The Retail Environment and the Supply Chain of Online and Offline Assignment

The Retail Environment and the Supply Chain of Online and Offline Retailing of the Music Industry - Assignment Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that home stereos had initially become popular and truly affordable during the 1980s, which brought about a boom in home entertainment devices. At that period of time, it was unimaginable that in the following two or three decades, record shops would barely exist anymore. However, the shift in buying patterns of the consumers from offline to online retail has led to the stark reality where physical shops have nearly disappeared from the retail panorama. With fewer shops, there is the even lesser number of distributors catering to the offline retail chain. The prices should be compared against that of competitors and price adjustments should be made accordingly. A product tracking interface could be developed in order to track and assert all the titles so that those can be stacked in one place. Comparing products against those of the competitors helps the retailer to gain better knowledge pertaining to product positioning strategies. The produ cts assorted can be further filtered in terms of discount range, price range, publisher, and genre. The retailers can make use of advanced technological developments to analyze the assortments by genre, music company, price range, singers or other dimensions that are deemed fit. The gaps, thus, discovered in the product catalog will help strengthen assortment structure of the retail shop and the weak categories can be developed by benchmarking assortment against that offered by the competitors. Keeping tabs on the competitor’s product strategies is an important part of successful retailing. The music albums that the competitors are featuring as well as the genres wherein heavy discounts are being offered should be researched. Apart from being up-to-date with the competitor knowledge, the retailer must also upgrade his stocks appropriately such that titles and albums promoted by the competitors are available and priced attractively. The retailer should be able to receive alert s on stock outs, price changes, promotions for the key titles and new introductions.

Review of Sources Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Review of Sources Paper - Essay Example Petroleum and geosystem engineering seek to find safer ways of extracting this valuable source of energy so as to ensure future global energy security. Petroleum geologists and engineers get to estimate and provide a description of the hydrocarbon reservoirs while also focusing on ways of exploration. This field of engineering focuses on providing an explanation on the physical behavior of water, gas, and oil within porous rock at extremely high pressure. Literature under this field explain how petroleum engineers and geologists combine their efforts to understand how petroleum reservoirs get developed and depleted. The article ‘Abiogenic origin of hydrocarbons: An historical overview’ by Glasby (84) provides an explanation as to how hydrocarbons get formed by using two theories; the Thomas Gold theory and the Russio-Ukrainain theory of petroleum formations. The Thomas Gold theory provides a strong scientific base on the formation of hydrocarbons as it does not make weak assumptions or an unscientific approach like the biogenic theory of petroleum. The Russio-Ukranian theory explains the formation of hydrocarbons from methane and how they present themselves onto the earth’s crust (Glasby 90). ... The article falls short on defining the origin of oil under the theoretical categorization of organic and inorganic nature. The article postulates the common belief that oil got formed as terrestrial vegetation that got washed and deposited into the sea where they became incorporated into the earth’s crust and mantle. Other theories have explained the formation of oil as a naturally occurring earth pigment or due to the presence of hydrocarbons in meteorites. This article appears similar to ‘Abiogenic origin of hydrocarbons: An historical overview’ as they both fail to expound on the chemical processes such as oxidation, methane reactions, and thermionic development of oil from long hydrocarbon compounds. In his book ‘Geomechanics applied to the petroleum industry’, Nauroy (62) discusses on how designing an efficient drilling program is a vital step towards the development of a gas and or oil field. The author looks at the geomechanics of rock behavio r and how it is essential in the exploitation of hydrocarbons (Nauroy 112). The author focuses on detailing how geomechanics gets applied to the petroleum industry. The book provides an insight into the methods applied by petroleum engineers in their drilling and production process of oil. The book compares to that of ‘Petroleum engineering’ which looks at the need for understanding the evolving geological aspect concerned with the earth planet. By understanding the geological aspects of the planet, it helps to provide a better basis for understanding the process of mining and drilling of oil. The author discusses the origin of petroleum engineering by providing a detailed background of the earth’s geological

Eassy 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eassy 1 - Essay Example Therefore intuition and deduction from this information is a priori (Lawhead 22). Rationalism is a perceived truth about something. In an argument by Lawhead rationalism is a feeling of truth about an object or an idea (23). The author further points out that the feeling is accompanied by a general assumption about truth about something (Lawhead 23). Additionally, rationalism is created about a fact that can be proven be fact or a creation. For instance, a person may believe in the belief that God exists because it is a fact that is believed beyond reasonable doubt. In this particular case, the assumption that God exists may be proven but with a strong believe but not with experience. Lawhead points out that rationalism is basically factual theories but with no physical experience or proof (45). On the other hand, empiricism is a theory that can be proven with experience. Lawhead defines empiricism as an idea or theory that is real (56). The vice is different from rationalism which is based on beliefs. Empiricism can be proven by physical evidence. However, there is no source of knowledge on an idea that can prove its existence. The only source on knowledge while using empiricism is experience. For instance, when person undergoes an operation to remove a tumor from their body they experience the medical process but they do not have the chance to see the operation. In this particular case, the person undergoing the surgery does not know the source of the tumor or the process the operation. However, the experience both pain and recovery. In future the person may describe the experience not with specific knowledge of the events but with their experience of the events. This may include the pain they felt, the time they took to recover or the price they paid for the operation. T his is a perfect example of an empirical idea. Lawhead argues that empiricism gives us knowledge more effectively

Reasoning Paper Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reasoning Paper - Personal Statement Example In general, conflict is an affliction common to all of people, but the ways that people "struggle" with one another are quite diverse. One employee might not ever discuss important issues, yet the next will argue incessantly over minutia. There is a touch of idealism revealed in our belief that appropriate control over the process of communication may lead to more equitable, humane, and satisfying forms of conflict than are often experienced. Still, the relationship between communication and conflict is not straightforward. Sometimes the ostensibly "best" forms of communication lead to the worst consequences and vice versa (Dixit and Nalebuff 2003). My description of communication in conflict entails a logical sequence of steps. The conflict situation shows that one must be able to describe what people do when they have conflict; for example, they may lash out, apologize, sulk, laugh, or disclose. The second step in analysis is to describe the characteristics of communication systems . This involves a shift in the level of analysis from individual messages to recurring patterns of communication. System characteristics are potentially more revealing than individual styles. A particular form of communication, say a single angry outburst or even a series of outbursts, may reveal little about the interpersonal relationship that is observed until the recurring events that elicit the outbursts are understood (Hardt and Harris 2007). This is hardly a new idea but it is difficult to put into practice. It is simply easier to describe individual conflict styles than it is to describe patterns of interaction. Our discussion focuses on five properties of conflict patterns: variety, symmetry, continuity, stationarity, and spontaneity. Although individuals behave strategically at times, at other times conflicts proceed without clear goals and plans. Much conflict behavior is experienced as "just happening." The spouse who is criticized by the other may automatically respond w ith a counter complaint and not make a reflective choice about those behaviors (Hardt and Harris 2007). In this conflict situation, affect is a second important dimension. Some styles are hostile (e.g., confrontation), others are neutral or friendly (e.g., conciliatory behavior and humor), and still other styles, such as conflict avoidance, are inconsistent or unclear in the sort of emotion expressed. The implications of affect are reasonably straightforward. Generally, people who are more compatible (i.e., satisfied, well-adjusted, and the like) are more friendly to one another. For example, they make fewer confrontational statements, speak in a more positive vocal tone, sit closer together, touch one another more, and so forth (Dixit and Nalebuff 2003). During the conflict, evasive comments can occur when one employee asks a question or makes a statement about conflict and the other employee responds ambiguously. Evasive comments are related to the understanding of "disqualification." Disqualifying comments can occur when employees see themselves in a "bind" (i.e., a way to avoid a conflict situation). When given a choice between the acceptation of decision, and a disqualifying response, employees usually say that they would choose the latter (Hardt and Harris 2007). The heavy use of denial by roommates is to be expected, given the awkward and unprecedented social arrangement that roommates have

How and Why Starbucks Is Affected By both Internal and External Essay

How and Why Starbucks Is Affected By both Internal and External Challenges - Essay Example This paper illustrates that increased globalization and trade liberalization of markets has resulted in the facilitated growth of international business. However, together with opportunities for increased revenues and new markets’ potential, many firms have faced with a challenge of managing organizational behavior in different environments. Organizations, especially those that operate in multiple regions or continents are continuously exposed to divergent legal, political and socio-cultural environments. One of the great examples of such organizations is Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks is a leading multinational corporation operating in the specialist coffee retailing sector. Its values share in the world coffee shops category has reached 0.7% in 2013. While the company’s largest business unity is in the US (63% of sales), it has managed to establish a substantial international presence. The company pursues a strategy of global business expansion. As the company opera tes in numerous international markets it faces with various external factors that influence the company’s strategy and operations. In order to overcome all these challenges and other difficulties, it is vital for a business organization to have efficient and appropriate organizational structure. The company has implemented a functional organizational structure and combined it with a divisional approach, whereas organizational structure is comprised of various departments and divisions that are responsible for performing different functions. After Howard Shultz, the founder of the Starbucks returned to the organization as the CEO in 2008, he has introduced some transformational changes to the organizational structure. The company has decreased the number of partners and the number of existing positions, and also reduced its workforce. Furthermore, in 2012, the company has redefined its organizational structure of retail business focusing on geographic principle and identifying three-region structures: Americas (US, Latin America, and Canada), China/Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa. Thus, the company has supplemented its structure with geographically based divisional structure design.

Twentieth-century Marxism. Georg Lukcs and the problem of Essay

Twentieth-century Marxism. Georg Lukcs and the problem of consciousness - Essay Example Georg Lukacs stands as a dominant figure in twentieth-century Marxism. The publication of his  History and Class Consciousness  and Karl Korsch  Marxism and Philosophy  in 1923 marked the first serious efforts to rethink Marxism Both Lukacs and Korsch were responding to the inability of the orthodox viewpoint to account for either the unexpected survival of the Russian Revolution or the progressive dissolution of revolutionary working-class movements in Europe. Their efforts led them to examine the origins of Marx's thought and to revitalize and reemphasize aspects of his work which had previously been underplayed or ignored. Their work gave rise to what later would be labeled "Western Marxism." This variant of Marxist thought is characterized by its interest in the early Marx and in the philosophical (especially Hegelian) roots of Marxism; by its focus on Marx as opposed to Engels; and by its stress on consciousness, culture, and subjectivity science, economics, and nature. It is within Western Marxism, of course, that Critical Theory is situated. And Lukacs's work would particularly influence the critical theorists. Lukacs is also a controversial figure in twentieth-century Marxism. The contributions and contradictions of his work, as well as his reassessments and repudiations of it, have been the subject of a great deal of debate and discussion.19  My interest here, however, is not in his work as a whole, but rather in his treatment of the proletariat as the revolutionary subject. His effort to address the issue of the proletariat's self-conscious agency effectively created more problems than it solved. At the same time that he insisted upon the identification of the proletariat as the revolutionary subject, he detailed the socioeconomic conditions that precluded its ability to fulfill its world-historical mission. It is the development of this dilemma in Lukacs's work that interests us here. In  History and Class Consciousness, Lukacs speaks of the proletariat as the "identical subject-object," "the subject of action," "the 'we' of the genesis." Although he would later label his treatment of the proletariat as an "attempt to -17- Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning.  www.questia.com   Publication Information:  Book Title: Critical Theory and Political Possibilities: Conceptions of Emancipatory Politics in the Works of Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, and Habermas. Contributors: Joan Alway - author. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Publication Year: 1995. Page Number: 17. out-Hegel Hegel,"  20  he held firm to his conviction that the proletariat was the historical subject whose actions would bring about the revolution. Lukacs followed Marx in believing that it was the position of the proletariat in the capitalist mode of production that conferred upon it its unique status. Within a system based on the production and exchange of commodities, workers were both commodities and the pro ducers of commodities. The fact that they, and they alone, were in a position to recognize themselves as both the subject and the object of the production process, and thus of the historical process, meant that the proletariat was capable of gaining unique insight into historical truth. For Lukacs the proletariat is the first truly universal class: for the first time in history, there existed a class whose self-understanding was the understanding of society as a whole, whose fate was the fate of society as a whole. In the proletariat subjective awareness and objective knowledge coincided. Lukacs insists that subjective awareness is not an automatic consequence of objective position. He argues that while objective position and conditions "give the proletariat the opportunity and the necessity to change society," social transformation will result only from their "free" action.  21  And this free action will be a function of the prolet

Christian conceptions Essay Example for Free

Christian conceptions Essay Baldassare Castiglione’s work â€Å"The Courtier† has similar conceptions of grace and love when compared to with Christian conceptions. Baldassare Castiliogne characterizes the courtiers of Urbino as omini per virtu singulari (IV, 2, 446: men singular in worth[286]), emphasizing their grace and virtue they were able to exhibit throughout the entire passage. This also reflects the ways they were able to entice the imagination of the readers and make their (readers) minds more creative. Castiglione writes about the Urbino court and its inhabitants as a kind of ideal place where grace and virtue was heavily practiced. Most of the courtiers and ladies in the court possess only minor character flaws and petty foibles. In his writing, he idealizes them as civilized and perfectly restrained individuals who are devoid of serious personal vices and defects. In a sense, Castiglione wants to present them as ideal types, as the onorati esempi di virtu (IV, 2, 448: honored models of worthiness[287]) as can be read from his prologues where moral fortitude, scholarship and genuine love should emulate and be exuded by the readers even after reading the entire piece. The following excerpt from â€Å"The Courtier† shows that Lord Guidobaldo has lived an exemplary life worth of emulation by the other inhabitants. â€Å"When lord Guidobaldo di Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, passed from this life, I together with several other knights who had served him remained in the service of duke Francesco Maria della Rovere, heir and successor to Guidobaldos state; and as in my mind there remained fresh the odor of duke Guidos virtues and the satisfaction which I in those years had felt from the loving company of such excellent persons, as then frequented the court of Urbino†. (Letter, 1, 67-8) Castigliones goal in his work was to set his statements of praise for Urbino and its inhabitants in general and conventional terms. He did not cite the military exploits or civic triumphs of a character he praises, instead, he celebrates all of them for their virtu, (virtue) their ingegno, (ingenuity) their ottime qualit (high dignity). Instead, Castiliogne characterizes these exploits as a collective victory for the person he is giving life to. This also gives life to the colorful sceneries and animations to the story as this draws the attention of the readers. Castiliogne pursues the elevation of Urbinos image to an exemplary moral excellence and its value for posterity. In his first two prologues, Castiglione highlights the superiority of Urbinos inhabitants. In the prologue to Book III, Castiglione states that if Urbinos pastimes convince him of its excellence, he should be able to imagine easily how much greater the courtiers virtuous actions were (III, 1, 336). In the last prologue, Castiglione praises the courtiers directly as omini per virtu singulari (IV, 2, 446: men singular in worth[286]). He viewed the court as a paragon of moral exempla (IV, 2, 448: chiari ed onorati esempi di virtu). The court is presented as an ethical model not only to other existing courts at that time but also to the succeeding generations to come. Moreover, Castiglione confesses in the third prologue that he wrote his text carefully to faria vivere negli animi dei posteri (III, 1, 336: make it live in the mind of posterity[202]). Finally, as his culture upholds classical antiquity, he projects that the young and upcoming generation will envy his time because of the exemplary Urbino court. (III, 1, 336: forse per lavvenire non manchera chi per questo ancor porti invidia al secol nostro). Similarly, the virtues of grace and love which are present in Castiliogne’s work are also present in Christian morals and manners. Christian morals are a function of moral discernment and moral reasoning. For instance, James Gustafson stated that moral discernment refer to basic dispositions that are shaped in part by the faith and trust Christians have as they offer themselves up to God. Moreover, James Gustafson stated that the concept of moral discernment was related to moral reasoning. Gustafson explained that moral reasoning pertains to a character, or personal moral ability, which covers dispositions, traits, and actions of the moral agent. (Selnick, 1992). Castiliogne stated that the courtier is expected to serve and increase in favour with her Lady. He should instruct her in virtue and refrain from vice and dishonesty. He should speak truth all the time. This concern is evident in Christian morals and manners. According to Harring, the moral and religious value of our acts attains the peak level only when the fundamental option results in the conquest one’s energies and vision such that one’s motives and decisions come from the depth in which the Spirit moulds and guides. (Harring, 1978). Castiliogne exhorts the courtiers to be kind to their subordinates, to avoid flattery, to be wise in the relations with other states and to have good manners in speech and language. Moreover, the courtier must have â€Å"good utterance† and â€Å"sweet language† to the other personalities in the court and avoid offending other people. This exhortation finds a strong support in Christianity’s theological and ethical attention which has shifted away from the relations with the divine towards human relations to interpersonal human relations. (Post, 1990). This shift resulted in the sharp distinction between public activity and private relations. First, it highlighted the fact that the selfs relation with God does not necessarily impact on one’s neighbor. Second, it states that the divine intentions may not relate directly to an individual’s human flourishing. This re-evaluation of one’s faith highlights the moral dimensions of Christianity and renders faith as an essential and crucial aspect of living well. (Weaver, 2002) The old men then attack the change in customs in Urbino court which they perceive as reflective of moral decay. In response to this, Castiliogne countered that he is a judge who can state that there is no age, past or present that is either totally good or totally evil. Then in this excerpt, Castiliogne argued that it is the old men who have changed their behavior and not the courts. These old men lament their loss of youth, power, and vitality. This situation leads to nostalgia which distorts the truth about both past and present. This excerpt is as follows: ne dei passati piaceri riserva (lanimo) altro che una tenace memoria e la imagine di quel caro tempo della tenera eta, nella quale quando ci ritrovamo, ci pare che sempre il cielo e la terra ed ogni cosa faccia festa e rida intorno agli occhi nostri, e nel pensiero come in un delizioso e vago giardino fiorisca la dolce primavera dallegrezza. (The Courtier II, 1, 188) . . . and [the mind] retains of past pleasures merely a lingering memory and the image of that precious time of tender youth in which (while we are enjoying it), wherever we look, heaven and earth and everything appear merry and smiling, and the sweet springtime of happiness seems to flower in our thoughts as in a delightful and lovely garden. (The Courtier II, 1, 188) Similarly, Christian morality has shown interest in one’s personal ethical development. The flourishing of the self encompassing virtue ethics and spirituality reveals a post modern reassessment of the classical concepts and tools for reflecting on the selfs good. (Naussbam, 1994). Baldassare Castiliogne characterizes the courtiers of Urbino as omini per virtu singulari (IV, 2, 446: men singular in worth[286]), emphasizing their grace and virtue. Similarly, Christian morals and manners show the importance of all the human virtues required of the courtiers during the time of the Urbino court. The courtiers’ excellent speech, manners and deportment to their equals and subordinates exhibit a vivid example of their faith and their excellent human manners. Alongside the traditions and practices that the courtiers’ have shown, the author have clearly emphasized on the human manners that there should be equality among all others and in order to achieve a specific and unified goal, there should be subordination so that in the long run, there will be authority to be followed and rules are set on such manners. Works Cited: Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. New york: Scribners Son, 1901. 7-439. James M. Gustafson, Moral Discernment in the Christian Life, in Gene H. Outka and Paul Ramsey, Norm and Context in Christian Ethics. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1968, p. 31. Haring, Bernard. Free and Faithful in Christ. New York: Seabury Press: A Crossroads Book, 1978, p. 85. Kolsky, Stephen D. Old Men in a New World: Morello da Ortona in the Cortegiano. Italica 75 (1998): 336-448. Long, Edward Leroy. A Survey of Recent Christian Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Martha Nussbaum. The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. Post, Stephen. A Theory of Agape: On the Meaning of Christian Love. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1990. Selnick, Philip. The Moral Commonwealth: Social Theory and the Promise of Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992, p. 361. Weaver, Darlene. Self Love and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Webhorn, Wayne. Courtly Performances Masking and Festivity in Castigliones Book in the Courtier. University of Texas at Austin, 1978.