Analyzing The Moral Panic Of Media Media Essay

Analyzing The Moral Panic Of Media Media Essay Thompson(1998) describes 5 key elements in a moral panic. It is something or someone who is defined as a threat to values and interests; the threat is depicted in an easily recognisable form by the media, with use of aspects such as Exaggeration, distortion, prediction and symbolisation. This then causes a rapid build up of public concern. Newspaper coverage and news broadcasts are commonly known to exaggerate issues in society which then encourage the public to react timorous to the concerns. Lastly, moral panics are continuously used to result in; a response from the authorities or opinion-makers. Thus, this included changes made evident from law enforcement, the councils and general charity organisations. The final element is that panic recedes or results in social changes. There are many issues that are often subject to moral panics such as Youth Crime/Gun Crime, Binge Drinking, child abuse, sex and violent behaviour, drug abuse, paedophilia, the law and asylum seekers and immigration policy. A moral panic can be defined in several ways, one definition is a kind of short-hand for public hysteria, by definition irrational, and is almost always held to be indicative of someone elses behaviour rather than our own (Critcher, 2003). The media directs its judgments and perspectives at members of society that are classed as unacceptable or deviant. In his book Moral Panics and the Media, Chas Critcher explains that Moral panics involve a  ¿Ã‚ ½heightened level of concern over the behaviour of a certain group or category and the consequences that the behaviour presumably cause for the rest of society(Critcher,2003,pg 23). A moral panic must be manifested in concrete ways in other words there must be a public commentary in the form of media; such as newspaper coverage and news broadcasts. In relation to Thompsons description the media then proposes legislation and social movement activity. The media is acting as a voice for the public; some may argue that it offers biased/distorted views of issues which therefore cause a moral panic. Conversely, it can also be argued that the media plays a crucial role in establishing a moral panic as a way of creating awareness to the public; thus without media involvement this is not possible. A key subject that is continuously making heavy appearances in tabloid newspapers and news broadcasts daily; is Gun/Knife crime which is commonly affiliated with youth culture/youth gangs. To understand how Thompsons, Critchers and other theorists concept of moral panic works, analysis of media coverage is critical. The media has developed and distorted representations of British youth for a long time, and certain coverage in British cinema, documentaries, press coverage and broadcasting have made it evident that the representation of  ¿Ã‚ ½youth ¿Ã‚ ½ is seen as a threat to many. However the coverage differentiates from different forms of media. The coverage of moral panics in broadcasting differs to press; television news broadcasts, are described as unbiased and therefore have a minor affect on moral panics as the impact might have not been on such a large scale. However in major moral panics they tend to have the same large amount of coverage on daily. British Youth are constantly being associated with factors such as drug abuse, low achievers, under age drinking, ASBO ¿Ã‚ ½s , violence; leading to such headlines as  ¿Ã‚ ½Britain a nation of yobs ¿Ã‚ ½. The term  ¿Ã‚ ½yob ¿Ã‚ ½ and  ¿Ã‚ ½thug ¿Ã‚ ½ is commonly used in numerous press cuttings specifically from tabloid newspapers such as ¿Ã‚ ½The Sun ¿Ã‚ ½ and the  ¿Ã‚ ½Daily mail ¿Ã‚ ½. It can be argued that the depiction of a sterotypicaly  ¿Ã‚ ½thug ¿Ã‚ ½ is being used as the  ¿Ã‚ ½Folk Devil ¿Ã‚ ½. Moreover the use of these metaphors are adding to the sensation of the moral panic  ¿Ã‚ ½Yobs must get tough sentences not a slap on the wrist ¿Ã‚ ½,  ¿Ã‚ ½Another stab victim dies, yet yobs with blades could escape with fine ¿Ã‚ ½,  ¿Ã‚ ½Thug stabs student to death ¿Ã‚ ½ and  ¿Ã‚ ½Blade Britian ¿Ã‚ ½. The headlines are poignant and direct, ¿Ã‚ ½1 day. 5 dead ¿Ã‚ ½, this encourages the readers to be aware but also an element of paranoia can be injected provoking public distress, causing a stir in society. There is use of emotive language such as  ¿Ã‚ ½His mother has run out of tears ¿Ã‚ ½ and use of alliterations in  ¿Ã‚ ½Kids killing kids, families in fear, its time to say, No More ¿Ã‚ ½, these are examples of rhetoric which newspapers use to persuade its readers in supporting their views. An example the initial making of a moral panic is a headline used in the Daily Mail;  ¿Ã‚ ½Random attack by thugs every 30 seconds ¿Ã‚ ½. This can be described as heavily exaggerated which provokes public reaction and emotion. On the other hand, youth crime is rapidly increasing, in society.  ¿Ã‚ ½The amplification which takes place through the medias work serves to appeal to the public so that they concur with ready-made opinions about the course of action to be taken. Combined with the opinions of the experts who are wheeled out to give their diagnosis, they reach an agreement about how to cope with the situation in hand, and the problem either disappears or at least deteriorates. ¿Ã‚ ½(Burns:2000). In reference to Youth crime; various  ¿Ã‚ ½anti-gun/knife crime ¿Ã‚ ½ campaigns have been made and according to an article in 2008 from the  ¿Ã‚ ½Sunday Mirror ¿Ã‚ ½ the home secretary Jacqui smith states that  ¿Ã‚ ½thugs carrying knives will face four years in jail ¿Ã‚ ½. It can also be argued that moral panics can result in social change. In Conclusion, Sometimes  ¿Ã‚ ½panics ¿Ã‚ ½ have existed in society for a considerable time but a particular event has triggered the significance; although generally they pass as quickly as they came and are long forgotten. The media ¿Ã‚ ½s involvement plays a crucial role in the establishment of moral panics, as it raises awareness of serious ongoing issues. However it can be argued that it promotes a bias nature which can ultimately prevent the public from the truth.  ¿Ã‚ ½Yobs must get tough sentences not a slap on the wrist ¿Ã‚ ½.(The Sun;2008). The media ¿Ã‚ ½s powerful role can be criticised for using moral panics to enforce the ideas and rules about the government. Moral panics will continue to dominate society and the media; provoking public concern and sometimes legislation but there will always be questions doubting whether it does reinforces public opinion and if it is a voice for the people or a propaganda tool for the rich and powerful.

Career Passports and Career Portfolios Essay

Portfolios have long been used in some professions to showcase professional work and skill. In education, portfolios have also been used for assessment, including self-assessment (Lankes 1995; Pond et al. 1998). Both career portfolios and career passports reflect this dual focus—students assess themselves in the process of developing a product, and the resulting product showcases and documents their experiences and skills. A distinction is sometimes drawn between a portfolio as developmental and a passport as summative (Bridging the Gap 1993). With portfolios, more emphasis is put on the developmental process of self-assessment, planning, and goal-setting; with passports, more emphasis is put on the final product that sums up the results of the process and communicates them to others. In practice, however, both passports and portfolios represent a combination of developmental process and summative product. The value of the passport or portfolio is also twofold: students come to an awareness of their own skills and experience, and employers have richer, more detailed information for hiring decisions than is provided in transcripts and diplomas. As early as the mid-1980s, Charner and Bhaerman (1986) advocated a Career Passport as a way for secondary students to identify and document their work and nonwork experiences and to translate those experiences into statements of skills specifically related to work. The process was necessary for students to understand what they had to offer to employers; the resulting Career Passport provided employers with critical information to supplement the information in school transcripts or even resumes. The Ohio Individual Career Plan (ICP) and Career Passport. The Ohio Career Passport is the capstone of students’ career decision-making process, begun before the ninth grade (Gahris n. d. The planning and decision making involved in the ICP process lead to each student’s Career Passport, an individual credential housing an array of formal documents that students use in the next step after high school. Components include a letter of verification from the school; a student-developed resume; a student narrative identifying career goals and underlying rationale; a transcript (including attendance); diplomas, certificates, licenses, or other credentials; and a list of any specific vocational program competencies. The state recommends housing tho se components in a consistent, easily recognizable folder. Students develop ICPs through career interest and aptitude assessment, exploration experiences, preferably through job shadowing, and annual review and revision in high school. The ICP and Career Passport can be developed in any statewide curriculum area but most often this occurs in English or social studies, with assistance from the computer instructor and guidance counselor. Classroom support materials include elementary, middle, and high school Career Development Blueprints and sample activity packets (Classroom Support Materials n. d. ). All Ohio schools are required to provide students the opportunity to complete the ICP and Career Passport in a structured classroom setting and local school boards may make the Career Passport a graduation requirement for their district, although parents may choose not to have their child involved. The South Dakota Career and Life Planning Portfolio. The Career and Life Planning Portfolio is a collection of work that documents a student’s skills, abilities, and ambitions (Division of Workforce and Career Preparation 1999; â€Å"DWCP Wins National Award† 2000). Usually organized in a standard jacket with color-coded folders, documentation can include both examples of work and information on career and education planning, skills employers want, projects/work samples, and assessment results. The Portfolio, which is not required, can be used for a variety of educational purposes, but its ultimate use is to house the projects and work samples that demonstrate to a prospective employer that the student has the skills and talents the employer needs. Based on a model developed by the Sioux Falls School District and tested at 25 state high schools, the Portfolio is accompanied by curriculum materials, activities, and resources for teachers. Career Certificates The Wisconsin Employability Skills Certificate. The Employability Skills Certificate Program is designed for students who do not participate in the Cooperative Education Skills Certificate Program and the Youth Apprenticeship Program (Lifework Education Team 2000). The Employability Skills Certificate, issued by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, recognizes students’ mastery of the employability skills identified by the U. S. Department of Labor’s Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). To participate in the voluntary program, local districts must provide three required components: Instruction and assessment of SCANS skills—Instruction can be provided in any curriculum area, and demonstration and assessment can occur either in the school or in the community. School-supervised work-based learning experience—Considerable flexibility is allowed for local districts in providing work-based learning experiences, which can include existing cooperative education, work experience, internships, or service learning programs. A minimum of 180 total work hours is required; occupation-related instruction is not required. Career planning—Working with parents and school personnel, each student develops a written Individual Career Plan (ICP) to make appropriate career, educational, and occupational choices. The ICP identifies tentative career goals and concrete, specific steps after high school to realize those goals; schools manage the ICP process and provide objective data both for original development and periodic reevaluation. The Connecticut Career Certificate (CCC). Part of the continuing School-to-Career (STC) system, the CCC verifies that a student has mastered a set of employability, academic, and technical skills identified in a partnership between the state Departments of Labor, Education, and Higher Education and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (Connecticut Department of Labor 2001; Stickney and Alamprese 2001). The CCC is awarded by state-approved local districts to students who achieve all required competencies in one of eight career clusters. Academic standards (reading, writing, communication skills, math, science, and computer knowledge) are based on state-determined levels of performance on one of four assessments: Connecticut Mastery Test, administered to all 8th-grade students; the Connecticut Academic Performance Test, administered to all 10th-grade students; the voluntary Scholastic Assessment Test; or the voluntary Comprehensive Adult Students Assessment System, Level C or D. Employability standards (attitudes and attributes, customer service, teamwork, and adaptability), which are integrated curriculum frameworks for all eight career clusters, are correlated with SCANS skills. Both academic and employability standards are common across all eight career clusters, whereas technical skills and standards vary by cluster. The number of CCCs awarded has increased from 101 statewide in 1997-98 to 569 in 2000-01. More substantial percentages of high school students participated in STC career development activities—for example, 72 percent in career counseling and 50 percent each in career interest surveys and portfolio development. The Oregon Certificates of Mastery. By the school year 2004-05, all Oregon high schools will be required to offer the Certificate of Advanced Mastery (CAM). Designed to prepare students for success in their next steps after high school, the CAM documents each student’s academic and career-related knowledge and skills (Oregon Department of Education 2001). In the 2001 CAM model, academic skills include state performance standards in English (reading, speaking, and writing) math, science, and social science; these are four of the seven standards required for the state’s Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM), which also include art, second language, and physical education. CAM candidates can meet the four required CIM performance standards either through CIM knowledge and skill tests or through CIM work samples. The six career-related learning standards—†fundamental skills essential for success in employment, college, family and community life† (p. 2)—include personal management, problem solving, communication, teamwork, employment foundations, and career development. To earn a CAM, each student must develop, review, and update an education plan for next steps after high school; develop an education profile to document progress and achievement; meet performance standards for applying academic and career-related knowledge and skills in new and complex situations; demonstrate career-related knowledge and skills; participate in planned career-related learning experiences; and satisfy the four CIM standards. Students can select specific areas of their education profile to document and communicate specific knowledge and skills to specific audiences, such as employers, and supplement that with a record of personal accomplishments, experiences, and skills. Other examples could be added to those presented here. Oklahoma’s 2001 Career Activity File: Career Portfolios K-12 (2001), Arizona’s Career Pathways: An Implementation and Resource Guide (1997), and Michigan’s proposed Content Standards and Working Draft Benchmarks for Career and Employability Skills (Using Employability Skills 1998) all address the same need for students to communicate knowledge and skills not captured well by traditional diplomas and transcripts. Whether an empty structure to fill or a carefully defined credential to earn, career passports, portfolios, and certificates provide a new means for students to document the whole range of knowledge and skills—employability, academic, or technical—they have to offer to employers. Effective practices in developing and using career portfolios and passports involve defining the roles of different actors, addressing issues of portfolio or passport design, and facilitating students’ developmental process (Wonacott 2001). Issues related to career passports, portfolios, and certificates that have not yet been addressed include student outcomes and success (e. g. , employment, starting salary), program coordination and cooperation across states, and the possible development of a national model.

Sigmund Freud and Freud Hank

Fardad Muhammad Baig 2014-02-0338 Personality Theories Uzma Mazhar 1) What personality (or character) type does Hank display according to Freudian theory? Provide evidence for your answer. At what stage is Hank fixated, according to the Freudian perspective? Find evidence of fixation in the case study. What might have caused this fixation? According to Freud Hank’s displays the Oral Aggressive personality type. This personality type is characterized by envy, manipulation of others, and suspiciousness. ‘Oral aggressive’ people are often perceived as envious, pessimistic, cynical, sarcastic, scornful and contemptuous.Hank perceives others as shallow and is sarcastic about others. Hank is fixated at the oral stage. Orally-fixated people often seek gratification through smoking, thumb-sucking, nail-biting and chewing objects like pens and pencils. Hanks resort to smoking and eating when he is stressed. This fixation occurs as a result of his mother’s overprotec tiveness. His mother used to fulfill his needs instantly. This resulted in his habit of instant gratification which could not be fulfilled later in life. His mother use to shut him up with cookies.This is me was a clean sign that he had dependency issue towards his mother. The mother did not discipline her son which can lead him to have unbalance state of mind. After reading the case study, I believe the mother is part to blame for Hank’s fixation because he was spoiled into a self-centered person, without him even noticing. 2) Would Freudian theory describe Hank's eating and argumentative behaviors as being internally or externally motivated? Explain the motivation. Freudian Theory will describe Hank’s eating and argumentative behaviors as being internally motivated.His habit of eating is a sign of fixation at the Oral Stage as a result of which he resorts to excessive eating and smoking when he is in stress. His argumentative nature expresses his discontent towards o thers because these people did not give him as much attention as his mother did. He, therefore, is angry at others. As a child he was exposed to immediate gratification by excessive feeding. These evidences show that these behaviors were internally motivated. 3) Find an example of a Freudian a Freudian defense mechanism that Hank uses in this description. Explain it.Hank habits alienate people, including Sally. However, when Sally left him Hank thought that she broke up with him because of his weight problem and then he goes on to blame her for her shallowness. He is ‘rationalizing’ here. He is focusing on other reason whereas the real problem lies within him which he is not willing to accept. 4) Find an example of regression in the case study. Explain it. When Hank thought about the previous week he felt stressed. To lower his stress he starts eating the ice cream. After this he starts smoking which also helps him to reduce the tension. This is an evidence of regressio n.In a state of stress Hank regresses back to the Oral stage and seeks gratification through excessive eating and smoking. 5) Would a Freudian therapist view Hank's weight problem as a behavioral problem, in and of itself, or as a symptom of another problem? Explain. A Freudian Therapist would view Hank’s weight problem as a symptom of his fixation at the oral stage. Instead of confronting a stressful situation Hank regresses back to the oral stage and seeks instant oral gratification through smoking and eating. This is the cause of his weight problem. It is also possible that his weight problem can be addressed as a behavior problem.Children learn to behave in a certain manner by observing other people. Since Hank's didn’t have any friends, he was not able to learn from others. 6) What therapeutic techniques would a Freudian therapist, like the one in this case study, likely use? What state of consciousness would be the focus of the therapy? What brings healing in Fre udian therapy? A Freudian Therapist will use the therapeutic technique of Free Association for Hank’s therapy. Psychoanalysis assumes that people are often conflicted between their need to learn about themselves, and their (conscious or unconscious) fears of and defenses against change and self-exposure.Hank’s will be allowed to talk about anything he wishes but this will lead him to talk about the things which matter to him the most. This will instigate a journey of co-discovery which can enhance Hank’s integration of thought, feeling, and selfhood. The unconsciousness will be the focus of the therapy. The therapist will try to make Hank realize his weaknesses so that he can work on them. In Freudian therapy, or psychoanalysis, healing occurs when repressed thoughts and feelings are brought in to consciousness. This allows the patient to develop a stronger ego and resolve internal conflict.

The global group of energy and petrochemical companies is a multinational company with worldwide recognition The WritePass Journal

The global group of energy and petrochemical companies is a multinational company with worldwide recognition Introduction The global group of energy and petrochemical companies is a multinational company with worldwide recognition IntroductionBACKGROUND OF SHELLLITERATURE REVIEWCorporate Strategy of shellDeliberate or EmergentBusiness StrategyCRITICAL ANALYSIS  Internal Analysis Inbound LogisticsOutbound LogisticsOperationsMarketing and SalesServicesExternal Analysis: EconomicalSocialTechnologicalPorters 5 forcesPower of SuppliersPower of BuyersThreat of SubstitutesThreat of a New EntrantFinancial ReviewsExisting StrategyFUTURE SPECULATION:-REFRENCES:-Related Introduction BACKGROUND OF SHELL Shell, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies is a multinational company with worldwide recognition. Shell is best known for its service stations and for exploring and producing oil and gas on land and at sea. In truth Shell deliver a vast range of energy solutions and petrochemicals to customers, produce and sell petrochemical building blocks to industrial customers on a global scale, invest in making renewable and lower-carbon energy sources, competitive for large scale use. LITERATURE REVIEW Corporate Strategy of shell By being more upstream Shell aims to focus its investments on long term, high return projects to develop oil and gas resources, and grow the companies leading liquefied natural gas business. Downstream profits involves; generating more cash by reshaping integrated oil products and petrochemicals portfolio to enhance operations and focus on growth markets, particularly in Asia. Shell believes that this strategy will improve their business performance and increase their contribution to sustainable development. â€Å"Stronger emphasis on our upstream activities and fast growing markets will help us deliver the energy the world needs for economic growth and poverty reduction†. Shell aims to increase focus on producing cleaner burning natural gas, in so doing reducing dependency on coal. Shell is aware that the growing demand for oil and gas presents sustainable development challenges. Producing and using this extra energy is only sustainable, and socially acceptable, if ways are found to combat the risks to the climate and avoid health, safety and environmental incidents. â€Å"We recognize that we will not achieve our strategy and improve business performance for our shareholders unless we respond effectively to these key environmental and social concerns†. Deliberate or Emergent â€Å"Deliberateness refers to the quality of acting intentionally. When people act deliberately they ‘think’ before they ‘do’. They make a plan and then implement the plan. A plan is an intended course of action, stipulating which measures an organization proposes to take†. (De-Witt Meyer, 2004) Shells’ planning does not take the form of complex and inflexible ten-year plans generated by a team of corporate strategists. Rather, the planning process generates a series of â€Å"what if† scenarios. â€Å"Scenario planning is the process in which managers invent and then consider, in depth, several varied scenarios of equally plausible futures with the objective to bring forward surprises and unexpected leaps of understanding†. The implementation of the planning process allows Shell to make strategic no matter what the future. For a company like Shell it is necessary to have a deliberate strategy as well as emergent. Plans need to be outlined and addressed in order to set company objectives. Large oil spills or uncontrollable air emissions are never planned, for this reason it is important Shell pays attention to being emergent as then it can encounter any problems that may arise. Below is a model showing the distinction between deliberate and emergent strategy. Business Strategy Business strategy is concerned with â€Å"how firms should go about creating a sustainable competitive advantage in each business in which they operate† (De-Witt Meyer, 2004) CRITICAL ANALYSIS   Internal Analysis From literature review:- Michael Porter identified the ‘value chain’ as a means of analyzing organizations strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behavior of costs. Competitive advantage results from carrying out those activities in a more cost-effective way than its competitors. The value chain tool is a great technique to employ in order to single out the firm’s specific competitive strengths and weaknesses. Porter identified primary and support activities as shown in the following diagram: IMAGE SOURCE:   mbaknol.com As it can be seen above Porter has distinguished between the primary and support activities. For the purpose of this report focus will be given to the primary activities whose direct concern is with the creation and delivery of a product or service. Inbound Logistics â€Å"Activities associated with receiving, storing and disseminating inputs to the product, such as material handling, warehousing, and inventory† Due to the size of Shell, and to ensure the smooth running of the many processes involved in a company of its size, there are strict rules to follow. The 1st step of the inbound logistics is receiving. At Shell the initial step would be to find the oil. This is of huge importance and the company invests a lot of money to use statistical analysis to determine the location of oil. Once locating the oil it is essential for Shell to draw up exploration contracts with the countries within whose boundaries the oil was first established. Once the contracts have been approved and negotiations agreed the company can then start its drilling process. Shell’s subsidiary company â€Å"Shell Shipping† is used to ship oil to relevant locations. After the distribution of the oil to its desired location the next process is for it to be stored. Outbound Logistics â€Å"Activities associated with collecting, storing and physically distributing the product to buyers, such as finished goods warehousing, material handling and scheduling† Having recognized how the company extracts and then stores the oil the next process is to successfully distribute that to customers. Having processed the oil in its refineries, the oil is driven out to relevant service stations throughout the country by freight management. Once it arrives at the service station the oil is distributed to different pumps and then is ready for use by its consumers. Operations During this stage of the value chain process, goods are manufactured or assembled. Due to the large number of processes involved in extracting and processing oil, we can establish how large the operation base is at Shell. Shell places a great emphasis on conducting operations in the right and accurate manner. It will be detailed in the operations as to how much fuel needs to be distributed to relevant service stations as well as stating what type of fuel is needed. This is sensitive data and incorrect judgments could result in huge revenue being lost. Marketing and Sales This area focuses strongly upon marketing communications and generating sales. Industry sectors like the oil industry have to try and differentiate their products from those of their competitors. Customers view their end product, petrol, just like that of any other commodity. Shell recognizes the need to build brand loyalty and to establish a returning customer base.   The best way to do this is through advertisement. This report will move on to discuss how Shell has used advertising to its advantage. Services For Shell, after sale service is a difficult benefit to offer. However, as petrol is a consumable commodity it is not something that can be returned or exchanged. Once the petrol has been purchased by consumers it is not within the companies interests to accept an exchange. Shell believes it is necessary to maintain a good name and reputation. The customer satisfaction programme focuses on customer and consumer ratings at BP in comparison to relevant competition. Evaluations are based on actual experience with BP and its competitors. Measures attained in this way tend to be more operational in nature focusing on market execution. External Analysis: From Literature review:- A PEST (Political, Economical, Social and Technological) analysis is used to analyse the external environment. Below a Pest analysis has been conducted; Political: factors that need to concern shell are as follows: Government Taxation Shell having interest in Unsteady Countries Government taxation is a concern for the oil industry because it is already heavily taxed and more taxes could start a process whereby people would start moving away from petrol to find cheaper more sustainable products. Shell have interests in countries where there is no political stability or where there are chances of dangerous wars breaking out. Such as Iraq and Nigeria this is very damaging especially when a company like Shell has invested millions of Pounds on exploration and drilling. Economical The cost of petrol continues to increase causing consumers to wrongly blame the oil companies.   The price of oil is managed by OPEC, an international price fixing body. The OPEC MCs coordinate their oil production policies in order to help stabilise the oil market and to help oil producers achieve a reasonable rate of return on their investments. This policy is also designed to ensure that oil consumers continue to receive stable supplies of oil. Social Consumers are more ethically inclined and the ethical marketplace, in Britain alone, is currently worth 14 billion pounds.   While petrol may not be seen as an ethical purchase, petrol companies can, as well as advertising their product, inform the consumer of the Company’s commitment to the environment. That is advertising the fact that they deal in sustainable energy products. Technological The oil industry is becoming aware of the need to produce efficient and environmentally conscious fuels. We cant use fossil fuels forever as they are a non-renewable and finite resource. Research suggests that we should start using hydrogen. Hydrogen is a colourless, odourless gas that accounts for 75 percent of the entire universes mass. Porters 5 forces There are five stages to the Porters model. These are shown below. Competitive Rivalry One enduring characteristic of the oil industry has been change. Competitive rivalry in the oil industry is very high due to there being very little difference between the products of all the suppliers. BP has learned to be responsive to change and indeed to be at the forefront of the change process. It is not commonly known that oil is refined at shared premises, so in reality all petrol is the same, regardless of the company label given to it and as such competitive rivalry is high. On 11 October 2007, BP announced their intention to simplify their organizational structure. From 1 January 2008, there are only two business segments exploration and production and refining and marketing. Power of Suppliers There are no direct suppliers of the oil industry, and in the case of Shell there are none whatsoever the company has subsidiary organisations to handle all aspects of what the company does.   Countries could be defined as suppliers, since it is there that the oil comes from, but the effect over the oil companies is limited to the law. Power of Buyers Buyers have no power over the oil industry since oil is a commodity that is always in demand. Threat of Substitutes At present there are no substitutes for petrol. While hybrid vehicles are making their presence known, electric cars are not as powerful as fuel consuming cars and are not in demand by the consumer. Threat of a New Entrant It is difficult for a new company to break in to the oil industry as the cost of entry is pricey. Current competitors in the market are having a hard time finding new oil reserves. Porters five forces model is essential in helping understand the industry in depth before any consideration is given to entering it. Financial Reviews Even though the accounts show profits and financial figures from the year 2001-2005, it can clearly be seen that BP has generated a greater amount of revenue. If the financial information is going to be compared to today’s age then BP still lie ahead. Existing Strategy An organization and its environment need to fit. This is expressed in terms of the classic SWOT analysis tool. The tool suggests that a sound strategy should match a firm’s strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) to the opportunities (O) and threats (T) encountered in the firms environment (De-Witt Meyer, 2005) SWOT Analysis Strengths The UK offshore oil and gas industry provides an important indigenous energy supply. As well as being used for energy purposes, oil and gas have other uses, notably as a source of feed stocks for the petrochemicals industry. Much of the UK industry boosts employment in areas where it would otherwise be very low as a result of the declines of shipbuilding, the UK steel industry and other large industrial sites. Weaknesses Large UK offshore oil and gas reserves are becoming more difficult to find and develop economically. Some UK fields are depleted and companies active in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) are now faced with the burden of dismantling and disposing of offshore structures in an environmentally acceptable manner. Variations in oil prices and the unpredictability of international politics mean that the UK offshore oil and gas industry fluctuates in response to these forces. Opportunities Many of the newer discoveries are smaller and more difficult to develop than most of the older fields, thereby presenting a commercial and technological challenge for the innovation of new, economically viable ways of extracting oil and gas. Having now worked in the UKCS for several decades, UK companies, suppliers and consultants have built up extensive expertise that can be utilised overseas. Threats Large international oil and gas companies are placing a greater proportion of their resources in regions outside the UKCS, where development and operational costs are lower than they are in the UK. FUTURE SPECULATION:- Having critically evaluated the strategy of Shell I feel there is a need for them to improve in order to fulfill the desire to become market leader and overtake BP. The company emphasizes through its strategy that it is very environmentally and socially conscious yet its not doing a great deal different from other companies out in the market. I feel now is a good time for shell to invest in something new like hydrogen fuel cells or wind and solar energy.   Hydrogen as a fuel is high in energy, yet a machine that burns pure hydrogen produces almost zero pollution A new investment is expensive but the benefits are huge as it is a new innovation which has been on the cards for sometime. Investing in fuel cells will limit the damage caused to the environment as the technology is environmentally friendly. Millions of pounds, required to clean spillages/leaks, will be saved and a positive public image will be established if not further reinforced. The company has done a lot of research into this technology so it is not something that they have not considered. In the future, hydrogen could also join electricity as an important energy carrier. An energy carrier stores, moves and delivers energy in a usable form to consumers. Shell realizes that hydrogen is a fuel for the future but it needs to be more pro active rather than re active. It should try and introduce this technology into the market REFRENCES:- Bibliography Books .Porter, M.E (1987), From competitive advantage to corporate strategy, Harvard Business Review, pp.43. Hamel, G, Prahalad, C.K (1989), Strategic intent, Harvard Business Review, pp.63-76. RAPHAEL, A. and ZOTT, C. 2001. Value Creation in e-Business. Strategic Management Journal, No 23, pp493-520. Porter, M.E (Response to letters to the editor), Harvard Business Review, pp   COLTMAN, T. R., DEVINNEY T. M. and MIDGLEY, D.F. 2007.   E-Business Strategy and Firm Performance:   A Latent Class Assessment of the Drivers and Impediments to Success. Journal of Information Technology No 22 pp87-101. MOLLER, K. and RAJALA, A. 2007.   Rise of Strategic Nets – New Modes of Value Creation. Industrial Marketing Management No 36 pp895-908. PORTER, M. E. 2001.   Strategy and the Internet. Harvard Business Review, March, pp63-78. SHAFER, S. M., SMITH, H. J. and LINDER, J. C. 2005. The Power of Business Models. Business Horizons No. 48, pp199-207. Websites www.essentialaction.org/shell www.shell.com www.shell.com/static www.juergendaum.com/news www.ukeducation.org.uk (www.alphonso.cipher-sys.com) www.valuebasedmanagement.net www.opec.org energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter20.html www.keynote.co.uk

The History of the Invention of the Telegraph

The History of the Invention of the Telegraph When British officials wished to communicate between London and the naval base at Portsmouth in the early 1800s, they utilized a system called a semaphore chain. A series of towers built on high points of land held contraptions with shutters, and men working the shutters could flash signals from tower to tower. A semaphore message could be relayed the 85 miles between Portsmouth and London in about 15 minutes. Clever as the system was, it was really just an improvement on signal fires, which had been used since ancient times. There was a need for much faster communication. And by the middle of the century, Britain’s semaphore chain was obsolete. The Invention of the Telegraph An American professor, Samuel F.B. Morse, began experimenting with sending communications via electromagnetic signal in the early 1830s. In 1838 he was able to demonstrate the device by sending a message across two miles of wire in Morristown, New Jersey. Morse eventually received funds from Congress to install a line for demonstration between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. After an abortive effort to bury wires, it was decided to hang them from poles, and wire was strung between the two cities. On May 24, 1844, Morse, stationed in the Supreme Court chambers, which were then in the US Capitol, sent a message to his assistant Alfred Vail in Baltimore. The famous first message: â€Å"What hath God wrought.† News Traveled Quickly After the Invention of the Telegraph The practical importance of the telegraph was obvious, and in 1846 a new business, the Associated Press, began using the rapidly spreading telegraph lines to send dispatches to newspaper offices. Election results were gathered via telegraph by the AP for the first time for the 1848 presidential election, won by Zachary Taylor. In the following year AP workers stationed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, begin intercepting news arriving on boats from Europe and telegraphing it to New York, where it could appear in print days before the boats reached New York harbor. Abraham Lincoln Was a Technological President By the time Abraham Lincoln became president the telegraph had become an accepted part of American life. Lincolns first State of the Union message was transmitted over the telegraph wires, as the New York Times reported on December 4, 1861:​ The message of President Lincoln was telegraphed yesterday to all parts of the loyal states. The message contained 7, 578 words, and was all received in this city in one hour and 32 minutes, a feat of telegraphing unparalleled in the Old or New World. Lincolns own fascination with the technology led him to spend many hours during the Civil War in the telegraph room of the War Department building near the White House. The young men who manned the telegraph equipment later recalled him sometimes staying overnight, awaiting messages from his military commanders. The president would generally write his messages in longhand, and telegraph operators would relay them, in military cipher, to the front. Some of Lincolns messages are examples of emphatic brevity, such as when he advised General Ulysses S. Grant, at City Point, Virginia in August 1864: â€Å"Hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke as much as possible. A. Lincoln.† A Telegraph Cable Reached Under the Atlantic Ocean During the Civil War construction of telegraph lines to the west proceeded, and news from the distant territories could be sent to the eastern cities almost instantly. But the biggest challenge, which seemed utterly impossible, would be to lay a telegraph cable under the ocean from North America to Europe. In 1851 a functional telegraph cable had been laid across the English Channel. Not only could news travel between Paris and London, but the technological feat seemed to symbolize the peace between Britain and France just a few decades after the Napoleonic Wars. Soon telegraph companies began surveying the coast of Nova Scotia to prepare for laying cable. An American businessman, Cyrus Field, became involved in the plan to put a cable across the Atlantic in 1854. Field raised money from his wealthy neighbors in New York City’s Gramercy Park neighborhood, and a new company was formed, the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company. In 1857, two ships chartered by Fields company began laying the 2,500 miles of cable, setting off from Irelands Dingle Peninsula. The initial effort soon failed, and another attempt was put off until the following year. Telegraph Messages Crossed the Ocean By Undersea Cable The effort to lay the cable in 1858 met with problems, but they were overcome and on August 5, 1858, Cyrus Field was able to send a message from Newfoundland to Ireland via the cable. On August 16 Queen Victoria sent a congratulatory message to President James Buchanan. Cyrus Field was treated as a hero upon arrival in New York City, but soon the cable went dead. Field resolved to perfect the cable, and by the end of the Civil War he was able to arrange more financing. An attempt to lay cable in 1865 failed when the cable snapped just 600 miles from Newfoundland. An improved cable was finally put in place in 1866. Messages were soon flowing between the United States and Europe. And the cable which snapped the previous year was located and repaired, so two functional cables were operating. The Telegraph Was Depicted In the Capitol Dome Constantino Brumidi, the Italian-born artist who was painting inside the newly expanded US Capitol, incorporated the transatlantic cable into two beautiful paintings. The artist was an optimist, as his lofty depictions were completed a few years before the cable was finally proven successful. In the oil painting Telegraph, Europe is portrayed as clasping hands with America while a cherub offers a telegraph wire. The spectacular fresco inside the top of the Capitols dome, Apotheosis of Washington has a panel titled Marine showing Venus helping to lay the transatlantic cable. In the Late 1800s Telegraph Wires Covered the World In the years following Fields success, underwater cables connected the Middle East with India, and Singapore with Australia. By the end of the 19th century, much of the globe was wired for communication.

Career plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Career plan - Assignment Example He showed early signs of being entrepreneurial and later attributed business practices as a key to his success in acquiring and expanding business. Pickens and his family moved to Oklahoma to Amarillo, Texas in late 1930s.He began studying at the University of Texas after finishing High School and graduated with a degree in geology in 1951 from Oklahoma A&M (now called Oklahoma State University).To kick start the career, the great business leader joined Philips petroleum and worked there until 1954.He then worked in exploratory well digging and later on in 1956 founded Mesa Petroleum. Under the watchful eye of Pickens, by 1981, Mesa grew to be one of the largest independent oil companies in the world. In 1989 Pickens founded Boon Pickens capital management; whose funds dealt with oil and natural gas and which earned him $2.7 billion by 2007.In 1997 T. Boone Pickens created the Pickens Fuel Corp., a company promoting the use of natural gas a cleaner-burning fuel-alternative for automo biles. Researches done by Pickens in the oil industry supported the claim made by other scientists, â€Å"the world’s oil supply is on decline’. As a result he created a fuel company in 1997 that promoted the use of natural gas a cleaner-burning fuel-alternative for automobiles (US Natural Gas). He planned world’s largest wind farm for Texas Panhandle. ... 2. My Career Plan Taking the various internal and external factors into account discussed in the following sections, I have decided to for Finance major in Oil and Gas sector. It is not so much under my control to sketch and build a perfect career. Therefore, I have decided to implement principles and strategies of the American Business leader: T.Boone.Pickens into my career plan. 2.1 Selecting career goals Like Pickens ,the first goal is to create real value and not just earn money and expand personal wealth ( these will invariably have to follow ); To draw out academic and career goals I would rather prefer answering two questions: What qualifications and skills did I acquire ? What knowledge to develop and experience to gather? Then my task will be to complete and submit application and financial aid requirements for admissions to postgraduate ‘oil and gas sector’ financial consultant programs. 2.2 Knowing Yourself Everyone should know and understand his likes and dis likes choosing a career and becoming successful. Listed below are the questions I answered while exploring myself in choosing career: What do I enjoy doing? What am I good at? Which field interests me? How much adaptive am I to changing situations? 2.2.1 Strengths Communication skills. I work intelligently with all kinds of people and understand that each client has different priorities and objectives about projects and work tasks. I keep this in mind when communicating tasks that need to be accomplished with positive reinforcement and awareness of what others are working on. Flexibility to handle change. Since my childhood I had been able to adapt myself easily to any kind of social & cultural

Rwanda genocide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rwanda genocide - Essay Example Concerned countries of the world have often refused to act in time to stop these events even though ample signs of trouble were apparent. Racial superiority has traditionally been an issue for various countries, at one point or another in their history, but none worse than that displayed by the Tutsis over the Hutus in Rwanda Feelings of hatred have been translated into outright acts of violence against those viewed as inferior, and this, at times, prompted retaliation against their oppressors as in the case of Rwanda. â€Å"Rwandan genocide took place between April and June 1994. During this tragic period of 3 months, some 800,000 Rwandans died, the majority was ethnically Tutsis, murdered by their rival countrymen, the Hutus† (Le, 2004). The Rwanda genocide was spread out over the span of three months. Hutu uprising against their fellow citizens was triggered when Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu and the then Rwandan president, was killed in a rocket attack at his plane near Kigali airport, on 6 April 1994 (Le, 2004). Tutsi leader, Paul Kagame (the current Rwandan President, but then, the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front) was blamed for the attack and death of the president (Le, 2004). This was denied by Kagame, who blamed the attack on Hutu extremists. Nevertheless, within a few hours of the at tack, violence broke out all over the country; and such violence would not wane for three months after the assassination of Habyarimana (Martin, 2003). By then, nearly one million Rwandans had lost their lives. Media is one of the strong tools and starting point of the progression that led to genocide. â€Å"Radio was extensively utilized as the support medium for sowing the seeds of deep hatred against the Hutus in the penultimate stage, by projecting them indiscriminately as liars, thieves and killers† (Assah, 1994). Hutus, as a race, was thus subjected to intense stigmatization; their eventual annihilation as the only