10 Fun Facts About UVA

1. James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe all lived in Charlottesville. 2. Parts of Evan Almighty were filmed in Charlottesvilles surrounding areas!3. Edgar Allen Poe briefly attended UVA.4. Dr. Seuss was denied admittance to UVA. Rumor has it the name for the fictional town of Whoville was a pun off the Universitys nickname, Hoos5. UVA doesn’t refer to students as freshmen, sophomores, ect, but rather first-years, second-years and so on. 6. Number 5 is due to the fact that Thomas Jefferson, the school’s founder, believed that one never stops learning and that student’s education at UVA is just the beginning.7. The first class to accept women was the class of 1970. 8. Many refer to the campus as grounds. 9. The official mascot for UVA is the cavaliers, but they unofficially adopted the Wahoos, a fish that can drink its weight in water, as their second mascot. While it was originally shouted as an insult by an opposing school at a football game, the students at UVA instead adopted the name. 10. Both Tina Fey and Katie Couric went to UVA. If youre interested in applying to UVA, see all of our admitted studentshere! If youre already a student, make sure to sign up and upload your application materials to earn money.

Japan Essays - Empire Of Japan, Strategic Management, Shwa Period

Japan Essays - Empire Of Japan, Strategic Management, Shwa Period Japan The occupation of Japan was, from start to finish, an American operation. General Douglans MacArthur, sole supreme commander of the Allied Power was in charge. The Americans had insufficient men to make a military government of Japan possible; so t hey decided to act through the existing Japanese gobernment. General Mac Arthur became, except in name, dictator of Japan. He imposed his will on Japan. Demilitarization was speedily carried out, demobilization of the former imperial forces was complet ed by early 1946. Japan was extensively fire bomded during the second world war. The stench of sewer gas, rotting garbage, and the acrid smell of ashes and scorched debris pervaded the air. The Japanese people had to live in the damp, and col d of the concrete buildings, because they were the only ones left. Little remained of the vulnerable wooden frame, tile roof dwelling lived in by most Japanese. When the first signs of winter set in, the occupation forces immediately took over all the s team-heated buildings. The Japanese were out in the cold in the first post war winter fuel was very hard to find, a family was considered lucky if they had a small barely glowing charcoal brazier to huddle around. That next summer in random spots new ho uses were built, each house was standardized at 216 square feet, and required 2400 board feet of material in order to be built. A master plan for a modernistic city had been drafted, but it was cast aside because of the lack of time before the next winte r. The thousands of people who lived in railroad stations and public parks needed housing. All the Japanese heard was democracy from the Americans. All they cared about was food. General MacAruther asked the government to send food, when they refus ed he sent another telegram that said, "Send me food, or send me bullets." American troops were forbidden to eat local food, as to keep from cutting from cutting into the sparse local supply. No food was was brought in expressly for the Japanese durning the first six months after the American presence there. Herbert Hoover, serving as chairman of a special presidential advisory committee, recommended minimum imports to Japan of 870,000 tons of food to be distributed in different urban areas. Fi sh, the source of so much of the protein in the Japanese diet, were no longer available in adequate quantities because the fishing fleet, particularly the large vessels, had been badly decimated by the war and because the U.S.S.R. closed off the fishing g rounds in the north. The most important aspect of the democratization policy was the adoption of a new constitution and its supporting legislation. When the Japanese government proved too confused or too reluctant to come up with a constitutional reform that satisfied MacArthur, he had his own staff draft a new constitution in February 1946. This, with only minor changes, was then adopted by the Japanese government in the form of an imperial amendment to the 1889 constitution and went into effect on May 3, 1947. The new Constitution was a perfection of the British parliamentary form of government that the Japanese had been moving toward in the 1920s. Supreme political power was assigned to the Diet. Cabinets were made responsible to the Diet by having the prime minister elected by the lower house. The House of Peers was replaced by an elected House of Councillors. The judicial system was made as independent of executive interference as possible, and a newly created supreme court was given the power to review the constitutionality of laws. Local governments were given greatly increased powers. The Emperor was reduced to being a symbol of the unity of the nation. Japanese began to see him in person. He went to hospitals, schools, mines, industrial plants; he broke ground for public buildings and snipped tape at the opening of gates and highways. He was steered here and there, shown things, and kept muttering, "Ah so, ah so." People started to call him "Ah-so-san." Suddenly the puybli c began to take this shy, ill-at-ease man to their hearts. They saw in him something of their own conqured selves, force to do what was alien to them.

Water Resources Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Water Resources - Assignment Example At Sattler and Brussels points, the volume of discharge indicates similarity in the environmental conditions of the areas surrounding the river. Therefore, Guadalupe River covers areas with similar climatic conditions that do not change abruptly making the discharge to be even. The climatic conditions of the two areas is relatively same, making the discharge volumes relatively equal, with the daily maximum and daily minimum varying minimally. The areas around the branches did not register changes in the land use that could affect the amount of discharge. There is a significant correlation between the flow and precipitation as witnessed in the change of the volume of discharge. The months of January to April register constant precipitation with the rest of the years having minimal precipitation. The relation between the minimal, maximum and mean discharge is constant with minimal variation in the discharge indicating the similarity of the environmental

Individual Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Individual Report - Essay Example Being the largest employer in the world and one of the biggest companies in the world, Wal-Mart faces a number of business risks as well as human resource challenges. The human resource challenges faced by the company are factors of internal threat to the business and Wal-Mart has been trying its best to alter its strategies and adopt the best possible human resource practices to negate the effect of the negative publicity caused by the internal human resource challenges faced by the organization. Discussion The employees of Wal-Mart have been dissatisfied with the discrimination and low pay policies which is resulting in negative image of the company. The employee engagement issue has been chosen for this purpose. Employee engagement In an attempt to enhance employee engagement, Wal-Mart has started the employee advancement program. The company takes care to ensure that the employees are presented with enough opportunities to rise through the ranks. Wal-Mart has a reputation of not treating their employee’s right and not being as up to date with technology as they could be. Wal-Mart is showing improvement with using the technology of e-training to enhance the knowledge and skills of their employees. The company along with trying to be customer centric is also trying to touch the base with their consumers (Laris, 2013). In the company the employees are referred to as Associates to promote equality and advices the managers to think themselves as servant leaders. This policy is used to encourage the mangers to serve others while staying focused on reaching the objectives in keeping with the values and integrity of the organization (Wall Street Journal, 2006).Many issues have arisen inside the organization due to the large and diverse workforce in the company. Maintaining the work culture while balancing the diversity level has been a challenge for the human resources team. Due to the existence of numerous stores and a huge number of employees, a vast range of requirements for pay and benefit is necessary (Dessler, 2005, p.97). Wal-Mart recognizes the need for a comprehensive list of options for its employees. Wal-Mart maintains a wide range of choices in the benefits packages offered by them under the career benefits offered by the organization. In terms of employee engagement issue Wal-Mart had faced a number of wage discrimination and class action gender lawsuits resulting in tarnishing the image of the company. It hired more specialized human resource managers and created a team of five legal professionals to handle the workplace issues and the concern of the supervisors on employment matters. A class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart encompassing more than one million female employees, making it one of the largest workplace discrimination cases in the history of the United States. In response to the charges of discrimination, the organization has hired a director of diversity, implemented a companywide computer posting of managemen t opening and also implemented a system in which the bonuses of the executive managers are based on the diversity of the workforce (Ungar, 2013). In order to judge the engagement of the workers in the workplace the company follows the performance measurement system. It was implemented in an organization need to be aligned with both the organization's competitive strategy and the internal HR practices (Bratton, 2007, p. 374). The performance management system of

What Industry did to Develop Japan to be a strong nation Research Paper

What Industry did to Develop Japan to be a strong nation - Research Paper Example Several politicians and political scientists have a diverging opinion and consider that the progress of Japan under this system is just a mere example of exception (Sakoh, 521-548). In this report a discussion will be presented based on the industrial contributions which led to the development of Japan. The development within the society relies heavily on the understanding of scope and goals set by the economy to be achieved. This requires contribution and raising the standards of learning. Other than this offering employment to all and reducing the elements of obesity are essential measures for improving the overall economy. Adapting to various technological advancements and inventions leads to the progress and development of the overall economy. For the economic development the countries need to form strategies which promote knowledge sharing, technological advancement and growth within the economic realm. The economies must emphasize on the strategies which are based on the selection of long term goals and trends. Other than this the industries must also rely heavily on implementing innovative ideas. Development strategies and global recognition are the forms using which the economy can lay its foundation towards the path of economic growth. Creation, acquisition and use of knowledge are the tools using which the countries can develop and progress. The methods of competition within the economy and globally have changed and hence require continuous improvement of all the aspects which lead to the development of the society (Dahlman, 29-63). The Japanese society promotes education and learning as an essential component of the culture. Developing the human resource and providing the skill which nominate growth and development are essential for the progress of the society. The collective survival mechanism based on co-operation between the human workforce leads to the collective growth (OECD, 137-152). The key factors

The Culture Of Creativity And Innovation Commerce Essay

The Culture Of Creativity And Innovation Commerce Essay Creativity and innovation are two inherent qualities human possess that may not be embedded in each and every individual. An organization acquires staff and individual with various different attributes. However, creativity, for one, may not be amongst their major attribute. I believe that it is not easy for an organization to create a culture of creativity and innovation in an organization due to the diversity among members and the organizational identity but it is not impossible either. Depending on the existing organization culture with an evolving organizational identity and using proper language and discursive elements to bring cultural incrementalism, a culture of creativity and innovation in an organization is achievable. A culture of creativity and innovation in an organization can be created by providing staff of the organization proper understanding of the goals and objective and creating an environment to try new ideas and the right to freedom and get support. I believe that simply implementing theories to an organization wont make it creative or innovative. In order to create a culture of creativity and innovation in an organization, the organization needs to understand the behaviour of the people and needs to be open to new ideas and the changes these ideas generate. In this essay, I have tried to focus on implementing culture of creativity into organizations whilst evaluating existing organizational structure and culture. All the theories discussed and argued will be based upon creativity for an organization. The Weberian Thought and Taylorism along with models of organizational structures have been analyzed to understand how people are provided with authority and how they behave in an organization. HAS and IS approach has been compared alongside Darwins Theory of Evolution to put light into the theory of creativity. In order to implement a new concept of creativity and bring change, Kanter, Stein Jicks Big 3 Model of Change and Lewins Model for organizational change has been compared and contrasted. Organizational Culture is an outcome of cultural processes at work in a particular setting and focuses on people and the shared meaning within them. An organization with a strong culture may find it difficult to adapt with changes. If they want to bring a culture of creativity then the organization may find it hard to cope with it. A strong culture will have people with commonalities and may lack diversity which is essential in generating new and different ideas. However, subcultures can exist in such organization with strong culture which may bring creativity as a result of diversity. Such divisions are responsible for giving a different option or a direction to the organization which can result to new frontiers. Diversity is an integral element of an organizations culture. A manager has to be aware of the differences that exist among various employees working in the organization. People in an organization do not always come from the same background. A manager needs to be aware of the differences between the employees in order to create a friendly working environment. Organization, today, has come a long way from the classical approach of Max Weber (Bureaucracy and rationality) and F.W. Taylor (Division of Labour and Scientific Management). Humans are appendage of industrial machines. Humans can be programmed to perform according to loads, pace and fatigue-Max Weber. In order to establish a creative culture, people need to be given freedom to think and work. Webers theory will bring restrictions on the way people think and work by comparing human with machines. Similarly, Taylors Scientific Mangement theory suggests that certain knowledge, belief needs to be predetermined to create a culture. However, creativity cant be moulded by certain rules and regulations. In such a case, the result would not be original and hence, not creative. Darwins Theory of Evolution states that culture is a process of cultivation, i.e., the improvement of human condition which helps create a creative culture as it focuses on betterment of the human condition. Similarly , HAS and IS Approach provides further light towards organizational culture. HAS approach states that culture is constructed by basic assumptions where as IS approach starts from a clean slate where culture is not defined which can help the creativity flourish as there are no boundaries that needs to be met by the people. In recent times, a symbolic-interpretative approach or a postmodern approach is more popular where people and their behaviour are given importance and actions carried out based on them. A symbolic-interpretative approach would create meaning by associating with human through shared values, traditions and customs whereas the Postmodern approach is where managers are artist in themselves who are open to new ideas and based upon these knowledge and understanding come up with a new perspective with reference to the past. The diagram below shows different elements which collectively form a culture. In order to create a creative and innovative culture in an organization, all the elements need to embrace creativity and work accordingly. Creativity injected in these elements will eventually exude the creative culture of the organization. An artifact who would like to be a symbol of the organisation Organizational structure shows the relationship between members within the organization and the distribution of responsibilities and ultimately power. An organizational structure doesnt necessarily influence the organizational culture. An organization may have a strong, bureaucratic culture or a creative culture regardless of the hierarchical structure. In large organization such as Apple, a creative culture exists despite a hierarchical organizational structure. However, creativity needs to fulfil the goals and objectives of the organization and proper communication is necessary between the staff and the managers. So, a flat organizational structure would help in better communication and instant reaction to any changes even if the organization has a Top-Down hierarchy. Organizational Control helps to create an order to the activities carried out in an organization but it can affect the creativity of an organization as the essence of creativity is freedom and we know that organizational control is quite the opposite. The level of control needs to be determined in such a way that it wont hamper the creativity of the staff. In order to create a creative environment, the control needs to be decentralized. Even though managers are in charge, the employees need to have space to come up with ideas without being controlled. Page 345, teamwork and a concern with employee creativity. Language in the form of narrative and storytelling is essential in shaping a culture of an organization. Narration is bringing experience or sequence of episodes coherently into language. From stories we derive meaning, knowledge and experience, and as a result, we are able to understand our own and others existence. Narration helps improve communication between the manager and the employee resulting to better productivity. It even helps to improve quality of management and leadership and understand the direction the organization wants to take in the future. Stories can help people understand and get new ideas which will create a creative and innovative environment. People can relate to characters of the narration and learn from the events. For eg, learning about how Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers, works can inspire people to come up with new ideas and be more innovative. Organizational Change occurs when a new system is introduced and implemented. It is not easy to bring change to an organization. Changing any functioning of the organization will have to change the perception and attitude of the people as well. Such changes need to be handled delicately without upsetting any party. Cultural Change in organizations can be of three types: Apparent Change, Revolutionary Change and Cultural Change. Apparent Change adapts while preserving its identity whereas Revolutionary change is brought about by outsiders by destroying old ones and creating a completely new culture. However, if creative culture needs to be created, Cultural Incrementalism is a good choice. It incorporates the old culture from narratives along with new ideas to come up with a new culture. In our case, changing the way the people work by providing more freedom or brainstorming and discussion sessions incorporated in an existing culture results to cultural incrementalism and hence, a cre ative culture. There are various theories on how change can be managed. Lewins Model: Unfreezing, Change, Refreezing is one of the most popular theorys for managing change in an organization. However, we are focused on changing the culture into a creative culture. For this purpose, Big 3 Model of Change is appropriate rather than Lewins Model. Lewins Model is effective but it focuses more on the manufacturing and operational side of the organization and doesnt take into account the human perspective. It plans and directs change. However, creativity in an organization cant be planned or directed. Big 3 Model of Change focuses on change can be managed by responding, harnessing and provoking change. According to this model, there are three forces of change: Macroevolutionary (Environmental Level), Microevolutionary (Organisational Level) and Political (Individual Level). This model has been criticised to be too broad but due to its inclusion of behaviour of people at different level and responding acc ordingly, makes it a better option towards managing change than Lewins Model. While creating a creative and innovative culture, a manager should not stray away from the identity of the organization. A creative culture may not be suitable for all types of organization. The working environment needs to be understood before changing or creating a culture and the change needs to align with the identity of the organization. For eg, In a Cafe, creativity has very less to do. The employee has to perform task that is routine and there is no room for improvement in terms of creativity. The identity of the cafe is to provide good service to customers. Albert and Whetten beleive that organizational identity has central, distinctive and enduring features. However, Gioia, Schultz and Corley argue that the organizations identity is fluid and not stable. Balmer emphasises on using evolving rather than enduring because these school of thought believe that even the organizational identity doesnt always remain the same and keeps on evolving with time and environment. Culture an d Identity of an organization go hand in hand and Michael Wood has stated, Identity is not something genetic, safe and secure. It is shaped by history and culture: it is about group feeling; allegiance to the state, but in an open society that can be wide and inclusive. It is always in the making and never made. So, if the organization needs to create an innovative and creative culture, the identity can be moulded accordingly. Example: Creative Industry of Jewellery Design. I interviewed a friend, AKG, who assists her father in a family business in Kathmandu, Nepal. The organization is a family business which is basically a jewellery design outsourcing company for various jewellery shops in Kathmandu. The organization was started by her grandfather 34 years ago, to employ people with a passion for their art-jewel crafting while utilising their abilities to their benefits therefore benefitting the organisation. The people hired were people that were fired by her grandfathers friends because they didnt craft the jewellery according to the specified designs. This gave her grandfather the opportunity to bring the best out of his employees in terms of creativity who believed that happy people make better employees. The organization has AKGs father as in-charge and 14 artisans who were hired by her grandfather. These artisans are responsible for coming up with ideas or working on ideas provided to them by the clients. The designs or ideas from clients are translated to the artisans as some are stories and some are an old piece and brainstorming sessions are carried out to understand the story more deeply. Then this raw idea is given to all 14 artisans along with the old piece or the story. They translate it however they think is best. So, by the end of the time given, AKG and her father along with the 14 artisans come together, discuss and look through all the designs. Then, among the 16 people, voting is carried out and sometimes there is a clear winner. However, at times all the 14 translations are sent to the clients to pick the best which makes it much simpler and the winning craftsman receives 35% of the sales proceeds! All 14 artisans work in the workshops at their home. They work separately and each idea and design is unique. They joined this family business because they were able to express themselves and not work under any restrictions. Before, they had to design what was told by the client or the owner and their own idea would not be given value. But now, they can use their creativity and imagination and work on the designs providing a style of their own. However, despite giving these artisans freedom to come up with new ideas, the manager says it is important to keep sidelines. AKG says. When you have such a thing, you got to keep sidelines. They cant just go tinkering around with everything. We do encourage creativity but its got to be marketable and what we ask of them is to judge for themselves if they would be attracted by the design if they say it in a store. The above example is based on a family business which is different from regular corporations. This firm can be classified as a creative industry due to the nature of work. The organization has a flat structure with the manager looking after the 14 artisans and dealing with clients. Due to the group of artisans working for the company for more than 30 years, a culture has been set on how tasks are carried out. Artisans were hired due to their skills of creativity and with an agreement of freedom to go beyond boundaries and try out new things. Having said that, goals and objectives are predetermined and a basic criterion is set which will fulfil the basic demand of the client. Creativity is the organizational identity for this company and it is reflected in the organizational culture as well. The artisans are able to use their skills without compromising on their creativity. The opportunity to work at their own workshops gives them freedom. Hence, this is an organization based around c reativity of the skilful workers where they are given freedom to come up with new ideas that goes along the story provided by the clients. The added incentive makes the workplace more competitive which will motivate artisans to come up with their best work as per customers requirement. This organization depicts an existing creativity culture which was possible due to the identity that was set when the firm was established. The organizational culture of this firm can be seen as IS approach of the organizational culture as the culture was created and it centred on the creation of meaning. Here, the meaning was freedom to creativity for better satisfaction to the workers. This culture of creativity opposes the Classical approach and Webers Bureaucracy theories. Instead of specialising and setting formal rules and regulations, the artisans were given the freedom to work at their workshops and be creative. So, for a culture of creativity to exist, the organizational structure needs to be flexible and interactive and creativity needs to be an element of the organizational identity. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What youll discover will be wonderful. What youll discover is yourself.- Alan Alda.

Breaking Society’s Rules :: Essays Papers

Breaking Society’s Rules American literature often examines people and motives. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, and in Arthur Miller’s dramatic classic, The Crucible, people and motives often depict patterns of Puritans struggling for life during a precarious time. Guilt and shame can tear a person's soul away. The inevitable consequence of sin is the immediate reaction of guilt, shame, and remorse. For example: John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Reverend Dimmesdale have all committed a sin or sins and are feeling extremely guilty about it. They want to be forgiven, but they have no strength and are cowards. Forgiveness can only be obtained when these characters find the strength within themselves to speak the truth. The first to commit a sin is John Proctor, the husband of Elizabeth Proctor. John is a good man until Abigail Williams comes into his life. John lives in a house feeling empty and thinking his wife does not love him. Lust is a very powerful feeling, and it tempts John right into bed with Abigail. Unfortunately once he commits adultery, Elizabeth does not forgive him. She finds ways to punish John and make him feel more remorseful. For example, Reverend Hale asks John to recite the commandments, and he forgets one, Elizabeth then says sarcastically, â€Å"Adultery, John.† Elizabeth responds in such a manner that John feels overwhelming pain in his heart. Naturally, Elizabeth feels guilty as well. She tells John, â€Å"I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery.† Elizabeth feels as though she is to blame for John committing adultery. She is a mother and, of course, Elizabeth will be consumed with taking care of their children, cooking, cleaning, etc. At first, Elizabeth does not recognize John pulling away from her and turning towards Abigail. Soon after Elizabeth finds out John committed adultery with Abby, she fires her. Later on in the novel Elizabeth is accused of being a witch and John goes to court to prove Abigail is lying.

Comparative Analysis of Amazon and Webvan

Webvan was founded by Louis Borders in 1999 after he saw the opportunity in the growing number of people making online purchases. Borders created Webvan as an enterprise that would offer greater variety than conventional stores and at the same time provide the necessary convenience to online shoppers. Webvan started by offering groceries that were frequently bought by online shoppers to ensure economies of scale in their orders.After establishing a critical customer base, it planned to use its distribution system to expand its sale to product lines that were not being frequently offered but with high profit margins such as books and consumer electronics. The company developed the web store and constructed its distribution and fulfillment center in the San Francisco Bay area from 1997 to 1999. After implementing its trial delivery system in May 1999 to 1,100 customers, Webvan was launched in June of the same year as a venture whose primordial mission is to deliver to its customers eve rything from groceries to palm pilots in a cheap and efficient manner.After raising $1. 2 billion as start-up capital from its stock offering, it began to execute grandiose plans of establishing strings of futuristic warehouses with motorized carousels and robotic product-pulling machines which costed $35 million, hoping it would minimize the cost of operations. With profit-margins so thin, Webvan failed to cover its growing cost of operations. Demand was so weak to sustain the income that Webvan needed to raise. Finally, after suffering a net loss of $217 million and accumulating tremendous deficits amounting to $830 million, Webvan found itself in a loosing situation.By July 2001, Webvan Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Webvan-Bay Area, Inc. , Webvan Operations, Inc. , and HomeGrocer. com, Inc. filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United Stated Bankruptcy Court in July 2001 and ceased operations. Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, after he noticed the promising growth of Web sites and internet access. Bezos was said to be particularly â€Å"optimistic about online retail opportunities and set out to develop a business model that will leverage growth of internet access in the United States†.Bezos decided to start with bookselling as its initial retail category, with the belief that online business model possessed superior economics to established competitors. Amazon was so successful in its initial public offering that it was able to sell 3 million shares at $18 per share, thereby raising $54 million as part of its start-up capital. And so they say the rest is history. Amazon evolved from a tiny warehouse to a leading internet retailer in the world. Bogler and Johnson (2000) wrote:â€Å"The company’s growth was phenomenal: it expanded from books to offering 28 million items across numerous categories and acquired 29 million global customers along the way. By 2000 according to Interbrand, Amazon. com beca me the forty-eighth most valuable brand in the world, embodying the principle of electronic commerce for people worldwide. † However by late 2001, Amazon experienced a tremendous loss of $2. 3 billion. Its share price which ascended rapidly in 1999 went down significantly. Fortunately, it was able to borrow $2.1 billion to sustain its international investments. With innovations such as the one-click system and creative strategies to raise revenues from publishers and increase in sales from wider product selection, Amazon was able to survive the slump in the subsequent period at the NASDAQ. (Burgelman, 2001) By 2008, Amazon emerged as a global brand with 76 million active customer accounts and order fulfillment to more than 200 countries. With this volume of sales, on December 31, 2007 Amazon employed approximately 17,000 full-time and part-time employees. COMPARE & CONTRASTIt would be interesting to note that the founder of Webvan actually started in the business of booksellin g. In terms of experience in the dot-com business, Amazon started earlier in 1994 while Webvan started in 1999. Webvan started operations in 1999 and was publicly-listed on November of the same year, with its share price zooming to $34 from the offering price of $15 on its opening day. This allowed Webvan to raise a whopping $1. 2 billion in start-up capital from the offering and other sources such as venture capitalists, thereby putting it within the league of Amazon.com. ([email  protected], 2001) In other words, both companies were of equal footing in 1999 when Webvan caught up with Amazon in terms of dot-com stature and financial backing. Both companies also established strategic alliances in the course of their operations. In the case of Webvan, it established partnership with Eve. com, an online prestige beauty products retailing company. It also established strategic alliances with Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods, and Chlorox Company. This was done by Webvan to reduce its pr ocurement costs.Amazon partnered with Drugstore. com (pharmacy), Living. com (furniture), Pets. com (pet supplies), Wineshopper. com (wines), Sothebys. com (auctions) and Kozmo. com (urban home delivery). In most cases, Amazon purchased an equity stake in these partners, so that it would share in their prosperity. Such partnerships helped Amazon extend its reach into the customer-base of other suppliers, and of course, customers who buy in one category such as books can be encouraged to purchase into other areas such as clothing or electronics.Webvan carried mostly perishable grocery goods in its retail categories while Amazon had the policy of selling only non-perishable and conveyable items. Since profit margins were so thin for perishable goods compared to non-perishable goods, it would be easy to undertsand why Amazon had greater chances of success than Webvan. Furthermore, perishable items have greater risk and cost in inventory handling. This is the reason why Webvan had to in vest too much money in its warehousing infrastructure. This spelled the difference in the success and failure of the Amazon and Webvan.Webvan had to invest too much money on a system that must ensure the freshness of its perishable goods. It had to establish a highly technological and robotic warehousing infrastructure that was very expensive to begin with in contrast to Amazons system which required its employees to â€Å"touch† its products. In the case of Amazon, since most of its items sold online were non-perishable, it had lesser inventory risks. In addition to that, its business model allowed it to shift it cost of carrying most of its inventory to its suppliers.Thus, Amazon had better grip in its infrastructure costs. The savings it obtained from its leaner operations allowed it to invest its money in developing its software systems that facilitated greater efficiency in its distribution. Finally, the viability of both business differed mainly from its customer-base a nd funding support during hard times. Webvan had a weak local customer-base that was often dissatisfied by its delivery service while Amazon had a strong customer-base that was not only confined to the US but also overseas.More so, NASDAQ just gave up on Webvan when it continously experienced financial setbacks while Amazon was able to secure additional investments to sustain its global operations. CAUSES FOR FAILURE OR SUCCESS One of the main reasons why Webvan failed is because it made the wrong decision of investing the money it successfully raised in a very expensive infrastructure and rapid expansion of operations. According to Strom (2001): â€Å"Webvan spent huge sums on high-tech warehouses that were designed to revolutionize distribution, but they turned out to be mostly a waste of money.The problem is that all the technology was meant to reduce labor costs, and labor is relatively cheap. Worse, Webvan designed the warehouses so they could scale to 8,000 orders per day, bu t that's a lot of unnecessary expense when you're receiving less than half that many orders. † Another factor that led to the failure of Webvan is the decline in the quality of its service delivery. When Webvan took over HomeGrocer, an internet grocery shopping store which was absorbed into Webvan’s grandiose expansion plan, customers noticed the deteriorating effectivity of customer service.Before the takeover, there were no complaints with HomeGrocer specially interms of customer service. Emails from customers were being promptly addressed by customer service such as providing refunds in cases of occasional mistake or damaged food. This quality of service worsened when customers started to receive rotten fruits from the delivery. Webvan was buying inferior produce in order to save on cost. Such decline in customer service resulted in customers going back to the conventional way of picking up their groceries and patronizing the local groceries once again.(Mcafee, 2006) Finally, it can be seen that Webvan’s botched acquisition of HomeGrocer led to its failure as it did’nt handle the merger of resources and assets wisely. HomeGrocer’s competency and strength in terms of operations and marketing were not totally assimilated into Webvan’s system. Amazon’s e-commerce technology platform, brand power and fulfillment infrastructure was a key to its success. It had technological innovations that efficiently facilitated online order such as the â€Å"one-click check out process†.Amazon provided its customers with an online system that allowed shoppers to purchase products online without filling lengthy registration and shipping forms that would usually turn-away buyers. Amazon was able to create an online system that also helped repeat purchases by buyers to be executed by just one click of a button – a system whose patent was eventually awarded to Amazon. One important factor why Amazon succeeded is becaus e of certain inherent strengths in its business model.Its negative operating cycle allowed Amazon to get credit card payments from its customers in a few days while enjoying a time lag of thirty to sixty days to pay its vendors after the sale. This gave Amazon a financial advantage that allowed it to generate interest in the full price of its goods for over a month. Another inherent strength in Amazon’s business model is its less dependence on physical infrastructure such warehouses. Amazon was able to sell it products with out actually carrying in most of its inventory thus shifting the risk of its inventory to its vendors.Amazon’s suppliers carried the burden of storage, thereby lessening its cost due to minimal inventory handling. Amazon also instituted free shipping offers to encourage increase in basket size since customers have to spend over a certain amount to receive free shipping. The level at which free-shipping is set is critical to profitability. Because of this, Amazon got a competitive edge as promotional battles evolved with its competitors. LESSONS LEARNED AND CONCLUSION Growing Too Fast Too Soon The lesson that can be learned from the experience of Webvan is that of timing.Some would think it’s a business that is way ahead of its time; others would say it grew too fast too soon. In his review of the â€Å"Top ten dot-com flops†, German (2009) wrote that: â€Å"A core lesson from the dot-com boom is that even if you have a good idea, it is best not to grow too fast too soon. But online grocer Webvan was the poster child for doing just that, making the celebrated company our number one dot-com flop. In a mere 18 months, it raised $375 million in an IPO, expanded from the San Francisco Bay Area to eight U. S.cities, and built a gigantic infrastructure from the ground up (including a $1 billion order for a group of high-tech warehouses). Webvan came to be worth $1. 2 billion (or $30 per share at its peak), and it toute d a 26-city expansion plan. But considering that the grocery business has razor-thin margins to begin with, it was never able to attract enough customers to justify its spending spree. The company closed in July 2001, putting 2,000 out of work and leaving San Francisco's new ballpark with a Webvan cup holder at every seat.† Getting Big Fast Ironically, in the case of Amazon, the same business principle of getting big fast was said to be the most important decision that lead to its success. In an interview with Jeff Bezos by Fortune Magazine, he said that the initial strategy was very focused and very uni-dimensional†¦It was GBF: Get Big Fast†¦What once looked foolish can seem smart now. When we started the company on July 15, 1995 we offered one million titles. We were advised by very knowledgeable people to offer only three hundred thousand titles.That was twice the size of the inventory carried by the largest physical bookstores. The catalogue was hard for us but d oable. Obtaining the books was really hard. But the success generated word of mouth. (Brooker, 2000) Supply-chain management was also a crucial lesson in the experience of Webvan and Amazon. The company that was able to efficiently and effectively manage its online retail business with minimal inventory cost and risk was the company that turned out to be successful.The difference in the supply chain management of both companies ultimately distinguished between the company that was financially viable and which one was not. References Bogler, Daniel and Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew (2000). Jeff Bezos: The Man of Last Year Revisited. Brooker, Katrina (2000). Beautiful Dreamer. Fortune Magazine. Burgelman, Robert and Meza, Philip (2001). Amazon. com: Evolution of an e-tailer. Graduate School of Business. Stanford University. [email  protected] (2001).Webvan Finds that Shopping for Food Online Hasn’t Clicked with Consumers. [Online]. Available: http://knowledge. wharton. upenn. ed u/article. cfm? articleid=321 German Kent (2009). Top 10 dot-com flops. CNET Networks Incorporated. [Online]. Available: http://www. cnet. com/1990-11136_1-6278387-1. html Mcaffee, Andrew and Ashiya, Mona (2006). Webvan. Harvard Business School. President and Fellows of Harvard College. Strom, David (2001). Where Webvan Went Wrong. TidBits #588. [Online]. Available: http://www. strom. com/awards/255. html

Diana, Princess of Wales - Timeline of Events

Diana, Princess of Wales - Timeline of Events July 1, 1961 Diana Frances Spencer born in Norfolk, England 1967 Dianas parents divorced. Diana initially lived with her mother, and then her father fought for and won custody. 1969 Dianas mother married Peter Shand Kydd. 1970 After being educated at home by tutors, Diana was sent to Riddlesworth Hall, Norfolk, a boarding school 1972 Dianas father began a relationship with Raine Legge, Countess of Dartmouth, whose mother was Barbara Cartland, romance novelist 1973 Diana began her education at the West Heath Girls School, Kent, an exclusive girls boarding school 1974 Diana moved to the Spencer family estate in Althorp 1975 Dianas father inherited the title of Earl Spencer, and Diana gained the title of Lady Diana 1976 Dianas father married Raine Legge 1977 Diana dropped out of West Girls Heath School; her father sent her to a Swiss finishing school, Chateau dOex, but she only stayed a few months 1977 Prince Charles and Diana met in November when he was dating her sister, Lady Sarah; Diana taught him to tap-dance 1978 Diana attended a Swiss finishing school, Institut Alpin Videmanette, for a term 1979 Diana moved to London, where she worked as a housekeeper, nanny, and kindergarten teachers aide; she lived with three other girls in a three-bedroom flat purchased by her father 1980 On a visit to see her sister Jane, who was married to Robert Fellowes, an assistant secretary to the Queen, Diana and Charles met again; soon, Charles asked Diana for a date, and in November, he introduced her to several members of the royal family:Â  the Queen, the Queen Mother, and the Duke of Edinburgh (his mother, grandmother, and father) February 3, 1981 Prince Charles proposed to Lady Diana Spencer at a dinner for two at Buckingham Palace February 8, 1981 Lady Diana left for a previously-planned vacation in Australia July 29, 1981 wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Charles, Prince of Wales, at St. Pauls Cathedral; broadcast worldwide October 1981 the Prince and Princess of Wales visit Wales November 5, 1981 official announcement that Diana was pregnant June 21, 1982 Prince William born (William Arthur Philip Louis) September 15, 1984 Prince Harry born (Henry Charles Albert David) 1986 strains in the marriage began to be obvious to the public, Diana begins relationship with James Hewitt March 29, 1992 Dianas father died June 16, 1992 publication of Mortons book Diana: Her True Story, including the story of Charles long affair with Camilla Parker Bowles and allegations of five suicide attempts including once during Dianas first pregnancy; it later became apparent that Diana or at least her family had cooperated with the author, her father contributing many family photographs December 9, 1992 formal announcement of the legal separation of Diana and Charles December 3, 1993 announcement from Diana that she was withdrawing from public life 1994 Prince Charles interviewed by Jonathan Dimbleby, admitted he had had a relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles since 1986 (later, it was questioned whether his attraction to her had been rekindled earlier) the British television audience was 14 million November 20, 1995 Princess Diana interviewed by Martin Bashir on BBC, with 21.1 million audience in Britain, revealing her struggles with depression, bulimia, and self-mutilations; this interview contained her line, Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded, referring to her husbands relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles December 20, 1995 Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen had written to the Prince and Princess of Wales, with the backing of the Prime Minister and Privy Counsel, advising them to divorce February 29, 1996 Princess Diana announced shed agreed to a divorce July 1996 Diana and Charles agreed to divorce terms August 28, 1996 divorce of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Charles, Prince of Wales, final; Diana received about $23 million settlement plus $600,000 per year, retained the title Princess of Wales but not the title Her Royal Highness, continued to live at Kensington Palace; agreement was that both parents were to be active in their childrens lives late 1996 Diana became involved with the issue of landmines 1997 Nobel Peace Prize went to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, for which Diana had worked and traveled June 29, 1997 Christies in New York auctioned 79 of Dianas evening gowns; proceeds of about $3.5 million went to cancer and AIDS charities. 1997 linked romantically with 42-year-old Dodi Fayed, whose father, Mohammed al-Fayed, owned Harrods Department Store and Paris Ritz Hotel August 31, 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, died of injuries sustained in a car accident, in Paris, France September 6, 1997 Princess Dianas funeral. She was buried at the Spencer estate at Althorp, on an island in a lake.

Fight the Power essays

Fight the Power essays Public Enemy wrote a song about racism, censorship and freedom. This song was popular among its time back in the late 80s and earlier 90s. The song Im talking about of course is Fight The Power, the title its self is self explanatory. Public Enemy has four members all from unique backgrounds. Its first and most known member would be Chuck D also known as Carlton Ridenhour born on August 1st 1960 same as its second member Professor Griff a.k.a Richard Griffin. Third member of P.E. is Terminator X born as Norman Rogers in 1966 and its fourth and final member is Flavor Flav also known to his family as William Drayton born on March 16th 1959. Public Enemy got their name from So Hank Schocklee when he heard two songs from them featuring the words Public Enemy and a single titled the same. The group toured with such groups as U2, Anthrax and Primus, and Sister of Mercy. Their first tour was the Ill tour headlining the Beastie Boys. Public Enemy is a political group. Theyve always talked about the issues at hand. And they werent afraid to use it in their songs. Their one of the few groups at their time to rap about the issues. Cause at their time gangsta rap had started to take off and people started to listen to different things. But the song Fight The Power was a popular song and so was its music video. The video showed a community coming together at a rally to support a common cause. Also in the video people who looked like they were part of the Black Panthers. The song talks about censorship briefly and I quote While the Black bands sweatin Our freedom of speech is freedom or death We got to fight the powers that be. Not only are they talking about freedom of speech but also racism comes up as part of it. They talk about how blac ...

As a person who has experienced both your own and American culture Essay

As a person who has experienced both your own and American culture - Essay Example On the other hand, other scholars disagree that American fast food brands are that good for China if they increase health problems and promote conformist and materialistic values (O’Connor 162; Zhang, der Lans, and Dagevos 88). The positive effects of the American fast food industry on Chinese society are the promotion of aspirations for success, freedom, equality, and humanity in general and a successful global business model for Chinese businesses in specific, although the American fast food industry also poses the negative effects of poor health and the spreading potentially harmful cultural practices of conformity and superficiality. One of the positive effects of American fast food brands on Chinese culture is the promotion of positive ideals of success. Many Chinese go to Western fast food outlets to experience the American lifestyle, which is largely connected to material success. Chinese consumers want the â€Å"slice of America† that Dan Roberts writes about (168). Lynn Guenette agrees with Roberts because of examples of Chinese consumers do not want to eat rice and congee in McDonald’s because they want to taste American brands and feel emotionally connected to the success of these brands (8). She cites China Daily, where Jeffrey Schwartz, McDonald’s China CEO explains that, in their focus group studies of Chinese consumers, many of them say that they come to McDonald’s â€Å"because [it is] a Western brand, if [they] want to eat rice or congee [they] can eat it at home†¦[they] want to sample the Western brand† (Guenette 8). Guenette says that the Chinese see America n brands and American success as one: â€Å"Being  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœwestern’  is  a  prerequisite  for  success† (4).   The Chinese want American brands because America stands for success and those who consume its brands access status symbols of success. Roberts notes that, though some groups are falling out of love of American brands because of U.S. foreign

Role Of Women In Ancient Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Role Of Women In Ancient Egypt - Essay Example Hatshepsut reigned until her death in 1457 B. C, despite the constant threat by her co-ruler Thutmose III, who was at the time old enough and ready to take back his throne. Upon her death, most of her monuments were destroyed, and her name erased from the Egyptian records. Ancient Egyptians were religious, and women had several roles to play in religious activities. First, there were several female goddesses worshiped by the Egyptians. Women were also musicians and priestesses in the temples where religious ceremonies were held. In the role of the temple, women were musician-priestesses and held an important and honorable place in Egyptian religious society. They performed music and sung for the god Amum for his entertainment. In the social role, women were supposed to offer companionship and love to the Egyptian men. They also held the role of childbirth. During child delivery, other women acted as midwives to help the expectant woman through the whole process. Women were also responsible for the raising up of the children. Economically, women were allowed to start and run businesses of their own. In addition to this, several jobs were available to them. They included perfume makers, bakers, and weavers among others (Flux 19). To sum it up, in ancient Egypt, unlike other ancient societies, women were given same legal and economic right. Women were allowed to own, manage and even sell their private properties. Through building projects, Hatshepsut ensured the divine property of both herself and her people.