Business Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Writing - Essay Example Like a summary notes, paraphrase notes retain the approach, tone and message of the original quote or text. It only differs from a summary that it isa restatement of about the same length of the original but in words are different from those used in the original. Paraphrasing is the best way by which the act of intellectual dishonesty (plagiarism) is avoided. Plagiarism is the act of intellectual dishonesty of a person, related to writings, plagiarism are acts in which the work on both printed and not printed materials that are used and had been copied by another without the owners consent is consider to be a crime and against the copyright law. There could be ways that student can intentionally plagiarize. One, by copying assignment from others. Two , copying form a text book, which are used in school, or it can be also by using the words of others. In the article entitled "Jefferson in His Time", Jefferson is now looked upon as a racist and somebody who is ruthless, self-righteous, and not concerned with the basic civil liberties, though he is one of the most revered American founders and early president ( Wilson Quarterly 36-51) William H. Calvin (1990) stress, "There are easily a hundred features by which humans differ from the apes.

The Black Death Essay Example for Free

The Black Death Essay The Black Death was one of the worst pandemics in human history. In the 14th century, at least 75 million people on three continents perished due to the painful, highly contagious disease. Originating from fleas on rodents in China, the â€Å"Great Pestilence† spread westward and spared few regions. In Europe’s cities, hundreds died daily and their bodies were usually thrown into mass graves. The plague devastated towns, rural communities, families, and religious institutions. Following centuries of a rise in population, the world’s population experienced a catastrophic reduction and would not be replenished for more than one hundred years. Origins and Path of the Black Death The Black Death originated in China or Central Asia and was spread to Europe by fleas and rats that resided on ships and along the Silk Road. The Black Death killed millions in China, India, Persia (Iran), the Middle East, the Caucasus, and North Africa. To harm the citizens during a siege in 1346, Mongol armies may have thrown infected corpses over the city wall of Caffa, on the Crimean peninsula of the Black Sea. Italian traders from Genoa were also infected and returned home in 1347, introducing the Black Death into Europe. From Italy, the disease spread to France, Spain, Portugal, England, Germany, Russia, and Scandinavia. Science of the Black Death The three plagues associated with the Black Death are now known to be caused by bacteria called Yersinia Pestis, which is carried and spread by fleas on rats. When the rat died after continual bites and replication of the bacteria, the flea survived and moved to other animals or humans. Although some scientists believe that the Black Death was caused by other diseases like anthrax or the Ebola virus, recent research which extracted DNA from the skeletons of victims suggests that Yersinia Pestis was the microscopic culprit of this global pandemic. Types and Symptoms of the Plague The first half of the 14th century was marred by war and famine. Global temperatures dropped slightly, decreasing agricultural production and causing food shortages, hunger, malnutrition, and weakened immune systems. The human body became very vulnerable to the Black Death, which was caused by three forms of the plague. Bubonic plague, caused by flea bites, was the most common form. The infected would suffer from fever, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. Swelling called buboes and dark rashes appeared on the groin, legs, armpits, and neck. The pneumonic plague, which affected the lungs, spread through the air by coughs and sneezes. The most severe form of the plague was the septicemic plague. The bacteria entered the bloodstream and killed every person affected within hours. All three forms of the plague spread quickly due to overpopulated, unsanitary cities. Proper treatment was unknown, so most people died within a week after infection with the Black Death. Death Toll Estimates of the Black Death Due to poor or non-existent record-keeping, it has been difficult for historians and scientists to determine the true number of people that died of the Black Death. In Europe alone, it is likely that from 1347-1352, the plague killed at least twenty million people, or one-third of Europe’s population. The populations of Paris, London, Florence, and other great European cities were shattered. It would take approximately 150 years-into the 1500s- for Europe’s population to equal pre-plague levels. Initial plague infections and recurrences of the plague caused the world’s population to drop by at least 75 million people in the 14th century. Unexpected Economic Benefit of the Black Death The Black Death finally lapsed in approximately 1350, and profound economic changes took place. Worldwide trade declined, and wars in Europe paused during the Black Death. People had abandoned farms and villages during the plague. Serfs were no longer tied to their previous plot of land. Due to a severe labor shortage, serf survivors were able to demand higher wages and better working conditions from their new landlords. This may have contributed to the rise of capitalism. Many serfs moved to cities and contributed to the rise in urbanization and industrialization. Cultural and Social Beliefs and Changes of the Black Death Medieval society did not know what caused the plague or how it spread. Most blamed the suffering as a punishment from God or astrological misfortune. Thousands of Jews were murdered when Christians claimed that the Jews caused the plague by poisoning wells. Lepers and beggars were also accused and harmed. Art, music, and literature during this era were gruesome and gloomy. The Catholic Church suffered a credibility loss when it could not explain the disease. This contributed to the development of Protestantism. Scourge Spread Across the World The Black Death of the 14th century was a tremendous interrupter of worldwide population growth. The bubonic plague still exists, although it can now be treated with antibiotics. Fleas and their unknowing human carriers traveled across a hemisphere and infected one person after another. Survivors of this swift menace seized the opportunities that arose from altered social and economic structures. Although humanity will never know the exact death toll, researchers will continue to study the epidemiology and history of the plague to ensure that this horror never happens again.

E Learning System For Autism Children Education Essay

E Learning System For Autism Children Education Essay Abstract:    In this paper, we focus our research on the Autism students learning environment before primary school. In our system, we presented a E-Learning System for Autism Children. We utilize the e-learning model to design an appropriate Teaching Platform for the Autism students and their teachers. Further fore, we also design the E-Learning System Application courses to more facilities for the teacher and student. Finally, we would promote the sharing of the Learning Platform toward the external environment and internal teaching resources. We also upgrade the teaching efficiency and open a great chance for the Autism student Keywords Autism, e-learning , ASD , alphabet ,children INTRODUCTION Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurodevelopment disorders characterized by core deficits in three domains: social interaction, communication, and repetitive or stereotypic behavior.[1] Any autistic child suffers from abnormal cerebral structure , and because of that the pattern of his/her thinking is quite different from a normal child in the same age. While autism can give rise to problems in social interaction, communication, and cognitive and motor difficulties, theres so much that assistive technology can do to help people with autism live functional lives. Temple Grandin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Colorado State University ,said that he was an autism child ,and gave an interesting teaching tips for autism children . One of the points was Many autistic children have problems with motor control in their hands. Neat handwriting is sometimes very hard. This can totally frustrate the child. To reduce frustration and help the child to enjoy writing, let him type on the computer. Typing is often much easier [2] This is a very good point to start with teaching autism children. Beside that children with ASD have strong attraction to objects , pictures and colors. The language they understand is objects and visible things not words ,but each one of them differs from others in the object that he/she most interest with . Plus all mentioned points , we must not forget that most students with ASD prefer routine and predictability , in fact creating a schedule to them helps them manage their anxiety , and of course we must not forget that these children do not like noisy environments . By putting all these points together, we reached to a confidence that designing an e-learning system for children at early childhood learning age can help very much in many ways . Here we trying to introduce an e-learning school-base system for autism children for early children education age (between 4-6 years) ,which we hope it will be an assistance tool for teachers dealing with this field. Getting such a child into structured behavior learning system can affect very much in improving his/her condition and skills. Also such system will help teachers to divide their time among a larger number of students and schedule each child learning according to his/her own database within the system , system will include a medical background for children and also will be available for parents by using a special password for their child ,so they can keep tracking to their childs learning progress as well as they can cooperate with school by adding notes to database about their child s . RELATED WORKS Several previous studies and attempts were proposed within the field of teaching ASD children with the help of computers , but still they were not a school-based system to help teachers within their work . One of the most interested designed systems was trying to improve the intelligibility skill in the speech of autism children by designing special interactive e-learning game for them which rewarding them for improving such skills.[1] Another designed system , designed courses for Autism students by using multimedia skills . courses have independent units with simple content using clear audio to teach students topics of daily life , which is called environmental teaching mode. [3] E-LEARNING SYSTEM FOR AUTISM CHILDREN Figure 1 : E-learning system interface E-learning system for autism children is proposed to help children with ASD at early school age (4-6)years , to leach the alphabet with the help of visual objects in an interactive way. Repeating the sound of letters to the child with their shape accompanied with pictures , and also giving him/her a chance to practice writing these letters under the supervision of expert teachers , who should know the level of each child by a background database .All these points are put in together to increase the possibility of learning for the ASD children and also will be as a tool for teachers to document each child progress in the childs database . Figure 2: Letter a with a properate object This system is designed to be an e-learning assistance tool for teachers , as it will be a school -based system . A teacher can divide his/her time among three ASD children instead of one-to-one teaching all the time , which is required for such children. The system in present form has been divided into three levels to cover the twenty six English alphabetic letters, every level with eight or nine letters to teach for a child with a repetitive capability for hearing and write practicing for each letter . Also the teacher can show the child within this system how each letter it can be written by hand . This step is given to the child after he/she had recognize the shape of a given letter. The child has the ability for move forward and backward to display the rest of letters and how they are written , if he/she wishes to do that. Figure 3: Teaching alphabetical handwriting The system has been designed to give a simple text for a child after each level if the teacher decide to do . A childs learning capabilities and improvement can be noticed and marked by teacher in the database corresponding child information . This will help the teacher , even if another teacher take in charge this task , to decide whether or not go to the next level for this child . Figure 4: a database table of children information This system can be a hopeful tool for parents as well. They can have access to the system and see the progress of their child , plus the ability of adding their own remarks and recommendation to the database of their child to be considered by teachers , just by giving a password related to their child . ASD children will learn more easily and quickly with the aid of this system, because they are not forced to draw the letters on a paper, which most of them face difficulties to do. Instead they just press the corresponding button of the required letter they are learning it , to appear on the screen and see , which will encourage them to proceed with learning other letters and words . As teachers have control over the system, they could decide to give the child a selected behavior by teaching movies accompany within the system or upload other movies , whenever it is necessary to do this . This can be represented to the child as an entertainment and also a teaching material , maybe , between one letter and another or after each finishing each level or after passing the exam , and so on, according to teacher decision which is based on background knowledge of each childs condition. Figure 5:Teaching behavior movie SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION System has been developed E-learning System for Autism Children with using Java Script with My SQL because of the strength of these two languages in the development of web pages. When you browse the our system, which consists of two main parts, the first part special teacher and the second part the student and all of the parts are implemented by the teacher supervisor. When you are entering the button the teacher must enter a user name and password your teacher. Figure 6: user name and password for teacher. The  cause  for  the  is  that it  There may be a  more of teacher in the Class, or when you change the teacher, after going to page the teacher and student consisting of (home, management student, exam, logout). Figure 7: Page of teacher. Upon entry to the button called management, which consists of (add, update, delete, view data). Figure 8: Table of data. After this exam button is selected by the teacher to determine the test levels through the implementation of the level or not implemented. Figure 9: Table for exam. Upon entry to the home page and select a button from the student by the teacher or supervisor of the students family for the purpose of the audit of the student in the house must enter the name of the student and the students PIN number. After entering the student to the button. Figure 10 : User name and password for student. We will show the special education programs in our system which consists of lessons on the alphabet that contains lessons. Learning letters subdivided into three levels (a z) where it is to hear the characters with an illustration for each letter with the shape of each character and when you go to the display of the alphabet and writing lessons and when selected will show us introduce the alphabet and writing lessons and when you choose all the presentations we will show the characters and how to write and Show audio formats with special characters to learn. Figure 11: writing lesson and view all alphabet. When you choose writing instruction will open a new spoken alphabet and after listening to a character you should test the student to write the letter and when the answer is correct will be the voice encouragement In the case of the wrong answer there will be a voice request retry. When you press the button on the exam the test will be on four stages. the first phase show his characters as well as hear the sound and when. Figure 12: sound exam. Answer is trying to student choose the correct letter of the notation on those characters in the next stages of change ways examinations, which shows a sound only by writing that letter and when to pass examinations Is successfully transferred to the next level automatically during the clarification in the database. Figure 13: alphabet exam. In addition to the foregoing there is a button in our so-called behavior where the Video tutorial to guide the student for the purpose of all aspects of the customs and culture through the daily life of student. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK In this paper, an educational system that is designed for people with special needs and focused on learning the letters and spelled also written the most important features provided by this system is an abbreviation for the number of teachers as the autism class who suffer from autism or two every student needs a teacher. The development of this system in the future includes many applications such as learning numbers as well as start games help students unite in learning addition to securing the development of this system and introducing it into primary school as it leads to good results and develop the skills of children who suffer from autism as well as creates them good opportunities in The future in order to get a job and start a new life for them

Aristotle’s Definition of Friend :: essays research papers

Friendship is undoubtedly one of the most important elements in the books of Aristotle’s ethical principles. Aristotle takes the idea of friendship to a serious degree. He categorizes them into three groups or types of friendships. This report will attempt to define each type of friendship as well as identify the role of friendship in a society. Aristotle considers friendship to be a necessity to live. He claims that no individual would chose to live without friends even if the individual had all of the other good things in life. He also describes friendship as a virtue and as just. Given the above statements on friendship, it is safe to say that Aristotle felt that friendship is something that every human must have in order to reach a peaceful state of mind. It has all of the qualities of good as long as both parties of a friendship are considered good. Therefore, the role of friendship in a society is to promote goodness between all parties involved in it. As previously mentioned, Aristotle has identified three different types of friendships. The first is friendship based on utility. This is a friendship in which both parties become involved with each other for their own personal benefit. An example would be a working relationship with an individual. These are people who do not spend much time together, possibly because they do not like each other, and therefore feel no need to associate with one another unless they are mutually useful. They take pleasure from each other’s company just for their own sake. Aristotle uses the elderly and foreigners as examples of friendships based on utility. The second type of friendship is a friendship based on pleasure. This friendship is made between two people that wish to gain pleasure from one another. Aristotle uses the young as an example here. Friendship between the young is grounded on pleasure because the lives of the young are regulated by their feelings, and their main interest is in their own pleasure and the opportunity of the moment. They are quick to create and destroy friendships because their affection changes as fast as the things that please them do. Aristotle felt that this sort of pleasure changes rapidly. The young also have a tendency to fall in love, thus creating an erotic friendship which is swayed by the feelings and based on pleasure. Finally, we have what is considered the by Aristotle as the perfect friendship.

Aggression In Children

Aggression is any behavior that is hostile, destructive or violent. Its intended is to harm, injure or damage a person or a target object. Aggression in human beings can be blamed on very many things that affect the growth and development of the mind. Such triggers include fear, family difficulties, emotional trauma and the media.This research helps show that television does not significantly cause aggression but there are other factors help in the development of aggressive behaviors although the television cannot be ruled out to contribute slightly.Children learn behaviors through watching and imitating others peoples’ behavior as they try to equate with them. Watching the violence on the television is suggested to slightly increase violent behaviors in children, although those already in violent behavior are greatly influenced by the media as they try learning defensive ways to protect themselves from any aggression.Aggression is manifested in children through swearing, shou ting, throwing and kicking whatever is around them and it thus needs to be measured to determine its levels for the proper control measures to be taken so as to avoid further injury.The measurement can be done using a checklist, observation for any noticeable changes in the previously known behavior; a subtype scale may as well be used to determine the aggression levels (Berkowitz, 1993, pp1-25).Aggression in children is learned through enactive learning of behavior as well as observation learning by watching others. In cases where parents resolve differences through fights the children learn to use aggression as a way of dominating over others from their early days and carry on with this behavior to their later lives.Aggression portrayed in the television is jus but fantasized by children but in actual sense has minimal contribution to aggression and other related violent behaviors evident in children.Causes of AggressionAggression in children results from very many factors that af fect them as they grow up. Some of these include:Unfulfilled human needs and other personal desires are the one of the leading causes of aggression in children. The desire for children own what their parents cannot afford like being in a fancy home, getting education from expensive schools in relation to their peers and other desires result to aggression towards those children whose parents are able to afford such luxuries.Children should thus be taught to be realistic with live and get content with whatever is available within them. Failure to control such desires results to aggression ranging from petty theft to even massacres. Aggression is not part of human life, but it is a reaction to circumstances that frustration on the acquisition of basic needs that have not been fulfilled.Pain and discomforts caused to children by their parents and other elder people in an attempt to discipline them may cause aggressive behaviors to be manifested since the child cannot fight back but will direct their anger and frustration to other children of their age or young than them who cannot fight them back.It is thus important to administer pain is a light manner. Hot environmental conditions trigger discomforts that make children aggressive.Frustration is a major cause of aggression in children; children whose achievements do not much with those of their peers are usually frustrated and end up into aggressive behaviors so as to cover up for their failures. This may either in school or other social activities where children are competing.Birth complications increase aggressive behavior latter in childhood though there is direct link. Aggressive behavior develops when birth complications combine with other factors such as disadvantaged families that cannot fully provide for their children and poor parenting. Birth complications are believed to result to damage in the nervous system that affects the brain function.This is referred to as brain dysfunction. Impaired brain funct ion predisposes the child to aggressive behaviors later in their lives because their brain is poorly functioning (Berkowitz, 1993, pp 45-169).Brain dysfunction results to aggression when the prefrontal region of the brain which controls and regulates emotional reactions is functioning poorly and cannot keep aggressive impulses in check. This results to increased likelihood of aggressive acts.Some situational factors such as exposure to alcohol impair ones judgment on making decisions. Alcohol disrupts the information making processes and this is even serious in children who get drunk they view an event as a purposeful one, and act more aggressively.Children who are desperate in live tend to be more aggressive. Desperation can be a result of massive poverty, crime or even violence situations within the community where the child is being raised in.If the rich and powerful individuals in the society are drug dealers and gangers and those who live straight are poor then the children wat ching them may conclude that to succeed in life one has to become a drug dealer or a gangster which triggers aggressive behaviors in children.Consequences of Aggression.Aggression has both positive and negative consequences to both the individual and those around them. One of the positive elements of aggression is that it preserves and protects an individual from other aggressive individuals; it also helps the child to increase their dominance in the social environment through suppressing their peers and subjecting them to their way of thinking.The negative consequences of aggression are worse to both the perpetrator and the victim. Children who are aggressive in school are more likely to be rejected by their peers because they cannot accept to be dominated by them. In worst cases aggression can result fines, loss of freedom due imprisonment. Such cases make the affected person even more aggressive and can engage in criminal acts.Aggression makes the victim lack confidence and trust with themselves because others are belittling them. This makes them develop aggressive behaviors as they try to cope with the aggressor .The child within a school setup lacks trust with every around them since they view all the other people as untrustworthy and out to oppress them. This makes them feel unsafe and insecure (Berkowitz, 1993, pp 200-290 ).Aggression results to the development of an aggressive personality on the aggressor. This type of personality develops to worse aggressive behavior as the child develops to adulthood. Aggressors have a lower intellectual achievement in their academic live because their mind cannot concentrate on one specific activity rather their minds are spread across a number of activities.Control of AggressionAggression can be controlled by giving children positive attention for desired behaviors so as to reinforce it. Parents and children caretakers should always realize that anger is a common emotion in children and the way to deal with it dete rmines the levels of aggression in children.Parents should be good role models when their children display aggressive behaviors. By becoming upset and angry when dealing with an aggressive child makes them more aggressive.By providing many physical activities such as exercise and outside play helps aggressive children to direct their energies to better and more constructive activities and avoid releasing unwanted emotions.Violent television programs and toys that encourage aggressive behavior such as the guns, sticks should be eliminated. Children usually imitate what they see rather than what they are told so through avoiding some activities that may escalate and promote aggression and redirect these children to appropriate activities.To cut defiant behavior and replace it with positive experience parents should be able to play with their children, learn how to recognize and respond to their needs and develop and mend the relationship.This will help them identify any unwanted aggre ssive behaviors that may develop due to the feeling of being neglected, some parents do not play with their children and need to learn how to connect with them, recognize and respond to their needs in the most appropriate way.Rules and commands should be explicit, constant, firm and brief. Children learn their mistakes through comparing the past to the present mistakes and how they where dealt with/It is thus important to approach a similar way of administering punishments for similar mistakes without disparities.Aggression needs a firm and consistent response for any misbehavior. Shouting out or uttering a string of dire threats to an aggressive only makes the child more resistant to any change of behavior that you wish to suppress and helps develop aggression.Planning and avoiding places which trigger aggression in children such as supermarket where a child grabs whatever is around them helps in minimizing aggression behaviors incase the child does not get what they wish to have ( Berkowitz, 1993, pp 350-465)..ConclusionHuman beings are not born violent but rather bent towards brutality and self-destruction due to their aggressive behaviors. Aggression is usually a result of unfair environments that frustrate and degrade the human dignity. It’s difficult to eliminate aggression entirely but can be reduced through the creation of free societies that encourage prosperity by providing moral education to the young people and clearly explaining to them that aggression has no importance in the long-term.Aggression like all unwanted behaviors involves biological forces and social environment that regulate behavior. Aggression is thus an outcome of the regulations between the external and internal stimuli.The television should not be fully ignored as a cause towards aggressiveness in children but the society must play a communal role in providing a good environment that does not promote frustration in the lives of the young children.Parents should ensure that they provide their children with almost all the basic needs within their reach and spare enough time to relate with their children so as to learn them as well as discover any aggressive behaviors that may be developing and stop them before they get to distractive levels.Reference:Berkowitz, L (1993).Aggression: Its causes, consequences, and control. New York; McGraw-Hill

Msc. Management (FT) Essays

Msc. Management (FT) Essays Msc. Management (FT) Essay Msc. Management (FT) Essay Q1. Based on your own experience of traditional bookselling and your exploration of online bookselling, compare willingness-to-pay for books supplied by these two business models. In the US, the traditional bookselling had a market of about 26 million dollars in the year 1996 and had grown to about 33 million dollars in the year 2001.   It is growing at the rate of about 4.8 % per annum.   An average American citizen buys about 10 books a year in 1996.   Book buying usually increases during the weekends and during the fourth quarter of the year.   Usually individuals between the ages of 35 to 75, buy books. In the US, more than 50, 000 new titles are published every year.   However, people read both old and new releases.   When considering traditional bookstalls, it is important to take into consideration the publishers, wholesalers and the retailers.   One of the most popular publishers in the US is Simon Schuster (which hold a 11 % share of the market).   In recent years, many of the small publishers have been taken over by the larger ones as they were facing loses and it was increasingly becoming difficult to maintain relationships with writers and retailers.   In the traditional system of book vending, the publishers for bulk purchasers offer huge amounts of discounts to retailers and wholesalers.   Retailers are offered a discount of about 55 %, whereas wholesalers are offered a margin slightly above that.   However, there has been a lot of controversy in this regard, due to apparent favoritism.   Hence, many of tee publishers are now made to sign agreements with t he retailers and the wholesalers, regarding the amount of discounts that could be offered.   In the traditional system, the retailers and the wholesalers can return books to the publisher and they would get a full refund of the money.   However, it may be difficult to return the soft copies such as CD’s to get a credit on the amount.   The practice of returning the books to the publisher has developed as early as the depression period, in which retailers were guaranteed return of the unsold copies so that only the popular books could be kept on the shelves.   The number of return of books is rising gradually, as people want to read the new books and the best sellers.   In the year 1986, returns of the books were in the range of 15 to 25 % and in 1996 it rose to 30 %.   These books have to be recycled or sold through alternative ways with discounts. Baker and Taylor were one of the major wholesalers in the US and Ingram Books was another major wholesaler.   These wholesalers provided the retailers with discounts and volume-based purchases.   They acted as middlemen between the publisher and the retailer.   Although, the costs of services were slightly higher, they performed many functions for the convenience of the retailer and the publisher including speedy delivery, after sales services, free-services, cutting the gaps between the manufacturer and retailer, accepting feedback, etc. Retailers on the other hand have increasingly beginning to gain an important share in the market since the 1970’s.   The two largest chain stores in the US included Dalton and Waldenbooks.   There were several developments at the retail end of the book stores which really improved production of books and several other aspects including author profiles, wholesales, etc.   Supermarkets, malls and libraries began to be developed so that retailing could pick up.   One of the largest book chains stores in the US has been Barnes and Noble.   It employees about 20, 000 staff and had made sales of about 2.45 million dollars in the year 1996.   Barnes and Nobles remained as two separate store chains and were actually combined by Leonard Riggio in the year 1971.   The company has several stores in New York, Manhattan and Boston.   Barnes and Noble acquired Dalton chain of stores in 1985 for about 300 million dollars.   Barnes and Noble have also started with other busi nesses in the field of books.   They also have mail order book services and book clubs.   Barnes and Noble also set up shop in Canada, but it has major operations in the US.   The procurement of books for the malls and superstores of Barnes and Nobles has been centralized. Jeff Bezos had founded Amazon.com in the year 1995 and it reached sales of about 16 million dollars in the year 1996.   About 7600 employees were present in the organization in that year.   Amazon.com can reach much more people compared to Barnes and Noble, but it can sell only online, unlike Barnes and Noble.   Online booking selling seems to have one disadvantage over store book selling.   The customers in the stores are able to feel the book and read excerpts of the book.   In such a circumstance, they would be more interested in buying the book and would find the book its money’s worth.   With time, the internet is beginning to change, and many of the manufacturers are beginning to show case the product and actually permit the customer to sample it using the internet.   With the bookshelf model, it does seem that it would be costly to get the investment to setup the place, build shelves and get the logistics.   In comparison, an online store does not requir e much of investment and infrastructure.   The customer can access the online bookstore from almost any part of the world and can select the book.   The user would need only a computer, an Internet connection, and a membership username and within a short period of time the product would be delivered to the house. Willingness to pay is the maximum money the customer would be willing to pay for a product and it would demonstrate that the customer is concerned about the quality of the product; costs spend on the production and the good name of the product.   This characteristic varies from one individual to another and from one company to another.   Several characteristics play a major role including the quality, brand name, reputation, equity, etc.   Studies have shown that when the price of a product was lowered, below the willingness to pay, the customer is more likely to obtain the product.   The customer would obtain the product satisfactorily, if the price equals the willingness to pay.   The customer would not be happy if the price of the product is higher than the willingness to pay.   Barnes and Noble has a good reputation and has it stores located in various parts of the US.   The customers have a high willingness to pay for their products.   On the other hand, the will ingness to pay is lower for Amazon.com as the reputation and quality anticipated is not as high compared to Barnes and Noble.   Although people are paying more money for Barnes and Noble products, they feel they are obtaining more value for their money compared to Amazon.com.   Barnes and Noble is an older product and has a better reputation than Amazon.com.   People are more likely to trust Barnes and Noble.   In the US, Barnes and noble is a household name with several local stores.   On the other hand, Amazon.com is an online store. Q2. Assess Barnes Nobles response to the substitution threat from Amazon. How did Amazon respond and to what effect? When Amazon was launched in the year 1995, it was termed as the ‘Earths biggest river-Earths biggest bookstore’.   In the year 1995, the company ran it sales up to 0.5 million dollars, 16 million dollars in 1997 and 82 million dollars in the year 1997.   Amazon.com was eating into the sustainability of Barnes and Noble.   Substitution threat is a situation in which one player would be using an opportunity created by the vacuum left by the shortcomings or the deficiency of the other player.   The extent to which the opportunity exists depends on the characteristics of either player.   Amazon was using the deficiencies of Barnes and Noble to a great extent.   They were exploiting the limitations to store shopping and using the benefits of online business.   They were many ways in which Amazon were using the substitution threat such recombining, straddling, fighting, harvesting, etc.   However, Barnes and Noble began to attack Amazon’s online strategy in January 1997.   The company went online and offered the customers huge discounts for online hardcover and paperback versions (up to 30 %).   At the same time it also filed a litigation against Amazon.com for having the slogan â€Å"Earth’s biggest bookstore’, when it was actually not.   It wanted to launch an all-round offensive against Amazon.   Barnes and Noble felt that Amazon was not a bookseller but a book broker.   Using the substitution threat again, Barnes and Noble wanted to dominate the online book market.   Barnes and Noble wanted to become the leader in online bookselling by displacing Amazon within a period of two years.   They felt that online business offered much greater opportunities, as people could not find a bookstore with a variety. People from even other countries could do online shopping and improve the sales of the company.   The investment over infrastructure and setting up a shop was much higher compared to a bookstore compared to online shopping.   People, who did not have the time to search for a bookstore, could now do it setting in the comfort of their homes.   This seemed to be one of the greatest advantages of online shopping.   Through online shopping, the books could be advertised and marketed and this could really boost sales.   Barnes and Noble operated a sorting facility in Jamesburg, and slowly this facility began to expand.   They developed a very efficient strategy in comparison to Amazon, and claimed to bring the book to the customer much faster than what Amazon actually did.   However, the operations of both, Barnes and Noble and Amazon were similar.   Barnes and Noble also created better web features compared to Amazon.   They also separated out the online operations from the bookstore in order to evade tax.   At the back end of the operations, Barnes and Noble also tried to establish relations with the publishers and the wholesalers.   One advantage the company had observed was that the operations were much lesser compared to a standard bookstore as infrastructure costs were saved.   Barnes and Noble soon began to offer to the online customers, books at the wholesale or warehouse rates.   The company also offered several services.   Many people felt that the services offered by Barnes and Noble were much similar to that offered by Amazon.   The software tool of Barnes and Noble was much superior to that of Amazon.   The company permitted the customers to store personal data and also buy the books very easily.   They also signed up with several Internet organizations such as AOL and the New York Times to provide extra services.   AOL provided software and news services. Once Barnes and Noble actually entered into the online market, Amazon began to feel the heat and suggested breakthrough measures for the customers in order to increase their sales.   They offered higher discounts to the customers (up to 40 %) and added more than a million titles to the online book collections.   They also offered personalized services so that the customer could use the software and select books according to their personal preferences.   They also developed ties with several software giants such as Yahoo, Excite and AOL.com.   The company developed a very strong advisement and publicity strategy so that the public could select its products compared to that of Barnes and Noble. The services provided by Barnes and Noble were much similar to that of Amazon but some of these services were different in nature.   Barnes and Noble were also trying to imitate the business of Amazon by using a successful business model.   By collaborating with some of the website with which Barnes and Noble also had combined.   As Barnes and Noble offered personalized services, it could be combined to the Harvesting model of substitution. Barnes and Noble also tried develop a website much richer than that of Amazon.   Barnes and Noble also began to involve the operations of the book supply system so as to improve the online strategy.   The software technology utilized by Barnes and Noble was also much superior to that of Amazon.   During the initial period Barnes and Noble failed to draw in huge customers. I do feel that the marketing strategy played by Barnes and Noble to launch its product was not very effective.   It was able to achieve its objectives only to some extent.   Amazon had its name already established in the online book market.   They were seeking to make relationships with the customers and improve their business further.  Ã‚   Although Amazon had already established itself in the market, Barnes and Noble were eating up its share. Q3. Considering both Barnes Nobel and Amazon, how sustainable will their respective business models be in the future? Who will be the online leader? Give reasons. Sustainability of a business is threatened by imitation, substitution, holdup and slack.   The added value of the business is threatened by imitation and substitution.   The added values cannot be used to obtain the benefits if holdup and slack threats are present.   In fact holdup may divert the benefits to the suppliers and the customers.   Several factors are present in the market, which would help to determine the ability to attract.   These five factors that may be present include: threat from several new comers, rivalry between the competitors, ability of the buyers to bargain or demand more, strength of the suppliers in the market, and the substitution threat (such as changes in technology).   Porter, an American Aeronautical engineer to determine the competitive strength of a business and to evaluate its market position, framed these factors or forces.   The Porters five-force analysis is frequently utilized with other management tools such as SWOT analysis and PEST analysis to determine the strategy a company should be following.   Companies can also develop business decisions and plan investment according to the Porters analysis (Chapman, 2005). The new entrant in the field on online bookselling was Amazon.com.   It began to be functional in the year 1996.   It had sales of about 150 million dollars in the year 1997.   It had also developed huge amount of losses in the year 1996 and 1997.   Bezos had actually developed Amazon.com keeping in mind the potential of the Internet.   Jeff Bezos was also found of the bookselling business, and seeking the huge potential of the Internet.   He founded the Amazon.com Inc, and had a stake of about 41 %.   He was much fascinated with online trading in other fields and soon began to employ it for book selling.   He developed the slogan Earths biggest river-Earths biggest bookstore to describe his bookstore.   Amazon developed a virtual storehouse, which was catering to its online operations.   This was located in Seattle. The company on purpose did not offer huge amount of graphics to the users on its website as it felt that the speed of downloading would be reduced. The competitors of Amazon.com in the field of online bookselling were Barnes and Noble.   This was basically following the slogan â€Å"Earths biggest bookstore, which it strongly opposed and brought about a lawsuit.   The first thing that Barnes and noble did was to have litigation against Amazon.com for using this slogan.   Barnes and Noble claimed that Amazon was a mere agent that was passing on the books to the public.   The company began to offer huge amounts of discounts that bought books from them online.   About 20 % discount was offered for the paperback versions and 30 % for the hardbound versions.   The company initially planned to become the top online bookseller within a period of two years.   Barnes and Noble developed its own sorting out facility for Internet orders at Jamesburg.   They started to compete with Amazon.com in beating them out in promptly serving the customers with the orders.   They were able to delivery the orders faster to the custom ers, but their charges were similar to that of Amazon.com.   The graphics of the website that belonged to Barnes and Noble was much more esthetically pleasing compared to Amazon.com.   The site began to provide with personalized services.   The company claimed that it did not have to pay much for initiating online operations.   Barnes and Noble worked in collaboration with AOL.com.   This company was providing several online services to its customers.   It had provided great software support to Barnes and Noble.   It also collaborated with The New York Times in providing a book review. The buyers are the people who actually purchase the books from the booksellers. They would be looking at several benefits they would be having from the company which include the costs of the books, marketing, advertisement, brand name, services provided, reputation, delivery time, discounts provided, range of after sales services, etc.   The education level, nationality and intelligence of the buyers play a major role in determining the book company they would be selecting.   Even Bill Gates was one of Amazon’s customers, and it felt that the website offered a huge collection within a very short period of time.   The online services offered by Amazon were very user friendly.   The company also provided several online services to the buyers such as information of the books, interview with the writers, etc.   Barnes and Noble went to provide a discount for the buyers.   The felt that the customers ha a huge benefit over Internet shopping.   They could save time and also access the Internet as per their time of convenience.   Even international customers were benefited through the online business model.   Amazon was able to offer greater amount of discounts to the customer and also seemed to have a larger online collection compared to Barnes and Noble. The fourth factor is the suppliers that provide the books to the online booksellers.   Ingram and Doubleday supply Amazon and Barnes and Noble has its own warehouse for supplies.   The booksellers should be able to obtain the logistics within a very short period and should be able to supply the customer immediately.   In an online shopping model, it is very important to answer to the demands of the customer immediately. The fifth factor is the substitution threat.   According to this threat one player would be filling up the deficiency created by another.   In this case, Amazon had left a very small gap, and Barnes and Noble were effective in filling this gap.   It provided the customers with discounts, and faster delivery times.   Besides, it was able to provide the customers with a more appealing website and personalized services. With relation to the online leader, I do feel that Amazon.com is more likely to be an online leader in book sales.   Amazon.com was the first to start with the concept of online book selling.   It was able to setup global or international customers much earlier than Barnes and Noble.   Although, they cannot be termed has having a bookstore, they are turning out to be good agents, providing highly specialized services to the customers.   The online collection and options that Amazon.com is providing is much larger as that compared to Barnes and Noble.   It is also providing greater amount of discounts compared to Barnes and Noble.   Amazon.com is exclusively an online vendor but Barnes and Noble is a bookstore vendor, which has recently extended its services online.   As Amazon provides its customers with other online services (shopping of other products), it could provide several other benefits to its customers.   The customers could also buy other products from its w ebsite.   Hence, on the whole, Amazon.com is more likely to provide a greater range of services compared to Barnes and Noble.   As Amazon does not have any offline trading, it is more flexible to incorporate changes than Barnes and Noble.   Hence, they are more likely to adapt to changes in the market.   Amazon would also be spending less money on infrastructure and hence is in a better position to offer discounts to the customers and at the same time make profits.