group decision making Looking at the collaborative work of the groups I will be identifying if the process is rational, political with evidence of power positions o r authority (Readings for Block 3, p. 250) or if there are any noticeable importance of chance which can be referred to as the garbage can model (Readings for Block 3, p. 257). From doing the collaborative exercises I have noticed that the decision- making process which included deciding what information to include for the outcome of each group was a political process (Pettigrew, 1973 Readings for Block 3, p. 246). Political behaviour has been defined as behaviour of individuals, or in collective terms; by sub-units, within an organisation that makes a claim against the resource-sharing system of the organisation (Readings for Block 3, p. 247) or in this case the group. It was decided within the groups which individuals will take on which roles such as editor, project manager and project chaser etc. The groups were then divided into sub-groups which had specialized tasks which are interdependent for the outcome. I have noticed power conflicts within the groups due to the perception of interdependence (Thompson, 1961- Readings for Block 3, p. 248) of resources for the final outcome. This was when each sub-groups’ contribution was collaborated for the final outcome, as it seemed to be influenced by the editor or project manager exercising authority over what information to use (Talcott Parsons – Readings Block 3, p. 249) . This shows that the decision making process deviates from the proposed rational model of decision making, I therefore agree with Simon’s (1979, Block 3, p. 261) assumption of ‘bounded rationality’ and ‘satisficing’ (Block 3, p. 262) for the decision making process of the groups. Group B agreed that the final wiki should be checked by Nadia and I did not ag

20 Critical Essay Topics on Environment Health and Development

20 Critical Essay Topics on Environment Health and Development Before delving into today’s topic, it’s best we understand what the environment means and why its health is so important to human development and the earth’s entire ecosystem. The environment is everything- both indoors and outdoor- around us. It is made up of the air we breathe, the food we consume, the parks we visit, your workspace as well as your relaxation spots. Therefore, land, the atmospheres and the world’s rivers and oceans are how make up the environment. Since we reside in the earth’s environment, it is important to note everything that affects us both negatively and positively in order to reduce the negatives while maximizing the positives which make the topic on environmental health quite important to the human race. Therefore, this article will focus on helping everyone interested in writing critically on environmental health and development with the needed assistance to write in an effective manner that will pass your message across in a succinct manner to your intended audience. In order to help you do this, below are 20 essay topics on environment, its health and how it affects human development for you to choose from when working on your critical project. Rounding up the provided topics will be a sample essay draft exploring one of the provided topics in such a way that it provides you with clear guidelines on how to kick-start your chosen essay: The importance of Environmental Health to Human Development Discussing the Effects of Culture and Civilization to Environmental Health How Can the Environment Affect Women’s Health? The Impact of the Earth’s Environment to Child-mortality Rate The Impact of Environmental Health on the Economy of Developing Countries The Importance of Safeguarding Environmental Health Is Global Warming Harmful to Environmental and Human Health? The Effects of Indoor Air Pollution to Environmental Health the Impact of a Working Environment to our Personal Health The Ozone Layers Role in Protecting the Earth’s Ecosystem Water Contamination and its Hazards to Plant and Animal Life The Impact of Air Pollution to Economic Growth Environmental Pollution and the Global Burden of Disease Global Environmental Health and Building Sustainable Cities The Importance of Environmental Health in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals The Harmful Effects of Lead Exposure to Environmental Health The Effects of Pesticide Exposure in Third World Countries Driving Government Policies Through Environmental Health Research The Impact of Mercury Exposure to the World’s Oceans Global Waste Disposal and its Effects on Environmental Health As promised, above are the 20 timely essay topics on environment and the need to preserve the earth’s ecosystems developed for writing critical essays on this subject manner. The above topics cover a wide range of factors that are both natural and manmade combined with their effects on the environment. As it happens, we provide you with 10 facts on environmental health and development as well as in-depth for a critical essay. Lastly, a critical essay discussing one of the provided essay topics on environment will be provided as a guideline below. Sample Critical Essay: The Impact of the Earth’s Environmental Health on Child Mortality Rate The task of studying environmental health, human’s negative impact on it and how it can be curbed or reduced to its bare minimums is important to human development. And this importance is better understood when we consider the havoc diseases due to pollution wreck on the world’s most vulnerable citizens- our children. This essay will attempt to explore the impact of environmental health to child-mortality rate on a global scale as well as discuss ways to improve the environment we currently reside in. Environmental health is influenced by diverse factors such as the quality of air around us, the health of the world’s waterways and the manufacturing as well as human day-to-day activities. Sad to say, the factors affecting the environment in the 21st century are mostly negative for poor mining and manufacturing practices as well as the use of unhealthy facilities, machines and waste disposal techniques have taken their toll on every aspect of the earth’s environment. Now, recent studies from the World Health Organization (WHO) on environmental health paints a bleak picture for the survival of children born in underdeveloped, developing and developed nations worldwide due to the real possibility of kids being harmed by overexposure to the earth’s environment. As expected, the situation is bleaker in 3rd world and developing countries as children born into these vicinities are exposed to elements dangerous to their positive development. In 2014, the WHO reported that approximately 6.6million children under the ages of five die every year from a combination of factors such as poor health care, congenital diseases and yes, environmental factors. The study went further to state that a third of these deaths are due to the state of the environment health and could have been prevented if exposure to hazardous environmental elements were eliminated which indirectly points their death to human practices. This statistic raises the question of if humans truly contribute to a third of the current child-mortality rate due to their practices and the following paragraphs will attempt to answer this question. Asthma has been given the notorious tag as the number cause of death in children under the age of 5 and this respiratory condition is in most cases caused by the quality of air a child breathes in. And the air our children take in has been contaminated by emissions from automobiles, pesticide, lead and other harmful elements human everyday activity produces. Landfills have also been attributed to producing its own fair share of pollutants thereby adding waste disposal to the list of things harming the environment. In conclusion, the solution to drastically reducing the child-mortality rate lies in our ability to be more accountable on how we work and leave our lives both indoors and outdoors. Going green in manufacturing factories, the integration of recycling policies and participation of the world’s government in ensuring sustainable environments will be important in solving the current child mortality rate the world witnesses. Here we come to the end of these guidelines on drafting an essay topic on environment. So do not hesitate to select a topic from the above and use the sample essay as a tutorial for writing yours. References: The 1999 International Environmental Monitor Survey, Environics International, Ltd . (2000). The Coming Green Wave: Global Public Opinion on the Environment. environics.net/eil/ WHO Press Release. (2000). who.int/inf-pr-2000/en/pr2000-46.html Pretoria: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. (2007). Annual Report of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry for 2006/07. dwaf.gov.za/Documents/ AnnualReports/2007.asp Gordon, M Simon, L. (2000). Environmental Change and Human Health. https://www.sei-international.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Risk-livelihoods/environmental_change_human_health_africa.pdf Cortinas de Nava, C. (1996). Worldwide overview of hazardous wastes. Toxicology and Industrial Health. 12(2):127-138. Murray, F. (1998). Regional Air Pollution in Developing Countries: Background Document for Policy Dialogue Bangkok. Satterhwaite, D. (1999). The Links between Poverty and the Environment in Urban Areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

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International Standards and Information Systems Quality Management - Essay Example Quality Management System is defined as a â€Å"set of coordinated activities to direct and control an organization in order to continually improve effectiveness and efficiency of its performance.† These activities are well integrated and synchronized that the understanding of one would not lead to understanding of the entire system as a whole (Gitlow, 2001). The basic purpose is not to detect the defective products after production rather than focusing in producing quality products free of any defects. Implementation of an effective quality management system would benefit an organization whether in manufacturing, service industry or public sector. These companies generally employ some information system to communicate within the organization and to supplier and customers external to the organization. The underlying concept is customer, supplier and the organization working together for their mutual interest. To implement said concept, efforts are required to integrate and str engthen interfaces not only between immediate customers and suppliers but also beyond that are linked to any organization. An efficient and effective quality management system would help in building customer’s confidence on organization’s ability to produce quality products and services, and deliver desired objectives while meeting their wants, needs and expectations. In similar way, quality management system enables an organization to achieve its objectives defined in its policy and strategy with minimum and effective utilization of resources at an optimum cost. Quality management system interfaces all activities of the organization in a coordinated manner starting from identification of customer requirements to meeting customer’s satisfaction at every step of the process. It can be compared to a wedge that ensures consistency of gains along the quality journey by preventing good practices from sliding back as shown below (Business Balls, 2008). An effective qu ality management system would improve process control, reduce waste, decrease costs, increase market share and help to meet customer’s expectations. Quality and Evaluation of Information Systems Evaluation of information systems is a crucial subject for the researchers and practitioners aiming for improvements in the processes of designing and developing the information systems (Checkland & Holwell, 1998). The evaluation of an information system

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Review and critical analysis of any four articles - Essay Example Election process from the nomination, the conventions and elections has been discussed in this book. The Article of Americas Evolving Electorate by Nate Cohn This article talks of the demographic system in an electorate. This article analyses on the population target of a given candidate. The article starts by analyzing the Clinton and Bush election season. This election time the candidates targeted a given population in their campaigns trail. According to the article George W Bush targeted the Populist population, who were compassionate conservatives. Whereas Bill Clinton targeted college women, the graduates and the less religious voters. This according to the article was insufficient for Bill Clinton to conquer George Bush in the 2 election seasons. Over time the demographic targets of the Republican Party has changed, it is on an estimate of eight years basing on the article. This change has then lead to the majority win of votes by the democrats, hence the Obama Administration. The change in voter’s numbers was as a result of the shift of the new diverse young voters who joined the democrats. An Estimated increase from 23% to 25% of votes in favor of the democrats. The article also establishes the Current Presidents camp had a larger share of Non American voters this were: The African American, Hispanians and The Asian voters.The republicans were also into gaining of voters from the democrats strong holds. They shifted inwards south of the believed Democrats strong holds. But their efforts were not fruitful as the couldn’t counter the democrats gain of voters. The Author Nate Cohn goes on explaining of the Democrats gains of voters who were the white Americans from the South.The democrats targeted a given voter population of which included the young white and those that occupied the well educated sub-urbans.These shifts of demographic interests were not for a short period as it was thought to be. The shifts was a reflection of shifts of votes which was for the advantage of the democrats. They were establishing a base of votes which they could use to gain on the republican votes. The Article also focused on the turnout of voters, this was specifically the Republican Party. The focus was during the congressional and local elections. Basing on the article there was a notable reduction in the turnout of the republican voters. A critical analysis if the democratic analysis is inevitable is given in the article and how the Republican Party can adjust in a mind of compensation of the generational and demographic changes. There is an Emerging Democratic Majority, the effect of a majority democratic camp and it is predestined to be for some decades to come. The democratic majority is as a result of the gaining of Denver, Washington and Raleigh which are well educated suburbs. On analyzing of the article, for the republicans to counter the demographical gain by the democrats is by: instituting durable and ideological coalitions b efore a new social moderate generation is built. The article has been criticized on the share of white voters by the democrats; this is because the article has not pointed out the states of the survey. It has also been criticized of partisan comments. Though with the critics the article has proved to be very insightful and indeed helpful in the geographical analysis of voters in a voting season. Are we in An Electrol Realignment? By Sean Trende An electoral realignment refers to

Ways To Overcome Your Weaknesses English Language Essay

Ways To Overcome Your Weaknesses English Language Essay Everyone have their own skills. Skills are the ability to do something well. If you order your custom term paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on Personal Strengths and Weaknesses. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality Personal Strengths and Weaknesses paper right on time. The purpose of this paper is to clearly define each of my strengths and weaknesses and figure out a way to identify my personal strengths and weaknesses. In order for me to improve myself and enhance my learning process. I also believe realizing my strengths and weaknesses will help me to become more self-conscious and a well-rounded individual. MAIN BODY Strength My strength is I will do the work whatever is given to me and I finish as quickly as possible. Time Management, Flexible, Organiser and Open minded. I am always positive attitude for every work whatever is given to me and I do that work patiently. I have ability to do the hard work and the perfect work. Any where I can make friends easily. My strength is Dedication. If I begin to do a work I would never go anywhere without completion of the work. I am hardworking, self-motivated, cooperative and can easily adopt to any environment, use to be confident even when I was broken, have good understanding power. My strengths are that I believe in myself and I am self-motivated. I am always dedicated to my work and completed confidently what types of works have given me. Weakness My weakness is I do believe in people easily specially those who put me into troubles. I feel inferior to others when I am not able to accomplish certain things personally speaking such as to become successful in my career and or not be able to build my own ideas. I am not an easy learner and sometimes feel inferior to others. I feel uncomfortable until I finish my work, I am over ambitious person, I am extravagant person. I have short temper. I can easily believe others, very feel not done my work. I sometimes over think on matters that delays my decision, Sometimes I hesitate in expressing myself. I cant unhappy more time, I dont nervous if any person told me my weak point. I am too friendly with a person which sometime puts me in trouble and because of that I faced lots of problems in my past. How to Overcome Weaknesses Overcoming your weaknesses may seem impossible, but it is not. People do it every day. You have probably overcome many weaknesses and not really even noticed it. Moving past your shortcomings requires that you love yourself enough to nurture yourself. If you had a friend who needed help and assistance, physically, emotionally, or mentally, you would go to that friend in an instant. Now, you must move toward the view that  you are a friend of yours, too, and you must go to yourself sometimes for nurturing. It is always a much more rewarding task to increase positive qualities than reduce negative ones. If you lose your temper easily, you can focus on increasing your inner calmness. If you are prone to criticise others, try and increase the number of good things you see in everyone you meet. Working on positive goals turns the situation around from a struggle with the enemy within to a process of inner growth and blossoming. CONCLUSION The process of human improvement is not like instant coffee, or a miracle pill. There are ups, there are downs, and there are times you wonder if you are any better than when you started. Yet bear in mind that anything we did that ever brought us a feeling of joy and satisfaction, only came because we committed to it and saw it through to the end. Unlearn your weakness and use them as stepping stones to greater strengths. Start finding ways to turn your weakness into strengths. There is no weakness in people they are only the choices, because you have allowed those choices. QUESTION According to Confucius, you can lead horse to water but you cannot make it drink. In the real life situation as a student, how would you drive yourself to have passion in study? INTRODUCTION Passion is the energy that comes from bringing more of YOU into what you do. Simply put, its being who you are and doing what comes naturally. When what you do is in alignment with who you are, you get energy from doing it. Its like water flowing along its natural riverbed. It actually gains energy from the path its taking (compare that to what most people experience in their work, which is more like trying to force it up and over a mountain). Reading activity is a complex process. Reading involves a process of communication between readers and writers through writing resources. MAIN BODY Regardless of what ones motivation gain performance, they always in common that is, have an abundance of energy, daring to face the challengers and great ambition to be created. Thats why many experts think that the success of behavior is attitude. One of the factor that course a person to continue to be vigilant performance gain is the ability to infuse his passion for performing. Here are some tips to infuse the spirit. They are two factors that make a person get motivated to learn they are: First, the motivation to learn comes from internal factors. Motivation is formed due to self-awareness on the understanding of the importance of learning to develop itself and what it means to live your life. Second, the motivation to learn from external factor, that could be a stimulus from another, or the surrounding environment can affect that individual psychological. Socialize with people who are keen to learn. Ever heard of the right analogy friends with artisan blacksmith or seller of perfumes. If we get along with artisan blacksmith, then we went into smell burnt iron, and if mixing with perfume seller, we also will smell that sweet perfume. Familiarity and enthusiasm will spread to us. Socialize with people easily learn and performance, will make us even like to learn. In addition, try to find people or communities which have a good habit of studying. Ask about the experience in a variety places to those who have or are currently pursuing studies at the higher levels, the people with scholarship study abroad or those who gets the credit for a performance. Next is, learn anything means learn here understood broadly, whether formal or non-formal. We can learn about a variety of computer skills such as rafting, learn to write, make films, studying entrepreneurship and others. Furthermore, learn from the internet. We can leverage the internet to join then group of people that can be easily learned. One of our list will provide a space to exchange ideas, thoughts, and self-motivation. For example, if you want motivated to learn English, we can get into [emailprotected] mailing list. More over consort with people who are always optimistic and positive minded. In this world, there are people who always look optimistic despite problem. We will contract the spirit, passion, and senses of optimism if often socialize with people or in the community as such, and vice versa. Find motivator. Sometimes a person takes another person as a drive or a mentor in life. For example, a friend, girlfriend or spouse you too can do the same with finding a person or community that can help motivated you to learn gain performance. Learn The Understanding Not Just memorize. Yes, the main function is why we must learn to understand new things. We can memorize 100% of all subjects detail, but the more important thing is whether we are fully aware of all the memorized material. So before memorized, always endeavor to understand first the outline of the subject matter. Ability We Own Train. Actually, we can train our brains own ability. At the end of each chapter lesson, usually always given to issues of training. Without waiting for instructions from the teacher, try to answer all these questions and check the extent of our ability. If the answers do not matter in the book, try to ask the teacher. CONCLUSION In conclusion, a joint venture between the government, private organizations, and the community is very important in an attempt to foster an interest in reading among students as future heir Malaysia. No point having a regular resolution, discuss finding a solution if not conducted in a systematic and widespread. You can lead horse to water but you cannot make it drink so as a parent they will asked you to study but they cant force you to study. You they want have to effort to study.

The Atomic Bomb :: American America History

The Atomic Bomb Background of the Atomic Bomb It was during the Second World War that the United States became a world power, thanks in a large part to its monopoly on atomic weapons. The atomic bomb is a weapon with great explosive power that results form the sudden release of energy upon the splitting, or fission of the nuclei of such heavy elements as plutonium or uranium. This new destructive force wrecked havoc on two Japanese cities and caused the end of World War II. It also saved thousands of American lives because a ground invasion of Japan was no longer necessary. The decision to create the bombs was that of United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt under a secret military project that was called The Manhattan Project. The Beginnings of the Manhattan Project In 1939, after German dictator Adolf Hitler invaded Poland, German scientists shocked the scientific world when they announced that they had split uranium atoms by man-made means for the first time. Upon hearing this news, a nuclear physicist, Leo Szilard, was convinced that a chain reaction of this process could be used as a weapon to release an awesome burst of power. Szilard knew that this knowledge was now in the wrong hands of the enemy Germans. On a July day in 1939 Szilard and his associate, Edward Teller, drove to the Long Island home of Albert Einstein to alert him of their findings. Einstein used his political influence by immediately writing a letter to President Roosevelt explaining the consequences of the Germans creating an atomic bomb. His letter read, "I believe, therefore, that is my duty to bring to your attention that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new-like elements would be generated. A single bomb of this type, carried by a boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port, together with some of the surrounding territory." Two months passed before Roosevelt finally read the letter. He ordered a committee of scientists and military officers to meet Szilard and Teller to determine whether America was capable of building a nuclear bomb. In 1940, Szilard and Teller were granted a mere $6,000 to begin experiments in nuclear fission. The duo enlisted the help of the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1938, Enrico Fermi.

Pro Capital Punishment – Paper

One of the main reasons that people object to the death penalty In because of the fear that the wrong person could be convicted and put to death. Even though an innocent person could be wrongfully convicted, certain criminals should face the death penalty because It ensures the murderer can commit no more crime In the future and it Installs fear In other potential criminals. In July 2010 1 heard on Fox 21 News that three convicted murderers escaped from an Arizona prison, these murderers were facing fifteen years to life for their crimes.One of the three men was caught in Western Colorado two of the men still remain at large. This Is a really scary situation. Frightening enough people escape from prison, jail and half way homes more than people are aware of. C. Sullenness reported that the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 1 998 showed that 6,530 people escaped or were ALLOW from state prisons (2001 , Para. 2). Shown below is the prison population for two separate years and show the nu mber of Inmates that escaped or were ALLOW. (Sullenness, 2001 , Para. ) According to this research this, is not very many escapes and the reason that we don't hear about it is because not many of the escapes are as dramatic as movies and T. V shows make them seem. Although the statistics show that this number is not really high, It still proves that Inmates are capable of escaping and they do. For example the Texas Seven escaped from John Connelly unit in the year 2000 these men were highly dangerous and were looking at serving many years for their crimes, one of the men had ninety nine years to serve.Eventually all the men got recaptured thanks In large part to the popular TV show â€Å"Americas Most Wanted†, but It took more than a year. In that one year many people lived in fear, scared to go outside alone at eight. Innocent people should not have to live in that constant fear. Many innocent lives were put at risk including a security officer who lost his life when the men escaped. We shouldn't risk are families. If criminals found guilty of pre-meditated crimes are given the death penalty it would ensure that they don't escape and begin to kill again.Guarantying those citizens our kept safe from such violence. Capital punishment could do more than Just keep criminals off the street; it can also prevent crime. When someone Is put to death, due too serious crime they have committed In he society other potential criminals take It as a warning that such violence will not be tolerated and dissuades them from committing any crime worthy of the death 1 OFF penalty Research cone Day VIC Lee Inelastic Tanat â€Å"In ten mom to late number of executions stabilized, the murder rate increased.

3rd Disease Papers

3rd Disease Papers 3rd Disease Papers Bio 2 Disease Papers 3rd Term 11/20/12 Simmons 7th Period 7-01 Prakash Akula Rabies Rabies is a extremely deadly virus transmitted by the saliva of infected animals. Some common animals native to the United States are skunks, raccoons, bats, foxes, coyotes. In many cases once some one is diagnosed with rabies its near fatal. Rabies is known to not have apparent symptoms, but when the symptoms appear its near the end of its cycle. Some symptoms include headache, fever, insomnia, parietal paralysis, excessive salivation, anxiety, agitation, hallucinations, difficulty of swallowing, hydrophobia. In rare cases if an infected animal has rabies and licks an open wound you can contract rabies from that animal. Some other pets that can contract rabies are cows, cats, dogs, horses, goats, rabbits, and ferrets. Other wild animals can contract rabies as well including beavers, monkeys, and woodchucks. When someone is bitten by an animal there is know way of knowing if that animal has rabies. What a doctor can do is take tissue and blood samples to see if you have been e xposed to rabies. There are no true treatments of rabies, but if you are found to have been bitten by an animal with rabies then you will be given multiple shots. If you do have rabies you will be given five shots over the serious of fourteen days. Some ways to be sure you do not get rabies is to vaccinate your pets, keep your animals safe from wild animals, keep bats out of your house hold, keep your pets confined, do not approach wild animals, and finally take the rabies vaccine if you are traveling to be safe from it all. Parkinson’s Disease Parkinson’s Disease Is a disorder in which the nervous system is affected and alters your movement. It can just start with one barely noticeable twitch. In pre stages of parkinson’s disease you can notice maybe slurred speech and the stabilization of your arms when walking. Some symptoms include tremors, slowed movement, speech changes, impaired posture, loss of movements, rigid muscles. There has been research that says Parkinson’s disease can be passed down through genetics. Another causes could be toxins in the air or job source that can bring about Parkinson’s disease. Doctors have also found small clumps of substances inside brain cells that are tied to Parkinson’s disease. Youth rarely are found with Parkinson’s disease, but if its found in the family then its common to be seen later on in life. It’s found that males are more likely to have Parkinson’s disease then women. If you do have Parkinson ’s disease then you may also experiance bladder problems, sleep disorders, sexual dysfunction, thinking difficulties, constipation, and depression. There are no tests that can diagnose you with this disease, but a doctor can diagnose you with Parkinson’s disease based on your symptoms and medical history. There are medications not to cure Parkinson’s disease, but to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Since doctors do not know where Parkinson’s disease comes from there are no preventions that are definite. There has been some reasearch that caffine can reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's. Some people also say that massages and acupuncture can help the symptoms of this disease. Cystic Fibrosis Cystic Fibrosis is a very fatal disorder in which the lungs could be severely damaged including the digestive system. Cystic Fibrosis is generically inherited and affects the cells that make digestive juices, mucus, and sweat. Cystic Fibrosis makes mucus, sweat, and digestive juices sticky and thick. The symptoms vary depending on how much its progressed in your body. Some respiratory symptoms include wheezing, lung infections, stuffy nose, ongoing cough that produces sputum, decreased ability to exercise. Digestive symptoms include greasy breathtaking bowel movements, excruciating constipation, poor weight gain and growth, and meconium ileus in newborns. The cause for

Our Man in Havana

Our Man in Havana Thesis statement One of the foremost aspects of today’s living is the fact that, as time goes on; people in Western countries grow increasingly aware of the sheer out-datedness of the classical concept of nationhood. This could not be otherwise, because an ongoing process of Globalization effectively exposes people’s tendency to assess the surrounding reality through the lenses of their national affiliation, as such that substantially impedes their chances of a social advancement.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Our Man in Havana specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is exactly the reason why, even though that as recently as during the course of the fifties, the idea that one should be willing to sacrifice its life for the sake of a ‘nation’ used to be considered fully legitimate, this is no longer being the case. After all, it nowadays becomes increasingly clear for more and mor e people in the West that, since they live only once and since there is no ‘afterlife’ to look forward to, it is specifically ensuring their personal well-being, which represents their foremost priority in life. Therefore, there is nothing too surprising about the fact that even today; Graham Greene’s 1958 novel Our Man in Havana continues to be referred to as such that represents an undermined discursive value. The reason for this is quite apparent – the themes and motifs, explored in this particular novel, appear discursively consistent with the post-industrial realities of the 21st century’s living, associated with the process of more and more people getting rid of socially upheld illusions, as to what accounts for the essence of their responsibilities in life. In my paper, I will aim to substantiate the validity of this suggestion at length. Main part Given the apparent straightforwardness of Green novel’s plot, the task of outlining its main twists does not represent much of a challenge. The novel’s protagonist James Wormold (who happened to be a British citizen), owns a vacuum cleaner shop in pre-revolutionary Havana, Cuba. Being a loving father of his teenage daughter Milly, Wormold finds it increasingly difficult to be able to support Milly’s extravagant lifestyle. In its turn, this prompts him to accept Henry Hawthorne’s (M16’s resident in the Caribbean region) proposition to become a British intelligence agent in Havana – in exchange for his willingness to work on behalf of M16, Wormold was placed on a payroll. Nevertheless, after having realized that would prove impossible to create the ring of informers in Cuba, as it was required of him, Wormold decides to simply invent them, while specifying the cost of maintaining each of these imaginary informers. As the plot unravels, Wormold becomes ever more preoccupied with supplying M16 with fictitious intelligence reports, which i n London are being regarded as such that represent a particularly high intelligence-value.Advertising Looking for critical writing on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The novel’s comical sounding reaches its peak when Wormold sends the drawings of vacuum cleaners (intentionally made to look like some menacing military installations) to London, which causes a great deal of anxiety among M16’s top-officials, who never doubted the realness of the depicted ‘installations’ even for a second. In its turn, this causes Wormold’s superiors to decide to provide him with the ‘secretary’ Beatrice Severn and with the radio-operator Rudi – both working on behalf of British intelligence, as well. Nevertheless, as time goes on, Worlmold realizes that his imaginary intelligence-activities had effectively ceased being merely a game, as Havana’s newspape rs report the actual deaths of many of his imaginary ‘informers’. This, of course, causes Wormold to feel increasingly uneasy about the whole situation. After having been confronted with the death of his close friend Dr. Hasselbacher, who was pressured by captain Segura (Cuban police) to spy on Wormold, the novel’s main character decides to reveal his fraud to Beatrice. Consequently, he gets to be recalled back to London – presumably, to face the charge of betrayal. Yet, to Wormold’s amazement, it was not only that did not get to be punished, but he in fact ended up being offered a teaching job with M16 and awarded the Order of British Empire. Apparently, Wormold’s superiors refused to even consider the possibility of admitting to the government that ‘their man in Havana’ was nothing but a con artist, as it would expose British intelligence in a rather unsightly light. It is needless to mention, of course, that even a brief glanc e at the earlier provided outline of Green novel’s plot does not allow us to refer to Our Man in Havana as such that emanates the spirit of British patriotism, in the classical sense of this word. After all, with the probable exemption of the character of Beatrice, the individuals associated with the British government, featured in the novel, appear to have been deprived of even basic analytical abilities – quite contrary to the assumption that, in order for one to qualify for the job of a British spy, he or she must possess a supreme intelligence. Partially, the ‘unpatriotic’ sounding of Green’s novel can be explained by the particulars of the author’s religious affiliation. This is because, throughout the course of his adult life, Green never ceased to proclaim itself a devout Catholic. However, it does not represent much of a secret that, ever since the beginning of the 17th century, British Catholics have been finding themselves in an inc reasingly disadvantaged social position.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Our Man in Havana specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Even today, being a British Catholic implies being socially underprivileged to an extent. As Burgess noted, â€Å"The British State tolerates the Catholic Church, but the Catholic Church, being a supra-national body, has no representation in the establishment†¦ To honor the monarch is to acknowledge the hegemony of the Church of England† (94). Therefore, when assessed from a purely religious perspective, the lack of Green’s patriotic enthusiasm, clearly exhibited in Our Man in Havana, can be well thought of as having been reflective of the author’s deep-seated unconscious anxieties, related to his religious sense of self-identity. However, it was not only the societal implications of Green’s affiliation with Catholicism, which caused his novel’ s satire to attain a clearly defined political sounding, but also the theological and ideological ones. This is because Catholics always suspected Protestants to be deeply hypocritical in how they go about proclaiming their adherence to God. After all, as opposed to what it is being the case with Catholics; Protestants do not perceive God as their ultimate benefactor. Rather they think of him as some distant authority that simply lays down the rules of a religious morality but does not intervene in their lives actively. Apparently, Protestants have grown to realize a simple fact that material riches do not fall out of the sky and that one needs to work hard, in order to achieve a financial prosperity. In fact, it now became a commonplace practice among many Protestants to think that the amount of money they have in banks positively relates to the measure of God’s pleasure with them (Weber 60). Green, however, never ceased considering Protestants’ obsession with making money morally wrong, which explains the sarcastic sounding of the novel’s scenes in which American businesspersons elaborate on their vision of religion/spirituality. For example, there is a memorable scene in the novel, where the character of Dr. Braun comes up with a public speech, while praising the trade as the actual source of spirituality, â€Å"Trade was important because without trade there would be no spiritual links, or was it perhaps the other way round. He (Dr. Braun) spoke of American aid to distressed countries which would enable them to buy more goods and by buying more goods strengthen the spiritual links† (Green 91). This explains the subtle criticism of American (Western) concept of ‘democracy’, which can be found throughout the course of Green novel’s entirety.Advertising Looking for critical writing on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Apparently, the author was intellectually honest enough to admit to himself and to his readers that, by promoting the values of ‘democracy’ in the Third World, Western countries pursue their own geopolitical/economic agenda, which in turn is being concerned with assuming a unilateral control of the world’s natural/human resources – hence, the actual secret of Western countries’ economic prosperity. This suggestion and the clearly defined autobiographical undertones of the Green’s novel, help us to explain the innate motivation behind Wormold’s decision to accept money from the British secret service, without providing any real intelligence information in return. It appears that, while deceiving British intelligence, Worlmold (a literary embodiment of Green) was not merely concerned with ensuring an additional source of income but also with acting on behalf of justice – whatever ironic it may sound. Even though that the novelâ₠¬â„¢s main character initially doubted the moral appropriateness of his decision, in this respect, Dr. Hasselbacher was able to convince him in the opposite, â€Å"They (governmental officials) have no money except what they take from men like you and me† (29). Eventually, it had dawned upon Wormold that, by making the rich and powerful to share some of their riches with ordinary individuals like himself, even by the mean of deceiving the government, he in fact was serving a higher good. This again reveals an unmistakably Catholic mindset, in the part of the novel’s author, as the reading about how Wormold went about addressing life’s challenges does substantiate the validity of the idea that there is nothing wrong about combating evil with evil. And, as Green’s biographers are being well aware of, this idea never ceased to fascinate the author of Our Man in Havana,† Throughout his life†¦ Greene had a fascination with evil and a contempt for or dinary virtues. After his conversion to Catholicism, he defended this attitude on the ground that a close acquaintance with evil was no obstacle to the salvation of the soul. It might even be essential† (Gray 51). Hence, the thoroughly humanistic sounding of the Green’s novel, as such that promotes the idea that, despite their weaknesses, people are nevertheless are being capable of adopting a proper stance in life. Nevertheless, it would not be fully appropriate to assess the significance of the novel’s themes and motifs solely in regards to what used to be the particulars of Green’s religious affiliation. Had this been the case, these themes and motifs would not be considered discursively relevant today. Yet, as it was mentioned in the Introduction, there are indeed a number of good reasons to believe that the manner in which Wormold behaves in the novel is being fully consistent with the discourse of post-modernity, which nowadays causes more and more p eople to reassess the validity of many traditional assumptions, regarding what accounts for the purpose of one’s life, and regarding to the implications one’s national affiliation. For example, there is another memorable scene in the novel, where Hawthorne tries to recruit Wormold, while implying that being assumed a British patriot, his newly found would-be-spy simply had no option but to agree to the proposition, â€Å"You are English, arent you?.. And you refuse to serve your country?† (21). Apparently, it never occurred to Hawthorne that, as time goes on, the discursive significance of socio-political concepts, such as ‘nation’, continues to be qualitatively transformed, which often leads to these concepts becoming deprived of any meaning, whatsoever. Nowadays, the validity of this statement appears especially self-evident, because due to an ongoing process of Globalization, the national borders between formally independent countries have long a go assumed a purely symbolic value. In its turn, this causes many political observers to conclude that it is being only the matter of time, before the concept of ‘national sovereignty’ will be effectively disposed with, as thoroughly outdated. As Ohmae noted, â€Å"The global economy ignores barriers, but if they are not removed, they cause distortion. The traditional centralized nation-state is another cause of friction. It is ill equipped to play a meaningful role on the global stage† (Ohmae 25). Yet, even throughout the course of the late fifties, the discursive irrelevance of the concept of ‘nation’ was becoming apparent. The reason for this is simple – after the end of WW2, Western European countries (including Britain, which had lost all of its most important colonies) have been effectively deprived of their de facto independence – all due to these countries’ willingness to participate in the Marshall Plan and to join NATO. In essence, they became the America’s puppet-states. And yet, as it appears from the novel, the character of Hawthorne remained thoroughly ignorant of this fact, which explains why, while trying to convince Wormold to become M16’s agent, he continued to refer to Britain’s geopolitical challenges in essentially pre-WW2 terms. The legitimacy of this suggestion can be well illustrated in regards to Hawthorne’s strongly defined anti-German stance, â€Å"Not that it matters East or West, they (Germans) play the German game. Remember the Ribbentrop Pact. We (British) wont be caught that way again† (13). This explains why Wormold could not help but to accept Hawthorne’s offer – after having realized that Hawthorne was a perceptually inadequate individual, allowing him to walk away with money would constitute a ‘sin’. The discursive implication of this suggestion can be formulated as follows: unlike what it was the case with man y of the novel’s intellectually inflexible characters, such as Hawthorne, Wormold proved himself being quick enough to take advantage of moneymaking opportunities, presented by the realities of the Cold War era. Apparently, despite having been born well before the discourse of Globalization had attained a politically legitimate status, Wormold was psychologically attuned with what would constitute the secularized and deideologized realities of a post-industrial living. After all, nowadays it is specifically only not overly bright individuals who may be comfortable with the idea that the abstract cause of ‘patriotism’ is worthy of risking their lives. This is because, due to the revolutionary breakthroughs in the field of informational technologies (the rise of the Internet), this world is becoming ever more ‘informationally intense’. In its turn, this creates objective preconditions for people in Western countries to realize the simple fact that ther e is only one reason for the representatives of social elites to continue striving to endow ordinary citizens with the sense of ‘patriotism’ – it is so much easier to turn patriots into a ‘cannon meat’, willing to sacrifice for the rich and powerful on the battlefield, if circumstances require. Therefore, it will not be much of an exaggeration, on our part, to suggest that the appeal of Our Man in Havana is being partially concerned with the novel’s ‘visionary’ subtleties – today’s readers cannot help but to perceive the character of Wormold, as such was born well ahead of its time. This, of course, causes them to relate to this character emotionally – hence, the continual popularity of Our Man in Havana. Conclusion I believe that the line of argumentation, deployed throughout this paper, is being fully consistent with the initial thesis. It appears that, even as far back as during the course of the late fifti es, Green had a very good idea, as to what would be the nature of ‘things to come’ in the future. This explains why; whereas, the names of the author’s contemporaries, who used to criticize him on the account of his ‘lack of patriotism’, are now long forgotten, Green’s literary legacy continues being highly appreciated. Given the fact that, as time goes on, the process of intellectually liberating Globalization keeps on gaining a momentum; this will likely to remain the case in the future, as well. Burgess, Anthony. â€Å"Politics in the Novels of Graham Greene.† Journal of  Contemporary History 2.2 (1967): 93-99. Print. Gray, John. â€Å"A Touch of Evil.† New Statesman 13.633 (2000): 51-52. Print. Greene, Graham. Our Man in Havana. Penguin Classics. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007. Print. Ohmae, Kenichi. Next Global Stage: Challenges and Opportunities in Our  Borderless World. Upper Saddle River: Wharton School Publishing, 2005. Print. Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Courier Dover Publications, 2003. Print.