International Business--FOUNDATIONS OF BUSINESS KNOWLEADGE EDGE Essay

International Business--FOUNDATIONS OF BUSINESS KNOWLEADGE EDGE - Essay Example There are even times when self-assessment examinations and tests reveal personality traits that surprise one as being eminent as a self-image or concept. In this regard, the objective of the report is to indicate an assessment of oneself using several indicators such as The Big Five Locator (Emotional Stability, Extroversion, and Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness), Visual/Nonverbal Learning Style, and the Hemisphere Dominance Test, and Interactive Styles, among others, to give a clearer understanding of one’s assessment, as an individual, to be used for future endeavors. According to Dr. Joachim de Posada (2003), the Big Five Locator Personality Test aims in assisting an individual to â€Å"define issues that may be important to (one’s) effectiveness in a leadership capacity† (1). The focal areas upon answering well designed questions would determine an individual’s preponderance to the following: emotional stability, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. After taking the examination, the results reveal the following: emotional stability (14) with a norm score of 48 indicating responsiveness or practically a balanced emotional stability rating; extroversion (19) with a norm score of 57 which clearly manifests traits of extroversion as assertive, sociable, warm, optimistic, and even talkative, to some extent; openness to experience (11) and a norm score of 40 indicating the traits of a preserver, or someone with low openness to experience – one who is conservative, efficient with a great depth of knowledge, among others; agreeableness (20) with a 55 norm score which clearly manifests traits of being a negotiator – someone who is balanced in argumentation and in conflict resolution skills; and finally, conscientiousness scored 17 with a norm score of 50, which

Tesco Utilising the Marketing Mix Essay Example for Free

Tesco Utilising the Marketing Mix Essay Tesco is one of the world’s international retailers and is recognised as the market leader in the UK supermarket sector. Tesco state that their core purpose is ‘to create value for customers to earn their life time loyalty’ Evaluate how Tesco and other supermarkets utilise the marketing mix to compete in the market place. Tesco is the leading retailer with a market share in 2010 of 29.7% (Wright, 2012), a reason they have proven to be such a successful business is because of their well thought through slogan ‘every little helps’ which is simultaneously used to shape their core values, the slogan is now embedded throughout every aspect of the organisation. Tesco along with many other business use the marketing mix model, otherwise known as the 7 P’s to set effective business strategies in order to provide a good quality of service to their customers. To compare the broadness of the way the marketing mix works for different businesses another leading supermarket chain should be chosen. Asda in 2010 had a market share of 16.9% (Wright, 2012) also applies the marketing mix in considering any values or goals. Consequently their slogan is ‘Asda, always cutting prices’ Asda’s slogan is used similarly to Tesco’s as a means of shaping the business. This ethos is used in order to sell their brand effectively to get a higher amount of Revenue. In a highly competitive market, Tesco and Asda need to make sure the marketing mix model is considered effectively to ensure the business is strong enough to survive in the supermarket sector, meaning all core values must be relevant and work effectively for these profit orientated businesses allowing them to reinvest and develop their brands. Price is a section of the marketing mix, when considering prices if a product is priced too low or too high, it could mean a loss of sales for an organisation. Tesco attempt to meet the consumers in the middle by having lower prices that still give them a reasonable amount of profit. One of their aims is ‘continually increase value for money’ they did this by completing a basket scheme where they then implemented individual prices per product line to insure no major price difference between them and Asda  (Anonymous, 2000). However the problem Tesco are facing is that 80% of consumers fell into the squeezed middle bracket (Wood, 2011), consequently Tesco is having to cut the price of essentials and enforce a psychological pricing strategy to attract customers who are now below the middle class category to ensure they keep their revenues high. Compared to Asda’s more laid back approach where their policy is to have ‘permanently low price through a rollback scheme’ research shows that their prices are on average 5-10% cheaper than the market average (Anonymous, 2000), after looking over Asda’s pricing methods it seems the favoured pricing strategy is the Economy pricing (Anonymous, 2003) where all costs are kept low to insure cheaper products and to make sure a mass market of consumers can afford various products due to the lower prices. Product is a key part of the marketing mix, it involves the brand itself and the service a business is providing to gain a large amount of capital and attract customer loyalty. Tesco’s have expanded into many different markets with their range of products from petrol to food and clothes. It’s become clear to Tesco now that it’s value or basic range has become considerably popular and Tesco’s Value brand is now one of the biggest grocery brands in the UK, even bigger than large popular businesses such as Coca-Cola and Walkers (Anonymous, 2008). This break through has allowed Tesco to focus on other aspects of it’s product portfolio leading them to introduce over 2,000 new and improved food products after looking over customers reviews about product quality being increasingly important to them (Tesco PLC, 2011) as well as looking closer at it’s newer ventures, like Tesco bank and the Tesco’s in Korea. However, when considering all the ranges of products Asda’s would find it difficult to compete with all their products as they are mainly focused on cheaper products which shows as around half their products sales are own label products (Walmart, 2010) Asda mainly focuses on their own brand products as they are the higher sellers and so they ensure there’s a continuous flow of new product innovation so that they are ahead of the consumers needs (Walmart, 2010). Place in the marketing mix looks at where the product/service is sold whether it’s on the internet, a small corner shop or a massive shop. A new place for the supermarket sector to sell at is the internet, because more and more consumers are working longer  hours to get money it is simply much easier for them to do an online shop rather than having to go to the shop, which is shown well in Tesco’s new advert. Tesco’s have made the internet shopping experience their own as they are currently the fastest growing online retailer in volume terms in the clothing, footwear and accessories market (Tesco PLC, 2011) as well as a 15% growth in the online business (Tesco PLC, 2012) proving that when they invested in the internet shopping experience they have helped ‘to create a value for customers to earn their life time loyalty. As well as this, they understand the local market of stores where some local stores have lower prices on a limited range of goods (Anonymous, 2000) building up customer relations to create higher quality services and increase the customer loyalty. Asda has also advanced onto the online shopping hype and has found that in 2009 the home shopping growth was around 40% (Walmart, 2010) Asda understand that this is a growing trend and so have invested into developing new channels and finding innovative ways of reaching customers whether they are at home on the move o r in store (Walmart, 2010), one of the new creations for Asda is an app store which shows they are modernising with the times. Promotion is a vital way in advertising a company, product or service as a means of branding, as well as offering money off deals to make consumers feel like their saving money. A way Tesco’s has managed to keep customer loyalty as well as creating lots of promotional deals is the Tesco club card, which was launched in 1995 (Tesco PLC, 2011). The clubcard allows a customer to collect points for money vouchers which consumers can then spend in store or online. This method allows consumers to get money back from their purchases therefore convincing them to revisit the store to get a return on their spending, this helps with improved customer loyalty as well as high brand awareness. Asda take a different approach and chose not to create promotional deals, but instead highlight their cheaper products this is the Asda rollback scheme. Asda is Britain’s lowest cost to operate supermarket (Walmart, 2010) and so their promotion is the brand and the fact that Asda have a permanently low prices policy, which means consumers feel they would save more money allowing them to have more disposable income and spend more money on extravagant products in Asda if they wish. People are an essential part of the marketing mix, as it relates to the consumers, labour, suppliers, and stakeholders anyone who helps the business stay afloat. Tesco  invest in their staff skills to insure a high quality service, as well as being dedicated to providing a diverse career opportunity for all their staff worldwide (Tesco PLC, 2011), this would provide employees with greater job satisfaction and the opportunity of being promoted. As well as internal affairs, Tesco also thinks about the people externally of the business, as there is increased demand for locally produced food, therefore Tesco now supports the local economy to assist in s ustaining the community and so has increased the local buys from  £850 million in 2009 to  £1 billion in 2010 (Tesco PLC, 2012) to ensure local suppliers are support after the shake of the financial crisis. This is also better for the consumers as imports are more expensive so product costs can be cut. Asda has an ‘everyone matters’ approach demonstrating that colleagues are a vital resource, to ensure the staff are content Asda has flexible working practices and world class reward packages which since it was launched in 1999 has given out  £129 million in bonuses. Asda also likes to help the community so a lot of the suppliers are local, consequently products are cheaper and they have less environmental impact reducing their carbon footprint (Walmart, 2010). Process relates to delivery and the responses to any complaints, for example customer services. Tesco wanted to get customer feedback so introduced ‘every comment helps’ the feedback was based on customer service and product range the got over 20,000 positive responses which reflects on the business well. Tesco has since train around 80,000 staff as a means support them to give helpful advice, be friendl y and efficient. Also keeping up with technology and providing the self service system which currently accounts for around 10,000 transactions per week, this makes queue times shorter as well as being a quick and easy option to make shopping a more pleasurable experience (Tesco PLC, 2011). Asda has provided 1,100 vans, from 160 vans and one dedicated home shopping center that provides coverage for 97% of the UK, therefore a large consumer base is met with only a few people not being able to be delivered to providing a very efficient service (Walmart, 2010). Physical evidence considers the atmosphere of the business and the effect the business has on consumers whether it’s good or bad. Tesco puts staff through training to provide consumers with the best possible service, because of the high levels of engagement customers are able to enjoy the benefits of Tesco’s having confident and experienced staff on hand to help at any given  moment (Tesco PLC, 2011). This provides the Tesco shopping experience with a more relaxed experience for consumers who can be comfortable to ask employees for help. An ex-employee for Asda said how it was a ‘fun and vibrant culture to work in, and how there were regular meetings at the start of shifts to keep all staff updated. How he was lucky enough to be accepted in the stepping stone scheme which trains up employee to promote them up levels in the business,’ (Tasda123, 2007) after analysing the employee review you can really feel how positive the experience is working at Asda, and a positive employee attitude would rub off on a customer meaning they will have a good experience too. As long as the feelings of the employees of businesses are positive then the shopping experience can be enjoyable rather than a chore. After looking over two of the largest supermarket retail you can see how well thought about the individual parts of the business is, every part has been considered. It may be that for some businesses one or multiple sections of the mix has more relevance to their main aims, for example if Tesco wants ‘to create value for customers to earn their life time loyalty’ they may primarily look at promotion and process to enable the best service they could supply to their customers. The supermarket sector is competitive and so utilising the marketing mix has helped Tesco and Asda to develop their own individual take on the sector, to form their own unique business strategies from what they may have researched using primary or secondary data. Looking closer at Tesco and Asda, you can see some similarities, but in the end, they are different in order to compete to gain a higher market share and increase market share. The different parts of the mix will show the effectiveness of the business to increase capital, Tesco has a large range of products at varied prices whereas Asda has a more limited amount of products and the prices are cheaper with the idea that customers can afford to buy more of their products and spend more. After looking over how two businesses in the same sector apply the marketing mix you can observe that they compete from the start in order to gain an increased brand awareness, to do this they must look at each part of the mix to discover it’s overall ethos for which Tesco’s is ‘every little helps’ and Asda’s is ‘Asda, always cutting prices’ both are completely different to attract consumers. Currently statistics show that Tesco’s mix is more effective than Asda, this is because they have invested capital in expanding  all parts of the mix to appeal to a mass market. If used efficiently the marketing mix is useful for competing, to show a business what it’s internal and external running’s are like so that they can establish their ethos to market the business effectively to gain a larger holding in the sector it works in, therefore insuring the marketing mix is thought through properly will help in establishing a business. Bibliography * Anonymous (2000) (Journal) Company pricing policies, Competition Commission, p. 80, p87-88. * Anonymous (2003) (Website) Pricing Strategies, [Online], Available: http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-pricing.html [2012]. * Anonymous, T.- (2008) (Website) Things You didnt know, Tesco Report, pp. 120-121, Available: http://www.superbrands.co.il/pdf/TESCO.pdf. * Tasda123 (2007) (Website) Being an ASDA colleague, 14 February, [Online], Available: http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/employment/asda-stores/1046495/. * Tesco PLC (2011) (Report) Tesco Annual Report 2011. * Tesco PLC (2011) (Report) Annual Reports And Financial Statements 2011, p.18 p.37, p.49. * Tesco PLC (2011) (Website) Timeline, Tesco, Available: http://www.superbrands.co.il/pdf/TESCO.pdf. * Tesco PLC (2012) (Website) Growing Retail services, [Online], Available: http://ar2011.tescoplc.com/business-review/growing-retail-services.html [2012]. * Tesco PLC (2012) (Website) Local Sourcing, [Online], Available: http://www.tescoplc.com/corporate-responsibility/our-sourcing-policies/local-sourcing/. * Walmart (2010) -Asda Home Shopping, All About Asda, p. 15. (Report) -Our Digital Business, All About ASDA, p. 15. -Our Food, All About Asda, p. 10. -Our Story. and today, All About Asda, p. 3. -Our Suppliers, All About Asda, p.7. -What We Love About Asda, All About Asda, p. 6. * Wood, Z. (2011) -Tesco declares war on rivals with  £500m price cutting offensive, The Guardian, September. (Journal) * Wright, C. (2012) Tesco market share at its lowest since May 2005, The Grocer. (journal)

Registered Nurses Essay -- Careers Jobs

Registered Nurse (RN) â€Å"Registered nurses treat patients and help prevent disease, educate patients and the public about various medical conditions and health issues, and provide advice and emotional support to patients’ family members both physically and mentally.†(Registered). It is important for the individual going into this occupation to search out the pros and cons of the different areas of nursing. Sometimes gender plays a part in choosing the specific area of an RN. For instance, the strength of males is needed in areas of physical therapy. While the gentle attributes of women are needed in the care of babies. â€Å"A nurse must like people and want to help them, and must also have self-reliance and good judgment, patience, honesty, responsibility, and ability to work easily with others.†(Jacobi). The occupation of a registered nurse includes many advantages such as having the ability to assist your family in medical needs, the salary is attractive and above the average s cale, and it offers great job security. The first advantage of being a registered nurse is you have the great ability to assist your family in medical needs. Whatever happens to a family member, you’ll know what to do right away in just about any case. There could be a possibility where somebody could have a chance of dieing right away, you would have that ability to save their life. RNs are very knowledgeable and have a good education on how to live a healthy life that they could share with their family and have a good, healthy lifestyle. Registered nurses know the types of foods to eat that are essential to your body that could help expand your life and live longer. In this fast paste world that we live in where fast foods are in abundant and are cert... ...r occupations where one can dress stylist and dine at fine restaurants and climb the corporate ladder, there could not be a more honorable and satisfying career that a person could give to their community and their society. Works Cited â€Å"Become a Registered Nurse (RN).† AllNursing Schools-Your Guide to Nursing Education and Careers. 2002-2008. All Star Directories. 12 Feb 2008 http://www.allnursingschools.com/faqs/be_m.php. Jacobi, Eileen. â€Å"Nursing.† The World Book Encyclopedia. 14 ed. 1978. â€Å"Registered Nurse (RN) and Nursing Careers, Jobs, and Employment Information.† Career Overview. 2004. Career Overview. 12 Feb 2008 http://www.careeroverview.com/nurse-careers.html. â€Å"REGISTERED NURSES AND NURSE PRACTITIONERS.† Labor Market Information. 2002. Employment Development Department. 12 Feb 2008 http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov./file/occguide/NURSEREG. HTM.

Advantages of Credit Cards

Throughout history, men invented ingenious ways to solve problems. Some simple, but most will leave a big impact on our future. Men invented trading as means to acquire things that is needed, with another individual who wants what the trader has. But sometimes, what we want to trade with is not what the tradee wants. So currency is formed. Currency is accumulatable, powerful and can be used to acquire our wants and needs. Currency had been created in many shapes and sizes.When it was first invented, precious metals such as silver and gold chips are the most widely used. But in our modern era, paper currency reigns dominance. As time goes on, men started craving, craving for thing or material objects that only money can buy. And one might not have the funds to buy such things or if that certain desire costs a lot, bringing a whole load of cash with you to the store might not be such a good idea for many reasons. And so the credit card is invented. This small little piece of plastic wi ll leave a big impact on society.There are repercussions of misusing this object but let’s talk about the advantages for now. So what exactly are the advantages of credit cards? BUY TICKETS OR SHOP ONLINE EASILY In modern society, people have found ingenious ways to make acquiring everyday needs or material objects of desired. Grocery shops were invented so that we don’t need to wake up early and go all the way to farms to get fresh food like vegetables, eggs and meat. But what if we want require specific items, something that is not common but it needed as quick as possible.We might go around asking our friends and relatives to acquire those items. How troublesome would that have been, or had been as people actually did this back then. But then, utilizing the power of the internet, people had discovered that they can acquire things that are unusually rare, but is available. Sometimes from a seller from another country. To buy, means to pay. But how do we pay someone f rom another country? Mailing a wad of cash in an envelope to the seller might not be such a good idea, as mail do get lost from time to time.And so the credit card plays the role in rectifying this problem. Using the credit card we can pay the seller using borrowed funds from the bank and send it to the seller in the form of digital data in which will then be added to the account of the seller and thus the seller is paid. We can acquire things easily from the internet, and now with the usage of credit card,everything we need can be acquired. If it exists, if it is being sold, it can be acquired. It doesn’t matter if it’s in China, New York or timbuctoo.And lets say if something is on sale or your favorite band is having a concert in your hometown but you don’t have enough cash to buy it and if you wait until your pay check to arrive, your opportunity is long gone. Don’t worry your credit card is here to help. Instant currency with just a swipe of the card or a few presses of some numbers and information on the internet. No longer will you have to wait in line at the airport to buy tickets, you get get them through the internet using your credit card in just a few minutes.Nowadays people would rather stay home and shop through the internet than having to endure a long drive to the local mall especially if during the peak hours where there are traffic jams. Sites such as Lazada. com are common shopping websites that welcomes the usage of credit cards. It’s like a virtual mall in which the items bought need not be carried in accumulative quantities to the car park, but is put in a virtual shopping cart and then sent directly onto your doorsteps after the credit card payment has been made.

Reverend Hale Essay

In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, when characters are faced with adversity, they are forced to show their true morals and beliefs. The character of Reverend Hale fights a battle between what ideasl have been engraved in his mind by books and society, and what he feels in his soul is truly right. In the end his soul prevails and finds him completely changed. Because he is a character with such high moral standards regarding everything he does, he sees the flaws and falsities of the witch trials and changes from naively believing completely in witchcraft, to losing all faith in the religion of Salem and deciding that earthly life is superlative and worth lying for. At first, Reverend Hale’s character is concrete in his beliefs on witchcraft and is sure of his duty to carry out the will of God. He has dedicated his whole life to the Puritan religion and learning about witches and witchcraft. In this call to Salem he sees his first opportunity to put his knowledge and dedication to work. When introducing him, Miller describes Hale as, â€Å"a tight skinned, eager-eyed intellectual. This is a beloved errand for him; on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he has felt the pride of the specialist whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for† (32). Hale enters in a flurry of activity, carrying large books and projecting an air of great knowledge. He becomes the force behind the trials, passionately searching out the evil among the people in Salem, and putting all his efforts into redeeming them. What is more significant about Hale’s character in this early part is not his actions, but motives. His motives are always for the good of the people and what is right to God. This goodness is what leads to his transformation because it helps him to see the true good and evil when others are blinded by their pride or ulterior motives. As more and more people are convicted, Hale begins to doubt himself. His inner conflict builds with every person accused and convicted, because he senses the innocence of these people. He has trouble believing that characters such as Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Proctor could possibly be involved in witchcraft. His doubts are assured and solidified when he  witnesses John Proctor accusing Abigail and the other girls of lying. Speaking to Danforth about his doubts on the accusations, he says, â€Å"I dare not take a life without there be a proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it† (99). And then when talking about having to convict Rebecca Nurse, he says, â€Å"I’ll not conceal it, may hand shakes yet as with a wound!† (100). These two quotes show how Hale’s character shows increasing doubt on something which he at first very adamantly believed. He senses more and more the falsity of the girl’s testimonies, and when John Proctor testifies, Hale realizes that he can no longer deny his suspicions. It becomes obvious where the truth lies, but out of all the officials of the court, only Hale is able to denounce his past beliefs and let go of his pride. Although Hale succeeds in finding the truth and redeeming himself, he is helpless to take action against the court. This makes Hale lose all faith in the law. He dismisses himself of his position in the court, and when he cannot expose the proceeding as a sham, he finds himself begging those accused to confess to the crime and therefore save their lives. Hale goes from being a â€Å"tight-skinned, eager eyed individual,† to being broken by his failures and the deaths that he is in some ways partly responsible for. Although he comes to a state of despair, Hale does not give up in helping the people which he once convicted. Because this play is a tragedy, Hale fails in saving the lives of the heroes, but Hale’s change is significant because it shows how in some cases goodness will prevail. In his transformation, Hale becomes a character that is good, but not quite as strong as the heroes in the play who choose to die rather than lie. Although Hale recognizes the evils of the witchcraft trials, his response is not defiance but surrender. Because he cannot stand to see these good people die because of the pride and vengeance of others, he gives to injustice and insists that survival is the highest good. When Hale comes to try to get the accused to confess, he states, â€Å"I come to do the devils work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves . . . can you not see the blood on my head† (131). He states with a little sarcasm that he is now to  commit a sin by getting these people to lie, yet is still doing it for the good because the witch trials have all completely been a lie. Hale has lived his whole life following the book and being a true Christian, but because he becomes so discouraged from the witchcraft trials, he finds himself wanting only for these people to live, no matter if it is a mortal sin. He also says that, â€Å"God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride†(131). Although the people who decide to die rather than confess are doing it for reason other than pride, Hale comes to believe that nothing, good or bad, which has come from the trials is worth dying for. In his transformation, he comes to believe that earthly life is a greater gift that eternal life. Hale is a remarkable character. For any person to have the strength to give up something they have believed their whole life takes courage, as well as having to give up all of your pride. With Hale doing this, he becomes broken and gives in to surrender and injustice in order to save lives. Hale is completely transformed by the trials, and the only substantial part of Hale that does not change is his desire to do good; what does changes is how he vies what â€Å"good† may be. Because he believed so vehemently in what he was doing before, once he opens to the truth he loses all faith in things he believed before, such as the law and in some ways religion. Because of Hale’s innocent character, he cannot stand to see other innocent people die because of a lie, and decides that it is most important that they save their lives. Hale’s character goes through all these transformations because of his motives in his life. Because he is motivated by doing what is right and fair, he is able to see the falsity in the trials and become dedicated to saving the lives of those who were innocent.

Free Essays on The Ethics Of Downloading Music

THE ETHICS OF DOWNLOADING MUSIC If I had a CD burner and decided to burn a few songs for some friends, all of whom live within an hour or so away by car, would I remember to stop and consider the ethical implications of what I'm doing? Probably not. So imagine the ease of exchanging some favourite tunes, stored as high-quality and quick-to-transmit MP3s on your computer, with people half-way across the globe. What are the ethical implications there? By law, downloading a digital song violates the intellectual property rights of the artist, or in most cases, of the record companies who contracted those rights from the artist. Swapping music leaves artists with little compensation for the reproduction of their work, other than a sense that their songs are providing pleasure and perhaps inspiration to music lovers. The players Napster, in 1999, was the first company to popularize peer-to-peer trading of music files. By offering a software application that allowed users to download MP3s directly from one another's computers, Napster became a phenomenon attracting over 50 million users to its music-loving community. But this phenomenon raised protests from many in the music industry. The Recording Industry Association of America filed suit against Napster in December 1999. Heavy metal group Metallica followed with their own suit in April 2000. Both RIAA and Metallica argued that Napster's software enabled people to download copyrighted work without permission, encouraging music piracy. The RIAA claimed that Napster members making copies of top-selling songs would avoid payment of royalties, which would result in revenue losses for the record industry. Some artists who originally opposed the idea of Napster found themselves changing their position on online music distribution. For example, Matt Johnson from the music group The The made a statement on the group's Web site describing how record companies marginalize... Free Essays on The Ethics Of Downloading Music Free Essays on The Ethics Of Downloading Music THE ETHICS OF DOWNLOADING MUSIC If I had a CD burner and decided to burn a few songs for some friends, all of whom live within an hour or so away by car, would I remember to stop and consider the ethical implications of what I'm doing? Probably not. So imagine the ease of exchanging some favourite tunes, stored as high-quality and quick-to-transmit MP3s on your computer, with people half-way across the globe. What are the ethical implications there? By law, downloading a digital song violates the intellectual property rights of the artist, or in most cases, of the record companies who contracted those rights from the artist. Swapping music leaves artists with little compensation for the reproduction of their work, other than a sense that their songs are providing pleasure and perhaps inspiration to music lovers. The players Napster, in 1999, was the first company to popularize peer-to-peer trading of music files. By offering a software application that allowed users to download MP3s directly from one another's computers, Napster became a phenomenon attracting over 50 million users to its music-loving community. But this phenomenon raised protests from many in the music industry. The Recording Industry Association of America filed suit against Napster in December 1999. Heavy metal group Metallica followed with their own suit in April 2000. Both RIAA and Metallica argued that Napster's software enabled people to download copyrighted work without permission, encouraging music piracy. The RIAA claimed that Napster members making copies of top-selling songs would avoid payment of royalties, which would result in revenue losses for the record industry. Some artists who originally opposed the idea of Napster found themselves changing their position on online music distribution. For example, Matt Johnson from the music group The The made a statement on the group's Web site describing how record companies marginalize...

Test of the Declaration of Independence essays

Test of the Declaration of Independence essays The Tests of the Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, one of Americas shining jewel. Created by the philoshophy of great minds, such as John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. How did it all play out in Americas history? The test of time had shown the Declaration its full potential. Events such as the Civil War, and Reconstruction had tested the documents will. These events though had a huge affect on the Declaration of Independence. Harsh events though had only made the country stronger though. Democracy has many forms. Some believed in a pure democracy where the people run the government. Jean Jacque Rousseau had thought of such things. He believed that the people had the power to control themselves and the government. Others however thought that a republic democracy was the way to go. John Locke was such a man, that he believed that the people should choose to whom should be in charge. He however believed that people had a natural right, and that right is the right of freedom life and property. Locke says that all rules and laws must answer to the natural rights. From the Declaration of Independence spawned the Constitution. The Constitution had givin people the natural rights that Mr. Locke had spoken of. The Constitution had touched on many topics about the troubles that the British rule had on. It gave people power and rights that they could have only dreamed of having. The freedom of speech, the right of a fair trial, such rights were unheard of at that time. These were the natural rights that people had, and that people should live on. However the test of how well the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution would work came in the form of a Civil War. The events that lead up to it contridicted the both of the documents. Such as the slave trade, treating the slaves so poorly, as if they were property instead of actual people. Though not ev ...