Wednesday, August 7, 2019
The Killing Fields In Cambodia Essay Example for Free
The Killing Fields In Cambodia Essay Introduction: The killing fields mark a tragic time in history; over two million (2,000,000) reported killed while hundreds of thousands of people displaced. The architect of this massacre is Pol Pot who led the communist guerilla group in 1975 and took over the Khmer Rouge (Etcheson 32). Many of the deaths that occurred during this time were because of the executions that were mandated on anyone who opposed the rule of Pol Pot. While many were executed, a large number also died because of the starvation that became rampant during this period.  Reports show that almost every Cambodian family lost at least a single relative during this holocaust (Etcheson 32). This short discourse will attempt to shed more light upon this event by discussing the events that led up to this holocaust as well as identifying several of the factors that may have led to its occurrence. Pol Pot            In order to arrive at a better understanding of the situation, it is important to first take a brief look at the life of the leader who led the Khmer Rouge during this time and initiated what was perhaps one of the most tragic events in human history. Pol Pot was born on May 19, 1925 as Saloth Sar in Kompong Thom province (Kiernan 162). The son of a prosperous farmer that had connections to the royal family, Pol Pot was able to win a government scholarship to study radio electronics in Paris (Kiernan 163). It is during this time that he becomes exposed to the teachings of Marx and soon develops a passion for revolutionary socialism.            In his quest for more enlightenment in the teachings of Marx, he soon finds himself in the company of other young Cambodians who were studying Paris, such as Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Khieu Ponnary and Song Sen (Kiernan 164). They soon after formed what was known as the â€Å"Paris Student Group†and eventually became the leaders of the Khmer Rouge (Kiernan 164). It was with the help of these young students that Pol Pot was able to gain the influence that he did and eventually orchestrate the Killing Fields. In 1953, Pol Pot had his scholarship revoked and was forced to return to Cambodia where he worked for the Kampuchean People’s Revolutionary Party (KPRP) (Kiernan 162). This Cambodian Communist Party was the first step in the plan of Pol Pot. He then used the connections from this party to find work as a teacher where he taught history and geography at a private school in Cambodia (Kiernan 162). The most radical step, however, was when Pol Pot visited China where the â€Å"Cultural Revolution†of Chairman Mao had just been launched. He was taken by the radical change that was occurring in China during this time and thus the seeds for this recreation of Cambodia were planted (Kiernan 262). The continuous revolution concept that Chairman Mao introduces in China is something that deeply inspires Pol Pot and soon after that begins his mission of taking over Cambodia. Hidden in the northeast portion of Cambodia, Pol Pot lives with a hill tribe and realizes that this simple life is the realization of all of the communist ideals that he espouses. Not long after, the Khmer Rouge establishes the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea (Kiernan 262). Unknown to most, the growth of the Khmer Rouge and the influence that Pol Pot possessed was because of the intervention and support that the United States provided at that time (Chandler 301). In an attempt to attack the Vietnamese communist sanctuaries, former President Richard Nixon and former security adviser, Henry Kissinger, authorized secret and illegal bombing raids on all communist sanctuaries within Cambodia (Chandler 301). The damage that resulted and the failure of the United States in the Vietnam War served to increase the support that the people had for the Khmer Rouge (Chandler 301). This enabled the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot to win the civil war that was ensuing in Cambodia and eventually take over control of Phnom Penh thus beginning the tragedy that will be known forever as the â€Å"Killing Fields.†The Killing Fields:            It was on April 17, 1975 that Phnom Penh finally fell to the Khmer Rouge group who were led by Pol Pot. Not long after, the residents of the city were forced into the countryside and into concentration camps and labor camps (Becker 365). During the next three years, eight months and twenty days of Pol Pot’s rule, Cambodia endured what was perhaps the its darkest moment in history. It has been estimated that over thirty percent (30%) of the population of Cambodia died from starvation, execution or torture during this period (Becker 365).            â€Å"Year Zero,†as Pol Pot called the day when the Khmer Rouge succeeded in capturing Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, was the event that led to the death of nearly two million (2,000,000) people (Becker 362). The ruthless program that Pol Pot initiated to â€Å"purify†the Cambodian society of any vestiges of western capitalism, western philosophy, and western influences was all part of his grand design for the country. He desired to create an entirely new Cambodia that was isolated from the rest of the world, much like China was, and totally self-sufficient, similar to the Maoist agrarian states (Becker 365). He enforced this policy by killing anyone who opposed his plans.            The first part of the plan included the expulsion of foreigners and the closing down of any foreign embassies on Cambodian territory. The local currency was abolished and any other capitalist symbols were purged (Etcheson 32). This included the closure of public markets, public and private schools, newspapers, religious practices and even the prohibition on owning any private property. The extremism that marked this reign was never more evident than in the policy of Pol Pot to execute all the members of the previous Lon Nol government, public servants, police, teachers, ethnic Vietnamese, Christian and Muslim clergy, and other members of the middle-class and educated sectors of society (Etcheson 32).            Once this plan was set into place, Pol Pot soon sent the entire population of the country into labor camps. These citizens were stripped of all of their private belongings and sent to what resembled communes where they were forced to do agricultural labor. This led to the so called â€Å"Killing Fields†because of the fact that a number of the people died there due to the very primitive living conditions that were provided (Chandler 211). Families were separated and even the Buddhist monks living in the area were forced to work in these fields. This led to a collapse of society as even children were forced to spy upon adults including their parents.            The situation was so severe that almost all the offenses that were committed during this time were punishable by death. There was no leniency in the enforcement of the policies of Pol Pot. Of the millions of people who were displaced (over Seven Million estimated), over one and a half million (1.5 million) to three million (3 million) people were either worked or starved to death (Etcheson 32). This does not include those who died of disease or executed for the commission of crimes that the Pol Pot regime would not tolerate. The crimes that were punishable under this regime included the death penalty for those who were found to be not working hard enough, those who complained about the primitive living conditions, those who were caught collecting or stealing food for their own personal consumption, those who were found wearing any form of jewelry, those who engaged in any form of sexual relations, those who grieved over the death of their relatives or friends and finally those who expressed any religious sentiments (Becker 387).            There was no judicial process that existed during this time as Pol Pot abolished any of the vestiges of Western influence including the courts of law. This meant that justice was to be served solely by the Khmer Rouge (Chandler 211). All decisions with regard to political and even minor crimes would be initiated by a warning that was sent by the Angkar, which was the government of Cambodia during this time. Those who were unlucky enough to receive two (2) warning were sent for â€Å"re-education,†which meant certain death (Chandler 211). Similar to the secret police in other communist regimes, the suspects were â€Å"encouraged†to confess to the crimes that they were blamed for under the pretense that if they confessed the Angkar would be lenient and â€Å"wipe the slate clean.† All those who were found to have any connections with foreigners were arrested and promptly executed (Chandler 211). The most common targets were the ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Thai the Christians and the Buddhists. Conclusion:            As the events show, the cause of the genocide in the killing fields was primarily borne from the leadership of Pol Pot. The â€Å"radical†change that Pol Pot envisioned for Cambodia and the intolerant leadership that he possessed led to the deaths of nearly two million (2,000,000) people. It has been argued that the Killing Fields were actually a result of many different historical factors such as the loss of the Americans during the Vietnam War which rallied support around the Khmer Rouge and the aid that the Americans initially lent to the Khmer Rouge. Whatever theories may lie surrounding this event, however, does not alter the fact that this is one of the saddest and darkest moments of human history. The loss of all these lives and the destruction of the lives of many other families who lost their loved ones and everything that they had in this event is something that the world should not soon forget. It takes a million people to create a civilization that will last for centuries but it only takes one person to destroy all of that. Works Cited: Becker, Elizabeth (1998) When The War Was Over: Cambodia And The Khmer Rouge Revolution, Revised Edition PublicAffairs; 1st PublicAffairs ed edition (November 9, 1998) Chandler, David (1993) The Tragedy of Cambodian History: Politics, War, and Revolution since 1945. Yale University Press (September 10, 1993) ISBN-13: 978-0300057522 Chandler, David (2000) Voices from S-21: Terror and History in Pol Pots Secret Prison University of California Press; 1 edition (January 7, 2000) Etcheson, Craig (2005). After the Killing Fields: Lessons from the Cambodia Genocide. Westport: Praeger, 2005. xii + 256 pp. Notes, selected bibliography, ISBN 978-0-275-98513-4. Kiernan, Ben (2004) How Pol Pot Came to Power: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Communism in Cambodia, 1930-1975; Second Edition Yale University Press; 2 edition (August 11, 2004)
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
The Development of Machine Translation Essay Example for Free
The Development of Machine Translation Essay Introduction What is machine translation? Simply put, machine translation is the application of computer text from one natural language into another natural language text translation. The translation climax in the history of China again and again set off, the translation of Buddhist scriptures in the Eastern Han to the Tang and Song dynasties, the Ming and Qing technology translation and the Opium War to the May Fourth Movement to promote the progress of history. Today, the advent of the global information age is the translation climax conditions, requirements, involved in the field of computer science, mathematics, linguistics. However, the science of translation career how? Effects? How we will develop and make progress? In this paper, a review of the development of machine translation, disadvantages, role and prospects of superficial discussion, to answer these questions. i. A history of the development of machine translation The 17th century French philosopher, mathematician Descartes and the German mathematician Leibniz put forward the idea of using the machine dictionary overcome language barriers. In 1946, the worlds first electronic computer was born, after 50 years of development, through the tortuous road success, there are setbacks, presented numerous challenges for researchers. Machine translation potential social and economic benefits, some Western countries as well as Japan and other countries have spent a lot of R D, machine translation into the boom by its start-up period of the trough, the recovery period and make showing unprecedented prosperous and developed. The following is a brief overview of the various periods of its development. That is start-up period (1947 to 1954), Trough period (1954 to 1975), Recovery period (1975 to 1989),Prosperous Period. ii. The problem of machine translation The machine translation prosperity does not mean it does not have any problems. According to statistics, machine translation with human translation, translation accuracy and readability is less than 70%, many ways, there are a large number of problems, yet computer, language experts and machine translation users to jointly overcome. Opened the translation history at a glance the criterion the eyes of the beholder, the wise see wisdom. Three Kingdoms period follow essentially, Gavin ornaments East Jindao An best of Record, not so prejudicial statements were made tour word Tang Xuan Zang, neither shall seek the truth, and shall Yu vulgar to modern Yan Fu, letter the relentless pursuit of Dayak Chinese letter, Fu Lei quite similar , environment of Qian Zhongshu Gu Zhengkun best approximation . Tytlers three principles abroad, the famous translator Nidas dynamic equivalence the the fee Road Rove equivalents, otherwise Gorlee, alleged meaning on qualitative quantity. But are all demanding translation standards. The machine is translated as a translation, of course, should pay attention to the quality of the translation. The translation quality of machine translation can understand and loyalty, it is difficult to achieve the ideal standard. These examples to illustrate (1) The erroneous translation of part of speech and meaning. These problems with the machine error on the part of speech, meaning Discrimination are inseparable. Once the parts of speech in this connection vocabulary to syntax bridge is the wrong resolution, the translation will be wrong. Therefore, it is the wrong resolution mistranslation phenomenon should arouse the attention of machine translation researchers. (2)Adverbial wrong translation Of mistranslation. Such as the num ber and type of vehi2cles be misinterpreted as such a number of types of vehicles. Comparative sentence mistranslation. The earlier a smog alert can be issued, the greater its effectiveness is as it al2low s were wrongly translated: constitutes more time this smoke alarm can be as early as issued, the greater its efficiency as it does allow and the correct translation should be: the sooner the alarm, the greater the role, because it will make the Sketch word mistranslated. Small words, such as articles, conjunctions, English is not fluent in English. Chinese On the contrary, they become redundant, this machine translation can not be a good conversion. On these issues, there have been a lot of research, but always simple description, do not be traced. I believe that the key to these problems is not a simple computer program driving hard to the issue of slavery, but the context of the language itself is not a thorough analysis, we should ponder the question is how to make the machine with minimum knowledge. How to make the long-term accumulated cultural knowledge to penetrate into the machine translation. When they make the machine and from the search context, and in a certain culture play a role in its translation, what will? Mentioned Context, we can get some inspiration from the M alinow ski and Firth, Firth linguists task should be to study the text language phenomenon and its context combination, machine translation is the translation of a natural language another natural language should be set analysis, Discrimination select processing as an integrated process, asked to do , Shindaya. Gave us think of fruitRevelation, the word of the keys on the piano, alone has no effect. Keep context together makes sense. Another factor is the cultural context. Firth social scene decided to play social role social role is limited. Therefore, the social scene is also limited. Event enables the machine translation These limited role in society, the social scene analysis processing, translation will be able to improve the understandability credibility and While this robot suspected, but this is the trend. Since the machine translation represents the high-tech should be a breakthrough in the current information age. ii. The role of machine translation. Machine translation through a saddle-type process, PaulDeposit and flourish, today turned into a tool, the reasonIt is its role in promoting. (1)Promote social progress Human leave no stone unturned to develop and complete a machine. Is translation systems, has developed a translation software, promoted by Economic development, social progress, eliminating the language in the world among people Introduction obstacles, communicate with the entire world. (2) Improve translation efficiency With the machine translation research has improved continuously, the field of translation achieved unprecedented success. In our translation work, We can make use of a variety of translation systems or software to complete the translation task, Samples can improve the speed and accuracy of the translation, translation efficiency. (3) Promote the development of other areas Machine translation to get involved in mathematics, computer science, linguistics, translation Science and other multi-discipline areas need strong development of these disciplines, substantial based on the outcome, so as to promote the development of these areas. Fourth, the outlook on the prospects for machine translation. The birth of the machine translation system, especially to people translation, who brought hope. Although machine translation the understandability and loyalty also not ideal, but if the mathematics, computer science, translation studies and language science and other researchers in the field of work together, will make the machine translation out more beautiful flowers, bear more fruit. Conclusion In the above mentioned, if the context of the language environment and cultural context for consideration in the process of programming, will be able to make the translation discourse stronger language three functions, namely the concept of function, people interpersonal function and textual function was more prominent. It is also the author most would like to suggest, hope, serve role. It should be believed that through the tireless efforts of many researchers make machine translation. Having been properly developed, thus will be able to promote vigorous translation cause development.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Importance Of Environmental Scanning Marketing Essay
Importance Of Environmental Scanning Marketing Essay This study is regarding the EMI Music Company, EMI group is a worldwide music library from one corner to another corner of the world. This study is only focusing on the UK music market to come up with the marketing planning and the marketing strategy of the company. In the start this information is generous a concise opening of the environmental scanning and its consequence in stipulations of EMI music library. Additionally this study take part in marketing analysis through acting the macro, micro and swot analysis. The end of this report is take part in analysis the Uk music industry and Additionally this study is performing the market analysis via performing the macro, micro and SWOT analysis. In the last part of this report is analysing the UK music market and reinforcement the business of music in esteem to EMI Music group. This study is illustrating the marketing mix 4Ps and PORTERS 5 forces. The report is ending with some recommendation for EMI Music Company to plan their business in terms of marketing planning on the basis of study that is done. Environmental Scanning Every organisation is responsible for the environment that it creates. The organisations operation and structure all directly affected by the environment. Organisations environment impacts on resources and opportunities that how they can be treated? It is primary objective of the organisation to take care of the companys operations that how they are affecting the environment. For the successful growth and development of business it is important to develop such a strategies those can be assist operate the business operations. [1] To understand the environmental scanning it is important to identify the business and how it can affect the environment business around. The definition of Environmental scanning is Environmental scanning is a process of gathering, analyzing, and dispensing information for tactical or strategic purposes. The environmental scanning process entails obtaining both factual and subjective information on the business environments in which a company is operating or c onsidering entering. The environmental scanning can be achieved by several ways but three important ways of scanning environment are given below: Ad-hoc Scanning: Very unpredicted and short-term, mostly used in emergencies or crisis. Regular Scanning: This scanning process being done after a certain period but regularly (e.g once in a quarter or once in a year) Continuous Scanning: This is an ongoing process and remains in continuous state, have broad range of spectrum. The work of researcher through many studies, surveys and researches shows, now a days most of the business likes to implement the continuous scanning. The continuous scanning allows businesses to take actions very quickly and effectively with keep tracking the work. Importance of Environmental Scanning Environmental scanning is important for the organisation to step out or find the exact solution for companys procedure. Environmental scanning helps organisations to improve or enhance the ability of working for changing environment in stable means. The following highlighted points are given below: It enables organisation to gain capitalise of the business in early stages of the business as compare to their competitor. Environmental scanning give alerts to the organisation well before time for the impending problems. These problems can be handled and solutions can be found well before time if they are noticed well before time. This process sensitises the companys exact time of changing in environment process to meet the wishes and desire of their potential customers. This scanning process helps to find out the qualitative information in regards to the environment to assist the strategist to find the best suitable strategies for the company. It helps to strategy making bodies in their decision making process by providing them the simulation of the resource and risks. Give more opportunities to increase the business and adds extra points in the good will of the company by adding the ability of environment scanning person. It provides opportunity to companys executive in continuing the broad based studies. Helps the strategy developers in finding the latest and up-to date strategies for the organisation. Macro Environment Environment scanning is most commonly done on the macro level. The macro level analysis may contain the definition of the market, analysing the market size, potential market, market segmentation, structuring the industry, group management, competition, finding the market trends. The Macro analysis in the industry of music is defined as: In music theory, macro analysis is a method of transcribing, or writing down chords that may be used along with or instead of conventional musical analysis. Rather than roman numerals and figured bass symbols often used, letter names are used to indicate the roots of chords and are followed by symbols which specify the chord quality Market segmentation Market segmentation is very common term to identify the group of people or organisations those have the some common characteristics and need a same or similar product for the cause. According to market analysts the market segmentation may have the criteria. The different segments have different needs but it is necessary that same segment have the same need and using the same product to fulfil their needs. These groups can be further more categorised by the consumption of products by according to their needs. The market segmentation can be concerned and can be viewed in more detail as positive or negative applications of the same idea. Variables Used for market segmentation: In general terminology the market can be segmented on Geographical locations, demographic attributes, psychographic, behaviour of people and technological segmentation. SWOT Analysis Strength Strong global presence EMI Group, PLC has a worldwide market in nearly 50 countries; among its major market are North America, Continental Europe, Latin America, UK Ireland, Australia, Japan and Asia. World largest independent music company In 2002, EMI worldwide market share is 12.6%. Its large size gives many benefits such as cost reduction through economic of scale. Vast resources and strong market share also give the benefit of being able to attract the best staff and artists to the company which have a strong position for the future. Financial Performance Although EMI Group sales in fiscal 2003 decline compared to 2002, the company operating profit show excellent increased about 33.1% in 2003 compare to 2002. The improvement in operating profit was due to a comprehensive reorganization of EMI Record Music Division. World class artist roster EMI releases more than 1000 albums every year and has a roster of over 1300 artists. Among them are David Bowie, The Beatles, Norah Jones, Queen, Robbie William and many more. Weaknesses Difficulties in the US Market EMI has consistently been towards the bottom of the five majors in the US market share, which is the world largest recorded music market in the world. In 2003 it only command 9.8 % of US market share. Dont have conglomerate backing-EMI is the only top five music company that solely independent which not being own by larger corporation. This mean EMI has to generate its own resources without any help from other larger company. Decreasing in worldwide market share EMI Group, PLC worldwide market share dipped from 13.4% in 2002 to 12.6% in 2003. The worldwide decreasing were resulted from the decreasing of EMI Group market share in several major region in 2003 compared from 2002 which included North America (-0.03%), UK Ireland (-0.01%), Continental Europe (-1.7%), Latin America (-2.6%) and Australia (-0.10%). Opportunities Joint Venture / collaboration With recent merger attempts being stopped, EMI consolidation within the industry is becoming more difficult. Internet sales Internet has become the fastest growing media for music distribution and many analysts expect that the downloading trends will continue to grow in a future. More Open MA regulatory More open or liberalization of MA in music industry may increase EMI Group opportunity to acquire or merge with other music company. This will give EMI added market share and resources to compete with other major music companies. Focus on market where it has a strong market share and growth Although North America especially US is the biggest market for recorded music, however it seem that EMI having trouble to keep competing to gain more market share. Maybe EMI has to give more focus or gaining more in the market that it has a strong share such as UK Ireland, Australasia and Continental Europe. EMI also has to focus more in growing market region such as Japan and Asia. Threats Limited growth potential for recorded music The worldwide recorded music industry posted sales of $32 billion in 2002. The figure represent a 7% decline in Dollar sales and an 8% decrease in unit volume from 2001. Compared to 2001, sales of CD albums fell globally by 6% and there more continued declines in the sales of CD singles (down 16%) and cassettes (down 36%). These show that is very difficult to find growth opportunities in the market. Poor economics condition and exchange rate fluctuation As a global company operating in many countries worldwide, EMI Group, LTC is easily be vulnerable to the deteriorating economic condition worldwide and fluctuation in exchange rates and interest rates. These can often adversely affect both revenues and profits for the company. Filling low In early September 2003, RIAA filed 261 separate lawsuits in US against individuals engaged in unauthorized file sharing. Industry analysts expected that litigation would have a short-run dampening effect on unauthorized CD downloading and burning. However it was viewed as having a minima long-run effect on this practice. Aggressive Competition The recorded music industry is very competitive which dominates by five larger companies which included Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, BMG Entertainment and EMI Group, PLC. EMI has to always consider any action from competitors which may effect the company competitive position. UK Music Market Before continuing to any marketing strategy it is important to understand the market of the geographical location and trends of the targeted market. For this analysis it is important to understand the concept of the music industrys content and structure. The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) offers a description of the music industry as involving businesses and organisations that record, produce, publish, distribute and market recorded music. In addition to these, four main stakeholders characterize the music industry the artist, the consumers, the music agents and the distributors. However, in seeking to define the industry it is acknowledged that no one definition can capture its diverse nature in terms of (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) musical activity and commerce. In commercial terms the global music industry is a multibillion dollar segment of the media industries and has reached a stage of maturity in its lifecycle. However with the rise of the digital era, it is undergoing signific ant transformation. With a core business sector comprising the record companies and music publishers, the global music industry transcends national boundaries and pervades virtually every culture and every society. Marketing Mix 4 Ps Product: Once EMI has taken control to the UK music market for the marketing of their products, it is the responsibility of the management to make the desired strategies which will explore products in country which also can raise their market share price. EMI has to look for their strategies according to the need of music listener and their needs and should the product as accordingly. [8] Price: Price is very important factor to be notice before planning any marketing plans and it mostly depends upon the area and the population. Everyone buys product according to pocket and if any rivals in the same area where EMI operates unable to low their cost, EMI can get the competitive advantage by keeping themselves in the market. In UK at present EMI offers promotions on mostly of their products and all promo prices are still cheaper then the other rivals. [8] Place: For more expansion of the business EMI need to do big investments in the areas where lands are cheap which normally localities are in the district and village and in general the public lives in those areas are of similar minded which can give extra advantage for do marketing. Also opening stores in the disadvantaged areas enable EMI to win the trust of local communities by providing them job opportunities in their stores. [8] Promotion: Promotion has a very vital role in any business revenue as if the business is not attaining their targets the best way is to use promotions 1st and if no result could come up, change the strategy. EMI and all different companies in the world use promotion to sell out their product. Keeping the product for a long time puts an extra burden for the warehouses which could leads to company loss if any of them gets out of date. During recession EMI and other rivals have good offers on their products to win the loyalty of their customers. PORTER Five Forces 1. Competition from substitutes: Within the music industry the threat of substitutes is extremely high. The internet has created an emerging source of substitute competition in the form of digital music and digital delivery. The availability of substitutes allows consumers to make performance and price comparisons with the option of switching to download music. The growth of both illicit and subscription downloading is effectively leading to the direct substitution of recorded music for digital alternatives. With little cost or inconvenience consumers are switching, to digital and online music services attracted by the value- added benefits of greater convenience, diversity of choice and lower costs compared with traditional formats. 2. Threat of entry: The threat from new entrants has increased with the growth of the internet. Lower capital investment and operational costs for online distribution has lowered the entry barriers for new independent record companies. As a direct consequence, new entrants compete on a more level playing field, where size is no longer a determinant of success or failure within the online market. With diversity of demands, new entrants have the opportunity to achieve success through niche target marketing. Furthermore with these evolutionary changes, traditional distribution channels are less relied upon and new entrants can compete through online distribution and marketing. However starting up in the music industry still involves risks, where investing in a new- artist may involve unrecoverable sunk costs. Representing a new artist requires financial resources, experience and substantial contact networks and with limited resources independents might find it hard to break in to the industry. The major pl ayers have already achieved a substantial competitive advantage with well established contact networks, global reputations and long- term relationships with artists. Their financial muscle and repertoire of artists enables them to spread risk over their range of portfolio projects. 3. Rivalry between established players: Internal rivalry and competition within the industry is high and remains tightly concentrated between Sony BMG, Universal, Warner and EMI. With the increase of independent labels entering the industry competition has increased. Large and small companies are now directly competing to attract artists and improve market share in both the physical and online markets. Due to the intense nature of this competition, decisions made by one company can influence others. For the main companies this intense rivalry means that their market share fluctuates through competition and can no longer be guaranteed. With parallelism pricing decisions CDs are priced at similar levels and as such companies are looking to their artists as a means of differentiation whilst attempting to offer the most creative channels of music distribution. 4. Bargaining power of buyers: The emergence of the digital music market has increased the strength of buyers bargaining power. Through online network communities, consumers bargaining power is strengthened by the abundance of online information. Consumers are now much more price sensitive and are becoming an empowered force, directly influencing how music is delivered and in what format. With the growing perception that they offer nothing more than capital, record companies are forced to react, reinventing their business models accordingly. 5. Bargaining power of suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers within the industry has lowered .The artists can now choose to circumvent the suppliers by either setting up their own label or promoting their music via the internet. This has substantially increased artists control over earnings and marketing. Recommendations The following recommendations are provided in light of the key issues facing the company. EMI Group revenue has gone down 15.79% in the 2007 fiscal year and led it to low gross profit, net profit and ROCE ratios, as well as undesirable EPS figures. It is vital for EMI to offset the decline in CD sales and adapt to the changes in the environment to remain being attractive to investors and artists. With the growing power of the internet and technologies, the top management may consider to put weight into effective e-commerce marketing instead of continuing with traditional expensive marketing methods. It is also essential to understand that gaining market share in the digital music area should be highly prioritized as the trend of the music industry is clearly moving towards the technological side. Piracy has nonetheless become a serious issue in the industry with the rapid development of technology. It is highly advisable for EMI to cooperate with its competitors to target piracy. The possibility of achieving a satisfactory result against piracy is high with their dominant power in the industry. By bringing in game theory logic, it would be more sensible to work with the rivals in this scenario to protect revenues in the future. In addition to sales of record music, there are many other income generating activities such as concerts, merchandise and sponsorship. It is, of course, important that EMI continue developing its key strengths whiles adjusting its strategy to the changing environment. The quality of music produced is the core of the business; EMI should definitely try to keep successful artist as well as continuing to identify new artists with potential to growth.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Immanuel Kant Essays -- essays research papers
Kant is a deontological philosopher; that is, in examining morality he says that the ends must not be looked at, only the means. Kant began by carefully drawing a pair of crucial distinctions among the judgments we do actually make. The first distinction separates a priori from a posteriori judgments by reference to the origin of our knowledge of them. A priori judgments are statements for which there is no appeal to experience in order to dertermine what is true and false. A posteriori judgments, on the other hand, are statements in which experience determines how we discover the truth or falsity of the statement. Thus, this distinction also marks the difference traditionally noted in logic between necessary and contingent truths. But Kant also made a less familiar distinction between analytic and synthetic judgments, according to the information conveyed as their content. Analytic judgments are those whose predicates are entirely contained in their subjects; since they add nothing to our concept of the subject, such judgments are purely explicative and can be deduced from the principle of non-contradiction. Synthetic judgments, on the other hand, are those whose predicates are altogether distinct from their subjects, to which they must be shown to relate because of some real connection external to the concepts themselves. Hence, synthetic judgments are genuinely informative but require justification by reference to some outside principle. In the opening pages of Kant’s Gro...
Saturday, August 3, 2019
The Necessity of Violence in Native Son by Richard Wright Essay
In Native Son, Richard Wright uses characterization and symbolism to underscore his theme of how American institutionalized oppression of blacks creates human tragedy for those oppressed. Yet, the novel is not an attempt to merit our sympathy or empathy for the condition of repressed blacks, it is to illustrate how the nihilistic attitude of blacks like Bigger Thomas is the direct result of white repression of differences in non-white cultures. In other words, Bigger's only option is death because the society which has created him has given him nothing else to care about, nothing he can call his own, no chance to explore any of his potential. Thus, he turns to violence as an expression of identity which is what his reaction to reading the newspaper expresses. When he reads the article in the paper, he exclaims to his mother, "No! Jan didn't help me! He didn't have a damned thing to do with it! I - I did it!" (Wright 283). His act of violence is his only affirmation of sel f in a society that represses any other form of self-affirmation and he desperately clings to it. Even the alarm clock that rings in the beginning of the novel is a symbol. It is a symbol Wright uses as a "wake up" call to a society that remains locked in illusions regarding its creation of race relations that makes Bigger always someone who is "following a strange path in a strange land" (Wright 127). This is why Bigger's communist lawyer tells the court that Bigger is incapable of killing because he is already dead as he is forced to exist in a society that refuses him any affirmation of life. Bigger is a displaced person because the society into which he is born allows him no place. He is Ellison's "invisible man" who is destined to fall be... ... of modern American society's institutionalized oppression. WORKS CITED "Richard Wright." Chapman, R. (ed.) Black Voices. New York, Penguin Books, 1968: 113-114. "Richard Wright Biography." http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/wright/wright_bio.html March 20, 1999: 1-5. "Richard Wright; Homegrown: Bigger Thomas as a Product of His Environment." http://www.loras.edu/~ENG/faculty/fretz/Page12.html March 20, 1999: 1-2. "'Without the Consolation of Tears': Richard Wright, France, and the Ambivalence of Community." Gilroy, P. (ed.) The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness. Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 1993: 146-186. Wright, R. "How Bigger Was Born." Chapman, R. (ed.) Black Voices. New York, Penguin Books, 1968: 538-563. Wright, R. Native Son. New York, HarperCollins, 1993.
Friday, August 2, 2019
Ray Huang’s book 1587: A Year of No Significance :: essays research papers
     The title of Ray Huang’s book 1587: A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty Decline suggests that this book is a work based on a single year in which little occurred. But in reality, Huang’s look at the events of 1587 demonstrate the complex workings of the leadership during the decline of the Ming dynasty, giving the reader an insight into the societal structure, the governmental process, and the mistakes that occurred systematically to enhance the progression towards the seemingly inevitable downfall. Though nothing of historical significance occurred during the year 1587, Huang is able to demonstrate the way in which the existing culture and the smaller, more systematic elements of political leadership can be understood within the context of a seemingly unimportant period of time.      Chapter 1: The Wan-Li Emperor, begins by explaining the major premise of the work: The concept of looking at a single year in the history of the leadership of China and evaluating the implications for understanding other aspects of history, including the decline of the Ming Dynasty. In this initial chapter, Huang provides an anecdotal history of some of the events that occurred, and includes within it a discussion of the set up of the leadership, the repercussions that occurred in the event of certain actions, including the prospects of an audience with the emperor. Huang reviews these issues as he considers that actions taken by the Wan-li emperor, who was only twenty-four in 1587 and who had been a veteran of ceremonial proceedings, and considers his history as an element of understanding the progression of leadership.      Huang outlines to reconstruction of the court under Wan-li came into power at the death of his father and the seemingly insignificant actions taken by the emperor, from his marriage to the redecorating of the court. Within the scope of this discourse, Huang is able to disclose the excesses of the emperor, and consider the implications of the bureaucratic system that he devised as an extension of this excess (13).
Cultural difference between US & China
The relative differences in the American and Chinese business background may well predict how transaction costs will be evaluated. On the part of the Chinese business criterion, it seems that the contrasting attitude of their business scheme may define a larger cost in trade investments for the American counterparts. The promising good trade partnership between American companies doing business with its Chinese segments may bring huge monetary concerns on the part of the former.The most significant attribute in the Chinese business core is the fact that their business structure is purely based on experience. This is very much evident since most of the companies are family-based businesses. As a result, there is no exact business trend that will make the companies adhere to the normal business plan as compared to the companies in the United States. This fact contributes largely to the aspect of limiting the flow of investment within a specific domain of the family owned business.One d isadvantage when it comes to costs is that an American company may not be able to induce its influence on the transaction if they are to deal with the Chinese based companies. The structured and well organized scheme employed by American companies may not be useful at all since the transaction will purely be based on the way the Chinese handle its business. The unpredictability of the financial aspect might take its toll in the American company’s investments. These will likely to happen even if the labor and commodity cost in china is very cheap.Also, there is not even a comparison of the Chinese and U. S. factory labor costs because reliable statistics from the Asian giant don't exist (News Analysis). This is a somewhat big drawback if the American company needs to assess the appropriate wage that it should set aside from its capital. Another big concern that will predict a very large cost discrepancy would be in the aspect of formal agreement. The Chinese tend to use fewer contracts when involving other sources of investment.This is very contrasting to the attitude of American companies where everything is settled on paper even before the activity proceeds. The Chinese companies tend to rely on trusted partnerships and loyalty of their background workforce for their own survival in the trade world. This could equate to a very high cost for the American company especially if the agreement will not be implemented according to the drafted plan. It is very possible that one segment of the production line will experience problems in business processing.Such scenario will eventually take effect on both the Chinese and American company in partnership. However, the larger cost will be incurred on the American company’s account. This is so because of the large dependency in a specified business plan. Moreover, there will be a waste in monetary values together with the production time frame just to take full recovery of the lost trade opportunity. This i s the most discouraging factor when it comes to unspecified productivity dilemmas.The global economy is starting to implement a rather large opportunity for all markets. Apparently, because of this global merchandising capacity of various countries, it would be very much accepted that the efficiency and survival of a certain business lies directly on the trading partners where it seems to be compatible with. On the case of the American and Chinese business relationship, it should first consider how the financial cost of partnership will eventually influence each other’s trading posts.A complete analysis of the cost attributes should be taken into consideration. Apparently, the behavior of Chinese business is very difficult to understand (Chen, 1999-2007). References: Chen, Ming-Jer. 1999-2007. Inside Chinese Business. QuickMBA. Retrieved May 8, 2007 from http://www. quickmba. com/mgmt/intl/china/. News Analysis. 2004. Just How Cheap Is Chinese Labor?. Businessweek. Retrieved May 8, 2007 form http://www. businessweek. com/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2004/nf2004122_6762_db039. htm.
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