What Have You Found Interesting About Churchill’s Use Of Language In The Following Extract Free Essays

The concentrate I have decided to examine is from the Methuen book, Top Girls, page 111 (When Mrs.Kidd enters) through until when she leaves towards the finish of page 112. During this concentrate the crowd is presented to two significant varying social classes. We will compose a custom paper test on What Have You Found Interesting About Churchill’s Use Of Language In The Following Extract or on the other hand any comparative theme just for you Request Now Mrs.Kidd is an immense differentiation to Marlene, as she is very expressive, though Marlene’s language is somewhat less proper for the working environment. Clearly the two characters are of varying social classes, because of their names. Mrs.Kidd is the main individual in the play given a last name, and her forename is Rosemary, which represents a white collar class foundation. Marlene, on the opposite is a name more connected with common laborers foundations, as appeared in a hit TV arrangement called, â€Å"Only Fools and Horses† in which a lady of regular workers foundation is spoken to. I believe that the two lady speak to the two fundamental social gatherings of the nineteen eighties England, one a white collar class housewife totally steady of her significant other and conventionalist sees on ‘a woman’s place’ in the public arena, and the other an average workers profession lady who has made her own particular manner to progress, without the guide of a man, she is in Mrs.Kidd’s eyes at any rate, â€Å"†¦one of those ball breakers/†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mrs.Kidd’s goals are hazy to Marlene until she comes straight with it, she says to Marlene, â€Å"The reality is he’s in a condition of stun. About what’s happened.† Marlene is amazed and doesn’t comprehend what she implies, until she clarifies precisely what she implies, â€Å"I’m alluding to you being named chief rather than Howard.† Marlene answers to Howard’s resting issues with mockery, â€Å"Has he thought of taking resting pills.† I imagine that Churchill suggests that Marlene doesn’t truly care and that it isn’t her concern. Mrs.Kidd then proceeds to state that Howard merited the activity, in light of the fact that he’d, â€Å"†¦worked all these years.† Experience, anyway isn’t as significant in the cutting edge time of work, when capabilities bear more noteworthiness on a request for employment than experience. Marlene alludes to this as one of business’ ‘little setbacks’. I imagine that Churchill endeavors to make this line into an extremely powerful second, as Marlene herself had a misfortune as her little girl, Angie, whom she offered up to her senior sister, which empowered her to bob back. I imagine that the power would be lost as the discussion would be acted at an incensed pace and the crowd wouldn’t have adequate opportunity to respond and identify with Marlene. Marlene adopts an expert strategy to the discussion, utilizing formal language and keeping her cool all through the discussion, and guarantees that Mrs.Kidd brings down the tone, so she can't be criticized by her senior partners, for managing the circumstance inaccurately. Mrs.Kidd appears to be as a rule prejudicial towards her own sex, when she says, â€Å"What’s it going to do to him working for a woman?† This inquiry infers that Mrs.Kidd doesn’t have faith in balance in the working environment and again fortifies her white collar class traditionalistic perspectives on a woman’s place in the public eye. Marlene’s answer is a controlled indication of her disappointment at Mrs.Kidd’s numbness towards the condition of the advanced working environment. I believe that Mrs.Kidd’s next lines show that Churchill doesn’t wish to show her as an individual, yet more as a section or ownership of her significant other, Howard. Marlene feels for Howard, saying that she’ll be careful and wonderful, however for Mrs.Kidd, this isn’t enough, she takes it excessively far by saying, â€Å"I think it is unique, on the grounds that he’s a man.† I believe that this strong articulation chafes Marlene, yet she figures out how to suppress her feelings. I think this is likewise utilized by Churchill to show to the crowd Mrs.Kidd’s naivety to the cutting edge working environment. Marlene shows up ambushed in her reaction, â€Å"I’m not exactly sure why you came to see me.† As she feels that Mrs.Kidd has not accomplished anything positive and has only made a numb-skull of herself and her better half. Mrs.Kidd seems to have understood that she hasn’t accomplished anything, and is practically surrendering, when she says, â€Å"I needed to do something.† I imagine that Marlene endeavors to identify with Mrs.Kidd, when she says, â€Å"I’m sorry he’s taking it out on you. He truly is a poop, Howard.† Since she utilizes harsh language towards him, I think she is accusing Howard and attempting to reveal to Mrs.Kidd that it isn’t her concern totally, and that Howard needs to manage his own issues. Mrs.Kidd then attempts to convey another weapon, passionate coerce, she says, â€Å"But he’s got a family to support.† Inferring that they need the cash more than Marlene, who is a solitary lady. At that point she recommends that Marlene surrenders the activity, saying, â€Å"It’s just fair.† I think this derivation sends Marlene into a condition of stun as she answers, â€Å"Are you proposing I surrender the activity to him then?† Mrs.Kidd feels that Marlene has at long last noticed what she has said and that she has prevailing in her mission to pick up her better half the activity. Marlene gets fierce and lacks the capacity to deal with Mrs.Kidd, when Mrs.Kidd says, â€Å"I’m not asking.† Despite the fact that she outrightly is, to which Marlene answers snidely and proceeds to disclose to her that, â€Å"If he doesn’t like what’s occurring here he can proceed to work some place else.† Mrs.Kidd now gets infuriated and begins heaving maltreatment at Marlene, however the language has no impact on Marlene, who in the end says, â€Å"Could you please piss off.† In spite of the fact that this is oppressive, I imagine that Churchill needs it to have the impact of showing to the crowd that Marlene is in charge of the circumstance and is quiet and figuring in her reaction. I feel that this scene bears extraordinary centrality on the play as it shows Marlene’s polished methodology and capacity to adapt to the working environment and issues. The concentrate additionally outlines aims of mocking the working class of the time and the Thatcherists, as Marlene. Step by step instructions to refer to What Have You Found Interesting About Churchill’s Use Of Language In The Following Extract, Essays

A Symbol of Our Culture

America's history has a great deal of redundancy In It. Cost communicated her Irritation for how America began another pattern, utilizing flamingos, and utilized this pattern again and again until It lost significance. The image of the flamingo was utilized tediously until It lost Its Importance, and basically got exhausting. This class In Itself plainly troubled Price. From the beginning, Price's mentality communicated how she felt about the utilization of the flamingo.The title, â€Å"The Plastic Pink Flamingo,† could be taken in a couple various ways. Plastic is portraying the pink flamingo, yet plastic has two implications. It could mean plastic as in the material the flamingo is made out of, yet I think Price was aiming to utilize plastic as a statement with a double meaning and have plastic mean phony or shallow. This definition would speak to Price's mentality of how she thinks America is so shallow and debases objects, for example, the flamingo. Cost additionally utili zed an analogy to make an extraordinary visual of what she thought American culture was like.She contrasted our way of life with, â€Å"[being] like a line of semiotic sprouts. † She causes to notice this comparison by utilizing similar sounding word usages of â€Å"like a line,† and â€Å"semiotic grows. † It isn't actually a commendation to be contrasted with a plant, also how exhausting and uninteresting it is. This expression paints an image in our minds of sprouts desire staying there rambling endlessly. When contrasting this exhausting dull picture with America and our way of life, causes us understand Price's point exactly.Jennifer Price effectively depicted her assessments of the American culture all through this article by utilizing expression, for example, redundancy and playing close consideration word decision. The utilization of procedures like likenesses and similar sounding word usages likewise mirrored her tone of the article, â€Å"The Plastic Pink Flamingo. † A Symbol of Our Culture By Shelley Jennifer Price composed the article, â€Å"The Plastic Pink Flamingo' with expectations to get increase, one will in general get exhausted with the idea.Price proposed for the peruser to get exhausted and tired of perusing the word â€Å"pink† on the grounds that it reflects how America's history has a ton of redundancy in it. Cost communicated her bothering for how America began another pattern, utilizing flamingos, and utilized this pattern again and again until it lost significance. The image of the flamingo was utilized monotonously until it lost its significance, and basically got exhausting. This reality in itself unmistakably irritated Price. Simply staying there rambling endlessly. When contrasting this exhausting monotonous picture with

A Day at the Races

A Day at the Races DID YOU KNOW? The longest recorded kiss took place in New York City on December 5, 2001 between Louisa Almedovar and Rich Langley. It lasted 30 hours, 59 minutes and 27 seconds. Thanks to my beloved high school friend Shana for that bit of information. Finding myself suddenly and unexpectedly with no other plans for Friday night, I decided to use up the extra day that I had hanging out on my Eurail pass and take a day trip down to Montreux, Switzerland. I AM SO HAPPY. Ive been a huge, huge Queen fan ever since 9th grade when I saw that Mountain Dew commercial that used Bohemian Rhapsody and Sams Mom ran out to the mall that night to buy me A Night at the Opera (ah, the dark ages before iTunes). I have also been a huge fan of West Side Story ever since 8th grade when I saw that Mountain Dew commercial that used Tonight in it. Looking back, its remarkable how much Mountain Dew really influenced the development of my musical preferences. So, upon getting to Europe I knew that what I need to dew was to trek up into the mountains of Switzerland and see the famous statue of Freddie Mercury built in Montreux, the site of Queens major recording studio. The statue can be seen on the cover of their final album, Made in Heaven, which I own. I own pretty much all of their albums, even the really terrible ones like News of the World and The Miracle (although I Want It All is definitely one of my top 3 Queen songs), having picked them up in high school through a mixture of Christmas presents, local CD stores, and eBay. Now, Im not normally in the habit of planning 17-hour solo train journeys to see statues of deceased rock icons. Originally, I had planned to see the statue with Ling 07 on our train ride back from Barcelona, since we had a layover of a few hours in nearby Geneva. This would have actually been appropriate, of course, since Freddie recorded the solo album Barcelona with opera diva Montserrat Caballe in the late 1980s. But, alas, our travel plans coming back from Barcelona changed, and with trips for every other weekend this summer already planned, I had all but given up hope of seeing Freddie. So, with the aforementioned cancellation of my Friday night plans, I set out at 11 PM for a 10-hour train ride from Cologne down to Montreux, by way of Basel and Lausanne. I was hoping to somehow run into Jessie randomly in the train station, since I didnt have time to alert her to my travels, but I had no such luck there. At 9 AM, after a pleasant conversation with a cyclist from Arizona on the train, I made my way out of the station and into downtown Montreux. I had no idea where the statue actually was, and it wasnt listed on any of the maps, so I looked at some postcards in a gift shop and figured out that it was apparently on Lake Geneva. So, I headed down to the lake and decided that I would walk one hour in one direction, then turn around and walk two hours in the other direction, and then, if I hadnt found it, admit defeat and head back home, because I had only three and a half hours in Montreux before I had to get on the last train back home. Incidentally, I rememeber one of my friends telling me about a 6.004: Computation Structures problem where you had actually had to figure out what the fastest way to find a store was when you know what street it was on but not in which direction, and the answer involved a logarithmic progression of some sort. Anyway, it didnt matter because I found the statue after about five minutes of walking. but this was as close as I could get. Just my luck, I happened to pick the day of the Montreux Grand Prix for my visit, and that somebody decided that they should set up all the nice Italian cars for the Grand Prix within a fifty yard radius of the Freddie Mercury statue and then rope that area off so that nobody could get in except for the teams. So, I planned a 17-hour trip to Switzerland to see a statue and arrived on the one day that the thousand square feet around that statue were inaccessible. Upon realizing this, I remember saying six words to myself, five of which cant be printed in this blog. The sixth was of. Now, the rent-a-cops there didnt seem too imposing, and at that moment I wished that I had been involved in the hacking community in my undergraduate life at MIT. But Ive heard from some people therein that hacking off-campus, even in Boston, is generally considered pretty difficult, so hacking in Switzerland would probably have been well beyond my abilities anyway. So, lacking that talent, I picked another one out of the MIT skillset: complaining. I went up to one of the security officials and politely asked, first in German and then in English, if I could just come in for three minutes to see the statue. No. But I came all the way from Cologne just to see it. No. It took ten hours. Here, you can see my train ticket. No. But its like 30 meters away, you can watch me the entire time. No, only with a pass. Please, this is the only thing I want to do in Montreux! No. Well, do you know when I can get in to see the statue? No. I was just a poor boy, and I got no sympathy. Two hours and three officials later, I had only managed to discover that the cars would leave around 2 PM, but the area wouldnt be open until 5 PM. Well, that was no good; I didnt have time to stick around for a night at the opera, or even a day at the races. Worse yet, the town was filling up with stupid tourists who wanted to see the Grand Prix, so security around the area was picking up even more. I needed to find a way to get into this hot space with the cars and see Freddie as soon as possible. During my two hours of consultation with security, I did see that they let a Grand Prix team member come in with his wife, although his wife didnt have pass. So, with time running out, I decided to try yet another skill that all MIT students come to possess: begging for help. I needed to go on (and on and on and on) and see that statue! So, very sneakily, I went out of sight of security and started telling people, in German or English, or both, about my situation and asked if they could save me (figuratively naked and far from home) by letting me in on their pass. I was unsuccessful for 10 minutes, as these people were apparently really protective of their automotive tradition, until finally some Irish guy and his wife approached me and said that they could help out. I dont know who you are, and I never got your name, but if you ever happen to read this, know that youre my best friend. The Irish guy was sent down by some major newspaper to cover the event, and was almost unbelievably committed to my cause. After a few conspiratorial discussions, I went down with him and his wife to security posing as their son in my best, least-culturally-sensitive Irish accent. No luck! I was denied, along with his wife. But I wasnt going to crack under pressure. So, with his wifes blessing, I took his press pass and her Montreux Grand Prix hat, left my bag behind, and went to a different guard. I crossed my fingers and whispered Dont stop me now! to myself as I walked past the guard. A kind of magic occurred, and I got through without a hitch. Inside, I was so happy that I almost had a sheer heart attack. In my delirium, I even took three pictures of his press pass before I realized that a real member of the press probably wouldnt do that. So, to keep up my disguise, I took some amateurish pictures of the cars on my way to the statue. Yeah, whatever. Its pretty obvious that Im not in love with my car, or any cars for that matter. I finally gave up on the ruse and just ran down to the statue, where I took 24 pictures, and got some Spanish guy who also spoke a little German to take 5 more pictures of me with the larger-than-life Freddie, including the one above. With a flick of the wrist I took this last picture went back up to the patiently waiting Irish guy and probably sounded like a crazy person as I thanked him profusely and told him that he made my dream come true and all that jazz, which I guess was kind of accurate. Then he went off on his merry Irish way and I on my American way. I took this last picture of Lake Geneva, exchanged 3

Area Studies and Globalism A Holistic View of Humanity

Area studies are often defined as interdisciplinary fields of research and scholarship that combine a number of disciplines that focus on a particular cultural, national or geographical region. It is really an umbrella for studies that may take a wide path and include subjects like history, literature, geography, sociology, religion, anthropology, political science, economics and history. The idea is to look at a broader base of study and attempt to provide holism. Instead of studying a single country in the Balkans, we might form a curriculum about the Balkans as a region, which includes different cultural, historical and ethnic groups that do share commonalities, but also differences. The idea for this type of study became more popular after World War II - a time in which there was both a push to respond politically to perceived threats (e.g. the Cold War) and to understand the decolonization movements in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia (Szanton, ed., 2004). Certainly, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of China, the world has seen some dramatic changes. Globalism gradually developed over the last few decades because of the increased number of regional trade agreements combined with Internet and phone communication improvements. Globalization has brought the world closer in communication, economics, politics, and especially business. The Internet and technological improvements have allowed instantaneous communication almost anywhere, and evenShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagessuperpowers on their periphery and a second round of even more devastating global conflict. The bifurcated international system that resulted from the cold war standoff extended the retreat of globalization, but nurtured the liberation of most of humanity from colonial rule. The collapse of the Soviet empire, and the freeing of its satellite states across Eastern Europe beginning in the late 1980s, marked another major watershed that further problematizes uncritical acceptance of the historical

The Flowers By Alice Walker Essay - 1130 Words

Alice Walker shows Myops innocence and subsequent loss thereof through her usage of vivid imagery as well as the small setting and symbolism in â€Å"The Flowers†. Myop’s sudden exposure to the harsh reality of racism surrounding her shatters her innocence. The tone of the short story changes abruptly showcasing the main characters shift in how she sees the world. For she is suddenly and violently thrust into a world in which skin color dictates how others in society will treat her. There is a clear switch in tone in â€Å"The Flowers† as Myop is exposed to the world outside her home. The initial tone of the short story is carefree and child-like. Though the perspective of the story is third person omniscient initially, it is still evident that we are viewing the story through a child’s lens. The young protagonist skips â€Å"lightly from hen house to pigpen to smokehouse† showing that she is happy, excited even, to enjoy the natural setting weaved around her. As Myop explores, it becomes evident that her family’s financial situation is less than ideal. Wandering towards the woods, she leaves behind the â€Å"rusty boards of her family’s sharecropper cabin† (Walker). Now with little else to weave a setting in the reader’s mind one can already picture the scene as well as the time period. Very little is written about the setting outside of the family home and the surrounding woods. This supports the childlike tone of the beginning of the story as a young child would not have experienced theShow MoreRelatedThe Flowers By Alice Walker1169 Words   |  5 Pageswritings of Alice Walker has inspired her audience to vision many viewpoints of her life and political circumstances. Walker has been wounded repeatedly, seem to be starting from her childhood, and it remains her calling to bring healing to her own wounds and in the process, to bring healing to others (Winchell 86). Walker uses metaphors and imagery to tell her stories in a way that makes her audience feel as if their living the characters life. In her short stories â€Å"The Flowers† Walker writes aboutRead MoreAnalysis Of The Flowers By Alice Walker1030 Words   |  5 PagesWhat Becomes of a Flower After It Is Picked? In â€Å"The Flowers,† Alice Walker uses imagery and symbolism to illustrate the innocence and later the loss of innocence of a young girl named Myop, which is short for Myopia. Myopia is defined as the inability to see things closely, or the inability to grasp the deeper meaning of something, which contributes to her innocence in the story. The story starts off with Myop enjoying a summer morning by gathering flowers when she suddenly stumbles across theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Flowers, By Alice Walker1525 Words   |  7 Pageswas how Alice Walker grew up. She has written stories about her life, and stories that have had an impact on her life based on how she grew up. The two short stories The Flowers and Everyday Use have a common theme of feeling comfortable, safe, and at peace when one is home. Walker uses diction, syntax, and characterization to develop this common theme in her writing. A house is a safe comfortable place where one can feel at peace and in The Flowers and Everyday Use, the author Alice Walker developsRead MoreThe Flowers by Alice Walker Essay1491 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Flowers† by Alice Walker is a short story written in the 1970’s. The story focuses on Myop, a ten year old African American girl who loves to explore the land in which she lives. Carefree and naà ¯ve, Myop decides to travel further away from her ‘Sharecropper cabin’ and travels deep inside the woods to unfamiliar land where she discovers the decomposed body of an African American man. It is then Myop quickly grows up and suddenly becomes aware of the world in which she lives. The story reliesRead MoreAn Analysis of The Flowers by Alice Walker826 Words   |  4 PagesSharon Ji Professor Cato English 1102 29 April 2013 Myop in â€Å"The Flowers† by Alice Walker Short stories are known to have two very distinct characteristics which are interrelated: they are compressed and concentrated. By compressed, they mean that the writer squeezes as much information as possible so that it is still considered a short story. When it comes to the story being concentrated, they typically mean taking out anything that is not essential to the conflict and how the protagonistRead MoreAnalysis Of The Flowers By Alice Walker850 Words   |  4 PagesThe setting of Alice Walkers short story† The Flowers† is important for us, the readers to obtain a perspective of how life was like growing up for a 10 year old African American girl by the name of Myop. The title of the story is â€Å"The Flowers.† When you think about flowers, you instantly compare them to being beautiful, pure, and innocent. The title of the â€Å"The Flowers† is a symbolism that correlates to Myop who is the protagonist of the story. Myop is just like a flower in the beginning of theRead MoreAlice Walker s The Flowers1199 Words   |  5 PagesIn a very similar way the author of â€Å"The Flowers,† Alice Walker, knew very well how to illustrate the surrounding to the utmost details in her story. Myop and Alice share a special appreciation and awe for the beautiful surroundings. Alice was also raised in her parent’s farm; providing extra special attention to the realistic portrayal of a sharecropper’s farm in the South. Besides Alice’s close involvement as a sharecropper’s daughter, she also shared an incident that scared her life at a veryRead MoreAnalysis Of The Flowers By Alice Walker1539 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Flowers† Stories sometimes have the power and meaning to change someones life. Reading in general, can make someone feel like they are living in a different world. Usually writers have the tendency to add affection and tone to engage their readers more. Flowers, sound so pure and bright, but are all flowers meant to be lively? For Myop in â€Å"The Flowers† represents an innocent African American girl whose evolution to maturity and innocence comes to a sudden end without a warning. In the beginningRead MoreAnalysis of The Flowers by Alice Walker870 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Analysis of ’The Flowers’ by Alice Walker How do we lose our childish way of seeing the world? How can we suddenly they see the world as it is, in all its evil? ‘The Flowers’ is a story about a young girl who goes through an experience that forces her into changing her way of seeing life, and it presents themes like growing up and loss of innocence. The main character of the story is Myop, a 10-year-old girl without any major worries in life. The only thing we know about her physical appearanceRead MoreEssay about The Flowers By Alice Walker809 Words   |  4 PagesThe Flowers By Alice Walker Written in the 1970s The Flowers is set in the deep south of America and is about Myop, a small 10-year old African American girl who explores the grounds in which she lives. Walker explores how Myop reacts in different situations. She writes from a third person perspective of Myops exploration. In the first two paragraph Walker clearly emphasises Myops purity and young innocence. She skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen. This

Ebusiness Free Essays

The SSL technology ensures that sensitive information being sent to the sever is secure and has not been altered. Through encryption, confidential information such as name, address and credit card details cannot be read by anyone other than the authorised party (Is it safe to order online? , 2013). With the help of SSL, it enhances security and users are less prone to encounter phishing attacks. We will write a custom essay sample on Ebusiness or any similar topic only for you Order Now 4 ASOS’s e-business system 4. 1 Tangible benefits 4. 1. 1 Enhance customer relationship With the use of social networking sites and internet, it increases awareness to large amounts of consumers in a short period of time. ASOS makes full use of this method with blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube to premote its products. With the growing use of internet and social media, ASOS advertises its products and promotions online which increases customer base and brand identity. It also helps customers to give feedback or make complaints which help establish a sthronger relationship between business and consumers. Therefore social media and internet are priceless resources for ASOS to increase customer base and profits. 4. 1. 2 Improve time management and cost efficiency As ASOS uses a pure e-commerce system, customers need not move around to select products which show there is a huge gain over physical stores. The costs of products are cheaper compared to physical stores because extra manpower is not needed to operate the physical store which mearns ASOS saves on wages and rent for physical stores. Thanks to internet marketing through Facebook or within ASOS website, it is more targeted than traditional media. It is cost efficient and recognized by millions of people. ASOS applies e-commerce systems which improves the efficiency of logistics and inventory management. With the help of e-commerce, order fulfillment is accomplished quickly, more accurately and cost effectively. There is no need for phone calls to clarify and confirm purchases. This improves the efficiency of order fulfilment and improves the speed of delivery which surpasses customer expectations. 4. 2Intangible Benefits 4. 2. 1Improved strategic position of company As one of the leading online fashion store, ASOS has gained a competitive advantage in the fashion industry (Greenblat, 2013). ASOS were able to implement strategic plans earlier than its competitors and managed to gain a better position in the market. As a pure online retailer, ASOS must focus on maintaining and ensuring their website is constantly updated and managed professionally. In contrary to ASOS, competitors whom are click-and-mortar based have to emphasise more towards maintaining their physical store as well as their website. 4. 2. 2Increasing customer loyalty E-commerce businesses can face problems since they are not able to communicate directly with their customers but ASOS has managed to continuously increase customer loyalty by providing excellent customer services to its customers such as ensuring efficient and effective payment and delivery of goods to customers. ASOS also makes sure of the convenience in finding items, comparing and checking them out. Customers who are highly satisfied with the services provided would have increased loyalty and will give positive testimonials and word of mouth to other consumers. 4. 2. 3 Vision, Mission and Strategy ASOS’s vision is to create a unique multi-channel shopping experience where twenty-something fashion lovers can network, share ideas, create their own styles and shop together. (Home – ASOS Plc. , n. d. ). Conducting their business online plays an important role in achieving their vision. With the advancement of Web 2. , ASOS websites and their participation in social network accounts not only facilitates customers to interact with one another and the company, but also encourages them the share and spread their fashion ideas and knowledge, which relates to their vision. This would then lead to achieving the company’s mission which is â€Å"to lead the fashion revolution† (ASOS – Next Generation Pledge, 2010). With the help of the e-business systems, ASOS is able to continue to ensure all participants of the system stay connected through online network, to continue to share and grow business ideas together, since ASOS is a virtual organization. . e-Business Issues 5. 1 Security and Privacy Issues Security is crucial in every organization. Since ASOS is an online based organization there are various types of attack that they can encounter. Identity theft is one of the main problems faced which prevents consumers purchasing from ASOS. New born sites usually are not trusted by first time online purchasers. To avoid this, ASOS uses Comodo SSL certificate which help in securing online payment system and reduce identity theft. The most basic protection against technical attacks is firewalls and antivirus. These basic protections should be implemented in every e-business as even small viruses may cause websites to crash which would require a significant time to recover. This also affects the reputation of ASOS. In order to have an improved, more efficient and effective security in the long run, ASOS should invest in security to enhance pproduactivity. 5. 2 Marketing Issues One of the marketing issues ASOS face is trust issues on online shopping. Constant phishing attack on e-commerce sites make customers more aware of the risks of providing personal information online. Therefore, building trust is a crucial key to promoting products online. ASOS iintegrates the latest privacy and security technologies to enhance security online. As ASOS being a pure play organization, it faces a tough competition in the virtual business platform. Today, many organizations perform businesses online. To increase market share, ASOS have to set themselves apart from the competition by being more creative and innovative, such as providing more product or service than other competitors which in return attracts more customers. Another way to attract customers is to offer discounts or coupons to hike sales. How to cite Ebusiness, Papers

International Business Model Innovation

Question: Discuss about the International Business Model Innovation. Answer: Introduction: First founded in the year of 1884, Mark and Spencer, popularly known as MS , is a leading multinational brand, that deals with the production and sale of clothing brands, home products and various kinds of luxury and food products. Headquartered in UK, the much esteemed organization, has planned to expand itself beyond the limited confines, for increasing the size of the consumer market. In the current world of globalization, an organization can earn enormous amount of revenue if it chooses to invest in diverse locations, as this will help the company in attaining wider recognition among the masses. Keeping this in mind, Mark and Spencer has decided to invest in a host of countries, especially the West European and the Mid Western countries. However, Mark and Spencer should invest in a country that will help the company in earning quick revenue, with less legal and political complications (Hair et al., 2014). According to the report submitted by the World Bank, Australia is ranked as the 10th easiest country for doing business. The reason for choosing Australia is many. Most importantly, the nation provides a business environment with extremely low risk and high growth potentiality, a talented workforce which is available at an extremely affordable rate, and further it supports high class R D opportunities for the business organizations. Like any other British organization, M S will find it a very lucrative option to expand its market in Australia, because both the countries will enjoy almost identical custom and culture, language, and legal practices (Productivity commission, 2014). In addition to these factors, Australia also offers an innovative economy, whereby it becomes the favorite spot of destination among the business organizations. One of the biggest advantages of investing in Australia, is that the country has easy and convenient access to the Asia Pacific zone, and as a resu lt a large number of consumers will be drawn to the M S products. Australia , as a country, excels in diverse kinds of industries, and hence although M S chiefly revolves around retail trade, in future, if it intends to invest in other forms of industries, Australia can be a favorable place for investment. Australia already is one of the most populated countries of the world, and as such the demand for the basic items of daily life, which M S deals with, will always be in huge demand among the consumers. However, although M S has a huge potential for creating a big consumer market in Australia, it must ensure that it adapts its business to the Australian buying habits, cultural traits, religious beliefs, average income group, etc (Ruddick, 2014). Rationale: The rationale of the following report is to explore and discuss the factors that can help M S in successfully operating its business activities in Australia. As a foreign nation, M S may encounter several difficulties in terms of risk or employee management or selection of the suitable business structure. Hence, the following points should be considered before expanding its market in Australia. Analysis of Australia for Business: The greatest challenge for any organization to expand itself globally, is to be able to properly meet the challenges of a diverse cultural requirement. However, Australia is a multi cultural nation which implies that the nation is a home to people belonging to diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and this implies that M S can offer its varied service to a varied group of consumers. Australia can provide the company with greater possibility of innovation as well as experimentation with the products being manufactured. However, before starting a business in Australia, the M S authority has to ensure that it registers the company, and has sufficient knowledge about the possible legal obligations, which it has to abide by, in Australia. Australia has always been a very familiar place to those who intend to start up a business or those who desire to extend their branches in Australia. However, there are certain legal requirement which M S will need to abide by. For example, M S sh ould desirably have a local partner or some sort of local connection before starting up the business. Since M S has already a company structure of its own, it will encounter less difficulty in entering the business market here. Unlike many other countries, Australia is very strict a nation when it comes to ensure that any sort of money laundering is talking place in the name of the business (Campin et al., 2013). For this reason, M S has to open a bank account in their country itself. Australia, as a country is not only very strict about financial transactions, but also about the transparency of the employment rules. There are various rules and restrictions imposed on the employers, whereby even M S will be obliged to recruit its employees very discreetly, ensuring the most diligent and well-qualified ones are being selected. Further, to support the issue of workplace security, M S will have to follow certain set of regulations. Australia is not only a diverse country in terms o f multiculturalism but also in terms of the capital requirement in different regions of the country. Some places are more expensive than others, for example, Sydney is more expensive than Adelaide, and the company has to make sure that it selects a country discreetly before it chooses to invest in a particular region. There is a website of Australia that can assist M S in selecting the appropriate region in Australia for investment. This will not help M S in selecting an appropriate region, which will help to understand which region will require less capital, but it will also help the company enjoy the benefit of laborers with low wages. For example, cheaper workforce is easily available at Adelaide, as compared to Sydney. In addition to everything else, if M S still faces doubts about where to invest or how far their retail business is going to be beneficial in Australia, they can always seek the help of the Australian official page, Doing business in Australia. Although this pa ge was last updated in the year of 2011, the information is quite accurate and can help the company to understand the business environment of Australia successfully (Kent et al., 2014). Recommendation for Entry Mode: While any organization is aiming to enter a new market, in a foreign country, it can be a very risky decision, as it may not earn the company earn sufficient recognition and it may end up in suffering huge and considerable loss in a foreign market. Hence, M S will have to include in their expansion strategy, the suitable plan as to which entry mode is it going to choose. In other words, there are various ways through which a company can enter a foreign market,- through export or investment, or by contractual means. M S can adopt the Joint Venture strategy, while investing in the foreign market of Australia. M S is a very internationally acclaimed brand, it is indisputable that it will be widely popular among the Australian masses as well. However, while opening as a new and fresh brand in the Australian consumer market, M S can enter into a joint venture with some retail chain store, and it must make sure that the chosen store is a brand in itself, so that the M S brand introduc tion through the store name can become an instant success at once (Parker Praag, 2012). There are various famous retail chains to be found in Australia, such as Coles Supermarkets Private Limited, Myer Ltd, Big W , Caltex Australia, and many more. M S should invest in such retail store chains, as this will provide easy and swift access to resource and market , will reduce any sort of political risk, or any form of legal complications that can arise, if M S has to work independently in a foreign market. Besides, even great international brands such as Gucci , Bulgari and others also have opened up new stores since the year of 2012, by tying up with such famous retail chain stores of Australia which helps the companies to gain competitive advantage in a new market (Laufs et al., 2014). One great advantage of the joint venture strategy will be that, having tied up with a local or a native organization, will help M S lower down any sort of economic or political risk. Further, this w ill also enable the company in getting easy public acceptability among the Australian consumers. One of the biggest advantages of the Joint Venture strategy is that it will help the company in getting local workforce, at a much cheaper rate, and further hiring the local workforce will enable the organization to avoid the possibility of any sort of cultural conflict. Further, this strategy will assist the company, in knowledge transfer whereby M S will get sufficient knowledge as to how to improve the performance in the local market of Australia. This strategy also provides a company the risk sharing benefit, and this is indeed important as M S is going to make a huge investment, and so it is advisable that it has someone to share its risk and failure possibility with. Plus, as a new and emerging organization in Australia, M S may find it difficult to have a comprehensive knowledge of the workplace culture, customer requirements and preferences and infrastructure for expansion. Fo rming a Joint Venture with some local reputed organization, will assist M S in getting convenient access to the distribution channels as well as the customer bases. While forming the Joint Venture strategy, the two organizations have to enter into an agreement, either for a specific period of time or for a long time. Keeping in consideration, the uncertainty of making gain in a foreign country, and especially the recent failure of M S, in its international trade in India, the company should enter into an agreement for a specific period, and if this yields it enough benefit, it shall continue in future (Choi et al., 2013). However, there are sufficient risks associated with Joint Venture strategy as well, and it may happen that the strategy is not well-formulated by the two organizations, or due to proper planning, it could not be successfully implemented. Hence, M S must pay proper attention to the management process of the business. As both the countries merge to work on one goa l, they must accept and respect each others business perspectives, rather than showing two opposing styles of approaching a problem. In absence of efficient business decision, the whole process of business may slow down, causing a huge failure for M S (Killing et al., 2012). Marketing and RND constructions: Global expansion in business is not altogether a very easy process. It can be lucrative, if it can be implemented properly, otherwise it may land the company in trouble (Menkveld, 2013). Hence, it is always advisable that an organization, before investing an enormous amount in a foreign market, invests much time in researching the possible risks, political obligations, consumer preferences for the product to be sold, and other relevant issues adequately (Lunt et al. 2014). The foremost point that M S must remember while doing business in Australia, is that it might face competition from local brands, such as Myer or Coles, which have already established themselves as eminent brands all across the globe. In fact, the famous departmental store David Jones, was recently in the news for having shown the best possible growth in sales, by as much as 12.2 %, and in last fifteen years, it has made the biggest profit in Australia (Lages, Mata Griffith, 2013). However, since M S is already an international brand, it has high prospect of getting easy recognition among the masses. However, it will have to focus more on innovative and international methods of production, to get easy acceptability among the consumers. Since, M S is a foreign UK based brand, in the primary stage of its entry into the Australian market, it can make use of Australian logos and favorite symbols that will help it to get adapted to the Australian market (Grant, 2015). For example, Australian people will love to wear Koala bear or Kangaroo imprinted shirts, or casual wears having a sentence written about Australia. Again, since Australia is a multi cultural region, diverse products can be sold in the Australian market, each one satisfying the need of the consumers of each ethnic group (Martens, R., Matthyssens, P., Vandenbempt, 2012). This offers a chance for a larger and more diverse market for M S. Further, recent study suggests that there is a larger demand for luxury products among the em erging wealthy section of the Australian society. Hence, appropriate promotion and advertisement strategy can largely benefit the organization. M S must understand that in starting a new venture in a foreign country, may pose potential risks for the company, and hence it must have a proper team for risk management, for identifying the risks as well as mitigating the potential harm that can be caused by it (Wu et al., 2013). The Australians are although less formal and more casual about their business dealings, they are highly punctual and productive people. The workforce is usually considered to be upright and they get a leave of 20 days only, and this implies that investing in Australia, means getting an access to an efficient and highly professional workforce. Brisbane, Hobert are two of the cheapest places in Australia. Therefore, M S can start their business in these places, as it will require less capital and will help the company to get cheaper workforce as well (Bertay, Dem irg-Kunt Huizinga, 2013). Sydney, Melbourne are two of the most important tourist destinations of Australia, and as it draws a huge number of tourists each year, opening up the stores in these places can prove to be a highly profitable idea. This will imply that a large number of tourists will turn up and consume the M S products, apart from the Australians. However, M S must make wisely choose between cheaper cost of production and higher rate of profit, at the beginning (Amit Zott, 2012). As a new organization in Australia, it may initially opt for cheaper places, and gradually evaluating the annual profit, may think of expanding its business to the more affluent towns of the nation. Recommendations regarding production Advancement of technology is one of the major ways to increase the productivity for a business organization (Oraiopoulos, Ferguson Toktay, 2012). M S is not exceptional to that. As per the current economic scenario, business organization such as M S gets many opportunities to implement limited workforce at the production department by using business productivity software. With the help of this specific software, the business experts would be able to earn more production in limited time by maintaining a chronological record on it (Slack, 2015). As a result, the workforce manager of this organization can involve the workers in other department to provide effective service to the customers. In addition, an effective communication should be maintained between the suppliers and the production managers in order to enhance productivity within M S. If the suppliers fail to supply the product within time to the organization, the rhythmic process of productivity would be hampered definitely (Hillestad Berkowitz, 2012).. As a result, the customers service department would have to face numerous challenges in order to maintain a balance between the demand and supply of the product. In order to overcome this kind of situation, maintaining effective communication between the suppliers and the production managers is highly important. International HRM Issues: While working in a foreign country , a company must pay enough heed to the question of cultural diversity. As an UK based firm , M S will be acquainted with a British workforce, the cultural traits of whom will be highly distinguished from that of the Australian counterpart (Ritala, 2012). As M S is going to enter a Joint Venture with an Australian native brand, it will have to interact and operate its business activities with Australian mangers, employees and retailers. Keeping this point in mind, the M S authority must remember that they are highly punctual people and they will always respect punctuality and accuracy in every negotiation and business dealings (Barney, 2012). As M S is an UK based company, it will have to make itself familiar among the Australian people. Hence, it must hire more Australians in their stores, rather than having only UK employees (Kim Mauborgne, 2014). Hence, giving the employees short term benefits, rather than the long term ones, can be a fruitf ul idea (Yoo et al., 2016). Conclusion: Australia is one of the most populated countries in the world, and as highly multicultural it is, its business market has high potential in future. However, it must be remembered that much of the success of M S will depend on the quality of its customer service. If it can offer valuable service to the Australians from various cultural communities, it can enjoy a long term success. However, it must make sure that its production and consumer satisfaction does meet the international standard as promised by the brand. M S, however, should aim to serve the average group of consumers, and must not make its products overpriced at the beginning (Thomas et al., 2013). Reference List: Amit, R., Zott, C. (2012). Creating value through business model innovation.MIT Sloan Management Review,53(3), 41. Barney, J. B. (2012). Purchasing, supply chain management and sustained competitive advantage: The relevance of resourceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ based theory.Journal of Supply Chain Management,48(2), 3-6. Bertay, A. C., Demirg-Kunt, A., Huizinga, H. (2013). Do we need big banks? Evidence on performance, strategy and market discipline.Journal of Financial Intermediation,22(4), 532-558. Campin, S., Barraket, J. and Luke, B., 2013. Micro-business community responsibility in Australia: Approaches, motivations and barriers.Journal of business ethics,115(3), pp.489-513. Choi, C. B., Beamish, P. W. (2013). Resource complementarity and international joint venture performance in Korea.Asia Pacific Journal of Management,30(2), 561-576. Grant, R. M. (2015).Contemporary Strategy Analysis 9e Text Only. John Wiley Sons. Hair Jr, J. F., Lukas, B. (2014).Marketing research. McGraw-Hill Education Australia. Hillestad, S. G., Berkowitz, E. N. (2012).Health care market strategy. Jones Bartlett Publishers. Kent, C. (2014). The Business Cycle in Australia.Address to the Australian Business Economists, Sydney,13. Killing, P. (2012).Strategies for Joint Venture Success (RLE International Business)(Vol. 22). Routledge. Kim, W. C., Mauborgne, R. (2014).Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. Harvard Business Review Press. Lages, L. F., Mata, J., Griffith, D. A. (2013). Change in international market strategy as a reaction to performance decline.Journal of Business Research,66(12), 2600-2611. Laufs, K., Schwens, C. (2014). Foreign market entry mode choice of small and medium-sized enterprises: A systematic review and future research agenda.International Business Review,23(6), 1109-1126. Lunt, N., Horsfall, D., Smith, R., Exworthy, M., Hanefeld, J., Mannion, R. (2014). Market size, market share and market strategy: three myths of medical tourism.Policy Politics,42(4), 597-614. Martens, R., Matthyssens, P., Vandenbempt, K. (2012). Market strategy renewal as a dynamic incremental process.Journal of Business Research,65(6), 720-728. Menkveld, A. J. (2013). High frequency trading and the new market makers.Journal of Financial Markets,16(4), 712-740. Oraiopoulos, N., Ferguson, M. E., Toktay, L. B. (2012). Relicensing as a secondary market strategy.Management Science,58(5), 1022-1037. Parker, S. C., Van Praag, C. M. (2012). The entrepreneur's mode of entry: Business takeover or new venture start?.Journal of Business Venturing,27(1), 31-46. Productivity Commission. (2014).Relative Costs of Doing Business in Australia: Retail Trade. Productivity Commission Research Report, september. Ritala, P. (2012). Coopetition strategywhen is it successful? Empirical evidence on innovation and market performance.British Journal of Management,23(3), 307-324. Ruddick, G. (2014).Marks Spencer plans massive international expansion.Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2016, from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10737831/Marks-and-Spencer-plans-massive-international-expansion.html Slack, N. (2015).Operations strategy. John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Thomas, H., Smith, R. R., Diez, F. (2013).Human capital and global business strategy. Cambridge University Press. Wu, Z., Liu, X., Ni, Z., Yuan, D., Yang, Y. (2013). A market-oriented hierarchical scheduling strategy in cloud workflow systems.The Journal of Supercomputing,63(1), 256-293. Yoo, I. Y., Lee, T. (2016). Multicultural competence and job embeddedness of foreign employees in hotels: A comparison research between Australia and Japan.CAUTHE 2016: The Changing Landscape of Tourism and Hospitality: The Impact of Emerging Markets and Emerging Destinations, 919.

Hunters & Gatherers Essays - Sago, Ethnic Groups In Indonesia

Hunters & Gatherers Anthropology 1010: Assignment 1 The Asmat, Headhunters, people are located in New Guineas West Iran. These people actually cut off people heads and eat their brains and wear their jaws as a necklace. Peoples brains are not their main source of food. The major food of these people is the starch of the sago palm that they roast. The sago palm is found deep into the swamps. You take an ax and split the palm in to two pieces. The food inside is called sago grub. The sago grub is soft white larva of the Capricorn beetle. They put it on a stick and roast it in the fire. The Asmat villages are always located by water and the houses are raised on poles above the mud. When high tide comes, so does the seafood, such as shellfish. When high tide leaves the seafood stays and they grub on that. Other forms of food are lizards, pigs, and cassowaries, which are wild flightless birds that are almost as big as ostriches. Neighboring villages get together and have a ritual where they literally adopt others from the neighboring tribes. The adults pretend to be children and suckle to their newly acquired mom. The adults also teach the children their roles and responsibilities. The boys learn their roles as hunters and the women learn their roles as fisherman. Women also gather most of the food and do the cooking, while the men stand by and watch and protect the women. Some men even stay at home and just talk. The women really seemed to be the bosses and called all of the shots. The men may be headhunters, but it is the women that have most of the responsibility and ultimately the power. Bibliography Recourse: Kirk Malcolm S Headhunters in Todays World National Geographic, Jan-June 1972 pgs.389-408. Anthropology

Postposition Definition and Examples

Postposition Definition and Examples Postposition is a word that shows the relation of a noun or pronoun to some other word in a sentence. A postposition is similar in function to a preposition, but it follows rather than precedes the object. Its generally accepted that the only common postposition in English is the word ago. Together, prepositions and postpositions are called adpositions. Examples and Observations Here are some examples of postposition from various writers: I decided many years ago to invent myself. I had obviously been invented by someone elseby a whole societyand I didnt like their invention.(Maya Angelou)Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.(Will Durant) Ago and Its Complement Ago in English must follow its complement. (87a) John received a very generous offer a few minutes ago.(87b) *John received a very generous offer ago a few minutes. In contrast with notwithstanding, ago must piedpipe, and cannot strand. (88a) How long ago did John receive the offer?(88b) *How long did John receive the offer ago? (Peter W. Culicover, Syntactic Nuts: Hard Cases, Syntactic Theory, and Language Acquisition. Oxford Univ. Press, 1999) Hence Although ago is . . . usually said to be the only independent postposition of English, the formal use of hence with the meaning from now (as in three weeks hence) seems to be used identically. Traces of postpositional constructions are found in expressions like the whole week through and all the year round.(D.J. Allerton, Over the Hills and Far Away or Far Away Over the Hills: English Place Adverb Phrases and Place Prepositional Phrases in Tandem. Adpositions: Pragmatic, Semantic and Syntactic Perspectives, ed. by Dennis Kurzon and Silvia Adler. John Benjamins, 2008) Clitic Though not usually so treated, the clitic -s could be seen as a postposition in e.g. my friends daughter, my friend in Washingtons daughter.(P.H. Matthews, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford Univ. Press, 2007) Postpositions In Other Languages Many languages, such as English, express thematic roles by means of prepositions. Some languages, however, use postpositions (i.e., morphemes that express the same thematic roles but come after head nouns). Languages that use postpositions in this way include Korean and Japanese...For those students who have prepositions or postpositions in their native language, English prepositions are still a source of difficulty, and they remain so even as students levels of proficiency increase. One reason for this is the problem of polysemy. In learning a second language, students attempt to draw correspondences between their L1 [native language] prepositions and prepositions in the L2 [second language]. Perfect one-to-one correspondences would facilitate learning, but, given polysemy, finding these is virtually impossible.(Ron Cowan, The Teachers Grammar of English: A Course Book and Reference Guide. Cambridge University Press, 2008)

Global Supply Chain Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Global Supply Chain Management - Assignment Example The firms that practice supply chain management experience considerable reductions in cost and cycle time (Li and Du, 2005, p. 279). For instance, Wal-Mart stores reported an increase in inventory turns, decline in out-of-stock occurrences along with a renewal cycle that has decreased from weeks to only hours as a consequence of an effective supply chain management. Even though supply chain management is simple to understand in theory, it develops more complexity with bigger companies and it variety of products, more global locations of the suppliers, customers as well as facilities responsible for distribution. Supply chain management is also complicated since companies may be components of more than one pipeline at a specific time (Fredendall and Hill, 2001, p. 4). As an example, the manufacturer of synthetic rubber may simultaneously be a part of the supply chain for tires, industrial products, mechanical parts, shoes and aircraft components among others. Key drivers of supply cha in performance in a complex environmentLambert (2008, p. 20) found out that the performance of a supply chain is dependent of a number of drivers: logistical and functional including facilities, inventory, transport and information. FacilitiesFacilities define the physical locations where commodities are produced or stored, where storage and production sites make up the main forms of facilities (Zanjirani Farahani, Rezapour and Kardar, 2012, p. 193). In the facilities, there is either processing or transformation.

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Disney And The French Media Essay

Disney And The French Media Essay Disneys first theme park, called Disneyland, is located in Anaheim, California and opened in 1955. Its Floridian counterpart DisneyWorld, located in Orlando, opened in 1971. The success of these parks and the success of Tokyo Disneyland which opened in 1983 motivated the company to expand further in order to achieve optimal market domination. The fourth theme park was to be built in Europe. Spain was long in the running as future site, but eventually France was chosen in 1987. The theme park was to be built in the French town Marne-La-Vallà ©e, a town located 32 kilometers outside of Paris. The centrality of this location was deemed perfect, and it was easily accessible by plane, train and car. In addition, the French government also facilitated the decision making process by guaranteeing financial incentives and by extending its transportation network to include the park. These promises perfectly compensated for the northern French climate that initially troubled the Disney planner s. After the official implementation of the partnership between Disney and the French government, the Disney theme park was built on 4,700 acres of farm land. Euro Disney, as it was called in 1992, was the biggest amusement park and resort in Europe upon completion. Nevertheless, its opening on April 12, 1992 was not as successful as its grand scale suggested it would be. The coming months further exemplified this as attendance levels, souvenir and food sales, as well as Disney hotels occupancy rates remained painfully low. Euro Disney was labeled by the entertainment industry as being an ideal case study on how not to open a theme park. Many French critics echoed this argument. Euro Disney was called a cultural Chernobyl, and seen as culturally insensitive to European guests. Overall, antagonism towards American popular culture was widespread among French intellectuals. They were supported by a prevalent nationalistic sentiment that promoted French culture in order to protect it from t he supposed global hegemony of American culture. This anti-American context was the main problem that troubled Disneys search for acceptance. The park went nearly bankrupt in 1994 which forced Disney to reevaluate its strategies to counter the French anti-American mindset. In other words, the company soon realized that it was too focused on American culture instead of European culture, thus the company started to make essential modifications to cater to the local European context. Adaptations based on cultural differences were made on services, attractions, products and practices which eventually reestablished the Disney formulas appeal. The analysis of these adaptations and the context of the problems that predated them is the framework of this paper. Findings based on this analysis support this papers thesis statement: cultural hybridization spelled the success of Disneyland Paris. The first part of the research question that is related to this statement is: to what extent did French and other European responses to the park affect Disneys strategies? These responses are put into context by addressing the acceptance of American popular culture abroad. American popular culture was not easily accepted in France due to a long history of Anti-Americanism and this severely affected Disneys chances of success. This notion provides the foundation for the second part of the research question, namely in how far is cultural resistance towards the Disney theme parks automatic?. The latter of this research question is researched briefly by comparing Disneyland Paris reception to the reception of the Disney theme parks in Asia. The reception of Tokyo Disneyland was overwhelmingly positive as mentioned earlier, mainly because the Japanese preferred an exact copy of the American model. The reception of Hong Kong Disneyland was also very positive, mostly because of the adaptati ons Disney made to local tastes and because of its extensive marketing campaigns . All in all, this comparison further proves that the cultural resistance towards the Disney theme parks depends on the larger cultural attitude towards American popular culture. Studies including Disneyland Paris are often connected to debates regarding global American influence. However, most of these debates focus solely on the economic aspect of the venture as is exemplified by the large number of economic journals that discuss Disneys global expansion. Those journals talk of profits and marketing schemes, but they often neglect to take into account a cultural approach. In recent years, scholars have started to do in-depth research on the role that Disney plays in the development of culture, thus putting economics on the sideline. The book The Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney and the American Way of Life by Steven Watts is one of the first books which gives a detailed account of the huge role the Disney company plays within American society. Watts discusses topics ranging from Disney and American values to Disney and American identity construction, ultimately drawing the conclusion that Disney is a major architect of modern American culture. This premise is fre quently used as a foundation for studies dealing with the European Disney park, because Disneys Americanness is seen by some scholars as an obstacle for its reception in Europe. Especially French scholars prefer this standpoint as most of them view Disneys expansion as merely being part of Americas cultural imperialism. This standpoint is taken into account in the current academic debate on the European park, but it plays a limited role in discussions. Recent publications on Disneyland Paris focus on the idea that the park has a high entertainment factor, thus it is not solely seen as an entity which spreads American culture or philosophy. Andrew Lainsburys Once Upon an American Dream: the Story of Euro Disneyland is an excellent example of a book that discusses Disneys professionalism in the entertainment industry rather than its possible ties to cultural imperialism. Other publications such as Kathy Merlock Jacksons Disneyland and Culture: Essays on the Parks and their Influence t ie in with Lainsburys thesis as they put emphasis on the fact that Walt Disney invented the American theme park, consequently uniting professional entertainment with culture. The two sides of this academic debate are combined in cultural studies that take into account Europeans ability to pick and choose from American culture. As a result, drawing the conclusion that Europeans do not passively absorb everything that American culture has to offer. This paper will follow this line of thought by including theories put forward by scholars Rob Kroes, Richard Kuisel, and Richard Pells, who all acknowledge Europeans skill to adapt American cultural products to fit into local contexts. To conclude, doing this kind of research on Disneyland Paris is relevant within the American Studies discipline as it provides an interpretation of an American company in multicultural Europe. Moreover, it also illustrates that there are constant tensions between local adaptation and global standardization. Disney and the French: a difficult relation Disneys model for theme parks might be new for the French, but they were already accustomed to theme parks in general. Seventy parks could be visited in France before the opening of Euro Disney. However, not all of them were making profit. Zygofolies Park near Nice had to close down and Mirapolis Park and Smurfs Park had to make huge budget reductions in order to stay afloat. The general idea was that the French were not that interested in theme parks or that the parks were not extraordinary enough to impress French guests. Nevertheless, Parc Asterix which opened in 1989 is still open today and it is considered to be the most successful competitor of the Disney park. Many ascribe the parks success to its detailed theming, exciting attractions and its link to French nationalism. Asterix and Obelix are after all French icons. Still, some scholars believe that the existence of Parc Asterix could not have prepared the French for the arrival of a European Disney park as Christian Renaut e xplains in his article Disneyland Paris: A Clash of Cultures He states that few French people had actually traveled to the American parks in California and Florida, hence the majority of French were uninformed about the Disney theme park formula. Disney spokesman Nicolas de Schonen elaborated on this in the Kansas City Star in 1991: misunderstandings have arisen with the union because people in Europe do not understand what an American-style resort is . Renaut certainly has a valid argument, however one should not forget Disneys marketing expertise. The two American parks had been marketed extensively in France with the help of Disney films, television shows and comics, whereby the comic series Le Journal Mickey played a crucial role. This successful comic series was established as early as 1934 and it portrays all the Disney characters from Mickey Mouse to Daisy Duck, yet it has a very French feel to it. In other words, the characters are foreign, but they are put into a French context. This of course influences the Mickey character itself as he is often shown having more brains than its American counterpart, which might suggest why the French find the American Mickey less interesting. Moreover, the first commercials promoting the park were too American in style, something that put off many parents. In a teaser commercial from 1992, the parks bigness and extravagance was stressed with the help of bombastic music, fast Hollywood-sty le cuts and a voice-over telling the following: a new world of holiday dreamsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦come and discover the magicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Euro Disney Paris, the most spectacular holiday in Europe!. Clearly this was not a commercial that was adapted to European tastes, and its efficiency remains doubtful as these kinds of American oriented commercials could not erase the image that most French had of the Disney park, namely a piece of land filled with merry-go-rounds, and one or two Mickeys walking around to take pictures with. Surely not something which would spur many return visits. As for French intellectuals, they felt that they knew more about the Disney parks and the kinds of ideologies that they promote, consequently drawing the conclusion that the European park was part of a grand scheme promoting Americas supremacy over Europe. French editor Jean Cau called it a horror made of cardboards, plastic and appalling colors, a construction of hardened chewing gum. Others called it the invasion of American culture and the symbol of the loss of European culture. Thus, the idea of a Disney park in Europe soon developed into a threat on European culture, more specifically French culture. Numerous intellectuals, journalists and politicians started to express their disagreement, sometimes transforming it into pure loathing. The backdrop to all of this turmoil is of course the relationship between the United States and France. From the moment that the Marquis de La Fayette set foot on American soil the relationship has been one of the love/hate category. Frustrated pol iticians and French-oriented journalists continue to emphasize this special relation. A recent event dealing with this is the 2003 Iraq war and the disagreement that the United States and France had over their involvement. As the conflict heated up, the American press urged the American public to boycott French products, ultimately relabeling French fries to Freedom Fries. However, the past of the relationship also shows the strength of it, as the French population owes much to the Americans, especially with regards to the post-World War II reconstruction period. I.e. the Marshall Plan was essential for France to get back up on its feet after it had been severely hurt by the German occupation. Furthermore, this plan aided the spread of American cultural products in France. Taking the love and hate aspects of the relationship into account it is quickly concluded that the French pay much attention to their identity. The French identity is one which is strongly defended, as throughout the years French generations have created categories such as the French, Frenchness, and the French way of life. Richard Kuisel elaborates on this Frenchness in much detail in his book Seducing the French: The Dilemma of Americanization since it greatly affects how the French viewed the Americans in the 1990s. They believed that their Frenchness was at risk due to the emerging power, prosperity and prestige of America, hence they were initially very critical of the country. Moreover, Christian Renaut makes clear that the French-American relation also has much to do with pride and jealousy. He explains how on the one hand, the French continue to find it difficult to accept that Americas multiculturalism resulting from cultural invasion does not seem to have an impact on Ameri cas economy. On the other hand, the Americans envy France for its artistic and cultural legacies, and how those legacies remain attractive despite Frances limited attempts to hide its arrogance about them. Taking Renauts arguments into account, it is not difficult to understand that when the Disney company decided to open a theme park in the country of Claude Monet, Victor Hugo and Voltaire with Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Dopey, many would not welcome them with open arms. In addition, the fact that the development of Euro Disney took place in the 1980s also hurt the companys chances of success in France. Its American theme parks were successful as well as its Japanese counterpart, yet Disneys animation studio was doing very poorly. The fact that its animation studio has to run successfully is crucial for Disneys reception around the world as the films spread the Disney message. After all, bad films create negative reviews for the Disney company. Both The Black Cauldron (1985) and Oliver and Company (1988) failed in France, as was the case in the rest of the world, hence those movies cannot be seen as good promotion material for a theme park. Later successes of The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) had little effect on French critics view on Disney films. The idea that Disney harmed original European fairytales remained too popular in those circles. Very quickly, Ariane Mnouchkine, a successful French theatre director, labeled the E uro Disney park a cultural Chernobyl. This phrase would be recycled dozens of times by French intellectuals criticizing Disneys European venture. One of the most vocal critics was French Culture and Education Minister Jack Lang. At a Mexican UNESCO conference in 1981, Lang attacked certain great nations which have no other morality than that of profit, and seek to impose a uniform culture on the whole world. He called this intellectual and financial imperialism. Later on he labeled Euro Disney as being an enclave of American leisure industry in France. Still, he did not object to Disneys investment in the French economy and the many jobs it would create. This is confirmed by an article published in Panorama in 1992: After criticizing the American culture and denouncing its wild imperialism until 1981, the left wing government had but to negotiate with Disney to fight against unemployment and carry on with the development of the Ile-de-France region. Fortunately for Disney, not all intellectuals would take part in harshly criticizing the arrival of the park. Joffre Dumazedier, a sociologist, stated in Le Journal du Dimanche in 1991: at the time of Louis XIV, Europe spoke French. Then England fascinated the 19th century. Today it is up to the Americans, then it will be the Japanese. It is a stupid scare. Who cares Disney is American as long as it is well made. Basically the key to the project in France had to do with money issues and job opportunities. No government would turn down Disneys offer, as it had the potential to make a lot of money. In 1995, Right-wing President Jacques Chirac followed up Francois Mitterand. Chirac had a pro-Disneyland mindset as it fit with the right-wing tradition of admiring a sense of enterprise, whatever the cost, in addition to following the American model. Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, confirms this in his autobiography Chirac would prove more sympathetic to our project, but his arrival meant dealing with an entirely new group of officials. Overall, the reality of the presence of a Disney theme park near Paris started a wave of criticism, especially from left-wingers. Disney tried to counter this criticism by continuously repeating that a majority of Disney films were based on European fairytales, hence they reasoned that they were paying homage to those classic tales from France, Germany and Denmark. In addition, Disney promoted the strong link France had with the company, since it had been present in the country for many years, covering various generations. Disney even went as far as showing that Walt Disney himself had drawn inspiration from Tivoli Gardens of Copenhagen in Denmark for the construction of Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Thus, uncovering Disneys European roots. These actions were successful to some extent, but they were not able to stop the negative views towards the park entirely. To conclude, Disney took into account these initial responses to the park and especially the Imagineering department acted upon French criticism. They designed the looks and feels of the park and tried to incorporate some aspects of European culture. Thus, the Imagineers attempts should be given some credit as they can be considered to be the first who acknowledged Disneys new European context. This raises the question, in how far were the Imagineers successful in creating a European style Disney park? Grand American designs with European details The parks architecture is an aspect which is very hard to criticize. The Imagineers knew that they had to design a park which was located in the very land of medieval castles and chateaus. Experience that they had gained from the construction of the American parks and Tokyo park was used to the fullest. One can therefore easily draw the conclusion that the European park is the most beautiful of them all. Popular American attractions such as Splash Mountain, New Orleans Square and Country Bear Jamboree are not included in the park, but this has no effect on its attractiveness. A key aspect of the European park is its landscaping. All themed areas have their own detailed gardens which brings a visitor immediately to the lands portrayed. For example, Fantasyland is filled with French garden architecture. This type of gardening has a mythical and magical feel to it that perfectly connects to the fairytales theme of Fantasyland. However, one has to remain critical when it comes to Disneys architectural adaptations that were made to fit the European context. Mostly because one has to look very closely in order to discover European traits. Victorian America is still represented in Main Street. Adventureland is not a place to pay attention to Europe as it is focused on Caribbean exotism. Best exemplified by the popular attraction Pirates of the Caribbean. Frontier land covers the heroic conquest of the West, also not a topic were Europeaness could be easily inserted. Fantasyland is the best area in the park when it comes to adapting to Europeans contexts, but Disney has not succeeded in reaching its full potential. The lands carrousel is called Lancelots Carrousel, but the Knights of the Round Table are never referred to. The same applies for attractions such as Peter Pans flight and the Mad Hatters Tea Cups. Literature refers to Alices Garden labyrinth as the key example of European adaptation by the Disney company, but it is based on Disneys version of the story and not Lewis Carolls. Thus, absolutely nothing has been done to add an extra European layer to the attractions. The only land where one finds some hints of E uropeanness of the park is Discovery Land. The Imagineers originally wanted to copy the American version of Tomorrowland with its emphasis on American technology and space adventure. But even the Imagineers agreed that this would be unsuitable for a park located in Europe. Thus, they constructed a land based on Jules Verne and gave it a nineteenth-century look. They included the Nautilus, a movie theatre showing documentaries on Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, created a Jules Verne inspired balloon for the faà §ade of Videopolis, and developed Space Mountain, a rollercoaster ride themed in Jules Verne style and following a Jules Vernes type of story. The remaining attractions in the land, Star Tours, and Michael Jacksons Captain EO completely lack any links with Europe, because they are exact copies of the American versions. Exiting the resort will also not bring guests into European atmospheres as both the Disney village as the hotels are American oriented. The Villages Planet Hollywo od, and its Buffalo Bill Wild West Show extravaganza are proof of this, as well as the themes of the hotels which can be drawn from their names: Newport Bay Club, Cheyenne Hotel, Santa Fe hotel, New York Hotel, Davy Crockett Ranch and Sequoia Lodge. As for the castle, the Sleeping Beauty Castle is not an exact copy of the castles in the other parks, yet is it also not typically European. It is absolutely stunning, but it is not more European than its counter parts, since it remains a creation based on fantasy. The idea that it is based on the German Neuschwanstein castle is a poor attempt by Disney to give the castle a European background. However, there is one aspect of the Sleeping Beauty Castle which is very European oriented, and that is the fact that it has a second floor. In the first year of the park, the imagineers came aware of the different reactions Europeans and Americans have towards the Disney castle. Both Europeans and Americans were impressed by its outer design, but Europeans were also interested in its interior design. This is exemplified by the fact that many European visitors ran to the castles stairs to see what was located on the upper levels. The Imagineers were never aware of the notion that castle interi ors were also important, mostly because the American Disney castles are only decorated on the ground level. After all, castles are not part of the local scenery in America, so why would American visitors be interested in lavish interiors? Intrigued by European visitors reactions, the imagineers designed La Galerie de la Belle au Bois-Dormant located on the mezzanine level of the castle. This is a walk-trough attraction depicting the story of Sleeping Beauty by means of stained-glass windows, tapestries and illuminated story-books. The attraction ends on the balcony of the castle so that guests have the opportunity to view Fantasy Land from above which hopefully results in feeling like a prince or princess. Despite this European oriented addition to the castle, Disneys architecture in France remains very American in nature. However, other aspects of the park have been Europeanized based on European feedback or at least that is what the Disney company promotes to its guests. These Europeanized aspects will be discussed later on, but first one has to establish the differences between European and American behaviors towards and within Disney parks in order to fully understand the adaptations that were made by the Disney company. Thus, to what extent does European behavior in Disney parks differ from American behavior? American culture vs. European culture in the Disney park The park struggled economically in the early years of its existence. Mostly, because Disney forgot to realize that the American visitor is not the same as the European visitor. First of all, the European visitor will not spend his or her money in the same way, most often it is not even spend at all. Secondly, the European visitor does not have a close connection with American Disney culture. For most American families it is normal to be raised with the Mickey Mouse Club, Disney songs and television shows. This is not the case in France and the rest of Europe, because animation celebrities extent beyond Mickey and Minnie. The French have Asterix, and Obelix, whereby jokes from the these comic books have become staples in the French language. The Belgians have Spike and Suzy (Suske and Wiske in Dutch). The Dutch have Oliver B. Bumble and Tom Puss (Olivier B. Bommel and Tom Poes in Dutch) to name a few European comic celebrities. Mickey and company cannot therefore be considered to be t he most important characters in European upbringing. This suggests that Europeans are more reserved when it comes to the popular notion of a Disney park being a must-see attraction. Thirdly, European people, especially from France, Holland, Germany and Scandinavia, remain very reserved when it comes to showing excitement towards Disney characters. The American parks are traditionally filled with parents dressed up in Disney merchandise, trying to channel their inner child. The European mindset simply does not comply with this. Many researchers have tried to find reasons for this, yet no consensus among conclusions has been reached, although some researchers connect Europes reserved mindset to its old cultural heritage. The same cultural differences can be seen in visitors reactions to parades and shows. American entertainment is accompanied by much applause and audience participation, while Europeans often prefer distance between performer and audience. This is of course not the cas e for people from the south regions of Europe, as their social codes support close contact, yet their visitor numbers are lower than the ones from the north regions of Europe, hence their presence has little effect on the general European reaction. All of these cultural differences cannot be changed by the Disney company, as they are so deeply rooted within Europe, yet the Disney company was able and willing to change some aspects of the Disney formula to fit European tastes. It must be noted, however, that these changes were mostly motivated by financial loses. By 1993, the park was on the verge of bankruptcy and essential modifications had to be made in order to keep the park from closing down. Thus, in how far was the Disney company successful in changing traits of its formula to European tastes? And have these changes affected the parks appeal for European visitors?. Adaptations that will be the discussed are found in food offerings, merchandise and employee policies in order to examine the parks cultural hybridity. Disneys attempts to adapt to local tastes Food The European park originally copied its food offerings to the ones on offer in the American parks, however, the company soon discovered that European eating habits had to be taken into account, more specifically European meal times. French travel editor Pierre Alamou commented on this by stating: Unlike grazing Americans, all Europeans eat lunch at the same time,with the exception of Spanish and Italians, fortunately. Before the parks opening the Disney company had already catered to Europeans preference for table-service restaurants. Main Street is the home to Walts, a restaurant specialized in American cuisine and decorated to the life of Walt Disney. Located in Fantasyland is Auberge de Cendrillon, a restaurant themed to the Cinderella story. The restaurant is famous for its French cuisine and for its focus on French culture. However, its French culture is seen through Disneys eyes as it is portrayed as the culture of lavish royal banquets and dances. The Blue Lagoon Restaurant in Adventureland specializes in seafood and offers a perfect setting for quiet elaborate meals. Overall, the table service restaurants serve to European tastes, yet their popularity is frequently challenged by high menu prices. This was the topic of many newspaper headlines in the early 1990s, for example Europe chokes on Euro Disney! Food and drinks very expensive! and Pricey day out! Feedback like this motivated Disney to quickly begin to focus on counter-service restaurants which offer quick and relatively cheap meals. Examples of such restaurants are Captain Hooks Galley and Caseys Corner. The existence of one counter-service restaurant in particular is interesting, namely Toad Hall Restaurant. This restaurant is built in the English manor style and its interior refers to the adventures of Mr. Toad. These adventures probably do not immediately ring a bell with European customers as their popularity is mostly found in America. Despite the fact that it is based on a story that is popular in America, the restaurant offers English food, as in fish and chips. This shows how Disney planners welcomed international cuisine to cater to European tastes. In addition, croissants, croquet monsieurs and Italian pizza are also offered in the park. As a result, international cuisine and American-style food are both equally featured in the park, although typical American Disney food such as corn dogs, cinnamon rolls and turkey legs have not been imported. Probably because these types of food are still too foreign for European guests. Food that is quintessential Disneyland Paris is the pizza burger, which was invented in Buzz Lightyears Pizza Planet Restaurant. Its name covers its content perfectly, it is a burger with pizza buns. One could argue that it is a perfect example of Disneys Europeanization as it combines the American burger with the Italian Pizza. However, it still feels very American, despite the fact that it has never been introduced in the American parks. One can draw the conclusion that the pizza burger encapsulates Disneys attempts to portray American food to Europeans. It has European details, but those are dominated by American designs. The serving of alcoholic beverages in the Disney Park is a highly debated topic. Initially the park banned alcohol as it could potentially harm the creation of a safe family haven. An idea invented by Walt Disney himself. However, in 1993, alcohol was introduced in the park. It was first only on offer in table-service restaurants, but it slowly made its way to counter-service. In this way, Disney paid respect to European dining habits, but more importantly it created much more revenue. This decision definitely played a role in the rise of ticket sales. Next to adaptations made in food offerings and restaurant services, Disney also adapted its merchandise to European contexts. Souvenirs Expensive upscale goods initially dominated the Disney stores in the park. Disney planners decided to do this as those goods were very successful in Japan. Moreover, it would show that Disney merchandise was not tacky or distasteful, an image that dominated European views on Disney memorabilia. However, the high price of these products as well as their designs were not accepted by visitors. Some visitors wanted an exact copy of the American merchandise. i.e. big Goofy hats, Mickey Mouse tie-dye shirts and princess dresses. Other visitors preferred fashionable merchandise with underemphasized Disney symbols much in the style of Belgian fashion brand Donaldson. This brand was a Disney licensee and produced stylish trench coats with Minnie Mouse embroidery among other things. In general, Disney took the best of both worlds. It offers typical American merchandise, but it also offers a European oriented line, called Produit exclusive Disneyland Paris, as it name suggests , this line inclu des products that are only on offer in Disneyland Paris. Employee policy The imposition of American customs on French workers and management was disastrous for the Disney company. It clearly showed a cultural gap between French and Americans. The restrictions imposed by Disney on how one has to look for the company were very strict. Bill Bryson commented on this in an article he wrote in 1993 for Observer Magazine: No one on the Disney pay roll is allowed to smoke

Themes in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce :: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

     Ã‚   James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of complex themes developed through frequent allusions to classical mythology.   The myth of Daedalus and Icarus serves as a structuring element in the novel, uniting the central themes of individual rebellion and discovery, producing a work of literature that illuminates the motivations of an artist, and the development of his individual philosophy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   James Joyce chose the name Stephen Dedalus to link his hero with the mythical Greek hero, Daedalus.   In Greek myth, Daedalus was an architect, inventor, and artisan.   By request of King Minos, Daedalus built a labyrinth on Crete to contain a monster called the Minotaur, half bull and half man.   Later, for displeasing the king, Daedalus and his son Icarus were both confined in this labyrinth, which was so complex that even its creator could not find his way out.   Instead, Daedalus fashioned wings of wax and feathers so that he and his son could escape.   When Icarus flew too high -- too near the sun -- in spite of his father's warnings, his wings melted, and he fell into the sea and drowned.   His more cautious father flew to safety (World Book 3).   By using this myth in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Portrait of the Artist), Joyce succeeds in giving definitive treatment to an archetype that was well established long before the twentieth century (Beebe 163).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Daedalus myth gives a basic structure to Portrait of the Artist.   From the beginning, Stephen, like most young people, is caught in a maze, just as his namesake Daedalus was.   The schools are a maze of corridors; Dublin is a maze of streets.   Stephen's mind itself is a convoluted maze filled with dead ends and circular reasoning (Hackett 203): Met her today point blank in Grafton Street.   The crowd brought us together.   We both stopped.   She asked me why I never came, said she had heard all sorts of stories about me.   This was only to gain time.   Asked me, was I writing poems?   About whom?   I asked her.   This confused her more and I felt sorry and mean.   Turned off that valve at once and opened the spiritual-heroic refrigerating apparatus, invented and patented in all countries by Dante Alighieri. (Joyce 246)    Life poses riddles at every turn.   Stephen roams the labyrinth searching his mind for answers (Gorman 204).

Zara Internationalization Analysis

ZARA-Internationalization Analysis When it comes to internationalization strategies, ZARA is the perfect case to look at. By putting in practice a set of different strategies, ZARA has accomplished great positioning worldwide and is one of the most recognized brands in the apparel market. Listed below are the main internationalization strategies ZARA has used to become one of the leading clothing brands in the world. Operating Filial When ZARA first started opening stores outside of Spain, at the end of the 1980’s and beginning of the 1990’s, they looked for markets that resembled the Spanish market, had a minimum level of economic development and would be relatively easy to enter. The entry into the market would be decided by a team of economy experts from the headquarters that, after analyzing the micro and macro components of the market that affected ZARA directly, would say whether to enter or not. This analysis was made to see how much alike was the international market to the Spanish one. This allows them to, successfully, have the same products in the international market and the local market, distribute the same products between both markets, apply same decisions taken by the head offices and save money and time on flexibility between the international and local market. These key factors, allowed ZARA to have more control of its operations and an easier management. It is no coincidence then, ZARA’s first European stores (outside of Spain) opened with high success in countries like Portugal, France, Greece, Belgium and Cyprus. Joint Venture A joint venture can be defined as an agreement between two or more companies through which they compromise to build a new firm to achieve a certain purpose. This kind of strategy allows the company to expand with limited capital investment, and therefore, to limit the risk too. The company can also be benefited from the partner's experience in a certain field. Making joint ventures with public foreign corporations can allow the company to start prosperous relationships with that certain market, and use them in the future. It was not clearly seen how could this alliance benefited Benetton due to the fact that they’re one of ZARA’s very strong enemy; but Benetton admitted that because of this potential competitiveness, they would prefer to have some control into this new ZARA venture and also to have it as a partner and not as an enemy in the Italian market. Franchise ZARA has 31 franchised stores in 12 countries. The company use franchises in countries that are risky, small, or with significant cultural differences or administrative barriers that feeds the desire to invest in this market. ZARA in their franchises, has very strong financial partners, franchises are well established and are usually for five years. ZARA charged its franchisees from selling their products a fee that varies between 5% and 10% of its sales. The company offers its franchisees complete access to business services, which are human resources, logistics and training, all without any cost and allows them to return to 10% of merchandise. Some of the advantages that a franchise offers to ZARA are, less investment and less risk, standardization and relatively little scrutiny. Franchise also has its disadvantages, difficult to find local investors and seek to ensure the policy coherence in the image. But if a company like ZARA that is so big and recognized around the world use a franchise as an investment decision, is because the benefits are more than the losses. Manufacturing Contracts Autonomous Filial ZARA is an exclusive and dedicated local market, it has strong relationship to the country where is located. It is relatively autonomous but not at the same level as the qualified filial and is considered a small replica of the parent company. While management stressed that ZARA used the same business system in all the countries which it operated, there was some variation in retailing operations at the local level. The first store opened in each market, usually a leader store for the market, played a particularly critical role in refining the marketing mix by affording detailed insights into local demand. The marketing mix that emerged there was applied to other stores in the country as well. Pricing was also part of this market based mix. However if a decision was taken to enter a particular market, customers effectively bore the extra cost of supplying it from Spain. ZARA had historically market local currency for all the countries in which it operated on each garments price tag. The higher prices outside did imply a somewhat different positioning for ZARA overseas, particularly in emerging markets. For example in Spain about 80% of the citizens can afford ZARA. It’s different in Latin-American countries like Mexico for cultural and economic reasons because the average income in Mexico is $3000 compared to $14000 in Spain. The Mexican people who buy in ZARAare the upper class and the middle class, which is the class that knows fashion that is accustomed to buying in Europe, or in the United states. In Mexico ZARA’s are targeting 14 million inhabitants compared to 35-36 million in Spain, but 14 million is more than enough to put in a network of stores there. Differences in positioning also affected the stores which products were sold and ZARA’s overall image. For example in South America, ZARA’s products had to present a high-end rather than a mid-market image and it was emphasized that they were â€Å"made in Europe†. However, the image presented was never one of â€Å"made in Spain†. Qualified Filial A qualified filial is a unit with great strategic relevance in the entire corporation. It acts in coordination with other units of the multinational corporation, mostly influencing them with strategic behavior and their expertise on a specific technology. Thus, a qualified filial has to be a center of excellence. In ZARA, the international distributing centers can be considered as qualified filials, for distribution is one of the key factors in ZARA’s selling process. International distributing centers are located in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, where shipments are consolidated from the main distributing center in Arteixa. Working under Just in Time policies and systems, distributing centers have a great responsibility linking the stores with Arteixa, and at the same time, implementing distributing strategies that affect them. These centers allow a rapid flow of information and merchandise to the different stores, so keeping their levels of excellence are vital for the process. This is why ZARA invests on their ongoing improvement to keep up with technology as it improves and making it a flexible and reliable system so it doesn’t fails.