Friday, November 15, 2019
Opportunities And Challenges For Wal Mart In India Marketing Essay
Opportunities And Challenges For Wal Mart In India Marketing Essay India is seen as an emerging market for retail by global retailers. A.T. Kearneys Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) of 2009 ranks India as the most emerging destination for retail ahead of Russia and China. However, to protect its own retail industry, the Government of India has permitted only 51 % FDI for single brand retail. This has deterred many multi-brand retailers to enter the retail business in India. However, these retailers can enter the wholesale business where 100 % FDI is permitted. In November, 2006, Wal-Mart entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Bharti Enterprises to enter the wholesale sector as well as back end partner. Several apprehensions are being raised about the success of Wal-Mart in India which has largely been dominated by traditional retailers. The case analyses the opportunities and challenges that Wal-Mart will face in India and concludes with discussion on the future of Wal-Mart with respect to the advantages and disadvantages that the global reta iler will have in India. Introduction Since liberalization in 1991, the Indian market has a limited presence of global retailers such as McDonalds, Landmark, Dominos, Pizza Hut and few others. In January 2006, the Union Cabinet approved the policy on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail to further simplify procedures for investing in India and to avoid multiple layers of approvals required in some activities. To facilitate easier inflow, FDI up to 100 % was allowed under the automatic route for cash and carry wholesale and export trading. However to protect the interests of Indian retailers, the FDI up to 51 % was permitted in single brand retail only. In 2006, Wal-Mart of US entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Indian retail major, Bharti Retail to foray into the wholesale business in India. The first Wal-Mart Bharti store opened in Amritsar in late 2009. In the same year, A.T. Kearneys Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), ranked India as the most emerging destination for retail ahead of Russia and China. Gl obal retailers like French based Carrefour and US based Starbucks were exploring opportunities in the Indian retail market while; Swedish retailer IKEA shelved its plans. A report by Northbridge Capital, UK based investment bank, revealed Retail market size in 2009 is estimated to be of $450 billion, growing at the rate of 30 per cent per annum. It is expected to grow to $720 billion by the end of 2011 [1] .An analysis by AT Kearney revealed that organized retail in India accounted for only 6 % of the total retail market . Market analysts believe that India had traditionally been dominated by unorganized retail. They wonder whether global retailers can sustain in India considering the restrictions on FDI in retail and a strong competitive unorganized market. About Wal-Mart of US The retail chain Wal-Mart was established by Sam Walton in 1962 in the US. Over the years, the retail chain grew leaps and bounds to be the most successful retailer in the US. The retail chain operates in various formats such as discount stores, supercentres and warehouse clubs. Wal-Mart stores are huge stores with size varying from 42,000 sq. feet to more than 200,000 sq. feet. The business model of Wal-Mart is based on selling a wide variety of merchandize at always low prices often referred to as everyday low prices. Wal-Mart successfully expanded its operations to 14 countries which included Mexico, UK, China, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India and Puerto Rico. By 2010, the chain operated 2,980 stores outside the US. Wal-Mart also ranks the topmost global retailer in the world with revenues of more than $ 400 billion from worldwide operations in 2009. About Bharti Enterprises of India Bharti Enterprises is an Indian business conglomerate established by Sunil Bharti Mittal. The group was founded in early 1990s. The group is involved in variety of businesses such as telecom, insurance, fresh foods, retail and realty. Outside India, the company has a presence in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Jersey, Guernsey and Seychelles. The group is in the process of establishing itself in countries like Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania,Uganda, and Zambia in the African sub-continent. The brand names Airtel and Beetel are household names in India. Its revenues for the year 2009 were estimated at $ 10 billion. Bharti Wal-Mart Tie Up After entering into discussions with Tesco of UK and Carrefour of France which did not materialize, Bharti Enterprises of India finally struck a deal with Wal-Mart of US in November 2006. According to the deal, Bharti would handle front end retail stores while Wal-Mart would act as a wholesale and back-end partner. However, Bharti would use the name Wal-Mart for its stores. The joint partnership planned to make investments in the retail sector to the tune of $100 millon which could go upto $1.46 billion. Wal-Mart was already procuring goods from various Indian companies to the tune of $1.5 billion. Industry observers say that the Wal-Mart would benefit from Bhartis experience in India while Bharti would benefit from Wal-Marts experience in overseas markets. However, after tremendous opposition from local people and political parties, the first store opened in Amritsar in late 2009. Consumer Shopping Behavior in India Consumers in the west are accustomed to shopping at organized formats while in India such formats are still evolving. Various researchers analyzing consumer shopping behavior in India made the following observations with respect to selection of stores by consumers: Traveling time : If the desired products are available in the neighborhood store, consumers would not visit the far away supermarket or hypermarket. Range of products offered : If the consumer shopping list is such that the required goods are not available in the neighborhood store, they would visit the supermarket or hypermarket. Services offered : The neighborhood stores offer personalized services such as credit facilities, free home delivery service, sms service and extended working hours. The organized retail formats offer good ambience, promotional offers and a good shopping experience. Socio Economic background : The socio-economic background of consumers determine their lifestyles and the kind of stores they would be comfortable to shop. Initially, the lower income group was hesitant to shop at organized retail formats as they felt that such stores were for the elite. However, over a period of time, the retailers adopted steps to change the perception of such consumers. Opportunities According to a report by McKinsey Company, the rise in disposable income of Indian consumers would be a major factor in contributing to the growth of retail consumption. The factors contributing to the growth of organized retailing in India include growth in working population, double income households, one stop destination for all needs, changing consumer lifestyles and easy availability of credit. Data by Investment Commission of India, 2007 revealed that significant retail opportunities existed in product categories like food and beverage, consumer durables and home improvement. It further forecasted that home improvement and consumer durables would grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 20 % in 10 years time. It further mentioned that India had a significant potential to emerge as a sourcing base for a wide variety of goods for international retailers. Leading international retailers including Tesco, GAP and JC Penney are already sourcing from India. A report prepared by Ernst and Young for India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) reveals that there are significant opportunities for organized retailers in various cities of India. This is because these cities have households with tremendous spending power and lower penetration of organized retail compared to metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The online retail business progressed in India with growth of internet connections and e-payment service users. Retailers such as ebay.in, indiatimes.com and rediff.com were early entrants. Many small retailers also had their portals for online sale of merchandize. 70 % of Indias population is in the rural areas which offer tremendous opportunity for retailers. Key players in the rural retail market includ Indian Tobacco Companys Choupal Sagaar, DCM Shriram group owned Hariyali Kisan Bazaar and Indian Oil Corporations Kisan Seva Kendra among others. The main product categories marketed in rural areas include seeds, urea, FMCG goods and farm produce. Airport retailing is another emerging area for retailers. Raheja Groups Shoppers Stop partnered with Nuance Group, a leading Swiss global retailer to set up retail outlets at Bangalore and Hyderabad airports. Airport retailing offers opportunities in luggage, clothing and related accessories, food and beverage and souvenirs. The growing tourism industry has created significant demand for retailers dealing in artifacts. Challenges Logistics infrastructure in India has always been a cause of concern for global retailers. Lukas Ruecker, who oversaw emerging market business as vice president at Staples commented that the overall logistics is so much more difficult from a port in Chennai or a port in Shanghai to stores. Sumant Sinha, CEO, Aditya Birla Retail, is of the view that the logistics and supply chain infrastructure has to be built from scratch; its really about creating a new industry. Indias retail industry seems promising but is tempered by the fact that the country is grappling with severe infrastructure and policy issues, says the CII in the report it produced with A. T. Kearney. Cold chains (distribution chains for perishable items), warehousing and logistics infrastructure will create problems for global retailers if the Indian government does not focus on infrastructure. The report also points at inadequate quality control and the lack of a skilled workforce in India. Global retailers would have to customize their formats to suit Indian conditions. The Government of India fears that entry of global retail giants could put many retailers in the unorganized sector out of business. However, discussions at various retail forums have often proved that there is enough space for organized and unorganized retail in the country. Inspite of repeated discussion on the issue at various government levels to further liberalize the retail sector, no headway had been made. Indian retailers in organized and unorganized sector had geared themselves to face global competition. The organized retailers have focused on mall space acquisition, store expansion and diversification into various formats in addition to above and below the line promotional activities. The unorganized sector has focused on value added services. A report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Confederation of Indian Industry mentioned that small retailers in India had inherent advantages. They were located next to the consumer, making it convenient for top-up purchases. They knew the consumers well, some even by name. The report further mentioned that fixed costs for small retailers was very low thereby reducing their breakeven point to as low as 46 % of sales. They were also focusing on re-organizing their stores and stocking new products. The road ahead for Wal-Mart Industry observers wonder whether the failure of Wal-Mart in three major countries can be taken as a backdrop to predict its future in India. Consumer Behaviour experts are of the view that global retailers would have to understand shopping behavior in India and provide answers to why should Indians consistently shop at foreign retail outlets? Asitava Sen, retail industry specialist, PricewaterhouseCoopers., sharing his views in an article mentioned, Infrastructure is a significant challenge, especially while managing fresh produce, where producers are fragmented and there is multiple level of intermediation causing waste of up to 30% to 40% in the supply chain. Real estate is scarce and expensive in comparison to the quality being offered. An inadequate supply of skilled and trained people is another significant challenge. [2]Â
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Teddy Roosevelt Essay example -- essays research papers
     Theodore Roosevelt, born October 27, 1858, was the United States’ twenty sixth President. Roosevelt was born into a wealthy and socially dominant family. Though he was a quick thinker and very bright, he was not very physically fit; Roosevelt had severe asthma attacks as a youth. (Andrews) Roosevelt attended Harvard College starting with a science major, but his eventual majors were law and politics. After graduating Harvard in 1880, Roosevelt married his first wife, had his first child, and lost his wife two weeks after the birth of their daughter on Valentines day 1884. He had also begun his career in politics, joining the Republican Party when they were treated like a private organization, having few credentials that were needed to become a member. (Roosevelt)      Roosevelt did many beneficial things for his country, both as the President and as a soldier. One of the key features in his life was his involvement with the â€Å"Rough Riders†during the Spanish-American War, from April of 1898 to September of 1898.      Prior to his involvement in the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt was the Secretary of the Navy. He resigned from that position to begin organizing the First Volunteer Calvary Regiment. 23,000 men from all parts of the United States of America; cowboys, Indians, NY policeman, Athletes from ivy league colleges and more, were eager to volunteer for the regiment. (Andrew) All of these patriots felt it was there duty to defend their country after the USS Maine had been bombed in Havana, with the blame on Spain. (Harbaugh) The majority of the men in the regiment, which was originally composed of 1000 men (Hill), were from the southwestern ranch country. These men were skilled wild horsemen, thus the regiment was given the name Rough Riders. (Roosevelt)      Roosevelt was offered the position of commander of the regiment but had to decline because he did not have the time to train the soldiers. He suggested that he work under Colonel Leonard Wood as a lieutenant colonel. (Hill) Wood had received the Medal of Honor for his military action in the capture of Apache chief Geronimo. (Harbaugh)      The first battle to ever take place during the Spanish-American War was the battle of Las Guasimas, which was a small village in Cuba.... ...and Roosevelt got his nomination for governor of New York. Which lead up to his outstanding accomplishments with the national parks and others. Andrew, Paul. T.R. Takes Charge, American History      Magazine, http://americanhistory.about.com/library/      prm/bltrtakescharge2.htm Andrews, Wayne. The Autobiography of Theodore      Roosevelt. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons,      1958. Harbaugh, William Henry. Power and Responsibility.      Chicago: American Book-     Stratford Press, 1961. Hill, Howard C. Roosevelt and the Caribbean. New York:      Russell & Russell, 1927 Jeffers, H. Paul. Colonel Roosevelt: Theodore Roosevelt      Goes to War, 1897-1898. New      York: John Wiley &      Sons, Inc., 1996 Roosevelt, Theodore. The Rough Riders, New York:      Charles Scribner’s sons, 1899;      Bartleby.com,      1997. www.bartleby.com/51/. Mar. 31, 2003
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Problems with Space Travel
There are a couple of problems arising from making interstellar space voyages. Two main problems are time and fuel energy required. Scientists still do not consider that space travel beyond Solar System is a physical possibility even by using powerful propulsion systems like fission rockets. In addition there is Einstein’s theory of relativity and concept of relative time. The former says that to attain the speed of light, the highest speed limit in nature, the mass has to increase to infinity – thus making the energy needed for this acceleration also to be infinite. While the concept of relative time states that if one travels faster, time travels slower, and theoretically when an object attains the speed of light the time stops completely. With the existence of these problems, the space travel to far away galaxies still seems a sci-fi concept (Ratliff, Kimball & Heraty n.d.) Propulsion Theories –Antimatter propulsion While the relative-time issue still remains a problem, scientists have proposed many solutions to overcome the problem of speed by suggesting alternative propulsion ideas. While some of the scientists focus on bettering the present chemical propulsion systems by introducing new techniques, some others have proposed an alternative to replace chemical propellant by antimatter (Ratliff, Kimball & Heraty n.d.) Theoretically every particle has its corresponding antiparticle, identical in nature but opposed in charge. When these oppositely charged particles combine they are converted into combination energy and other particle, the process is known as annihilation. Scientists are currently doing experiments to use this energy as a power source for spacecrafts. There are several methods to do this. One of them follows the principles of fission reactor and a steam engine. This method would provide twice of the present impulse to spacecrafts. A more complicated method used magnetic coils to direct the by-products of annihilation to provide the thrust, which would give an impulse of 10,000,000 million seconds but the thrust would be lower (Ratliff, Kimball & Heraty n.d.) While the method is very efficient, the main limitation of using the antimatter in the propulsion system is its price – one mg of antimatter may cost nearly one hundred billion dollars to produce. This is the major difficulty in the implementation of antimatter propulsion technology. (Ratliff, Kimball & Heraty n.d.) Research and Experiments Many experiments have been going on for making the propulsion scheme using Antimatter, to be more specific antiprotons, feasible in near future. Antimatter is generated in a handful of laboratories around the world. The laboratories in America include facilities such as Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. These laboratories produce antimatter by accelerating subatomic particles like protons near the speed of lights and then hit them against other target particles. The most famous of these laboratories is at CERN in Geneva. In fact the first antimatter particle was produced by a scientist names Carl Anderson in the year 1932 (Forward Blase 1997) The Antimatter particles are difficult to produce because of their inherent nature. The process of annihilation consists of making a contact between particles of antimatter with particles of matter. When this happens both are annihilated and energy is created. However, the synthesized antiatoms have lasted only 40 billionths of a second before their annihilation. The simplest antimatter atom to produce was Antihydrogen. This too took billion of dollars and decades of research. Even CERN, considered to be the most advanced laboratory, where this experiment was performed, agrees that the present method is far too expensive and that newer, faster and cheaper methods need to be researched or increasing the production of antimatter (Book Rags) The current worldwide, annual production of antimatter is only two billionths of a gram. Unless this number is increased multifold to the order of milligrams; the use of antimatter in space propulsion is not a viable option. This is because â€Å"at least several milligrams of antimatter is needed to fuel a beam core antimatter engine in local operations and several kilograms for interstellar travel to Alpha Centuri†(Persson 2007). Conclusion NASA has made an approximation that â€Å"the requirements for antimatter are on the scale of 1 to 100 micrograms per mission, which with the current infrastructure equates to an antiproton cost of $60 million to $6 billion.†(Schmidt Gerrish Martin n.d). However they also speculate that with the many research projects focused on the reduction of costs, the cost per mission could drop to $60 million per mission, or even lesser possibly less. At this rate the antimatter propulsion might become a feasible option for the future space voyages. References Book Rags, â€Å"Antimatter Propulsion†, http://www.bookrags.com/research/antimatter-propulsion-spsc-04/ Forward R L, Blasà © WP, â€Å"Advanced Space Propulsion Study – Antiproton and Beamed Power Propulsion†, 1997, http://www.transorbital.net/Library/D001_S01.html Leonard D, â€Å"Looking to Lasers, Microwaves and Antimatter for Space travel†, 26th November 2003, Tech Wednesday, http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/fof_physics_031126-1.html Persson J, â€Å"Antimatter Propulsion-Future Space Propulsion Systems†, 2007, http://www.thespacesite.com/space_antimatter_propulsion.html Ratliff S, Kimball K, Heraty G, â€Å"The Speed of light: How faster can we go†, http://www.cem.msu.edu/~cem181h/projects/98/lightspeed/group.htm#Theories:%20Propulsion Schmidt G R, Gerrish HP, Martin JJ, Smith GA, Meyer K J,  â€Å"Antimatter Production for Near-term Propulsion Applications†, NASA http://www.engr.psu.edu/antimatter/Papers/NASA_anti.pdf Â
Friday, November 8, 2019
Native American essayEssay Writing Service
Native American essayEssay Writing Service Native American essay Native American essayHistorically, relationships between European colonists and their descendants, on the one hand, and the native population of America, on the other, were extremely complex. Moreover, from the beginning of European colonization of America, Native Americans have become vulnerable to oppression and physical extinction because colonists wanted their lands and the pursuit of maximum profits moved settler westward wreaking havoc, diseases and destruction of the traditional lifestyle of Native Americans. Ironically, throughout the history of the development of relations between white Americans and Native Americans, the biased attitude to Native Americans emerged and white Americans had grown accustomed to view them as a threat but, in actuality, Native Americans were rather victims of white Americans, who oppressed Native Americans and forced them from their land causing numerous deaths and destruction of the traditional lifestyle of Native Americans.At this point, it is possible to refer to the film Soldier Blue (1970) which reveals the controversy of policies conducted by the whites as well as threats, which Native Americans exposed white Americans to.In fact, the film reveals the fact that the major problem of the failure of white Americans and Native Americans to build up normal, positive relations was not the irresistible desire of white Americans to occupy lands of Native Americans to rip off maximum profits at costs of Native Americans, but the main cause of conflicts between Native Americans and white Americans was the enormous gap between their cultures and the lack of effective communication between them. The main character of the film Cresta Lee seems to be the only person, who understands Native Americans and knows how to behave to build up friendly relations with them. At the same time, she is fully aware that Native Americans are different from white Americans and what is natural for Native Americans may be extremely cruel for white Am ericans. For instance, when she almost forces Honus to fight the chief of Kiowa horsemen, he is aware that this may be the only way for them to survive. As Honus wins and wounds the chief severely, he is unable to kill him but chief’s people kill their leader in place. Honus is shocked with such cruelty but Native Americans take it for granted. In fact, this episode may be key to understanding the difference between Native Americans and white Americans and why white Americans perceived Native Americans as a threat. Obviously, white Americans were appalled by the cruelty of some of the rites practiced by Native Americans. For instance, if they witnessed executions exercised by Native Americans, they could believe that Native Americans represent a threat to them too. However, the problem was that white Americans did not understand motives and reasons of actions of Native Americans, who just lived their life with respect to their traditions and cultural norms and they saw nothin g wrong in their behavior. In contrast, white Americans failed to understand Native Americans and perceived them as a threat. Moreover, white Americans did not fully understand Native Americans and their belief that Native Americans represented a threat for them was, to a significant extent erroneous. The film clearly shows that if only white Americans could understand Native Americans just as well as Cresta Lee did it, they would have never viewed them as a threat and they would have never fought or oppressed them. However, the lack of understanding of Native Americans, their traditions and lifestyle, became the main cause of conflicts between them and white Americans. The latter preferred to expel Native Americans instead of integrating them into their communities or preserving equal relations between Native American and white communities. To oppress and eliminate the threat was apparently better solution for white Americans of that time, then negotiating and developing cultural t ies with Native Americans, whom they treated as absolutely inferior. As a result, the policy of oppression of Native Americans became the core of the US policy in relation to the native population of American until the 20th century, when their rights have been finally recognized and the revisionist policies have started and the film Soldier Blue is the sample of revisionist western which attempts to revise the conventional view on Native Americans and relationships between Native Americans and white Americans.Stereotyped, biased view of white Americans on Native Americans as a threat to their safety was the major driver of the oppressive policies conducted by white Americans throughout the 19th century, when such oppression became disastrous for the native population of America, which was relocated and those Native Americans, who survived the relocation, were settled in reservations. In this regard, the biased view on Native Americans can be clearly traced throughout the film Soldie r Blue, where one of the main characters, Honus, personifies prejudices and biases against Native Americans. He views them as villains, although he does not even know him. In this regard, Cresta is quite different because she does know Native Americans and she does not have fear or repulsion in regard to Indians. On the contrary, throughout the film she manifests her respect to them and attempts to defend them from the unfair massacre that the US troop is about to launch.White Americans perceived Native Americans as absolutely inferior and from the beginning of the colonist-Indian interaction, white settlers attempted to exploit Native Americans teaching them European technologies .At this point, it is possible to refer to judgments the US military officers including Cresta’s fiancà © make of Native Americans. They treat them as mere brutes, who are not worth of their attention but they believe that Native Americans have to be exterminated because they bear some threat to th em, which they cannot even adequately explain. Such supremacist attitude to Native American explains their oppressive policies in relation to Native Americans. White Americans did not view Native Americans worth much negotiations, it was much easier for white Americans, who had much better developed technology, military, and economy, to relocate Native Americans from their land or simply eliminate them physically, than negotiate with them. This is why, to prevent the rising tension, the US Congress implemented the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Formally, the main reason for the introduction of the act was the decrease of the tension between white settler and Native Americans on the frontier. However, the major reason was the elimination of what white Americans and the US officials perceived to be the Indian threat. White Americans were just afraid of attacks form the part of Native Americans and the relocation of Native Americans became the preventive measure to secure white Americans, although this measure cost lives of a large part of the native population of America living on the territory of the US.Native American essay part 2
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
How To Perfect Social Listening With Joei Chan From Mention
How To Perfect Social Listening With Joei Chan From Mention Your customers use social media to talk about your industry, competitors, and brand. They provide valuable information that you can use to generate content ideas, understand why they go elsewhere, and prevent PR disasters. That’s why social listening is so important. Today, we’re talking to Joei Chan content marketing manager from Mention. She shares some examples, tips, and advice that will help you capitalize on social listening opportunities. Some of the highlights of the show include: Mention is a Web and social media listening tool for brands to track online conversations and listen to key topics and strategies for brand development. Joei leads content marketing partnerships to generate demands and leads for the sales and marketing team. Social listening is monitoring online conversations to understand what customers are saying and collect feedback about your brand and industry. Part of social listening involves understanding keywords and topics that your audience is talking about. Tracking when your company name or brand is mentioned. Also, track content marketing for keywords used in your industry. Identify keywords and topics that focus on your goals. Social listening is important for marketers to understand and care about because they need to know their target audience. Is what you have in mind when it comes to your audience, reality? Is your perception accurate? Social listening also helps you track campaign effectiveness. How far is the reach? Brand sentiment? Social listening can be used to improve campaigns and content by understanding what platforms your customers are using and what kind of content interests them. Also, utilize content directly from your customers to generate engagement. There are a lot of opportunities that you can discover by listening to what your customers are saying, and then tailor your content based on those conversations. User-Generated Content: For example, you can tie into users who like to show off your product after using it by asking them to use a specific hashtag or encourage them to generate specific types of content. It is a team effort between you and the customers. You can highlight and leverage user-generated content in various ways to promote your brand. Share entertaining and humorous content, even if it is your own expense and you need to welcome humility. Every brand messes up once in awhile. Embrace your failures and be authentic about it. Use social listening to find and build your audience. Understand your audience and give them content that interests and engages them. Listen and react to them in real-time. Competitive Analysis and Monitoring: Gather information on your competition. Your brand and products are never alone and always compared with others. What are your competitors doing that you can learn from? Inbound Marketing and Social Listening: Attract people to your brand through brand awareness and brand perception. What works in your favor? Your social media presence/reputation and positive reviews. If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Joei: â€Å"I get to talk to a lot of other awesome marketersand work with a ton of different, great marketing companies and learn from them.†â€Å"Social listening is monitoring online conversations to understand what customers are saying about your brand and your industry.†â€Å"The only thing that defines your brand is what people think, what people are saying. This is why social listening is critical for marketers.†â€Å"There are a lot of opportunities that you can discover by listening closely to what your customers are saying.â€
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Descartes and Certainty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Descartes and Certainty - Essay Example Descartes opens himself to the possibility of rejecting the beliefs he has adopted early in life without proof down to the ones that lay foundation on his belief system. Descartes starts off by questioning his physical and spiritual existence. He checks for the veracity of his possessing a body and soul. His doubts escalate to the properties of objects such as dimension, color, quantity, and the place and time during which they exist. Afterwards and quite quickly, Descartes jumps into the subject of the existence of God, which also appears in a separate meditation - Meditation III. One may ask, "Why does Descartes' questioning on the existence of God appear so early in Meditation I" After attempting to prove his existence, Descartes tries to prove the existence of God or what he refers to as Deity. To him the ability to prove God's existence is the most significant goal the failure of which implied inability to prove everything else. This is how important the goal is to him. To a believer like Descartes, conceiving of ideas and existence of other things is only possible with God. It seems impossible to comprehend a world without a God. The existence of God simplifies the laws of nature, and answers the questions as to why the universe behaves the way it does. From his writings, it is clear that Descartes believes in God. Meditation II gives us a clearer view of Descartes' "I think therefore I am." Note that in Meditation I, Descartes' doubts concerning life, the universe and everything are strengthened by the contemplation of an "omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent" God being a deceiver. In many of his musings, Descartes bumps into skepticism but rejected it right away. At length, Descartes goes about his uncertainties and contradicts them to be able to get to his desired answer. He talks about intuition of the mind arguing that objects and bodies should be perceived not by the senses or imagination but by the intellect alone. Meditation III reveals Descartes advancing in his method of finding truth by forming a basis of certainty - the clear and distinct. To quote: "In this first knowledge, doubtless, there is nothing that gives me assurance of its truth except the clear and distinct perception of what I affirm". By "clear and distinct" he refers to objects that were not only perceived by his senses and ideas that formed in his mind but also objects whose existence was external to him. Despite this, Descartes cannot help doubting. As he progresses towards certainty, a new question forms in his mind and the process becomes circular. Descartes answers his metaphysical doubt by proving that God exists and is not a deceiver. Once he has proven the existence of God then everything else will follow. He treats the existence of God in the context of the existence of the material world. He uses wax as an example - extending it, melting it and so on and applies the same process of thought with God or Deity, for that matter. How ever little that metaphysical doubt, it has to be eliminated in order to witness the certainty of the existence of things. Descartes has to convince us that God or the evil genius has not merely enticed him into thinking that something can't emerge from nothing. Descartes attempts to make his point by dealing with contradictions. He uses
Friday, November 1, 2019
The Pentateuch Torah Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
The Pentateuch Torah - Essay Example Why was Abraham chosen It does not reflect on the reason. Yet such a choice shows that either god did not know what he was doing or that what he has befriended is just a manner of showing how priviledged a person could be to be a messenger of god for no reason apparent but that god 'feels' like choosing him. Also, if Abraham was the father of all prophets and has his descendants to be kings and prophets and the chosen people among humans who will carry out the love and message of god to all his creations, then why bestow it on his children Why wasn't the choosing of a prophet something relying on intellect from people who have exhibited understanding of the universe by sole understanding through and by themselves which makes them deserve such choice Why is it that children who were only lucky to be children of prophetic parents and messengers of god get the priviledge of being prophets in return without having to seek it at all in their life Is it because god sees that they will be raised a good raise and that they will be directed to the right path since their childhood and that they will never have to exert effort to make people like or fight for their purpose after paining efforts to convince them but that god will do that for them What is the reason of such priviledge Also, why is it that Moses believes that his brother aaron could be more of an orator to the pharaoh other than himself whom he fears might complicate things and not deliver the message properly because he has killed someone against their fight with an Israelite Isn't he a child of god And why does he face a stained reputation as a killer of someone who is not Israelite when god could have given him the reputation worthy of kings without having to kill someone to face the pharaoh in such as the manner indicated in the torah(the fear of confrontation and of being killed) Also, why is it that such a person has to live away from his family and friends when he has to become a prophet Why does a prophet seek seclusion to meet god and talk to him Why couldn't he do it in public Why leave out all the other people Why would god want this Why would he want people to believe in his presence without seeing him and for prophets such as Moses to see him to confirm to them that what they are delivering from messages of god to ordinary people is not a hoax to them What is the purpose The Pentateuch has some difficulties to be confronted throughout reading it, one of the major difficulties are understanding the linguistics and vocabulary of the language which has been evolving throughout the ages of its writing and exposure to changes of social and understanding of the world and universe when explaining the world to people who know nothing beyond what is in the papers of the book, the Pentateuch The torah has problems such as understanding what the word of god is and how extremely important it is. Giving the followers of Moses the privilidge of talking to people and saying that they are the chosen children of god, why are they massacred throughout history and hated so much Is it because of the ancestors' misunderstanding of the torah and of Moses and his teachings when he returned back from the mountain after having spoken to god about the teachings which must be ruling the earth Why haven't they accepted it Why has god chosen a people
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)