Contract Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 7

Contract Law - Essay Example This essay talks about the case of Raffia Khan, an interior designer has a number of contractual issues for which she needs your advice. Her business has been suffering as a result of the credit crunch so she is trying to make, and save as much money as possible.Raffia submitted her unmarked envelope with her tender of  £3000 by the time and date specified. After the closing date, she heard that Fix It Up Ltd was awarded the job at a price of  £4000. A year ago Raffia lent  £1000 to her friend Angelo. Last month, she asked for this money back, he told her that he could not afford the full amount but instead asked if she would accept  £700 in full satisfaction of the debt. Raffia agreed to this and took the payment. However, she would now like the further  £300 owed.It is necessary to consider whether the Bradford Institute for Learning has any duty to accept her tender. This will involve considering whether the advert in the paper amounts to an invitation to treat or should be regarded as an offer to give the work to the lowest bidder. It will also be necessary to consider whether the Institute has an obligation to accept the lowest quote because of the advert in the paper. It will be necessary to consider the law in relation to the part payment of a debt, to determine whether Raffia would be stopped from reclaiming the full amount as she had accepted the part payment in full satisfaction of the debt. It should be possible to advise Raffia with regard to any potential claim she might have.

Data Requirements Strategic Supply Chain Management Essay

Data Requirements Strategic Supply Chain Management - Essay Example With these essential elements of the production process in the manufacturing of goods, the parts should be recorded in terms of the descriptions, brand and any other associated data. For instance, the term "bill of materials" may be used by various parts of the enterprise such as engineering, manufacturing, service and sales; although they may all have different definitions of what the bill of materials actually means. Even the basic terms "product" and "parts" may have several definitions within an enterprise. Since a manufacturing company makes use of numerous parts, inventory will help them with communicating clearly with other departments as to which parts are still needed or which have defects and have to be replaced, etc. An effective manufacturing product data model can lead to more integrated and comprehensive product data and information by clearly showing the information requirements of the products, parts and items throughout their life cycle from engineering to manufacturing to the deployment of products at customer locations. Relevant data which may be included in the record are the part identification number, name, and classification which may range from raw material, subassembly or finished good. Raw material is a piece used in making the product and does not need further enhancements for it to be usable. Subassembly means that the part is still composed of other parts. Finished good means that the part is completely done and processed and is ready for shipping. Product information need to indicate the product identification number, name, description, introduction date, sales discontinuation date, support discontinuation date and comments. Bills of materials and marketing packages are also part of the data required for manufacturing process. Manufacturers frequently use the term "bill of materials" to refer to how various parts are assembled into other parts and eventually into products. An enterprise may have a need to store parts used in a MARKETING PACKAGE that are never sold as individual products. Bills of materials consist of parent product identification number, child product identification number, from date, thru date, reason, quantity used, instructions and comments. Part composition has the same information with the bills of materials except for the classification which are engineering composition and manufacturing composition. Types of marketing offerings and types of parts that make up the marketing offerings are important and aside fro this inventory and deployment data should complete the data requirements for manufacturing process. Of course, there are actual physical items that may exist within the enterprise's inventory or that may be deployed at customer locations. Customer service data requirements deals with customer personal data which ranges from financial information, demographics, contact information professional and educational; background. These customer data are confidential and restricted access is provided with the creation and update of these records. While such "point deployments" bring immediate process and data efficiencies to the particular

John Galliano Fashion Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

John Galliano Fashion Marketing - Research Paper Example The essay "John Galliano Fashion Marketing" concerns the fashion marketing and John Galliano. An enormous society stun anticipated Galliano, as he was uprooted from his more vibrant previous surroundings. His family prided itself gigantically on appearance and each time he went out as a tyke, Galliano was a perfect turn out. The gauges of dressing emerge when he contrasted himself and his even more careless English classmates, made him emerge and taught him significant principles of dress, which he might oblige sometime down the road. Notwithstanding, he was not viewed as a remarkable person. It was not until Galliano arrived at outline school and was around individuals more like him that he started to thrive. When Galliano had moved from City and East London College, he enlisted at Central Saint Martin's, where he made an amazing effect. His graduation accumulation, titled 'Les Incroyables,' made splendid by his sentimental pizzazz and ingenuity, gained tremendous approbation. In fa ct, his entire line was speedily gobbled up into the window of Browns boutique. Galliano left Central Saint Martin's in 1983 with a top of the line degree and a solid stockpile of discriminating the approval. In 1984, more approbation that is basic took after. His brave reinvention of sentimental subjects and sensitive, eminently custom-made articles of clothing were his trademarks. In 1987, he accepted the 'British Designer of the Year' honor. Notwithstanding, discriminating performance was not matched.

Environmental Scan Essay Example for Free

Environmental Scan Essay INTRODUCTION This paper will depict research of the internal and external environments of Target Corporation and Cessna Aviation Company through environmental scanning. By performing a SWOT Analysis, a resolution of the competitive advantages will be made of both companies and the strategies that they are using. The environmental scan of these organizations will include information on how each one creates value and sustainability of competitive advantages through the use of business strategy. The paper will explain the measurement guidelines that the organizations use to verify their strategic effectiveness. The paper will also explain just how effective each companys use of their measurement guidelines is. TARGET Target Corporation is the second most successful retailing company in the United States. While the company offers services in the credit card segment, its retail segment is probably the most recognizable one. Below is an S (strengths), W (weaknesses), O (opportunities) and T (threat) analysis of the company (Mbaskool, 2014) (Mbaskool, 2014) Target Corporation is easily recognized by its famous red and white logo. Since its foundation in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1902, it operates now in every state with the exception of Vermont. Unlike Wal-Mart, the company was slow expanding over the United States borders. On March 04, 2009, Target broke the trend and started to venture internationally. Financially, the company is strong and is now listed as the 36th company on the 2014 Fortune 500 report (Fortune 500, 2014). Strangely, the store is considered by many to be a boring store, for it does not play music in its  stores. Meanwhile, the company has experienced difficulties preventing criminal activities such as theft on its properties. Target faces stiff competition from Wal-Mart and K-mart. A couple of allegations are threatening the reputation of the company and the products that it sells. Government regulations are targeting sales of materials containing polyvinyl Chloride. Also, in 2009, the company was slapped with a lawsuit from the 20 California District Attorneys for illegal waste dumping. The company has long been known for its high-price products. However, it achieved competitive advantage through differentiation in innovation. Target has been able to offer products with unique characteristics. Customers justify the high price with the quality and differentiation associated with the products. CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY For eighty years, Cessna Aircraft Company has become a pioneer in the aviation industry. Currently Cessna is a subsidiary of Textron, which acquired Cessna in 1992. The focus is Cessna growing to become the largest aircraft manufacture developing more aircraft in the air than any competitor. The start of Cessna began with Clyde Cessna developing the desire to fly in 1911. Cessna began operation as the founder in 1927 building the Cessna A-series. Innovation fueled Clyde Cessna to continue to develop and remain aggressive in manufacturing aircraft until retiring in 1936. The obstacles Clyde set forth to overcome were many and through the process many resources became allies through the further development of powered aircraft (Cessna, About, 2012). Through the start of manufacturing Clyde Cessna had a main strength to enter the aviation field, which is the desire to fly. The other strengths that Clyde had through his start were the ability of operating a farm and car lot. Mechanically inclined from the working on motors of the farm equipment and vehicles gave Clyde further development to chase the aviation dream. Innovation to design a better airplane Clyde spent his life savings to obtain a copy of a Queen Aero plane Company design of the Bleriot XI fuselage. The Cessna family in 1916 began to resource with Walter Beech (Beech craft), Lloyd Stearman (Boeing), and others (Cessna, News Releases, 2011). INTERNAL Thorough the interaction of establishing valuable resources Clyde could overcome the weaknesses of psychological criticism from others. Even though Clyde was fascinated with the aviation industry starting, Clyde continued to design the monoplane until he accomplished successful manufacturing of an aircraft of mechanical power. By the time Clyde was stepping down from the company, he had brought the first seaplane into operation. The constant innovation kept the company from many weaknesses and boosted Cessna into the industry. EXTERNAL Cessna found many opportunities innovating in the aviation industry, paving the way into the future of the Cessna Company. Through the struggles of becoming an establishment in aviation Cessna became more knowledgeable with the social, technological, economic, and environmental aspects of the business. Understanding and growing the opportunities within the aviation industry brought much success.   The success of Cessna became a threat in its own because the aviation was just starting out. Competition from other resources in the industry would guide Cessna toward documentation of the many innovative ideas set in the company. The alliances with different organizations also indeed gave Cessna the opportunities to advance competitively. One example of an alliance is the current parent company Textron who started out as an external alliance and is currently a major factor in the internal operations of Cessna. Through the alliances Cessna has grown into a company known for first class bu siness travel for others that buy and invest in Cessna. CONCLUSION In conclusion, an environmental scan benefits an organization by pointing out their competitive advantages, disadvantages, and how they are measured. Performing a simple SWOT analysis helps determine their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to improve the sustainability of the organization. The information that it provides helps determine future business strategy. It can show how it is measured and how effectively it is working for the company. Both companies mentioned in this paper are doing well with their current business strategy, but environmental scanning is something that should be done periodically in order to maintain their success. The text states that A strategist can analyze any industry by rating each competitive force as high, medium, or low in strength. (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Many companies used these tools to verify its strategic  effectiveness. Rapidly changing external environment requires that upper management not only make quick decisions but also educated ones based on concrete data. Environmental scanning is an integral part of any successful strategic planning. This paper shows the different measurement guidelines at the disposition of the company to verify strategy effectiveness. References Carpenter, M. A., Sanders, W. G. (2009). Strategic management: A dynamic perspective concepts and cases (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Cessna (2011). News Releases. Retrieved from http://www.cessna.com/NewReleases/New/NewReleaseNum-1192344130761.html Cessna (2012). About Cessna. Retrieved from http://www.cessna.com/ Fortune (2014). Fortune 500 2014. Retrieved from: http://fortune.com/fortune500/unitedhealth-group-incorporated-14/ Mbaskool (2104). SWOT Analysis of Target Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/4911-target-corporation.html Wheelen, T. L., Hunger, D. (2010). _Concepts in Strategic Management and Business Policy: Achieving Sustainability_ (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

BT Global Services Strategic Analysis

BT Global Services Strategic Analysis In the past BT Global services strategy has experienced hard times, resulting in the company incurring high levels of debt through the heavy use of joint ventures. In recent times, BT Global Services have adapted from this past by offering more homogeneous products, leading to a needs-based strategy focusing on multinational corporations instead of products intended for domestic use, as they offer in the UK. Their strategy is based on their strategic position in the telecoms industry: Hard for new competitors to enter, however they have a competitive parity with their main competitors ATT, Verizon Business and Orange Business Services. Their large client base and brand image has played a key role in their strategy for targeting multinational corporations and world governments. However, they show a weakness that they have a relatively high senior management turnover which may have had a negative effect on their strategy formation process. Due to the size of BT Group, it is difficult to judge the success of BTGS strategy in relation to the whole of the corporations operations. However, as a business unit, their financial results are inconsistent potentially showing that improvements are needed to be made. Recommendations made relate to maintaining key senior management staff; truly differentiating themselves by innovating to create a temporary competitive advantage; and to focus on European based multinational corporations to take advantage of BTs brand power that it has developed in that region. 1. Introduction to the report This report contains a strategic analysis of the international company BT Group (BT) focusing upon its business unit BT Global Services (BTGS) through the lens of strategic formation. The report starts with an analysis of BT Groups overall strategy, then their subsidiary BT Global Services global strategy, then the report progresses onto conducting an external and internal analysis before concluding with recommendations. 2. Introduction to the Company British Telecommunications (BT Group) is one of the largest publicly traded companies in the FTSE 100 at the present time, with a market capitalisation of  £ 13,818 million (London Stock Exchange, 2011). The company operates in the telecommunications industry supplying various products ranging from Broadband to Ethernet to Voice. From humble origins as a subsidiary of The Post Office and its initial public offering in 1982, BT has grown into a large multi national company whilst maintaining itself as the market leader in the UK. Since its flotation, BT has been prevalent on the international scene, entering joint ventures with many overseas corporations, most notably ATT. (BT Plc, 2011) 3. BT Group Overall BT Groups strategy has been focused on standardisation of their products and services; since 2009 they have decreased their range of products from 3,500 to 1,400 (BT, 2011). In the future BT are planning to combining their global networks into one standard network, by doing this they aim for a cost transformation (BT Plc, 2010). Since Global Services expansion abroad, BT Group has had to change its strategy to protecting its dominant market share in the UK after deregulations in the UK and the subsequent emergence of foreign competitors has posed a threat (Turner and Gardiner, 2007). BT Groups strategy for their domestic marker involves diversification into new markets such as Broadband, Online gaming, Voice, TV and IT services (BT Plc, 2010). 4. BT Global Services BT Global Services have experienced some large changes over the past decade, they have just recovered from incurring large losses standing out from BT groups improving subsidiaries financial achievements: their pre-tax profits fell 45% in three months (BBC, 2009). These large losses were contributed to BTGS bad global strategy during the period of 1994 to 2004. During this period BT set out to become the largest supplier of telecommunications, therefore its strategy was to expand globally. The companys target market was multinational corporations who have operations in a variety of regions. However, due to BTs industry, heavy investment in physical infrastructure would be needed. To overcome these market entry barriers, BTs strategy had to involve forming strategic alliances with foreign companies: BT committed itself to numerous joint ventures. By creating a truly global network, they hoped to posses a unique and rare product to gain the advantage over their competitors who could not offer such a large network (BBC, 1999; Turner and Gardiner, 2007). Nevertheless, this did not succeed. Reasons for this could be attributed to their strategic alliance partnerships. BT failed to maintain stable relationships, such as for example, in their joint venture Concert originally with MCI but due to flaws in a takeover bid, this failed. BT then set up a new joint venture called New Concert with another US telecoms giant ATT. Yet this failed again. These flaws in BTs joint ventures, couple with the huge amount of debt that BT built up acquiring them, lead to BTs large losses (BBC, 2001; BBC, 2001; Turner and Gardiner, 2007). In response to these failures, BT radically changed its strategy. This strategic renewal saw BT initiate a radical withdrawal from the majority of its international markets, to consolidate their UK and EU market to protect their main source of revenue, the UK market (Forbes, 2010; Turner and Gardiner, 2007). At present they are forecasting a result of  £100m in operating cash flow this year, which is evidence that their current strategy is effective and that they have learned from their mistakes in the past. Their change of strategy can be seen by their offering of an increasingly homogeneous service around the globe (BT, 2011). Levitt (1983) highlights the importance of multinational corporations operating in a consistent manor, in BTs case, by offering the same service globally, by doing this BT can operate at a relatively low cost. BTGS are differentiating themselves by utilising a needs-based strategy. By focusing on meeting the needs of large multinational corporations that are constituents of strong global sector industries, they can differ from their competition by using their breath of scope, thanks to their large multi-protocol switching network (Porter, 1997; BT, 2011). One could say, that BTGS strategy formed itself out of an adaptive mode, in which their strategy was decided by many managers with conflicting views compromising over issues to produce their final decision; Turner and Gardiners (2007) case study outlined poor management behaviour as a cause for their initial strategys shortcomings (Mintzberg, 1978). BTs intended strategy was to replicate its business in the UK globally, however through the pattern in a stream of decisions, the realised strategy became focused on consolidating their home market and the European market, whilst taking on lighter activities worldwide. Their strategy has been formed through the environment of the dynamic telecommunications market, influenced by many changes in leadership (BBC, 2001; Mintzberg, 1978). 5. External Analysis De Wit and Mayer (2004) state that external and internal assessments are necessary for the diagnosing aspect to a realised strategy. Using Porters (2008) five forces, focusing on potential entrants of new competition and direct competitors, one can see how the competitive environment has affected BTGS strategy formation. Threat of new entrants The need for infrastructure to enter the market makes it very difficult for small firms to enter because of the huge amount of investment required. This point can be emphasised because one can see the problems BT experienced when they attempted to set up their own global system with joint ventures. Therefore all of BTs competition is from other large multinational telecommunication companies. New competitors may also find a difficulty to establish a market share due to brand issues; multinational corporations have high prerequisites and need established companies that have a track record of consistent and reliable services (Gardiner and Turner, 2004). However the global telecommunications industry has an estimated worth of 3.7 trillion dollars which may attract large multinational companies that have the resources to diversify their operations, such as Virgin group has done in the past in different markets (Plunkett Research Ltd, 2010). Direct competitors The global telecommunications market is made up of large competitors which have access to a large pool of funds for extensive advertising campaigns. These multinational corporations such as Orange Business Services, ATT and Verizon Business are strong competitors with strong brand images in their own right; however Ovum (2009) reports that the BT brand is dominant when compared. Since ATT was granted an operating licence in 1994, they have been in competition for BTGS MNCs but also BT groups domestic client base (Fagan, 1994). BTGS competitor ATT, have a similar strategy of differentiated their products to multinational corporations. Before Concert ATT strategy had involved leasing out its use of networks from BT, however they began to offer the same standardised service as they offered when cooperating with BT in Concert joint venture, supplying businesses with their own global IP network (ATT, 2011). This is very similar to BTs strategy of targeting MNCs, and so poses a great threat; their joint venture in the past had a negative affect on BTGS performance (BT Plc, 2002). Since the end of the joint venture, ATT have been heavily investing in improving their global infrastructure, and in product innovation (Pappalardo and Mears, 2002). Cooperation with this competitor in the past has proved troublesome, however BT and ATT have joined an additional strategic alliance by interlinking their video-conferencing product network (Taylor, 2010). By using this strategic alliances, BT have been able to stem competition from ATT and maintain their MNC client base. 6. Internal Analysis Following on from the external analysis using a SWOT analysis, focused on BTGS strengths and weaknesses, one can further inspect the diagnosing aspect of strategy formation. Strengths BTGS has an increasing brand power, which BTs management have been focusing on customer service (Servicedesk, 2009). The image that BT has built upon over the decades have given BT Global Services a good foundation in which to build and maintain its own. BTGS has a large client base comprising of MNCs such as Siemens and BNP Paribas, these providing BT with large volume sales. BT Global Services have also managed to secure key exclusive contracts, such as supplying Unilever with a four year contract. By securing these contracts, BT have pushed out the competition and have created an opportunity for them to extend these contracts in the future (Harris, 2010;International, 2010;BT Plc, 2009). Weaknesses A large weakness that BTGS possess is relatively high executive management turnover, since 2001 BTGS has seen many changes in management which may have diluted the companys strategic vision (BBC, 2001; BT Plc, 2010; Servicedesk, 2009; Glick, 2008). Finally, the need for an extensive global network is a necessity for BTGS, without it they have no value on their products from their clients perspective. These network infrastructures carry high maintenance costs and must be constantly innovated to compete effectively. 7. Evaluation of Strategy Overall BT Global Services strategy seems to be overdependent on joint ventures which have led BT into large debt problems. Evidence for this can be seen in their financial reports as they coincide with the break up of their joint venture New Concert; BTGS suffered a loss of  £1,459m in 2003 surprisingly after they recorded their largest profit of  £8,911m in 2001 (FAME, 2011). Whilst their turnover has been steadily increasing from 2006, BTGS management have been unable to make consistent gains on their return on total assets (FAME, 2011). This could be because of the senior management not efficiently utilising their assets. Their trade-off of excluding offering domestic telecommunication products globally has, in my opinion, been a good strategic move because, for example the US market for Ethernet services is saturated with fierce competition (Vertical, 2007). Their strategy of focusing on multinational corporations fits well with their other operations The deregulation of telecommunications has had a large impact on their global strategy as governments in developing countries lift competition rules to end state owned monopolies (Poh, 1994). This deregulation has allowed BT to branch out internationally and to set up global networks to offer their prospective clients. Since the banking crisis, BT Groups share price has been steadily rising, however this may not be due to Global Services but other operations of the group such as BT Retail or BT Innovate, therefore it is difficult to judge BTGS strategys success on the groups overall share performance (London Stock Exchange, 2011). 8. Conclusion In conclusion, BT Global services strategy can be viewed as insufficient. Their strategy has proved successful in the fact that they are acquiring exclusive contracts; steadily increasing their total revenue over the past five years and maintaining themselves as one of the largest international telecommunications company. One the other hand, they have been incurring large losses and sub optimal return on assets shedding a pessimistic view on the strategys success. Their external and internal environment can be seen as contradictory; the limited threat to new entrants and their large client base show a favourable business environment, however their current competitors and the need to maintain such a large infrastructure pose a great threat. 9. Recommendations Taking into consideration BT Global Services past strategic history and their internal and external environment, recommendations to improve their global strategy would include: Creating and sustaining a clear strategic vision by maintaining key senior management staff, by doing this BTGS will be able to maintain their objectives in accordance to their joint ventures, a problem they had with Concert. Truly differentiating themselves from ATT and Verizon Business, these two companies offer very similar IT and telecoms solutions to multinational corporations: Innovating will help create a temporary competitive advantage. Focusing on the European telecommunications market to continue securing key exclusive contracts with multinational corporations head-quartered there to take advantage of the strength that the BT brand has in that region. 10. References Andersen, T. J. (2004) Integrating the Strategy Formation Process: An International Perspective. European Management Journal, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 263-372 Ansoff, H. I., Avner, J., Brandenburg R. G., Portner, F. E., Radosevich, R. (1970) Does Planning Pay? The Effect of Planning on Success of Acquisitions in American Firms. Long Range Planning, December ATT (2011) Our Global Story. [Online] [Accessed on 01/02/2011] http://www.corp.att.com/globalnetworking/our_global_story.html BBC News (2001) BT chief quits early. BBC [Online] 31st October [Accessed on 26/02/2011] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1629621.stm BBC News (2001) BT plans to break losing streak . BBC [Online] 4th December [Accessed on 26/02/2011] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1691580.stm BBC News (2001) BT to ditch ATT venture .BBC [Online] 20th April [Accessed on 26/02/2011] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1287589.stm BBC News (1999) Business: The Company File BT expands into China. BBC [Online] 8th April [Accessed on 26/02/2011] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/314264.stm BBC News (2009) Global IT unit knocks BT profits. BBC [Online] 30th July [Accessed on 26/02/2011] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8176033.stm BBC News (2001) QA: What now for BT?. BBC [Online] 10th May [Accessed on 26/02/2011] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1323096.stm BT Plc (2010) Annual General Meeting. BT Group Plc. [Online] July [Accessed on 02/03/2011] http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/AGMs/AGM2010/AGM2010slides.pdf BT Plc (2011) Around BT: Global Services. BT Today. February 2011. pp 39-41. BT Plc (2009) BT Global Services provides full IP convergence project for Roberto Cavalli Group. BT Press releases [Online] 19th November [Accessed on 02/03/2011] http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=A0C112A6-D3B5-47C5-B26D-383B12658748 BT Plc (2010) Investor Day Part 1. [Online] [Accessed on 26/02/2011] http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Quarterlyresults/Financialpresentations/q410Investor1.pdf BT Plc (2010) Jeff Kelly joins BT as CEO BT Global Services [Online] [Accessed on 02/03/2011] http://www.btplc.com/news/Articles/ShowArticle.cfm?ArticleID=0D9B24BA-B757-4880-95AB-5B0820E975A5 BT Plc (2002) Risk Factors. [Online] [Accessed on 01/03/2011] http://www.btplc.com/report/risk.shtml BT Plc (2011) The historical development of BT. [Online] [Accessed on 27/02/2011] http://www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTsHistory/History.htm De Wit, B and Meyer, R. (2004) Strategy: Process, Content, Context. 3rd Edition. London Douglas, S., Wind, Y. (1987) The Myth of Globalisation. Columbia Journal of World Business, Winter Fagan, M. (1994) ATT readies for battle with BT: Granting of licence to US giant sets scene for new wave of competition in British telephone services. The Independent. [Online] 9th July [ Accessed on 01/03/2011] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/att-readies-for-battle-with-bt-granting-of-licence-to-us-giant-sets-scene-for-new-wave-of-competition-in-british-telephone-services-1412595.html FAME (2011) Company report: BT Global Services Limited [Online] [Accessed on 03/03/2011] Available from: FAME Forbes, C. (2010), Strategic Change, Lecture/Class, Manchester Metropolitan University, unpublished. Gardiner, P. D., Turner, C. (2007) De-internationalisation and global strategy: the case of British Telecomunications (BT). Journal of Business Industrial Marketing, Vol. 22 Iss:7, pp 489-497. Glick, B. (2008) BT Global Services chief quits after profit warning [Online] Computing.co.uk [Accessed on 02/03/2011] http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/1859249/bt-global-services-chief-quits-profit-warning Harris, N. (2010) BT will continue providing the phone and internet services for the Department for Work and Pension. [Online] ITPro [Accessed on 02/03/2011] http://www.itpro.co.uk/620347/dwp-extends-bt-service-contract-worth-237-million Horsburgh, S. (2011) Strategy Formation. Lecture/Class, Manchester Metropolitan University, Unpublished. International Business Times (2010) Unilever signs à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬173 million IT services contract with BT Global. [Online] [Accessed on 02/03/2011] http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/35898/20100715/unilever-signs-it-services-contract-bt-global.htm Levitt, T. (1983) The globalization of markets. Harvard Business Review. May-June London Stock Exchange (2011) BT Group PLC ORD 5p [Online] [Assesed on 26/02/2011] http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-markets/stocks/summary/company-summary.html?fourWayKey=GB0030913577GBGBXSET1 McIntosh (2000) BT wrestles with internal divisions over strategy The independent [Online] 19th September [Accessed on 01/03/2011] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/bt-wrestles-with-internal-divisions-over-strategy-700126.html Ovum (2009) BT Global Services Scores First [Online] [Accessed on 03/03/2011] www.globalservices.bt.com/static/assets/pdf/Insights%20and%20Ideas/Ovum%20Research%20-%20BT%20Global%20Services%20Scores%20First.pdf Pappalardo, D. and Mears, J. (2002) ATT spells out international strategy. Network World [Online] [Accessed on 01/03/2011] http://www.networkworld.com/news/2002/129527_01-28-2002.html Plunkett Research Ltd (2010) Telecommunications Industry Overview. [Online] [Accessed 28/02/2011] http://www.plunkettresearch.com/telecommunications%20market%20research/industry%20statistics Poh, L.C. (1994) The Liberalisation and Privitaisation of Telecommunications in Singapore. [Online] [Accessed on 02/03/2011] http://www.ida.gov.sg/News%20and%20Events/20050727180231.aspx?getPagetype=21 Porter, M.E. (1979) How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. Harvard business Review, July/August 1997 Porter, M. (1996) What is Strategy?. Harved Business Review, November-December Pritchard, J., Armistead, C. (1999) Business process management lessons from European business, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 5 Iss: 1, pp.10 35 Servicedesk360 (2009) BT Global Services welcomes new chief. [Online] [Accessed on 01/03/2011] http://www.servicedesk360.com/archives/?p=937 Vertical Systems Group (2007) Ethernet Services Market Update. [Online] [Accessed on 02/03/2011] http://www.twtelecom.com/Documents/Announcements/News/2007/VSG_TWTC_Mid_year07Ethernet.pdf

Its Time for Immigration Reform Essay -- Illegal Immigration, Illegal

It's Time for Immigration Reform    News article after news article on immigration characterizes anyone who opposes the current level of immigration as anti-immigrant. This is biased and deceitful. It's like saying that anyone who doesn't want 10 or 12 children is anti-children. The truth is that many people are pro-immigration but recognize that the present level of immigration is unsustainable and will eventually be detrimental to Americans and immigrants alike.    One often-used irrelevant argument is that we are a nation of immigrants. While true, it does not shed light on the question of how many immigrants should be admitted annually and what should be the criteria for admission. To understand the issue, we must focus on the numbers involved. Although the Census Bureau has not released the number of immigrants for fiscal 1997, most analysts believe that at least 1 million legal and between 300,000 to 500,000 illegal immigrants are entering the U.S. each year. This is about four times the number who came to America annually during the 1950s and 1960s.    Even this does not put the issue in perspective, however. The crux of the problem is the cumulative impact. At present rates of immigration, the U.S. population will increase by up to 200 million persons in the next 50 to 60 years. Even if all immigration were halted today--and few persons are suggesting such a draconian policy--we will still add up to 80 million people due to the children and grandchildren from the wave of immigrants that have entered the U.S. since 1970.    So what? Isn't this unending supply of cheap, compliant, hardworking labor good for America... ...impossible task of building a school every day.    Although poll after poll indicates that most American would like to see immigration cut back to traditional levels (about 250,000 a year), present immigration policy has been determined by a coalition of businesses who benefit from a limitless supply of cheap labor, immigration lawyers, immigrant lobbies and naive do-gooders who think that bringing in 1 million of the world's 4 billion poor will somehow reduce world poverty.    Americans, like most people, tend to live for the moment, with little thought for the future. The hundreds of billions of dollars that are being expended to correct the Y2K computer problem were totally unnecessary with just a modicum of forethought. What can a nation do when it discovers it is overpopulated? Ask China and India.   

Love in Valentine and The Flea Essay -- The Flea John Donne Carol Ann

Love in Valentine and The Flea Through a close analysis of language, structure and theme, compare and contrast the poets' attitude to love in Valentine and The Flea. The poem "The Flea" is about a man trying to cunningly argue a woman into bed. John Donne's "The Flea" was a metaphysical poem, written most probably, to entertain an audience of men; this was called a coterie, which was a group of like-minded individuals who cleverly wrote for each other's amusement. This poem was written sometime in the 17th century where religion was extremely important and sex before marriage frowned upon. The poet is exploring ideas and feelings about lust and how unimportant losing virginity is, which a woman will obviously object to. The poem is written in three stanzas, which show the progression of his argument. The regular rhythm and rhyme implies the confidence he has that he will get the woman into bed for his pleasure and the strength in his argument. In each stanza there are three rhyming couplets and a rhyming triplet. This might represent how the flea, the unseen woman and himself are united as one inside the body of the flea. Although, there are a few exceptions, the few half rhymes in each stanza may show his conscience of being gentle and not pushing her too much. The poem has nine lines in each stanza; nine is a multiple of three, which is the number that this poem seems to circle around. This, again, suggests the unity of the two people's blood in the flea. It could also suggest the woman, himself and a baby. This could be implied through the phrase "pamper'd swells". This could be the woman becoming pregnant from making love. This might be a more sensitive side to the poem. The title "The Fle... ... and made me wonder why she had chosen an onion to represent her affection felt for her partner. I think the poet felt strongly about how people should express their feelings to those you care about instead of following the crowd and sending pointless cards. I would like to read more of her poems. John Donne's poem "The Flea" makes me feel quite angry because he has portrayed how some men think that women are objects; only for their own pleasure and that virginity is insignificant and unimportant. But it did also make me laugh because of how melodramatic he was and how desperate he was to persuade her that he used a flea as an example. I think it was a very clever poem and would have certainly entertained the audience it was aimed at. He was a very intelligent man and I would expect that many of his other poems would be just as witty and interesting.