Thursday, September 26, 2019
Author Stephen Ambrose- Writing Style and Criticisms Research Paper
Author Stephen Ambrose- Writing Style and Criticisms - Research Paper Example The world cherishes his memories for the legacies he made in establishing the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans and as the founder of the National D-Day Museum, during the year 2000. Rather than spending time in libraries for his research, sifting through the pages of books, his style is to visit the historical places he writes about. His writing mainly contains the saga of war, narrating the stories of ordinary soldiers, which provides the present generation a clear understanding about the history of the times in the past. Career: The well renowned American historian, Stephen Edward Ambrose, was not introduced to the history department since the days of his childhood. Most people turn out to find their true passion only later in their lives. Ambrose realized his passion for history only when he attended his ââ¬Å"first college-level class in American historyâ⬠(Ambrose par. 1). His father worked as a town doctor before joining the navy dur ing the Second World War. Inspired and encouraged by his fatherââ¬â¢s heroism, Ambrose wanted to be a doctor just like him. Therefore, he enrolled in the University of Wisconsin as a pre-med student. But the history class awakened the dormant passion inside him and brought a complete change in his life and goals. He was keen on retelling the tales of American heroes who had so courageously fought for their country. After getting a doctorate in history, he started his teaching career in the University of New Orleans. He has been the author of around thirty books and has also edited a few books. He remained a teacher for thirty years and believed that ââ¬Å"teaching and writing were two sides of the same coinâ⬠(Ambrose). In 1962, he made a breakthrough with his second book ââ¬Å"Halleck, Lincolnââ¬â¢s Chief of Staffâ⬠which caught the attention of Dwight Eisenhower. The former president sanctioned Ambrose to his official biographer. He founded the National WWII Muse um, which ââ¬Å"reflected his deep regardâ⬠for the soldiers and ââ¬Å"workers on the Home Frontâ⬠for their valiant act of enduring anguish till they emerged victorious (Ambrose). Along with this, he was also the founder of Eisenhower Center in New Orleans. Academic Positions: Throughout his thirty years of teaching, Ambrose has taught at various institutions other than University of New Orleans, which includes Louisiana State University, Johns Hopkins University, U.C Berkeley, Rutgers University and a few European schools as well. Ambrose was the Boyd professor of history in the University of New Orleans and after he retired from this position, he became Director Emeritus of the Eisenhower Center. He also contributed a lot being an ââ¬Å"editor for the Quarterly Journal of Military History, a member of the board of directors for American Rivers, and a member of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council Boardâ⬠(Ambrose). Much as Ambrose was an author and a teacher , he was also a captivating speaker. He could speak to the audience in ways that kept them awe-inspiring notes. His knowledge of the past gave him an insight into the future, which he shared with everyone during
The lack of specific statutory legislation to deal with media Essay
The lack of specific statutory legislation to deal with media intrusion can be regarded as a weakness in English law. The Irish Privacy Bill 2006 represents a m - Essay Example In UK there is no specific statutory provision for the protection of privacy. However, because the violation of personal life cannot remain in certain circumstances without punishment, for this reason, the courts use instead the principles of law that are related with Human Rights in general. In this context, Human Rights Act of 1998 is the most common legislative text used by courts in UK in order to provide protection to people that have suffered an intrusion to their personal life by media. It has to be noticed though that English courts deal with the issue only at the level that the relevant freedoms provided by the English law are violated. In accordance with the article 2 of the Human Rights Act of 1998 ââ¬ËEveryoneââ¬â¢s right to life shall be protected by the lawââ¬â¢ (article 2, par.1). Furthermore, Human Rights Act of 1998 include a series of articles that provide protection in many cases when human rights are been threatened. We can indicatively refer to ââ¬Ëth e right to liberty and security (article 5), the right to a fair trial (article 6), the right to respect for private and family life (article 8), the freedom of thought, conscience and religion (article 9), the freedom of expression (article 10), the freedom of assembly and association (article 11), the right to an effective remedy (article 13)ââ¬â¢ and so on. At the European level, the right of privacy is also protected using the European Convention on the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of 1948 as it has been amended by a series of protocols (no. 4, 6, 7, 11 and 12). An interesting legislative text in the area of protection of privacy is the Irish Privacy Bill 2006 which covers all possible aspects of personal life that can suffer an intrusion and violation. Generally, it has been stated by Ellis (1993, 85) that ââ¬ËBritish law recognises no statutory right to privacy but The Data Protection Act 1984 was the first Act to address this
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Paintings are a reflection of religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Paintings are a reflection of religion - Essay Example The essay "Paintings are a reflection of religion" discusses the ways several arts works, particularly paintings, have reflected religion or religious situations.Artistic creations, particularly through paintings, are therefore significant for scholars of diverse endeavors. In the study of expressive symbolism the humanist and the social scientist find common ground. According to Trotter ââ¬Å"the themes of religion have provided the content of painting in the West. In gallery after gallery, the great themes of religion are the subject matter of the paintings. The Louvre in Paris, the Prado in Madrid, and even the Hermitage in Leningrad, display countless paintings of the Annunciation or the Crucifixion or the Resurrection.â⬠In this regard, this essay aims to proffer the ways several arts works, particularly paintings, have reflected religion or religious situations. The discourse would present a comparison of how the works selected were different or similar in some elements t hrough concrete examples. The first inquiry is the rationale for painting religious themes. According to Trotter (1987), ââ¬Å"in great periods of painting, such as the Renaissance in Europe, the wealthy who could afford to hire artists often subsidized major religious works as appropriate to the scale of their own palaces and as gifts to religious institutionsâ⬠(par. 2). This is the reason why Leonardo da Vinci painted ââ¬Å"The Last Supperâ⬠in 1498. Esaak (2010) averred that ââ¬Å"his employer requested him to do so. Leonardo worked for Ludovico Sforza.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Thoughts and Experiences of a Travelling Tourist Essay
Thoughts and Experiences of a Travelling Tourist - Essay Example When we talk about the ââ¬Å"Arabian Gulfâ⬠for example, Qatar, Kuwait, and Dubai, they almost share the same culture, religion, and language. People can find the hospitality in those countries that they never saw it before because it is a part of their culture. Arabian Gulf countries always attract people who search for summer activities like adventure, hunting, diving, luxurious hotels, traditional food, and so many other things. Furthermore, turrets always change their mind about those countries if they have misunderstood about Arab, Islam, or the Middle East in general. Middle East countries have been known to the world as dangerous countries because of the media and news, which have biased views. However, we sometimes need to see thing closely (Harrison 34). On the other hand, countries always share something together, which makes one say: it is really a small world. For example, when I went to Egypt I found that they share languages with other countries, with some of speaking Arabic, English, or even French. Egypt was really different country than all countries Iââ¬â¢ve visited before, however. The people there are always happy and want to have fun and celebrate most of the time. They are willing to help others, especially tourists. We should not also forget the important things that make Egypt an attractive destination in Africa, which is Phrenic ancient, Nile River, museums, and the different cities like, Sharm Alshiekh, which is an awesome small city on the beach, located on the border of Israel. I also took a trip to Paris, arriving at Beauvais Airport outside the city. Thankfully, the airport offered shuttle services to take travelers to the city center, which depart every twenty minutes after the flight. I used the metro to commute around the city since it was cheaper, although sometimes I preferred to use the hop on or hop off tourist buses in the city.Ã
Monday, September 23, 2019
Conquering the Incas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Conquering the Incas - Essay Example The History of the Aztecs The civilization that has come to be known as the ââ¬Å"Aztecsâ⬠was by no means made up of one, solitary culture. It was first made up of migratory barbarians, called ââ¬Å"the last of the Nahautal-speaking culturesâ⬠, that wandered the area from the great migration out of the northern city of Tula, late in the twelfth century2. It is believed that the Aztec originally migrated from the island of Aztlan, which would come to be substantiated by their name, Aztec, meaning ââ¬Å"people of Aztlanâ⬠3. Furthermore, they did not call themselves ââ¬Å"Aztecsâ⬠, but ââ¬Å"Mexicaâ⬠, or ââ¬Å"Colhua-Mexicaâ⬠, in keeping with their lineage4. The Mexica people, or the Aztecs as they are now known, held no friends among their neighbors. Shunned largely because they were not a polite, civilized tribe, but made up of vicious barbarians willing to do whatever it took to survive, they migrated towards the Valley of Mexico and lived on the fringes of society, as they were the last of the peoples to settle in the area and by no means welcomed to it5. It was on the islands of Lake Texcoco in 1345, surrounded by marsh conditions, that they found refuge6. Unfortunately, they had not picked a desirable spot in which to settle. The land itself was fine, and suitable for their pursuits; this was hardly the problem. The issue lay in the fact that they were distinctly in the middle of two kingdoms, Azcapotzalco and Texcoco7. Though the first three kings of the Aztecs ruled as vassals for the despot king of Azcapotzalco, it was in the year 1426, when Itzcoatl, a direct descendent of the first Aztec king, ascended to the throne, the tensions between the Aztec and the Tepanec lords of Azcapotzalco reached the breaking point8. War broke out, though the Aztecs did their best to evade this, both by sending a special messenger and offering diplomatic relations9. The new king, however, possessed the gifts of leadership and speech; he gave one such speech that ignited the passions of his people and led them to war10. When all was said and done, a new alliance had been formed, the Triple Alliance between Texcoco, Tenochtitlan, and Tlacopan, which would become the heart of the Aztec Empire11. These acts set the stage for a new way of life for the Aztecs, a life as a warrior people. Though in truth the life that they were now leading had come full circle from the days of their savage barbarism when they first migrated into their lands, it is not hard to imagine the years of subjugated rule taking their toll on such a proud people. It is from Itzcoatl that Montezuma I (Montezuma the Elder), and his son, Montezuma II (Montezuma the Younger) would descend12. The younger Montezuma would meet headfirst the Spaniard contingents, headed by Hernan Cortes, and face the downfall of his empire. Hernan Cortes The man that would cause the downfall of the Aztec empire was born in 1485 in Medellin, a town that was considered â⬠Å"an unimportant town in Estremaduraâ⬠13. His parents were poor, though able to send him to university at the age of fourteen, where he was prepared for a career in law, due to the fact
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Essay On Community Service Essay Example for Free
Essay On Community Service Essay Community service can be a chore for some and a delight for others. It can be tedium for one or a chance to help others from the bottom of his or her heart for another. Many believe that putting community service in the curriculum in the form of Values-in-Action (ViA) hours was something of a joke, something to guffaw at or simply something atrocious. I agree wholeheartedly with such people. Community service should be totally voluntary and not part of the school curriculum. By doing so, we are able to better evaluate a oneââ¬â¢s character, able to work with people who truly wish to help others and increase the amount of help given. For a start, by eliminating community service from the school curriculum, we can better judge someoneââ¬â¢s character. The problem with community service as part of the school curriculum is that people will feel that they are obliged to do community service and this will cause many students to take part in many activities so as to beef up their portfolios. Hence, all applicants, for example, at a particular company will have the exact same portfolios, all replicas of the other. If such a scenario occurs, how in the world are companies able to handpick and develop people who are truly capable and efficient workers? There is a chance that companies accidentally hire people who are churlish and truculent but what can we blame except this education system. This is especially disadvantageous to major companies that have many global sectors. Therefore, we need to remove community service from the school curriculum so that we can truly see who are worthy to be hired by a company. Next, the removal of community service from the school curriculum also means that in community service projects, people who truly wish to help the needy will be working together, giving rise to more successful projects. Without community service as part of the school curriculum, those who wish to give a helping hand and those who want to help from the bottom of their heart will be able to band together without the problem of people participating in community projects for the sake of getti ng ViA hours. These two groups of people have very differing goals and visions but by removing community service from the curriculum, such apathetic pupils will not be a burden to the community service industry. Instead, there is a higher likelihood of success in this sector with the increase in productivity, enhancement of teamwork and the sense of camaraderie within these teams working together for a common purpose. Furthermore, apathetic souls couldà also lead a happier life without the ââ¬Å"hassleâ⬠of community service bugging their minds. It is basically killing two birds with one stone! Lastly, many people think that by removing community service from the school curriculum, the amount of help given to the needy will drop drastically. However, this is definitely not so. By taking away community service from the school curriculum, we are also taking away those with apathetic mindsets. This means that there is a stronger circle of helpers for the needy. Hence, there will be more freedom in expressing ways to give a hand for the various needy communities. This means that people will not restrain their thoughts and ideas but instead, share it with others for them to improve and create. Thus, the visions that people have are very likely to turn to reality and with successive projects; there is a higher chance for a rapid in flow of ideas, giving rise to even more projects targeted for the less fortunate. This means an increase in the amount of help given and not a drop. After all that has been said and done, I strongly encourage that community service is rid off from the school curriculum. I believe that it can do wonders for our world and change it for the better. With better individuals with a morally upright character, they can influence others to follow suit and the acts of iniquity around our country may decrease significantly. Honestly, what more could we ask for?
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Power of suppliers analysis
Power of suppliers analysis Analysis Each of the five forces will now be evaluated individually in terms of the UK supermarket industry to see how attractive the industry is. Background information on the UK supermarket industry The industry consists of the following UK supermarkets: Aldi, Asda, The co-coperative, Iceland, Lidl, Marks and Spencers, Morrisons, Netto, Sainsburys, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose (Supermarket, 2009). Researching into these supermarkets show that they were all established in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This shows how established they are within the industry and how they have continued there success. The UK food retailing industry is dominated by four major supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Simsburys, Morrisons), who together account for over two-thirds of UK retail food sales (Fearne et al, 2005, p570). The UK grocery market is worth à £146.3bn for the calendar year 2008 (IDG, 2009) and has been steadily rising each calendar year: The bargaining power of suppliers Analysis The UK supermarket industry would not be capable of running without suppliers to stock their shelves. This means that the bargaining power of suppliers is an extremely important force to look at in depth, as, if the bargaining power of suppliers is high it makes the industry less attractive as the suppliers will be able to push prices up and take control of the supermarkets power. There are many different elements that are looked into to analyse to the full extent of the bargaining power of the suppliers which are looked at below: Porter states that suppliers are more powerful if there are only a few suppliers (Lynch, 2009: 97). With the supermarket industry they have to deal with a large number of suppliers of goods and products that they will stock in their shops. This means they are in constant communications with different suppliers. This means that the UK supermarket industry are in a very strong position, as there are thousands of different products and ranges this means the supermarkets can pick and choose their suppliers depending on price, quality and service, meaning the bargaining power of suppliers in this sense is not high as they need to get there products into the supermarkets and therefore need to have contracts with huge Supermarkets like Tesco and Asda. However, Tescos and many other supermarkets have started to create relationships and good working ethics between themselves and suppliers. For example Tesco have created a supplier partnering approach which is by forging long-term partnerships with our suppliers and identifying new innovative suppliers (Tesco, 2009) which as a result, our supply base is distinguished by its long-term constructive relationships (Tesco, 2009. Tescos has over 1,5000 suppliers who have been working with them for over five years, this shows that Tescos has learnt that working in co-operation with the suppliers causes better relationships as has Simsburys who have recently launched there supporting fairtrade campaign. If there are no substitutes for the suppliers they offer (Lynch, 2009: 97) it is said that the suppliers are more powerful as they will exert there power if they know they do not have anyone to compete with, therefore setting higher prices and in the case of supermarkets holding power over them. In the supermarket industry this can be looked at from two different views as most Supermarkets offer a range of different brands to substitute each other along the same line, for example Supermarkets stock both Nestle and Kelloggs cereal, so in that respect they do have different substitutes within product lines but in this case the supermarkets and branded products both need each other. The brands need to get shelf space to gain market share and the supermarkets need to offer the products being marketed to the consumer to attract customers into the shops. Due to the huge market shares of the main supermarkets the suppliers have little bargaining power at all. Porter also believes that if suppliers prices form a large part of the total costs of the organisation (Lynch, 2009: 98) then the bargaining power of the supplier is high. This means that if suppliers prices were to be raised then the supermarkets in this case would also have to raise their prices and they would be adversely affected. In the case of the UK supermarket industry, the top supermarkets are not affected by the suppliers prices changing as the suppliers have such large dependency on the supermarkets for contracts and repeat business meaning they are in some ways controlled by the prices the supermarkets are willing to pay as the power they have means they can just find another cheaper supplier. However, with the smaller supermarkets they do not have as much control as the suppliers price will affect them and they may not have the higher market share meaning they cannot exert any power over the suppliers as they can choose to supply the bigger supermarkets instead. Overall, it would not benefit the supplier to change to higher prices as supermarkets buy in such high volume and their relationship is crucial therefore the bargaining power is low. Overall, taking into account all aspects of Porters theories on bargaining power of suppliers is low as, the fact that a handful of supermarkets control access to consumers means that they are increasingly in a position to exercise buyer power. This is because distribution through these outlets is critical to manufacturers and suppliers as these suppliers have no other viable means of setting up distribution that offers the same scale and economic benefits (Dobson et al, 1998 as cited in Fearne et al, 2005, p571) and the key players in the UK food industry are dominated, led and controlled by retailers to a large extent (Howe, 2008 as cited in Robson et al, 2001, p 39). However it can be seen that the supermarkets in the UK are working towards forging strong relationships with suppliers. The bargaining power of buyers Analysis Within the analysis of the UK Supermarket Industry the buyers in Porters five forces are the customers. There are four main ways in which the bargaining power of buyers is high and they are under the following conditions: If the buyers are concentrated and there are few of them (Lynch, 2009: 98). The UK Supermarket Industry has thousands of customers all around the UK, this meaning that the power of the customers is not high in this sense as their target market is phenomenally large with 6,410 supermarkets covering most of the UK meaning they are easily accessible for a huge range of customers. Another condition which means the bargaining power of buyers is high is when the product from the organisation is undifferentiated (Lynch, 2009: 98). This means that the customers can switch from one supermarket to another as they all basically offer the same products, this is an issue in the supermarket industry as most customers are not loyal to just one supermarket, but the volume of customers is so high this does not really have a negative impact on the supermarkets this meaning the buyer power is not strong enough to create a problem for the industry unless a high percentage of loyal customers decided not to use the supermarket again, however the supermarkets are continuously running advertising campaigns to attract new customers and to retain there original loyal customers. If backward integration is possible (Lynch, 2009: 98) then the bargaining power of the customers is high. In the UK Supermarket Industry it is impossible for the customers to integrate backwards and take over the supermarkets role, so the bargaining power of buyers is non-existent. This shows that the bargaining power of buyers/suppliers is extremely low in the UK supermarket industry as there are so many customers that the supermarkets will always be in demand but because of the nature of the industry and UK customers always needing them to supply them with their weekly shopping etc so they do not have any bargaining power. The threat of potential new entrants Analysis Whenever new firms can easily enter a particular industry, the intensity of competitiveness among firms increases (David, 1997: 128). Porter states there are seven major sources of barriers to entry, as UK supermarkets are highly profitable the industry looks attractive in that sense, but the real issue is whether or not the industry can be entered easily. If the UK supermarket industry has low barriers of entry this means that the industry becomes more competitive and if you are already established this is not good news as the competition becomes fierce as David (1997) suggests; however if the barriers of entry are high and you are already established this is very comforting news as it means there will not be many competitors and new competitors very unlikely. The economies of scale in the industry need to be looked at closely, especially as it has a huge effect. This is because in terms of stock, supermarkets can purchase products from suppliers on a huge scale, meaning they get better deals and reduced costs, a new entrant to the supermarket industry would find this hard to do as the capital needed would be extremely large and not achievable straight away. The second source of barriers to entry is the branding, customer knowledge, special levels of service and many other aspects (Lynch, 2009: 99), which can create high barriers. This is very true in the UK supermarket Industry as the supermarkets are established and have already created different strengths within the market; most of them from the late 1800s. The extent to which the supermarkets already established are recognised is an enormous advantage, this meaning the barriers of entry are very high as lots of money would have to be spent marketing, setting up and creating a successful supermarket idea that would be sustainable amongst the long established competitors. The capital requirements to enter the UK Supermarket Industry are financially challenging to compete with the established supermarkets; raising such funds and taking such a high financial risk, makes the barriers to entry extremely high. Switching costs deal with the motion that if customers are happy with the supermarkets already within the industry then the cost to a new entrant would be very high to persuade the customers any different; therefore making the industry unattractive, as there is already lots of choice within the supermarket industry I feel it would be very hard to make customers switch therefore the costs would be very high. Porter argues that the access to distribution channels is a threat to new entrants. Within the supermarket industry however this links in with could a new entrant find suitable locations to distribute its products that would be easily accessible and would these kinds of sites be too costly to fund from the beginning; also with high competition levels around each town or city. The cost disadvantages independent of scale (Lynch, 2009: 99) also need to be looked at as possible new entrants need to assess how easily they will be able to gain stability and a foothold in the market, they will do this by seeing how well the other supermarkets in the industry are established, have constant customers that are loyal and trusting and the supermarkets knowledge of the marketplace. As many of the supermarkets in the industry are extremely well established and recognisable for their different traits this makes an extremely high barrier of entry for new entrants, as they do not have this bank of knowledge and experience. Government policy has a big effect on new entrants, as within the supermarket industry there are many different laws. Legislations and regulations that have to be abided by especially as food products are being sold. This means that a new entrant within the supermarket would find this process very costly and timely, therefore raising the barrier to entry. Overall, the threat of new entrants within the UK supermarket industry is very low as the costs to enter the market will be extremely high and the competition against the established supermarkets would be high due to their knowledge, experience and networks with suppliers and distribution channels. The threat of substitutes Analysis Substitution reduces demand for a particular class of products as customers switch to alternatives (Johnson et al, 2005: 82); it can be argued that there is no substitute to food but whilst looking at the UK supermarket industry each supermarket is each others substitute, hence the competition being fierce and constant as each food product they offer the competitor will also offer. The way in which supermarkets have overcome this however, is that they each have there own different strategies and strengths for example Asda offers a huge range of low cost products where as Waitrose focuses on having high quality products at a higher price. There are also other substitutes outside of the supermarket industry which really need to be analysed like local corner shops, newsagents, farm shops, markets and budget shops. The threat of substitutes has taken on a different meaning during the recession as UK supermarket giant Tesco has lost market share to discounters Aldi and Lidl as consumers cut back on spending (BBC News, 28.04.09), where there has been a shift by shoppers from high-end to low-end stores (BBC News, 27.06.08). This means that the threat of substitutes have become an issue within the UK supermarket industry as other retail shops like Poundland and Wilkinsons offer discounted products which have become more attractive to the UK customers due to the recession. This means that the threat of substitutes has risen over the past years making the industry become less attractive. The extent of competitor rivalry Analysis Rivalry among competing firms is usually the most powerful of the five competitive forces (David, 1997: 127). Competitor rivalry plays a huge role in the UK supermarket industry, Competition may take the form of price competition, advertising and promotion, innovation, or service during and after sales (Thompson, 2003: 296) The reason why competitive rivalry is high in the UK supermarket industry is because most of the competitors are of equal size, therefore meaning that if one competitor decides to try and gain more market share then the rivalry considerably increases. This has happened recently with Asda as they are constantly running advertising campaigns showing how much cheaper they are than all the other supermarkets. Since this has happened the other supermarkets have fought back and have shown they are also just as cheap therefore raising the competition barriers and therefore rivalry. Here are some adverts below to show how they are naming their competitors and their prices: There is also a high level of competition within the UK supermarket industry as it is difficult to differentiate products and services (Lynch, 2009: 100) so therefore competition becomes based upon costing and offering the better deal to the customer to attract them to keep as many loyal customers as possible. There are extremely high levels of competition within the UK supermarket industry making it an unattractive industry. Conclusion of the UK Supermarket Industry according to Porters five forces Analysing the above information the UK supermarket industry is attractive in three of Porters five forces The bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers and the threat of new entrants. In the remaining two forces however, the industry is extremely unattractive the threat of substitutes and the extent of competitor rivalry. Critique of Porters five forces Porters five forces gives a basis of analysing the environment within an industry, but there have been many criticisms, which will be explored further. The dynamic nature of industry structure (Hax et al, 1991: 50) is something that needs to be analysed in terms of reliability with Porters five forces. As with most models and frameworks Porters model is static and is only a snapshot in time, where as in reality the nature of industries is that they are constantly changing, evolving and competing. The model may not be able to keep up with these constant changes and therefore not give a clear and accurate picture of the industry. For example the computing industry is constantly changing with new software available, new technologies therefore the level of competition constantly changing. The model also does not take into account how to define an industry and this causes a lot of implications as looking at the UK supermarket industry it is hard to define the difference between that of a supermarket industry to that of a grocery industry and where one stops and the other starts. Porter assumes that the industry is easily definable, but in reality this is near impossible as most industries overlap and/or people have different views or perceptions of a make up of an industry. This was found whilst looking at the UK supermarket industry as it was very hard to define which shops were deemed as supermarkets or other retail outlets. Another aspect that was hard to define was the fact that the supermarket industry seemed to overlap the grocery industry making the information very hard to extract. Another critique of the model is that it does not deem buyers, or in the supermarket industry case customers, as any more important than the other aspects within the micro-environment, where in fact in reality the customers are one of the most important aspects of being successful within an industry. This in turn means that within strategy development customers should be treated differently within the analysis. Porters model also suggests that the main intention of the organisation is to address its own interests before others, where in reality charitable and governmental organisations have different intentions therefore making this function of the model incorrect in some cases and industries. It can also be seen that just to survive is a main concern of most businesses rather than just focusing on profits. The model is also based on the idea of competition and that competitive advantage is essential both over other market competitors, customers and their suppliers. As Porter focuses on this he does not take into account strategies like strategic alliances, electronic linking of information systems of all companies along a value chain, virtual enterprise networks or others (The Manager, 2001) It can also be seen that Porter ignores the Human Resource aspect of strategy which includes management skills and cultures which form some industries beliefs and how they carry out their work therefore affecting the industries attractiveness. One of the five forces within the model is bargaining power of suppliers. Porter looks at suppliers as a threat to the industry where in fact in some organisations and industries have found it very useful to engage in closer co-operation with suppliers (Lynch, 2009: 101). Robson et al (2002) suggest that Supermarkets are leading the way in developing vertical relations in the food industry. It can be seen that some supermarkets have created a relationship and partnership between themselves and their suppliers as they are both as dependent on each other. Hence why working in harmony is a more ideal situation than Porters suggested aggressive approach to suppliers. This therefore means they are no longer a threat leading to the force not needed in some cases. In different industries not all forces are equally important (Hax et al, 1991: 50) therefore the simplicity of the model gains only limited information and to make a complex evaluation thorough research into the different forces and how much weight they carry in comparison to others needs to be established before a conclusion can be made about how attractive the industry is. For example, It could be very well be that many factors add to an unattractive position, and yet, when judged from its entirety, the industry still presents an overall attractive picture (Hax et al, 1991: 50). The government is a huge force that influences industry attractiveness or not. Porter does not suggest this within his chosen five forces but instead as a factor within the force of threat of new entrants. In recent economic times the government has been truly shown how it has in the final say of organisations. The recession and the recent break down within the banking sector showed the governments true role as it helped as it In total, the Government has put à £74 billion of taxpayers money into the banks, including RBS, Lloyds and HBOS, since the start of the financial crisis last year(Winnett et al, Telegraph, 2009) . Thus showing that if the government was not involved then the banking sector would have completely collapsed hence the government playing a huge role in supporting industries, for example the banking industry. Grant (2002) believes that there is a missing dimension in the five forces model. As the five forces model addresses the suppliers of substitute goods as threats, Porter does not explore that as well as substitutes for products there are also complements. Substitutes within the framework are shown as reducing the profit available in the industry where as complements have a positive impact on value (Grant, 2002: 90) and can help to exercise bargaining power (Grant, 2002: 91). This is because the more complements there are and the closer their relationship to the products supplied by the industry, the greater the potential profit within the industry (Grant, 2002: 90). In conclusion complementary businesses have to be taken into account as well as substitutes as dynamics within these organisations will affect the industry attractiveness; for example new technologies. Overall there has been many different critiques about Porters five forces, the main theme seems to be that the model is useful to get a general idea of how attractive an industry is, but to make sure you get a fully comprehensive analysis you need to look much more in depth at the industries elements that are not necessarily mentioned within Porters model and realise that this is only a snapshot in time and will change considerably over times and different economic events that occur. Reference List Books Grant, Robert M (2002). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Fourth Edition, Page 90, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Grant, Robert M (2002). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Fourth Edition, Page 91, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Thompson, John L (2003). Strategic Management, Page 296, Thompson David, Fred R (1997). Strategic Management. Sixth Edition, Page 127, Prentice-Hall Inc David, Fred R (1997). Strategic Management. Sixth Edition, Page 128, Prentice-Hall Inc Johnson, G et al. (2005). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Seventh Edition, Page 82, Prentice Hall Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 97, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 98, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 99, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 100, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 101, Pearson Education Hax, Arnaldo C et al (1991). The strategy concept and progress. A pragmatic approach. Page 50, Prentice Hall Bibliography Books Grant, Robert M (2002). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Fourth Edition, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Thompson, John L (2003). Strategic Management, Thompson David, Fred R (1997). Strategic Management. Sixth Edition, Prentice-Hall Inc Johnson, G et al. (2005). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Seventh Edition, Prentice Hall Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Pearson Education Hax, Arnaldo C et al (1991). The strategy concept and progress. A pragmatic approach, Prentice Hall Hill, C et al (1995). Strategic Management, an integrated approach. Third Edition Houghton Mifflin Company De Wit, B et al (1998). Strategy process content context. Second edition, International Thomson business press Hitt, M et al (1995). Strategic Management, Competitiveness and Globalization, West Publishing Miller, A (1998). Strategic Management. Third Edition. McGraw-Hill Websites Winnett et al, 2009, à £4,350 per family to bail out banks. 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