Apple free essay sample

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OSX, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices. (Farfan, 2017)Product and servicesApple products include iPhone which is the first smartphone with touchscreen capabilities, iPad which was the first tablet released by Apple, Mac which was the first laptop release by Apple, iPod was a way to listen to music, Apple Watch which is a smartwatch release by Apple, Apple TV is a way to watch TV, and their software application which includes iPhone OS (iOS), OS X and watchOS operating systems, iCloud, Apple Pay.Major macro-environment factorsSocial factor: The social factor for Apple is the increasing popularity of mobile devices that a person can carry w ith them anywhere and social media. Whilst contemplating expanding into a new country, Apple Inc would have to take into consideration compliance of safety, employment and financial laws in order to legally and successfully open a new branch. Apple Inc must ensure that government laws are business friendly and favourable towards large corporations. In addition to government laws and regulations, political stability in the country Apple Inc is contemplating is a key consideration that has to be taken prior to expansion into that market. Apple is an international corporation with a great reliance on the international market; 4% of sales were from outside the US and only 38. 6% were from inside the US in 2012 (Datamonitor 2012). Therefore this shows the company’s vulnerability to negative â€Å"global relations, wars and terrorism† (Hasan 2012). As Apple’s electronics are made in China (Lamy 2011), any political problems between the US and China would negatively impact Apple. b. Economic: Sharp economic fluctuations affect all businesses. Economic factors are those that have to do with the general economy of the country or world and its effect on a specific business. For instance the markets’ crisis and eventual crash of 2008 greatly affected Apple results and performance. The market crash directly caused large corporations who saw their income and turnover diving; to turn to lay offs and consequently high unemployment rates had a spiralling direct effect on consumer spending. â€Å"Apple slumped almost 18% after RBC and Morgan Stanley analysts downgraded the stock to neutral from buy saying the consumer spending slowdown will hurt profits† (Twin 2008). Since Apple sells luxury â€Å"cool† products, its sales was adversely affected significantly. Apple had no say or influence in this matter and this factor shows truly how external elements are uncontrollable. c. Social/Cultural: Social factors are important when it comes to the sales of a product basically how the public views a product. Apple is at a large advantage in this area due to its perceived uniqueness as having â€Å"cool† state of the art, smart, simple to use products. This, coupled with an intense marketing campaign to deliver that particular message and along with its impressive reach into global markets, has led Apple to ultimately succeed in establishing its brand linked to the genius and meticulous Steve Jobs approach. Today Apple is seen as a luxurious, high quality brand; it is well known, seen as a strong social symbol and renowned for its unique design no matter what product is being purchased. Due to its strong brand name, Apple receives a lot of sales and becomes the go to Technology Company for luxury seeking consumers. d. Technological: This is the definition of Apple’s success. Due to the world being in a technological era, innovation is key. Apple spent its largest sum of capital on research and development in 2013 when the money spent on that field reached $4. 5 billion (Hughes 2013). The company develops and creates new products on a yearly basis for all its categories to keep itself in the spotlight, ahead of the game, and constantly moving forward. However with the death of Apple’s founder and innovator Steve Jobs, this has proven to be a great handicap to the sustainability of the company and consumers has become sceptical and concerned about maintaining the uniqueness of Apple devices. Recently there has been the perception of a sacrifice in hardware capabilities for better design and better seen quality thus ruining Apple’s reputation in the eye of tech savvy consumers, who claim other competitors have better technology for a cheaper price (Yun Qing 2012) such as Samsung (Datamonitor 2011). This figure shows the international sales of Samsung compared to apple, in the last few quarters Samsung is ahead. (FOSS Patents 2012) e. Environmental/Ethical: The environment and ethical factors have been in the spotlight at a much larger degree lately. These include factors that keep a company green and also treat its employees ethically. Apple has recently improved its environmental credentials by rolling out new recycling campaigns, the company is now minimizing the environmental impact of its growth by using â€Å"less material†, shipping â€Å"with smaller packaging†, being â€Å"free of many toxic substances†, and being â€Å"as energy efficient and recyclable as possible†(Apple website, 2013). â€Å"Though our revenue has grown, our greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of revenue have decreased by 21. 5 percent since 2008. However, Apple’s assembly method has shamed them as well. Apple is known, like other major companies, to assemble their products in China with a company called Foxconn. â€Å"In the last several years Foxconns operations have been under scrutiny for violation of Chinese domestic employment law† (Josephs, 2013) This has received major criticism due to the poor working conditions the company offers its employees, and the outsourcing of local jobs for cheap labour. It is seen as unethical but unchanged since it increases profit. f. Legal: Legal factors are concerned with governmental laws on issues such as price fixing, as well as patents on innovative ideas. An example of this came in 2012 when Apple and Samsung had a court battle over Samsung infringing certain patents of Apple. However Apple won most of its legal battles with Samsung even though not all of them and had already received financial compensation. â€Å"The company won a $1 billion patent infringement judgment against Samsung. † (Duhigg and Lohr 2012) Apple did well with protecting its products, and innovative ideas in order to stay on top of competition. In conclusion, Apple Inc has a very good stand on its Political factor, as it has not broken any law or regulation in the political field. On its Economic factors, it is recovering from the stock market crash. Apple’s dependence on the society plays a prominent role in its success. This multi-national company never ceases to come up with innovative technologies that intrigue the society and makes them want their products even more. With regard to its technological factor Apple is well protected by its brand equity and worldwide recognition. Although Apple is starting to be seen as technologically lagging, its high quality and luxurious style make up for that even though the competition is on its heels and catching up fast; technology is a fast game and the winner is the constant innovator of faster, sleek, cooler, easy to use products and Apple with its ample resources of capital, technology savvy and innovating avant-garde personnel that consistently create relevant applications appealing to the different sectors of Apple consumers is still in a leading position. However, the rapid growth of Apple’s products and new technologies will eventually reach a plateau. A time will come when Apple will reach market saturation. For instance, if everyone has an iPhone, the odds of them buying a new one will begin to decrease. Add to this, the rise of Samsung in China causes a great threat to Apple. Threats of substitute keep on elevating as technology improves, that is why apple must seek more marketing through word-of-mouth and possibly seek corporations in China which know the nature of its market. A suggestion would be Apple doing more research on upgrading its hardware while upholding its high class. Legally Apple maintains a conservative policy. It consistently updates its patents and protects its intellectual property. Finally, on the factor of Environment and Ethics, Apple would strongly benefit from a more ethical stand towards its employees such as finding a more ethical manufacturing company maintaining, strict guidelines of labour employment, or negotiating stricter contracts with Foxconn for better work ethics.

Playstation 2 Essays - Home Video Game Consoles, PlayStation

Playstation 2 Late this summer, Sony will release its brainchild product dubbed PlayStation2. This is a follow up to its predecessor PlayStation1. If you are familiar with the video game entertainment market, its usual that a company releases a new console every 4 to 5 years. The Playstation2 is expected to revolutionize the video gaming industry in ways never imagined before. Who would have thought we would be able to watch DVD's on our video game player? Soon this summer we will be able to. How about connecting to the net and going online to play a buddy or just any competitor in California? Feel like downloading some mp3's? The new PlayStation2 will let you do all these things and more. PlayStation2 will offer a variety of different ways of using their machine. Not only can you play revolutionizing games, but you can shop through your computer. Sony will offer in 2001 a connection to the Internet in which you can just surf the web. As I have mentioned, Sony has formatted the PlayStation2 to able to play DVD videos along with its games. One of the greatest things about the PlayStation2 is that you can play all your old Playstation1 games on it! Finally! After years and years of this backwards compatibility being in the dark, it is now possible with the PlayStation2. Not only your old games, but even your old controllers, memory cards and wires are going to be fully compatible with the system. The PlayStation2 is expected to beat out its predecessor in every way including the books. Playstation1 accounted for 40% of all of Sony's profits in 1998. As of the first weekend of sales in Japan, Playstation2 had sold 980,000 units. All in one weekend! The lone fairly new competition that will be on the market before Playstation2 is the Sega Dreamcast. This was released in 1999 and has sold 4 million units since its release. Figure 4 million units in 52-weeks and then look at PlayStation2's numbers in Japan on one weekend. Playstation2 will be extremely succesful because of it almost cult like following. In a recent study, a conclusion was made that 1 in four homes have a Playstation. That is close to 25 million units sold in the US alone. This all adds up to the 70 million units total sold in the world. And now the product is just more sellable with the DVD, Internet, and backwards compatibility available. Specifications Product Name: PlayStation2 Suggested Retail Price (Japan) 39,800 Yen ($370) Available: March 4, 2000 (Japan) Accessories included: "Dual Shock"2 analog controller High capacity 8MB Memory Card PlayStation2 Demo Disc AV Multi Cable AC Power Cord Dimensions: 301mm (W) x 178mm (H) x 78mm (D) (12" x 7" x 3") Weight: 2.1 kg (4 lbs. 10 oz.) Media: PlayStation2 CD-ROM, DVD-ROM PlayStation CD-ROM Formats supported: Audio CD, DVD-Video Interfaces: Controller Port (2) Memory Card Slot (2) AV Multi Cable Output (1) Optical Digital Output (1) USB Port (2) I.Link (IEEE1394) (1) Type III PCMCIA Card Slot PlayStation?2 Basic Specifications and Features CPU 128 Bit "Emotion Engine?" System Clock Frequency 294.912 MHz Main Memory Direct RDRAM Memory Size 32MB Graphics "Graphics Synthesizer" Clock Frequency 147.456MHz Embedded Cache VRAM 4MB Sound SPU2 Number of Voices 48ch plus software Sound Memory 2MB IOP I/O Processor CPU Core PlayStation CPU+ Clock Frequency 33.8688MHz or 36.864MHz (Selectable) IOP Memory 2MB Disc Device CD-ROM and DVD-ROM Device Speed CD-ROM 24 times speed DVD-ROM 4 times speed

Getting Good GMAT Essay Questions and Answers

Getting Good GMAT Essay Questions and AnswersIf you are looking for sample GMAT essay questions and answers, then this is the site for you. We are going to help you understand how to prepare for the GMAT, and why it is so important that you study for it.There are many websites out there that claim to offer sample GMAT essay questions and answers, but unfortunately, most of them only offer access to answer sheets, not actual essay questions. This is a disservice to students, and it can result in one of two situations:First, you will have an essay question that is either irrelevant or a completely impersonal answer. There are a lot of topics that you can consider for essays, and if you are not sure what type of questions to write about, then you should not attempt to get advice from sites that offer sample GMAT essays.Second, you might be too nervous to get your essay finished, and you might get it wrong, which might cost you a potential employer. It is not always easy to ask for help, especially when it comes to something as important as this, so take some time and make sure that you prepare yourself ahead of time. If you do not want to write your own essays, then hire a writer to do it for you.When you go to the site that offers sample GMAT essay questions and answers, you are going to find that they are not all the same. Some of them are probably generic enough to be used on other essay questions, while others will be different. The important thing is that you find a method that works for you, and you stick with it.An essential part of preparing for the GMAT is to spend time going over the material and doing practice tests to ensure that you understand every concept. This is a time-consuming process, but it will payoff in the end. If you take enough practice tests and spend enough time going over the material, you will improve your score.The way that you get GMAT essay questions and answers will vary depending on what kind of site you are using. The key is to find a website that is easy to navigate and that offers the kind of information that you need. If you get the information you need from a site that has a lot of flash games and flash animation, then this might not be the right site for you.Remember that when you are looking for sample GMAT essay questions and answers, the most important thing is to make sure that you understand the material before you start writing. Make sure that you can prepare yourself ahead of time, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you get stuck.

The banking industry in the United Arab Emirates

The banking industry in the United Arab Emirates Background The banking industry in the United Arab Emirates is faced with fiancà © completion from public and private players. The United Arab Emirates has a well-developed banking sector and the economic strength of the country has created a business opportunities to foreign and local players.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The banking industry in the United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The economy has some of the world largest international banks like Barclays Bank, The International Bank for Trade Finance, Syria Gulf Bank and other small upcoming banks and microfinance (Syria Gulf Bank). This paper takes an analysis of Syria Gulf Bank; it will look into the company’s operating base and its competition. Which business do you think will be the biggest competitor in the United Arab Emirates, why? The main competitors that the bank is likely to face are conventional and Islamic multinationa l banks that have stated to venture in the United Arabs Emirates business. Among the banks, the bank that seems to have much power and can be said to be the greatest threat to Syria Gulf Bank is Barclay’s banks limited. The reason for singling out Barclays as the main competitor is its international operations and the services that it has embarked on in its branches. Barclays’ Bank is among the oldest banks in the world; it has grown with different economies and transformed with changes that are facing the sector; one way that the bank has used to integrate its business is the use of single fund transfer and access to ones account at any Barclays bank in the world. This means that a customer of the bank has the ability to make banking transaction in any country without having to undertake some interbank transfers; this rate of efficiency coupled with the banks international presence in different countries offers it a higher chance to convince customers that it is the b ank of choice. For example, a customer who is transating with the bank in the United Stattes of America receives a transfer by a customer at the United Arabs Emirates on the spot (Barclays Bank).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More When Syria Gulf Bank is engaging in an international transfer, mostly in the countries that it has not established a branch, it has to do this using another holding bank. This takes time and is costly to the customer. Another area that Barclays bank has been able to stand strong is its financial base; the company has been in operation for a couple of years thus it has accumulated a financial base that it uses to expand its operations; the strong financial base assist the company tap new upcoming business opportunities leaving others banks with less financial base struggling. In the wake of global financial crisis, the company has been able t o use its financial base to acquire assets and make policies that strengthen their business approach. The most competitive parameter that Syria Gulf Bank has is its specialized services, the company has only few customers thus it can forge its services and products to meet the needs of the customer. This facilitates business since a customer does not need to queue for banking services. Again the technology adopted to handle the business of the company is high tech, the Automated Terror Machines and internet banking are highly efficient and not jammed as the case is with Barclays such services. The above moves by the company are likely to offer it a competitive edge than Barclays (Syria Gulf Bank). What is the difference between vision and mission in formulating business strategies; please provide relevant examples released by international companies When making operating strategies, managers are guided by the company’s, mission, vision, and corporate objectives; the business frameworks are provided by the shareholders or the entrepreneur who have the mind picture of what they want in their organization. When the mission, vision and objective are fulfilled, then management agency relationship or contracts are fulfilled. An effective mission, vision and objectives should be attainable and reflect the needs operation of a company.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The banking industry in the United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the international business arenas, there are some countries that have fulfilled their visions and missions continuously; they include Toyota Motor Corporation and Emirates Airlines company in the United Arabs Emirates; this section of the paper defines the major difference between mission and vision, it will be suing examples of Toyota company and Emirates Airline company. Mission Mission defines the main business of the company and how it aims at fulfilling its business; it has the business objectives and goals of success that when fulfilled the company will have attained its business competitiveness. Toyota has a mission statement as, â€Å"To attract and attain customers with high-valued products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience in America†( Toyota Motor Corporation Corporate Website). The management either in Japan where the head quarters are, or in other branch are guided by the mission they want to attain. When one analyzes the mission statement, the company simply illustrates how it wants to add value in peoples life, through its innovative products. Emirates has the mission of â€Å"An exceptional journey from start to finish,† † (Emirates Airline Company Corporate Website); this means that the company is willing to offer high quality transport services to its customers all over the globe. The mission has been attained through massive inventive and innovative of models, and involvement in corporate social responsibilities. To attain the mission, the company needs to keep reminding its human capital and stakeholders on the reasons of its being. Leaders should always make policies that assist in the attainment of the mission of the company. Vision statement Vision defines what a company want to attain after it has fulfilled its mission; this is what it aims at in the eyes of the people. Toyota vision â€Å"To be the most successful and respected car company in America (Toyota Motor Corporation Corporate Website).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Vision of Emirates is, â€Å"caring for our employees and stakeholders as it grows its business to higher heights; the company understands that it can only remain competitive and profitable† (Emirates Airline Company Corporate Website). The attainment of the vision will only be realized after the company has set appropriate internal processes that target the world market; the internal processes that the company has implemented are aggressive marketing, innovation, research and development among others. It is worth noting that mission statement is more skewed to what the company want to attain and how to attain it while vision statement is more on the critical success factors that can be seen after the attainment of the vision statements. In modern contemporary business world, leaders have the role of formulating mission and vision statements that are attainable with the potential that a company have. To support the two strategic management tools, a company needs to have c orporate objectives and goals; the objectives and goals assists keeping the business on track. Barclays Bank. Barclays Bank in the United Arabs Emirates , 2011. 07th May 2011. Emirates Airline Company Corporate Website. Emirates, 2011. Web. Syria Gulf Bank. Syria Gulf Bank, 2011. 07th May 2011. Toyota Motor Company Corporate website. Toyota,2011. 07th May 2011.

Patterns and Sorting Teaching Activities for Children

Patterns and Sorting Teaching Activities for Children Teaching patterns to your child goes hand in hand with teaching them how to sort. Both activities rely on seeing the characteristics and attributes a set of items has in common. When kids think about sorting, they think about putting things into piles based on the most visible characteristic they have in common, but if you help your child to look a little closer, they’ll be able to see subtler common attributes, too. Ways to Sort Items Toddlers and preschoolers start sorting early on when they put their various toys in color-oriented piles. Color is just one of many attributes to look at. Others include: SizeShapeTextureLengthType of objects Depending on the objects you have to use for patterns and sorting, it can get even more complicated. For example, if your child is sorting buttons, he can sort them by size, sort them by color, and/or by the number of holes in each button. Shoes can be sorted into left and right, laces and no laces, stinky or not stinky and so on. Connecting Sorting and Patterns Once your child recognizes that a group of objects can be put into groups by their similar characteristics, they can start making patterns by using those characteristics. Those buttons? Well, let’s consider the ones with two holes â€Å"Group A† and the ones with four holes â€Å"Group B.† If there were any buttons with one hole, those can be â€Å"Group C.† Having these different groups opens up a number of different ways to construct patterns. The most common pattern groupings are: ABAABBAAABABC It’s important to point out to your child that what makes a pattern a pattern is that the sequence repeats in the same order. So, putting down a two-holed button, a four-holed button and a two-holed button isn’t yet a pattern. Your child would need to put down another four-holed button to complete two sequences of the pattern to begin a pattern. Look for Patterns In Books Though the concept of patterning is mathematical, patterns can be found everywhere. Music has patterns, language has patterns, and nature is a world full of patterns. One of the easiest ways to help your child discover patterns in the world is to read books that are either specifically about patterns or contain language patterns. Many children’s books, like  Are You My Mother?,  rely on patterns to tell a story. In that particular book, the baby bird asks each character the title question when he meets them, and they each reply No. In the story of The Little Red Hen, (or the more modern version, The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza), the hen is looking for someone to help grind the wheat and repeats the phrase over and over again. There a number of stories like this. Look For Patterns in Music Music is a little more difficult for some children because not all of them are able to distinguish the difference between a sound going up and a sound going down. There are basic patterns to listen for, though, such as the repetition of a chorus after a verse and the repeating melody of a verse and a chorus. You can also point out the patterns of short notes and long notes or play games that teach your child the patterns of rhythm. Often, learning simple clap, tap, slap patterns can help kids listen for the patterns in music. If your child is more visual, they can benefit from looking at the patterns found on instruments. A piano keyboard, for example, has a number of patterns on it, the simplest of which is found on the black keys. From end to end, the black keys are in groups of 3 keys, 2 keys, 3 keys, 2 keys. Once your child has grasped the concept of patterns, theyll not only see them everywhere, but they’ll be off to a great start when it comes to learning math!

Discussion 1 - Management''s Responsibility Coursework

Discussion 1 - Management''s Responsibility - Coursework Example There are many reasons that are associated with their failure and the management had an important part in its failure as it could be circumvented. Firstly, the business environment was risky because the timing of its new venture corresponded with the recession of 2007 when consumer spending had reduced drastically. Secondly, Tesco’s management decision to pull out of the market rather than giving time for consumers to recover from the recession. For Tesco, the external, macro-environment proved to be challenging when the firm decided to launch a new venture in the US. So, its decision making was crucially important for the firm to choose its course in the challenging environment. Many also blame the research and its analysis. Tesco’s interpretation of the collected data ignored the cultural context and the options consumers had if there were one-stop stores. However, the recession had greatly reduced their spending capacity of consumers and even though they had the time to shop at multiple stores, they had little money. (2) Caty has pointed out some important information regarding the credit industry. I agree with Caty that the management did not have much involvement in the decision for closing the branch. In this case, the orders came from the head office. Usually, the most profitable branches provide little reason for the corporate management to shut it down however this is not the only criteria for closing down a branch. In BankFirst’s case, the branch location was generating enough revenues to sustain it in the long run however the decision to close it down came from the head office located in another state. Perhaps the bank was trying to cut down its branches in that particular state as part of its strategy to focus on reducing market penetration to allow for another growth strategy. The credit card industry serves an important purpose as credit providers. Technology is one external factor over which the management has little control over although

Being Clear on What Is and What Should Be Queer. This Essay

Being Clear on What Is and What Should Be Queer. This Conceptualization Of Queer - Essay Example It is inferred from Harding’s essay that because of heteronormativity, queer includes fat women, whose only chance of experiencing sex is by being raped. In The Trouble with Normal, Warner examines the dilemma of determining and pursuing what is normal. Being normal casts negative shadows on what is queer, which is why Warner thinks it is wrong for the Mattachine Society to toss aside the issue of sex to gain respectability and normativity. Two definitions of queer emerge because society defines it as having sexual norms that are against heteronormativity, something that is sinful and pathological (or what queer should be), while Harding and Warner describe it as composed of variations to the norm, where everyone has equal sexual agency (or what queer is). Society defines queer as opposite to acceptable heterosexual norms and practices. Sex is central to the concept of queer, but society, in its heterosexual morality, seeks to undermine queer sex as improper, immoral sex. Hard ing and Warner question the dominant social definition of queer as a negative sexual attitude and behavior just because it is outside heteronormativity. Who defines what is queer? For Harding, the hypermasculine culture defines queer vis-a-vis its sexual and political interests. She asserts that society conditions women to live for their â€Å"primary obligation†: â€Å"to make [themselves] pretty for heterosexual men’s pleasure† (68). Queer women, by sexually desiring the same sex, are clashing with their predominant obligation. Furthermore, queer is defined not according to what the defined actually feels, but how heterosexual society describes it should be. Harding criticizes society and the media for having a skewed understanding of beauty and attraction, which is the basis of political and social roles, functions, and boundaries. After discussing how society and the media pressure fat people to be thin, Harding notes that it is clear that: â€Å"†¦fat is Not Hot† (74, capital letters from original text). Beauty is reserved for the thin, and people are supposed to be attracted only to thin people. Queer is unattractive to heterosexual norms. Another definition from mainstream society is that queer is abnormal and must be concealed or changed to suit heteronormativity. Warner criticizes the efforts of some gay organizations to desexualize their struggles because the essence of being queer is being sexual and being open about it. He stresses that homosexuality is central to the fight for gender equality: â€Å"It is hard to claim that homosexuality is irrelevant as long as you feel the need to make the claim† (46). Sex and sexuality are political centers of the aspiration for personhood. Warner argues that sex is politics and queer is political. In 1953, the Mattachine Society’s new leaders assert the importance of â€Å"integrating† as a way of showing the public â€Å"new maturity† (Warner 46). T o integrate is to be non-sexual and to be non-sexual is to forget that sexuality is a political struggle for the queer. And to forget that queer is sexual and political is to say that queer is dead and must remain so. Warner’s point is that by desexualizing the queer movement, the queer are accepting the social definition that they are not acceptable because they are not the norm. Queer is abnormal and must remain hidden in the bathrooms and bushes. Fat women are queer too because their physical characteristics put them at the fringes of physical attraction. Harding points this out persuasively, as she analyzes the heterosexual norm, where: â€Å"