Lessons from Walden Two Essay -- Thoreau Walden Two Essays

Exercises from Walden Two Walden Two is a novel about an anecdotal network in present day America. The people group is an Utopia of the best expectations: the individuals are cheerful and content, there is at least destructive feelings and exercises, and everybody is solid and prosperous. It is a glaring difference with the world we are living in today. So for what reason don't we change our general public to coordinate that of Walden Two, illuminating the entirety of our country's numerous issues? For a certain something, we don't have a clue whether a general public designed after Walden Two will work. Walden Two is a work of fiction; such a general public has never been endeavored. Be that as it may, regardless of whether such a general public has been demonstrated to work impeccably, our general public isn't set up for such an extreme change. It is human instinct to oppose change. Attempting to quickly change over our general public to Walden Two would be grievous, even confused. What we can do, nonetheless, is dismantle Walden Two; discover the viewpoints that are generally required in our general public today and work towards applying them. By progressing in the direction of these, we become nearer to the great society, regardless of whether we never completely arrive at it. One of the most dangerous parts of our general public is that we are a customer society. Individuals are headed to go through cash; the promoting business has become a fruitful and gainful industry by successfully persuading individuals to go through cash. Numerous individuals have more cash and assets than they will ever require, while a lot more individuals will never have enough. Individuals are headed to get however much cash-flow as could reasonably be expected so they can have a place with a higher social class. None of these issues exist in Walden Two; they are illuminated for the most part by social building. There are no social classes in Walden Two. Everybody is equivalent (socially and monetarily), and the... ... youngster will draw their own decision that tuning in to publicizing is an extremely poor approach to settle on decisions. At that point, as the youngster grows up, the individual in question will see for his or herself confirmation of this thought - it shouldn't be appeared to the kid expressly. The case of promoting is only one case of how another learning framework (which is a type of conduct designing) can be utilized to kill the issue of a purchaser society. There is no motivation behind why a similar technique can be utilized to tackle a wide range of issues, for instance: appropriation of riches, ecological issues, and want for influence. This is an extreme change; be that as it may, it is significantly less radical than the general public proposed in Walden Two. Social change doesn't occur without any forethought; changing the learning framework will take a ton of work, however it is the initial phase the correct way for changing our general public.

Great Gatsby is a tragic hero Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an exemplary American disaster. The tale has all the fundamental components important to arrange a story as a catastrophe: a sad legend, his character imperfection, and a bit of destiny which results in the hero’s extreme annihilation. Jay Gatsby is the destined sad saint, blinded by his silly dream to remember the past. Destiny meddles as the startling murder of one character’s courtesan by his better half. Every one of these features of the story meet up to cause the finish of Gatsby. All together for a character to be characterized as a sad legend, he should be honorable in character. Jay Gatsby exhibits this in his dedication to Daisy Buchanan, whom he has been planning for a re-experience with for as far back as 5 years. At the point when he at long last ends up in her quality once more, â€Å"†¦there were twinkle-chimes of daylight in the room, he grinned like a meteorologist, similar to an euphoric supporter of intermittent light†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He chats with Daisy, and significantly following 5 entire long stretches of building her up in his psyche, he is still especially enamored with her. â€Å"†¦[After talking with her,] there was a change in Gatsby that was essentially jumbling. He truly gleamed; without a word or a signal of jubilee another prosperity emanated from him and filled the room.† He cherishes her, all that he does is for her, and there is no trademark more respectable than genuine affection and dedication. The very meaning of a grievous saint is a respectable individual with an unfortunate blemish which assists with achieving his destruction, and which may make the legend settle on poor choices. Mr. Gatsby’s character blemish is his suffering fantasy about discovering Daisy, the lady he met and began to look all starry eyed at before he was sent to battle in World War I, and rejoining with her. At the point when they met, he was a poor no one and she was an individual from the old-cash first class, a match that the two of them knew couldn't in any way, shape or form work. In this way, despite the fact that he realized she was hitched, when Jay returned from the war, he committed his life to rehashing himself to make himself adequate for her. â€Å"Out of the edge of his eye Gatsby saw that the squares of the walkways truly shaped a stepping stool and mounted to a mystery place over the trees †he could move to it, in the event that he climbed alone, and once there he could suck on the pap of life, swallow down the unique milk of wonder.† Basically, his unadulterated, genuine romance for Daisy was fortified with fixation and encased in assurance and enveloped by everything heâ could find to make it genuine once more. His adoration for Daisy exceeded any sort of reality to where he could no longer recognize truth from fiction. â€Å"It had gone past her, past everything. He had devoted himself completely to it with an imaginative enthusiasm, adding to it constantly, decking it out with each splendid plume that floated his direction. No measure of fire or newness can challenge what a man will put away in his spooky heart.† Destiny, with the terrible blemish, assumes the primary job in the fixing of the hero. In The Great Gatsby, the turn of destiny is when Daisy, driving Gatsby’s vehicle with him in the front seat, hits and in a flash executes Myrtle Wilson, and in a frenzy escapes the scene, too shaken to even consider stopping the vehicle. Myrtle Wilson happens to be the lady who Daisy’s spouse tom has been going behind her back with, and Myrtle’s husband George Wilson observes the mishap. He sees his better half slaughtered by somebody driving Gatsby’s vehicle. He discover that the vehicle has a place with Gatsby, who he has never met, and expect that it was he who had so viciously and carelessly executed his significant other. George, in a condition of distress stricken craziness, kills Jay Gatsby in his own terrace the extremely following day. It didn’t happen a second too early, either. The nature of Gatsby’s life had been breaking down at an exponential rate, unexpectedly, since his fantasy had materialized. Getting associated with Daisy now was upsetting his life †he had learned firsthand of the inadequacies of the lady he adored, had seen her shortcomings. It was destroying him inside that he had gone through a large portion of 10 years on something that would be generally inconvenient to him at long last. â€Å"†¦perhaps he did not mind anymore. On the off chance that that was genuine he more likely than not felt that he had lost the old warm world, followed through on a significant expense for a really long time with a solitary dream.† The storyteller guesses of Gatsby that, not long before his passing, â€Å"He more likely than not gazed toward a new sky through terrifying leaves and shuddered as he found what an abnormal thing a rose is and how crude the daylight was upon the hardly made grass.† Gatsby’s goals were unadulterated, unobtrusive, blameless, certified, yet the energy of his interest conveyed him into inconvenience when he had to quit dreaming since his fantasy had become reality, a thing to which Gatsby had gotten not used to in the wake of envisioning for such a long time. When his fantasy tumbled into aâ brick divider and things were sent turning in chaos, there was not, at this point a spot for Jay Gatsby. He had come to have a place just with his fantasy, and was devoured by it. â€Å"†¦Gatsby turned out okay toward the end; it is the thing that went after Gatsby, what foul residue glided in the wake he had always wanted that briefly finished off my enthusiasm for the fruitless distresses and short-winded delights of men.†

Anne Franks Diary Is Now A Graphic Novel Critical Linking, October 15

Anne Franks Diary Is Now A Graphic Novel Critical Linking, October 15 Sponsored by Ploughshares The graphic adaptation gorgeously captures the confessional spirit of the original diary with artistic expressions of Annes inner world. The book illustrates and expands on Annes dreams and imaginings, and one can almost believe that these are pictures Anne herself might have drawn as she was turning things over in her mind. For instance, theres a graphic depicting the inhabitants of the annex as different animals. Another imagines her hypothetical wedding day with the boy she has a crush on. Theres a caricature of Mrs. Van Daan (one of the annex inhabitants, whom Anne loathes) sitting primly on her chamber pot as a nuclear missile falls on her head. One graphic shows Anne walking through an imaginary garden, filled with nude statues as she writes, I must admit, every time I see a female nude, I go into ecstasy. If only I had a girlfriend! And another image depicts her family floating on a cloud while the entire world burns beneath them. Anne Franks Diary is now a graphic novel. A love poem written from the frontline of the Somme by the “great forgotten voice of the first world war”, the American author, heiress, suffragette and nurse Mary Borden, will form the heart of an event at the Tower of London to mark the centenary of Armistice Day. Borden’s poem, the third in a sequence entitled Sonnets to a Soldier, was written for a young British officer with whom she had an affair while running a field hospital during the first world war. It will be the basis for a choral work by the artist and composer Mira Calix, accompanying a light show that will fill the Tower of London moat from 4-11 November with thousands of individual flames, in the build-up to the 100th anniversary of peace. No longer forgotten poet Mary Borden to be honored at armistice centenary. Male rage and female pain have long been foundational literary topics. In books, as in life, narratives of male angerâ€"from the Iliad to a speech by Donald Trumpâ€"command a reverent attention. (This interest in men’s interior lives, and in their ires, may have sociological roots: in her book “Toward a New Psychology of Women,” Jean Baker Miller suggests that all members of society stand to gain from theorizing about the psyches of the powerful.) Meanwhile, tales of female suffering, though profuse, are often dismissed as trivial or self-indulgent. Victims fare best when they do not yell, when they dwell not on injustice but on their sadness and on the intimate “impact” the violence against them has had. This vision of authorship, which privileges the subjective and the tragicâ€"and which also underpins the mostly female genre of the harrowing first-person essayâ€"reflects an understanding that women cannot be trusted to be impartial or truthful. #MeToo and he said, she said, are also literary problems. Sign up to Today In Books to receive  daily news and miscellany from the world of books.

The Political Sins Of John Stewart By Robert Hariman

Cynicism as most of you know is the manipulation of the greater public to pursue one’s interests. Another definition of it is that it is the enlightenment of the majority of which in regards to the right work done, income might be acquired. The notion of personal interest varies among different people but is argued to be the core of cynicism. This paper is going to oppose accusations about cynicism on John Stewart basing its arguments on; the critical forum in defence of John Stewart by Robert Hariman and the critical conference on the political sins of John Stewart by Roderick P. Hart and E. Johanna Hartelius. Publicity can be paradoxical such that as much as it is nice to be recognizable to almost everybody, there is also the lack of†¦show more content†¦The gaps are derived from the Constitution itself, on the freedom of speech. Everybody reserves a right to make comments on matters of state provided they do not infringe on the rights of another. The defence argues that the prosecution fails to see the humorous techniques of the Daily show (Hariman, 274). The above statement is true as the failure of one man to recognize the joke in a statement should not be the reason to convict someone for committing political heresy. In the 21st century the year of accusation of John Stewart, people exercise the freedom of speech. As such there is the emergence of various channels through which people can air their opinions like social media forums, blogs upon which similar messages and jokes are passed. Does it mean that we are going to jail every individual that engages in constructive crit icism on political matters on various communication forums? Addressing the issue on the media of transfer of the said â€Å"political heresy† is of vital importance. This is because it helps draw the line between a democratic society with freedom of speech and an anarchy society where words are restricted to only those that please the powers that be. The defence agrees with the above statement when it argues whether we will find contentment in the prosecution s idea of public life (Hariman, 274). In my opinion, I feel the defendant expresses a more concrete argument in defence of John Stewart laying facts wide open and appealing to the

Analysis Of The Poem Said The Canoe - 920 Words

Isabella Crawford’s, â€Å"Said the Canoe†, identifies her as one with radical intentions to challenge the expected behaviour of women and broaden the way they were seen in society by presenting them in a socially unacceptable manner. This essay will consider how Crawford’s education, upbringing, perception of society, use of metaphor in this poem specifically, and writing style culminated in her creating this poem, which prompted women to later be seen in outside the Victorian stereotype. English literary scholar, Fred Cogswell, goes as far as calling Crawford a feminist in his essay, â€Å"Feminism in Isabella Valency Crawford’s â€Å"Said the Canoe†. Alternatively, for the purpose of this essay, I will not be labelling Crawford a feminist as the term was not yet established when the poem was written. However, I will be using Cogswell’s essay to support the argument of Crawford advocating for women’s rights. Literature in the nineteenth century was notably written for informative purposes. The establishment of three colleges in Toronto; King’s, Trinity, and St. Michael’s (167 Klinck), coupled with the rise of nationalism after Confederation (169 Klinck) sparked the belief that poetry should be used to celebrate Canada and affirm the new nation’s identity (167 Klinck). Additionally, University of Toronto professor, Daniel Wilson, felt that poets should write things â€Å"as they are† instead of as a romanticized interpretation (168 Klinck); contradicting Crawford’s work which used a,Show MoreRelatedRole Of Discipline On Destiny Fulfillment Delivered By Ayotunde Okunowo2497 Words   |  10 Pagesbecome young mothers and young boys take to drug and other dangerous habits. And as we together dissect the topic, I beseech you all to demonstrate the first discipline, by listening with open minds. 3 Before I begin to analyse all my analytical analysis, we may need to define some terms and terminologies for us to have a proper comprehension. Discipline is defined as a method of training your body and mind or of controlling your behaviour that results from training. While destiny on the other handRead MoreThe taste of melon by borden deal11847 Words   |  48 PagesFreddy Gray and J.D. and I had several discussions about the way she walked. I maintained she was putting it on, but J.D. claimed she couldn’t help it. Freddy Gray remarked that she hadn’t walked that way last year. He said she’d walked like any other human being. So then I said, put on or not, I liked the way she walked, and then there was a large silence. It wasn’t a comfortable silence, because of Mr. Wills, Willadean’s father. We were all afraid of Mr. Wills. Mr. Wills was a big man. HeRead MoreJane Austen’s Novels and the Contemporary Social and Literary Conventions.12979 Words   |  52 PagesAusten’s negotiating with the contemporary conventions. In the first chapter the way conduct manuals perceived a woman is presented. The second chapter describes the trends in the novels written at that time. The third chapter is the beginning of the analysis of Austen’ writing in contrast to her contemporaries as well as in the way the author herself perceives her writing. In the following chapters the novels Pride and Prejudice and Emma are used as the examples of Austen’s works in which the protagonists

The strategy of The Body Shop Free Essays

string(232) " Kenneth Andrews and addresses, amongst others, the view that: â€Å"Strategy is concerned with identifying opportunities in the enterprise’s external environment which it is better qualified to exploit than its competitors\." â€Å"Business people have got to be the instigators of change. They have the money and the power to make a difference. A company that makes a profit from society has a responsibility to return something to that society. We will write a custom essay sample on The strategy of The Body Shop or any similar topic only for you Order Now † 1 (Roddick, 1991) This statement, by Anita Roddick OBE, founder of ‘The Body Shop’, demonstrates the strong ethical dimension of the company’s way of doing business. She opened her first shop in Brighton on March 26th 1976 selling 25 varieties of 100-percent natural skin and hair care products inspired by cultural knowledge from around the world. The company has expanded dramatically since its origins and now has over 1900 stores worldwide. Despite its rapid growth, the strong beliefs and values existent in 1976 remain deeply embedded within the organisational culture. Throughout this writing I will discuss these beliefs and values in the context of corporate strategy and decision-making, and demonstrate how it relates to theoretical frameworks within the corporate strategy field. I will analyse The Body Shop’s strategies using these theoretical models, and compare and contrast the models themselves. The strategy of The Body Shop in comparison to other businesses within the cosmetics and toiletries industry was unconventional. Their rapid growth, achieved mainly through franchising, was primarily due to the ‘green’ nature of the organisation, prioritising ethical practice over making profits. â€Å"Ever since she started The Body Shop in 1976, Roddick had made a habit of going against the tide of the industry’s established business practices.† 2 (Mintzberg, Quinn, Ghoshal, 1991: 447) This quotation reinforces the notion of The Body Shop’s alternative approach to strategy. Unlike other companies within the industry, they didn’t make miraculous claims for their products; they allowed labels with detailed lists of the ingredients and properties of products to tell customers about each good. This links in with the fact that a major component of The Body Shop’s strategy was that they never engaged in any advertising. Throughout history and in contemporary advertising, organisations within the health and beauty sector have constantly bombarded the public with claims and promises associated with their products through the use of adverts and promotions. â€Å"The cosmetics industry makes its money through packaging and advertising, which together are 85 per cent of its costs.† 3 (Mintzberg, Quinn, Ghoshal, 1991: 453) This is a cost that The Body Shop’s strategy enabled them to avoid. The business was started with just a $6000 bank loan, and so it wasn’t possible to engage in expensive advertising campaigns, moreover, it was against the values of the organisation, who preferred to rely on word-of-mouth and publicity to secure sales. It is said that the initial success of the first store was a lot to do with the curiosity and publicity acquired through a local newspaper article illustrating the fact that it was called â€Å"The Body Shop† and was located close to a funeral parlour. Their strategy exploits the fact that they are a socially responsible organisation, meaning that customers buy their products knowing that nothing has been artificially manufactured and are produced with 100 percent natural ingredients. This unique selling point, together with their prominent beliefs and values, has the affect of providing The Body Shop with a competitive advantage over other firms in the industry. This will be developed in more depth later in the writing. The Body Shop’s strong social message is reflected in every aspect of their mission statement. From dedicating the business to the pursuit of social and environmental change, to meaningfully contributing to local, national and international communities in which they trade.4 â€Å"The company is significantly involved in local communities and is prepared to get political and talk about big issues in countries where it does business. No company in the world campaigns at the level we do, or turns their shops into action stations, or challenges the role of business like we do.† 5 (Roddick, 2002) Throughout history The Body Shop has rapidly expanded geographically as well as in terms of their sales and product portfolio, however, in the late 1990s their performance began to suffer. As a result, February 2000 saw fundamental changes to the organisation and management, including substantial changes to the board of directors, and the outsourcing of manufacturing to a company named ‘Creative Outsourcing Solutions International Limited’. Anita and Gordon Roddick became non-executive directors and there were five new appointments to the board, including a new CEO. Despite these changes The Body Shop’s performance failed to be rejuvenated, which forced them into more drastic changes. â€Å"In the most recent annual report, Peter Saunders (CEO) commented that the group’s objective now was to apply a strategy to drive performance across the global business†¦The single most important priority, he added, was to improve comparable sales performance across stores through effective new product launches.† 6 (‘Mintel’, 2003: 137) These new objectives seem to have the effect of diluting the self-proclaimed visions and primary concerns of The Body Shop. It could be said that the current management have somewhat contradicted Anita Roddick’s earlier philosophies. â€Å"Too many businesses have gotten distracted with management structures and†¦making money.† 7 (Roddick, 1991) One of the main underlying reasons why they have encountered their current problems is because many companies within the health and beauty industry have noted the success of The Body Shop and are responding to the ever-increasing ‘green consumer’ themselves through the release of their own versions of ‘all-natural’ products. Examples being ‘Està ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½e Lauder Origins’, ‘Revlon New Age Naturals’, and ‘Clairol Herbal Essences’. Competition erodes profit, and, as a result of the increase in competition, The Body Shop have lost their competitive advantage of being able to supply what others cannot. The strategies of The Body Shop can be analysed using several theoretical models from within the strategy discipline. Situation analysis can be used to determine what advantages BS have, or have had, over their competitors, and can illustrate how The Body Shop was so successful for many years. This theory, termed by Mintzberg as the ‘Design School’, was based upon work by Professor Kenneth Andrews and addresses, amongst others, the view that: â€Å"Strategy is concerned with identifying opportunities in the enterprise’s external environment which it is better qualified to exploit than its competitors.† 8 (Lilley, 2003) The current situation of The Body Shop was analysed by Mintel and appears in their February 2003 publication on health and beauty retailing in the UK. STRENGTHS * Strong worldwide coverage helps to spread corporate risk. * Well known and well respected global brand. * Franchising has enabled the company to grow at lower cost and lower risk. * Still has strong ethical and environmental credentials. WEAKNESSES * Mature business, with declining like-for-like sales. * Appears to lack the inspiration to re-invent itself. * Vulnerable to imitators. * Franchising reduces level of corporate control. * Rapidly rising rental costs in the UK. * Limited growth opportunities in terms of new geographical regions. OPPORTUNITIES * Still potential to enter new markets in Europe especially Central/Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. * Implementation of strategy to control costs and working capital in order to improve profitability and cash generation. * Development of more pharmacy concessions in Ireland and possibly other markets. * Further development of e-commerce and other non-store channels. THREATS * Strong competition from other innovative and environmentally friendly health and beauty retailers. * Great competition from discounters and grocers’ health and beauty offer. * Recent new product launches have yet to produce a positive impact on sales densities. * Continued lack of like-for-like sales growth threatens profitability and the group’s scope to expand physically. ‘Figure 1’: SWOT Analysis of The Body Shop International Plc. 9 (Mintel, 2003: 144) The above analysis was compiled after The Body Shop’s decline in performance – it is clear that all the threats from the external environment are modern occurrences that wouldn’t have been an issue during their period of rapid growth in the 1980s. Throughout this time they effectively maintained a portfolio of differentiated products and, perhaps more prominently, a unique and differentiated brand image, which enabled The Body Shop to compete and be successful. â€Å"Product differentiation means that established firms have brand identification and customer loyalties, which stem from product differences, or simply being first into the industry.† 10 (Porter, 1980: 9) The environmentally friendly and ethical practices that The Body Shop claim they dedicate their business to could be described as their core competence within the industry. Even to this date Anita Roddick and the organisation actively campaign in issues such as animal testing, human rights, and protecting our planet. No other business within the health and beauty industry is as heavily associated with ethical and environmental practices as The Body Shop. The core competence of an organisation characterises its whole range, take for example, Sony’s ability to miniaturise electronics or Aston Martin’s competence in producing flawless motorcars. It is clear to see that The Body Shop’s core competence is not only reflected throughout their product range, but is evident throughout all their business activities, from their minimal use of product packaging, to the layout of stores. â€Å"Core competencies and market-led strategy are nowadays the only pathways toward success.† 11 (Sophocleous, 2003) The strategy that The Body Shop employed can be analysed with another useful framework in the field of strategy, namely â€Å"The Five Competitive Forces that Determine Industry Profitability† by Michael E. Porter. This cannot be applied directly to The Body Shop, but can be used to analyse the external environment in which they operated in the past, and how it changed in the late 90s. ‘Figure 2†²: Forces driving industry competition. 12 (Porter, 1980: 4) The main principle behind this model is that the profitability of an organisation is determined by the collective strength of the five forces; in other words, the industry structure directly affects industry profitability. The Body Shop initially operated within a niche market where there were no real competitors offering the same products nor backing the same principles that they were. The threat of substitutes was minimal because if customers wanted all-natural products they would almost certainly have had to buy them from The Body Shop. In relation to the threat of new entrants, initially there was nothing stopping rival firms from competing within the all-natural cosmetics and toiletries sector, however, no other companies actively engaged in the ethical and environmental practices to the extent that The Body Shop did. The barriers to market entry increased in relation to the amount of stores opened by The Body Shop, and during their period of rapid growth, their power within the niche market could have been regarded almost as monopolistic. However, customers who preferred to buy all-natural products but didn’t regard it as being entirely necessary could easily have turned to other companies’ products within the wider industry, that didn’t exercise such dominant views on ethical and environmental issues. The low threat of ‘all-natural’ substitution that existed in the earlier stages of The Body Shop, coupled with the fact that the arrival of new entrants was particularly low, provided them with the opportunity to control the prices they charged for their products. The argument becomes more complex when trying to categorise The Body Shop into a particular market. They could be regarded as operating completely within their own sector, but can also be viewed as just another cosmetics company with the advantage of having a differentiated product range and image. â€Å"Differentiation, if achieved, is a viable strategy for earning above-average returns in an industry because it creates a defensible position for coping with the five competitive forces.† 13 (Porter, 1980: 38) To justify this quotation in relation to The Body Shop we must consider them to be in the wider cosmetics industry, which has a high level of competitors. Their differentiation led to customers’ increased loyalty in The Body Shop brand, which resulted in a lower sensitivity in price. This had the effect of protecting the company from competition and rivalry. However, as time progressed, other companies intentionally sought to compete directly in the field of environmentally friendly products. The Body Shop was able to gain an advantage over competitors by not utilising traditional distribution channels – for many years they only sold their products through their own shops. This reduced the threat of new direct competition from other companies, as the level of investment required by a new entrant would be extortionate considering they would have to open an abundance of specialist shops. However, to overcome these problems the new competitors emerged using traditional distribution channels, such as through supermarkets and department stores. â€Å"The strength of the five forces varies from industry to industry, and can change as an industry evolves.† 14 (Porter, 1985: 4) The above statement from Porter’s work in 1985 is related to the case of the cosmetics and toiletries industry in that the emergence of greater competition in the 90s meant that the strength of the competitive rivalry aspect of the five forces within the industry increased. In addition, customers now have the ability to simply pick and choose alternative brands’ all-natural products in confidence – an increase in the threat of substitution. Through the use of Porter’s five forces model we can see that the changes in the strength of the forces within the cosmetics and toiletries market have accounted for the recent decline in performance of The Body Shop. In the early days of the company, the threat of like-for-like substitutes and the associated power of customers were relatively low in comparison to the modern day situation. Competitors have increasingly matched the core competences of The Body Shop, and, as a result, the significant competitive advantage that they once had has been reduced. â€Å"Competition in an industry goes well beyond the established players. Customers, suppliers, substitutes, and all potential entrants are all ‘competitors’ to firms in an industry.† 15 (Porter, 1980: 6) This quotation by Porter reveals that the five forces model has limitations with regard to The Body Shop case. The Body Shop do not regard their suppliers as competitors; in fact they want to actually financially support their suppliers. This is evident from their mission statement in their aim of balancing the financial and human needs of their suppliers. These more esoteric aspects of The Body Shop’s strategy, termed by Anita Roddick as them doing ‘business as unusual’, highlights another main drawback of the five forces model, in that it is geared around profit being the primary concern of an organisation and doesn’t provide any flexibility or scope for change. The Body Shop’s early successes can be partly attributed to the strong customer base they secured due to the general movement in society towards being more environmentally and ethically aware. The framework doesn’t deal effectively with this idea of customer preference or changes in trends, nor does it cope with the notion that customers were gained through the fact that they appreciated, and could relate to, the values and beliefs of The Body Shop and their efforts to pursue social and environmental change, and not just because of factors relating to price. On the other hand, the SWOT analysis model is useful for clearly displaying the advantages of an organisation in relation to the market within which it operates, together with the negative aspects of the internal organisation and external environment. As with all theories, however, there are a number of limitations associated with it. All of a business’s strengths do not necessarily directly contribute towards providing a competitive advantage, SWOT analysis also has the tendency to take a single dimension of a firm’s strategy over-emphasise it. It is difficult to prove which strengths are likely to provide the most benefit to an organisation, and also determine which opportunity should be given more attention to shape the overall strategy of the business in question. The findings of SWOT analysis are greatly shaped by the opinions and perceptions of managers or analysts, meaning that they can be regarded as subjective in nature as opposed to the, perhaps initial appearance of being objective and rationally constructed. â€Å"What we are dealing with here is not the organisation or environment ‘in itself’, rather we are attempting to extract and combine the perceptions of these entities that exist in the minds of managers.† 16 (Lilley, 2003) In conclusion, after analysing the strategy of The Body Shop using frameworks from the strategy discipline, it is apparent that SWOT analysis deals well with the unique aspects of The Body Shop’s strategy. Although the analysis of The Body Shop’s situation is greatly dependent upon personal judgement, their strengths shown in figure 1 give an accurate account of the 25-year success story, which was primarily based upon The Body Shop’s core competence in displaying continuous proactive dedication towards ethical and environmentally friendly practices, together with their prime high street and inner-city shop locations, and famous and respected global brand. The reasons for their decline in performance during the late 90s are clearly displayed in the ‘threats’ category of the analysis, prominently highlighting the emergence of increased competition from other companies operating within the health and beauty industry, who are reaching consumers through traditional distribution channels and via supermarkets. Michael Porter’s model of the five competitive forces is valuable in that it offers a simple, structured analysis of the industry, but is limited in the sense that it’s unable to satisfactorily consider the dynamics of markets, for example, the movement of consumer preferences towards environmentally friendly products. It can provide a helpful starting point for further analysis, but simplified versions alone can prove inadequate. It provides an account of how conventional, profit-maximising firms are affected by the structure and occurrences of the external environment, and how those firms can work towards shaping and exploiting the environment to their advantages, but fails to comprehensively account for the successes of unorthodox firms like The Body Shop, who do not, at least in their own claims, follow the usual route of or towards profit maximisation. How to cite The strategy of The Body Shop, Papers

Middle classes in America

Table of Contents Introduction Expectation of the American middle class The reality of the American middle class Conclusion Introduction The American middle class is not comprehensibly defined in the social classes of the US. Splitting this social class into two makes it easy for one to understand it better. There is the high middle class and the lower middle class Americans. The high or professional middle class comprises of educated professionals who hold high positions in the organizations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Middle classes in America specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The lower middle class also comprise of skilled professionals but those that hold lower managerial positions in organizations. In other words the lower middle class people can be termed as semi professionals. Expectation of the American middle class The middle class persons are commonly expected and known to live in comfortable st andards of living. Considering they have what can be termed as stable ways of earning income they are significantly economically secure. The American middle class individuals rely on their expertise to sustain themselves hence they can be able to have a progressive sustainable lifestyle. They are people of substantial work autonomy which helps them to venture in sustainable businesses in their areas of expertise which gives them outlets to advance their living standards immensely. According to the majorities expectation the middle class people are supposed to live in spotlessly clean houses have at least two cars and one of the individuals should have a job in a corporation. The advanced in prosperity mighty are in possession of luxurious items like televisions etc. The lower middle live in places next to the working class people and they live relatively comfortable lives. According to the salary range, American middle class individuals are people who build up great strong pillars i n the economy therefore they should be able to build stable and strong lifestyles. The expectation is well feed and economically stable individuals offering a hand in nation building. The reality of the American middle class Though the above is what many people would look for in identifying the middle class, a lot has changed in terms of expectation. The American lifestyle has changed and many people live together yet they are not married. Divorced people end up getting married again. These have contributed to high burdens of keeping up these big families. These families have become common among the American middle class and hence they are progressively been accepted. Comparing the past and today, women today are employed and work as professionals.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In reality most American middle class calls double income or two incomes for upkeep. To maintain the living lifestyle they are accustomed to. Keeping up their families especially those with children from other marriages which is a common occurrence in the American middle class needs two income to maintain the standards of living and the lifestyles they are used to. Conclusion In conclusion the expected lifestyle for the American middle and what is happening on the ground are two different worlds. The American middle class are going through hard challenges trying to keep up with their lifestyles which are due to high standards of living and hard economic situation in the world. They should therefore learn to keep up with what they can handle and encourage two income to maintain their standards. This essay on Middle classes in America was written and submitted by user Gianni Stafford to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.