Sunday, December 29, 2019

An Issue Of Police Integrity - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1499 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/05/13 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Integrity Essay Did you like this example? A police officer first duty is to serve and protect. Police officers serve their communities by helping citizens in times of crimes. To guard citizens on the street, they issue violations to unsafe and reckless drivers. To care for them in their communities, they detain corrupt criminals and discourage illegal and dangerous conduct. The words serve and protect defines the assignment of the police, which is to protect citizens and serve the public. Nowadays words appear to mean, to protect officers and serve the police force because history has proven that a percentage of police officers battle corruption time and time again. When police officers are Dishonest, there is natural suspicion as to if the police officers captains were aware of the corruption within their own ranks. It is a known fact that most assistance follows the characteristics of their leader, who is their role-models, on how to conduct themselves professionally in the workplace. Their behavior reflects the norms of the organization; it conveys how things are done in the organization. Subordinates are likely to imitate supervisors since the individuals represent significant others in the organizational lives of employees. (Huberts, Kaptein, Lasthuizen, 2007) In this essay, I will be discussing integrity violations within the police department and how it correlates to leadership and the influencing of ethics and integrity of employees. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "An Issue Of Police Integrity" essay for you Create order In the research paper titled, A Study of the Impact of Three Leadership Styles on Integrity Violations Committed by Police Officers by Leo Huberts, Muel Kaptein, and Karin Lasthuizen states that there is a connection between three aspects of leadership (role modeling, strictness, and openness) and the nine types of integrity violations (corruption, fraud theft, giving /receiving gifts, job activities outside the organization, gratuitous violence against citizens and suspects, improper investigating, manipulation of information, ill-treatment of colleagues or citizens, wastage of abuse, misconduct whilst of duty) within the Dutch police force. More importantly, this study indicates that specific leadership qualities are needed to curtail specific integrity violations, but the greatest technique is to have a combination of all three management styles to have a more direct control on each encroachment as it occurs. One leadership style that attracted my attention was the role model leadership quality within the police department. A role model is a person who is looked up to and revered by someone else. To be a role model, a certain set of qualities should be present. Role models should demonstrate self-assurance and leadership, communicates with everyone, has respect for others, is well-informed, and has the modesty and willingness to admit mistakes. According to the study, a role models leadership style has a harmful consequence of subordinates. Role modeling had a significant influence on all types of misconduct, such as favoritism, discrimination, harassment, gossiping, and bullying. (Huberts et al., 2007) I agree that managers that have a role model leadership style can evoke unconstructive influences on subordinates because if the role model isnt an upstanding person then harmful traits can be taught to subordinates. An example, of this, is the 2001 Enron scandal. Kenneth Lay was the CEO and chairman of Enron Corporation, and he was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, and making bogus deceptive statements. Jeffrey Skilling was the former President of Enron Corporation and he was also accused on 35 counts insider trading, fraud, and other crimes related to the Enron scandal. These gentlemen were role models and the leaders of this grand company that once held the title of being the sixth largest energy company in the world. Although Enron had a strict code of conduct for its employees, leaders were able to still influence their top executives to engage in morally ambiguous activities by which I am certain they mirrored from Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. The participation of these shameful actions included some of the top executives (Andrew Fastow, former CFO, Lou Pai, CEO of Enron Energy, and CEO of Enron International Stephen F. Cooper, Interim CEO and CRO) to follow al ong with the pessimistic actions which activated the downfall of one of the leading natural gas companies in US history. Role models have a tremendous influence on subordinates and if those actions are negative, subordinates will learn to mimic these harmful traits and damaging behavior absent of consequences. Another point from the study that was interesting and I agreed with was similarities between the openness of a manager versus the strictness of the manager. Although both management styles are on the opposite ends of the spectrum they produced the same results because fewer integrity violations were committed by employees under both management styles. However the police force is an organization similar to the military, we find a single-person leadership system. The style of management depends on the influences of the environment, social expectations and last, but not least, the human characteristic features and personal skills of the leader. The leadership of the police force is primarily autocratic, but there are some democratic features are also mingled into it, as the police force is now a servicing organization. The latter include that involvement of the employees and the increasing cooperation of the various branches and divisions of the force (crime fighting, policing) and the efforts aimed at surveying the demands of the customers. (Elekes, 2014) I concur with the study on its findings that looking at the organizational culture within a police department or any company is always dependent on the shared values and standards within that particular company. Openness in communication between managers and subordinates builds on solid relationships and helps build the organizational culture. When a manager is approachable the subordinate automatically feels comfortable with speaking to the manager about issues within the workplace. This may not hold true for strict managers, given that subordinates will not feel comfortable speaking candidly, and will think twice before committing an act that is in violation with company policy. Both management styles have limited integrity violations, but I believe that that only having a strict management style will have a direct impact on how successful a company is, and how happy subordinates are within the workplace. In turn, this will eventually limit the success of the organization, which wi ll impact subordinates in the future. An example of the limited success of a well-known company due to strict management style is Apple Inc. Apple is a very flourishing international technology company that was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs. The reason for the limited success is because of Steve Jobs autocratic management style. His autocratic management style leads employees to have an increased fear that Steve Jobs would fire them instantaneously for any misstep. He would lash out unexpectedly, even at his closest friends, and commanded loyalty. (Howell, 2013) Despite Apples success and longevity, founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates has exceeded Apple and became a household name, whereas Apples Macintosh became antiquated. The primary reason for Apples success is due to the creation of I-Phone and related products that is in such high demand. When Bill Gates publicized that he would retire two years ahead of schedule, there was no distress to the future outlook of Microsoft. In comparison to when it was revealed that Steve Jobs was sick, it raised serious doubt about Apples future. The key long-term success of Microsoft, in comparison to the partial success of Apple, highlights the competence of a positive attitude to deal with a variety of circumstances. An example of a company whose leadership style is more open and approachable would be Microsoft. Founder, Bill Gates prides himself on his participative leadership style and the empowering of his subordinates. Gates believed in the power of innovation and empowered his subordinates to innovate in products, process, markets, or any other area. He placed the company as a platform for people to build on their strengths. Gates created an effective system that placed the right information in the right hands, allowing people to understand what was going on, and make plans accordingly. Through developing amazing products, he was able to connect people, process, and technology by allowing a more seamless process. By continuing to have innovated products allowed the company to adapt to the ever-changing markets effectively. Bill Gates is the epitome of a transformational leader. This type of leadership style where the leader causes a change in individual and social systems (Hawkins, 2014) Leaders need to adapt to the changing environment and situations within an organization whether it be a police organization or a Private/ Public Sector Company. Integrity violations require leaders assessment followed by the appropriate disciplinary action. Leaders need to be role models by leading by example and guiding subordinates on proper conduct within the company. They also need to have exercise openness towards subordinates so they can feel comfortable speaking with them regarding any ethical issues. A lack of communication can easily lead to lack of trust, giving way to unwanted negative rumors and poor engagement among employees. (Chachra, 2015) A combination of all three management styles (openness, strict, role model) is needed for the ever-changing situations that may arise.

Saturday, December 21, 2019

The Eight Step Decision Making Process - 991 Words

1. Outline the eight-step decision-making process, as described in your text. 1. Identify a Problem: †¢ The choice making procedure starts with the presence of an issue: A disparity between a current and fancied situation. †¢ Illustration: An old machine that has created progressing mechanical issues, bringing about breakdowns and higher expenses. 2. Identify Decision Criteria: †¢ Decision criteria characterize what is significant in settling on the choice. †¢ Managers figure out which criteria are applicable in settling on the choice †¢ Examples: Price, rate, force, simplicity of operation, clamor, security, accessibility, dependability and administration 3. Allocate Weights to Criteria: †¢ Establishing needs: If the choice criteria are not similarly imperative, they must be weighted altogether of significance and need. †¢ Normally, numerical weights are appointed, maybe from one to ten. †¢ Different chiefs will appoint distinctive weights to their choice criteria. 4. Develop Alternatives: †¢ All the practical options are analyzed, in view of the choice criteria. †¢ There is no endeavor to assess choices, however just to show them. 5. Analyze Alternatives: †¢ Each option is dissected, by applying the criteria. †¢ The criteria in every one of the choices are totalled, permitting an observational correlation. †¢ Different leaders might diverse choices and measure every option in an unexpected way. Not everybody has the same choiceShow MoreRelatedThe Ethics Of The Graphic Design Shop Essay1169 Words   |  5 Pagesdesigner has a way to â€Å"cheat† and get the resource free without purchasing the license for commercial user. We will be using the eight steps of ethical decision making. Once the steps have been applied, we will compare our original decision to the decision reached by using the eight steps of the ethical decision process. Step One is to gather all the facts about the decision. This includes not jumping the gun about the situation (Douglas R. May, n.d.). Asking questions such as who, what, where, whenRead MoreNascar Case Study923 Words   |  4 PagesCase study on NASCAR 1. How do you think good decision making has contributed to the success of NASCAR? Ans. Almost every company wants success. To have a successful company, we need to know about the decision making process, and how, and when it works. According to the text, â€Å"Decision-making process is a set of eight steps that include identifying a problem, selecting an alternative, and evaluating the decision’s effectiveness.† Not only does a manager need to know this term but they also needRead MoreNascar Case Study937 Words   |  4 PagesCase study on NASCAR 1. How do you think good decision making has contributed to the success of NASCAR? Ans. Almost every company wants success. To have a successful company, we need to know about the decision making process, and how, and when it works. According to the text, â€Å"Decision-making process is a set of eight steps that include identifying a problem, selecting an alternative, and evaluating the decision’s effectiveness.† Not only does a manager need to know this term but they also needRead MoreThe Two Principles Of Accrual Accounting891 Words   |  4 Pages In order to fully understand the accounting cycle and complete all eight steps, an accountant must understand the adjusting and closing process and be able to prepare trial balances. The unadjusted, adjusted, and post-closing trial balances are all prepared during the eight step accounting cycle. In order to maintain the most accurate financial statements, accrual accounting should be used. Accrual accounting is an â€Å"accounting method that records revenues when earned and expenses when incurred wit houtRead MoreUsing Tools For Decision Making1447 Words   |  6 PagesUsing Tools for Decision Making Organizations and its employees have to make decisions on a daily basis. Regardless of the organizational level - from the CEO to the receptionist – at some point in their careers most employees are faced with an organizational or personal dilemma. Whether the situation is personal or professional, individuals should first identify the root cause of the dilemma as part of the decision-making process; verify the real problem before attempting to generate a solutionRead MoreIntegrative Paper1526 Words   |  7 Pagesindicators that where successful interpretation of one another perceptions. The two books where a complement to one another while establishing each other theories. Increase Urgency Increase urgency action is the first step presented in The Heart of Change book which presents eight steps for a successful large-scale transformation to create a sense of urgency that the change is necessary. Urgency helps motivate employees to overcome changing behavior that suggest fear, anger, or negativity which couldRead MoreEthical Dilemma Faced By Co Workers931 Words   |  4 Pagesthe client; and (c) making sound decisions which justify ones actions base upon the profession. Forensic psychologist based their ethical decision upon the principles based upon ones actions. There are many ethical decision-making models to assist with justifying their action: (a) one step model – yes or no; (b) two-step model reflect moral judgment; (c) three-step model – examines one’s emotions, thought process, and action in relation to the ethical dilemma; (d) four-step model – is employed whenRead MoreDecision Making Techniques in Managerial Accounting876 Words   |  4 Pageseducated decisions and do their job duties efficiently. A typical manager’s responsibilities with managerial accounting include interpreting finance reports and projections and using those to make financial decisions that will affect the company. Since managers have to make routine decisions and finalize reports periodically, it is vital that they are able to conduct healthy decision making processes and are able to come to make quick educated conclusions. While there are plenty of decision makingRead MoreThe Decision Making Of An Organization1367 Words   |  6 PagesThe Decision making Continuum- One of the manager’s most important jobs is to determine the outcome for a task. He has to decide on goals and provide assignments for employees to complete. However, it is just as important for the manager to be clear about how decisions related to these goals will be made. In leadership and management theory, decision making power can be examined using a visual model called the decision making continuum or the Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum. This model shows howRead MoreThe Decision Making Process Criteria1064 Words   |  5 Pages if the following leadership decision-making process criteria would have been followed many children would not have been exposed to molestation. The Freeh report (2012) made more than 100 recommendations for change to be instituted by PSU including restructuring governance; administration and general counsel structure, policies and procedures. Additionally, the university culture needs to transform stressing values and ethics-based decision making. A process adjustment is required for compliance

Friday, December 13, 2019

The Return Nightfall Chapter 17 Free Essays

In the first days after she’d come back from the afterlife, Stefan had always put her to bed early, made sure she was warm, and then allowed her to work on his computer with her, writing a diary of sorts, with her thoughts on what had happened that day, always adding his impressions. Now she called up the file desperately, and desperately scrolled to the end. And there it was. We will write a custom essay sample on The Return: Nightfall Chapter 17 or any similar topic only for you Order Now My dearest Elena, I knew you would look here sooner or later. I hope it was sooner. Darling, I believe that you’re able to take care of yourself now, and I’ve never seen a stronger or more independent girl. And that means it’s time. Time for me to go. I can’t stay any longer without turning you into a vampire again – something we both know can’t happen. Please forgive me. Please forget me. Oh, love, I don’t want to go, but I have to. If you need help, I’ve gotten Damon to give his word to protect you. He would never hurt you, and whatever mischief is going on in Fell’s Church won’t dare touch you with him around. My darling, my angel, I’ll always love you†¦. Stefan P.S. To help you go on with your real life, I’ve left money to pay Mrs. Flowers for the room for the next year. Also, I’ve left you $20,000 in hundred-dollar bills under the second floorboard from the wall, across from the bed. Use it to build a new future, with whomever you choose. Again, if you need anything, Damon will help you. Trust his judgement if you’re in need of advice. Oh, lovely little love, how can I go? Even for your own sake? Elena finished the letter. And then she just sat there. After all her hunting, she’d found the answer. And she didn’t know what to do now but scream. If you need help go to Damon†¦. Trust Damon’s judgment†¦.It couldn’t be a more blatant ad for Damon if Damon had written it himself. And Stefan was gone. And his clothes were gone. And his boots were gone. He’d left her. Make a new life†¦. And that was how Bonnie and Meredith found her, alarmed by an hour-long bounce-back of their telephone calls. It was the first time they hadn’t been able to get through to Stefan since he’d arrived, at their request, to slay a monster. But that monster was now dead, and Elena†¦ Elena was sitting in front of Stefan’s closet. â€Å"He even took his shoes,† she said emotionlessly, softly. â€Å"He took everything. But he paid for the room for a year. And yesterday morning he bought me a Jaguar.† â€Å"Elena – â€Å" â€Å"Don’t you see?† Elena cried. â€Å"Thisis my Awakening. Bonnie predicted that it would be sharp and sudden and that I would need both of you. And Matt?† â€Å"He wasn’t mentioned by name,† Bonnie said gloomily. â€Å"But I think we’ll need his help,† Meredith said grimly. â€Å"When Stefan and I were first together – beforeI became a vampire – I always knew,† Elena whispered, â€Å"that there would come a time when he would try to leave me for my own good.† Suddenly she hit the floor with her fist, hard enough to hurt herself. â€Å"I knew, but I thought I would be there to talk him out of it! He’s so noble – so self-sacrificing! And now – he’sgone .† â€Å"You really don’t care,† Meredith said quietly, watching her, â€Å"whether you stay human or become a vampire.† â€Å"You’re right – Idon’t care! I don’t care about anything, as long as I can be with him. When I was still half a spirit, I knew that nothing could Change me. Now I’m human and as susceptible as any other human to the Change – but it doesn’t matter.† â€Å"Maybe that’s the Awakening,† Meredith said, still quietly. â€Å"Oh, maybe him not bringing her breakfast is an awakening!† Bonnie, said, exasperated. She’d been staring into a flame for more than thirty minutes, trying to get psychically in touch with Stefan. â€Å"Either he won’t – or he can’t,† she said, not seeing Meredith’s violently shaking head until after the words were out. â€Å"What do you mean  ¡Ã‚ ®can’t’?† Elena demanded, popping back off the floor from where she was slumped. â€Å"I don’t know! Elena, you’re hurting me!† â€Å"Is he in danger? Think, Bonnie! Is he going to be hurt because of me?† Bonnie looked at Meredith, who was telegraphing â€Å"no† with every inch of her elegant body. Then she looked at Elena, who was demanding the truth. She shut her eyes. â€Å"I’m not sure,† she said. She opened her eyes slowly, waiting for Elena to explode. But Elena did nothing of the kind. She merely shut her own eyes slowly, her lips hardening. â€Å"A long time ago, I swore I’d have him, even if it killed us both,† she said quietly. â€Å"If he thinks he can just walk away from me, for my own good or for any other reason†¦he’s wrong. I’ll go to Damon first, since Stefan seems to want it so much. And then I’m going after him. Someone will give me a direction to start in. He left me twenty thousand dollars. I’ll use that to follow him. And if the car breaks down, I’ll walk; and when I can’t walk anymore, I’ll crawl. But Iwill find him.† â€Å"Not alone, you won’t,† Meredith said, in her soft, reassuring way. â€Å"We’re with you, Elena.† â€Å"And then, if he’s done this of his own free will, he’s going to get the bitch-slapping of hislife .† â€Å"Whatever you want, Elena,† Meredith said, still soothingly. â€Å"Let’s just find him first.† â€Å"All for one and one for all!† Bonnie exclaimed. â€Å"We’ll get him back and we’ll make him sorry – or we won’t,† she added hastily as Meredith again began shaking her head. â€Å"Elena, don’t! Don’t cry,† she added, the instant before Elena burst into tears. â€Å"So Damon was the one to say he’d take care of Elena, and Damon should have been the one last to see Stefan this morning,† Matt said, when he had been fetched from his house and the situation was explained to him. â€Å"Yes,† Elena said with quiet certainty. â€Å"But Matt, you’re wrong if you think Damon would do anything to keep Stefan away from me. Damon’s not what you all think. He really was trying to save Bonnie that night. And he truly felt hurt when you all hated him.† â€Å"This is what is called  ¡Ã‚ ®evidence of motive,’ I think,† Meredith remarked. â€Å"No. It’s character evidence – evidence that Damondoes have feelings, that he can care for human beings,† Elena countered. â€Å"And he would never hurt Stefan, because – well, because of me. He knows how I would feel.† â€Å"Well, why won’t he answer me, then?† Bonnie said querulously. â€Å"Maybe because the last time he saw us all together, we were glaring at him as if we hated him,† said Meredith, who was always fair. â€Å"Tell him I beg his pardon,† Elena said. â€Å"Tell him that I want to talk with him.† â€Å"I feel like a communications satellite,† Bonnie complained, but she clearly put all her heart and strength into each call. At last, she looked completely wrung out and exhausted. And, at last, even Elena had to admit it was no good. â€Å"Maybe he’ll come to his senses and start callingyou ,† Bonnie said. â€Å"Maybe tomorrow.† â€Å"We’re going to stay with you tonight,† Meredith said. â€Å"Bonnie, I called your sister and told her you’d be with me. Now I’m going to call my dad and tell him I’ll be with you. Matt, you’re not invited – â€Å" â€Å"Thanks,† Matt said dryly. â€Å"Do I get to walk home, too?† â€Å"No, you can take my car home,† Elena said. â€Å"But please bring it back here early tomorrow. I don’t want people to start asking about it.† That night, the three girls prepared to make themselves comfortable, schoolgirl fashion, in Mrs. Flowers’ spare sheets and blankets (no wonder she washed so many sheets today – she must have known somehow, Elena thought), with the furniture pushed to the walls and the three makeshift sleeping bags on the floor. Their heads were together and their bodies radiated out like the spokes of a wheel. Elena thought, So this is the Awakening. It’s the realization that, after all, I can be left alone again. And, oh, I’m grateful to have Meredith and Bonnie sticking with me. It means more than I can tell them. She had gone automatically to the computer, to write a little in her diary. But after the first few words she’d found herself crying again, and had been secretly glad when Meredith took her by the shoulders and more or less forced her to drink hot milk with vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and when Bonnie had helped her into her pile of sleeping blankets and then held her hand until she went to sleep. Matt had stayed late, and the sun was setting as he drove home. It was a race against darkness, he thought suddenly, refusing to be distracted by the Jaguar’s expensive new-car smell. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was pondering. He hadn’t wanted to say anything to the girls, but there was something about Stefan’s farewell note that bothered him. The only thing was, he had to make sure it wasn’t just his injured pride speaking. Why hadn’t Stefan ever mentionedthem ? Elena’s friends from the past, her friends in the here and now. You’d think he’d at least give the girls a mention, even if he’d forgotten Matt in the pain of leaving Elena permanently. What else? There definitely was something else, but Matt couldn’t bring it to mind. All he got was a vague, wavering image about high school last year and – yeah, Ms. Hilden, the English teacher. Even as Matt was daydreaming about this, he was taking care with his driving. There was no way to avoid the Old Wood entirely on the long, single-lane road that led from the boardinghouse to Fell’s Church proper. But he was looking ahead, keeping alert. He saw the fallen tree even as he came around the corner and hit the brakes in time to come to a screeching stop, with the car at an almost ninety-degree angle to the road. And then he had to think. His first instinctive reaction was: call Stefan. He can just lift the tree right off the ground. But he remembered fast enough that that thought was knocked away by a question. Call the girls? He couldn’t make himself do it. It wasn’t just a question of masculine dignity – it was the solid reality of the mature tree in front of him. Even if they all worked together, they couldn’t move that thing. It was too big, too heavy. And it had fallen from the Old Wood so that it lay directly across the road, as if it wanted to separate the boardinghouse from the rest of the town. Cautiously, Matt rolled down the driver’s side window. He peered into the Old Wood to try to see the tree’s roots, or, he admitted to himself, any kind of movement. There was none. He couldn’t see the roots, but this tree looked far too healthy to have just fallen over on a sunny summer afternoon. No wind, no rain, no lightning, no beavers. No lumberjacks, he thought grimly. Well, the ditch on the right side was shallow, at least, and the tree’s crown didn’t quite reach it. It might be possible – Movement. Not in the forest, but on the tree right in front of him. Something was stirring the tree’s upper branches, something more than wind. When he saw it, he still couldn’t believe it. That was part of the problem. The other part was that he was driving Elena’s car, not his old jalopy. So while he was frantically groping for a way to shut the window, with his eyes glued to thething detaching itself from the tree, he was groping in all the wrong places. And the final thing was simply that the beast was fast. Much too fast to be real. The next thing Matt knew, he was fighting it off at the window. Matt didn’t know what Elena had shown Bonnie at the picnic. But if this wasn’t a malach, then what the hell was it? Matt had lived around woods his entire life, and he’d never seen any insect remotely like this one before. Because it was an insect. Its skin looked bark-like, but that was just camouflage. As it banged against the half-raised car window – as he beat it off with both hands – he could hear and feel its chitinous exterior. It was as long as his arm, and it seemed to fly by whipping its tentacles in a circle – which should be impossible, but here it was stuck halfway inside the window. It was built more like a leech or a squid than like any insect. Its long, snakelike tentacles looked almost like vines, but they were thicker than a finger and had large suckers on them – and inside the suckers was something sharp. Teeth. One of the vines got around his neck, and he could feel the suction and the pain all at once. The vine had whipped around his throat three or four times, and it was tightening. He had to use one hand to reach up and rip it away. That meant only one hand available to flail at the headless thing – which suddenly showed it had a mouth, if no eyes. Like everything else about the beast, the mouth was radially symmetrical: it was round, with its teeth arranged in a circle. But deep inside that circle, Matt saw to his horror as the bug drew his arm in, was a pair of pincers big enough to cut off a finger. God – no. He clenched his hand into a fist, desperately trying to batter it from the inside. The burst of adrenaline he had after seeingthat allowed him to pull the whipping vine from around his throat, the suckers coming free last. But now his arm had been swallowed up past the elbow. Matt made himself strike at the insect’s body, hitting it as if it were a shark, which was the other thing it reminded him of. He had to get his arm out. He found himself blindly prying the bottom of the round mouth open and merely snapping off a chunk of exoskeleton that landed in his lap. Meanwhile the tentacles were still whirling around, thumping against the car, looking for a way in. At some point it was going to realize that all it had to do was fold those thrashing vine-like things and it could squeeze its body through. Something sharp grazed his knuckles. The pincers! His arm was almost completely engulfed. Even as Matt was focused entirely on how to get out, some part of him wondered: where’s its stomach? This beast isn’tpossible . He had to get his arm freenow . He was going to lose his hand, as sure as if he’d put it in the garbage disposal and turned it on. He’d already undone his seat belt. Now with one violent heave, he threw his body to the right, toward the passenger seat. He could feel the teeth raking his arm as he dragged it past them. He could see the long, bloody furrows it left in his arm. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting his armout . At that moment his other hand found the button that controlled the window. He mashed it upward, dragging his wrist and hand out of the bug’s mouth just as the window closed on it. What he expected was a crackling of chiton and black blood gushing out, maybe eating through the floor of Elena’s new car, like that scuttling thing inAlien . Instead the bug vaporized. It simply†¦turned transparent and then turned into tiny particles of light that disappeared even as he stared at them. He was left with one arm with long bloody scratches on it, swelling sores on his throat, and scraped knuckles on the other hand. But he didn’t waste time counting his injuries. He had to make it out of there; the branches were stirring again and he didn’t want to wait to see whether it was wind. There was only one way. The ditch. He put the car in drive and floored it. He headed for the ditch, hoping that it wasn’t too deep, hoping that the tree wouldn’t somehow foul the tires. There was a sharp plunge that made his teeth clash together, catching his lip between them. And then there was the crunch of leaves and branches under the car, and for a moment all movement stopped, but Matt kept his foot pressed as hard as he could on the accelerator, and suddenly he was free, and being thrown around as the car careened in the ditch. He managed to get control of it and swerved back onto the road just in time to make a sharp left turn where it curved abruptly and the ditch ran out. He was hyperventilating. He took curves at nearly fifty miles an hour, with half his attention on the Old Wood – until suddenly, blessedly, a solitary red light stared at him like a beacon in the dusk. The intersection with Mallory. He had to force himself to screech to another rubber-burning stop. A hard right turn and he was sailing away from the woods. He’d have to loop around a dozen neighborhoods to get home, but at least he’d stay clear of any large groves of trees. It was a big loop, and now that the danger was over, Matt was starting to feel the pain of his furrowed arm. By the time he was pulling the Jaguar up to his house, he was also feeling dizzy. He sat under a streetlight and then let the car coast into the darkness beyond. He didn’t want anyone to see him so rattled. Should he call the girlsnow ? Warn them not to go out tonight, that the woods were dangerous? But they already knew that. Meredith would never let Elena go to the Old Wood, not now that Elena was human. And Bonnie would kick up a huge noisy fuss if anyone even mentioned going out in the dark – after all, Elena had shown her thosethings that were out there, hadn’t she? Malach.An ugly word for a genuinely hideous creature. What they really needed was for some official people to go out and clear the tree away. But not at night. Nobody else was likely to be using that lonely road tonight, and sending people out there – well, it was like handing them over to the malach on a platter. He would call the police about it first thing tomorrow. They’d get the right people out there to move that thing. It was dark, and later than he’d imagined. He probably should call the girls, after all. He just wished his head would clear. His scratches itched and burned. He was finding it hard to think. Maybe if he just took a moment to breathe†¦ He leaned his forehead against the steering wheel. And then the dark closed in. How to cite The Return: Nightfall Chapter 17, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Marketing Strategy for Amazon Kindle Fire †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Strategy for Amazon Kindle Fire. Answer: Introduction Amazon is a well-known brand carrying out e-commerce website for selling various kinds of goods to the customers. The company has been growing since it has been launched in 1994 in the city of Seattle, United States (Gordini and Veglio 2017). It is also known for its cloud computing business and one of the largest tech giants carrying out internet based retail business all over the world. The company has the largest capital and sales based all over the globe by maintaining a good brand recognition and customer base. Heff Bezos started the business as a bookstore and later it was expanded in electronic business selling various electronic devices. Along with selling the goods of other brands, the company also manufactures its own electronic goods in the name of Kindle that offers unmatchable service to the customer. One of its electronic goods named Kindle Fire was launched by the company in 2011 and offered preloaded benefits and services (Amazon 2017). The paper analyses the marketin g strategy adopted by Amazon in launching its new tablet range Kindle fire in 2011. The report discusses both the internal and external situation of the business that lead to the success of the new launch such as the analysis of the industry it entered, its marketing plan, environmental analysis and so on. E-commerce industry consists of companies selling software services and goods to the consumers that can help them improve their way of living and capabilities. In comparison to the condition of other industries in the world, e-commerce is growing at a faster rate and is recording huge orders and revenue. The growing condition of the industry is due to the improved usage of internet and busy life of the customers. Customers are not willing to visit markets to buy the products. Selling in e-commerce industry takes place through three branches such as business to customers, business to business and customer to customers (Laudon and Traver 2013). The e-commerce business in United States is increasing continuously from past years. Retail sales from e-commerce channels in United States have increased from $ 322 billion in 2016 to $353 billion in 2017. The sale is expected to increase further to $484 billion in 2021. On the other hand, the worldwide sale of the e-commerce retail industry is expected to reach $4trillion in 2020. Thus, the industry seems to grow continuously both worldwide as well as in United States. However, among all the e-commerce companies in United States Amazon ranks top in relation to sales and orders. The company experienced 183 million visitors in 2017 (Emarketer 2017). General Environmental Analysis It is necessary for the online industry or any other industry to carry out effective environmental analysis in which it is going to launch a new product or enter in a new market. This is because the environmental analysis helps them to analyze the extent to which the consumers of that region will accept a new launch and the chances of risk while entering in that market. Amazon will analyze the environmental situation of United States to analyze the usage of online website by the consumers for purchasing retail goods and the chances of acceptability of its new product Kindle Fire (Zalengera et al. 2014). United States is a politically stable and developed country offering a god scenario for a company to operate. Moreover, the country also maintains few business laws that the companies need to comply both in its internal and external environment. Socially the country is very advanced and a modern economy. The people of the country love to live a luxurious life and have a keen interest in using new types of technology and products. Moreover, the people of United States are too busy with their life and thus mostly shop from online sources for their daily needs. It is a highly developed and a mixed economy, which is also known as the largest economy of the world. The GDP of the country stands a $18.26 trillion in 2016 which is quite more than other economies of the world. Unemployment rate in the country has been decreasing over the years and stands at 4.9 percent in 2016. These factors make the economy a suitable zone for investing in new products (FocusEconomics 2017). The country has continuously invested technology and innovation in various sectors. All the sectors of the economy are slowly inducing software and digitization in their operations. Information technology is also growing at a faster rate in the economy proving to be beneficial for e-commerce industry. Legal factor is important for any company in order to start its business in a new market or introducing a new product. The corporate laws of the country regulate the power, finance and other governance of the economy. The country also maintains a 35 percent in its corporate tax that is required to be given by all the operating business in the economy. The economy is environmentally not that strong as it faces various issues such as deforestation, climatic change, energy depletion and others. This is due to increasing development of industrialization and globalization for the advancement of the economy. Thus, various environmental conservation movements are carried out in United States by the non-governmental organizations. Thus from the above analysis it can be seen that most of the factors are suitable for Amazon for its introduction of new products Kindle Fire that the consumers can buy from its online website (Fozer et al. 2017). Industry Analysis The industry in which the Amazon is operating in is an e-commerce retail industry in which the goods are sold through online sources to the customers. An analysis of industry in which a particular company operates helps the organization to analyze the amount of risk they might face from the competitors and the chances of profit in that industry (Porter and Heppelmann 2014). The threat from new entrant for an e-commerce industry is relatively high due to low investment requirement and easy access to the internet. To open a new online business a new organization does not require much investment to be put in buying and designing the website compared to opening a physical store. However, investment is needed to manufacture electronic products like Amazon Kindle (Webber 2014). The e-commerce industry faces a huge rivalry in its market because of the existence of large number of competitors and no switching cost for the consumers. There are huge brands similar to Amazon that operates retail business and offers various kinds of goods to the customers such as eBay, Netflix, Google and others that offers similar products as Amazon and offers action facility as well in which the customers can auction the price of the product they want to buy. This put a great threat on the company operating in the e-commerce industry. It is seen that the buyers faces no switching cost to move from one online site to the others. They just need to open their own account to buy the products and that requires no cost. Thus die to low switching cost and existence of large number of sellers the bargaining power of the buyers is high in this industry. The suppliers of the industry serve these huge giants and do not lose their business by bargaining on the price or any other reasons. This puts the suppliers at a low power to bargain with these e-commerce companies. There are substitutes to this e-commerce industry such as the physical stores in the market that sells electronic goods as well. Due to no switching cost, the consumer can easily shift their demand from online companies to physical stores if they get the same product at lower price. Thus, threat from substitute is relatively higher in this industry (Rothaermel 2015). Competitive Environment The e-commerce business exerts a lot of competitive environment to the companies operating in it. Amazon too faces a lot of competition from its competitors that also carry out online business selling electronic goods to the consumers. Its competitors are as famous as Amazon is and is slowly growing in the e-commerce industry. The biggest competitors of Amazon in United States are eBay, Netflix, Wal-mart, Apple Sites, Google and others. The competitors of Amazon are in the electronic business and general merchandise segments as well (Sila 2013). As most the competitors offer similar products and services to the customers such as the device sold by Barnes Noble, iPad introduced by Apple and android introduced by Google was similar to Kindle Fire of Amazon. It creates a tough competitive environment for the company. Moreover, some of the e-commerce companies also offer action services that allow the customers to auction the prices of the product they want to buy. Thus, it is seen that the e-commerce industry offers a strong competitive environment to Amazon operating online business (Castao-Dez 2017). The above figure shows the position of Amazon compared to its competitors such as Wal-Mart and Apple Sites in relation to number of customers visiting the store in a year. Amazon experienced total customer visit of 183 million visitors, while others received comparatively less customers. Resources are vital for any industry as it defines the strength of the business over its competitors. The resources are of two types such as tangible and intangible resources. Among the two, the intangible resources are the best, as the competitors cannot imitate the services of the human resource. Amazon too has tangible and intangible resources that help the company to operate successfully. The company has a financial base of $ 48077 million in the year 2011 which was quite more than its previous years. Moreover, the strongest resource of the company was its cloud computing information technology and the Simple Storage Service that it offered to the customers. The stock of the company stood at 468 million in the year 2011which gave it a strong financial condition and market strength. Other resources are the staffs of the company that helped them to run the business and the engineers that visits the customers to help them understand the feature of the new products. It also invented logistic infrastructure and advanced algorithms for better online experiences (Chen 2017). Amazon is indulge in offering cloud computing storage technology to the consumers that are tech savvy and to students that stores hue study materials in the device. Thus, the company has a competency in researching into new technology and electronic device that can use cloud storage to prevent data loses (Chen 2017). Core competency Analysis Core competencies are technology that the company used in its new tablet the Kindle Fire. The tablet was introduced by the company in2011 and has used certain features that are rare and not easy to imitate. Amazon used free cloud storage in the device and the device came preloaded with the modified version of Google Android OS. The new tablet was a mixture of various kinds of technology in one device, which is rarely seen in tablets produced by other brands. The new Kindle Fire offered by Amazon has everything a customer would love such as Amazon web services, instant video screening and others. This was done by Silk, which is its cloud web browser. In its instant screening the company offered 18 million movies, songs, magazines and other shows (Chen 2017). Rare? Valuable? Costly to imitate? Non-substitutable? Cloud Based resources Yes Yes Yes Yes Research in cloud storage related areas Yes Yes Yes Yes Table: Core Competency of Amazon Kindle Fire Source: (Chen 2017) Value Chain Analysis The value chain analysis shows the activities done by the company to maintain its business structure. The inbound logistic of Amazon is its cloud computing system, business algorithms that are used by the company to produce its electronic device for the customers. Other inbound logistic is the human resource that the company is using for manufacturing its product and offering it to the customers (Chen 2017). Outbound logistics of Amazons are all the electronic goods that the company offers such as e-readers, tablets and accessories to the customers from time to time. The e-book facility offered by Amazon is another important outbound product of the company. Amazon is engaged in all kinds of innovative activities in the e-commerce market especially for electronic device. The main operation of the company is to manufacture goods and innovation in the electronic market. Recently the company engaged itself in offering computing storage services and web services to the customers. The company invested $7959 million in media and marketing in 2011 and estimated a sale of 26705 US$ million in 2011. The company adopted online channels to market its products, as all its products are available online in its own website. It also used media services such as news channels and TV commercials to show the features of its products. The most important service of the company is offering online web services to its customers through which it sells most of its products. Other services are delivery service, help service to meet the need and problems of the customers ordering products online. With the increasing growth and brand, recognition of Amazon the brand also received various criticisms for its newly developed product Kindle Fire. Some of the criticism that the company received for this product was lagging display, low battery life, other feature complaints. This proved to create a bad image of the company in the market. This showed that company had weakness of not testing the devices that it manufactures before offering it to the customers (Chen 2017). SWOT Analysis From the above analysis, it is now possible to state the strength weakness, opportunity and threat of the company (Bull et al. 2016). Amazon has a very strong market share because of the products and facility it is offering to the customers. It is the best e-commerce website offering electronics and the general merchandises to the customers. The total number of visitors of the company in 2016 was 183 million in United States which was far more than its competitors such as eBay and Apple. Its strength also lies in the cloud computing storage facility it offers to the customers along with android OS (Chen 2017). The weakness of the company lies in its inability to test the fault it has in its new products before launching it in the market. This shows that the company lacks proper testing units in its manufacturing units. The high tech tablets manufactured by the company might not prove to be user friendly to maximum of customers (Kryvinska et al. 2014). The company has the opportunity of expanding its testing division and offer problem free devices to the consumers and introduces some user-free tablets. This will offer the chance to most of the customers to use a user-friendly tablet that will suit their needs. The company still has the chance to move further into the hardware market of the world. The most crucial threat that the company will receive is from their competitors such as Apple and Google that are trying to enter the cloud storage technology used by Amazon along with the android features. The company might increase the threat if it continues receiving criticism on its products like the Kindle Fire. Moreover, the business that sold e-books for the Kindle tablet has started heading towards offering business to Apples iBooks (Hassan et al. 2014). The current strategy of the firm focused at inventing technically advanced products for its company that it would offer to the customers. The company aims at standing out from its competitors with such kind of strategy. The company mainly targets a specific customers base for the Kindle Fire tablet such as the technology savvy customers, higher education students, mobile gamers and the media junkies that would love the features offered. The company positioned its product in the market as a low cost entrant and the internet user of United States (Wirtz and Lovelock 2017). Along the current strategies, the company also has the opportunity to implement other strategy to use the opportunities and remove the threat to the business. The company should think about manufacturing products that can be used by all toes of consumer and can thus target the mass market (Hollensen 2015). This will help the company earn more revenues and retain their supplier of eBooks as well. Moreover, the company should start implementing pre launch testing to test the product fully and modify all the defects that is detected. This will help the company to get rid of all its threats and save themselves from losing the customers to their competitors. Further, the company can also offer free demo sessions to the consumers by engineers visiting the customers and giving them an explanation about the feature. This will help the company to get better customers loyalty and traffic even in the scenario of tough competition from other online electronic companies (Metcalf et al. 2016). Conclusion From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the Kindle Fire introduced by Amazon has been a successful one even after receiving various criticism from the customers. the economy of United State is a suitable economy for an E-commerce business like Amazon to flourish. This is because people of United States are highly active in the internet and love to use new technologies. Moreover, most of them can afford expensive products due to high GDP rate of the country. However, it is seen that the e-commerce industry exhibit huge threat from competitors as most of them are selling similar products, investment cost is relatively low and bargaining power of the buyers are high due to low switching cost. Thus, the company has to formulate various kinds of strategy to stand outside the others. 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