Subculture Essay Example

Subculture Essay To start the article, it is necessary to learn thoroughly the meaning of the word culture. From where did this word come? Basically, ‘Culture’ is a word, which means civilization, and where there is a civilization, there is a group of people living together in the form of communities belonging to different castes. Culture is a word derived from the Latin word cultura, which means to cultivate. Cultivation here can be taken in different meanings. However, this does not only mean the cultivation of fertile lands but the real in depth meaning to this meaning is to cultivate a society by forming unity among the people. When we talk about culture, many things are produced from its formation. Not only from this word but the system also rises in the human body that cells make up tissues, tissues make up muscles. The same system is with every innovation of human being. Same as that whenever we talk about culture, after defining it the second thing that comes in the mind is society. Society finds its way from the creation of culture, its norms or mores and traditions. But here the question arises that what do we need to create a better society? Only culture? If only culture, then what is so efficient fact in culture that it is a key to create a society? The answer is very simple.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To create a society it is necessary to create traditions and mores. When we create our traditions and mores, we name it culture. Through the creation of traditions and mores culture come into existence however people believe in their so called man made beliefs and this leads towards the creation of a society. Before society it is a necessary step to discuss some detail about mores and traditions. Tradition too is a Latin word known as traditio. The help of Latin words produc es most of the words of the English language. According to most common definitions of tradition, it is a man made word meaning of beliefs which are created by man. Man made his own limitations, gods, goddesses, religions and traditions. Some restrict themselves in the limitations of their cultures or traditions however many of them use their policy of ignorance towards these beliefs. Besides creating all these laws and traditions, one more thing that arises for the betterment of people are mores. We will write a custom essay sample on Subculture specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Subculture specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Subculture specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Mores direct the people towards the good deeds and it clears the concept of right and wrong from the minds of people. To establish a society it is necessary to produce new and advanced mores in which there should be a strict law and order and society should be based on the basis of facts, not on those beliefs, which are created by the human beings themselves. Mores can build a society and mores can also play an important role in the destruction of the society. It has been learned that nothing is perfect in this world. Everything has negative and positive aspects., but it depends on our mentality that what we want to do because it is like an example that positive side of a magnet always attract the negative side and the negative one attracts the positive side. It has been proved that people find their ways towards the mores of their own will. When they think enjoying their negative activities, then they have no space for the betterment of the state, country o city in which they reside. However, the main point here is that who is the main culprit behind the creation of such negative aspects in the society? May be it is the society itself who blame their own people when they are doing something wrong. It has been well said, â€Å"Society prepares the crime, and the criminal commits it†. In this phrase some faults of the society have been highlighted as well as the faults of the people also have been highlighted who are so weak by mind in an innovative era that they are making no use of their minds. All of the above statements clarify that it is the society who’s negative and positive affects lead the minds of the people towards destruction. We see many flaws in our society when we observe it closely. Nowadays, with the informat ion boom all blame for corrupting young minds lies heavily on the shoulders of the media. This isn’t so; people don’t get corrupt surfing the net or watching television. These media offer a wide variety of options, so why is it that our youth forgoes the positive aspects of the media and tends to go absorb the negative effects? I feel that our youth is intelligent enough to understand what is good and what is harmful for them. Education, shelter, health, freedom of expression, security of people, democratic norms, and justice are the basis of every civilized society. But unfortunately what we find in our society are lies, illiteracy, poverty and injustice. These negative aspects of society that most people experience force them on to the path of corruption and thus being frustrated by their circumstances they are attracted towards different vices. If we want to develop our nation it is important that our youth are educated and have ample opportunities to channelize their energies in a positive direction. Parents should encourage their child’s creativity and must provide them with opportunities to exercise their individuality in a free environment. This will help children grow into healthy, intelligent beings who understand that they have a right to their ideas but they cannot impose their ideas on someone else. This will breed an atmosphere of tolerance and will provide the country with stability. Besides this, more facilities for sports and recreation must be provided so that the youth don’t waste their time in front of the Internet or television. We must also provide them with jobs so that they become financially stable and must follow merit while doing so, so that the right people get the right jobs. This will give way to more opportunities and clear the way for a better economy, which will give us a better way of life. Men are so inclined to content themselves with what is commonest; the spirit and the senses so easily grow dead to the impressions of the beautiful and perfect, that every one should study, by all methods, to nourish in his mind the faculty of feeling these things. For this reason, one ought every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. (â€Å"Learning Commons†) We must also encourage our youth to hold on to their traditions and values. We must move ahead but we must never forget our basis and who we are. Here the parents must tell the children about their traditions and must make sure that even though they move ahead on to the path of innovation they do not forget their culture and identity. In this article I have defined culture, mores traditions and ethical values but not a specific country and its culture. Here, I have taken the UK as a country. The United Kingdom is a part of Europe. But here to know the subculture of the UK, it is necessary to understand what subculture is. Culture is a civilized society of people based on man made mores, ethics traditions and customs. Then what subculture is? How it is created and what are the factors behind its creation? Subculture can be simply defined as different small cultures of different lobbies created in a single culture made by the people. Every lobby is a subculture made by the supporters of the required criteria. However according to web definitions sub culture can be defined as â€Å"A social group with shared characteristics that distinguish it in some way from the larger cultural group or society in which it is embedded. Generally, a subculture is distinguished either by a unifying set of ideas and/or practices (such as the corporate culture or the drug culture) or by some demographic characteristic (such as the adolescent culture or the culture of poverty)†. (Human Diversity in Education) Subculture now has been thoroughly defined but I would clear the European subculture. Subcultures are made from cultures and every subculture has an effect on itself of its own culture. In almost all Western countries even Europe the culture is same. Drinking, nightlife and pre-marital relationships are common in these sorts of countries. Here the people who form their own subcultures take almost every aspect that they think would be helpful in creating their own subcultures. Subcultures have their own classes and kinds. The teenagers create youth subcultures and they are the people who form different subcultures from their traditional culture. Every people in the European society create its own subculture like gays. Gays are considered as a shameful part of the society. So when they feel degraded among other normal people of their society, they thought to gather some of the people of their gay community and created their own gay subculture. In all of this many people like this who feel neglected or the ones who feel that they are given more importance in the society make their groups of the specific name or kind of which they are creating their subcultures. In these subcultures, they are restricted to promote their subcultures and follow all the rules and should abide by the followers of the subculture. Now let us discuss the factors of European sub cultures Drinking, Nightlife, Pubs, Discos, Clubs and other heinous activities such as drugs, smuggling and murdering are a part of European culture. This has been a conflicting situation for the philosophers who study the sub cultures of their nations. In Europe the activities, which are considered vulgar in the third world countries, are the culture of western countries. People of western countries think these actions as a part of their culture but in third world countries, these activities are termed as offensive or improper. The people and youth of the western countries recognize the thinking of these under developed countries as backward but many of them think in an entirely different way. The European countries have become so advanced in the world that in all aspects they do not bear anybody’s comments on the way of their dressing. In contrast, people who live in the Asian Countries don’t like their living style only because of their own culture. They say that people who wear body-revealing clothes and think it as a fashion are wrong because in the Stone Age people did not know how to cover their bodies. They comment that why are we called advanced? What is the reason behind this advancement, which is only leading towards the Stone Age and is so backward that we cannot differentiate between right and wrong? In Europe, teenage drinking is highly neglected by the parents. Teenagers are very bad there. This term or this sentence is very easy to say but no one is ready to understand the factors behind the destruction of these small teenaged kids. All of us know the importance of parents in our life. Parents can create their children on the path of creativity and talent while most of them can destruct their children in a very bad manner. Howsoever, none of the parents want to destruct their children but in the love of money making and their social gatherings they pay no heed to their children and when they get through these destructive subcultures, they are always present to gift a slap to them instead of instructions. This attitude of parents towards their children is not at all neglecting one and they should be punished for not giving correct guidance to their children and when they are fully destructed they go to solve their problems by the means of slaps. Has anybody ever recognized or observed that why teenagers build up their minds towards these subcultures? No, because nobody in this world has the time to guide another person. People who guide the teenagers are so rude that they do not understand instructions and act mi sbehaving. This is not entirely the fault of the youth but the elders who are not there when we are in the nned of strong guidance can only regret this error. Conclusion At last, I would conclude that the rising subcultures in the European or else societies are many times positive while sometimes can be destructive too but this cannot be solved through the slaps and scold. These subcultures are somewhere the reflection of the culture created by the people and which is also highly and strongly abided by them. Then why are they against the creation of their youngsters or their subcultures? This should be cleared that every generation represents the mistakes and is the reflection of the activities done by the people of past. So in that not only teenagers should be scolded instead they should be made to realize how to lead a prosperous life by studying the mistakes of their elders.

Accomplishments of John Dalton essays

Accomplishments of John Dalton essays John Dalton once made this famous quote on his work concerning the atom, We might as well attempt to introduce a new planet into the solar system, or to annihilate one already in existence, as to create or destroy a particle of hydrogen. John Dalton was a British chemist and physicist, who developed the atomic theory upon which modern physical science is founded. Dalton, a Quaker, was born on September 6, 1766, in Eaglesfield, Cumberland County, England. He received education from the village school until age 11. He received tuition from Elihu Robinson, a wealthy Quaker, meteorologist, and instrument maker, who first encouraged Daltons interest in meteorology. At age 12 he was given a job to teach at the same school he attended. He worked on a farm for two years before he moved to Kendal where he taught with his brother. He also went on to teach at a Presbyterian Institute when he was 28 years old. A year later he was elected to the Manchester Literacy and Philosophical Society. Although he did not have a specific institution where he researched, Dalton began a series of meteorological research at the Lake District in 1787. His observations continued for 57 years, accumulating some 200,000 annotations and measur ements on the weather in the Manchester area. His first published book contained the first of his laws concerning the behavior of compound atmospheres. Dalton also wrote a book that has the first explanation of the dew point and hence the founding of exact hygrometry. In 1803 Dalton made his most important contribution to science, his theory (The atomic theory) states that matter is composed of atoms of differing weights and combine in simple ratios by weight. A physical clue to the theory was provided by the solubility of gases in water. He found through experiments that atoms of different gases have different weights. He showed how these atoms link together in definite proportions. An atom is any...

Discuss the concept of post heritage in relation to two more films Essay

Discuss the concept of post heritage in relation to two more films that you have studied - Essay Example The Duchess of Devonshire had an extravagant personal life and her political life. These films become the new significance of the heritage of the United Kingdom. The films contain contemporary political and social events that are not normal for the royal families in Europe. There were massive social and political implications of Princess Diana’s death and funeral. There was public hysteria during her funeral service that did not sit well with the public. The royal family did not want the death of Princess Diana to be a public affair, but the media could not listen to the family. The views of the royal family were a contrast to that of the then Prime Minister Tony Blair and Diana’s husband Prince Charles. The two believe the funeral of Princess Diana should be made a public affair since she was a public figure. The media naturally complicate the issues surrounding Princess Diana’s death and her funeral (Frears 2006). No one knows the official status of Diana as she had a divorce from her husband during the time of her death. The society loves controversies and spectacles. The drama is surrounding Diana’s death fit right in the popular culture of the people. The heritage film made the people challenge the knowledge they had of the past royal family to the present royal family surrounded by controversy. The experience of the movie is very significant to the present day United Kingdom regarding protocols during the death of a royal family member. Tony Blair’s fortune takes for the worst after the funeral of Princess Diana the release of the film â€Å"The Queen† coincides with his downfall and resignation afterwards. Queen Elizabeth in the film is worried about how Tony Blair is going to modernize Britain as the new Labor Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, however, promises Queen Elizabeth of respecting British’s heritage and the Royal Family order of doing things. Blair, however, goes against the

Pulmonary Rehabiliation Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pulmonary Rehabiliation Program - Essay Example Pulmonary rehabilitation aims in reduction in the number of patients that suffer COPD. . Exercise training that is incorporated in the program is to enable keeping fit through upper body exercises and lower body exercises. This increases the strength of those with the condition. The program developed in the program enables understanding of treatment plan. This makes the program useful for those with the condition of COPD. Exercise training is the foundation of pulmonary rehabilitation. There is urge that there is undertaking exercises to keep the body healthy. In pulmonary rehabilitation, Exercise training is based on general principles of exercise physiology that needs all that undergo the exercise are to carry out: intensity, specificity, and reversibility. As peripheral muscle weakness contributes to exercise limitation in patients with lung disease, strength training is a rational component of exercise training during PR (Braddom & Buschbacher, 2007). Hence, resistance training that involves the upper arms is also important as it enables the ability to carry out the ADL and some muscles of the upper-arm also serve as other muscles of respiration. This aspect is an essential in pulmonary rehabilitation. There are two types of exercise that are involved. Endurance is a component and exercise training which involve dynamic activities of large muscles which are performed three or four times in a week. This is with a consumption of less than 50% of maximum oxygen consumption (Braddom & Buschbacher, 2007). Endurance induces structural and physiological adaptation that provide the trained individual for performance of activities which are of high intensity. Lower extremely training is the mainstay that is used in endurance training but there is recommendation of incorporating more extreme training. The optimal training duration that is recommended is that which is greater than 30 minutes. The effect of sustainable training on

Platonic Philosophy in Contemporary Culture Essay

Platonic Philosophy in Contemporary Culture - Essay Example As a philosopher, Socrates was afraid that subjectivity and skeptic beliefs that were prevalent in the society would undermine the ethical construct of young people (Plato 161). As a response, Socrates differed with the ruling class, and independently portrayed his vision of ethics. In Plato’s dialogue, detailed elaboration of Socrates’ philosophical education is portrayed through contextual analogies, specifically in the analogy of warrior guardians. Observably, Socrates separates motivation and desires into three distinct groups; appetitive desires like sex and money, spiritual desires like honor, and rational desires like objective knowledge and truth. In practical contexts, independent pursuit for these three desires often overlaps with each other (Lindsey and Wyse 70). In the context of philosophical education, Socrates mentioned that an overlap occurs when the pursuit for objective knowledge overlap with that of appetitive desires and lusts like sex. In his warrior guardians’ analogy, Socrates discredits that erotic attraction and relationship between a boy and a man. According to Socrates, â€Å"A mutual attraction and love between a boy and a man is necessary for objective education to materialize† (Plato 206). Apparently, heightened senses of love motivate a young learner to pursue knowledge with the help of his older teacher. However, sexual desires occasionally infiltrates into the boy-man relationship in philosophical education. Plato mentioned that when pure love is transformed into an erotic love, the intended purpose of an educational relationship fails. This is more so when erotic love is homosexual in nature. In this context, it emerged that erotic homosexual desires are not only selfish but also unethical. According to Socrates, erotic heterosexual desires are ethical and natural because they lead to procreation. However, Socrates mentioned that homosexual acts are purely useless

The Brand Positioning Of The Organization Marketing Essay

The Brand Positioning Of The Organization Marketing Essay Brand equity is the intangible asset that the consumer associates with a product. We can determine it through financial impact of the product, brand extensions and consumer attitude. Zara garments were not designed and manufactured to be highly durable or classic clothes that would always be in style. They are described as clothes to be worn ten times and yet they contributed more than 70% of the Inditex group sales. This is a vital statistic considering that Inditex group owns seven other fashion brands. With regards to brand extensions the Zara brand was successfully used to launch Zara Home in 2003. Zara Home was well received and has grown internationally to have a presence in 23 countries and 250 stores (Matassa, 2008). Additionally Zaras strong brand equity can be manifested through its consumers attitude. This is clearly shown by Zaras global average of 17 visits per customer per year compared to the three visits per year received by its competitors. That is an avowal of huge brand loyalty. Brand positioning refers to the targeted consumers preference to buy your brand instead of others. Zara has been able to carve out its own niche through cost leadership as the high-end fashion product at a reasonable price. If we compare Zaras prices to those of its major competitors such as Benetton, Gap and HM it is far cheaper yet as fashionable. Zara has been able to develop a sustainable competitive advantage through its shortened supply chain response that enables it to consistently move a design from conception through to production then into its distribution centers in as little as three weeks. This has largely contributed in setting Zaras service apart from its competitors. In fact, 75% of the merchandise in an average Zara store is changed over duration of three to four weeks. Zara customers are therefore aware that if they spot a garment they like, they have to go and purchase it on the spot because it might not be there on their next visit. Discuss the brand strategy of the organization From Zara we can identify the broad strategies applied to strengthen the brand being as follows: the marketing mix, its people, short lead times and scarce supply. However, that is not to say that the Zara brands success lay solely on the mentioned factors. The organization as a whole has been able to clearly-define its brand values and allowed them to permeate throughout the entire organization. Zara has a distinct ownership for management of the brand right from the top management level. This has meant that critical activities such as sales, operations, customer service, product development and others are made use of in supporting the whole organizations strategic management process (Kotler Armstrong, 2009). The marketing mix is represented by the traditional 4Ps: product, price, place and promotion. With regards to product, the Zara strategy has been to anticipate the latest fashion in apparel and to produce them before other competitors. Secondly, the garments are manufactured to be non-durable so as to prompt the consumer not to store them in their wardrobes but to wear them and to visit Zara shops frequently for replenishment. Thirdly, the company ensures that its stores have a wide variety of products because each store receives new products at least twice per week. Clothes that have low demand are quickly spotted, removed and replaced by new trendier designs such that customers are always spoilt for choice. This product appeal is increased by the lower price that Zara charges in comparison to competing brands such as Gap, Benetton and HM. Zara has been able to use its low cost leadership as a sustainable competitive advantage to strengthen its brand positioning. The company operates using a vertical supply chain which covers all phases of the fashion process from design to manufacture to logistics to distribution and finally to its own retail stores (Matassa, 2008). The price attribute of Zaras products is lowered here by the fact that the company can minimise its inventory costs through use of just-in-time manufacturing. Also, the fact that Zara owns 90% of its retail stores implies that it is able to make the 50-60% gross margins that retailers make. This increases profitability for the brand which helps to sustain the low prices offered. The other component of the marketing mix that Zara uses well within its brand strategy is place. Here we encounter two very key considerations, the location of its stores and the distribution system being utilised. Zara stores are deliberately located on the best-known streets in a selected citys prime retail district. This is to make the brand visible to as many of its targeted market as possible while lowering the need for traditional advertising. According to Schewe and Hiam (1998) place also covers aspects such as market coverage, logistics and distribution and service levels. Zara has a high-tech distribution system with distribution centers centrally located from its manufacturing plants. Different stores are also supplied with different products depending on their requirements and assessed demand. The efficiency of the distribution system is so high that along the entire Zara supply chain it is difficult to find inventory. Products flow quickly, and without stopping, from fact ories to distribution centers to stores, where they are put immediately on the sales floor. This distribution system is heavily reliant on Zaras effective communications and information technology infrastructure. When it comes to the final P of marketing, promotion we witness one of the biggest differences between Zara and its competitors. Zara spends approximately 0.3% of sales on advertising while its competitors spend on average 3 4% of sales on advertising. The company prefers its marketing promotion to be done by word of mouth and from the appeal of its stores. Word of mouth has proved to be more effective for Zara than advertising or using celebrities has been for its competitors. Zara stores are laid out to dazzle. The store racks, the window displays and store layout are designed and tested at the headquarters in La Coruna before being deployed to all stores. This is done every four to five years. To ensure consistency the team from La Coruna is the one that does the redesigning at all company-owned stores. This is meant to attract customers inside the stores, and once in to display the fabrics, colors and designs to the best effect. The company also has a stylish and modern website from where customers can view or download the latest Zara catalogue. Other factors that we had mentioned earlier that Zara utilizes to enhance its brand equity and positioning are its short lead times and scarce supply of apparel. Small and frequent shipments keep product inventories fresh and scarce thus compelling customers to frequent the store in search of whats new and to buy now because next time they come they will not find that item. This is one of the core reasons why globally Zara has an industry high average of 17 visits per customer per year compared to three visits per customer per year for its competitors. The short lead times for products from factory to store sales floor ensure that Zara is able to react quickly to fashion trends. This differs from the method preferred by its competitors. Most fashion brands prefer predicting fashion to reacting to fashion. Reacting to fashion trends is less likely to fail than predicting if one is able to deliver the products while the demand still exists. Zara has perfected this ability as evidenced by its new products failure rate of 1% which is much lower than the industry average of 10%. Finally, Zara empowers its staff and has established a strong brand culture e.g. decision-making is encouraged among its young designers and bad decisions are not severely punished; store managers, product managers and commercials work together to ensure that stores are supplied with the correct products and quantities etc. Seller-customer intimacy is also encouraged so that the store managers are made aware of the customer preferences and tastes which could be used in coming up with new products. Problem The major problem with Zaras brand strategy would be its persistence with a centralized distribution system especially when we consider that the brand is rapidly expanding across the globe. Though the company has an effective distribution system, this foray into new markets in Asia, Latin America and the United States is bound to add complexity and also increase cost if Zara insists on relying on its original hub in Spain. A centralized distribution system will not effectively cope with the rapid expansion and different needs of the new markets. It would probably be more prudent if Zara establishes new production and distribution centers in these far away markets such as the US, Asia and Latin America. Recommendations The first recommendation is as we have stated above, Zara will need to decentralize its distribution system to these new geographical markets. This will not only increase efficiency in delivery but also aid Zara in maintaining its competitive edge of short product lead times from design to manufacturing to retail sales. Secondly the existing distribution centers in Europe are being overwhelmed by the rapid increase of the number of stores being opened. To prevent these distribution centers from becoming bottlenecks, Zara will have to establish more distribution centers to cater for its expanding European market. Thirdly, a foray into the markets in Asia and America would have to be carefully considered because of the huge cultural differences, especially with regards to Asia. Income levels could be going up within Asia but that does not translate necessarily into a market for fashion.

Book Review Of the Burning Man By Phillip Margolin :: essays research papers

Book Review of "The Burning Man" by Phillip Margolin Peter Hale, the son of Richard Hale, a four-year associate at Hale, Greaves, Strobridg, Marquand, and Bartlett, has lived his life under the shadow of his father. Despite having a high five-figure salary and fire-engine-red Porsche, Peter was constantly trying to overcome the expectations of his high- class lawyer of a father, who was former president of the Oregon State Bar. Handling only small-time cases did not present Peter with the opportunity to outshine his father, who was also a second-team All-American football player and National Champion wrestler, but when his father had a heart attack and could no longer handle a million dollar case in which Peter had been helping him, Peter could not let the opportunity pass. As Richard Hale lied helpless in a hospital bed, he demanded Peter ask for a mistrial, but it seemed only to go in one ear of Peter's and out the other. Peter's boldness would be costly though, as he would lose the case and lose his father. Richard did not die, but when he heard of his son's error he could not forgive him and couldn't bare to see him anymore. Only a fatherly instinct would force Richard to find a meager job for his helpless son in a small town with an old friend who was looking for someone trying to regain status as Peter now was. Whitaker was not as exciting as Portland was to Peter, but he began to be accustomed to the town when he began his handling small criminal cases and ran into an old friend who graduated with him from highschool, Steve Mancini. Steve, like Peter's father, was a football star, but at the Division II level for the Whitaker State football team. Hale became close with Mancini and met many other residents of Whitaker through Steve. One being Steve's beautiful and intelligent fiance, Donna Harmon and her slightly retarded brother Gary. Just as things began to become settled for Peter in Whitaker, he ran into some problems with Gary Harmon. Peter had to save him once from the police in a peeping incident and then became Gary's lead attorney, under some influence from Steve Mancini, as Gary was charged with the murder of a local college girl. The night of the murder, Gary had been at a local bar, the Stallion, and had gotten into an argument with a girl whom he had asked to buy a drink for. Despite the assurance of a local drug-dealer friend of Gary's, Kevin Booth and his friend, Christopher Mammon, the college girl had rejected Gary heavily not

Analyze the aims, methods, and degree of success of the Catholic Reformation Essay

In the early 16th century the Protestant Reformation had happened and made the popularity of Catholicism to decline. In response to the Protestant Reformation the Catholic Reformation was issued to reestablish the power and popularity of Catholicism and the Roman Catholic church. The Catholic Reformation created new societies, while fixing problems of the Roman Catholic church. Through the Catholic Reformation The main reasons for the Catholic Reformation was a response to Protestantism and a response to reform the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was riddled with corruption and scandals such as simony(sale of church offices), absenteeism(priests not showing up to services), and the sale of indulgences(paying the church to absolve sins). Many priests were illiterate and some abused their powers for absolution of sins To reform the structure of Catholic church Pope Paul III had established the Council of Trent which consisted of Catholic cardinals who were responsible for handling the reforms of the Catholic Church. The Council of Trent is considered to be one of the Catholic Church’s most important councils. The Council had 25 sessions from 1545-1563 that would address the issues of the Catholic church. The result of these 25 sessions were the validation of all 7 sacraments and the reaffirmation of Monasticism, celibacy of clergy Transubstantiation, and purgatory. Basically The Council of Trent fixed problems of Catholicism. Another result from the Catholic Reformation is the religious order of the Jesuits (Society of Jesus). Founded in 1540 by St. Ignatious Loyala the Jesuits had 3 goals reform the church through education, spread the Gospel to the Pagans, and to fight Protestantism . Jesuit schools were highly regarded as the finest schools for education in Europe. The Jesuits were organized in a military fashion following rules from Loyola’s guidebook Spiritual Exercises. The book would inform Jesuits how to have less attachment of physical items and informed Jesuits on how â€Å"to master the soul to manipulate the body†.

EBook Industry and Latest Trends

EBook Industry and Latest Trends Executive Summary As of late eBooks have become a popular medium for publishers and readers alike due to their affordability, easy accessibility and portability since an eBook reader can carry literally hundreds of literary titles while barely weighing a kilo.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on EBook Industry and Latest Trends specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Due to the easy way by which new players can enter into the EBooks market this presents an opportunity for enterprising individuals to establish their own unique niche in this market so as to provide a much needed and popular service while at the same time garnering a significant profit. One of the latest trends in the eBook industry has been the conversion of school textbooks into eBooks. The reasoning behind this lies with the fact that textbooks for high school and college students alike are ranked as one of the highest primary costs to achieving an educati on. EBook textbooks are far cheaper than their printed counterparts and far more portable as well, it is due to this that this business venture sees a potential niche market that can be created within the Grand Junction Colorado area. While there are numerous eBook textbook providers the fact remains that few of them cater to a specific area. Various high schools and colleges have their own unique textbook requirements which at times are not available even on the largest of EBook providers such as Amazon.com. This business venture will focus on the Grand Junction Colorado market and its neighboring areas in order to create a niche market for eBook textbooks that specifically cater to the lesson plans of the various high schools and colleges in the area. By doing so the venture will not directly compete against the larger eBook providers while at the same time will be able to become the first player in this isolated market. Company Description The company will be called Junction Book s and it will be based in Grand Junction Colorado, the main bulk of the business will primarily be E-commerce based with all sales and transactions being handled by an online E-commerce system with a third party vendor handling payment processing.Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The website will have a function similar to that of iBooks or Amazon.com where customers can search for available titles, register for an account using an automated system and buy items using a sales transaction and processing system. By relying on third party vendors for the companys payment system this reduces the initial startup cost of having to design and incorporate an in-house developed system which might have initial problems in functionality. By using a system already available online for a small fee the company reduces costs which can better serve improving site functionality . EBooks sold on the site are obtained via licensing agreements with publishers wherein a scanned copy of the book, textbook etc is provided in order for it to be converted into a compatible format for various eBook readers (Hadro, 2010). The contract for the sales of the eBooks will be done under a shared profitability agreement rather than a lump sum sales agreement. The reasoning behind this is that some contracts in the eBook industry allow eBook resellers to pay a lump sum payment in order to sell a particular eBook on their website for a predetermined period of time however one potential risk for this type of contract is that the reseller may not be able to sell enough books within the given period in order to gain back the cost of the contract. A shared profitability agreement where the reseller and publisher share in the profits per sale is a better option for a startup. While the profits per sale are lower as compared to lump sum payment contracts it does not incur as much financial risk resulting in an initially low profit margin but a far more stable business platform (At this year’s BEA, 2000). As a result of the recent financial crisis flexibility is a key factor that should be taken into account when starting most business ventures and as such this will be the guiding strategy of this particular venture. In accordance with this, the legal structure of the company will be that of a limited liability company to ensure that options remain open and flexibility continues to remain an integral part of operations. Since the company is an LLC, a specific organizational structure is not really needed and in fact in some states and countries state that an LLC can be established with just a single person being involved in the company.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on EBook Industry and Latest Trends specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For this particular venture I plan to operate it under a structure similar to that of a single proprietorship arrangement however will register the company as an LLC in order to gain the tax advantages that come with LLC registration. Industry Analysis The digitization of information has become a growing trend in the publishing industry as a result of new technological developments that have brought about a new era in the consumption and distribution of information. This development has opened previously monopolized markets and has created new avenues of sales by which enterprising entrepreneurs can reach a potentially global clientele base. The development of EBooks has enabled publishing companies to digitize the content of novels, text books, journals etc, creating a means by which they can be distributed cheaply, instantly and most importantly repeatedly without having to continuously print new material on paper (Amazon, 2000). Digital content has become a growing method of publication with the internet acting as the primary medium by which publishing companies reach out to consumers so as to effectively carry out mass distribution of various published works without having to incur the resulting cost normally associated with printed materials. Methods of sale such as iBook, Amazon.com and eBook.net have become popular destinations for a population hungry for digital content as the normally prohibitive prices associated with various printed works have been greatly reduced as a result of the relatively cost effective means of content distribution that eBooks provide (Readers, 2010). Due to the rising demand for cheap content from eBooks and the fact that publishers are attempting to connect with consumers in a way that is relatively new for them this sales environment presents numerous opportunities for a budding business to thrive in what could potentially be an industry that could replace bookstores such as Barnes Noble, Borders, and PowerBooks (Kenneday, 2010). Recent industry data has shown that vari ous traditional bookstore chains in the U.S. are struggling as a result of direct competition against online sales from both Amazon.com and the EBook publishing industry so much so that major chains such as Borders have filed for bankruptcy as a result of their inability to adapt to this changing business environment.Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As online eBook sales continue to grow companies that wish to take advantage of this potentially massive new industry have to consider that traditional sales and marketing strategies do not work as well through online mediums with the internet presenting itself as a challenging yet potentially profitable business environment (Walden, 2010). It is in this particular environment that I plan to create the business venture Junction Books it will be an online eBook store dedicated to supplying customers with the latest novels and textbooks at low prices available for viewing on the latest portable gadgets or computer systems. Chain bookstores such as Barnes Noble, Borders, and PowerBooks etc have dominated the book market for several decades and it was only within the past seven years or so that any form of true competition came to break their near monopoly. While small bookstores do exist, the fact remains that they often cannot directly compete against the branding, prices, and servic es offered by such retail outlets and as a result usually go out of business should a major bookstore chain appear within their immediate area. As a result of new developments in E-commerce, online retail stores such as Amazon.com have broken this apparent monopoly resulting in a shift away from traditional retail purchases towards online buying habits. The recent bankruptcy of Borders is evidence of this trend and the effect a new business environment has on stores that are ill equipped or negligent to changes that must incorporated into new lines of business. Unfortunately within the past several years it can be seen that online sales of books have started to become dominated by a select group of companies such as Amazon.com due to a unique aspect of the internet where branding, name recognition and ease of access contributes to a higher level of site visits resulting in a greater amount of sales for sites that are able to draw a high number of visitors (Reid, 2004). While other s ites are able to compete to a certain extent the fact remains that added costs such as purchase fees, storage fees, delivery fees and taxes do cut into their profit margins which is not that much of a problem for large companies such as Amazon.com due to their larger financial infrastructure, diversified product portfolio and the fact that they can purchase specific products in bulk thus lowering the total average cost. This state of affairs lasted for a few years till the use of EBooks grew in popularity resulting in another shift in consumer preference which created a rising demand for eBooks. Today eBooks sales have begun to rival and even surpass book sales to the point that an entirely new set of industries and technologies have been created to take advantage of the popularity of eBooks. The Kindle, iPad, and various other similar readers have been touted for their ability to display eBook formats in startling clarity which is one of their biggest selling points. The eBook indu stry, unlike traditional bookstore chains or purchasing normal books online, has greater avenues of entry and fewer chances for monopolies to entrench themselves preventing other players from establishing their own respective niches (Tenopir, 2008). One of the reasons why the eBook industry has greater avenues of entry for potential resellers is the fact that the entire product is digitized and thus problems in relation to storage, delivery, and maintenance do not particularly matter (Microsoft, 2010). An average eBook can be as small as 1 MB or as large as 10mb; with most web servers having terabytes of capacity storing the documents online is a rather simple matter. As such even the smallest of resellers can rival the largest of online companies in terms of sheer variety of content and since a single eBook can be reproduced over and over again with instantaneous delivery, costs can be kept to a minimum and thus add to a greater profit margin for the reseller. While name recognitio n and branding are important aspects in selling, online services such as Google Ads helps to advertise fledgling businesses to potential customers and the sheer amount of controls, flexibility and affordability in using such advertising services helps to further subvert potential monopolies from taking hold. Finally, social networking has proven itself to be a viable tool that large corporations are unable to fully match; networks of friends, acquaintances and merely people that a person adds to their friends list are potential customers that a person can advertise to and spread word of their business through word of mouth. Numerous fledgling E-commerce businesses initially started their promotion campaigns through social networking sites due to the ability of such sites to reach a large amount of individuals within a relatively short period of time. Interestingly enough current trends in eBook purchases are not centered on novels or fiction books but rather are concentrated more on school textbooks ranging from high school all the way to collegiate level books (Fister, 2010) The reasoning behind this is the fact that on average high school and especially college required readings are often the most expensive expenses in higher education with total costs reaching several thousand dollars over the course of a high school or bachelors degree (Gilfilan O’Rourke, 2006). It is due to this that students often try to seek alternative means of acquiring the needed text books. The advantage of eBooks is that they are relatively inexpensive and portable since hundreds could be stored in a single reader and pages that are needed for exercises could be printed using a printer. As such, sites that focus on eBook sales specializing in school books are actually on the rise. The one advantage such sites have over the major companies such as Amazon.com is that eBook sites with offices located in certain areas usually contact the publishers of books that are required by students in their areas. With each college having their own curriculum and unique set of textbook requirements major companies such as Amazon.com are unable to fully provide for all their specific needs since they specialize more on products that appeal more to a general rather than a specific population. While in appearance major internet sites may have a diverse collection of eBooks in reality they usually do not have the specific kinds needed by students in certain areas, if they do it is usually a hard copy with a high price range. It is due to this that new eBook sites have started a trend where they focus primarily on marketing eBook textbooks to students within a specific area located within either the state or province that they are in so as to be able to compete directly and surpass the larger online eBook stores. Target Market The target markets of this business venture are the various high school and college students both within the vicinity of Grand Junction and in othe r school systems and colleges close by. The reason for this is that direct competition against the vast majority of eBook providers out there would not be conducive to short term profit goals. In order to attract potential customers the business would have to conduct a significant online advertising campaign that may or may not actually work. Not only that its own infrastructure might suffer as a result by trying to place as many popular eBooks on the site as need be. Instead of trying to be a general provider of eBooks a more viable option would be to focus on specific niche markets (Rogers, 2006). As mentioned earlier an emerging trend in the eBook market has been to cater to high school or college students in order to provide them with an affordable alternative to purchasing expensive hard copy books. Research into the general areas within or near Grand Junction (near being a rather generous term since several locations are more than just a few miles away) has shown that there ar e at least 67 colleges and just as many if not more high schools that this venture could service. The advantage of having an office near the targeted markets for this particular venture lies with the fact that it would otherwise be very difficult to know what specific books the various schools and colleges require for certain courses. By arranging an interview with the various departments this venture could inform them on how their students could save money by choosing to buy eBooks rather than regular books. As such it would be a simple matter of obtaining their various course syllabi, asking them to inform their students of alternative means of obtaining books and finally talking to the various publishers in order to create the appropriate agreements to convert certain books into eBook format (Colorado, 2011). Usually as is the case with most colleges and high schools, the initial freshmen orientation class could be a good way to inform students about the products of this venture. It would be a simple case of contacting the school, informing them of the advantage eBooks have in terms of affordability and have them distribute a simple brochure during each freshmen orientation class which would contain various details about the site and how students could save money by purchasing eBooks rather than hard copies. Competitive Analysis The one advantage of a niche market business strategy is that it minimizes the likelihood at direct competition from multiple competitors. While there is still some competition it would not have been as bad should the venture have entered the general eBook market. As it was mentioned earlier the one disadvantage most eBook reseller businesses have when selling online is that name recognition is more important there than in traditional methods of retail. An example of this can be seen in any supermarket grocery section, while there are numerous name brands to choose from people still seem to choose relatively unknown brands because t hey can see them and they compare the affordability of the unknown brand with the higher prices associated with the branded one and choose to opt for the cheaper variety. The same cannot be said of the internet where an unknown business cannot hope to attract customers since user searches are greatly influenced by URL name recognition. If a URL is unknown or is not recognized at all it would be difficult for that site to gain customers. Not only that attempting to cater to a global audience with a relatively unknown name would be next to impossible since most people would not trust a site that is not well known. As such while there are relatively few barriers to entry in establishing an online store however there are barriers to operations in light of the requirements needed to be entice people to visit a particular online store. In order to circumvent this result the best way would be to focus on a particular niche market that does not directly encompass the general market for eBoo ks. By focusing on a particular area (Grand Junction Colorado and its surrounding areas) and on a specific customer set (students) this venture would be able to focus on stocking the types of eBooks that would be immediately needed by this specific set of customers (textbooks) rather than having multiple eBooks on nearly every single category but would be useless for students. An examination of various websites reveals that there is no other company online that specifically caters to supplying eBook textbooks to the population set chosen for this venture; as such this presents itself as a potential opportunity to be the first business of this type to establish a foothold in this area. Direct competition comes in the form of the various bookstores and shops that are already well established as suppliers for the textbooks that the students need. The initial problem lies with the fact that not everyone within the Grand Junction area actually possesses a portable eBook reader like an iP ad or Kindle (Norris, 2010). One method of overcoming this would be to ensure that the website offers an eBook reader program that students could install on either their laptop or personal home computer so that they could download the content and print what would be necessary for the next day. Putting this into practice would encourage more students to buy content from the site however this still depends on the amount of people willing to use eBooks. The fact remains that when compared to books eBooks require a medium by which they can be read, books on the other hand can be read as is (Noriss, 2010). While the strength of the business lies with the fact that it is able to supply a product at a far lower rate than any other competitor in the area the fact is its greatest weakness is that the environment itself is uncertain with no sure guarantee that the usage of eBook textbooks will catch on when the amount of people using portable readers is uncertain. Marketing Plan and Sales Str ategy In order to reach the target market 3 specific goals must be met: Students in the indicated areas have to be made aware of the products of the company Partnerships must be developed between the various schools and the business Surveys must be done to compare student budgets with possible prices The start of the marketing plan involves students actually being aware of the eBooks that the company is marketing. In order to do so an internet ad campaign must first be launched using Google Ad words with the criteria specifically targeting users from within the Colorado area. By doing so the company is able to develop a certain degree of online presence in order to draw in students who use the internet to the company website. The second aspect of this strategy involves visiting the various campuses and setting up a small ad campaign via booths located during campus fairs and freshman orientations in order to properly present to the students the cost effectiveness of purchasing eBo oks through the company rather than buying hardcopies (Hadro, 2008). Finally social networking will play a key role in this strategy by using the FaceBook social networking advertisements to specifically target users who are near to Grand Junction or in areas that are nearby. Nearly all students utilize FaceBook in one form or another and as such FaceBook ads can be an effective way in order to reach the desired consumer population that the business is seeking to target. Next on the agenda would be to develop effective partnerships with local schools and colleges in order to create a possible subscription program with the venture (Wicht, 2006). Several colleges and businesses are doing so already by offering students access to various academic text books online through a specific service. What could be done in this particular case is to create an option that would allow students to visit the website and read specific books online through a special online system that would only grant access to people using the schools library computers (Friedman, 2010). Students would be allowed to view and print content but they will not be allowed to download the book and printing would be restricted to a minimum of 15 pages per access. By establishing a relationship with the various schools and colleges the venture would be able to have a lasting business partnership enabling the creation of a reliable stream of income for years to come (Cavanaugh, 2005). Finally in order to determine the proper pricing of eBooks what must be done is to conduct a survey in order to see what books are worth in most bookstores and online shops and compare it to what students are actually willing to pay. By setting prices in some form of middle ground the company would be able to create an effective price plan that would encourage students to purchase eBooks. Operations In the beginning of this report I mentioned that the business will operate similar in scale to that of a sole proprietorship b ut under the designation of an LLC for flexibility and the tax advantages that come with it. This is due to the fact that the initial budget for the business will not be large and as such moderation is needed. The E-commerce website for the business will be developed by a web development company specializing in creating the type of websites that specifically deal with eBooks with the sales and transaction portion of the site outsourced to a third party developer. Overall the business will initially be run by a single individual with temporary staff hired during periods when business starts to pick up such as the beginning of every school year or semester. The sales process will begin by first using the partnerships the business has developed with high schools and colleges in the area to obtain the curriculum list to find out which books the students will require for that particular year. After that come negotiations with the publishers and establishing a joint profit sharing plan fo r each eBook purchased. Once the contract has been set the eBook will be uploaded onto the online E-commerce system where potential customers can download it immediately once they have paid using their debit/credit cards or PayPal account. The entire process is fully automated with a small complaints section where users can send emails just in case something goes wrong with the system. Each order is tagged by a specific order number in order to easily trace orders in case something does go wrong. The fact is a vast majority of online E-commerce websites are so automated that they barely require direct human manipulation in order to properly function as such it would be a great idea to adopt such a concept for this particular business venture so as to minimize the costs involved in hiring employees. Management and Organization Suffice it to say due to this venture being run almost entirely online with most of the processes being fully automated it would not make sense to hire an exte nsive management team. Not only that since this is merely a small startup involving a small location a large team would not be necessary at all. In fact in order to minimize costs fixed term employees with contracts not exceeding six months will be used. This type of practice is actually gaining popularity in numerous U.S. states as a means to lower costs and prevent the costs of regular employee compensation such as health insurance and vacation time. Long Term Development As the popularity of eBooks continue to grow it can be realistically stated that eventually they will come to replace books as the preferred medium by which people choose to reach content from publishers. EBook readers continue to become cheaper and portable gadgets such as the iPad and HP slate usually come with software that enables them read eBooks that theyve obtained online. As this trend continues and mobile readers become cheaper more students will continue to buy them due to the influences of pop culture which greatly affects buying behavior. Within the next three years the customer base of this venture can be predicted to grow at least another 40% as the popularity of mobile readers reaches Grand Junction. Within five years the company will have been able to expand its customer base to encompass nearly 50% of the Colorado school system encompassing both high school and colleges. Within 9 years all the students in school systems and college campuses within Colorado will have downloaded their eBook textbooks from either a Junction Book website or a local affiliate. It can also be assumed that by this time at least 60% of schools and Universities will have subscribed to the partnership program of Junction books in order to allow their students to read various text books from their schools library. Overall this business plan does not take into account the possibility of the regression of popularity of eBooks but rather predicts they will become a standard by which students will be taug ht (Albanese, 2010). Various authors, publishers and teachers have stated that as technology continues to grow so will eBooks grow in popularity. They are cheap, cost effective and above all easily accessed and stored as compared to other forms of printed material. Even the U.S. Library of Congress as well as several other libraries around the world are digitizing the content of their books to create a reliable and permanent method of storage that will not deteriorate or crumble. As such it can be said that within the next five to eight years it can be predicted that more and more bookstores will follow the way of Borders as a result of the preponderance of eBook usage in modern society. Financials For this particular venture cash basis accounting would be better rather than an accrual account method. The reason behind this is that under the joint profit making scheme the publisher gets a certain percentage for every eBook sold, as such, since cash basis accounting is excellent at t racking the actual amount of cash available payments towards the publisher would go rather easily and would not pose a significant problem. As for the initial financial projections, it can be assumed that for the first 5 months of operation it is doubtful that the company will break even with operational expenses associated with running this type of site however over the course of a year with the popularity of the site picking up there should be enough cash inflow to match expenses and eventually meet acceptable profit margins (Albanese, 2007). Total Start up Cost: $21,613 Financial Statements Explained For this particular business venture the startup cost needed would be $21,613, this is based off calculations done on the business proposal balance sheet. This startup cost is divided into two distinct asset types: total current assets and total net fixed assets which when combined total the startup cost needed. The total current assets consist of an initial cash base of $10,000 for variable costs such as employee salaries, utilities, miscellaneous costs etc. Following that is the $5000 set aside for inventory expenses namely the eBooks, while a shared sales profit contract is the basis for this particular venture certain licensing fees still have to paid for the eBooks themselves and this includes the cost of hosting them on external servers hence the fact $5000 has been set aside in order to deal with those subsequent costs. Following this is the estimated cost of website url, using GoDaddy.com as a reference a unique web URL using the.com suffix costs $13 per year as such $13 has to be set aside for that particular cost. The last aspect of the Total current assets section consists of the prepaid expenses for Google Ads, Googles pay per click system functions exactly as it sounds, for every click on this ventures Google Ad a predetermined amount will be deducted from the prepaid expense. $500 dollars has been estimated as sufficient for an initial 2011 trial run within the Colorado area. The reason why such a small amount is being is used is due to the fact that sufficient research still has to be done as to which particular key word combination would bring the most customers to the site who will actually purchase an eBook and how much should the pay per click rate be set. Under Fixed Assets the first section is the long term investments section which consists of $2000 being placed for website development. After doing some initial research regarding web site creation costs it was discovered that E-commerce websites require greater degrees of securities and certifications as compared to ordinary sites such as SSL certificates and preventive measures against hacking. As such the combined costs of services, SSL certificates and various other amenities comes to roughly $2000 for the entire year. After that comes an estimate for the rent for an initially tiny office, due to the recent financial crisis the price of renting small offices has a ctually gone down and as such $3000 has been set aside as an initial cost to be applied for one years rent of a very small office. As for costs associated with computers, printers, faxes, photocopies and various other gadgets $900 is enough to purchase 2nd hand or even 3rd hand office equipment which should fill the necessary requirements needed. Finally $200 has been set aside in order to purchase a used desk and various other used furnishings. The reason why this venture is picking used items is due to the fact that they are far more economical as compared to purchasing items that are brand new. When combining all necessary assets the combined amount is $21,613 which is the estimated start up cost. Liabilities Cost The initial liabilities cost of the business is the necessary webhosting for the site. After checking GoDaddy.com a total cost of $600 dollars per year has been seen as more than adequate for the hosting needs of the business due to the vast amount of bandwidth and memo ry given for the price. An estimated cost of $1,000 per year has been determined for the price of electricity, water, and a DSL internet connection, this is of course subject to change since the cost of electricity may go up. The next liability for the business is the estimated taxation per year, this has been taken from the income statement balance sheet as a result of the perceived profits from the initial year of operation, this is also subject to change since various tax deductibles have not been included in this calculation. Finally $500 has been added as potential miscellaneous cost (flyers, posters etc.) just in case the company might require various materials in the future. Another section under liabilities is the long term liabilities section which consists of paying for contract workers which has been estimated at $2000 per year and $443 for miscellaneous long term expenses (prepaid cell phone bills etc). On average the total liabilities equity consists comes to $8,543 whi ch is well within the $10,000 variable cost for operations fund, of course this is subject to potential change in the future as unknown variables may occur. Income statement This income statement shows the possible income of the company over the next four year period. The initial gross sales of $40,000 in one year come from estimates involving the initial $5,000 inventory cost from the balance sheet. This income statement estimates that for the initial cost of $5,000 for the licensing fees it is possible to get enough eBooks to fulfill the curriculum requirements of at least a quarter of the 675 learning institutions near Grand Junction. For those 168 institutions if the company is able to get at least 300 students to purchase EBook textbooks within the year it will have been able to meet the gross sales goal of $40,000. This is estimating that at least two or three students per school will buy one eBook. Since each school has hundreds of students the possibility of getting the requ ired number of purchases is quite high. For the succeeding years of 2012, 2013, and 2014 this takes into account and increasing number of students purchasing eBook text books which of course results in higher gross sales. In the report it was mentioned that the book publisher will get at the very least 40% of the total sales profit per eBook sold. As such 10,000 has been set aside for the profit sharing cost. This results in a net sales profit of $30,000. The cost of sales must be taken into account, in the balance sheet it was indicated that $5,000 was set aside for the licensing fee for the eBooks; this is taken as the cost of sale and deducted from the $30,000 made resulting in a gross profit of $25,000. After this comes the operating expenses for the year which consists of employee salaries, commissions from other websites and Google ads advertising costs. The remaining expenses consist of the remaining salary for the next six month period (all employees are contracted for only 6 months), pay roll taxes, the rent, utilities expense and equipment cost. This results in a grand total of $10,180 for all operational expenses. This amount is deducted from the $25,000 gross profit earned resulting in a net income of $14,820. Understanding the increases in profits and expenses for the succeeding years is rather simple, this report mentioned that it estimates that operations will continue to expand 30 to 40 percent by each year as such the amount of gross sales and various operational costs also increase by 30 to 40 percent. References Albanese, A. (2010). Google Shakes Up the E-Book Market. Publishers Weekly, 257(49), 4-5. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Albanese, A. (2007). EBooks Face Triple Threat. Library Journal, 132(12), 23-24. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Amazon.com Chief Says EBooks Will Be BigBut Not For 10-To-20 Years. (2000).  Book Publishing Report, 25(24), 4. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. At This Years BEA, The E Will Stand For EBooks And E-Commerce. (2000). Boo k  Publishing Report, 25(19), 6. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Cavanaugh, T. (2005). EBooks: Expanding the School Library. Library Media  Connection, 23(5), 56-59. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Colorado Consortium Adds Free EBooks to Catalogs. (2011). Library Journal, 136(2), 16. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Fister, B. (2010). EBooks and the Retailization of Research. Library Journal, 135(13), 24-25. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Friedman, S. (2010). Twitter, EBooks Reign at Computers in Libraries. Library Journal, 135(9), 20. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Gillfillan, N., ORourke, P. (2006). EBooks on a Shoestring. Library Journal, 13136. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Griffey, J. (2010). EBook Sanity. Library Journal, 135(13), 25-26. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Hadro, J. (2010). How to get Library eBooks on the iPad/iPhone, no Sync Required.  Library Journal, 135(20), 20. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Hadro, J. (2008). Serials Solutions Adds EBooks. Library Journal, 133(12), 22. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Kennedy, S. (2010). Internet Waves. EBooks by the Numbers. Information Today, 27(9), 15. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Microsoft pushes eBooks. (2003). Bookseller, (5085), 7. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Norris, M. (2010). ARE CONSUMERS AS EXCITED AS PUBLISHERS AND ONLINE RETAILERS?. ForeWord, 13(4), 13. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Readers Are Devouring Apple Book Apps. (2010). BusinessWeek.com, 1. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Reid, C. (2004). Entrepreneur Launches Diesel eBooks. Publishers Weekly, 251(45), 14. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Rogers, M. (2006). EBooks Struggling To Find a Niche. Library Journal, 131(11), 25-26. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Tenopir, C. (2008, February). EBooks Arrive. Library Journal. p. 25. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Walden, G. R. (2010). Will eBooks kill the PL?. Library Journal, 135(6), 10. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Wicht, H. (2006). Buying EBooks. Library Journal, 13115-17. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Curium Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements

Curium Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements Periodic Table of the Elements Curium  Basic Facts Atomic Number: 96 Symbol: Cm Atomic Weight: 247.0703 Discovery: G.T.Seaborg, R.A.James, A.Ghiorso, 1944 (United States) Electron Configuration: [Rn] 5f7 6d1 7s2 Curium Physical Data Atomic Weight: 247.0703 Element Classification: Radioactive Rare Earth Element (Actinide Series) Name Origin: Named in honor of Pierre and Marie Curie. Density (g/cc): 13.51 Melting Point (K): 1340 Appearance: silvery, malleable, synthetic radioactive metal Atomic Radius (pm): 299 Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 18.28 Pauling Negativity Number: 1.3 First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): (580) Oxidation States: 4, 3 References: Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001), Crescent Chemical Company (2001), Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952), CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (18th Ed.) Return to the Periodic Table Chemistry Encyclopedia

Introduction to Marketing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Introduction to Marketing Assignment - Essay Example Such companies usually thrived on advertisement revenue of third parties due to internet user visits rather than selling music. Most of these companies sold music without any copyrights from the authentic Electric and Musical Industries Ltd. The phenomenon of illegal downloading spread like wildfire due to ease of access and zero cost. This resulted in huge losses for the music industry. The industry had to act quickly as sales at retail CD/DVD shops plunged at an unprecedented speed. It could either fight against the latest technology, or adapt to it. The initial response was of resentment. Representatives of the music industry stormed to fight against this latest innovation which, according to them, threatened the very existence of wholesale and retail CD/DVD shops and stores. However, they soon realized that the internet served as a huge opportunity for private owners to reach a much wider audience if they channelize it properly. Consequently, attempts were made by the music indus try to offer all the music tracks through internet by creating legal websites in order to make sure that the consumers could access them anytime from anywhere and avoid the dilution of the music industry resulting from illegal downloads. Online albums of renowned artists were made available through legal websites. The availability of music online via legal means proved to be the saviour for the music industry which had suffered considerably as a result of piracy. Hindrances: Despite this bold step, the music industry failed to gain expertise on how to utilize full potential of the internet as a result of technical difficulties. Formats of music files varied and website owners who had supplementary products provided a format of music only compatible with such supplementary product, e.g. the Apple iTunes store provided music formats that were only compatible with the iPHONE. Songs of other file formats were needed for other music players resulting in significant inconvenience. The Way forward for EMI: 1) Availability, Security and Adaptability:- EMI must overcome the issue of incompatibility if it is to prosper in the online music sales business. The instinctive suggestion is to ensure availability of music in all formats; however, with significant patent laws and legal intricacies in place, it is important for EMI to measure each step when moving forward. The first step is to ensure an online facility that has a fully functional payment system, a method to keep a count of sales, consistent checks on potential violation of patent laws across the internet, and availability of technical personnel to ensure proper functioning of the system and availability of songs in all formats. Such technical people may include college graduates or free lance workers who have the expertise to toy with file formats and convert a specific file into a highly compatible and generic form. 2) Marketing and Promotional Mix: - The internet shall be the main medium to market EMI’s online facility due to convenience and a lower cost. Several specific modes such as social networking websites and viral marketing is extremely essential to attract customers who are hooked to pirated songs. EMI shall also take steps to move towards a gradual transformation towards the internet in terms of remitting official patented songs along with DVD/CD stores. This step is extremely important as the entire functioning of the music industry hinges upon it. Steps shall also be taken in collaboration with representatives of the music

Professional Music Reviews Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Professional Music Reviews - Essay Example Music is categorized on the basis of its musical compositions which tell the audience if it is a country music or pop, jazz or rock, classic or reggae. The second common element between all the music reviews is the â€Å"basic introduction† of the music album that is under review. Basic introduction gives the audiences an idea about the singer or the band, their popularity ratio and the number of hit tracks produced by them. Music reviews as published in Kansas City and Metacritic discuss the music albums track by track and according to the musical composition. Every single track in the album is reviewed by the critics in depth. From lyrics to musical composition of all the songs are discussed step by step. Comparison of under reviewed music with other contemporary singers or bands is another essential element of these music reviews. Strong content, information on music and poetic terms play an important role in writing a professional music review. It is important to understand the value of a professional music review which not only gives the audiences complete information on a specific piece of music but, also creates interest in their minds. Thriller is a masterpiece album composed and launched by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Thriller is another pop album produced by the King of Pop which will always be remembered for years. Michael Jackson proved his excellent command over pop music and beautiful compositions that helped him turned into a music legend. In short we can say that, Thriller is one of the best albums which gave a sudden boost to MJ’s musical career. As soon as Thriller was released, this magnificent album broke all the records of popularity and stayed on musical charts for about 80 weeks (Erlewine). Thriller has proved itself as one of the â€Å"most in-demand musical album† all round the world. Thriller holds different