Microeconomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Microeconomics - Assignment Example A decent graphical portrayal of utilitarian utility is demonstrated as follows. Negligible pace of replacement speaks to the rate at which clients are prepared to surrender one ware so as to trade while guaranteeing an equivalent degree of utility. MRS shifts with focuses along the impassion thus it is essential to keep locally in the definition. What's more, MRS of a ware X is proportionate to the minimal utility of X over the peripheral utility of Y. a. An expansion in the cost of a typical decent: This had direct impact of changes in salary on utilization decision. For this situation, purchasers purchase more products when their pay ascends as the costs stay fixed in the market. For this situation, an adjustment in the salary of the purchaser causes the interest bend to move. This is obvious through an adversely inclined interest bend to counter the space in the show. In this way, the expansion popular causes an increment sought after and a move to one side of the interest bend for living space. b. A decline in the cost of a substandard decent: In the market, an abatement in the costs of such merchandise prompts increment in the balance amount requested. In this manner, the replacement impact would constrain the customer to purchase a greater amount of the great. c. An expansion in the cost of a Giffen decent: In financial aspects, an increment in the costs of Giffen great builds the amount of the decency that is requested in the market. This outcomes to an upward inclining request bend because of connections of the pay and replacement impacts. The salary impact can be certain or negative when the cost of these products

Mitigating Market Entry Barriers

Presentation Porter’s (1979) five powers hypothesis features showcase passage boundaries as one of imperatives in building up another business. Examining market passage obstructions for McLaren empowers us to evaluate the degree of rivalry and the potential boundaries blocking the advancement of McLaren in the mass vehicle industry. As McLaren started expansion in the 1960’s it helped them extraordinarily in turning away market passage hindrances to through economies of scale. By stretching out into various businesses, for example, McLaren hustling and McLaren car, McLaren had the option to profit extraordinarily from economies of scale. This has supported McLaren with their high capital speculation prerequisite for building up a mass vehicle creating organization. As a high worth vehicle, to buy the parts and have the McLaren purchaser vehicle produced would be incredibly costly. Be that as it may, Mclaren entered the mass vehicle showcase as a major aspect of its enhancement methodology which has permitted the organization to used same worth chain for its shopper vehicle hardware. In this manner, the underlying high speculation capital boundary required for the market section was effectively moderated by McLaren. Aside from the colossal capital speculation necessity, item separation is likewise one of the market passage obstructions in the mass vehicle showcase. McLaren defeated this boundary effectively on the grounds that it previously had set up brand value and an unwavering demographic. McLaren is a known worldwide for its recipe one hustling group in high respects so setting up new organizations under its image name wasn’t troublesome. McLaren’s vehicles were handily separated from other very good quality vehicle makers due to the company’s effectively settled brand picture. (Fahri, K and Michael, J. 1989) Another hindrance to advertise section inside the vehicle business is the dissemination channels. McLaren was not required to set up its dispersion channel for shopper vehicles since it didn't create them in enormous numbers and a large portion of its vehicles were bought via vehicle aficionados who distinctly south after the brand. The key ‘pull’ methodology for promoting its modest number of top of the line shopper vehicles turned away its needs to build up a conveyance and deals channel (Terpstra, 1994). Another section hindrance to the mass vehicle showcase and a significant one is the necessity of buyer vehicles to stick to wellbeing particular and condition epscification. . The car business is dependent upon government decides and guidelines that incorporate the vehicle wellbeing and natural issues. Vehicle security is to guarantee that every vehicle that is provided is alright for the driver and its travelers consistently. Ecological issues incorporate discharge levels to decrease the harm every vehicle makes to demolish our condition. McLaren has its own innovative work habitats and condition of workmanship test offices and creation plant where it could create, actualize and screen its vehicle execution as per the legitimate prerequisites. The Level of Diversification Achieved by McLaren As indicated by Ansoff (1957), there are four fundamental corporate methodologies for development. These are advertise entrance; showcase advancement; item improvement and enhancement (see fig1). Fig.1 The initial three development methodologies require a firm to change its item or potentially showcase structure. In contrast to these three, the forward development system for example expansion requires an adjustment in the qualities of a company’s product offering or potentially showcase. Broadening â€Å"calls for a concurrent takeoff from the current product offering and the current market structure† (Ansoff, 1957, p.114). Relating to this development system order, wandering of McLaren into a few particular organizations can be delegated its broadening methodology. Throughout the years, McLaren has wandered into a few particular organizations. These are: McLaren Racing includes equation one dashing group that contends in recipe one hustling. This business centers basically around the dashing group of the organization. McLaren Racing decides to be extraordinary compared to other known recipe one group on the planet. McLaren Racing has set up its image by taking 181 Grand Prix triumphs (William, 2009). McLaren Automotive is a business that structures and assembles super vehicles made for the mass customers. McLaren street vehicles are intended to meet the elevated standards regarding rate, execution and perseverance. As an overall brand, McLaren Automotive intends to create the best car vehicles as well as to persistently ‘raise the benchmark in car design’ (McLaren, 2013). McLaren Electronic Systems (MES) makes electronic control frameworks for the McLaren Racing group. The company’s electronic frameworks are utilized in equation one vehicle for different telemetry and tactile frameworks. The organization additionally makes electronic control units for different groups in the motorsport business to use across Europe and North America. (McLaren, 2013) McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT) centers around providing the best innovation to help the specialized help in universe of sports and to improve the exhibition of McLaren’s equation one vehicles. McLaren Applied Technologies has kept on boosting McLaren’s notoriety as the ‘forefront of British designing and technology’ (McLaren, 2013). Tangle has helped overall games by giving innovation to help improve the productivity of the participant’s execution in the most ideal manner conceivable. This could be something as straightforward as giving trail blazing bicycles that weigh less without obstructing the productivity of the bicycle. Outright Taste is occupied with cordiality and occasion the board business. It serves food to McLaren’s clients and fans at equation one race. Total Taste likewise gives a providing food administration and accommodation to high society clients around the globe. They additionally compose occasions and the serve different cooking styles to provide food its worldwide clients (McLaren, 2013).McLaren’s Horizontal DiversificationThe previously mentioned enhancement techniques of McLaren can be arranged as either related or un-related expansion methodologies. Related enhancement procedures can be additionally separated into three classes as flat, vertical and cross-area expansion (Charles et. al, 2010). These related broadening procedures contrast because of their diverse blend of industry likeness and worth chain similitude (see fig 2). Level enhancement relates to a business’s wandering into another field which utilizes a similar worth chain as its center business and falls inside a similar industry. Thinking about this definition, McLaren has not differentiated on a level plane as it has not gained some other equation one hustling groups. Fig.2 (Source: Charles et, al. 2010, p. 296)McLaren’s Vertical DiversificationVertical broadening alludes to an enhancement activity inside a similar industry, however one which utilizes an alternate worth chain than that of the company’s center business. (Charles et, al. 2010). McLaren expanded vertically through its car business as it works inside a similar industry yet has various clients and promoting channels. In like manner, McLaren’s electronic frameworks and applied innovation business can be named as vertical enhancement as it works inside the equivalent (recipe one dashing) industry, however it requires an unmistakable worth chain for example creation, dispersion and client organize (McLaren, 2013).McLaren’s Cross Sector DiversificationCross area enhancement happens alludes to broadening inside an alternate industry, yet one which has an equivalent worth chain (Charles et, al. 2010). McLaren’s wandering into the providing food, accommodation and occasion the board business (Absolute Taste) can be delegated cross-division expansion. Supreme Taste share’s a similar worth chain as McLaren’s center business as it is an expansion of the company’s own advertising exercises and therefore utilizes the equivalent administrative and different assets. In any case, Absolute Taste likewise works in a total distinctive friendliness industry; a field totally not the same as vehicle dashing business. Similalry, McLaren’s applied advances can be named as cross-area broadening in that it likewise works in different ventures, for example, clinical science separated and sports (other than vehicle racing).McLaren’s Unrelated DiversificationUnrelated expansion is alluded to a firm’s commitment in a totally un-related business (Charles et, al. 2010). McLaren, broadening methodologies so far do exclude any un-related enhancement as the organization accomplishes economies of scale and cooperative energies through the entirety of its expansion procedures. McLaren has built up this arrangement of organizations to help the Group’s notoriety and to extend. The advancement of the creation place improved McLaren’s odds of expanding economies of scale. By having such a significant number of the McLaren organizations being overseen under a similar rooftop, it permits each organization to benefit as much as possible from unmistakable and immaterial assets and materials that wouldn’t have been utilized something else (McLaren, 2013). The joint utilization of information sources implies that distinctive McLaren auxiliaries share the exchange cost of apparatus and other conceivable creation costs for the vehicles that are delivered. When the McLaren creation focus was manufactured, it implied that the inside procedure of vehicle creation would change. Inside the creation community explore is ceaselessly accumulated on the best way to improve the general execution of McLaren’s Racing and Automotive vehicles. As the vehicle is constructed they would then be able to send it off to be shower painted by hand inside a similar office which spares time as well as lessens mistakes that may have been made on the paint work by machines. Administrative desire is the drive of numerous organizations. McLaren has a notoriety to retain as the ‘forefront of British engineering’ (McLar

Optimal Checkout Process for Online Stores

Optimal Checkout Process for Online Stores © Shutterstock.com | RedshinestudioAn optimized and easy to use checkout process is vital to achieving successful sales on an online store. In this article, we will look at: 1) basic checkout process and flow, 2) tips for developing an optimal checkout process, and 3) examples of successful checkout processes.BASIC CHECKOUT PROCESS AND FLOWWhile designing a website for an e-commerce store, it is important to keep the layout accessible, easy to navigate and ensure that there are no extra steps or clutter. The cleaner the interface and the steps involved to finalizing purchases, the more likely a customer is to finish their transaction and return.One of the key elements to the online shopping experience is the checkout process. If the rest of the site is perfectly designed and the checkout system complicated, it will render the good parts useless. Ensuring ease of use during the checkout process is not an easy task as this is a complex process with a significant number of functions. T hough the checkout process technically begins past the shopping cart view, the shopping cart itself is also a key element in the flow and needs to be considered with the rest. The basic functions of key elements in the checkout process are given below.Shopping CartThe shopping cart performs some basic functions such as:Itemized view of products in the cartModifications to items in the cartSwitch back to the website to continue shoppingLeaving the cart to complete purchaseReviewing PurchasesThis page typically follows the shopping cart and displays the same information for the customer to go through. Information provided here usually includes the name and description of the product along with the price, number of items and total cost. The costs are per item as well as the total cost with tax, and often shipping charges, included.Account Sign-InOften, an e-commerce store may ask the customer to create an account or sign-in to an existing one before they can proceed further. It is a gr eat idea to keep this step optional to allow the customer to go through checkout with fewer steps if they chose. It is important to keep the flow clean to ensure that customers do not abandon the shopping cart midway.Shipping and Payment InformationOnce past the review page, the customer now needs to provide shipping and payment information. The form the customer needs to fill in here should be clear and simple with instructions for any common input errors.Purchase ConfirmationOnce all the information is collected, there is usually one last review and confirmation page where the customer can review final total costs and items. Once confirmed, it is good practice to send the customer an email with order number and details for tracking the package through shipping.TIPS FOR DEVELOPING AN OPTIMAL CHECKOUT PROCESSThough not a simple process to design, the positive results gained from a clean and simple checkout process are too many to be ignored. By spending some time creating a seamless user experience, an online store can ensure that customers remain happy, and sales continue to happen successfully. Some basic steps can help a store owner design an optimal checkout process.Don’t Force Registration: As mentioned briefly, the registration process can become a tricky one for an online store. It is important to ensure that registration is suggested at the right point in the purchase flow. It should come at some point during checkout and not before. Since the registration form requires time and effort, the customer may be put off by the extra steps. The potential barrier to purchase should be placed much further in the process because the customer is more committed to the purchase then and even during checkout, the registration should be an option not a necessity.Explain Information Requirements: In the registration form, there should not be extra fields asking for seemingly useless or irrelevant information. If such information is requested, the reasons behind it s hould be communicated clearly to the customer.Be Clear About Item Availability: There should be minimal steps for the customer in order to know whether an item is available or not. Instead, availability information should be clearly mentioned on the product page and also preferably in search result pages. If the item is to be restocked, the date for this should be mentioned, and if possible, a pre-order option made available.Let Customers Modify Orders Easily: People often change their mind about certain items or decide to make minor or major changes to their order. In addition, often during review of the items in the shopping cart, an error can be identified by the customer perhaps in size or color. These modifications should be easy to make and should not become a source of frustration for the customer. A remove or edit button is the best option for this.Ensure That Support is Readily Available: Often, it is a good idea to go beyond a help or an FAQ page. Instead, if possible, tel ephone assistance or a chat option can help speed up problem resolution for the customer.Make Sure that the Back Button is Functional: The back button available on browsers is an oft used function by most people. Often websites will neglect to take this into account and either fail to save information or give an error. If the back button is used, any information entered should be updated and saved, and the previous page should be displayed without error.Use Clear Instructions: Any buttons or links should be labeled clearly and their function easy to understand. For example, instead of a button saying ‘continue’ there should be one that says ‘continue shopping’ or ‘continue to checkout’. These little steps help avoid confusion and additional steps.Ensure All Product Details in the Shopping Cart: At the shopping cart view and item review pages, there should be details of the products selected. These details should include the item name, a description, a thumbnail photo, si ze, color or other details as well as a link to the item page on the website.A Progress Indicator is a Good Idea: Since there are various steps involved in the checkout process, it is a good idea to keep the customer updated on how far they have to go. This will ensure that there is less confusion and more of a sense of control for the customer. A progress indicator bar can be designed in various ways but should clearly show where the customer is and where they have to go.Provide a Link Back to Continue Shopping: A customer may check their total purchase amount or review their items and decide to add more to the cart. For such cases, it is a good idea to provide a clear link to get back to the main website to continue shipping.Ensure That the Checkout Interface is Simple: Though the entire online store should be clean and simple in its appearance with no clutter anywhere, the checkout process needs to achieve this more than anywhere else. The checkout pages should not be cluttered w ith extra information such as product categories, special offers, related items, etc. these may just distract the customer from completing the process.Keep Customer on the Checkout Page: If the customer needs any additional information such as a shipping process and expected delivery date, it is a good idea to work this into the checkout page. If the customer is redirected, there is a chance of distraction or confusion. Other options for providing this information can be a pop-up window or a new tab.Show Shopping Cart At All Times: Many websites show the shopping cart on the side as the customer continues to shop. This eliminates the need to keep moving to a separate page to keep track of purchases in a cart. Technically, it may be easier to avoid this step, but it makes a lot of difference in improving user experience.Be Clear About Errors: While filling out shipping or billing information, any errors should be highlighted clearly so that the customer does not have to go looking fo r the error. In addition, there should be concise explanations on how to fix the error to avoid frustration.Offer Gift Wrapping or Add Message Options: Most good websites offer the customer the option for sending a gift wrapped item to someone. This is a particularly good idea close to major holidays but should not be limited to such events onlyProvide Clear Instructions on Entering Coupon or Special Offer Codes: Before final review, there should be a place to enter coupon or offer codes and the resulting page should reflect changes to the final bill for the customer.Be Clear About Shipping Costs and Delivery Times: Customers have to wait to receive their products during the online shopping experience as it is. To make sure this wait remains painless it is necessary to clearly inform the customer when they should expect their purchase to arrive. In addition, there should be no confusion in shipping costs and all information should be provided clearly.Communicate Next Steps: A good c heckout experience will leave the customer with a clear understanding of what is to happen next. This could mean a thank you and a note to tell them that an email with all the details is being sent to them. Additionally, if the customer can cancel or modify an order before the items are shipped, this information should be communicated at this point.Send Confirmation Email: It is a good idea to send a confirmation email with all the order information as well as the delivery time estimate. Other crucial information is the order reference number to track the package or in case of a problem with items.Optimize Checkout for Mobile Devices: Increasingly, it is becoming imperative to ensure that an online store and the checkout process are both optimized for not only a computer but also a variety of mobile devices. There are statistics to show that as many as 88% of customers trying to shop via smartphone have a negative user experience. This is a troubling statistic because more people ar e turning to browsing and consequently making purchases directly from their mobile devices such as smartphones or pads. These people most often have trouble with navigation, product images that are too small and an inconvenient process for checkout.Provide Multiple Payment Options: The more options users have for payment, the higher the likelihood of them completing their purchase on an online store. It should be easy for customers to pay using common payment solutions and methods. PayPal is a necessity because people tend to view it as secure and convenient. In addition, there should be security assurances for different kinds of credit and debit cards. EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL CHECKOUT PROCESSESArmando Roggio, a contributing editor for the website Practical E-commerce and the director for marketing and e-commerce for a multi-channel retail chain, took a look at some of the main checkout features of several leading e-commerce websites. His aim was to use these brands to highlight the right way of to finish an e-commerce transaction.Through his evaluation, he realized that not all of them used accepted best practices in their processes but manage to provide a good checkout process despite this. So in some cases, companies and experts may differ in the right way of doing things.The Case StudiesRoggio considered some of the major online stores for his evaluation. These include Amazon, Best Buy, Apple, Dell, Walmart, Macy’s, Office Depot, Office Max, Sears, and Staples. He went to each site on the same day with the intention of assessing how fast he could go from picking a product to completing the purchase.As expected, most of the e-commerce retailers used the same process flow for their checkout. This process is somewhat standard across all e-commerce websites. After picking a product (including size, color, design or other relevant criteria), the item is added to the shopping cart, billing shipping information provided along with contact and payment informatio n and finally order confirmation is received.The two areas where the chosen websites stood out were the ability to continue shopping and the registration process.Continue Shopping: All of these retailers specifically emphasized the option to continue shopping. Previously, the trend had been to offer a link to continue shopping on the checkout page but keep this small and text only. The intention was to allow users the option of easily switching back to the website, but not distract them and risk leading to shopping cart abandonment. In the case of the websites under review, the common factor in most cases was a pop-up style window that allows customers to either continue to checkout or keep shopping with both buttons clearly visible. Other related information is also made available such as on the Sears and Walmart websites, the pop-up window also informs customers of how close they are to reaching the free shipping amount with their purchase. Walmart also provides links to related o r complementary items.Meaningful Registration: Amazon was the only one of the reviewed websites that required registration to complete the purchase. Though this is often discouraged in best practices for successful checkout processes, Amazon manages to succeed despite this because the website makes the registration worthwhile. An Amazon Prime user can make purchases with just a single click which is extremely fast, simple and convenient. Conversely, navigation without logging in takes as many as five clicks without considering the clicks between form fields.The websites that did not require registration required as many as five to eight clicks apart from those between form fields. When registered and logged in, these steps were reduced in every case. So though registration is not mandatory, it does provide a better user experience for the customer. These websites took the time to explain benefits for registration such as Sears, which gives four clear benefits of registering.Faster C heckoutEasy Access to order history and checklistsOption to manage multiple accounts with one login such as Sears, Kmart, etc.Personalized shopping with a chance to save on items of interest.These benefits are clearly mentioned on the same page as the log in option. Macy’s also offers customers the option to checkout using the express option or the guest checkout. By using the express checkout, the customer can bypass several steps and move to the final transaction faster.These leading e-commerce giants had the same checkout flow as most other online stores. They however emphasize more on adding further items to the basket and most likely encourage registration more than other websites.A good checkout experience is about ensuring that there are fewer distractions for the customer and that there is ample information available in a concise way to help the customer smooth transition through the checkout stages. The easier and quicker the checkout process is, the quicker a sale will b e closed and finalized. This in turn will mean a satisfied customer who is more likely to return.

Essay about The American Dream John F. Kenedy - 2184 Words

The American Dream John F. Kennedy Everyone has his or her own definition of what â€Å"The American Dream† is and what is means. Some, however, may believe this dream is in reality, a cultural nightmare. This â€Å"dream† was first created as a set of ideals and ethics that would be promised to all citizens in America. James Truslow Adams first used this notion in the novel, The Epic America. He writes: The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of†¦show more content†¦His brothers Robert Francis â€Å"Bobby† Kennedy and Edward Moore â€Å"Ted† Kennedy also were in politics and served as senators while his sister, Jean Ann Kennedy, served as a United States Ambassador to Ireland. His othe r siblings included, Joseph Patrick â€Å"Joe† Kennedy, Jr., who fought in WWII, and his other sisters, Rose Mary â€Å"Rosemary† Kennedy, Kathleen Agnes â€Å"Kick† Kennedy, Eunice Mary Kennedy, and Patricia Helen â€Å"Pat† Kennedy (JFK, n.d.). Over the years, Kennedy attended many private schools throughout the Northeast. For his high school year, John F. Kennedy attended the prestigious boarding school of Choate in Wallingford, Connecticut. John, living in his football star and scholar of a brother’s shadow, showed a more rebellious and defiant side by misbehaving and executing notorious pranks. During this time he also experienced health problems that were later diagnosed as colitis. Kennedy graduated high school in June 1935 and was named â€Å"Most Likely To Succeed† (SparkNotes Editors, 2005). After battling with hospitalization and recovery for a year, Kennedy enrolled at Harvard College in 1936. His experience at Harvard was much l ike his former experience at Choate. Kennedy was always in the shadow of his older â€Å"more intelligent and driven† brother, Joe (SparkNotes Editors, 2005). John’s grades weren’t always the best and he seemed to focus more on sports and his social life rather that academics. He was

Holocaust Records Archive Unveiled

After 60 years of being hidden away from the public, Nazi records about the 17.5 million people — Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, mental patients, handicapped, political prisoners and other undesirables — they persecuted during the regimes 12 years in power will be open to the public. What is the ITS Bad Arolsen Holocaust Archive? The ITS Holocaust Archive in Bad Arolsen, Germany contains the fullest records of Nazi persecutions in existence.  The archives contain 50 million pages, housed in thousands of filing cabinets in six buildings. Overall, there are 16 miles of shelves holding information about the victims of the Nazis. The documents — scraps of paper, transport lists, registration books, labor documents, medical records, and finally death registers — record the arrest, transportation, and extermination of the victims. In some case, even the amount and size of the lice found on the prisoners’ heads were recorded.This archive contains the famous Schindler’s List, with the names of 1,000 prisoners saved by factory owner Oskar Schindler who told the Nazis he needed the prisoners to work in his factory.Records of Anne Frank’s journey from Amsterdam to Bergen-Belsen, where she died at the age of 15, can also be found among the millions of documents in this archive.The Mauthausen concentration camp’s â€Å"Totenbuch,† or Death Book, records in meticulous handwriting how, on April 20, 1942, a prisoner was shot in the back of the head every two minutes for 90 hours. The Mauthausen camp commandant ordered these executions as a birthday present for Hitler.Towar d the end of the war, when the Germans were struggling, the record keeping was not able to keep up with the extermination. And unknown numbers of prisoners were marched directly from trains to gas chambers in places like Auschwitz without being registered. How were the archives created? As the Allies conquered Germany and entered the Nazi concentration camps beginning in the spring of 1945, they found detailed records that had been kept by the Nazis. The documents were taken to the German town of Bad Arolsen, where they were sorted, filed, and locked way. In 1955, the International Tracing Service (ITS), an arm of the International Committee of the Red Cross, was put in charge of the archives. Why were the records closed to the public? An agreement signed in 1955 stated that no data that could harm the former Nazi victims or their families should be published. Thus, the ITS kept the files closed to the public because of concerns about the victims privacy. Information was doled out in minimal amounts to survivors or their descendants.This policy generated much ill-feeling among Holocaust survivors and researchers. In response to pressure from these groups, the ITS commission declared itself in favor of opening up the records in 1998 and began scanning the documents into digital form in 1999.Germany, however, opposed amending the original convention to allow for public access to the records. German opposition, which was based on possible misuse of information, became the main barrier to opening the Holocaust archives to the public.Yet until now Germany resisted the opening, on the grounds that the records involve private information about individuals that could be misused. Why are the records now being made available? In May 2006, following years of pressure from the United States and survivors groups, Germany changed its viewpoint and agreed to a fast revision of the original agreement.Brigitte Zypries, the German justice minister at the time, announced this decision while in Washington for a meeting with Sara J. Bloomfield, the director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.Zypries said, Our point of view is that the protection of privacy rights has reached by now a standard high enough to ensure ... the protection of privacy of those concerned. Why are the records important? The immensity of information in the archives will provide Holocaust researchers with work for generations. Holocaust scholars have already started to revise their estimates of the number of camps run by the Nazis according to new information being found. And the archives present a formidable obstacle to Holocaust deniers.In addition, with the youngest survivors very swiftly dying each year, time is running out for survivors to learn about their loved ones. Today survivors fear that after they die, no one will remember the names of their family members who were killed in the Holocaust. The archives need to be accessible while there are still survivors alive who have the knowledge and drive to access it.The opening of the archives means that survivors and their descendents can finally find information about the loved ones they lost, and this may bring them some well-deserved closure before the end of their lives.

UK’s Barclaycard and the Need to Outsource Free Essays

string(109) " similar to the UK and the English speaking inhabitants will never pose a problem in terms of communication\." In the 21st there are two terms that keep on buzzing in the headlines: globalization and global telecommunications. These two are related because if technology continues to improve then the whole planet goes high-tech – each person beginning to realise that the world is shrinking and every year or so improvements in mobile communications, the Internet and the proliferation of wireless devices makes it easier to communicate with one another. One major implication of technology change is a concept called outsourcing. We will write a custom essay sample on UK’s Barclaycard and the Need to Outsource or any similar topic only for you Order Now This idea is nothing new but UK’s Barclaycard is just one of the many global corporations that acknowledges the need to outsource. But it is not as simple as that, Barclaycard had to make a difficult decision, to choose between two places where they can outsource a portion of their operations – whether to ship some of their work to India or the Philippines. Overview According to Richard Bolin, Director of The Flagstaff Institute, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, the phenomenon of outsourcing is nothing new and even as early as 20 years ago there are industrialised countries who made the connection between outsourcing and profitability: Japan intentionally got rid of sewing factories to Southeast Asia by 1981. They couldn’t waste their precious labour supply on low value sewing operations. This is what outsourcing is all about. If a company does not outsource, it will die. And if its country does not find new industries to replace the inefficient ones, it will not attract new investment and better jobs. Everybody has to understand this (Bolin). Bolin is just one of many business leaders that place their faith in outsourcing and believing that this strategy is not a threat to the nation’s economy. In the long run it will benefit the economy because it will create a very efficient system where the following positive outcomes can be expected (Brown, 2005): †¢ Increase sales opportunities †¢ Prevent missed opportunities †¢ Reduce annual costs almost immediately †¢ Enable business to focus on core competencies †¢ Reduce or eliminate customer complaints †¢ Increase customer loyalty In a nutshell, outsourcing is the obtaining of services from an external source, outside the company. A more technical definition uses the term Business process outsourcing (BPO), â€Å"†¦BPO occurs when an organisation turns over the management of a particular business process such as accounting or payroll †¦ the underlying theory is that the BPO firm can complete the process more efficiently† (Brown, 2005). It is easy to comprehend that if global corporations fail to figure out the beauty of outsourcing then they will be left behind by their competitors. They will eat the dust left behind by those who were able to grasp the idea that allowing others to do low value operations is the future of effective business management. It is similar to hiring a driver to do the more redundant work of driving in order to free up the CEO to do more important tasks. The positive feedback is the main reason why business process outsourcing is such a hot topic in the world today. But it does not mean that everything will turn out to be great whenever a company decides to outsource part of its operations overseas. There are obviously so many things to consider. Each case must be treated separately and a thorough analysis of the operation, the core values of the company as well as pertinent information regarding the outsourcing destination must be considered prior to the decision to shut down one portion of the operations component of the firm and outsource it outside the country. Barclaycard UK A casual overview of companies that decided to outsource part of their operations overseas will reveal that most of them have a common denominator. These companies are either in the manufacturing industry or it is a business that relies heavily on Information Technology. Those in manufacturing will find the conditions in China particularly attractive because of the availability of cheap labour as well as the competitive costs of building and maintaining factories. Those in need of IT personnel will turn to India simply because this is a nation where there is a relatively high concentration of English speaking people that are at the same time tech-savvy and many are knowledgeable about current trends in the IT sector (Pogson, 2008). Barclaycard is one European powerhouse that could not afford not to outsource. Barclaycard is part of the Barclays Group a conglomerate that can be found in the United Kingdom. It is Europe’s largest multi-brand credit card and also provides other forms of consumer lending businesses. Barclaycard continues to lead the way in Europe and according to their official press release they are the most recognized brand in UK with over 10 million retail customers. But they are still expanding – there are currently 8. 8 million credit cards in issue outside the UK and the firm also maintains operations in over fifty countries and four continents. According to another expert, outsourcing is unavoidable and yet he cautions that it must be likened to a journey, requiring adequate planning and coordination (Pogson, 2008). This is especially true for Barclaycard. It is not an ordinary firm responsible for the manufacture of cheap products. It is a company that handles a very important aspect of European business which is the issuance of credit cards and various lending services. In other words this is a type of business that requires high level thinking and performed by not only the most technically proficient people in the planet but also those that have the highest integrity. There are three possible destinations if Barclaycard decides to outsource part of their least important operations outside the country there are three possible candidates: India, Philippines, and the Republic of Ireland. Considering first the Republic of Ireland, it is easy to gauge that it will not be as cost-effective as transferring the operations to India or the Philippines. The only possible advantage is that the Republic of Ireland is culturally similar to the UK and the English speaking inhabitants will never pose a problem in terms of communication. You read "UK’s Barclaycard and the Need to Outsource" in category "Papers" But other than these two considerations, it is doubtful if Ireland can compete in terms of outsourcing rates when comparing the wages of workers in Europe to those in Asia. Considering India It is not hard to put India on top of the list. There are many advantages of using the skilled workforce of India to tackle the outsourcing needs of Barclaycard. According to finance experts at Moody’s, â€Å"India will remain a top outsourcing destination because of its tech-savvy and English-proficient urban workforce whose wages are much lower than their western counterparts† (Moody’s Investors Service, 2009). The nation has a population of more than one billion people. From this number there are millions of educated English speakers entering the workforce each year (Kobayashi-Hillary, 2004). The Indian workforce provides a compelling argument as to why Barclaycard should outsource to India. Trevor Foster-Black is the managing director of Coalition Development, a UK research company that provides information to recruitment firms and he remarked that their company uses researchers from India to structure and format data and he adds, â€Å"It would be very difficult to find such high-calibre people to do similar work in London †¦ They arrive at 4am our time and everything’s finished by the time we arrive† (Kobayashi-Hillary, 2004). It is truly amazing to realise that the location of India can be a source of another advantage; in essence Barclaycard’s operations can be sustained 24 hours a day and seven days a week due to the time differences. If Barclaycard will use the same strategy in their UK offices they would incur significant costs in terms of payroll alone. One can only imagine the numbers that will be generated by overtime and other costs related to keeping an operation functioning round the clock. But if they will outsource to India, the executives at the UK headquarters can send part of their workload to their people in India and they can work while the executives are going to bed. This ensures that workflow is not interrupted and therefore Barclaycard can achieve cost-efficiency very quickly. If Barclaycard will outsource all of its call centres to India then the same level of efficiency and cost savings can be expected. The English speaking workforce in India will ensure that credit card holders can be assured of easy access to customer representatives 24/7 wherever they are in the world. The low outsourcing rates in India will also allow Barclaycard to maintain a 24 hour cycle operations without downtime and therefore Barclaycard is just a phone call away whenever a customer encountered problems with their credit cards. Barclaycard will definitely find it worthwhile to invest in India but globalization as well as rapid development in technology can create weakness out of strength. This means that India can be a victim of its own success. According to one commentary there are two issues that concerns would be investors: 1) security; and 2) the unravelling of a top IT service provider, Satyam. These problems are forcing European companies to create more geographically dispersed portfolio of IT outsourcing providers (Overby, 2009). India is bordered by Pakistan on one side and one only has to remember Pakistan’s association with extremists groups to understand the spate of terrorist attacks in India. It is high time therefore to consider an alternative and a quick glance at Asia will reveal that there is none better than the Philippines. Considering the Philippines There are many advantages in choosing this country as a BPO destination and these are listed as follows: 1. Outsourcing rates are low and can easily compete with those of India; 2. Transportation such as flights coming from the Western hemisphere is arguably better than other Asian countries; 3. It is culturally compatible with the United States because it was a U. S. commonwealth in the early 20th century up to 1946; 4. English is widely spoken and can be considered as the second national language; and 5. The most successful outsourcing engagements in this country are for call centres (Mezak, 2006). If seems that both countries are evenly matched in many aspects pertaining to BPO. The Philippines can boast of a highly-skilled workforce considering that it has one of the highest literacy rates in Asia, even higher than India. The only reason that India can offer more tech-savvy workers is due to the fact that there are a billion people in India while the Philippines has only less than one hundred million people. But in the English department both countries can provide excellent service. When the Americans came to this nation in the early part of the 20th century the country was exposed to world class education systems and even if the Americans left in the middle of the 20th century the Filipinos were able to adapt and they were able to create a system that can produce top calibre graduates annually. But there is one problem with the Philippines, â€Å"†¦it is the lack of skilled project management and experience with large software development projects †¦ it is easier to find body shops offering programmers than vendors with well-structured and well-managed teams of programmers† (Mezak, 2006). This is where India has a clear advantage over this tiny island nation. Yet, again the Philippines will not give up that easily, based on a 2007 report, Barclaycard already closed its call centre in Manchester and since the Philippines excelled in this type of business process outsourcing then it must be considered as a future destination of Barclaycard’s call centres. Conclusion Without a doubt, outsourcing is a must if a global conglomerate hopes to stay competitive in the 21st century. If one considers outsourcing, there are three things will easily come to mind, cost-efficiency, cost-efficiency and more cost-efficiency. There is no executive in this planet that will pass up the opportunity to streamline operations and make more money in the process while retaining customer loyalty through the creation of customer friendly operations. With globalisation comes wage increase and various overhead costs that can easily force a company to bankruptcy if excess fat is not trimmed down. Instead of reducing the size of the company it is much better to outsource. With the advent of modern technology and the efficiency of 21st century transportation services it is easy to do business on a global scale. Barclaycard is just one of the many European powerhouses eager to outsource and there are three destinations: the Republic of Ireland, the Philippines and India. The Republic of Ireland already dropped out of contention considering that it is located in Europe and logic dictates that competitive outsourcing rates can only be found in Asia. Considering the fact that Barclaycard is into the credit card business and that outsourcing requirements entails the capability to provide English speaking and tech-savvy personnel there are only two remaining contestants bidding for the rich rewards of outsourcing contracts – India and the Philippines. At first glance it seems that India is the best choice for Barclaycard. This is because India has already proven itself in the BPO business especially in the IT sector which is a major requirement for Barclaycard. It boasts of English speaking and tech savvy personnel that can easily handle communication needs of the said UK firm. Moreover, if there is a need for programmers, the ability to communicate with English speaking Indian programmers are a definite advantage as compared to the hassle when communicating with programmers from other countries with poor English proficiency. There are other non-tangible advantages for India. While the Philippines was under the control of the American in the early part of the 20th century, India was for many centuries under the hegemony of Great Britain. If the Filipinos were heavily influenced by American culture, Indians were heavily influenced by British culture. As many will know there is quite a difference between U. S. English and U. K. English. If this is an important consideration for Barclaycard’s outsourcing needs then India will win hands down. If one combines this with the technical capabilities of Indian workers then this combination of factors will be very difficult to beat. On the other hand India has its share of weaknesses. India is suffering from a bad image following the debacle of Satyam, one of India’s top IT providers. The scandal that hounds Satyam will easily make future investors uneasy with the idea that they are placing all their eggs in one basket. If this is combined with the recent spate of terrorist attacks then capital flight will most likely follow. If there are less investors willing to invest then India’s IT infrastructure will not be upgraded and more bad news will follow. The security threat is also serious because outsourcing is a strategy with inherent risks and yet CEOs are willing to beat the odds with the promise of profitability and efficiency. But if terrorist attacks will continue then there is a chance that operations can be affected. Barclaycard could not afford to lose one day of inactivity due to security problems. It is therefore logical to consider the Philippines as an alternative. It is also a nation blessed with English speaking and tech savvy personnel. Furthermore, the Philippines is lagging behind India thus it will remain competitive with its outsourcing rates to attract more customers and investors. If Barclaycard will choose the Philippines then it can expect more savings and therefore increase the satisfaction of key investors. On the other hand the Philippines is not yet ready to wrest the crown away from India. The debate will never end. There are strengths and weaknesses for both countries but it seems that Barclaycard has spoken. Two years ago Barclaycard made an important decision, â€Å"Barclaycard will move some of its operations to India following the announcement it is to close its Manchester call centre this summer† (Ferguson, 2007). While the Philippines is also strong in the call centre industry, India can provide something that is beyond the grasp of the Philippines. It is a country that is culturally similar to the United Kingdom and therefore the Indians are more adept with UK English as compared to the Filipinos. Furthermore, India was once under the domain of Great Britain and therefore Indian laws and their current legal system closely mirrors that of the UK and so for Barclaycard it can be argued that it is easier to do business in India as compared to the Philippines. References Brierley, S. (2005). The Advertising Handbook. UK: Routledge. Buttle, F. (1996). Relationship Marketing. UK: Paul Chapman Publishing, Ltd. Brown, D. (2005). The Black Book of Outsourcing How to Manage the Changes, Challenges, and Opportunities. New Jersey: Wiley Sons, Inc. Ferguson, T. (2007). â€Å"Barclaycard Closes Call Centre, Offshores to India. † CBS Interactive Retrieved 09 March 2009 from http://services. silicon. com/ offshoring/0,3800004877,39166239,00. htm Kobayashi-Hillary, M. (2004). Outsourcing to India. Germany: Springer-Verlag. Mezak, S. (2006). Software Without Borders. California: Earthrise Press. Moody’s Investor’s Service. (2009). â€Å"India to Remain Among Top Outsourcing Destinations: Moodys. † Retrieved 09 March 2009 from The Economic Times. http://economictimes. indiatimes. com/Infotech/ITeS/India-to-remain-among-top- outsourcing- destinations-Moodys/rssarticleshow/4241062. cms Overby, S. (2009). â€Å"Philippines Looks Beyond the Call Center for Future Outsourcing Growth. † Retrieved 09 March 2009 from CIO Magazine http://www. cio. com/article/483178/Philippines_Looks_Beyond_the_Call_Center_for_Fut ure_Outsourcing_Growth Pogson, I. (2008). Outsourcing from the UK to the Far East. In Outsourcing and Human Resource Management R. Taplin (Ed. ). UK: Routledge How to cite UK’s Barclaycard and the Need to Outsource, Papers

Latin History Essays - Christopher Columbus,

Latin History The Well Planned Surprise On October 13th of 1492, Christopher Columbus made a discovery that changed all of mankind. He under the backing of the Spanish government made the pivotal first steps in colonizing a new land. The journey that had long been anticipated by Columbus was not important because it was the first of such expeditions, for it indeed was not. The fact that sets him apart is that his discovery was the last of such magnitude and lasting effects in history. His discovery was made at a time when Europe was in the process of great change. These changes greatly influenced the voyage of Columbus and contributed to curiosity of the monarch and the citizens of Europe. The famous series of Wars called The Crusades caused great changes in the ways that Europeans thought and acted. The crusades, begun four centuries earlier, had increased the appetites of affluent Europeans for exotic things, and the most important of these things was gold and silver. The main reason for curiosity into new worlds and lan ds was the need for more trade, and quicker routes for existing trade routes. Europe was in position to become the dominating force throughout the world and it was pertinent that they expand, and seek new riches and lands to add to its kingdom. The changes in Europe not only prompted Columbuss voyages and those of others, but it paved the way for European domination for the next five hundred years. Often overlooked in the explanation of the events surrounding the discovery and settlement of the new worlds, are the little contributing factors. Those things that motivated and aided in the discovery and the settlement of this land. The Europeans did not set sail on a wild goose chase for new territory. They had an idea of what they were looking for, who they were looking for, and what to do with whatever they encountered. The Europeans were organized in their efforts to conquer. Many different motivating factors contributed to Spanish expedition into the Americas; all are important and without each the affect of the expeditions in to the lands would not be possible. Foremost among these factors is the improvement of the European weaponry used, and the advances in technology that Europe had amassed. The new technologies of warfare developed farther and faster in Western Europe than anywhere else in the world because of the union of existing technologies. By the 15th century, Europeans were the worlds masters in firearm manufacturers . This initiated an arms race that ushered in the refinement of archery, drill, and siege warfare. The arms race that was started then, has continued into the 21st century. This supreme dominance in the art of military technology gave the confidence needed by the Europeans to embark on their various expeditions into territory uncharted by Europeans. When Columbus and his fellow mates landed in the Caribbean, they greeted the Indians with weapons that the natives had no notion about. The guns, and gunpowder were foreign to a society using bows and arrows, and spears. The ships in which they traveled far exceeded even t he largest Indian vessel. The native Indians had never fathomed the advanced technology that the Spanish presented. This fact aided in the ease with which the Indians were controlled and enslaved. To the Indians, the size of the ships with their billowing white sails suggested floating islands with close-hanging clouds . It was as if they were presented with an omnipotent force in the Spanish. Even the most traditional of weapons were beyond belief to the Indians. It is through the frightening of the Indians that Columbus found that the Indians became more manageable. They were afraid of the Spanish, intimidated by their strong omnipotent presence. The Spaniards upon embarking on the new land marched through the island to put down any signs of non-compliance with their demands or resistance to their enslavement . They were accompanied by horses, dogs, crossbows, these were all alien to the natives . Columbus even notes that they didnt know what their weapons were and so they reached out to touch the sword and cut themselves, because they didnt know it was sharp .