Ethics and Moral Reasoning free essay sample

Environmental ethics: is known as the discipline in philosophy that focuses on studying the moral relationship of human beings and our status of value with the environment and its nonhuman contents. Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the non-human world. It exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental sociology, eco-theology, ecological economics, ecology and environmental geography. What you will be learning in the following chapters. †¢(1) Introduction: The Early Development of Environmental Ethics †¢(2) The Challenge of Environmental Ethics -Animals -Organisms -Species †¢(3) Wilderness, the Built Environment, Poverty and Politics †¢(4) Feminism and the Environment (1) Introduction: The Early Development of Environmental Ethics: If putting out natural non man made fires, culling animals and or killing off some individual members of overpopulated indigenous species was necessary for the protection and the integrity of a certain ecosystem. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics and Moral Reasoning or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Would these actions be legal morally permissible or even required? Is it morally acceptable for farmers in non-industrial countries to practice â€Å"slash and burn† techniques to clear areas for agriculture? Beginning in the early 1960s, the questioning and rethinking of the relationship of human beings with the natural environment reflected an already widespread perception in that the late twentieth century faced a â€Å"population time bomb† and a serious series of environmental crisis. Historian Lynn White Jr, wrote an article called â€Å"The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis†, on a much-cited essay published in 1967 on the historical roots of the environmental crisis argues that the main strands of Judeo-Christian thinking had encouraged the overexploitation of nature by maintaining the superiority of humans over all other forms of life on earth, and by depicting all of nature as created for the use of humans. Whites thesis is widely discussed in theology, history, and has been subject to some sociological testing as well as being regularly discussed by philosophers. According to White, the Christian idea that was thought to be that all humans are created in the image of God, who is radically separate from nature, also by extension radically, separates humans themselves from nature. (2) The Challenge of Environmental Ethics: the call for a â€Å"basic change of values† in connection to the environment reflected a need for the development of environmental ethics as a new sub-discipline of philosophy. This meant (a call that could be interpreted in terms of either instrumental or intrinsic values). It has always been said that humans have been the number one cause of pollution and the destruction of earth. We as humans have consumed a huge portion of the planets resources. Is this correct human behavior? Maybe we as humans have grown into an uncontrollable population. This is a question being investigated by environmental ethics. †¢Animals- Whatever matters to animals, matters morally. These nonhumans do not share with humans the capacity to reason or talk, but they do share the capacity to suffer, and human ethics can be extended to our animal cousins. There are ample scientific grounds that animals enjoy pleasures and suffer pains; and ethically no grounds to value these in humans and not in animals. Yet, to treat wild animals with the compassion learned in culture does not appreciate their wildness. Compassionate respect for life in its suffering is only part of the analysis. Sometimes in an environmental ethic we need to follow nature, and not so much to treat animals humanely. Part of the ethic may also involve treating them naturally. If only human beings have moral standing, then it follows that if I come across a bear while out camping and shoot it dead on a whim, I do no wrong to that bear. Of course, an anthropocentric ethic might claim that I do some wrong by shooting the bear dead – perhaps shooting bears is not the action of a virtuous individual, or perhaps I am depleting a source of beauty for most other humans but because anthropocentrism states that only humans have moral standing, then I can do no wrong to the bear itself. However, many of us have the intuition that this claim is wrong. Many of us feel that it is possible to do wrong to animals, whether that be by shooting innocent bears or by torturing cats. Of  course, a feeling or intuition does not get us very far in proving that animals have moral standing †¢Organisms- An organism is a spontaneous, self-maintaining system, sustaining and reproducing itself. In this sense, its genome is a set of conservation molecules, a normative set; it distin ­guishes between what is and what ought to be. The organism is not a moral system, but the organism is an axiological, evaluative system. So the oak grows, reproduces, repairs its wounds, and resists death. Value is present in this achievement. Every organism has a good-of-its-kind; it defends its own kind as a good kind. There seems no reason why such normative organisms are not morally significant. †¢Species- A species exists; a species ought to exist. In an evolutionary ecosystem, it is not mere individuality that counts, but the species is also significant because it is a dynamic life form maintained over time. The species line is the vital living system, the whole, of which individual organisms are the essential parts. The dignity resides in the dynamic form; the individual inherits this, exemplifies it, and passes it on. If at the specific level these processes are just as evident or even more so, what prevents duties arising at that level? The appropriate survival unit is the appropriate level of moral concern. (3) Wilderness, the Built Environment, Poverty and Politics: The variety of positions in environmental ethics has developed widely over the last thirty years, mostly focusing on wilderness concerns and ways on how to conserve it. The importance of the environment is huge for preserving human life. The importance of its preservation has been overlooked by another important problem, life styles in which woodland mountaineering can be indulged demand a standard of living that is far beyond most of the human’s dreams. Now there is a new range of moral problems that have opened up. This includes environmental costs for tourist access to wilderness areas. Humans can be like a cancer to the environment in well-populated areas. (4) Feminism and the Environment: feminist issue is any that contributes in some way to understanding the oppression of women. Sheila Collins (1974) argued that male-dominated culture is supported by four basic interlocking pillars: class exploitation, racism, sexism, and ecological destruction. Collins emphasized the importance of feminism to the environmental movement with various liberation movements during her time. This represented racial challenges for environmental thinking. But because of the many disagreements among the feminist’s theories, this label has fallen from use. One of the areas where ecofeminism is found lacking in the traditional paradigm of social movements is the area of action. The common view is that social movements engage in protest and direct action; however, ecofeminism calls for consciousness raising, healing, and a communion with nature. There is little direct action. Some call for concern and to be involved in crucial issues. Others call for intellectual work to form a holistic conception of ecofeminism. Furthermore, there is no group of ecofeminists, no declared leader, and no vague form of organized activity other than a few intellectual conferences and books. A few organizations have included the word ecofeminism in their title, such as Ecofeminists for Animal Rights, but they are not a subgroup of the larger Ecofeminists. In addition, most groups that can be identified as ecofeminist in nature do not identify themselves as ecofeminist.

The Election of 1956 essays

The Election of 1956 essays The election of 1956, 48 states were in the union at that time and Dwight Eisenhower was president. Even though Eisenhower had not made and major changes during his first term he was still the publics for choice for the next election. In a poll taken in 1954, 65% of Americans had approved of the job he was doing. Some critics reflected his as lazy. Saying he rather be golfing, one of his own speech writers once described his as an oaf. But never the less he was unanimously nominated for the Republican ticket in 1956 along with Richard Nixon for vice president, who won with 457 electoral votes and 57.6% of the popular vote. For the Democrats Adlai E. Stevensons was anomously nominated and excepted the nomination. This campaign was won of the calmest in American history, for the same candidates ran in the election of 1952. Not many people thought the democrats even had a chance against Eisenhower. at a picnic at Eisenhowers farm in Gettysburg, where he officially began his campaign, He addressed the leaders attending on the top two issues: his health and Richard Nixons place on the ticket. He assured them he felt fine. And Richard Nixon assured them he would be able to fulfill the duties of president.Dwight Eisenhower was one of the most popular American leaders. British General Bernard C. Montgomery, who had fought in the war with Eisenhower is quoted saying He merely had to smile at you and you trusted in him at once. As a great World War II General people saw him as a sign of hope for peace in the post war era. He was elected in to office in 1952 by and overwhelming margin and an even greater one in 1956. In the 1956 election people were sure he would be re-elected, but they were not sure if he would accept the Republican parties nomination. Eisenhower suffers some medical ...

Psychological Issue Summary Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Psychological Issue Summary - Term Paper Example Irrational thoughts cause depression just as much as depression causes irrational thoughts. I would have a bipolar sufferer talk me through some of the things going through their heads and then suggest that they step into the role of devil's advocate for a moment and provide a counter view to what they perceive. I would use the four column approach to try to indicate to the patient that, no matter what the objective situation, they become depressed and suggest that it is their own thoughts and perceptions that are misleading them. I would then proceed to use behavioral therapy in that vein suggested by the work we did in the cognitive section. I would have them practice behaviors that they typically do when depressed, then work on making those behaviors extinct and replacing them with healthy behaviors. For example: I would have them walk through calling a friend to talk. Finally, it seems that most of the reasons people are depressed are interpersonal. Friends are distant or unfair or non-existent, one isn't dating or is having a bad relationship, one's boss is arbitrary, etc. Worse, there comes to be a cyclical pattern where someone who is depressed alienates people who are optimistic, making a wind tunnel effect and reducing their social circle.

Low Income Housing Authority Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Low Income Housing Authority - Essay Example From this study it is clear that  like any other management style, planning is an essential tool. To achieve the best results, managers should make concrete plans to sustain their businesses. Low income housing authority makes planning strategies to accommodate the demands of the low income people. The stakeholders submit their plans to the public housing director providing detailed information of how they intend to serve the locals. â€Å"Planning helps the management to improve their services†.According to the paper  proper planning will ensure proper housing, equal allocation and provision of quality facilities. It helps the housing department to analyze the trends of housing and predict any challenge in future. Essentially, planning helps in creating affordable housing while safeguarding the already existing premises. Nevertheless, planning requires competent planners put in place. For instance, planning to safeguard the suppliers of cheap housing may aim at incrementa l processes of change that may result in reducing the availability of houses of a particular type. â€Å"Mechanisms aimed at protecting low cost stocks are to ensure that the planning tools contain the general objective so as to protect or retain the existing affordable housing sources†.  When the policy makers are involved in creating more affordable housing, more emphasis is given to the duration the affordable house will be retained and by whom. Essentially, â€Å"there is no sole technique of securing affordable housing.

Fundamentals of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fundamentals of Management - Essay Example IT industry is one of the giant industries of the world (Justa, 2009). Our company not only develops efficient software applications but also provide valuable consultancy to other IT firms and multinational companies in solving their IT related issues. Mind Technologies is a dynamic information technology company that uses state of the art communication and information technologies in order to develop a variety of products related to the areas of interactive media, cell phone software, and business software applications. Our company has been successful in building a good reputation for quality and reliability. Mind technologies Inc. is the name of quality, inspiration, and innovative ideas that make it one of the world’s most reliable software companies. Our employees work on innovative ideas in order to provide something new to the customers. They thoroughly study every aspect of every new software or business application in order to insure authenticity and genuineness of the applications. We have been building software applications for the last 12 years servicing many valuable clients all over the world. Our team of professionals produces high quality software and hardware products with a high level of reliability and speed. ... We have also developed web applications for some companies, which have automated the key business process of those companies. Our software developers possess sufficient experience in a wide range of database tools and programming languages such as VB.NET, ASP.NET, C-Sharp, C++, Java, PHP, 4D, and Microsoft SQL Server. We not only develop software products based on our own innovative ideas and concepts but also develop the applications on the requests of our customers. Our developers accurately focus the requirements of the customers while developing their requested software applications. Mind Technologies Inc. has three offices located in different states of the United States of America. Main office of the company is located in Washington D.C. whereas other two sub offices are located in New York and Chicago. Each office consists of almost 20 to 25 employees. For every office, there is a manager, who looks after all activities related to the office. Apart from the office manager, eve ry department has also its own manager who has the responsibility to report all activities related to the department to the office manager. The office manager holds the responsibility to contact top management of the company. â€Å"A corporate structure is essentially the layout of the various departments, divisions, and job positions that interact to conduct the business of the company† (Tatum, 2010). There is a partnership mode of business in the company shared by three persons. Mind Technologies Inc. is not like traditional IT companies rather it holds a distinct structure that makes it attractive to the employees of the company. In traditional IT

Virgin Media Business Strategy

Virgin Media Business Strategy This report is a study of Virgin Media Inc and the business strategies that define the company. The analysis was an attempt to correlate the theories that define the business strategies of a company and the practical approach taken by Virgin Media in those areas. So we have performed a study of the Marketing Mix of Virgin Media and based on our findings a SWOT Analysis of Virgin Media. From the results of the SWOT analysis we have drawn our conclusions of what Virgin Media has to focus on in the future and predict the path that they should take. Virgin Media: A First Look Virgin Media is a leading name in the communication and entertainment sector providing a â€Å"quad play† of services consisting of broadband, television, mobile and fixed line telephone. The company was founded by Sir Richard Branson and has James Mooney as the company chairperson and Neil Berkett as chief executive officer of the firm. It has established itself as UKs leading media and communication provider and has built its large business through constant innovation, successful diversification and competitive product design using a future proof strong communication network. Virgin Medias three main operating segments Cable Mobile Content The cable segment offers broadband Internet, television and fixed-line telephone services under the Virgin Media brand to residential customers in U.K. In the mobile segment Virgin Mobile has teamed up with T-Mobile by purchasing airtime from T-Mobile and branding it under the Virgin Mobile brand name. The content segment includes eight genre-based entertainment channels, including Virgin1, Living, Bravo, Trouble, Challenge and Challenge Jackpot. The content segment also oversees the companys interest in the UKTV television channels through joint ventures with BBC Worldwide. There is also the Video On Demand services and the website services that provide movies, TV shows and news to the customers. History of Virgin Media In March 2006 NTL and Telewest which were UKs leading cable companies merged together to become the provider of UKs leading triple-play services. Later in July 2006 the merged company acquired Virgin Mobile providing the first quadruple-play offer of TV, internet and fixed and mobile telephony services from a single operator. Finally in February 2007 the combined companies were rebranded and launched as Virgin Media. Virgin Media has rebranded Ntl:Telewest, the companys business Internet Service Provider (ISP), as Virgin Media Business. Virgin Media is the largest privately built network in the UK, with 330 Ethernet PoPs and over 38,000 street cabinets across the country. Virgin Media Inc. Is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market and the London Stock Exchange (VMED) Track Record Virgin offers ultrafast internet access of up to 50Mb to just over half of all homes in UK. Virgin Media has one of UKs most advanced TV on demand services and was the first TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer.(#CITATION) .It is the second largest provider of pay TV, was the first to launch a high definition TV service and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder. It is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country. Virgin Media has also announced that it would be launching 100 Meg broadband services by the end of December 2010. â€Å"We are expanding our trials of a 200Mb broadband service and are planning the commercial launch of a 100Mb service later this year. The development of our next generation TV platform is progressing well and we are confident it will provide the UKs most accessible, comprehensive and seamless home entertainment experience. â€Å", Says Neil Burkett CEO of Virgin Media. Virgin medias performance in the stock market has improved over the last year. Its share price fell in the beginning of 2008 but remained stable during the recession period. Stock price have been rising from the fourth quarter after the company announced its successful Q4 results for the year 2009 .This shows that company has gained the trust of the investors. Technology Virgin Media is one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK using a unique fiber optic cable network. It is the first company in UK to offer Broadband, Telephone, and TV through its fiber optic cable network. The fiber optic cable is made of glass and it delivers vast amounts of information at the speed of light whereas other providers use copper wires to deliver information, which is much slower than optical fibers. The fiber optic network gives the customer all the benefits of next generation telecoms: It helps to reduce costs through voice and data convergence It quickly transfer large volumes of data Helps to centralize and secure your data storage Instantly implement disaster recovery plans Key Facts about Virgin Media Revenue: 3.8 Billion (GBP) Employees: 10939 Marketing Orientation The aim of a Market oriented company is to satisfy the customer needs and requirements and to align their products and services to the demands of the customers. A typical marketing orientation model is shown below. A market oriented company tries to continuously improve customer satisfaction. To deliver superior customer value they pay close attention to service, both before and after sales. The concept of market orientation is built on three pillars of: Customer focus Coordinated marketing Profitability. An organizations capabilities to develop an orientation towards each of these three pillars depend on the internal structure and culture. Virgin Media follows a market orientation strategy in which the company is concerned about the customers requirements and needs. It pays attention to what its customer needs and delivers the information accordingly. Also due to high competition amongst various service providers Virgin Media also follows Sales orientation in which the company pays attention to the s of sales as well. Virgin Media has put together 3 strategic priorities in its â€Å"Manifesto†: Engaging our people Growing our business Fixing the fundamentals Virgin media has created a broad portfolio that can be tailored to enables its marketers to meet customer requirements. Product diversification within a single business allows it to be one step ahead of its competitors. Virgin Media believes in continuously interacting with its customers, either on day-to-day basis or in one of their stores, during a home installation or on the phone with one of Virgin Medias agents. Virgin Media uses a management tool called â€Å"Net Promoter† to monitor and measure the customer feedback. This helps the company to improve their performance by analyzing the feedback and suggestions from its customers. Show below are statistics of Virgin Medias customers and the number of customers added in 2009. Competitive advantage Competitive advantage is termed as â€Å"The achievement of superior performance through differentiation to provide superior customer value or by managing achieve lowest delivered cost† (Jobber, D., (2009), Principles and practice of marketing, 914) UK has become a highly competitive market for the telecom sector. With the government pushing for improved broadband services for everyone (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8012848.stm) Broadband speed offered by service providers has gone from up 14.4 kbps to 50 mbps. There is a cutthroat competition in the broadband sector with more than 20 companies serving 61.4 million population of UK. (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1352). Due to this intense competition major market players like BT, Virgin media and Sky have almost similar packages offered to their customers while playing to their strengths in different market segments. Sky offers the most number of channels than any other service provider in UK and hence sky subscribers tend to be those who prefer their superior television services whereas Virgin media advertises its superior broadband network and hence its subscribers are normally those who use internet more. BT has more customer base due to its economical packages (Table 1). Services offered 2 Comparison of the basic packages offered by BT, Sky and Virgin Media * Package information taken from * http://allyours.virginmedia.com/?buspart=Portal_HP_topnav_1_1 * http://www.sky.com/shop/bundles-offers/popular-bundles/ * http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayCategory.do?categoryId=CON-BT-BUNDLE-Is_intcid=con_intban_overview_packages_home In HDTV section Sky seems doing far better than Virgin media. They have positioned well in HD TV market. Virgins video on demand service is highly acclaimed by the viewers (750m views in 2009, 50% rise over previous year). Bravo, a pay channel of Virgin media has acquired exclusive rights of the US block buster series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Despite this Sky added 172,000 customers in the fourth quarter and Virgin media added only 34,200 new subscribers. Due to the uniqueness of services offered by sky Virgin media seems is lagging behind in the race when it comes to TV channels. In order to study the competitive advantage a company has over its competitors, Porter, M. E. (1998) suggested the five forces model. Analysis of Five forces for Virgin Media: Entry barriers: Entry into the telecom industry is primarily determined by the high cost of the fixed assets. There are significant costs to be incurred like the cost of establishing the network, operating costs of the network and associated infrastructural costs. Virgin media has spent billions of pounds just to lay the optic fiber cable network required. Acquiring telecast rights for sporting events, TV shows etc. is also a key entry barrier determinant as the competition for the rights normally increases the price, making it harder for new entrants. BT a significant competitor and running on an aging copper based network is finding it hard to convince its investors to develop infrastructure after incurring current losses in excess of  £7b. The telecom industry is an extremely competitive market where key market players try to make profits through sales volumes and not price. So for an entrant into the market the initial return on investment will be low and market expectations for generating profits in the long run are low as well. The market is also highly competitive and any product or service is immediately replicated by the competitors. For example BT has offered a 40 mbps broadband service to compete directly with Virgin Medias 50 mbps broadband service. There is a significantly high cost for advertisement as the competition is with established brands with significant brand recall. The telecommunication service is a vital and intensely used and hence customers demand high quality of service. Service complaints are investigated by OfCom, UKs independent regulator of the telecommunications industry and hefty fines are placed on service providers for poor service quality. All these factors combined reduce the number of new entrants into the telecommunications sector. Rivalry determinants: Due to the presence of significant market players like SKY and BT, there is intense competition in the telecom industry. Increase reliance on internet has increase customer expectations and dominant market players frequently reduce prices to attract more customers. There is hence a reduction in overall profitability and investments are hence done cautiously. Key market players have strong brand names and hence significant brand loyalty. Competing brands have their unique strengths making it difficult for users to switch networks. Sky network offer premium television content and hence retain its customers even though Virgin Media has a superior high speed internet network. Customers also find it easier to take all the bundled services from a single provider due to advantages like ease of payment and discounts on bundled deals. High switching costs hence make it increasing difficult for Virgin Media to increase its market share. Supplier power: To develop a cost leadership advantage one really needs to control supplier power. This is one big determinant of economies of scale. As there are many competitors in the telecom sector, suppliers tend to demand higher prices for the services in od force the company to provide better deals. The supplier may refuse to work with the company if their demands are not met and provide its services to a competitor. For example Sky charges a high wholesale price to its competitors like Virgin Media to permit them to display their premium offerings like sports. Since Sky has all the associated broadcasting rights and Sports channels are in great demand by the UK consumer, Virgin media and BT have no choice but to pay more for the content. Owing to this fact Sky has become a dominant force in the Television sector as its competitors are not able to match its prices. Threat of substitutes: There are players like Sky and BT in the bundled services market segment and O2, Vodafone Talk-talk etc. in individual service market segment. All of them offer comparatively similar services at very competitive prices. Due to this it is difficult for a new customer to choose a service. The choice may then be made instantaneously and based on current need. For example a sports fan when choosing a new service may immediately go for the Sky network without much consideration to the quality of the other networks. Existing customers may also be tempted to switch networks due to economic or service based needs. Virgin Media could lose an existing customer to BT which offers more economical bundle packages and with the upcoming sports events like the football world cup and London Olympics it could lose customers to the Sky network as well. Also in order to reduce network congestion during peak hours, Virgin Media throttles the network speed and this has irked some of its internet users. If a rival service makes a claim that it does not perform such a speed check on the network, users may switch to the rival network. Buyer power: Every service provider in the telecom sector aims at minimizing its churn rate (rate at which a customer leaves the service).Hence the customer enjoys a greater degree of bargaining power. Service providers tend to offer discounts and cheaper rates to ensure that they do not lose customers. Virgin media may be forced to renegotiate deals with the customers in order to minimise this risk. Five forces analysis though tells us about the microenvironment of the business, it is not enough to gain competitive advantage. A firm can get competitive advantage by developing strategies to create value to customer. Michael Porter suggests that company can either differentiate their product or service by, Differentiating their product offering or Managing lowest delivered cost. Competitive strategy options model Virgin media has adopted a Differentiation leader strategy and utilises this in its advertising campaigns. Virgin Media advertisement campaigns focus on the fact that it is UKs fastest network and that it offers premium content on its Video on demand services. In a survey conducted by Ofcom Virgin media broadband speed was found to be highest in all the service providers. Traffic on Broadband Network affect Speeds In order to create differentiated or lowest cost position it is important to understand the value chain of a company. Value chain analysis provides a holistic view of the company. It provides a framework for understanding the nature and location of the skills and resources that provide a basis for competitive advantage. Activities of a company are grouped into two Primary activities that generate a profit margin for the company Support activities that facilitate the primary activities The goal of a company is to ensure that the primary activities are performed efficiently so that the costs incurred from the primary activities and support activities remain lower than the price paid by the customer for the service provided, thereby granting a profit margin to the company. Virgin Medias Value chain: An analysis. Inbound Logistics: Virgin media has tie ups with BBC, ITV and Television show broadcaster to deliver their content on its network. Having settled their disputes with Sky network regarding television content Virgin media now has a tie up agreement with Sky network for their premium television content like Sky sports, Sky one etc. However the wholesale broadcaster fee of Sky Network is high causing a significant increase in costs for Virgin media. But Virgin media does not have to depend on a third party service provider for network and related logistics because it has its own superior network and in house facilities for network management. Hence it has a significant reduction in network costs. Operations and Service: Company is rated for its internet speed and its VOD service. This indicates that they have good operations throughout the UK. Their Web support chat window appears as soon as a net user starts browsing website. The response to queries was quick and informative when tried online. BT also has similar service however it was less prompt than Virgin media. They also have their support through social networking sites like Twitter and Face book. Virgin gives all options to pay bills. Outbound logistics: Virgin media gives installation and maintenance service to all its customers. Customer can opt for e bill or a normal hard copy. When order for new connection is placed it is completed within 7 working days. Any new subscription to any of their service is completed on the same day. Because Sky is a dish network, customers are required to take permission from the societies which can cause annoyance to the customers. This gives competitive advantage as Virgin service can be obtained through BT cable. Marketing and sales: Company is strongly advertising on internet and television. They are using social networking sites aggressively for their advertising. They have completely understood the need of the segment they are targeting and marketing their broadband speed as their customer winning strategy. Company also believes that calling the customers may spoil the image of company hence they have strict rules for calling customers. Procurement: Virgin has established a code of conduct for its suppliers. Best part is that company focuses on environment and labor issues when purchasing decisions are made. Technology development: With fibre technology Virgin media become UKs second largest telecom service provider company. They are unique in the market. Company is testing 100mbps broadband speed and will be operational by 2011. They are also trialing 200 mbps broadband. Company also have technologies to support web based learning and automated hospital care; with which they are ambitious to capture the market. Human resource management: Virgin media recently axed 2200 jobs due to economic slowdown. This will have a profound effect on its image in the employees. Company seems emphasizing more on employment cuts for cost effectiveness which will affect the morale of the employees. For cutting costs Virgin Media has outsourced some of its operations like billing and front end calling. This will benefit them in reduce expenses and increase efficiency. http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2205297/virgin-signs-network-contract Firm infrastructure: Virgin media is operating in telecom market with its giant network. They have 186,000 km nationwide fibre-optic network worth  £13 billion. They also have 157 telephone switches. Their infrastructure can support 70,000 calls/minute. 35% of the UKs broadband traffic is handled by Virgin media. This works as an entry barrier for new entrants in the telecom market. Suggestions: With sound technology and infrastructure virgin media has lot of opportunities to spread its network in the rural areas. Company can improve its internal customer relationship and boost the morale of the employees. There is higher scope of improving the logistics in terms of new connections being completed within 48 hours and compete Sky network. They can also improve their billing system by offering payment through set top box. Virgin Medias Marketing Mix: An Analysis Marketing Mix: Marketing Mix is defined as â€Å"The tactical tools that marketers use to implement their strategies† (Kotler 2008: 202). The four basic factors that we analyse the marketing mix on are Product Price Place Promotion For a successful marketing strategy, one needs to come at the equilibrium of above four tools. Product â€Å"A product is anything that is capable of satisfying customer needs†, (Jobber,D 5th edition :326 ). Virgin media has four main products in its portfolio. Television Broadband Landline Mobile Virgin Medias product portfolio is built up of intangible products making the post purchase services offered to the customers like customer services, help lines and value added content an important aspect of the Augmented Virgin Media Product. Virgin Media distinguish its product from other competitors like Sky and BT by using special feature like optic fibre cable and forms a total product. The core product can be differentiated in many ways Customers can be reached by applying following marketing mix:- Functionality: Virgin medias network is fibre optic network that provided support for high bandwidth and is unique in comparison to its competitors like BT and Sky who are still dependent on Copper based data transfer networks. This has helped Virgin media to gain customers attention as customer focus is now on high speed internet. Brand: â€Å"A brand is created by augmenting a core product with values that makes the product unique and distinguishes it from the competitors†(Jobber 2007: 334). â€Å"To achieve high sales, you need a powerful Brand Name behind it , which ultimately retains their customers through† brand loyalty(Jobber 2007: 334). Having an established brand name normally puts a business in a secure position in the competitive market as customers tend to focus on perceived brand value through the strong brand name. This enables retention of even the price conscious customers due to the loyalty created with the brand. Virgin media has Customer Based Brand Equity which is defined as â€Å"The differential effect that brand knowledge has on customer response to the marketing of the product† (Jobber 2007: 332). The Virgin Group started by Sir Richard Branson has a significant market presence in various sectors due to a varied range of products like Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines. This provides a positive impact in the market as a first time customer will associate Virgin Media with the brand values and market value of the Virgin Group. Managing the Product Mix Positioning and Repositioning: Positioning â€Å"A products position is the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes the place the product occupies in the minds relative to the competitive products.† Virgin media operates in three segments in the B2C segment. Cable segment Data Content Mobile Segment In the cable segment Virgin media occupies the position of a Market leader because of its future proof fibre optic cable network that has won it the â€Å"Fastest home broadband Award â€Å"for their 50 MB broadband services. Due to its superior network Virgin Media is able to differentially position themselves against their competitors like BT and SKY In the Data Content Segment. Virgin media occupies the position of a market In the mobile segment Virgin media is playing catch up to most other providers like O2 and 3 Mobile services. It currently has an agreement with T Mobile for use of its airtime under the brand of Virgin Media. Repositioning In Feb 2010 Virgin Media rebranded NTL/Telewest as Virgin Media Business. The rebranding came as Virgin media stepped up its effort to capture market share from BT which is the dominant operator in the B2B market segment. By rebranding the name the Virgin Media family is able to use the Virgin Brand name and improve its marketing capability. As Richard Branson has quoted â€Å"Good progress with network development leaves Virgin Media Business well positioned to expand its offer out to smaller corporates.† http://www.telecomseurope.net/content/virgin-media-branson-means-business Market Positioning Of Virgin Media: Ansoff Matrix analysis â€Å"The emphasis on product portfolio analysis is managing an existing set of products in such a way as to maximize their strengths. But companies also need to look to new products and markets for future growth. A useful way of looking at growth opportunities is the Ansoff Matrix.† Existing Market: Existing Product: The Market Penetration Strategy is used when a company attempts to capture market share by launching its own version of an existing product. Focus then is placed on aggressive advertising and promotions Virgin Media had applied this strategy to capture market share from BT when it launched its broadband services. It emphasised on advertisement campaigns and cheaper package deals to capture customers from Sky. Existing Market: New Product: The Product development strategy is used when a company attempts to launch a new product in an established market catering to its existing customer base. Virgin Media has proposed to launch its 100 mbps broadband service as an upgraded product to its customers to improve on its existing portfolio offerings New Market: Existing Product: The Market development strategy is used when a company attempts to target a new market with an existing product. Virgin media launched its broadband services with a fixed focus on home customers. Utilising its existing network and operational services it has re-launched its B2C arm as Virgin Media Business in order to capture market share from BT. New Market: New Product: The Diversification strategy where a company launches new products in new markets where it had no market presence at all. While Virgin Media was a diversification strategy of Virgin group there is no product or strategy currently utilised by Virgin Media to justify this approach. The intense competitive nature of the business also makes it riskier for the company to attempt such diversification at this point of time. Stages of PLC for Virgin Media: Product development: When an established company enters in the market with new product with new design and development, the sales are zero. Virgin media has not disclosed any information about a product in this stage and typically this information would be secret as the telecommunication industry is highly competitive. Introduction: When a new product is introduced in an established market, the profit would be very less and the cost of introduction of the product would be very high , also it will lead to a small growth in sales. Virgin Media has launched its 100 mbps Broadband service as test service in Coventry on a test basis. Growth: When the new product is accepted in the market company starts making the profit , this period of acceptance and the profit would fall into ‘Growth of the PLC graph. Virgin medias VOD services fall in the Growth sector as it has recorded a 50 % growth in 2009. Maturity: When the product captures the majority of its market customers, slowdown the sales growth. There is decline in the Profit level because of increasing marketing costs in order to remain competitive. Virgin Media 20Mb Broadband being second popular choice has reached its maturity stage and there is a slow growth in the number of new customers. Hence Virgin Media has launched its 100 mbps broadband service in order to return the broadband segment into the growth. Decline Stage: When a product performs poorly and there is a reduction in sales it is known as the decline stage. Currently in our assessment Virgin Media does not have any product that is in the decline stage. BCG Matrix of Virgin Media The BCG Growth- Share Matrix is designed by leading management consultancy Boston consulting Group (BCG) which allows drawing the portfolio in 2X2 diagram and thus analysing the product. The BCG matrix gives guidelines for setting strategic objectives on the cash flow and categorized as. Stars: Build sales/ Market shares Problem children: Build selectively Cash Cows: Hold sales or/and market shares Dogs : Harvest or focus on defendable niche After analysing Virgin Media products the portfolio of the product can be drawn as follows 50MB Broadband,VOD Broadband+Landline+Mobile+TV Mobile Services 50Mb Broadband is a STAR because that has been awarded the fastest Home broadband .Virgin Media being the first Quad play player in the market they got positive response from their customers, thats why TV, Broadband , landline and mobile Services as a bundle falls in CASH COW. Mobile Services has got fierce competition in the market thats why virgin Mobile Services falls in DOG sector. Promotion â€Å"Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the products and persuade the target customers to buy it†. (Armstrong and Kotler 2009: 84) Promotions help to influence customers purchase behavior. Promotion also keeps people informed and educated about the product. Advertising plays an important role in Virgin Medias Marketing Strategy. Virgin Media uses different means to educate and inform the customers about their products like television, pamphlets distribution, hoardings, internet, direct marketing and newspapers. Elements of Promotion: Direct Marketing: In Direct Marketing there is a direct communication with individual or group consumers either by internet, mail, email, fax, telephone etc. Direct marketing is useful to communicate directly with the potential buyers avoiding any intermediaries. Virgin Media does their direct marketing through call centers, sales representative, internet or distributing the pamphlets. Advertising: â€Å"Any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas or products in the prime media.† (Jobber D. and Fahy J. Foundation of Marketing 2nd Edition 2006:225). Virgin Media follows the product oriented advertiser strategy. This strategy involves highlighting the product features, services, price through various advertising channels such as television, internet, magazines, e-marketing etc. Virgin Media advertisements have been controversial due to the nature of their claims.A campaign Truth Lies and Broadband was subject of an ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) inquiry due to the complaints from its competito

Affirmative Action and Collective Responsibility Essay -- Argumentativ

Affirmative Action and Collective Responsibility      It is not surprising that affirmative action is under attack: along with welfare, it benefits a section of society with very little political clout. It is a convenient place for the displaced anger of working-class white men who have seen their real wages decrease for the past thirty years. It stirs up feelings of racism that politicians are quick to publicly denounce but even quicker to exploit. There is, however, very little serious discussion about affirmative action underway; more often it is supplanted by buzzwords such as "quotas," "set-asides," and "reverse discrimination." A serious discussion of affirmative action must begin by addressing the question of collective responsibility. Affirmative action opponents firmly reject the notion of collective responsibility, claiming that it is unfair to punish those alive today for crimes committed by their parents. One letter to the editor received by The Progressive Review reads: "I never owned slaves, and have never discriminated against anyone. Why should I have to pay for someone else's sins? Slavery ended over a hundred years before I was born, and over seventy years before the first of my ancestors arrived in the United States." Unfortunately, responsibility for the effects of slavery and discrimination cannot be so easily shirked. Even if our direct ancestors did not participate in the slave trade, we are nevertheless members of a society that did; part of the "individual responsibility" so fervently worshipped by neo-conservatives must include taking responsibility for things done by our society. When a person becomes an American, he or she must accept not only the glory and honor of our history, but also the sh ... ... condemned to exist as a perpetual underclass, trapped in poverty by the racism to which their poverty gives rise. Racism will not eradicate itself; in a society ruled by the almighty dollar, one cannot separate legal equality from economic equality. That is the most fundamental flaw of conservative opposition to affirmative action: the belief that those who live under bridges have the same rights as those who do not. Unless we make an active attempt to undo the effects of three hundred years of oppression, there will never be a color-blind society. The complaints of a few white men who miss their traditional ascendancy seem insignificant in comparison to the alternative: an unbroken cycle of misery for everyone else. True peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice. -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" Affirmative Action and Collective Responsibility Essay -- Argumentativ Affirmative Action and Collective Responsibility      It is not surprising that affirmative action is under attack: along with welfare, it benefits a section of society with very little political clout. It is a convenient place for the displaced anger of working-class white men who have seen their real wages decrease for the past thirty years. It stirs up feelings of racism that politicians are quick to publicly denounce but even quicker to exploit. There is, however, very little serious discussion about affirmative action underway; more often it is supplanted by buzzwords such as "quotas," "set-asides," and "reverse discrimination." A serious discussion of affirmative action must begin by addressing the question of collective responsibility. Affirmative action opponents firmly reject the notion of collective responsibility, claiming that it is unfair to punish those alive today for crimes committed by their parents. One letter to the editor received by The Progressive Review reads: "I never owned slaves, and have never discriminated against anyone. Why should I have to pay for someone else's sins? Slavery ended over a hundred years before I was born, and over seventy years before the first of my ancestors arrived in the United States." Unfortunately, responsibility for the effects of slavery and discrimination cannot be so easily shirked. Even if our direct ancestors did not participate in the slave trade, we are nevertheless members of a society that did; part of the "individual responsibility" so fervently worshipped by neo-conservatives must include taking responsibility for things done by our society. When a person becomes an American, he or she must accept not only the glory and honor of our history, but also the sh ... ... condemned to exist as a perpetual underclass, trapped in poverty by the racism to which their poverty gives rise. Racism will not eradicate itself; in a society ruled by the almighty dollar, one cannot separate legal equality from economic equality. That is the most fundamental flaw of conservative opposition to affirmative action: the belief that those who live under bridges have the same rights as those who do not. Unless we make an active attempt to undo the effects of three hundred years of oppression, there will never be a color-blind society. The complaints of a few white men who miss their traditional ascendancy seem insignificant in comparison to the alternative: an unbroken cycle of misery for everyone else. True peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice. -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter From a Birmingham Jail"