Survey of Economics Essay Example For Students

Survey of Economics Essay Professor Thomas Andrew Lett Salem International University October 22nd, 2017 Barriers to entry into an industry or business are economies of scale, product differentiation, capital requirements, switching costs and government policies. Some other barriers include cost disadvantages and access to distribution channels. Start up business may look to enter business with high barriers which will be hard to overcome. Economies of scale are decreasing unit costs of a product. This will force an entrant to either come in at a large or small scale. Entering at large scale would be risky as incumbents would have major reactions to it causing the entry to be a failure. Small scale entry may result in small scale disadvantages in cost. Product differentiation is where companies have established brand loyalties which in result forces entrants to have to spend mass amounts to overcome the issue. Marketing resources will be needed as the small start-up will need them to establish effective positioning. We will write a custom essay on Survey of Economics specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Capital requirements are required for infrastructure, machinery, RD, and advertising. Startups can get around these financial resources by outsourcing to companies. Government policies are a major barrier as they force you to obey them. If not, fines and loss of business will be the result. Regulations are ever changing and many things require special licenses to obtain equipment or sell certain products. This makes it very hard for startups to succeed. Reference(s): Barriers to entry: factors preventing startups entry to a market. (n. d.). Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://www.marsdd.com/mars-library/barriers-to-entry-factors-preventing-startups-from-entering-a-market/

Disneyland Resort Paris

Disneyland Resort Paris Introduction The Disneyland Paris Resort is one of the many theme parks of Disney destinations situated in different parts of the world. As the name suggests Disneyland Resort Paris is located at the outcasts of Paris the capital city of France in a place called Marne-la-Vallee. Among the numerous Disneyland Resorts, the Disney Paris resort is attributed to be the most challenging resort.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Disneyland Resort Paris specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the year 2006, the Disneyland Paris had three parks that included; the Disney land Paris, the Disney Studio Park, and the Disney village. The Disney village incorporated restaurants and stores while the Disney Paris hosted the theme park itself and the Disney Studio Park was more centered on movie making concepts (Sehlinger and Testa, 2010). Factors that influenced the location of Disneyland Paris Resort Prior to its current location of Marn e-la-Vallee, at the outskirts of Paris the Disney Company had considered a number of promising and potential locations across Europe, which could be used to proposed Disney Park resort. The major countries that were under consideration were Germany, Britain, France, Spain, and Italy. After considerations and discarding of some countries off the list of contenders, the two countries that remained were France and Spain. Spain chances were boosted by its climate, which resembled that of Florida, a state in which one of the Disney resort is located. However, France carried the day after careful consideration of various factors. The availability of a suitable site that was strategically located on the outskirts of Paris was a crucial factor that was used to determine the Disney resort location. The strategic location of the proposed site as a factor was boosted by the fact that millions of people could access the proposed Disney resort in a matter of hours regardless of if one is driving or taking a flight. This therefore presented a golden opportunity to the Disney Company of tapping the vast unexploited customer base. The good infrastructure system that was coming in and going out of the proposed Disney resort site was also another crucial factor that weighed in deciding France to be the Disney resort destination of choice.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More France was about to be connected with England by a channel tunnel that was due to be opened in 1994 thus offering an additional infrastructure route that was bound to increase the customer base. In addition to this, the site connection with the rest of Europe could be facilitated by the high-speed TGV network and the French autoroutes network (Sehlinger and Testa, 2010). Paris, being one of the favorite tourist and vacation destinations in the world, was bound to rhyme with the idea of a Disne y resort that related to a vacation destination in one way or the other (Sehlinger and Testa, 2010). The favorable tourist turnover in the region was a motivating factor to its location in Paris. According to a research carried out, majority of citizens in France embraced the idea of a Disney park in France. In addition to this, both the national and local governments in France had gone a step further by offering financial incentives and even expropriation of land from its citizens all with an aim of facilitating smooth construction process of the Disney Park. Difficulties faced in the running of Disney Paris Challenges that faced the Disney Paris were eminent and rocked the park even on its opening date. On the opening date, the smooth opening of the park was park commuter trains’ strikes and to make the matters worse a bomb had exploded on the night to the opening date. The expected 500,000 people on the opening date were down sized to 50,000 people who attended. The protes ts from the neighboring villages on the noise arising from the park only added more woes to the just established Disney Paris. In the early days of its operations, Disney Paris recorded a low number of visitors as opposed to their expectation. The anticipation of more French visitors as compared to the visitors from other countries turned out to be nightmare for the newly constructed Disney Park in France (McGuigan, 2004, p. 69). The low attendance of guest was attributed to the protests that were conducted by the neighboring villages and the fear possess by the French citizens of losing their culture.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Disneyland Resort Paris specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For instance, a glass of wine was vital while eating according to the French visitors but unfortunately, the Disney Paris was an alcohol-free park. In addition to this, the hotel rooms at the park were expensive with prices rangi ng from 110 380 dollars per night (Anon, 2011). The initial weeks of operations in the Disney Paris were filled with a huge number of employees’ resignations. Numerous reasons were stated regarding the resignations that were going on but majority of them were directed to the chaotic operations of the park (McGuigan, 2009, p. 45). The situation was made worse late in the same year when Europe was hit by a recession thereby making property value to drop. This situation forced EuroDisney to experience financial crisis. Reference List Anon. 2011. Case Study: The Not-So-Wonderful World of EuroDisney. Web. McGuigan, J., 2009. Cultural Analysis. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. McGuigan, J., 2004. Rethinking cultural policy. NY: McGraw-Hill International. Sehlinger, B. and Testa, L., 2010. Unofficial Guide to Disneyland Paris. London: John Wiley and Sons.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More

Unity between Human and Nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Unity between Human and Nature - Essay Example There have been scholarly attempts and terms that come from study of nature. For instance, nature-deficit-disorder is a term, which has been coined to describe the increasing gap between nature and modern day children/adults (Louv, 42). This has caused emergence of mixed reactions where a section of world adults have spoken in tones of heartfelt emotions, others have spoken in anger tones and others have spoken out about the loss they have experienced because of the growing gap between humanity and nature. A natural world is crucial to human spirit, well-being, health, and general survival. This has been put in perspective in the Nature Principle, a book by Richard Louv which describes categorically uniting theories in addition to reconciliation of old truths (Louv, 45). The Nature Principle will therefore form part of the underpinning argument in this paper. The perspective that Nature principle proponents have adopted, seek answers to scenarios that portray people adopting and embracing dearly technological developments at the cost of nature. This has led to creation of efforts that would contribute to creation of a life-enhancing world, a real world that is not characteristic of the imaginary future but a world that humanity upholds and respects nature. To show the magnitude of humanity’s shift from nature to technological developments, research conducted in 2008 revealed that half of the world’s population resided in cities and towns. Traditional and conservative ways that embraced nature and experienced by humanity before are gradually vanishing along with the aspect of biodiversity (Louv, 42). Technological development and advancement has been embraced and believed to the core by modern day society and this portrays a venture with no limits where humanity is gradually drifting towards a circuitry sea. The world media has transformed a vast number of people into consuming creations of artificial life, combination of human DNA and bacteria; microscopic technological machines premeditated to enter human anatomies to counter biological intruders or to create and move deadly war clouds across areas experiencing conflicts and war. The issues of realities based on computerized-augmentation and futuristic household structures surrounded by virtual realities transmitted from variant walls have emerged (Louv, 44). There are a number of futurists and inventors who have tried to reverse humanity’s embrace on nature and therefore proposing that humanity should adopt technological developments and life. Ray Kurzweil an American author, inventor, scientist, and a futurist who forecasts an era of transhuman/posthuman where humanity will be enhanced optimally by technology. He has been involved in fields that include recognition of Optical character (OCR), synthesis of text-to-speech, technology on speech recognition and electronic-based key board instruments. Kurzweil has authored various books like Artificial Intelligence, futurism, and Technological singularity and these form the bases of his technological arguments (Louv, 43). Other personalities that have embraced futuristic thinking include Dick Steven of NASA who describes the post-biological universe where a large chunk of the intelligent life is budding and continues to evolve beyond the usual blood and flesh intelligence (Louv, 44). Steven is NASA’s chief historian and has been involved in numerous NASA projects in aeronautics, spaceflights, and Robots. This paper is not against the

Product Life Cycle (Response 3) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Product Life Cycle (Response 3) - Assignment Example At the next level, is the life cycle of a specific product form – iPhone 4 -- within this larger product category. Finally, is the brand product life cycle which is given an adjustable managerial approach to keep it in the market at its value. The observed trend in the case of iPhone 4 is expected because the individual brand is the focus of management’s decisions(Hunt,2010). As marketing managers observe changes in the sales of their brands like in the case of iPhone 4, particularly if sales are perceived to be declining, changes are made in one or more elements of the marketing mix. These changes are focused towards offsetting, or reversing, sales declines. If successful, the declining sales trend always corrects itself, at least for a period of time. However, sales will again eventually decline and changes will again be made to some aspect of the marketing program (Hunt,2010). It should be apparent that these ongoing decisions to change elements of marketing programs will cause the trend or sales curves for individual brands to bounce around considerably. However, because the sales curves for many brands are summed to create the life cycle for the associated product form, and the curves for multiple product forms are summed to yield the life cycle for the entire product category, these latter two curves tend to be less erratic. This explains the consistency of iPhone 4 in its

What would be the risk to society if doctors were to participate in Research Paper

What would be the risk to society if doctors were to participate in physician-assisted suicide - Research Paper Example ss negligence on their part or even a sinful act which shall deter the basis of growth and harmony across the ranks within the society (Donnelly, 1998). The doctors have to be answerable to the society for all their acts and if they commit their own selves within such domains, then there would be no one to find out the true sanctity that is related with this profession. The physician-assisted suicide is essentially an act that must be abhorred from the outset of such discussions as it disqualifies as a morally acceptable act at any cost (Gorsuch, 2006). This is much needed because it sets the basis of finding out where anomalies happen and how these could be avoided so that the essence of a true civilized society remains in tact no matter how difficult the times might become. The doctors must comprehend that their duty is much more than just healing. They have to be accountable to their conscience as

Antonio Gramscis Theory of Hegemony

Antonio Gramscis Theory of Hegemony Hegemony is the processes by which dominant culture maintains its dominant position: for example, the use of institutions to formalize power; the employment of a bureaucracy to make power seem abstract (and, therefore, not attached to any one individual); the inculcation of the populace in the ideals of the hegomonic group through education, advertising, publication, etc.; the mobilization of a police force as well as military personnel to subdue opposition. In international relations, there is a consolidated tradition that associates hegemony and world order. Nevertheless, the relation between the two variables, their interpretation, and the direction of the causal link between them, is still a matter of scholarly debate. The definition of hegemony and an empire has been hotly debated over the past few decades. Some believe hegemony is a tactic to avoid the word empire and the negative connotations that are associated with it. Others believe that a hegemony is a more technical, well thought out form of an empire. Some believe it is a lesser form of imperialism. Although one thing that is not disputed is the fact that hegemony very well is a form of dominance over a smaller, weaker nation, and no matter what one may call it, or how it may be approached, dominance will continue to flourish through the ages. Referring to the organization of the international system after the Second World War, Kindleberger argued that stensibly, the system was organized by rules and international institutions. In reality, it was led by the United States In this essay, Antonio Gramscis hegemony approach will be deeply analysed and examined and also compared and contrasted with the others approaches. GRAMSCIS THEORY OF HEGEMONY In order to understand Gramsci and the concept of hegemony, one has to look briefly at the work of Karl Marx. Marxism viewed everything in life as determined by capital. (Williams, R. 1977) The flow of money affects our relations with other people and the world surrounding us. Marx stated that everything around us, our activities and way of life is determined by economic content. According to Marxism, men find themselves born in a process independent of their will, they cannot control it, they can seek only to understand it and guide their actions accordingly. (Williams, R. 1977) The class struggle was an important part of Marxism. Marxism stated that society can only be understood in terms of a system where the dominant ideas are formulated by the ruling class to secure its control over the working class. (Williams, R. 1977) Due to exploitation, the working class will eventually try and change this situation through revolution producing its own ideas as well as its own industrial and political organization. Marxs work is highly influenced by economic reasoning. He divides this economic reasoning into two levels, being the base and superstructure. The base is composed by the material production, money, objects, the relations of production and the stage of development of productive forces. (Williams, R. 1977) The superstructure is where we find the political and ideological institutions, our social relations, set of ideas; our cultures, hopes, dreams and spirit. (Williams, R. 1977) Both the base and superstructure are shaped by capital. While one could say that Marx was primarily concerned with the base and economic issues, Gramscis work seeks to focus on the superstructure and ideologies. For Gramsci, the class struggle must always involve ideas and ideologies. These ideas would lead to a revolution and to change. Gramsci tried to build a theory which recognized the autonomy, independence and importance of culture and ideology. (Ransome, P. 1992) Gramsci took the superstructure a step further when he divided it into institutions that were coercive and those that were not. The coercive ones, were basically the public institutions such as the government, police, armed forces and the legal system which he regarded as the state or political society and the non-coercive ones were the others such as the churches, the schools, trade unions, political parties, cultural associations, clubs and family, which he regarded as civil society. (Boggs, C. 1976) So for Gramsci, society was made up of the relations of production as w ell as the state or political society and civil society. Gramsci accepted the analysis of capitalism put forward by Marx and accepted that the struggle between the ruling class and the subordinate working class was the driving force that moved society forward. (Boggs, C. 1976) Gramsci did not agree with the notion put forward by Marx that the ruling class stayed in power solely because they had economic power. He thus introduced his own concept using ideology. Ideology is the shared ideas or beliefs which serve to justify the interests of dominant groups. (Boggs, C. 1976) Gramsci felt that ideological power kept the ruling class in power because it allowed them to brainwash and manipulate the rest of society. Ideology is the cohesive force which binds people together. Ideology, like hegemony must not only express the class interests of the capitalist or working class. Gramsci insists that ideology has a material nature in the social lives of individuals, as ideologies are embedded in communal modes of living and acting. (R. Simon, 1992) This means that ideologies are embodied in the social practices of individuals and in the institutions and organizations within which these social practices take place. Ideology provides people with the rules of practical conduct and moral behavior. Ideological power stems from norms or shared understandings of how people should act morally in their relations with each other. (R. Simon, 1992) Those who monopolize ideological power have authority over others. Subordinate groups tend to accept the ideas and values of the dominant group without physical or mental influence because they know no better or there are not other alternatives. (Ransome, P. 1992) From Gramscis view, the bourgeoisie gained and maintained power due to economic domination and intellectual and moral leadership. Here, Gramsci introduced a new concept which he called hegemony. Hegemony is a set of ideas by means of which dominant groups strive to secure the consent of subordinate groups to their leadership. (Ransome, P. 1992) It occurs when dominant classes in society maintain their dominance persuading the other classes of society to accept their moral, political and cultural values. This means that the majority in a population give consent to policies and ideologies implemented by those in power. One must not assume that this consent is always willing. Those in power may combine physical force or coercion with intellectual, moral and cultural persuasion. (Ransome, P. 1 992) The dominant ideology is thus accepted, practiced and spread. Hegemony emerges out of social and class struggles and serves to shape and influence people. According to Gramsci, hegemony never disappears but is constantly changed. He describes two forms of social control. The first type is coercive control which is achieved through the use of direct force or threat of force. (Simon, R. 1992) The second type is consensual control which arises when individuals voluntarily adopt the worldview of the dominant group. (Simon, R. 1992) Gramsci says that within civil society, the dominant group exercises hegemony which is intellectual domination over the subordinate group or consensual control, whereas in political society, domination is exercised through state or juridical government or coercive control. (Gramsci, A. 1971) These functions are very much interlinked in the sense that intellectual domination is usually preceded by political domination. Social hegemony and political government are enforced historically in which the dominant group enjoys its position because of its function in the world of production and legally by state coercive power which enforces discipline on groups that do not consent. (Gramsci, A. 1971) This gives rise to a division of labor or specialization and to a whole hierarchy of qualifications. Gramsci stated that the only way the working class can achieve hegemony is if it takes into account the interests of other groups and social forces and finds ways of combining them with its own interests. (Ransome, P. 1992) In other words, the working class will need to build alliances with social minorities, taking into account their struggles against the capital class, thus strengthening the position of the working class. The labour process was at the center of the class struggle but it was the ideological struggle that had to be addressed if the mass of the people were to come to a realization that allowed them to question their political and economic rulers right to rule. Hegemony is exercised in civil society which is a tangle of class struggles and democratic struggles. (Simon, R. 1992) Hegemony in civil society must achieve leadership in the sphere of production taken up by the bourgeoisie, controlling the productive process and achieving state power. Those who have economic power have a strong link to political power and vice versa. Those who monopolize control over economic production, distribution, exchange and consumption is the dominant class which has the most power. A change in hegemony may occur when the dominant class begins to break up, creating an opportunity for the subordinate classes to merge and build up a movement capable of challenging the weakened dominant class and achieving hegemony. But, if this opportunity is not taken, then the dominant class has the opportunity to reorganize new alliances and reestablish hegemony. Hegemony goes beyond culture which is the whole social process in which people define and shape their lives. It is bases in ideology which is a system of meanings and values that expresses a particular class interest. (Simon, R. 1992) In order to create a class strong enough to have hegemony, one has to first instill a solid ideology based on specific interests that will dominate the rest of society, using the influence of capitalist relations. Gramsci felt that in order to have hegemony, ideologies have to be instilled by certain people or leaders. Gramsci identified intellectuals as leaders in society. He identified two types of intellectuals. The first is traditional intellectuals who are people that regard themselves as independent of the dominant social group and are regarded as such by the majority of the population. (Gramsci, A. 1971) The second type is the organic intellectual. This is the group that grows organically with the ruling class, and is their thinking and organizing element. (Gramsci, A. 1971) They were produced by the educational system to perform a function for the dominant social group in society. It is through this group that the ruling class maintains its hegemony over the rest of society.

The Theme of Inner Conflict in Toni Morrisons Tar Baby Essay -- Tar B

      Toni Morrison's Tar Baby, is a novel about contentions and conflicts based on learned biases and prejudices. These biases exist on a race level, gender level, and a class level. The central conflict, however, is the conflict within the main character, Jadine. This conflict, as Andrew W. A. LaVallee has suggested, is the conflict of the "race traitor."2 It is the conflict of a woman who has discarded her heritage and culture and adopted another trying to reconcile herself to the "night women" who want to bring back "the prodigal daughter."      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first of the contentions is that of race. As New York Times Book Review correspondent John Irving aptly puts it: "Miss Morrison uncovers all the stereotypical racial fears felt by whites and blacks alike." Prejudice exists between the white and black people in the house; between the black people of the house; the black people and the local populace. Sydney and Ondine Childs, the Cook and Butler in the house of Valerian Street, feel superior to the local black populace. Sydney remarks twice on how he is "A genuine Philadelphia Negro mentioned in the book of that name" (284). Part of this feeling of superiority might be class-related. The Childs' are very proud of their positions in the Street house-they are industrious and hardworking. The Dominique blacks are to them "swamp women" or "horsemen"--depersonalized figures. This is most apparent in their ignorance of their help's names--they dub Gideon, Thà ©rà ¨se, and Alma Està ©e "Yardman" an d "the Marys." At Christmas dinner Valerian adds epithets calling them "Thà ©rà ¨se the Thief and Gideon the Get Away Man." (201). But as Judylyn Ryan points out, "Both the superordinate and the subordinate exercise this prerogative of nam... ....38/.black/.bmorris.html LaVallee, Andrew W. A. "'Faces as Black as His But Smug'-The Race Traitor in Morrison's Tar Baby." Online Internet. 1 May, 1997. Available: http://ocaxp1.cc.oberlin.edu/~alavalle/morrison.html Moon, Yonghee. "Rootedness." Paraphrase. Online. Internet. 1 May. 1997. Available: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~yongmoon/root.html Morrison, Toni. "An Interview with Toni Morrison." With Tom LeClair.Anything Can Happen: Interviews with Contemporary American Novelists. Ed. Tom LeClair and Larry McCaffery. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1983. 252-61. Ryan, Judylyn S. "Contested Visions/Double-Vision in Tar Baby." Modern Fiction Studies Volume 39. N3&4. Fall/Winter 1993. 597-621. "Toni Morrison," Contemporary Authors, Gale Research, 1993. Online. Internet. Available: http://www.en.utexas.edu/~mmaynard/Morrison/tarbaby.html