Case blue nile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case blue nile - Essay Example SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis deals with examining the internal and external factors impacting the actions and performance of the organization. While strengths and weaknesses can be identified by scrutinizing the internal factors, opportunities and threats are revealed by investigating the various macro environmental aspects like political, social, economic, legal and environmental forces. The biggest strength of Blue Nile is its ability to keep its costs under control. The company has a vast array of products in its repertoire and thus provides its customers a wide choice. It has an economical supply chain, a lean hierarchy and does not give any mark up to the wholesalers and retailers. All these aspects help Blue Nile to keep its operating costs low. The online retailer boasts of exceptional customer service. Blue Nile provides grading reports on its website that enables customers to purchase just the ‘right kind’ of jewelry. Every diamond marketed by Blue Nile is graded either by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) or by the American Gem Society Laboratories (AGSL). Blue Nile also maintains favorable relations with its suppliers. The company has managed to ink pacts with numerous suppliers and therefore is not dependent on one particular supplier for the purchase of diamonds. Blue Nile offers its customers more than 60, 000 diamonds and hundreds of settings. However, the company derives majority of its revenue from the sale of engagement rings. The company has not been able to chalk out a strategy to increase the percentage of consumers to buy jewelry items online. Another weakness is that the company’s net profit margin at 4.2 percent is very low especially when compared to the net profit margin of 9.8 percent at Tiffany. Blue Nile provides ‘trust, guidance and value’ to its customers. These features are now being provided by its competitors as well. If

Building construction for the fire service Research Paper

Building construction for the fire service - Research Paper Example Some of the concerns raised by the people directly charged with the management of the fires included the charge that priorities of costs over safety and suitability increased the level of vulnerability of risk. Such approaches also lowered the level of efficiencies in interventions in cases of fire accidents. Building code language remains a key challenge that affects the development of the most appropriate strategies of combating fires and other kinds of strategies designed to counter the challenges of safety (Karter, 2001). This problem arises out of the challenge that many of the professionals involved in the strategies lack a common platform on which they can articulate their levels of expertise in reference to particular technical aspects of building code language. Recent developments in the industry have seen bold attempts across the various relevant departments to build the most appropriate strategies for harmonizing the operations within the system. The design and structure of buildings remains a significant contributing factor to the level of challenges encountered by fire fighters. For instance, construction analysts blame the weaknesses in the support beams in the Twin Towers as one of the factors that contributed to the extensive scale of damage that was witnessed after the terrorist attack. Besides the inclusion of special features for limiting the spread of fires, there have been suggestions to include special bridges between skyscrapers in order to provide increased room for evacuation in the event of the outbreak of fires. Suggestions continue to emerge including the suitable size of buildings with some analysts arguing the case for the reduction and the strengthening of beams in order to absorb the shock of accidents, impacts, or explosions. The course of development of the building code and standards has featured

ASSESSMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ASSESSMENT - Essay Example There are, for instance, societies that practice circumcision of males as a way of graduating them into adulthood. On the other hand, there are communities that do not have that kind of practice. When these two categories of people belong in the same team at the workplace and there happens to be acrimony between them, the circumcised person would most likely use unwelcome words on the uncircumcised one to suggest that they are not man enough because they are not circumcised. Cultural clashes can be real horrible experiences at the workplace (Parker, 2013). Supervisors at work have over the years abused the employees working under them only because the employees do not subscribe to their way of thinking. One thing that leads to differences in thinking are the cultural indoctrinations where one believes that everybody else should believe in the things that they believe in (Parker, 2014). A supervisor will tend to frustrate workers that view things differently. They could end up recommending them for sack or demotion and give vague reasons for that while deep inside, they know that the hate they have for such individuals emanates from differences in culture and, in some cases, religion. Those are very common scenarios. Managers of cross-cultural teams always have a lot to do in terms of creating cohesion among employees drawn from sundry cultural backgrounds. The most important thing for such managers is to try as much as they can to inculcate workplace values and ethics that will ensure that cultural diversity is not a source of conflic t and disrespect. Ethno-cultural conflict within the international classroom is a topic that requires a lot of research. There is bound to be fierce conflicts in a class containing people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Teachers and school heads have the duty to ensure that such conflicts do not hamper the learning process and try as much as

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 18

History - Essay Example The ideologies of the movement would not have gained impetus if the print media had not yet flourished, which promoted a renewed interest in the discovery of knowledge especially among the elites. One of the founding centers of the Enlightenment was France. Voltaire (1694–1778) was a French radical thinker who epitomized the Enlightenment ideals of freedom of speech and rational thought over blind faith in religion. Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755) was another Enlightenment figure who revolutionized political discourse. He praised the republic as the best form of government and paved way for the division of the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. Diderot was the architect of the Encyclopedia which was published over a period of twenty one years (1751–1772). Though the Enlightenment ideals originated in France it spread to different parts of Europe and the world. Each country saw the emergence of a bunch of radical thinkers in various fields. In England it was epitomized by Isaac Newton. John Locke, Adam Smith, David Hume were the other exponents of the Enlightenment in England. In America the writings of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin created waves. It encouraged a widespread thirst for knowledge among the elites and the cultivation of scientific rationalism. Many of these philosophes set the mood for a tremendous intellectual and cultural revolution which left no stone in the society unturned. In the essay let us look at the political, economic, and scientific ripples created by the Enlightenment across the world. Many leaders of the American Revolution like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine were greatly influenced by the English and French Enlightenment thought, especially John Locke’s idea of liberalism. The Enlightenment clearly defied the absolutism of monarchy and upheld democracy. The common man was tired of being suppressed under the absolutist monarchs and they were influenced by the teachings

Strategic Decision Making Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Decision Making - Assignment Example age in innovation process which covers the period from the idea generation or opportunity search to the approval of firm for its development or termination (Postma, Broekhuizen, and Bosh, 2012: 643). The activities of the front-end phase case can include the following: idea generation, product strategy formulation, early executive reviews, project planning, etc. The front-end phase is also recognized to be the most important and more difficult to manage compared to the other two phases of NPD as it has higher uncertainty level. The quality of management front-end phase is highly correlated with the final outcome of the project (success or failure). Some of the potential problems with which firms face during the front-end phase include two categories: management of ideas and management of attention (Postma, Broekhuizen, and Bosh, 2012: 643). Management of ideas is an important process as it involves the way the ideas are generated, shared, communicated, and viewed by different stakeho lders. Uncertainty about outcomes, shortage of adequate ideas, and short-term problem orientation are some of the possible pitfalls the firms face during front-end NPD phase. Management of attention is another significant aspect during the initial stages of the NPD process as human factor and limited human capacity to maintain attention can serve as a limiting factor in idea generation process. Limitations of organizations and group is another type of management attention issues and refers to the problem of group thinking, and organizational structures and systems undermining creativity and innovation (Postma, Broekhuizen, and Bosh, 2012). Postma, Broekhuizen, and Bosh (2012) tried to address the above mentioned issues and problems and to make the front-end phase more effective and productive by offering a scenario analysis method as a creativity and innovation enhancing tool. Scenario analysis is a tool which enables management and other team members to define various uncertainties

Martin Johnson Heade Essay Example for Free

Martin Johnson Heade Essay Martin Johnson Heade (originally Heed), the eldest son in a large family of Joseph Howell Heed was born on 11th August, 1819 in Lumberville, a small rural location near Doylestown in Bucks country of Pennsylvania (Hollis Taggart Galleries, Para. 1). His father owned a farm and a lumber mill. His life is said to have been influenced by the two cousins, Thomas Hicks and Edward Hicks who probably taught him his first art lessons locally. His passion for art grew considerably in the 1840s, and it is around this time that he took a study tour to England and stayed in Rome Italy for two years. By the year 1843, he was residing in New York and later moved to Brooklyn, where he changed his name to Heade, and later on moved to Philadelphia (Hollis Taggart Galleries, Para. 2). In 1848, he took his second academic European tour to return later in 1850. The second trip did not leave him settled either, as he continued to travel while settling down briefly in the towns of St. Louis, New Haven and Providence. It was in this decade that he deeply studied and explored the effects of light on the environment, a subject that was equally dear to American Luminists Sanford Gifford, John Kensett C as well as Fitz Lane Hugh. Consequently he fully got into landscape painting (Hollis Taggart Galleries, Para. 2). In 1859, he rented a studio in the famous tenth street studio building in New York and became a full time painter (Lurie and Mappen, Pp. 355. ) It is in relation to this that he is remembered for his flora, fauna and landscape paintings that do not only have a rich effect of color and light but could also portray some poetic sentiments. Its while operating from the same studio that he met Fredric Edwin Church from the Hudson River school who was later to become his close friend and associate. This period is seen as the turning point in his life as it signaled the onset of his unique lifestyle and a lasting interest in landscape and paintings. In 1863, he interpreted the chaste Latin American coastal landscape in a unique manner and later toured Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in the same year (Hollis Taggart Galleries Para 3). The goal of the tour was to illustrate a complete different version of South American Hummingbirds. He was so enthusiastic about the Hummingbirds that he hoped to prepare an outstanding and an elegant album about these creatures in Britain. Though he hoped to have this album published in Britain, it was never to happen. Hummingbirds however continued to be a dear subject to him as evidenced by the paintings that he did in the rest of life. He continued making trips to the Latin America notably in Nicaragua, Colombia, Jamaica and Panama. In the course of those visits, he studied the local flora and fauna, painting both large and small landscapes of hummingbirds and orchids, works that saw him get recognition at the gallery exhibition in New York and Boston. At the age of sixty four in 1883, Heade got married and moved to St Augustine in Florida. This is where he was to spend the rest of his life while he continued to exhibit his paintings in northern towns such as Boston and Springfield Massachusetts. He was almost forgotten in the New York City but was later rediscovered during the revival of the Hudson River painting school and has from then on been accorded the respect and major status that he commanded out of his outstanding work. In Florida, an oil tycoon and hotel magnate Henry Morris Flagger invited Heade to set up another studio, which was to be last studio, in a building behind Ponce De Leon, a hotel that was owed by Flagger in St Augustine. In his two decades stay at St Augustine prior to his death on September 4 1904, he continued to paint while fascinated by the flora and fauna located in Florida. His works were mainly Cherokee roses, orchids and magnolias (Hollis Taggart Galleries, Para. 4). The works could often depicted the same flower over and over again but in different blooming states thus bringing out the hidden beauty of the environment that is not obvious to many. During his stay in St Augustine Florida and prior to his death, Heade made more than one hundred and fifty pieces of work . Most of this work focused on the exuberant nature and landscape, flowers, sceneries and fruits of the American south , topics that were dear to him also. It is against this background that he is remembered, having not only taken a lot if interest in a rare subject but also having pursued it with vigor, passion and up to the old age. He did what he liked most and did it best. The outstanding feature of any artistic work done by Heade is their capture of their botanic and scientific accuracy. They note every line on the leaf, every mark on the facet, fruit or blossom. The figures below are example of the artistic work done by the 19th century artist and depict the mystery surrounding him and his interest in the natural world. Though the work was done more than a century ago, the beauty and elegance has surpassed the passage time. Fig. 1 Source: http://www. martin-johnson-heade. org/ Although little is documented in writing about Martin Johnson Heade as he left no identifiable body of writing, his contribution to the field of art and painting is immense. Such is evidenced by the Martin Johnson Heade, a function organized and premiering at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boson from the 29th day of September 1999 through the 17th of January 2000 which shed light on Martin Johnson Heade as one of the most original and all time artists in the history of mankind (Traditional Fine Art Online Inc, Para. 1). MFA owns an outstanding collection of work done by Heade including about 30 paintings, numerous drawings and other materials such as sketches and sketch books that he used. Although he was practically unknown during his own days, Heade is today also recognized in America as a great romantic painter and uniquely as a master landscape painter as far as floral still life is concerned. With a career that spanned over seventy years, a lot went to his name’s credit as noted during the function organized by MFA, having produced a varied body of work more than any other American artist of the 19th century. Martin Johnson Heade is sure to give new insights into the work of one of the most intriguing of American artists, whose paintings have a strange and almost surreal intensity. Heade was one of Americas most productive and inventive artists, and his work reflects a wide range of talent and creativity. The exemplary work captures such a variety of moods, from his atmospheric effects, the glory of light, the sumptuous warmth of his orchids and tropical scenes, and the inexplicable sensuality of so many of his works in every genre. I hope recognition of his genius grows as more and more people are introduced to these superb paintings (Traditional Fine Art Online Inc, Para. 6). During the popular Mesueum of Fine Arts event, Heade’s favourite hummingbirds painting was revisited. It was recounted that even if he never managed to secure the two hundred subscriptions needed to print his expensive book, which was never printed anyway, he produced four hummingbird chromolithographs for the book and could at the time be viewed in Boston as well as the sixteen paintings that were intended for the gems of Brazil from the Manoogian collection (Traditional Fine Art Online Inc, Para. 7). Earlier on in 1955, a historian and the then director of Macbeth gallery Robert Mclntyre had donated some work done by Heade to the Archives of American Art. Such included his sketch book, notebooks as well as letters and correspondeces between him and his close friend and associate Fredric Edwin Church between the year 1866 and 1899. In addition, they included a detailed notebook about hummingbirds that is handwritten as well as a circa dated in the range between 1853 to 1877. The scattred papers measure 0. 3 linear feet and date between 1853 and 1904. In the year 2007, the above were completely digitized to enhance archiving and are now avilable online as the Martin Johnson Heade Papers Online. They had first received a preliminary level of processing immediately after donation before being microfilmed in the same order that they were donated. The notebook and the sketchbook being the first ones to have been donated were therefore proffesionally conserved in the year 2004. Another area that is seen to have captured Heade’s passion is still lifes of southern flowers especially the magnolia blossoms laid on velevet. This was an advancement of an interest that he had since the 1860’s. In his earlier work in this genre, he had done flowers keenly arranged in an ormate flower vase and placed either on small or a large table, but covered with a mere cloth as opposed to velvet. At the time, he was the first and the only american artist who could create such an extensive body of work either in still lifes or in landscape and environment. In 2004, Heade was again recognized and honored with an outstanding stamp from the United States Postal Servive featuring a piece of his 1890 oil-on-canvas painting otherwise called Giant magnolias on a blue Velvet cloth. There were few artists who emulated head in the 20th century owing to the fact that he was unpopular at the time. However his work and art has been duplicated and forged by many especially in the 20th and 21st century. Such is attributed to the way his work has continued to turn up in garage sales as well as other unlikely places as opposed to works by other artists such as his friend Fredric Edward Church or ohn Kensett.. The popularity of his work can be attributed to the way he related with middle class buyers, his outstanding passion and effort put in as depicted in his various trips and his willigness to distribute his work all the country. Though unknown to him even at the end of his life, Martin johnson Heade was one of the most outstanding artist that ever existed on the face of earth. His passion in what was then an unpopular venture tells it all. His keen interpretation and approach towards the light and the environmet at large, his representation of the same on his paintings as well as his vigor and dedication to distribute his work, all leave no doubt that he did what he loved and in return loved what he did. His work does not only reveal what is unobvious to many but also unearths what is sincerely unknown and his spirit therefore continues to live moreso through his elegant work. Martin Johnson Heade is no doubt a legend whose life deserves recognition by and over generations while his work continues to demand respect over centuries. Works Cited: Hollis Taggart Galleries. Hollis Taggart Gallaries. 2007. 26 May 2010 http://www. hollistaggart. com/artists/biography/martin_johnson_heade/. Mappen, Marc and Maxine N Lurie. Encyclopedia of New Jersey. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2004. Traditional Fine Art Online Inc. Meseum of Fine Arts Boston. 29 September 1999. www. mfa. org. 26 May 2010 http://www. tfaoi. com/newsm1/n1m630. htm.

Plato and Crito Essay Example for Free

Plato and Crito Essay In Plato’s Crito, Crito attempts to persuade Socrates to flee from his death sentence. However, Crito fails because Socrates presents a counter argument which invalidates much of Crito’s original pleas. Despite this, a fallacy of justice may have been created. Even so, the Republic’s conception of justice seems to have little impact on Socrates’ existing ideas on justice. The first argument presented is the fact that the majority will look down upon Crito and others for not preventing Socrates death; they will find it to be a â€Å"shameful thing both for you and for us† because it seems â€Å"that [Crito] let the opportunity slip because of some vice, such as cowardice† (46a). Another reason which he presents to Socrates is that Crito and the others are â€Å"justified in running the risk† of â€Å"further penalty† for helping him to flee from execution† (44e). While Socrates says that he fears for them, Crito goes on to elaborate that even the sum of money to help him escape is overall â€Å"not large† (45a). He expounds further that people are willing to support him wherever he might go (45c). Next, Crito goes on to mention Socrates two sons; Crito feels that by being executed when there is a possibility to escape, he is â€Å"betraying those sons† (45c), that â€Å"one ought to see their upbringing and education through to the end† (45d). Overall, Crito feels that Socrates would be â€Å"throwing away [his] life†, which would ultimately set him in his enemies own wishes instead of his own (45c). Socrates starts his counter arguments by stating that he cannot just start rejecting the arguments that he had stated before just because of his current, unfortunate situation (46b). Because of this, he begins an examination of the arguments presented by Crito. Socrates states that the majority’s opinion is not what matters because it is not well informed, but rather it is the opinion of â€Å"the person who understands just and unjust things† (48a) that is the most valid opinion to follow. To conclude this section of his argument, Socrates proposes that â€Å"the most important thing isn’t living, but living well†, which he says is the same as living justly (48b). So, by this logic, the concerns that Crito had should be determined just or unjust for Socrates to escape when he had not been acquitted. Socrates reasons that â€Å"doing injustice in any circumstances is bad† and therefore â€Å"one should never do injustice† (49b), â€Å"no matter what one has suffered at [injustice’s] hands† (49c). He further explains through his use of the Laws that violating the contract of the city (his â€Å"deeds† within it [52d]) is only going to undermine the laws in such a way that he would indeed be held to his original charges of corruption (53c). He concludes his argument by stating that in the afterlife, Socrates will have â€Å"all this to offer as [his] defense to the authorities there† (54b). Overall, these arguments that Socrates puts forth are generally sound. However, one overarching theme that could be debated is the conception of being just by submitting to the laws. In many ways, it could be said that Martin Luther King Jr. by resisting the unjust established laws he was himself being unjust and would ultimately end up leading to a worse society. It seems obvious, however, that his actions made a positive difference to the world. Perhaps if Socrates resisted, he could have changed the unjust laws to make them just in such a way the city more just. Crito may have been right when he said that Socrates was giving in – his full potential would ultimately never be realized. If one was to attempt to define the justness of Socrates actions here by using Plato’s Republic, then it may seem that there may be a series of different arguments for justice. However, it is my own conclusion that none of the arguments for the definition of justice in the Republic would really influence Socrates in the slightest. After all, Socrates has already said he would not reject any previous arguments, all of which made in Crito are to be considered previous arguments, so it could be inferred that Plato, as the writer of the Crito, used his ideas of justice as the foundation for the dialog and eventually the Republic. Even the case of supplementary information, justice is explained in part in the Republic as â€Å"doing one’s own work† (433b). Socrates indeed did his own work and was just, but this does not address justice in an unjust city where one’s own work might be considered to be unjust. Further, the three virtues of the soul, moderation, courageousness, and wisdom (435b), were also fulfilled to some extent. Even more, by the classes of the people in the city (435c-441c), it could be said that Socrates followed his class assignment in the just city, but this is not a correlation to Athens, a city with a different class structure. Largely, the expanded view of justice is just more refinement of the original view of justice presented all throughout Plato’s dialogs. Expanded or not, the base remains the same and so it follows that Socrates’ arguments against Crito are relatively the same, even in light of the Republic. All said, Socrates arguments in response to Crito seem to be mostly plausible. Despite the world losing a skillful philosopher, at least the laws and justice of the city were upheld and Socrates therefore lived a just life, regardless of his sentence.