How you act affects what grade you get Essay Example for Free

How you act affects what grade you get Essay The Impact of Student Behavior on Student Learning is an important subject. There are varying issues that affect student behavior, and a students ability to learn and perform efficiently. This paper will discuss some of the behaviors that are commonly demonstrated when students face one of the most common symptoms; stress. It will also cover how stress, a symptom of student behavior can affect student learning. Student behavior can be categorized two different ways. A determining factor is if the behavior is negative or positive. These behaviors can be overt or covert and can play a big part in determining a student grade in a particular class. Students demonstrating poor behavior have a tendency to get lower grades. Poor behavior, which is a symptom of stress, can be linked to lack of sleep. According to The Franklin Institute Online, â€Å"Disrupting routines and interrupting sleep-all have a cumulative effect on your brain, especially its ability to remember and learn† (Franklin, 2004). The brain is a precious organism and if it is stressed it will not perform to capacity. Stress can cause ones behavior to fluctuate in a manner that can be destructive to productivity. If a student’s behavior fluctuates and causes them to react poorly in a class room setting they may not be able to retain the information needed to qualify for the grades necessary to complete their degree (K. White, personal communication, June 29, 2011). According to the Webster online dictionary, the definition of behavior is â€Å"the manner of conducting oneself; anything that an organism does involving action and response to stimulation† (Webster, 2011). Human beings have the capability to conduct themselves in a manner that may or may not help their capacity for learning. The wrong type of stimulation can alter the student’s ability to perform simple tasks that under normal circumstances would be easy for the student to perform. The behavior displayed by students affects the outcome of the amount of information the student retains. The more information a student can retain the better the grades that student is likely to receive. By definition, behavior is ‘the manner in which one conducts oneself’, and cannot be measured as good or bad because it is a matter of opinion (K. White, personal communication, June 29, 2011). Behaviors can be changed or altered to fit the mood of the person. â€Å"The term stress is short for distress, a word evolved from Latin that means to draw or pull apart. The Romans even used the term ‘districtia’ to describe a being torn asunder (Franklin, 2004). To be torn from your normal routine of good study habits, exams, and team work would be understandable in the case of a stressed student. Since the student has limited, or no control over the stressors in their life; they cannot always be held responsible for their behavior. A behavior can be harmful to the outcome of a situation but does not have to mean that the person with the behavior is bad or good (K. White, personal communication, June 29, 2011). In the same since that negative and positive behavior don’t equate to bad or good. Negative behavior is any behavior that harms the student’s learning ability (K. White, personal communication, June 29, 2011). An example would be a student that shows signs of stress. That student may be edgy or not seem like a team player. The student may grasp the main concepts during class but not seem to put the effort forth to get good grades where tests are involved. This student may understand concepts and be able to explain to others with ease how they work. This student may also miss deadlines, or not post assignments on time. This negative behavior is harmful to the student, but due to stress the student is not able to control the negative behavior. The student may not be aware of the way their behavior is disrupting their school life and will not recognize the affect on their grades (K. White, personal communication, June 29, 2011). â€Å"Overt behaviors are more open and observable and would include students talking during class, using their cellular phones, or eating or drinking noisily. Covert behaviors are more passive and include sleeping during class, arriving to class late, leaving class early, or generally acting bored and disengaged.† (Seidman, 2005) Demonstration of these behaviors may be done together or separately. A student can demonstrate just covert behavior and still seem defiant. Both covert and overt behaviors can be a sign of stress. The student who demonstrates these behaviors may not recognize that they are being a distraction to the class or to themselves. They can also attribute to poor or no study habits. Both behaviors can cause problems for the student because they can hinder the student’s ability to perform in a class setting. For example: A student can understand the concepts in a course but have trouble staying awake during class and miss important notes or assignment deadlines. When this student post an assignment too late to receive full credit their grade is affected. The student has shown signs of overt behavior but did not intend to be seen as disruptive. Often students have no idea that the outcome of their behavior can lead to poor grades. Some students are able to correct their poor grades with good grades by a change in their behavior. The symptom that will show in lieu of stress would be happiness or a since of calm. Students who demonstrate negative behavior will have a hard time retaining information or keeping up with their courses. Students with positive behavior will have a better chance of retaining the maximum amount of information possible. Positive behavior helps the student to create an environment within themselves that is conducive to learning (K. White, personal communication, June 29, 2011). Students who are stress free in mind, body, and soul are free to work at full capacity to achieve their academic goals. When a student feels comfortable with their surroundings and is freed from worrying about the outside world, the student will have a higher level of concentration on school work as all other distractions have been managed or eliminated. They will be able to focus their energy on studying , and processing the information studied. (K. White, personal communication, June 29, 2011). Behaviors can be changed or altered with help of others. Most schools have an academic advisor who is able to handle student issues. They may not be able to completely assist in matters of home life but may have some good suggestions and or referrals that may help the student get back on track. A change in student behavior for the good can impact student learning in a positive way. â€Å"Bear in mind that an appropriate stress response is a healthy and necessary part of life. It improves mood. Problems feel more like challenges, which encourages creative thinking that stimulates your brain to grow new connections within it.† (Franklin, 2004). In conclusion, student behavior can be a symptom of underlying issues that can affect student learning for different reasons and in many different ways. Poor behavior, which is a symptom of stress, can be linked to lack of sleep. The wrong type of stimulation can alter the student’s ability to perform simple task that under normal circumstances would be easy for the student to perform. Since the student has limited to no control over the stress in their life they cannot always be held responsible for their behavior. The student may not be aware of the way their behavior is disrupting their school life and will not recognize the affect on their grades. A happy, content students mind, body, and soul are free to work at full capacity to achieve the goal of good paper writing, testing, and team work. Both behaviors can cause problems for the student because they can hinder the student’s ability to perform in a class setting. Some students are able to correct their poor grades with good grades by a change in their behavior. A change in student behavior for the good can impact student learning in a positive way. References The Franklin Institute Online. Retrieved on June 29, 2011 at 7:47 PM from Web stream at http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/stress.html#how The Learning Killer: Disruptive Student Behavior in the Classroom. Journal article by Alan Seidman; Reading Improvement, Vol. 42, 2005 Webster Dictionary online. Retrieved on June 29, 2011 at 3:43 PM from website http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/behavior, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Operations Management Case Study

Operations Management Case Study Preface: Western Bainoona Group â€Å"WBG† is Transportation, Roads and infrastructure general contracting; it has been established since 1990. It has 5 internal heads sections with 5000 persons. I will implement my company â€Å"WBG† as a study case on every task. Explain the importance of effective operations management in achieving organizational objectives (A.C 1-1) The operations management which is managing the processes to produce and distribute products and services has the big effective on achieving the objectives of the company due to several important factors: Operations management is responsible for short term objectives which considered as milestones to reach the long term objectives, therefore if the operations management is close to company short objectives, definitely the company long term objectives will be targeted. Operations management considered Micro analysis â€Å" SWOT analysis† which help the company to know the strength , weakness, opportunities and threats factors which affect on achieving the goals, so if the operations management doing this analysis in correct way , the company will take the advantage of the strength and opportunities factors and take care from the threats and weakness factors. Operations management depends on detailed level of aggregation so it will be always close to deep details in the company and in the market which helps the company to win chances, to avoid bad surprises and to be prepared always so it will serve the company to achieve its objectives easily without obstructions. Operations management is the balance between company inputs and outputs so if the balance between controlling company resources and achieving customer satisfaction is achieved so the company objectives will be targeted. Evaluate the success of existing operations management processes in meeting an organization’s overall strategic management objectives. (A.C. 1-2) To evaluate WBG operations management, we have to define the operations function. If we go through WBG operations function, easily we could see that operations are supporting the company strategy because WBG capabilities are bigger than the company plan and strategy due to strong capabilities factors such as huge infrastructure, thousands of employees and different procedures comparing with WBG Mission which is providing optimum quality in a timely and cost-effective manner with care to society and the environment. So for WBG operations management evaluation, we could go through 5 factors to compare between operations management performance and WBG mission: Quality : Inside WBG, it’s famous that the things must be done twice to be in proper way so the quality of operations must be enhances to meet the company mission and strategy. Speed : Some departments inside WBG are doing the works quickly like HR and contracting but the other departments are not like Garage and heavy equipments so the speed of operations must be enhanced in some divisions. Dependability : Dependability needs to be enhanced due to double works culture inside the company. Flexibility : The flexibility is strong inside WBG due to huge resources and good leadership. Cost : Doing the things cheaply is the procedure for any work inside WBG but because of double works, the cost is becoming more and more sometimes so the operations management must taking care of the cost and prevent double works. Explain the importance of effective quality management in achieving organizational objectives. (A.C 2-1) The quality management concentrates on the savings and additional revenue that company could realize if it eliminate errors and double works throughout its operations and produce products and services at the optimal level of quality desired by its customers. In case of achieving that, the company objectives will be targeted easily. Also quality management allow the company to meet current quality levels, meet the consumer’s requirement for quality, save employees through competitive training programs, and keep up with the latest technology which help the company to compete inside the market continuously and in same time achieving its objectives. On the other hand, quality management defines the areas which need to be enhanced inside the company, specifies the time of achieving quality results which will serve company goals, makes MACRO and MICRO analysis which help the company to define the market and entire system advantages and disadvantages and deploys the quality in all company divisions in different shapes. . Evaluate the success of existing quality management processes in meeting an organization’s overall strategic management objectives. (A.C 2-2) To evaluate the current quality management of WBG, we have to go through some important elements which affect on quality: Errors and double works : Till today, the existing quality management didn’t control the errors percentages which are high and the double works culture inside the company due to careless of employees, ignoring of the procedures and less knowledge. These things cause loss in money and time always. Desired customers’ optimal level of quality WBG in the recent years has ISO 9000 and special grade approval from municipality after it was 3rd grade. This Paradigm shift is due to customer’s satisfaction, products and services optimal quality. So the existing quality management must continue developing the optimal customer level of quality to be the first line inside market. Competitive training programs for employees Unfortunately, the existing quality management didn’t make any quality training for the employees and because of that a lot of errors and double works still happened. Latest market technology The existing quality management tried to use the latest market technology in its products and services but sometimes it didn’t use this due to cost issue. So it has to reserve special budget for quality developments. The time of achieving quality results Unfortunately, the existing quality management didn’t clear the time of achieving the quality results so the company long term objectives duration are not specified or known. 3.1 Plan a strategic quality change to improve organizational performance. (A.C.3-1) WBG must use the Forced Choice Model in its planning of strategic quality change because it has good description what will be happened in the next couple of years as the construction field could be predicted. The main long term objective is to achieve the company vision which says taking WBG forward as a leading construction company in the region and move on decisively towards a wider existence. Under this vision, we can make strategic quality plan for Contracting Department .the force model can analysis the department position by SWOT and Environmental assessment by PESTE. SWOT analysis can show the following: S: Internal Strengths: Strong budget and cash flow situation, good relations between staff, strong and big structure department, ISO certificates, Professional classification approval from ADM municipality, new IT system. W: Internal weakness: No QA/QC division, Lack of proposition, shortage of discerning skilled employees, Low motivation level, lack of employee’s commitment, some unskilled managers. O: External Opportunities: Excellent relations with authorities, contractors and clients, Banks Finance support, competitors vulnerabilities such as finance issues and authorities approval. T: External Threads: A Labour law, availability of resources, taxation, new legislations, Economic crises, increased trade barriers, competitor intentions PESTE –Macro environment analysis: We will find politically that UAE has stable government. Economically, market had enhanced and developed as the projects are increased due to EXPO2020. Socially, UAE has suitable demographics and good lifestyle trends. Technologically, the infrastructure level is helping too much to establish projects. Environmentally, the climate is suitable for construction and all resources are close. Strategy option : After the Macro and Micro analysis are done, the appropriate strategy for contracting department is â€Å"Competitive tenders pricing, decrease resources wastage and increase products and services quality â€Å". Requirements for implementing strategy option : Doing continuity different Training quality courses for supervisors, staff and engineers. Recruitment of skilled pricing manager, QA/QC manager and project managers. Develop the system and the coordination between contracting division and others. Create quality assurance and quality control divisions. Making known rewards system. Contingency Plans : Asking help from third party consultancy management offices. Joint venture with main contractors. 3.2 Define resources, tools and systems to support business processes in a strategic quality change (AC 3.2) Resources: Human Resources : staff , trainers ,supervisors ,engineers and managers Material Resources: all WBG material in its asphalt plant and crushers. Transportation Resources: Fleet of cars, trucks and six wheels. Tools: Heavy and light equipments. Emails and reports. WBG Garage. WBG office. Meetings. System: Training system. Rewards system. Company systems such as oracle, primavera, etc. HR system. 3.3 Evaluate the wider implications of planned strategic quality change in an organization. (AC 3.3) The evaluation of strategic quality change application in Contracting Department could be observed through some major elements: Cost : Q: Does the cost of the past repeated works and material wastage is more than existing quality training courses cost? If yes, that means the training courses must be proceeded and evaluated monthly by observing the wastage of material on construction site and percentage of repeated works, if the percentage is going to be lower than the past, that means the training courses is doing well, but if not, the company must check the problem either from impropriate courses or employees careless. Productivity : Q: Does Contracting Department win more tenders after strategic quality change application? Q: Does daily progress becomes more than before? If yes, that means the productivity on proper way but if not, it must check the cause either from improper coordination or personnel issues. Profitability : Q: Does Contracting Department specify time to gain the benefits from strategic quality change application? If yes, that means it has to observe the profitability percentage as planed or less. But if not, it must specify planned time to gain benefits otherwise the risk is too high. Products and services Quality : Q: Do suppliers and clients satisfy from products and services? Q: Do new suppliers and clients make agreement with WBG contracting department? If yes, that means the quality in right way. But if not, it must check with QA/QC division to explain the causes. 3.4 Design systems to monitor the implementation of a strategic quality change in an organization (AC 3.4) Monitoring the Training system : After staff, supervisors and engineers are done any training course, the contracting management must measure the percentage of understanding this course by doing small technical test on papers and on sites by daily progress reports to ensure that people got the benefit from the training or not. Monitoring the Daily work system : The seniors and managers of the contracting department must observe cost _items budget and cash flow_, schedule _milestones_ and quality through arranged below steps: Daily progress report from every employee and must handed over officially by internal mail system. All daily reports must be entered to analytical program to know the strong points and problem points for every employee works. Seniors and managers must interfere directly on time to solve any problem or misunderstanding of execution the strategic quality plan or procedures. Weekly feedback report must be given to every employee to show the progress and assess the efforts. Monthly encouraged rewords to the deserved employees who did the max progress works with less mistakes to motivate the employees to use this strategic quality change plan and to be more familiar with it. Weekly progress meeting must be held to discuss about the progress and to maintain the problems. Making seminars every 2 months and show all the employees the results of execution the strategic quality change and promise all employees with good yearly bonus if they doing their best to achieve the targets. 4.1 Implement a strategic quality change in an organization (A.C.4-1) By using of process mapping as below Figure†1† which shows the current system of contracting department Source: WBG Current contracting system So the proposed process mapping which will help to implement strategy quality change is as below Figure†2† Source: WBG Proposed contracting system 4.2 Embed a quality culture in an organization to ensure continuous monitoring and development. (A.C.4-2) To embed the quality in WBG Contracting Department, the management must do the following: Training Courses in different types of quality to teach the staff how to deal with the process in quality way which means low cost, less time and best results. Share the monthly process results to all stakeholders to show them the difference between using strategic quality and without. Encourage stakeholders by giving rewords and holidays. Give the shareholders more benefits in case of they targeted more goals for the company. Use latest technology to observe the process and system inside the deprtment and the company. 4.3 Monitor the implementation of a strategic quality change in an organization (AC 4.3) Daily progress report from every senior to his project manager who is responsible to compare between the actual schedule and the planned one so easily he could mark all the millstones which were delayed or achieved in advance. Also every PM must send this report to the operation manager who will evaluate the status of all projects. Quality Assurance: the QA engineers with managers must ensure that all daily operations and processes which are developed to appropriate the strategic change are on the right way and in case of any violations such as wrong material orders; they have to take action directly. Quality Control: the QC engineers with manager must control Budget, Quality, implementation methods, etc to evaluate the processes status and give the management real feedback about it. Meetings: all the senior management must meet once weekly to discuss about the progress and to maintain the problems. 5.1 Evaluate the outcomes of a strategic quality change in an organization (AC 5.1) Budget Reviews : The Contracting Department Manager must check the budget situation according to actual progress and planned cash flow so easily he could know the all outcomes after implementing the strategic quality change are similar to before situation or going better. Employee Machinery working hours VS Progress: The Contracting Department Manager can compare between the actual employees and machineries working hours and the planned estimated working hours by time sheet. So he could know the projects used extra working hours as before or within the estimated schedule as per the strategic quality planned. Time Schedule: The Contracting Department Manager could compare between the actual schedule and the planned one as per the strategic quality planned. So easily he could mark all the millstones which were delayed or achieved in advance. So by doing Check Sheet for the previous elements in every project, the things will be easier: 5.2 Recommend areas for improvement to a strategic quality change that align with organizational objectives (AC 5.2) Client Satisfaction : The client must be satisfied with WBG projects in all items so the contracting management must be careful to satisfy the clients give more efforts and expenses even if it’s out a little bit of the main scope because if the client is satisfying, sure the company will be in his priority in the next projects. Safe the employees : The contracting management must appreciate the employee’s efforts by sending thanking mails and give some days off to relax before transfer them to the next project. And in case there is no new project, they could send the employees for open vacation without terminate them so the Staff will increase their loyalty to the company. Paper works : The contracting management must ensure that all activities and lesson leaned are registered daily to give good feedback and lessons for the future. Share the benefits : The contracting management must give Bonus to the employees which aims to increase their efforts in implementation of strategic quality plan. References Quality.co.uk, (2015).The Quality Manual Management Network. [online] Available at: http://www.quality.co.uk/ [Accessed 3 Jan. 2015]. Bsigroup.com, (2015).ISO 9001 Quality Management | BSI Group. [online] Available at: http://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/iso-9001-quality-management/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2015]. BusinessDictionary.com, (2015).What is total quality management (TQM)? Definition and meaning. [online] Available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/total-quality-management-TQM.html [Accessed 11 Jan. 2015]. Tutorialspoint.com, (2015).Basic Quality Tools. [online] Available at: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/management_concepts/basic_quality_tools.htm [Accessed 13 Jan. 2015]. Bia.ca, (2015).Strategic Quality Planning. [online] Available at: http://www.bia.ca/strategic-quality-planning.htm [Accessed 13 Jan. 2015]. Total Words: 2,992 [1]

Field Project :: essays research papers

Field Project   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To start off my discussion about inequality in the world I asked my sister four questions. 1) What is your American Dream? 2) Do you think there is an exit for children who live in poverty? 3) What is your idea of â€Å"makin it†? 4) As a citizen what do you feel you can do to help? I wanted to get an idea of her overall thought before telling her the brutal truth if she doesn’t already know.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Answers: 1) My American Dream is the quote â€Å" Happiness is positive cash flow†. It symbolizes having a good job that provides me with plenty of money so I can have most of what I want. With a lot of work and perseverance, I think it would be possible to provide your children with a better life than you had. 2) The majority of children who live in poverty will remain in poverty. The way you are brought up is the way you’re going to stay. 3) My idea of â€Å"makin it† is to become successful and happy. 4) As a citizen and as my job I feed the children everyday and make sure they eat and that they are happy. I asked her to explain to me what she does everyday.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My name is Suzanne Michelle Boily and I am a Food Service Manager for the Board of Education. I work in Williamsburg Green point, Brooklyn. Previously, I worked in the South Bronx in District 7 at PS 29. I work in the school’s cafeteria. I was the only white girl in the area. When I first got the job I was very intimidated to be the minority. The children screamed to me â€Å"Hey whitey what are you doing here†. After a couple of months of getting used to it the children offered me to walk me to my car when school was out because they new it was dangerous. There used to be all kinds of pornography flyers left on my car. The neighborhood is called the projects. There were many open fields with rats running around and I always saw packs of stray dogs in the neighborhood. The children in school sometimes, which was usually never, came to school; they would drop out or come stoned. They didn’t care about school; they would just come into eat as fa r as I saw. I asked, Could anyone off the streets come in and eat?

Early Repolarization Pattern (ERP) Essay -- pattern, leads, conditions

Introduction Early repolarization pattern (ERP) is an enigmatic common electrocardiographic (ECG) finding,occurring in 1% to 2% of the general population (1). ERP prevalence is decreasing with advancing age (2) This ECG pattern is frequently observed in healthy persons,particularly young,male (3,4,5), athletic (6,7), and of African-American origin (4,5,6,7,8).On the 12-lead ECG the ERP is characterized as â€Å"notching† or â€Å"slurring† of the terminal portion of the R wave and beginning of the ST-segment that produces a positive hump known as J wave. The J wave is a deflection with a dome that appears immediately after the end of QRS complex followed by ST-segment elevation ≠¥ 0.1 mV (or 1 mm, varying from 1 to 4 mm) above isoelectric line (relative to the subsequent TP interval) concave upward in at least two contiguous ECG leads. This ECG finding is most frequently seen in the precordial leads from V3 to V5 and often in the inferior leads II, III, and aVF (9) Normal ERP should be differentiated from others conditions with ST segment elevation such as asthenic habitus, acute pericarditis, STEMI,Brugada syndrome (BrS), congenital short QT syndrome(SQTS), and IVF (10,11). Although the condition is usually considered benign, its potential arrhythmogenicity has been suggested by experimental studies.(12) The majority of such sudden cardiac arrests are caused by ventricular tachyarrhythmias, which occur in persons without structural heart disease in 6 to 14% of cases. (13,14) These results were replicated in similar studies and the association with increased arrhythmic risk was subsequently extended to the general population in large cohort studies (16,17). In brief, ER consists of 2 components: prominent J waves and ST-segment elevation.... ... and QT interval association.In the recently study, patients with ERP had shorter QTc interval than subjects with normal ECG pattern. Also statistical results are significantly different about other paratemeters like QT,JT,JTc,QT-apex interval.The previous studies showed ERP and short QT interval relation however subjects had different heart rates.Conversely we showed this association one-to-one matching with heart rates. Study limitations The number of subjects in this study is limited,because as a tertiary center patients with early repolarization pattern referred to our institution were complex and had comorbidities Although the cohort included subjects with strictly defined common features, data collectionwas not uniform among centers. In our study population, we had no subjects with structural heart disease so the results may not apply to these subgroups.

Irish Literature And Rebellion Essay -- essays research papers

Irish Literature and Rebellion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the heart of every Irishman hides a poet, burning with nationalistic passion for his beloved Emerald Isle. It is this same passion, which for centuries, Great Britain has attempted to snuff out of the Catholics of Ireland with tyrannical policies and the hegemony of the Protestant religion. Catholics were treated like second-class citizens in their native home. Centuries of oppression churned in the hearts of the Irish and came to a boil in the writings and literature of the sons and daughters of Ireland. The Literary Renaissance of Ireland produced some of the greatest writers the world has seen. John O’Leary said it best, â€Å"literature must be national and nationalism must be literary† (Harmon, 65). Although there is an endless stream of profound poets and playwrights; John Synge, Lady Gregory, Oscar Wilde, etc., this paper’s primary focus is on William Butler Yeats and James Joyce, and their contributions during the Irish Literary Ren aissance and their perspectives on the â€Å"Irish Question.† They preserved the names of the heroes of the past and celebrated the Irish spirit through their writings so that the sacrifice of many would not be in vain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Butler Yeats was born in the Dublin suburb of Sandymont on June 13, 1865. Interestingly enough, his family was of the Protestant faith. He wasn’t much of an activist at first and didn’t really care all that much for schooling either, â€Å"because I found it difficult to attend to anything less interesting than my thoughts, I was difficult to teach† (DLB 19, 403). However, in 1886 he met John O’Leary, an old Fenian leader. O’Leary had been a Young Irelander and fought in the insurrection of 1849. He took Yeats under his wing and introduced him to the world of fenians and fenianism. His influence on Yeats’ writing is undeniable. Yeats began to write â€Å"in the way of [Sir Samuel] Ferguson and [James Clarence] Mangan† and evolve his nationalism and anti-English sentiment (O’Connor, 165). Yeats, like Ferguson, saw â€Å"literature in Irish was an essential part of the education of any Irishman and tri ed to make it so† (O’Connor, 150). He toured Ireland and established the National Literary Society. His greatest ambition was to unite Catholic Ireland and Protestant Ireland through national literature. He loved Ireland and the Irish... ...rs this to be â€Å"the real voice of the Irish middle class† (O’Connor, 161). Throughout â€Å"Ivy Day in the Committee Room,† we are introduced to a cast of characters who have been out shaking hands and kissing babies. They sit around and slowly warm themselves back to life by the small fire and sipping on stout. The discuss politics and life, each other, and the anniversary of the tragic loss Charles Stewart Parnell. The story ends with the reading of a poem written in memory of Parnell, which declares him the â€Å"Uncrowned King,† and concludes â€Å"The day that brings us Freedom’s reign. / And on that day may Erin well / Pledge in the cup she lifts to Joy / One grief – the memory of Parnell† (Joyce, 116). Through the words and verses of Yeats and Joyce and all the writers of the Irish Literary Renaissance, the memories of the brave have survived. The purpose of the their writing was to kindle the patriotic flame of the Irish and work towards a united Ireland. In the troubles of today, the memory of the sacrifices of yesterday are still strong within the culture and traditions of the Irish. Someday, their dream and the dream of so many who have gone before them will be recognized and achieved.

Plato’s and Aristotle’s Views on Knowledge

Plato and Aristotle view knowledge and the process whereby it is obtained. They both point out that many epistemological concepts which they believe where knowledge comes from and what it is actually. Most of them have been astonished me in certain ways, but I found that rationalism and â€Å"wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is† make the most sense to me regarding the nature of knowledge. As the following, we will discuss about why these two philosophical viewpoints are superior and the others are inferior. Aristotle believes that sensory perception of material objects is knowledge and he says, â€Å"Our senses begin the process of finding the answer, because they are physically close to our minds. † However, sensations and feelings are very subjective, and the results of sensation vary from person to person and even within the same person, depending on the circumstances. What to one person is cold might be warm to another, one person may be more fatigued in the afternoon than in the morning, so that his or her perceptions may temporarily less accurate. Therefore one cannot claim that sensations provide sure knowledge for human beings. | On the other hand, Aristotle sustains that the perceptions of the senses form the foundation which leads to true knowledge. The senses â€Å"give the most authoritative knowledge of particulars† (individual material objects). The senses, especially sight, â€Å"make us know and bring to light many differences between things. † The senses thus provide a foundation that will ensure that human knowledge is true or accurate. Back and forth, we have already discussed that sensations cannot provide true knowledge for humans because of subjectivity, as in this case, this is not necessarily that perceptions of senses form the foundation which leads to true knowledge for humans. Plato believes that innate knowledge of eternal Forms that exist separately from material objects is true knowledge because innate knowledge does not require that the mind interact with the external world in order to be apprehended. It is present in the mind at birth, for it is God given, and has always been resident in the mind. Nevertheless, how does one know there is a God? For all we know, the existence of god cannot be proven by scientific methods, and this is for certain. In this case, how can humans get knowledge from god or gods? Therefore, innate knowledge should not be viewed as the origin of knowledge nor to help one to obtain true knowledge. For Aristotle's substance, it states that when one knows the substance (matter and form) or essential nature of a material object, one knows the first cause that made it to be what it is. This knowledge is true wisdom and is therefore true knowledge. I felt this philosophical viewpoint when I first saw it; however, this knowledge begins in sensory perception. Stated in premise, sensations and feelings cannot assist individuals to acquire true knowledge. For this reason, I do not fall in this epistemological concept afterwards. Moreover, a syllogism also cannot help one to acquire human knowledge. To Aristotle, these universal ideas are self-evident. The mind, having received appropriate sensory input, immediately sees that they are true. Although premises are formed as the result of inductive reasoning, it is based on sensory perception. Consequently, human beings cannot acquire knowledge by a syllogism. I personally fall with rationalism and wisdom lead us to attain knowledge. Plato and Aristotle both believe that thinking, defined as true opinion supported by rational explanation is true knowledge; however, Plato is a rationalist but Aristotle is not. Plato thinks that the external world can be obtained proceeding from the inside out. Thus, the foundation of true knowledge for the rationalists is that it originates in the faculty of reason. Furthermore, reason has the capacity to discover ideas or beliefs independently of the senses. These ideas or beliefs are self-validating and therefore have the status of knowledge because the rational faculty, which has discovered them, is the most accurate of the means by which human beings obtain knowledge. In Plato's Theaetetus, he says, â€Å"Any one forms the true opinion of anything without rational explanation, you may say that his mind is truly exercised, but has no knowledge. † This is quite true that when one can state a true opinion supported by a rational explanation, one's opinion constitutes knowledge, since perceptions of senses are excluding in this case. Moreover, a rational explanation does not contain any subjectivity, it is an objective entity for humans to understand true knowledge. For this reason, I fall with rationalism and believe it is a superior philosophical viewpoint about the nature of knowledge. Aristotle sustains that wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is. For Aristotle, wise people know more than just what something is; they also know why it is what it is, or what causes it to be what it is. People with wisdom, for instance, a master worker understand not only that fire is hot, but also know why it is hot. Those with experience only, who do not know why something works in a certain manner, cannot teach. Say physicians understand that there is a relationship between the medical condition of this class of patients and the ingredients in this particular drug. They are then motivated to learn why the drug works on these people, or what causes it to be more effective with this group of patients than with others. In achieving this knowledge, one achieves wisdom. Once the physicians found out what causes the drug works, it will increase the confidence of other physicians to use it with similar patients of their own. If they just used it because it â€Å"works,† they might be more hesitant. Knowing why it works makes them feel more certain that it will be helpful. Moreover, by understanding how the ingredients work, another researcher might find another use for the drug on a related but different medical infirmity. Thus, the ability to teach something is important to one because it implies that the person who teaches has knowledge. In these cases, I believe wisdom is the ability to teach something to someone and it also contains a path for one to acquire true knowledge, therefore, it is also a superior philosophical viewpoint for individual to understand true knowledge. In my own life, I believe that one's knowledge is taught by parents, teachers, peers, and culture, and this is the reason for humans to have education. Our knowledge is received from the earlier generation to the next generation and so on. When I was a kid, I did not know why I had acne at that time. Now I am a teen, I know that during adolescence, hormones called androgens become active and stimulate oil glands in one's skin, increasing oil production. This, in turn, clogs pores, causing pimples and blackheads. I am educated in school and I understand the causes of acne now. In this case, I have true knowledge about what acne is and the causes of it because I have the ability to teach someone about acne, and it constitutes wisdom. This example fits in Aristotle's thought which wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is, and therefore, the origin of knowledge. On the other hand, a study states that sunlight can prevent some types of cancer because vitamin D is manufactured in the skin when it is exposed to sunlight and it is this vitamin that may have a protective effect against certain cancers by preventing the overproduction of cells. In this case, a true opinion is supported by a rational explanation, and this study can help one to acquire knowledge because the study itself is knowledge. In this essay, we have examined different epistemological concepts of Plato and Aristotle about what knowledge is and the process whereby it is obtained. Since sensations are subjective, many of their philosophical viewpoints have been objected. Rationalism and â€Å"wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is† make the most sense to me because they are not perceived by sensations, and they can be observed in our daily lives. Those are the reasons that I found these two concepts are superior to others.

Mobile Phone Companies Analysis

Nokia is a leading mobile device manufacturer globally and has a high market share. Maximum population in India prefers using Nokia handsets as it is user friendly. It can use its customer’s goodwill and loyalty to diversify in the mobile network market in India. The communications sector in India has transformed into a multi-player and multi-product market that has diverse market size and segments. In order to diversify in to new market, Nokia needs to develop a marketing plan which will give them the idea what factors to be considered before entering the mobile network sector. The marketing plan includes all the factors that need to be undertaken. They are market analysis, competitor analysis, and environmental analysis, and customer analysis, internal and external factors.The mobile network market is growing rapidly and has good opportunities for new entrants to enter market and gain market share. Though there is much opportunity in this market, there are some threats such as threat from existing competitor, high customer churn rates, etc. After conducting a Porter's 5 forces model on Nokia, I felt a PESTLE analysis would analyse the macro environment of Nokia.These are all the external forces that are out of Nokias' control but have a significant effect on how the company operates and the strategic decision they make. This model looks at the Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors relating to Nokia and the industry they operate in. To understand the macro environment more this article will study each section in depth. After the completion of planning stage of marketing plan, an organization has to go through next stage which is strategic options. It deals with various key issues that a firm needs to look at. They are marketing objectives, Strategic objectives, Marketing mix, STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) process, Distribution process and Value chain. Nokia was founded over 140 years ago in Finland, a nd since then has become a global organisation that operates in over 120 countries worldwide.Nokia has also become a market leader in the mobile telecommunications industry and is most known for their mobile phones and Smartphone’s. Although recent competition has affected the market share that Nokia has in the telecommunication industry they still hold a strong  29%(2011) of the market share in a forever changing industry The micro environment is the internal factors that are affected by the customers, staff, shareholders and competitors. The best model for evaluating the micro environment of Nokia is Porter’s 5 forces as this takes into consideration the competitors, customers, suppliers and new entrants.Company Overview:The company was founded in 1865 by Frederick Idestam. The company began a paper mill in Tammerkoski in southern Finland. Frederick Idestam then built another mill by the Nokiavirta River where he gave the name Nokia to the mill in 1871. Originally, the Nokianvirta River was named after a dark furry animal, locally known as the Nokia – a type of marten. Following a major industrial force, the company merges with a cable company (founded by Eduard Polon) and a rubber firm (founded by Arvid Wickstrom) which sets Nokia on the new path of electronics. Nokia’s first electronic device was a pulse analyzer designed for use in nuclear power plants in 1962.Their interest in telecommunication systems began in 1963 when they started developing radio telephones for the army and the emergency services, prior to the manufacturing of televisions, radio phones, data transfer equipment, radio link, analyzers and digital telephone exchange. Nokia will change its production and focus on the telecommunication expertise until it becomes the core of its future work.To move to mobile: In 1979 Mobira Oy was the first phone maker. They begin life as a joint venture between Nokia and leading Finnish television Salora. The Mobile phone rev olution started in 1981 with the launch of the first Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) service. The phone industry began to expand rapidly and Nokia introduces its first car phones followed by the portable in 1986.Mobile revolution: In 1992, Nokia decides to focus on its telecommunications business. This happens when Jorma Ollila becomes CEO of Nokia and he chooses to concentrate on telecommunication industry. In the 1990’s, the rubber, cable, and  consumer electronics divisions, were therefore sold. Nokia’s only business turned towards the manufacturing of mobile phones and telecommunications systems. The strategy of Jorma Ollila was to create a new era of telecommunication on a long term vision.1. PESTLE Analysis of NokiaPolitical:The Political factors relates to the factors which the government also affects such as government instability or rules and regulations which the business must follow. Nokia have recently moved one of its manufacturing facilities to India, and because of this it is important that Nokia follow the rules and regulations that are set in India, so that they can operate as efficiently as possible.The types of things they will have to be aware of is the minimum wage, the maximum hours a week employees can work and especially the Health and Safety regulations; this is to avoid any bad press or revolt from employees that will ultimately damage the reputation of Nokia both short term and long term. As well as foreign government it is vital that Nokia have a good relationship with their government in Finland, as any political instability such as a change in government or coalition may result in new laws being implemented, which will affect Nokia a lotEconomical:Nokia are vital to the Economy in Finland as it currently occupies a third of the market on the Helsinki stock exchange. The organisation is so important to the economy of Finland that the government had to step in when the business, earlier this year Nokia planned job cuts in Finland and with fears of what that would do to the economy the Finnish government stated they were prepared to help find jobs for those who are sacked (Reuters, 2011).Nokia will also have to be aware of changes in exchange rates, as they operate on a global scale and drastic changes in rates can have a devastating effect on the financial operations of the company if the business do not take appropriate steps to ensure the effects are minimum. The threat of recession  on western economy has also had an effect on the interest rates in banks, which means the cost of borrowing money for business activities has increased and Nokia will need to be aware of the changes in interest rate.SocialWith Nokia mainly operating in the Western market it is important for them to fully understand the social factors in these markets and the main factor they need to understand is the culture of the society; which is to have the latest and most up to date phone, is considered a key fashion icon. C onsumers are always after the most innovative and best looking Smartphone because in today’s culture people are judge on how fashionable they are by their choice of mobile phone. The increasing trend in Smartphone means when consumers purchase new mobile phones less and less consumers are choosing the standard mobiles phones over Smartphone because of the social trend in today’s society. Nokia will be aware of this and may now spend the majority of their efforts developing a Smartphone that can compete with their rivals’ products, in order to keep up with the trends of their consumers.Technological:The technological advances in the industry are vital to the success of any new Smartphone in the market that is continually growing, as the level of competition rises Nokia must ensure that their Smartphones are at the highest level of innovation. With functions such as camera, internet, social networking and email all necessities on Smartphones Nokia will have to thi nk of other functions to help differentiate and stand out from its rivals.As well as function more and more consumers are looking at the software running all the functions as a key indicator of the success and quality of the Smartphone, so Nokia’s alliance with Microsoft for their latest Smartphones seems a very good move as everyone are aware of the technological capabilities of Microsoft and the value they can add to any technological product. In the past Nokia were the market leaders in innovation in the mobile phone industry, however in recent times they have seemed well off the mark and struggle to compete with their rivals. This is why Nokia must consider their position in the industry and attempt to once again become the  market leader by offering a new innovative capability and get to the market before its rivals.Environmental:In today’s culture it is very important for organisations to be seen as environmentally friendly and ethical with its manufacturing, b ecause of the global effect it has on global warming so Nokia must ensure that they operate in an appropriate manner. With mobile phone recycling organisations becoming more and more popular, this demonstrates how important people are regarding it. The main issue with mobile recycling is the disposal of the batteries in the phones as these can become dangerous if not disposed of appropriately.Legal:Intellectual property is the key to any technological business and must be cared for and protected to the fullest amount to ensure the business does not lose out to rivals. Nokia operate in an industry where it is very difficult to have a product that is different to its competitors, when they do release a product with an innovative capability it is vital to protect the rights to it through patents, copyright, trademarks or design to ensure they are not â€Å"stolen† by their competitors.Not only are competitors a threat of intellectual, but Nokia must ensure they do not fall victi m to counterfeiters who claim to be a Nokia products but are cheap knock-offs. As Nokia have manufacturing plants in a various countries it is extremely important that they abide by the laws and regulations set by the different countries as the laws will differ depending on the country, these can be employments laws, Health and Safety or even trade restrictions.2. Marketing strategy of NokiaNokia is a leading mobile device manufacturer globally and has a high market share. Maximum population in India prefers using Nokia handsets as it is user friendly. It can use its customer’s goodwill and loyalty to diversify  in the mobile network market in India.The communications sector in India has transformed into a multi-player and multi-product market that has diverse market size and segments. In order to diversify in to new market, Nokia needs to develop a marketing plan which will give them the idea what factors to be considered before entering the mobile network sector. The mark eting plan includes all the factors that need to be undertaken. They are market analysis, competitor analysis, and environmental analysis, and customer analysis, internal and external factors.The mobile network market is growing rapidly and has good opportunities for new entrants to enter market and gain market share. Though there is much opportunity in this market, there are some threats such as threat from existing competitor, high customer churn rates, etc.MARKETING OBJECTIVES It is defined as, ‘marketing goals that the business must achieve in order to meet its wider business objectives’. Some of the main marketing objectives of an organization are to increase its market share, differentiate its products from competitors, develop brand value among its customers, and introducing new products or services in the market. The strategic objectives of an organization can be measured with the help of BCG matrix. BCG matrix helps to measure an organizations business units or product lines.CUSTOMER ANALYSIS At present, almost everyone uses cell phone. Therefore, the target segment for this market cannot be specific. Nokia needs to target population according to their usage by providing customize service plans so that the customer can select the plan which meets their requirements. They can also segment customers regionally as the usage is much more in urban market.MARKETING MIXIt is the most famous marketing term and is used by all organization to target its customers. The elements of marketing mix are the basis of a marketing plan. It includes 4 P’s for products and 7 P’s for services. They are Product, Price, Place, Promotion and extended P’s i.e. Physical evidence, People and Process for services.ProductA product is a tangible thing that is sold by an organization to its customers in order to gain market share. To gain market share a firm needs to differentiate its products from competitors, be innovative, and eliminate the produ cts which are not doing well in the market. In case of Nokia, it is a market leader in cell phone market. To gain market share and increase its customer base, Nokia is diversifying into SIM cards market. To differentiate its product from the competitors it has to use various strategies such as mass marketing. The product offered by Nokia i.e. SIM cards can be described with the service that they can offer.PricePrice refers to the amount a customer is willing to spend. It is determined by a number of factors such as market share, growth rate, competitor pricing, etc. Nokia has to keep its SIM card prices low in order to penetrate into the mobile network market. They need to offer service plans as per the usage of the customers. While pricing, Nokia needs to keep in mind different segments that they are targeting. For instance, different plan for youngsters, corporate, businesses, SBUs. They also need to constantly update its pricing in order to compete with its competitors.PlaceIt re fers to geographical area where the product is placed. It also includes outlets, distribution channel. Nokia needs to make available its SIM cards both in rural and urban areas. It can also use its geographical reach to untap the rural markets which is still not properly covered by the existing competitors. Nokia can also use its customer care centres to sell its SIM cards. Apart from this, they can provide its SIM cards to retailers and dealers.PromotionIt represents all the marketing activities that are carried to promote a product in the market. There are various mediums to promote products such as advertisements, hoardings, etc. Nokia can use various mediums to promote its SIM cards. It can use celebrities, advertisements, hoardings, sponsoring events, etc. They can also spread awareness about its SIM cards by using canopies outside colleges.SWOT ANALYSISStrengths: Huge market share: Nokia has huge market share in the cell phone sector and therefore can use its image to be succe ssful in the service provider market. World-class technology: Nokia can make use of its world class research and development team to design better network coverage for its sim-cards. Geographical Reach: As Nokia is one of the renowned brands globally, its presence in the market is very high and can use this to provide its sim-cards service to majority of population.Weakness:New in the market: As Nokia is new in the service provider market, it will be difficult to attract customers towards its sim-cards and service plans. High customer churn rate: Due to many competitors in the market and less margin to differentiate the service from competitors, customers switch from one service provider to other if they are not satisfied with its service.Opportunities:Untapped Market: Nokia is new to the service provider market and has an opportunity to explore the market. High market growth rate: As the number of people using mobile phones is increasing rapidly. There is high growth rate in the ma rket. Increase Market Share: Nokia can increase its market share by untapping the service provider market and increasing its customer base.Threats:Competitors threat: Nokia face competitors threat from market leaders such as Airtel, Vodafone and also from new entrant Aircel which has been successful to gain market share within a short period. Global recession: It led to less  amount of disposable income with the customers. Hence, customers think twice before investing his money. Market Saturation: It poses as another threat if the service provider market saturates due to financial crisis caused by recession.3. Porter’s AnalysisI. Threat of new entrants:ââ€"  The mobile phone industry is already a well established market and the threat of a new entrant is quite low, as the technology needed to rival the devices already available is quite advance if they want to differentiate from them.ââ€"  The barriers to entry in the mobile phone industry is high because any new entran ts will need high investments in R&D, technology and marketing in order to compete with the established organizations. ââ€"  New entrants want to take market share from the larger organisations but Nokia hold 29% of the market share in the industry, the highest market share in the industry. (BBC News, 2011) The threat of new entrants into the mobile phone industry is very unlikely as the start up cost of entering into the market at a high level needs a lot of investments and time to be considered a respectable competitor of the already established organisations.Nokia currently hold a 29% of the entire mobile phone market worldwide and for a new competitor to obtain some of their market will take either a very long term plan or something that is truly innovative and unseen before. This is because realistically the new entrant will need very high investment for R&D and marketing, and would not be able to publish positive result for a long time as they try to build a customer base an d a name for itself in an established market. In conclusion the threat of new entrants is very low and not a factor which Nokia will have to worry about in the near future.II. Power of suppliers: ââ€"  Although Nokia rely on its suppliers to supply equipment for their advanced mobile phones there are actually a number of large equipment makers, which Nokia could switch to. ââ€"  The software suppliers for their Smartphones are  now Microsoft, who will have a very high bargaining power. ââ€"  As the leading mobile phone company in the industry they are in a very strong position when bargaining with their suppliers. Nokia are in the position where they can bargain and negotiate with any mobile phone hardware maker because there is a high number of equipment suppliers that are readily available to them should their current suppliers attempt to bargain for more money with them.Nokia’s main argument would be the fact that they are a global organisation that has the highest market share in the industry, so the suppliers would not want to lose such an illustrious organisation. On the other hand, Nokia have recently created an alliance with Microsoft for their software which would be considered a major coup for Nokia more than Microsoft. As a result, Microsoft will have a lot of power when negotiating a price and share because the deal is more beneficial to Nokia than Microsoft. In conclusion, there is a moderate threat from the powers of suppliers because although the hardware suppliers have a very low power, Microsoft’s power over the software is very high because they’re very few other organisations who have the expertise and skills to rival Microsoft.III. Powers of buyers: ââ€"  The power that customers have is rising because of the increasing number of choices in the mobile telecommunication industry. ââ€"  With a lot of the Nokia competitors all offering similar packages (e.g. unlimited texts and calls) the industry is very price sensitive with customers seeking out the best value for money. ââ€"  Many of the consumers will also be tied into long term contracts so switching from one handset to another will be difficult and expensive for the consumer, as a result they may not want to change until the contract is finished.The mobile phone industry is a competitive market where the number of choices is very wide, resulting in the consumer having a lot of power because they can choose to go to one of Nokia’s many rivals if they feel Nokia are not good enough. As Nokia do not have a direct store to sell to their consumers, intermediaries such as Carphone warehouse or network stores such as Orange also have other handsets readily available for the consumers, which makes it difficult for Nokia to have a direct impact on the selling of their handsets. As a result this has created a very price sensitive market because consumers will always be on the lookout for the  best deals. In conclusion, the buyers h ave a high amount of power because of the other handsets they can purchase instead of Nokia.IV. Threats of substitute’s products:ââ€"  Mobile phones are an everyday essential in people’s lives today and people would find it hard to replace, as customers would not be able to be in constant contact when away from the house. ââ€"  On the other hand, it could be said that customers would be able to contact people through others types of media such as social networking websites, email and home telephones. Although staying in constant contact would be hard in customers’ day to day life. ââ€"  However, smart phones are capable of a lot of functions so there are many substitutes if the substitute focuses on one of the functions, e.g. digital camera can take better photos then smart phones, notebooks can surf the web just as effectively and PDAs can plan a day the same way a smart phone can. Mobile phones have become an everyday necessity in peoples’ lives b ecause of the important functions that they can do and are all available in just one handset.No other product has the ability to make phone calls, send messages, surf the web and many more in one device. The idea of being in constant communication with someone at anytime and anywhere makes the mobile phone a very important device to people. On the other hand, a mobile phone can be dissected into the key function where there are substitutes for the functions, such as the camera function on a mobile phone can be substituted for a digital camera which can do a better job than the camera in a mobile phone.In conclusion, the threat of a substitute product is very low due to the fact a mobile phone is no longer just for making calls but for all the other function as well are expected on all mobile phones. So, the only real substitute is to buy all the functions of a mobile phone in the individual products which would not be plausible to carry all around on a person at the same time. Witho ut mobile phones consumers would find it very difficult to replace, as it can offer so much to the consumers all in one device, no matter what the needs of the consumer are. Consumers rely on mobile phones a lot and would not be able to find a substitute that has all the function of a mobile phone.V. Competitive rivalry:ââ€"  Nokia rivals have moved to smart phones and androids while Nokia have only just recently released their first smart phones leaving them trailing their rivals such as Apple and HTC. ââ€"  There is also very little differentiation between the competitors which means any new smart phones in the market, like Nokia Lumia, will find it difficult to tempt existing iphone and HTC customers to switch. ââ€"  Intense competition from large companies such as; Apple, HTC, Blackberry, Sony Ericcson and LG, ect. Nokia operate in an industry where the competition is extremely fierce with high investment in R&B and marketing to compete with some of the biggest organisatio ns in the world. This year Nokia’s market share has dropped to 29% and it is forecast to continue to fall because of the rising popularity of the Apple Iphone.After Nokia’s slow move into the Smartphone market it has left them trailing their rivals, and has just released their Lumia range which will find it difficult to compete and win over consumers from their Iphones. In conclusion, competitive rivalry is very high and Nokia must be aware of the threat that competitors have on their business especially with the growing popularity of the Apple iphone and RIM blackberry. The competitive rivalry is the biggest threat to Nokia because in the Smartphone market they are considerably behind and to increase their market share will take a lot of work in a market where some of the biggest names in business operate in such as Apple and Sony.Competitive environments of Nokia For more than a decade, Nokia has been the iconic leader in the industry. However, the iPhone revolution (as well as the growth of a fully vertically integrated and higher next important step in this process of assessing the external environment will be to show the current picture of Nokia’s competitors. Hardware:  hly diverse group like Samsung) has disturbed the industry.The latest data clearly highlighted several crucial points: Firstly, Nokia reported smartphone sales of about US$ 3.4 billion for Q2 2011, while Apple’s iPhone revenue totaled US$ 13.3 billion; this makes Apple the leader  of the industry as it shipped 20 million iPhones. It is also important to understand that the average sale price (ASP) of an iPhone is more than US$ 600, while Nokia reports a smartphone ASP of around US$ 200. Secondly, Nokia was previously the market share leader, having more than one-third of the worldwide smartphone market in Q2 2010. However, one year later, this figure has decreased to only 15.7% and Nokia is the only brand that has lost market share, reporting a negative gro wth of 30%.The chart above shows the operating profits from the sale of mobile phones among the main vendors. During the second quarter of 2011, Nokia, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson and LG saw losses and did not manage to generate a profit by selling phones. During the same period, RIM and Samsung saw their shares slightly decrease but Apple grew substantially and this company now represents two-thirds of the industry with operating profit of 66.3%.From the same graph, we can also confirm that Motorola and LG are frequently making losses; this may explain why Google bought Motorola last month and why LG is considering exiting the industry before the end of 2011. The chart above clearly confirms that Nokia’s problems are not recent; it shows the change in profit share over a four-year period and we can see that Nokia has slowly lost profits and market shares to Apple. As of September 2011, Apple is currently taking 84% of the profits generated by modern smartphones; this means that Nokia’s main source of revenue is the low-end classic mobile phone.Software: The OSThe previous section highlighted the fact that Nokia saw its market share and profits decrease over the last four years, and during the same period, Apple and the iPhone took 84% of the overall profits. By studying the operating system (OS), as well as the applications that are developed by the industry, we will be able to understand how its new competitor, Apple, surpassed the previously successful Nokia. SymbianSymbian v9 was launched in 2005 and in December 2008, Nokia bought Symbian Ltd., the company behind Symbian OS and made it an open source system. Nokia’s Symbian platform market share increased to 47% but in 2010 it started to plateau and is now declining sharply, currently representing less  than 16% of new mobile phone operating systems. Symbian was mostly used by the Nokia Group and other manufacturers like LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.Symbian remains the most us ed OS due to its very large installed based (more than 500 million mobile phones). However, Google’s Android has emerged as a significant challenger to the superiority of Symbian by providing a developer-friendly OS combined with better innovative functionalities, a better user interface and coming from a consumer-friendly brand (Android by Google). AndroidGoogle’s Android was launched as a free and open source operating system in 2008 and within two years, it grew from having 0% to 21% of the market share. As of 2011, Google’s Android operating system is installed on 130 million devices and it is used extensively by leading smartphone manufactures like Samsung, Motorola and HTC.Windows Phone 7The Windows Phone 7 was showcased at the beginning of 2010 and represented a significant upgrade to the struggling Windows Mobile 6 OS. Early signs were mixed but the OS was generally well received and Microsoft also created important new features like Zune, Bing, Xbox Liv e and Windows Marketplace. However, the Windows Phone arrived late on the market in comparison to the Apple iOS or Android and the OS was not free and fully open source.In August 2011, during his keynote speech at the 2011 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admitted that Microsoft simply hasn't gained any traction and that Microsoft has failed. Based on the latest figures from Nielsen, Windows Phone 7 sales only represent 9% of the market, compared to 38% for Android and 27% for the iPhone. In order to picture this incredible landscape modification in terms of the OS, both graphs below show how the top smartphone platform has moved from Symbian to Android in fewer than 4 years.Mobile applications: The previous sections described how the Nokia ecosystem Symbian failed to compete with Apple or Google. In this section, we will see how this issue also affected the developer community and therefore the applications available on Nokia’s mobile phone s and smartphones. Firstly, by analysing  the number of applications available in the Nokia application store (called OVI) we can see from the graph below that OVI has only 46,000 applications when Android or Apple have over 300,000 applications. However, we can also see from the same graph that the trend is slowly growing, confirming the idea that some developers remain interested in developing applications on Nokia’s Symbian platform, even though this platform is less competitive than Android or Windows Phone 7.Conclusion:Nokia’s strategy to diversify from cell phone manufacture to Nokia mobile network will be a great success. Moreover, it can use its goodwill and loyalty of people towards Nokia cell phone to use its sim-cards. As majority of service provider’s focus on urban areas, Nokia can use its geographical reach to uncap the rural market.In order to diversify its business in to mobile network market, Nokia needs to make use of its leading mobile phone s manufacturer image. As Nokia has build loyalty among its mobile phone users, it can use this for attracting customers towards its SIM cards and thereby gain market share. Also with its world class R & D department, it can offer many services to its customers which will help them to differentiate in their service offering from its competitors. For instance, video calling, free roaming, outgoing call restriction, etc.By focusing more on rural market which is untap to a certain extent, Nokia can satisfy its customers in rural areas which most of the existing players are not successful. Also by offering customize service plans to its customers such as offering SmS package, unlimited internet package, Free Hello tune, and so on with minimum price. Nokia can also make tie-ups with existing players such as Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel in order to gain larger market share.It can also offer better deals to customers who are buying Nokia handsets on its SIM cards which will increase its sales a s well as customer base. This will help them to develop loyalty among its customers. In order to diversify in to SIM cards segment, Nokia needs to use mass marketing by implementing various promotion strategies such as Advertisements, Hoardings, Sponsoring events, canopies outside colleges and  so on. Nokia also needs to plan its distribution strategy in order to reach to maximum people. They can also use their ‘Connecting People’ tagline in its SIM card, thereby giving additional meaning to it.Thus, to diversify in to SIM card market is a better option for Nokia to increase its market share and revenue. Also this will help them to build larger customer base which will ultimately result in one of the leading brands in the telecommunications industry.