Organization Theory

How to Answer the Most Common Job Interview Questions

How to Answer the Most Common Job Interview Questions Going into a job interview can feel a bit like prepping for the Hunger Games. You have a general idea of what you’re facing, but you don’t know the specifics- who knows what those devilish game makers will have in store for you? Nobody dies here (unless job interviews have really changed since the last time I went on one), but there can be only one person left standing: the victor, the one with the job offer. And as in any good conflict where you want to come out on top, you want to be as prepared as possible going into it. It’s impossible to know exactly what questions to expect ahead of time, but there’s enough commonality in how job interviews are structured that you can take an educated guess- and educate yourself accordingly. Here’s how to answer common interview questions. 1. Standard Interview Questions2. Behavioral Interview Questions3. Tricky Interview QuestionsThe first thing to do is to figure out what kinds of questions you might face be fore you even think about trying to prep for specific questions. The question types fall into two categories: what we’ll call â€Å"standard† interview question and behavioral interview questions.Standard interview questions are about what you’d expect: questions that ask you about your past experience, your current skills, and your professional goals. Some examples:â€Å"Tell me more about your coding background.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Can you tell me about your day-to-day responsibilities in your most recent job?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"How did you get started in this industry?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"It says here that you worked for seven years at Job Co. What did you work on there?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"What is your biggest strength?† (And its devilish counterpart, â€Å"What is your biggest weakness?†)â€Å"Where do you see yourself in five years?†These are straightforward questions with (hopefully) straightforward answers. You know your resume and your experience better than anyone, so own the information.How to Approach Standard Interview QuestionsIf it helps, think of these questions as a kind of game show, like The Interview Guys do. There’s a concrete answer available for every standard interview question. â€Å"I don’t know† or uncomfortable silence will throw up a major red flag to the interviewer, so make sure that you’re solid on your resume, the job description for which you’re interviewing, and the talking points you want to use in the interview. (I’ll take â€Å"Leadership Experience† for $400, Alex.)Top 5 tips for answering standard interview questions:Be confident! You’re talking about your best professional self, so be ready to cover your skills and accomplishments.Don’t give short answers. If you’re asked about your background in coding, don’t just say, â€Å"I took a class five years ago,† then wait for the next question to come along. Say, â€Å"I start ed with a class five years ago, and took off from there. I’ve used and grown those skills in my current job, where I was responsible for updating and maintaining the company website.† You don’t need a novel’s worth of details, but the interviewer is looking for you to expand on your own history- all he or she knows is what’s in the bullets on your resume. It’s your job to fill those out and make yourself look like a well-rounded candidate.Remember: it’s not about you. But, you say, isn’t it about my experience and skills? Yes and no. The whole point of the interview is to see how you’ll fit in with this job and this company. So when you frame your answers, make sure you’re always emphasizing how this skill or that experience point relates to the job at hand.Be honest. This kind of question is where, uh, soft spots on your resume might come to light. The interviewer will expect you to be able to answer all of these questions with concrete info, so if you can’t offer supporting information, or have long and awkward pauses, that’s a problem. If you’re not fluent in Spanish, don’t list it. If you weren’t really the youngest CEO ever at your last company, don’t suggest you were. Forget a background check- if you can’t back up your resume’s assertions in the interview, you’ll never even get to that stage.Be specific. This isn’t so hard for questions about your background or your software proficiencies, but it’s tougher when you get to questions about your strengths and weaknesses. The best way to hone in on these is to think of specific examples from your past. For example, â€Å"At my current job, I developed a workflow that improved sales reporting, so I’m very good at zeroing in on challenges and working with a team to solve them.† Or, â€Å"I’d say my greatest weakness is my tendency to try to tak e everything on myself. In my last job, that led to a lot of stress around deadlines, and I’ve since learned that I need to work harder on prioritizing and setting boundaries to get everything done smoothly.†RELATED:  How to Answer These 5 Common (but tough) Interview QuestionsThe best advice we can offer you is to think about how to answer common interview questions in advance and anticipate having to give anecdotes about your experience. You won’t know ahead of time which ones are likely to come up, but by having talking points in your pocket for every part of your resume, you can be ready for any standard questions that come up.Behavioral interview questions are a little less straightforward, with no easy answer. These questions are kind of like storytime: the interviewer will ask you to talk about a specific time you faced a challenge or demonstrated a skill. You’ll know behavioral questions when you hear them because they’ll have telltale phr ases like:â€Å"Tell me about a time you†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"What would you do if†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"Show me how you handled†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"Walk me through a time when you†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"How would you deal with†¦Ã¢â‚¬ What do all of these have in common? There’s a performance element, and usually an action verb. It’s on you to come up with an answer, and phrase it in a smooth interview operator kind of way.RELATED:  How to Answer Behavioral Interview QuestionsHow to Approach Behavioral Interview QuestionsThe approach for these questions isn’t so different from that of traditional questions. They just require a little more thinking on your feet, because there’s no easy factual answer. You’ll be drawing from your history directly (â€Å"tell me about a time when you†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ), or indirectly (â€Å"what would you do if†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ).Top 5 tips for answering behavioral interview questions:It’s not about you, itâ€℠¢s about them. The advice for standard interview questions (#3 above) remains the same here: remember that it’s really about the interviewer and the company, not you. You’ll be providing info that illustrates how you have operated and will likely operate as an employee, but that information will be weighed against what the company wants and needs for this job opening. You’re not answering the questions in a vacuum. So make sure that your answers dovetail with the job description.Don’t be brutally honest. If you’re asked about the biggest challenge in your career so far, and your most trying time happens to have been the royal-est screwup in the history of royal screw-ups, don’t bring it up. Before the interview, spend time thinking about less dramatic anecdotes that don’t make you look bad. Or if you do end up talking about a time you messed up, absolutely make sure to follow up with a quick point about how you learned from it and hav e turned it to your advantage.Come up with pre-answers in certain categories. Behavioral questions usually seek to draw you out on skills like leadership, problem-solving, and personal interaction. Long before the interview, start doing a personal audit of your work history and come up with a list of relevant anecdotes in the following areas:Challenges you faced, and how you overcame themTimes you led others or managed a complicated project with numerous peopleWorkplace conflicts or differences of opinion, and how you handled themKeep it brief. You don’t want to leave them confused or wanting more by being too abrupt, but if you feel yourself start to ramble on (adding details that aren’t really necessary, explaining things in tangents), then rein yourself in a bit. Rehearse your likely stories ahead of time, so you can adjust the flow, and what feels like the right presentation. Rambling can come off as nervous babbling, and you don’t want to undermine your con fident aura on interview day.Keep it professional. They’re definitely not looking for examples from your personal life- make sure you limit your stories to things that happened at work.The Trickiest QuestionsOnce you know the types of questions and how to mine your resume and experience to prep ahead of time, you can focus more on the most challenging questions of all: the â€Å"you tell us† questions. These aren’t really standard interview questions, because they’re not straight facts or expansions on points found on your resume. They’re not really behavioral, either, because they don’t illustrate how you’ve approached workplace issues in the past (or would). They’re open-ended, and that’s what makes them scarier. Some examples of these extra-hard interview questions.â€Å"Tell me about yourself.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Why should we hire you?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Why do you want to work here?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Why did you leave your last job ?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Do you have any questions for me?†Ã¢â‚¬ËœWhat is your biggest weakness?†Spin negatives into positives. This applies most fully to the â€Å"biggest weakness† and â€Å"why did you leave your last job?† questions (especially if you were let go, or left in a bad situation). The kind of formula you should keep in mind is, â€Å"I experienced X, but I learned Y, and now I work very hard on achieving Z. It’s an experience that I take very seriously.†Don’t pull the interviewer’s leg. If you’re asked about a weakness, talk about a weakness†¦don’t try to say you work too hard, and gosh darn it, that’s your biggest flaw. Every single one of us has real flaws, and candidness can be the key to establishing trust with the interviewer. However, when you talk about a weakness or a challenge you’ve faced, always, always (did I mention â€Å"always†?) talk about what you did/do to overcome i t, and what you’ve learned from it.Don’t panic†¦or pause too long. The deer-in-headlights reaction is not a good look during the interview. Either you look like you’re trying to invent an answer, or you look like you just don’t know how to respond. Practicing answers for the questions above (using, again, specific examples from your resume and your work history) can help you feel more comfortable with repurposing your material for a variety of potential questions.Always tie it to the job/company. Before the interview, review the job description, and highlight the areas that connect to your resume. If the job calls for managerial skills, â€Å"tell me about yourself† can be a quick walkthrough of your rise to leading men and women to greatness (increased sales or efficiency). If it’s a general question about why you want to work here,Keep it professional (redux). If you want to work for this company because your commute would be cut in h alf, don’t say that. â€Å"Tell me about yourself† is not an invitation to show pictures of your beloved pet lizard, Dr. Greenjeans III. Just give a quick rundown of where you are, professionally, and where you’re hoping to go. Personal opinions and personal life don’t really belong in an interview. (Exception: mild small talk before or after the interview- but even then, no big personal confessions or controversial opinions.)RELATED:  How to Answer the Toughest Interview QuestionsThe best way to deal with any interview questions is to prepare in advance- you can practice the spirit of them, if not the exact content. If you have a trusted buddy or family member, have them lob unscripted (professional) questions at you, so you can get better at fielding things on the fly. And if you need a cheat sheet on common interview questions and how to tackle them in the meantime, here’s a quick overview you can use as a reference. [via UndercoverRecruiter]A nd remember the most important part: you got this! Don’t panic no matter what you’re asked, and answer with confidence. May the interview go ever in your favor!

The Differences between Genders in Expressing Verbal Emotions Annotated Bibliography

The Differences between Genders in Expressing Verbal Emotions - Annotated Bibliography Example The key communicative styles mostly observed to be used by boys include businesslike, formal, diplomatic, energetic, externally oriented etc. while the common communicative styles of the girls were observed to be more emotional, sociable, expressive, emotional-difficult, and complaisant. In this book, the author discusses the various differences in communication styles of men and women. The chapter on "Gendered differences in language and aggressive / augmentative communication" in particular offers interesting insights the stereotypical verbal communication attributed to both the genders, that confines women to use a more ladylike language while the males are expected to more intense and authoritative. In this book discusses the various differences in between the two genders with regard the language used, including the manner in which the genders use grammar, gossip, what it means to talk like a lady etc. The key aim of this book is to communicate the manner in which society and culture affects the use of language between the genders. The author uses a range of data to explore the differences between the genders in spoken and written English. In this book the author discusses the stereotypes, myths, realities and similarities and differences surrounding the communication styles, both verbal as well as non-verbal among the two genders. the chapter on "Gender and verbal and non-verbal communication" (p. 133 - 154) by Marianne LaFrance & Jennifer L. Harris, is of key significance since it highlights the key differences between the genders with regard to verbal communication. In this study the authors aimed to examine the patterns in expression of verbal emotions between the two genders during their conversation with their parents. The key emotions observed during the study include sadness, anger and happiness. It was observed that the gender stereotypes in verbal expressions of emotions were true. The girls were found

Bioprocessing requirements to manufacture a specific product Essay

Bioprocessing requirements to manufacture a specific product - Essay Example In lactic acid fermentation, a single molecule of pyruvate is changed into lactate. In the same process, ethanol and carbon dioxide are also resulting products. This kind of fermentation occurs in muscles of animals when the energy requirement exceeds the oxygen supply. This anaerobic process occurs, providing the organism with the energy required, in an anaerobic manner. Before this process can occur, though, a molecule of glucose has to be split into two molecules of pyruvate. This is a process referred to as glycolysis. In homolactic fermentation, two moles of lactic acid are anaerobically formed from a single molecule of glucose. When lactic acid is produced during fermentation, a racemic mixture of its two isomers is obtained. The L(+) and D(-) isomers will exist in equal quantities. When carbohydrate is fermented, glycolic and lactic acids will be found in the product mixture. This is the simplest form of fermentation. Lactic acid fermentation is a redox reaction that occurs in anaerobic conditions (Dworkin, 2006, 539). Lactic acid fermentation as a process finds use in the food industry since it is used in the production of yoghurt. Milk is fermented with bacteria that are harmless, mainly Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Milk is used as the culture in this process. When the pH of the milk is decreased, it congeals. The bacteria are responsible for producing compounds that give the resultant product the distinctive taste of yoghurt. By lowering the pH, the conditions become unfavourable for harmful bacteria, making this process effective. This process also finds use in producing sauerkraut. This process utilizes genus Leuconostoc (Dworkin, 2006, 541). In lactic acid fermentation, the product will be dependent on the strain of microbe used. The strain of microbe that is used for fermentation will influence the stereo-specificity of the product. The

Liberal States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Liberal States - Essay Example Liberalism is a political doctrine that believes protection of freedom of citizens of any country is the main problem of a government and generally advocates for equality among all citizens. In liberal states, the support of ideas such as freedom of religion, freedom of press, fair and transparent elections and other civil rights is usually very common since the people are normally aware of their rights. Liberal states though they exhibit some variations in some political ideologies they usually exhibit a common belief on the fight for freedom and rights of their citizens. Liberalism carries a sense of international sense of prudence, which enables them to restrain from fighting with one another since they have the same system of international relations and ideologies. This kind of self-restriction among the liberal states has enabled many such states not to engage in wars since it does not seem logical for them to engage in any form of fighting and if agitated to do so they have the ability to restrain from the urge (Sandel 175). However, this sense of prudence only seems to be practical among liberal states only since when non-liberal states attack the liberal ones it has usually resulted in war. The reason advocated by the liberal states for their act of intolerance to their non-liberal counterparts is that it is prudent to attack since they are defending themselves.

The Cost Leadership Strategy

The Cost Leadership Strategy From his literature research, Porter found the complete framework of Porters Five Forces and Generic Strategies. The long development of Five Forces Analysis has brought to the fact that those forces become the determinants of the industrys competition. These five forces are treat of new entry, rivalry among existing firms, treat from substitute products, bargaining power of buyers, and bargaining power of suppliers. Furthermore, five forces analysis is treated by the organization to measure the level of competition, besides that, it is used as a strong first step in understanding how one industry compares to another and also to determine industry profitability because they influence the prices, costs, and required investment of firm in an industry. In order to be competitive enough, a normal company that seeks profitability would have to understand how they work in its industry and how they affect the company in its particular situation. Therefore, Three Generic Strategies were implemented to establish a strategic agenda for dealing with these five forces. Porter (1980) proposes that if firms pursue any of his three recommended generic competitive strategies they will be able to outperform competitors who do not pursue such strategies. The recommended strategies are cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategy. Cost Leadership Strategy This type of strategy meant for organizations that has goal to achieve the overall lowest cost structure in an industry. This can be fulfilled through applying efficient business system in an organization. An efficient business system creates cost efficiencies and economic of scales to allow a firm to become the lowest-cost producer. Normally, economists believed that an increase in accumulated experience of a firm in producing or distributing a product or service could decrease the cost of producing or distributing a product or service. However, lowest-cost structure cannot be achieved by cutting the cost alone in one area of business; it demands a reduction in costs on all the departments. Cost leadership not only helps a firm to take down the competitors but also increase market share along with better profit margins. Furthermore, this strategy is believed to work best in the certain circumstances. Firstly, the cost leadership strategy can be applied when the price competition among rival sellers is especially strong. Secondly, the strategy is suitable for standardized product or readily available from other sellers in the industry. Thirdly, it works best when organization could have few ways to achieve product differentiation, so that buyers get very sensitive to price differences. Unfortunately, this strategy has weakness since it concerns cost reduction rather than quality of the product that leads to decline in the popularity. It is also supported by the fact that nowadays customers are really critical about the quality of the product that makes more customers choose quality rather than cost conscious. In addition, this strategy will become ineffective with an increase in overall cost of a firms production inputs. Automatically, an organization will find it hard to hold a cost advantage over a longer time in business environment that keeps changing rapidly. Differentiation Strategy Nowadays business environment is really competitive, marketers cannot achieve its goals unless they hold some differential advantage over their rivals. In recent years, much attention has been committed by the marketers to maintain specific competencies; uniqueness could be a strength that makes an organization looks better from its competitors in the eyes of customers. Therefore, uniqueness can be used in gaining a competitive advantage. Obviously, the distinctive competencies also bring incremental value to the market offering when compared to the other offerings to the customers. In consequence, an organization must use different sources of differentiation at different times to build an importance image to its customers. For examples, better features and quality, efficient distribution, research and development, better image of product or service, and also the most important improved customer services. Marketers have realized how customer services could create the business image a nd also build the strong relationships with customers. In the opinion of Thompson and Strickland (1999, cited et Sahaf, 2008) differentiation strategies work best in the some markets circumstances where there are many ways to differentiate the companys offerings from that of rivals and many buyers perceive these differences as having value. In addition, it is also match with the market where buyer needs and uses of the item or service are diverse, few rival firms are following a similar differentiation approach, and technological chance is fast-paced and competition revolves around evolving product features. Although differentiation strategy looks perfect but it also gives some challenges to the organization to complete it. Firstly, it is a difficult task to identify the sources of differentiation that are important for the customers and difficult for the competitors to copy. This task is time consuming and not suitable to the business environment that rapidly changes. Secondly, many of people still prefer to buy low-priced products or services over the products that have desirable features since people have mindset why they should purchase the more expensive one if that the products do not give any incremental value for the customers in a firms market offering. Focus Strategy Focus strategy as suggested by Porter (1985, cited et Sahaf, 2008 ) is based upon the choice of a narrow competitive scope within an industry. By attempting this strategy, it means the organization tries to focus on a particular market segment and to achieve its objective by becoming the market leader in a niche market. The segment may be a group of customers that differentiated by ages and sex. It is believed that an organization can be more efficient and effective by focusing its efforts to a narrow target rather than broad target. Accordingly, this strategy has objective to employ either cost leadership strategy or differentiation strategy to a part of market. A cost focus strategy aims to lowering the prices of the product or service by controlling costs in a narrow target market. For example, a firm is able to be the low cost producer in only one product line. Meanwhile, a differentiation focus strategy means striving to tailor made products to the specific needs of the market s egment. Thus such a strategy could utilize some element of differences of firms market offering to a narrow market segment. For example, a firm may employ its distinctive competencies to focus on one or a few target markets. Thompson and Strickland (1999 cited Sahaf, 2008 ) added that focus strategy will be useful enough to apply on the following circumstances. Firstly, it works best when it has no other rival is attempting to specialize in the same target segment, added with the fact that is quite hard for multi-segment competitors to meet the specialized needs of the target market niche. This strategy also fits when a firm does not have sufficient resources or capabilities to go after a bigger piece of the total market so focus strategy will work well on this situation when it concerns on one market segment. Although the focus strategy looks popular among the organization over past decade, there are some risks that need to be considered if a organization commits to this strategy. Firstly, by focusing only to narrow target, the organization doesnt entitle to enjoy the benefits of the economy of scale that generally occurs in the wide target. Other risks come from the fact that the success of focus strategy over last few years has been attracting many rivals who may think to join the industry that resulting in an increase in the strength of competition. It is believed that an organization not only needs to have entire knowledge about the events and happenings in the industry but also requires choosing among the above mentioned three generic strategies in order to ensure a better marketing performance. Different strategies suggested by Porters generic model call for different organizational systems and capabilities. For example, organizations with adequate resources and good controlling systems may prefer to engage cost leadership and a firm with strong Research and Development facilities may get better results through differentiation strategy. Whereas a small firm with poor resources and inadequate RD facilities may be better off by serving niche markets, therefore, will be more comfortable with focus strategy. three generic strategies.jpg Relationship between Porters Generic Strategies Analysis and Industry Forces The three generic strategies suggested by Porter can be effectively utilised to defend against competitive forces in the business environment. The industry forces take the form of competitive rivalry, barriers to entry, threat of substitutes, buyer power and supplier power. The relationship will be explained below. 1. Competitive Rivalry Competitive rivalry or also called the competition among existing competitors takes many familiar action such as price discounting, launching new product, advertising campaigns, and service improvements. The competitive rivalry signs that it will limit the profitability of an industry because the cost of competition will tend to increase. Highly competitive rivalry normally occurs when the industry is a mature, growth slowly and the players that take part into the competition also have the same strength or size. The only way that company can expand or increase the market share is by attracting the customers so that customers could be commit and loyal. In such situation, the benefits of a cost leadership strategy would be that competitiveness in price. For example, Southwest Airlines Company offers low cost air fare to the customers by eliminating some features or services such as no meals on the board, no assigned seats, interline baggage checking, or premium classes of service. Thus, price tells everything that normally people who want to save cost will go for the lower price. Besides that, Southwests frequent departures and low fares attract price-sensitive customers who used to travel by bus or car, and convenience-oriented travellers who would choose a full-service airline on other routes. This is a proof that cost leadership strategy can be implemented in this type of industry, and resulting in good benefits to the companies. However, as competitors pay high attention to price, cost leadership strategy may not be a favourable as all companies would apply the same strategy too and it ends up by reducing their price dramatically. As such situation, differentiation strategy may give better opportunity to the company because it would able to retain loyal customers and they may stay with the company. The reason why it could retain some loyal customers is the task may seems hard to accomplish for competitors to cope with specialised needs of customers who are part of a niche segment in the market. For the example at here is Starbucks, is a well know coffee company that is differentiated by top of the line image and reputation of twin-tailed mermaid. Starbucks spends a lot of time and energy differentiating itself from the competition such as its design of coffee shops, the music played there and the types of products it sells, such as tumbler, coffee-brewing equipment and jazz CDs. As for focus strategy, companies have the benefits of keeping the differentiation-customers needs so that their rivals are not able to bet them. It cant be denied that companies who applying such strategy have the possibility to charge a premium price for superior quality or may be offering low price product to a small and special group of buyers. Companies like Chanel, Gucci, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts make use of successful differentiation-based focused strategies targeted at wealthy buyers wanting high quality of products and services with world-class attributes. 2. Barriers to Entry Industries that have potential ability to be profitable could attract the outsiders ( companies that dont involve in the particular industry) because there is chance of entering the industry and taking a part in the profit making. New entrants may create the competition, since it has targeted for the same customers that will lead to higher levels of marketing, sales, and promotional expenses by all competitors as the requirements for differentiation continually increase. If a company employing any one of the three strategies would find it easy to create barriers for new entrants. The barriers that cost leadership strategy could offer is economies of scale. It may be considered as one of the barriers. In some industries a companys ability to compete will based on whether it can produce its product or service at a cost that is low enough to offer low competitive price. The experience that company gain for over the years cant be defeated easily for new entrants to compete on price. For example, economies of scales can be found in practically every activity in the value chain; which ones are most important varies by industry. In microprocessors, incumbents such as Intel are protected by scale economies in research, chip fabrication, and consumer marketing. Intel has been dominating the market for a long time and it really difficult for a new entrant to enter because it will require large capital. For differentiation strategy, it is an advantage to the company who adopt this strategy because normally those companies have huge amount of loyal customers toward the companys brand. Thus by knowing this fact, it could discourage the potential entrants to enter the industry. For the instance take the trend of smartphone industry all over the world. This smartphone industry involves three major players that are Blackberrys Research In Motion (RIM), Googles Android, and Apples Iphone. New entrants do not dare to enter the market because they worry whether they are able to compete with the existing players. In addition, also companies that employing the focus strategy over time often develop an understanding through research of their customers preferences, which is a very difficult task for a potential entrant. By doing this way, focus strategy can act as an entry barrier too. 3. Threat of Substitutes Substitutes could have two effects on industry competition and profitability. First, the substitutes products establish a maximum price for products and services in the industry; exceeding the maximum would prompt customers to move to the substitute products that are available. Second, substitutes can shape the competition in an industry to rise their marketing and promotional efforts to stem the outflow of customers. Automatically, it gives pressure to the competitors in the industry to keep the prices as low as possible and to spend more much fund to attract and retain customers, which can depress sales and profits in the industry. For the example, downloading mp3 music to the mp3 player compared to buying CDs in music stores. In order to survive or fight this force, company could apply the cost leadership strategy that aims lower price production against the substitutes. Selling price is one of factors that influence the customers decision whether to purchase the product or service or just switch to the substitutes. Take IKEA as an example, IKEA offers the furniture style at low cost to the customers who are happy to do self service rather than employing a salesman. Furthermore, customers are expected to do their own pickup and delivery so that it helps cutting the selling price of the products. By doing so, IKEA can compete with its substitituttes and retain the customer loyalty. Other than cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy may also be considered as the method to eliminate or minimize these threats of substitutes. If the companies offer products that are differentiated which have no substitute product, it will minimize the threat. For the example, pharmaceutical companies that offer patented drugs with distinctive medical benefits have more power over health maintenance organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other drug buyers such as drug companies. Also by applying differentiation-focused strategies, it does effectively reduce the threat of substitutes. Threat of substitutes is reduced in case of the differentiation-focused strategy due to customer loyalty to the unique aspects of a particular product or service. Again we can take IKEA as an example at this strategy; IKEA has differentiated its marketing strategy on how to attract the young customers. IKEAs marketing concept its unique and not offered in other furniture companies. IKEA displays every product it sells in room-like settings, so customers dont need a decorator to help them imagine how to put the pieces together. And every product has a tag that explains the product materials, size, and price. 4. Buyer Power In the business world, buyers play the main role in the existence of the organization. As we know, buyers action will affect the profitability of the industrys competitors with their purchase choices. The profitability levels in any industry come from the bargaining power that buyers have in purchasing services and products offered. Buyers may affect profitability by demanding that competitors spend money to deliver other valued dimensions such as improved product quality, extended payment terms, promotional support, and other services. Buyers can be said powerful if they have the ability to negotiate leverage relative to industry players, especially if they are price sensitive, using their influences primarily to pressure price reductions. Nevertheless, the buyers power is able to change because it depends with the three generic strategies. Company might attract the large and powerful buyer if the company adopting cost leaders because it has the distinctive capability to offer lower price options to that kind of buyers. It is a benefit to the company to be a cost leader in the industry, one of the benefits is to get customers trust and confidence to the company. Hence, the company can maintain its competitive advantage in the market as other rivals would not able to get strong and powerful buyers. On the contrary, companies employing the differentiation and focus strategies would have a different scenario. It means that buyers in case of these two strategies would have less power as there are few alternatives available to them. For the example, the buyers of Windows operating system for computer or laptop, produced by Microsoft have much less power due to the fact there are not many other alternatives available to them. Even, there is alternative, it is not common to use since people are comfortable using the Windows operating system. Thus, Microsoft not only maintains it competitive but also controlling the market of this industry that actually created the monopoly market. 5. Supplier Power Generally, suppliers that are called powerful will keep more of the value for themselves by charging higher prices, restricting quality or services, or shifting costs to industry participants. In addition, powerful suppliers can press profitability out of an industry that is unable to pass on cost increases in its own prices. At this case, again Microsoft could be a good example; it has contributed to the erosion of profitability among personal computer (PC) producers by increasing prices on operating systems. Definitely, the industry of PC is competing extremely for customers who can easily switch among the producers. As a result, PC producers at this situation have limited freedom to increase their prices. If the supplier has a significant impact on a companys profitability, then it hold substantial power. For example, there is no substitute for what the supplier group provides, the suppliers would have major power and control in the industry. Pilots unions, for example, exercise considerable supplier power over airlines partly because there is no good alternative to a well-trained pilot in the cockpit. Thus, it proves that such companies would have ability to pass the price increases of suppliers to their final customers, through the premium pricing strategy in the scenario of differentiation and focus/niche strategies. What makes differentiation and focus strategy different is the low volume that owned by employing focus strategy even though the firm that applying differentiation-focused strategy is able to pass on supplier price increases easily. Meanwhile in the case of cost leadership strategy, they are isolated from powerful supplier. It normally occurs in the industry that suppliers have essential customer. Hence, suppliers profitability will be closely tied to the industry, and they will want to protect the industry through reasonable pricing and assistance in activities like RD and lobbying (Porter, 1979). . 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Federalism in Canada Essays -- Canadian History, Politics

Since federalism was introduced as an aspect of Canadian political identity, the country has undergone multiple changes as to how federalism works; in other words, over the decades the federal and provincial governments have not always acted in the same way as they do now. Canada, for example, once experienced quasi-federalism, where the provinces are made subordinate to Ottawa. Currently we are in an era of what has been coined â€Å"collaborative federalism†. Essentially, as the title would suggest, it implies that the federal and provincial levels of government work together more closely to enact and make policy changes. Unfortunately, this era of collaborative federalism may be ending sooner rather than later – in the past couple decades, the federal and provincial governments have been known to squabble over any and all policy changes in sectors such as health, the environment and fiscal issues. Generally, one would assume that in a regime employing collaborative federalism there would be a certain amount of collaboration. Lately, it seems as though the only time policy changes can take place the federal government is needed to work unilaterally. One area in which collaborative federalism has been nonexistent and unilateral federalism has prevailed and positively affected policy changes is in the Post-Secondary Education (PSE) sector. As Bakvis writes, â€Å"the transformation of Canada’s university system†¦ came about largely through the effort of the federal government alone,† (Bakvis 205). There are a few key abnormalities to this statement, one being pertinent to the CA 1867. When one looks at the constitution, under sections 91 and 92, anyone remotely well-versed in Canadian politics would know that those two sections outline w... ...210). To conclude, in the present Canadians are seeing change in PSE funding policies begin to come from the provinces. Due to the fact that â€Å"when Ottawa went against the grain and launched the Millennium Scholarship programs, provincial feathers, especially Quebec’s, were immediately ruffled,† provinces such as Quebec and British Columbia, among others, were motivated to â€Å"set up their own research funding agencies with the view to [maximize] the likelihood of obtaining funds from Ottawa,† (Bakvis 216). As for the legitimacy of cooperative federalism in Canada today, it seems as though executive federalism itself is turning largely paternalistic – at least in the sense of PSE. More often than not, in PSE funding, the federal government has taken the initiative while â€Å"one set of executives – those from provincial governments – was largely absent,† (Bakvis 218).

Lombard conception of justice

Though it is very little known of the specific details of Lombard life, the Lombard legal codes have been preserved for a modern generation in a Latin document known as the Lombard Laws. The group of editors has arranged a wide collection of readings, related to the progress of Western civilization, from various historical epochs and all regions of Europe under the title Perspectives from the Past: Primary Sources in Western Civilizations. In this book in Chapter 8 called Rome’s Three Heirs: The Byzantine, Islamic, and Early Medieval Worlds we can find a reliable source of information on Lombard legislation concept. The Lombard Laws were presented in a codification of the prevailing German customs relating to family, kingship, marriage, social obligation, possessions, and resolving conflicts. These Laws were written down between the middle of the seventh and the middle of the eighth centuries under the direction of several Lombard kings. The earlier laws were issued by King Rothair in 643. The Lombard Laws partially were aimed at avoiding the blood feud or vendetta. This was a kind of traditional form of redress in society at that time. If a member of the clan was wronged, his family would often injure or kill the offending party, launching a blood feud that could last for generations. However, during the transformation to farming life and living in fixed communities, traditional methods of violence and retribution could have disturbed the population too much. Thus the Lombard Kings sought to replace violent blood feuds with a monetary penalty called composition that was paid directly to the person harmed by a crime (or their family). These penalties were expressed in solidi (a monetary unit), and they were closely related to the wergeld (personal worth) of an individual in society. Also the laws served for strict protection of the property and produce of a family. For example crime of selling another man's property without permission entailed very serious consequences for the infringer – the guilty party is required to return the stolen property eightfold, unless they can proclaim their innocence in front of witnesses. The use of witnesses testifies the increasing sophistication of the Lombard society. These laws are important from historical point of view as far as they present the description of the values and beliefs of early medieval Italians and give the picture of how a new empire is founded (that is a Germanic, illiterate culture merges with a Roman, literate one). References: Brophy, James, et al. Perspectives from the Past: Primary Sources in Western Civilizations. 2nd ed. 2 vols. W.W. Norton and Company, 2002.

Communism, National, Liberalism and the Outcome of World War I essays

Communism, National, Liberalism and the Outcome of World War I essays The Treaty of Versailles was supposed to be a peace agreement between the Allies and the Germans (Bailey, 1972). However, the treaty sparked political discontent and economic chaos in Germany, as it represented the results of hostility and revenge and opened the door for a dictatorship and On November 11, 1918, World War I ended. Germany surrendered and signed an armistice agreement, so the Allies were faced with the task of creating a peace agreement (Bailey, 1972). In December of 1918, the Allies met in Versailles. The main representatives at this meeting were Woodrow Wilson, representing the United States, David Lloyd George, representing Great Britain, David Lloyd George, and George Clemenceau, representing France. While the task of drafting a peace agreement seemed relatively simple, it soon became apparent that each country had conflicting ideas and motives For example, President Wilson did not enter the war until it was absolutely necessary, as he wanted the U.S. to remain neutral. During the war, Wilson outlined his peace program, which was based on fourteen main points, demanding that future agreements be open covenants of peace, openly arrived at; an insistence upon absolute freedom of the seas; and the formation of a general association of nations. The fourteen points were focused on peace and set the groundwork for the armistice that Germany ultimately signed in November 1918. While the U.S. was a major player in ending the war, Wilson was still more interested in a "peace without victors" than seizing German colonies or reparations. However, the European leaders did not agree with Wilson's ideas. It soon became clear that the European allies were seeking revenge and wanted to cripple Germany both economically and socially. Before the war, Germany challenged Britain's powerful navy by drastically increasing the funding for their navy. As a result, Britain absorbed thirty- ...

Comparison Essay on High School and College

Comparison Essay on High School and College Comparison Essay on High School and College Some people may mistake college as a simple step above high school, but an examination of the two levels of study reveals that there are indeed numerous differences between the two. One of the differences is in the nature of classes in college and in high school. In high school classes, assignments and learning materials that are to be used to complete the assignments are provided for the students. High schools also normally have guidance counselors to help students determine what advanced core and elective courses they may be interested in taking, especially as it pertains to preparing for a college or a vocation. In college, the situation is very different because it is the students who are charged with the responsibility to decide the kinds of classes that they should take until they graduate. If a student has challenges in selecting a unit, the student may make an appointment with a course advisor. However, colleges do have counseling and guidance offices to help students look at what they might be interested in as a career and to help them plan accordingly. Even so, college students are rarely given the materials that they need for their study and therefore , unlike high school, must purchase the necessary texts and other learning material. Another difference is that, compared to college professors, high school teachers tend to be more accommodating towards their students. For instance, high school teachers tend to be more interested in knowing the name of each and every student in their class while college professors rarely relate names to the faces of their students. Also, high school teachers are more likely to closely monitor the grades of their students, ensure that all the students access the required notes, find out why a student may have missed a class, and even remind the students of assignments and future examinations. High school teachers are also more likely to accept a late submission of assignments or even call a student’s parents to inquire about a student who may have missed class. On the other hand, college professors rarely pay attention to the attendance habits of their students and do not make any effort to ensure that all their students pass or score good grades in their subjects. If a studen t misses a class, a college professor is unlikely to follow up and give the student the notes he missed. Instead, it will be up to the student to figure out from whom to get the notes that he missed when he did not attend class. Finally, it is not uncommon to meet a college professor even after graduating from college and not be recognized by that professor, unlike the case of high school teachers who remember some students long after graduation. In high school, it is very easy to get one-on-one time with a teacher because all that one has to do is to schedule a time before or after school. In college, one has to book an appointment in order to have a one-on-one time with a professor, and it is not always a guarantee that after booking the appointment, the professor will keep the appointment. You can buy a comparison essay online at essay writing service. You will get a superior-quality custom compare and contrast paper written from scratch!

Materials Engineering Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Materials Engineering - Assignment Example The bondage between the molecules is broken. In this region, the material can regain its original shape after the removal of the loading or rather the stress. At this juncture, the material obeys Hooke’s law and the stress and strain relate proportionally, and the constant of proportionality is the modulus of elasticity. The structure of the particles is not altered which explains the reason the material regains it original shape after the removal of the stress. It is the region just after the elastic limit. It is characterized by the graph flattening indicating destroyed proportionality between the stress and strain. Plastic deformations creep in, and the material loses the ability to regain fully its shape and size after the stress has been released. It takes place due to rearrangement of the molecular or atomic structure that allows for the new shape and size. Found just after the yielding region. It is characterized by a slight rise of the curve to the ultimate stress point. The behavior is due to the strength of the deformed atoms or molecules having a slight ability to withstand more stress up to the point beyond which complete deformation takes place. The rise of the curve in this region is what is termed as strain hardening. It is the region beyond the ultimate stress point. In this region, a further increase of the stress leads to a reduction of the cross section of the material only in some parts and not the entire material. The constrictions formed are what is referred to as necking. It is the continuous reduction of the cross section area that leads to the breakage and thus separation of the material. Metallic materials are ductile thus has the ability to deform plastically up to some extent. On the graph, it is represented by the region beyond the proportional limit where the elastic limit has been exceeded. Force

Description of the Instructional Design Process Essay

Description of the Instructional Design Process - Essay Example Description of the Instructional Design Process Since both of us are from Saudi Arabia, our native language is Arabic. As such, we planned to teach the subject entitled "Arabic Alphabet", which we believe would be an interesting and illuminating learning area since the class is composed of different students from diverse cultural orientations: 50% American's and 50% foreign students. All are graduate students; as such the knowledge level considers the type of information that should be presented; the materials to be used; as well as the style and level of language to be applied. The relevant framework of the instructional design was presented by Dean (2002) through the presented diagram which itemized four needs assessment: (1) the skills of the educator/s; (2) the development of content knowledge; (3) the needs of the audience or the adult learners; and (4) the learning contexts (p. 3). To apply the model to the current project, the following information are noted and to be expounded in subsequent sections. Skills of Educators: T here is a manifested above average to exemplary skills and competencies in the command and proficiency of the Arabic language; as well as translating and teaching basic theoretical frameworks of the Arabic language to English, which is the second language of both educators. Detailed educational background, work experiences, as well as skills and competencies are discussed below.As the educators, both come from Saudi Arabia, where Arabic is the native language. ... Content Knowledge: Exemplary since Arabic is the native language to both educators. Needs of the Audience: Since 50% are Americans and 50% are foreign students, the subject promises to be an interesting and illuminating learning experience for all. The composition of gender and cultural/racial orientation of learners are detailed under learner needs and characteristics below. Learning Context: The instructional project is to be presented in the assigned classroom: 124 Davis Hall, Indiana University of Pennsylvania; which is the most appropriate and convenient setting to comply with the course requirement. Assessing and Developing the Adult Educators’ Skills As the educators, both come from Saudi Arabia, where Arabic is the native language. Ahmed Alzahrani has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Jeddah Teachers' College in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She taught English for three (3) years in middle school. She has been in the United States pursuing her master’s degree le vel majoring in the MATESOL Program. On the other hand, Naif Alsayyali, is also an English language teacher. He taught in Middle School, the public school system in Altaif, Saudi Arabia. He has been teaching for nine years. From the educational background and work experience, it could be deemed that both educators are highly skilled and exemplary in the subject area, â€Å"Arabic Alphabet†. Not only do we possess excellent competencies in this topic; but likewise, as English language teachers, we are adept at translating the native language into English, as the secondary language, and an area of evident proficiency. Developing Content Knowledge As disclosed by Dean (2002), there are three essential components of content