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RoRob-Internet

Dot-com Bubble

August 3

2014

Rise and Fall of The Internet

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u INTRODUCTION PAGEREF _Toc394850380 h 3INTERNET BUBBLE HISTORY: A SAGA FROM BEGINNING TO END PAGEREF _Toc394850381 h 3World Wide Web: At a Glance PAGEREF _Toc394850382 h 3Dot-com Bubble PAGEREF _Toc394850383 h 4The Bubble Growth: PAGEREF _Toc394850384 h 51. Spending Lavishly: PAGEREF _Toc394850385 h 52. Rising Stocks: PAGEREF _Toc394850386 h 6The Bubble Bust: PAGEREF _Toc394850387 h 6Companies That Lost In Dot-com Bubble PAGEREF _Toc394850388 h 7Pets.com PAGEREF _Toc394850389 h 7Webvan.com PAGEREF _Toc394850390 h 8eToys.com PAGEREF _Toc394850391 h 8InfoSpace PAGEREF _Toc394850392 h 8GeoCities PAGEREF _Toc394850393 h 8Companies That Survived the Dot-com Bubble: PAGEREF _Toc394850394 h 8Amazon.com PAGEREF _Toc394850395 h 8Shutterfly PAGEREF _Toc394850396 h 9eBay PAGEREF _Toc394850397 h 9Coupens.com (privately held) PAGEREF _Toc394850398 h 9The Aftermath PAGEREF _Toc394850399 h 9SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION PAGEREF _Toc394850400 h 10REFERENCES PAGEREF _Toc394850401 h 11

INTRODUCTIONThe rise of the internet has led to many technological changes in the present world and what marked the rise of the internet was the advent of the World Wide Web in the year 1993 when a man named Tim Berners Lee invented World Wide Web. With this invention came the era in which the online industry boomed like never before. The investors all around the world found the internet and World Wide Web as the new future for gaining profit and then began huge amounts of investing in newly launched internet companies from 1993 to 2000. This period is known as the World Wide Web bubble or the dot-com bubble. The history of this bubble is an important source to know how it all began and how many companies rose and perished in the due course to reach what we have today. The readers of this paper will get insights into the history of the bubble and how it affected the internet arena. This research paper will lead to identify various events of that time and what could have been done to avoid the failures that many companies faced.

INTERNET BUBBLE HISTORY: A SAGA FROM BEGINNING TO ENDWorld Wide Web: At a GlanceBy the early 1990’s computers were already in use for various purposes and at various places like offices, homes and schools. But they were mainly used for playing games, writing, accounting and business applications. Computers were rarely used for shopping, communicating or research as today. A man named Tim Berners-Lee in 1993, a software engineer at CERN in physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland changed the whole concept of computer usage by introducing a multimedia layer to the internet called World Wide Web (www).

World Wide Web is often misunderstood for internet but is actually different from internet. World Wide Web is a kind of service which operates over the internet like e-mail (Craig, 2003). It’s a global space where people can connect with each other all across the globe, can share information and can read and write through computers connected to the internet. Internet is a series of computer networks through which computers connect and communicate with each other globally. A series of different languages with the help of which information is shared between computers are called protocols. World Wide Web is a kind of layer over the internet and it uses three protocols:

HTML (Hypertext markup language)

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

URLS (Uniform resource locator).

Dot-com BubbleBubble is a term given to a sudden rise of stock prices of an industry for a certain period of time due to various direct and indirect factors. The buying of stocks in the time of a bubble rapidly increases as there is a potential of huge profits due to future rise in the stock prices. Consumers buy these stocks at a very high price under the belief that another consumer will buy from them at still greater price than that. Eventually such markets run out. Similar thing happened with the World Wide Web market in the period of 1995-2001 and has been categorically defined as “dot-com bubble”.

With the evolution of a novel idea of World Wide Web with high potential, web became a focus of the businesses. There was a sudden rise of economy and high growth rates in the internet sector. Investors found it a completely new and untapped market and companies who had never ever made revenues were pushed on to stock exchange and started investing at extremely high values. Already existing businesses realized the need of their visibility/presence on the internet to conduct marketing and for sharing information. Online business became a hot topic and led many entrepreneurs to pop up and take advantage of the e-commerce possibilities. Young and underemployed individuals realized that business models in future would be based on e-commerce possibilities so they wanted to be the first to benefit from this .They came to be known as start- ups. The investors started putting money into whatever was related to the web or .com due to the wrong judgment of low costs of conducting businesses in this new arena. Further interest rates were very low in 1998-1999 which helped the start-up capital amounts to increase. They overlooked the basic fundamentals and real world; instead they started making huge investments in the hope of reaping benefits in the long run with the confidence of advancements in technology. Among the start- ups of the dot-com bubble, most popular were Monster, Amazon, HotJobs, eToys, eBay, and WebMD.

The startups began to increase in number and the investors started investing in such start-ups that didn’t even have a clear business plan. Huge expenditures were on advertisement, offices and marketing. Then came the time when the artificial accounts were set up on papers to show the profits earned by the investors which further boomed the bubble. The buzz around was of only one thing “Get big quickly or get out”.

The Bubble Growth:The growth of the bubble depended on the following aspects:

1. Spending Lavishly:An internet company can survive and grow only if there is rapid expansion of its customers else it is bound to get doomed. Most of the companies which invested in the dot-com bubble era spent huge amounts internally also. Some employees of such companies became millionaires due to such high rise in stock prices. Moreover, these companies spent lavishly in expanding their business facilities because confidence in the “new growing economy” was very high. The internet service providers and the mobile network operators saw it as an opportunity to invest to develop their network infrastructure so as to cope up with the future rise of internet. This led to the companies in taking huge amounts of loans and was in high debts for the advancement in technology.

2. Rising Stocks:During the period of dot-com bubble, the stocks were rising at a rapid pace and the stock markets were on the high that has never been seen before. All around the world companies started investing in the ventures of World Wide Web and the internet. Every company that entered into the arena of World Wide Web saw huge increase in their stock prices just in a week from the launch of their IPO’s. Every new company or as they are called as start-ups were craving to benefit more and more from this boom, even more investing was done which further increased the stock prices. Even if the companies were not having much profit the boom made it as a potential profit maker in the future. This led to the further bubble expansion and in no time it was advent that the bubble is reaching its ultimate peak.

The Bubble Bust:The dot-com bubble reached the maximum height in January 2000 Super Bowl, when almost 20 dot-com companies paid more than $2 million each for the prime advertising spots. Thus the concept of the “New Economy” was a complete hit till the “dot.com” bubble busted in early 2000. Every bubble reaches a time when it busts and for the dot-com bubble the fate was sealed officially in the year 2000 on March 10th. On this day NASDAQ (The internet stock exchange) reached its peak of all time to 5,048.62 which was a huge rise of almost double the value that it had on the same date of previous year (Doms, 2004). After this peak followed the downfall, the NASDAQ started falling rapidly and by the end of 2002 it fall to one fifth of the peak value of year 2000. The fall was not due to one reason but a combination of reasons that led the stock prices to fall below any expectations. As on 10th March, 2002 the NASDAQ reached its peak, the selling orders for the stock increased rapidly and increased that much that it started feeding on itself and the stock prices started getting down and at the end of the day of 10th march the value came down by 200 points and kept decreasing. (Kraay & Ventura, 2007). Another point that can be accounted is that after spending so much for all these years in equipping with the technology, companies felt that no more spending is required and hence, investors stopped further funding and sat back to reap the fruit. Another reason was the increase of interest rates almost six times the prevalent rate of interest by the Federal Reserve. On April 3rd, 2000 in the case of United States v/s Microsoft Federal Court declared Microsoft as a Monopoly which spread the news all around the world that the future of their stocks are on stake and due to this NASDAQ fell from 4,283 points to a low of 3,649 points on April 4th. The NASDAQ rebounded for a while though but it was not near any recovery. It kept on falling and the investors realized the companies they have invested in are now loss making companies and soon those companies became bankrupt creating chaos in the World Wide Web arena.

Companies That Lost In Dot-com BubblePets.com – It has become synonymous with the dot-com bust. The pet company of food and supplies is perhaps the most recognized flop from the dot.com bubble due to its popular marketing campaign. In the first nine months of 2000, the company lost $147 million (Ofek, Richardson, 2003). It failed to secure more cash from investors. In February 2000, when Pets.com went public its stock started at $11 a share and rose to $14. But the stock of Pets.com fell quickly below $1 and stayed there until its demise. The company of about 3000 employees winded up in November 2000.

Webvan.com – Webvan.com was another company that lost its everything in the bubble. Investment of $1 billion was all in vain. With initial profits the companies stocks at the end fell to 6 cents a share.

eToys.com – This online toy retailer was founded in 1997 and soon became one of the most visited Web sites for holiday shopping. It spent millions of dollars on campaigns of marketing. But, it had not enough cash by March 31, 2000. It later itself filed for bankruptcy.

InfoSpace – Another company who saw immense rise in its share with the peak price of $1,305 per share in March, 2000 to even bigger a fall to just $22 a share in one year. In March 2000, its stock reached at a height of $1,305 per share, but by April 2001 the price had crashed down to $22 a share. (Goodnight & Green, 2010).

GeoCities – There were 19 million unique visitors per month on this site and it soon became the third-most visited site on the Web behind AOL and Yahoo in 1998. Yahoo bought GeoCities for $3.6 billion in January 199. But, with the advent of Facebook, Myspace, GeoCitie, Gotl ost. GeoCities was closed by Yahoo on Oct. 26.

Apart from above, other sites which became victims to the dot-com bubble bust were theGlobe.com, Go.com, Flooz.com, Drkoop.com, Kozmo.com, Garden.com, Broadcaste.com, Freeinternet.com, ovWorks.com, Lastminute.com etc.

Companies That Survived the Dot-com Bubble:Amazon.com – Amazon.com that is still one of the topmost companies in the world was one of the biggest survivors of the dot-com bubble. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Amazon is the largest online retailer company in the world today (McAleer, Suen & Wong, 2013). The Amazon had a sure shot business plan and focused on the recognition of its brand rather than income. Till 2002 it had no significant profit but after that it rose to heights that surpassed all.

Shutterfly – It was founded in 1999. It allows users to create cards, prints, photo books, calendars, stationery and photo sharing websites. Today it trades its shares above $500.

Priceline.com – It was founded in 1998. It is related to travel and it helps users to find discount rates on hotels, fares, car rentals and vacation packages.

eBay – Another online Giant eBay was one of the survivors of the dot-com bubble. Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 its business plan revolutionized the online retailing. Today the company has a business of more than $9 billion and still rising with its employee base of 17,000 employees all over the world.

Coupens.com (privately held) – It was founded by Steve Boal in 1998. Today, its value is of $1 billion.

The AftermathThe dot-com bubble kept on deflating at a rapid pace till the year 2001 and the companies that lost everything in the bubble were either bankrupt or were liquidated quickly. The companies burned their venture capitals and then ceased their trading. The domain names were swapped by various competitors of the loosing firms. There were various companies that were charged for fraud and taken down by the Federal Court and fines of millions of dollars were imposed on them for misleading the investors (Mills, 2003). There were companies who never made even a little profit and lost a fortune and there were some companies who survived and now emerged as the largest .com companies that the world has ever seen. The bubble can be marked as the litmus test for the companies for success. The ones who passed this test are successful beyond expectations and the ones who failed no more exist and are lost in the sands of time.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONThe dot-com bubble was the biggest turmoil in the history of the internet and the World Wide Web and has given the companies a lesson that without a perfect business plan failure in the bubble is inevitable. A few .com companies like Google, Amazon, eBay etc. managed to survive the bubble with their nicely executed plans and less greed for initial profits. With the end of the bubble bust arose a new era of internet where internet went to half of the household in the USA and many parts of the world. The internet bubble was something that in a way opened the path for the Information Technology Boom and the world that we live in today. Without the bubble the world might not have seen such a rapid change in the technology that we are experiencing today. There could have been a number of ways that this large amount of failures could have been avoided. One way could have been by creating business plans that were actually profit making and not the plans to just enter the arena. The other way could have been not to invest blindly in any company with a World Wide Web tag or the .com tag. But, it can only be argued or discussed what should have been done and what was done had the consequences for some companies and a few of them are having a future brighter than sun.

REFERENCESKraay, A., & Ventura, J. (2007). The dot-com bubble, the Bush deficits, and the US current account.University Of Chicago Press, 457–496.Goodnight, G., & Green, S. (2010). Rhetoric, risk, and markets: The dot-com bubble. Quarterly Journal Of Speech, 96(2), 115–140.

Craig, B. (2003). Bubble, toil, and trouble. Federal Reserve Bank Of Cleveland.

 Doms, M. (2004). The Boom and the Bust in Information Technology Investment. ECONOMIC REVIEW-FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO, 19–34.Ofek, Richardson (2003), “DotComMania: The Rise and Fall of Internet Stock Prices”, retrieved from http://people.stern.nyu.edu/eofek/DotComMania_JF_Final.pdfMcAleer, M., Suen, J., & Wong, W. (2013). Profiteering from the Dot-com Bubble, Sub-Prime Crisis and Asian Financial Crisis.

Mills (2001), “Who’s to Blame for the Bubble?”, retrieved from http://hbr.org/2001/05/whos-to-blame-for-the-bubble/ar/1

Using Density to Estimate the Alcohol Content of Common Liquors

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Using Density to Estimate the Alcohol Content of Common Liquors

John Doe

Chemistry 101 January 18, 2013 Dr. Maria Smith

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Abstract

Commercial producers of alcoholic beverages use several methods to measure the amount of

alcohol by volume (ABV) that can be found in their products. Because the density of ethanol and water are both known, this study attempted to determine whether density could be used to approximate ABV. A series of ethanol/water solutions were prepared and weighed to create a density curve, and several commercial available liquors in varying proofs were sampled for density. Overall, the density curve created by the series was a good predictor of ABV, with the curve over predicting the whiskey, rum, and grain alcohol samples by 1.2%, 1.7%, and 1.8%, respectively. The likely cause for this small difference was likely ingredients that were added to the alcohol for flavor and which changed the density of the solution. Temperature and human error also likely played a role in the difference.

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Introduction

Alcoholic beverages are a solution of ethanol (the psychoactive ingredient) water, and other substances, usually added for flavor. In the United States, the ethanol content of commercially available liquor is noted on the bottle as the proof, defined as being twice the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV) in the solution. So a bottle of liquor that was 40% ABV would be labeled as 80 proof. This study will attempt show that density can be used as a means of measuring ABV.

Historically, the idea of alcoholic proof developed as a literal test of whether a liquid contained the claimed amount of alcohol. The test relied on the flammability of ethanol, namely that gunpowder will ignite in a mixture of ethanol and water that is greater than 57.15% ABV and will not in a solution that is less than 57.15% ABV. Eighteenth century sailors, who were paid in rum rations, would test whether their rations had been watered down by dousing gunpowder with the rum. It ignited the run was considered to have been “proved.” If the gunpowder did not ignited, the rum was considered “under proof.”1

Today, distillers use complex instruments that measure alcohol content by comparing the

density of the solution to the density of water. Density is defined as the amount of mass per unit volume. For liquids, density is measured in grams per cubic milliliter (g/mL3). Because of the expansion and contraction of liquids, density varies with temperature. At 20 degrees C, water has a density of 1.00 g/mL3, and ethanol has a density of 0.789 g/mL3. To test the labeled proof on commercially available liquors, a ABV versus density curve was created using a series of ethanol/water mixtures of known volume. The density of the purchased liquors was calculated and compared to the curve.

Materials and methods

ABV versus density curve

A volumetric pipette was to create a series of 10 mL ethanol/water solutions ranging from 35-95% ethanol in 5% increments. A 5 mL aliquot was then weighed and the density of the solution calculated. All solutions were kept at 20 degrees C. The density was then plotted against ABV and a best-fit curve calculated.

Density of commercial liquors

Representative brands were chosen for several types of liquors to represent a range of ABV: Jim Beam Original, white label, 80 proof (whiskey), Bacardi 151, 151 proof (rum), and Everclear, 190 proof (grain alcohol). 5 mL aliquots were taken from each bottle and weighed to calculate density.

Results

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ABV versus density curve

The measurements and densities for the curve samples are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Weight and density for ethanol/water solution series.

35%40%45%50%55%60%65%

Water (mL)6.56.05.55.04.54.03.5

Ethanol (mL)3.54.04.55.05.56.06.5

Weight (g)47.4045.7544.7244.6544.3544.0143.75

Density (g/mL3)0.9480.9150.8940.8930.8870.8800.875

Table 1 (con.).

70%75%80%85%90%95%

Water (mL)3.02.52.01.51.00.05

Ethanol (mL)7.07.58.08.59.09.5

Weight (g)43.4542.7542.541.4041.0539.95

Density (g/mL3)0.8690.8550.8500.8280.8210.799

The scatter plot showed a linear relationship between ABV and density with the equation: y = -0.002x + 1.0012

The R-squared value was .9477, indicating a high correlation.

Fig. 1 ABV versus density scatter plot with best fit line.

Density of commercial liquors

The weight and density of the 5 mL aliquots of commercial liquor are in Table 2.

Table 2. Weight and density of commercial liquors.

Weight (g)Density (g/mL3)

Jim Beam (whiskey)46.320.926

Bacardi (rum)43.500.870

Everclear (grain alcohol)39.250.785

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The difference between the sampled and predicted densities was as follows for whisky, rum, and grain alcohol, respectively: 0.011 g/mL3, 0.015 g/mL3, and 0.014 g/mL3. The percent error for each prediction was 1.2%, 1.7%, and 1.8%.

Discussion

The alcohol industry relies on indirect methods to calculate the amount of alcohol in their finished product. This experiment tested the accuracy of using density as a proxy to approximate ABV by developing an ABV versus density curve, then comparing predicted densities on commercial liquor labels.

The ethanol/water solution series resulted in a density curve with a high R-squared value,

indicating a strong correlation between ABV and density. This curve consistently over predicted the calculated density of the commercial liquors, meaning that the bottle contained a higher volume of alcohol than was predicted by the curve. However, the percent error in the predictions was consistent, suggesting that the curve was precise if not accurate and that the difference was due to factors that stretched across all three brands.

There are several possible reasons for this difference. The first is the presence of outliers that

can be seen in Figure 1. The outside data points, at 35% and 95%, do not fit the curve, and most likely skewed the curve. These outliers may be the result of human error in measurement or may indicate that the curve is less reliable at the highest and lowest ABV values.

Another possible reason for the consistent difference between the predicted and sampled ABV valued is that commercial alcohols often contain ingredients other than ethanol and water. Most important among these are likely to be ingredients added for flavor. For example, both the sampled whiskey and rum liquors were aged in barrels so that they would pick up flavor from the wood.2,3 However, the grain alcohol sample indicates that added ingredients may not be the main cause of the discrepancy, because Everclear is unflavored.

The last factor that may account for the discrepancy is the effect of temperature on density. This experiment was done at 20 degrees C, but it’s possible that proof alcohol for commercial labels is calculated at a different temperature. It’s also possible that the temperatures, and hence the densities, of the solutions changed after they were prepared and allowed to rest at room temperature.

Overall, however, it should be noted the percent error between the predicted and sampled ABV was small. The curve proved to be a very reliable predictor of relative ABV, meaning that the curve could be used to accurately predict the difference between ABV in an ethanol/water solution. The curve was also a somewhat reliable predictor of ABV.

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Works Cited

1. Gately, I. Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol; Gotham: New York, 2009.

2. Pacult, F.P. American Still Life: The Jim Beam Story and the Making of the World’s #1 Bourbon; Wiley: New York, 2003.

3. Gjelten, T. Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause; Viking: New York, 2008.

Internal promotion (2)

Distributive and Commutative Justice

Student’s name

Institution

Course

Tutor

Date

According to Aristotle, there are two main types of justice that apply to social situations and are part of the sphere of virtue. The first, distributive justice, is the quality of being fair and impartial when distributing goods or evenly allocating benefits. Distributive justice is a type of justice that diminishes when there are not enough resources to give everyone what they need. Commutative justice is the second type, which refers to an agreement between parties about what each should contribute for an equitable distribution. Commutative justice derives from contracts that obligate us to act in certain ways and under certain conditions with other people.”

Aristotle claim that distributive justice refers to how wealth, rights, work, and so on are shared fairly within a community, commutative justice involves members of a group being treated equally, people should be careful to understand that the justice between people who deal with each other as equals is commutative justice, and the justice between people who do not deal with each other as equals is distributive. For example, it is just (commutative) for plasterers to charge plumbers the same fee for their work. It is just (distributive) for people to receive different amounts of pay for doing the same job depending on what their job title is, how much experience they have, or whether they are working in an unpopular area.” According to Aristotle, commutative justice does not depend on any particular laws but rather on social conventions. Therefore, it applies only to interactions where both parties have equal standing.

When people confuse distributive and commutative justice, it can lead to fairly large gaps in understanding. For example, some people might think that distributive justice will happen when you equally split good and bad things between everyone and that commutative justice happens when you give the same amount back to someone for as much as they’ve given to you. However, this is not the case at all. Distributive justice is just how things are distributed in a group, while commutative justice happens when two parties trade goods with each other (but it doesn’t matter what order they do the trade). So while both distributive and commutative justice happen most often based on transactions between two parties, they’re not exactly “the same. Misapplying distributive and commutative justice can lead to negative results where people misunderstand the underlying mechanisms that govern how these justice types happen. A judge, for instance, might say that someone should get 5 years in jail for a crime, but the judge doesn’t really understand the concepts of distributive and commutative justice. Another example where people might confuse these two types of justice is when they complain that they didn’t give them enough money in a divorce settlement (this isn’t distributive or commutative, however, because people don’t own each other) (Porta, 2014).

The relationship between distributive and commutative justice with general justice is often overlooked in the quest to identify Aristotle’s best and worst forms of justice. Distributive justice measures what is deserved by people as a whole, while commutative justice measures relative value among individuals. Both ideally contribute to general justice, but when general justice is achieved distributive and commutative justice have fulfilled their purposes (Porta, 2014).

The only time when these two types of justice may be in conflict is if distributive justices’ groups based on their particulars rather than their similarities, like one group always being superior or inferior to another. General justice is achieved when distributive and commutative justice are not in conflict with each other. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle does a very good job identifying the relationship between distributive and commutative justice. He even applies them to his political theories of society in order to thoroughly examine them (Crisp, 2014).

The relationship between distributive justice and Particular or partial justice is that the former is the idea of distributing something in an even manner, while the latter is realizing individual or collective justice in a certain manner (Crisp, 2014). As such, distributive justice can be considered fair and just as long as it provides each person with something on an individual or collective level. On the other hand, particular or partial justice is what people want when fairness is not necessarily advocated. For example, if a particular individual does not receive anything from their particular distribution of goods and services, then they feel that their partial justice has been violated because their situation did not change for better despite being broken up into equal pieces.

On the other hand, the relationship between Particular or partial justice and commutative justice is that the former is the idea of distributive justice that redistributes specific goods and services, while the latter is what people want when it comes to fairness, or a collective equality. This means that commutative justice can be considered fair and just as long as each person receives what they deserve for their individual merits. There are many ways of looking at distributive justice. These include “relational” theories and “group” theories that focus on the relationship between individuals and groups rather than individuals per se. In one sense, distributive justice could be considered an all-or-nothing proposition: if one person gets something more than another then that person has unjustly acquired privileges over the other.

Commutative and distributive justice also have a close relationship with moral virtue, insofar as commutative justice is concerned with the appropriateness of distribution. The relevant question then is how much and what kind of goods, services, opportunities, and so on should one receive for the proper conduct of one’s life. Distributive justice focuses primarily on the first question; commutative justice concerns itself primarily with the second (how much) and secondarily with the first (what kind). Distributive justice is also related to social justice, insofar as social justice focuses on groups rather than individuals. Sometimes philosophers distinguish between “distributive” or “commutative” justice according to whether they are focusing on a particular or a group level.

According to Aristotle, distributive justice refers to the fair sharing of rights, work, wealth, and privileges. Distributive justice is a moral theory that concerns the distribution of goods, resources and rewards among members of a society. It requires equality in the conventions of allocation for everyone involved and will be judged by the degree to which it satisfies certain values such as equity, efficiency, and reciprocity. This type of justice takes into account the whole system – the whole society, where it is important not to ignore the weakest members of said society.

This kind of justice is often contrasted with commutative justice, which deals with the way in which individual entities are exchanged. It is also contrasted with social justice as it pertains to fairness in a society as a whole (Porta, 2014). As opposed to distributive justice, this latter type of justice is often characterized by equality of outcome and an assumption that society will be fair and distribute benefits fairly. It can be summarized by the phrase “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need”.

Commutative justice incorporates treating members of a group equally regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, religion, race or other form of identity. It is an approach to justice that also incorporates the idea of treating individuals as equals who deserve equal opportunities to achieve success. This means understanding how people in a community are being treated and whether people are experiencing social oppression or able to compete fairly for the same opportunities. In a society where gender inequality is rife and some minority groups are marginalised, commutative justice may be an inadequate label for what needs to be done because it has nothing specific attached to it. The term became prominent after its use by American philosopher John Rawls and is currently used in his theory of justice known as A Theory of Justice that provides six principles designed with equality in mind (Klein, 2017).

A good real-world example from the news where someone confused and misapplied commutative and distributive justice is the recent case of the court order to release 14 juveniles detained at the border by 20 July. A federal judge in California ordered U. S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen to release 14 children, ages 10 to 17, who have been detained at United States borders without their parents and without clear plans for reuniting them with their family members soon. In his written order on Friday, Judge Dolly Gee said that the minors have been held in government facilities for more than a month even though many are parentless and could not be considered “unaccompanied” as they crossed the border but were apprehended by immigration authorities. The ruling does not cover those under 10 years old and it only applies inside U.S.

This situation can be resolved if the judgment is applied correctly. The following example demonstrates how to correctly apply distributive justice. If two men (Joe and Jim) want to interact with each other in a positive way, but it is clear that Joe wants some benefits from his interaction with Jim but not as much as does Jim, then both these men will be in a situation of inequity. Here is how the justice system should deal with this situation: The laws of the country say that if two people interact in an unjust manner, then the person who has more negative feelings about the other person should be compensated by the one who has less negative feelings.

Prudence in correctly applying distributive and commutative justice is one of the most important skills every member of a team must possess. If a team member is disregarding this basic tenet, it can lead to errors that result in serious consequences. For instance, if a person with distributive justice issues dives into their negligence and causes an injury, they could be held liable for all care expenses incurred. In the same vein, if someone with commutative justice issues has been told to play by certain rules or methods in order to complete an assignment or task but then chooses not to do so because it’s too inconvenient for them, there will likely be repercussions for their lack of commitment.

The aspect of prudence is vital because it allows team members to make decisions that are not only morally favorable but also more practical and efficient. They must take into consideration all factors in order to ensure the right choice is made. This can be difficult as people aren’t always mindful of their biases, but it’s up to them to be as impartial as possible and root out any personal interests or preferences in order to make an unbiased decision. A true leader must be able to do this on an everyday basis, such as when they’re interviewing potential candidates for a job or determining which products they should stock in the event of a shortage. If a particular course of action appears more likely to achieve positive results than another option, this is where prudence kicks in again.

ReferencesCrisp, R. (Ed.). (2014). Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics. Cambridge University Press.

Klein, D. B. (2017). Commutative, distributive, and estimative justice in Adam Smith. Adam Smith Review, 12, 17-11.

Porta, P. L. (2014). Distributive justice versus commutative justice.

What is the difference between distributive and commutative justice: A one minute guide. (2022). Retrieved 1 May 2022, from https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/philosophy/concepts/what-the-difference-between-distributive-and-commutative-justice-one-minute-guide

Operations management is an essential aspect in most businesses that companies have to utilize in order to remain successful

Disney Company

(Author’s name)

(Institutional Affiliation)

Abstract

Operations management is an essential aspect in most businesses that companies have to utilize in order to remain successful and competitive in the market. Operations management stipulates what kind of business processes and approaches a company utilizes in production, management of quality, projects, inventory control, social responsibility, as well as, in controlling operation costs. This paper is going to be about a different number of these operations management aspects as utilized in Disney Company. To accomplish this task, the paper is going to give a brief overview of what the company does, and what its main business areas are, it is also going to focus on a number of business approaches the company uses to run the company, in addition to predicting the company’s future.

Introduction

Operations management is the discipline in management that deals with the effective management of activities and resources that companies use to produce and deliver the services and goods of any company. Therefore, operations management professionals manage the materials, people, information resources and equipment that a company requires to come up with goods and services and to deliver them. They also manage and design the business activities and processes that are used to produce those services and goods. As it is going to be seen, operations management is one business aspect that cannot be ignored in the creation of successful businesses and companies (Fisk, Grove & John, 2009). The paper will see how Disney has utilized different aspects of operations management to manage such activities and business processes like quality, social responsibility, cost, inventory and project control, as well as, production of services.

To comprehensively analyze how effectively Disney has utilized different approaches in operations management, one particular approach is going to be useful. The paper will take the approach or form of an analysis, by analyzing the different ways in which the company is run, and through the analysis if the different challenges and successes of the company. It is also going to be through this analysis that the paper will look the future of Disney, and what is expected in the future in regards to Disney. As its going to be seen, the paper will address four main points. These will include a brief overview or summary of the company operations, the business approaches used by the company, how the company has fared in the areas of social responsibility and management, and lastly, the future of the company. These points will be addressed in relation to the main issue of the paper; operations management. It is essential to note that this is an extremely critical topic for all types of business managers, who should particularly find this topic to be of interest, because it is only through the utilization of the appropriate operations management approaches that a business or company can emerge successful in the market.

Disney is one of the most known names in the entertainment industry, for its provision of assorted entertainment for both children and adults; with internationally known theme parks, resorts, business franchise, and animation studios the company has nearly dominated the whole industry. Walt Disney resorts and parks is one of the many segments of the company that is comprised of a number of holiday resorts and theme parks, in addition to a wide variety of leisure enterprises that are family oriented. This is one of the four main segments of the business. The other three segments of Disney Company include media networks, consumer products and studio entertainment. The segment that deals with theme parks and resorts was started in the year 1971 as one of the many attractions of the company when Magic Kingdom, a resort of the company in Florida, was opened to add to the company’s theme park Disneyland which is located in California. In 2009, it was estimated that the company owned the most visited theme parks in the world, having more than 119 million visitors (The Walt Disney Company, n.d).

Since the Walt Disney Company was founded in the year 1923, it has managed to stay on top of the competitive entertainment industry. Perhaps the company and its affiliated company has managed to achieve this though its unrelenting faithfulness to the commitment they have to create for their customers entertainment experiences that are based on a long- time tradition of quality creative entertainment. The company has for long emphasized its commitment to providing its customers with quality entertainment experiences, whether it is through its media networks or through its resorts and theme parks. The quality of the services the company provides for its customers is exceptionally high, evidenced by the large following the company has in customers. ‘Give the public everything you can give them’, is the edict the company operates with (The Walt Disney Company, n.d). It is from this simple statement that every employee in Disney strives to exceed the expectations of the customers. The company has relied on the values and traditions of pursuit of quality for more than eighty years, something that has ensured it a top position in the industry and immense success in business. The company utilizes assorted tools for each and every task. However, the integration matrix is one tool that the company has found useful in combining the use of delivery systems and quality standards and development of strategic plans for the creation and monitoring id the production and delivery of experiences to customers that are seamless (Editorial, 2011).

Among the critical decisions Disney company makes about service employees, none is as crucial as spurring them to perform their roles with excellence. This complex issue usually occurs in numerous service organizations, not only in Disney Company, where numerous employee positions can be poorly compensated, unappealing and unappreciated. Against this backdrop, it becomes easy for employees to fall short of giving their responsibilities the kind of attention that the company requires. All workers have a chance to perform or exercise discretionally effort in fulfilling any role, or task and they in most cases fail to give it their all. Discretionary effort can be defined as the difference between the maximum effort one can apply in performing a task and the least effort needed to simply get by (Fisk, Grove & John, 2009).

The critical challenge most organizations face in this aspect, therefore, is in regards to keeping their workers motivated enough to operate at the maximum end of the scale of discretionary effort. This, however, has been notably one of the areas that Disney has addressed adequately in that the company has managed to keep its employees well motivated for maximum productivity. One approach the company has utilized is the internal marketing approach which mainly focuses on treating employees as internal customers of the organization, responding to their wants and needs, and promoting the company, as well as, its policies to the workers. This approach sees workers as customers who can just be attracted to the company as they can be alienated depending on how well the company treats and markets them. As a result, Disney has emerged productive because of keeping its workers well motivated (Disney, n.d).

Other than keeping its employees happy, Disney is also dedicated to keeping the surrounding community and the environment happy, as well. The company seeks to create an environmental policy that is positive for the company, and for the future generations. To achieve this, Disney is committed to minimizing its overall effects on the environment while activating and encouraging behavior that is environmentally responsive on the part of its employees, business associates, guests and the rest of the world. Specifically, the company aims to conserve energy, water and ecosystems; to reduce waste and to encourage the public consciousness in the support of sustaining of the environment; and to reduce the green house emissions. Also, Disney seeks to come up with, understand and measure the indirect, as well as, direct effects of its operations and establish realistic and innovative solutions for mitigating those effects. Additionally, the company complies with, and at times surpasses the requirements, regulations and laws of environmental policies. Since days in memorial, the environment and conservation have been crucial themes in the offerings of the company, from television programming to motion pictures to the company’s resorts and parks through its corporate responsibility programs and goals (Media Decoder, 2009).

Continuous improvement of the employees and production processes in Disney is another element of the company worth noting. Part of what works for employee engagement is regarding them as the driving forces behind improving the organization. This is what is commonly referred to as continuous improvement. This kind of improvement puts emphasis on developing a better guest experience, or simply coming up with ways to reduce cost without affecting the processes and activities of the organization. A great example of how this can be done is something that happened at Magic Kingdom. A while back, when guests with children entered the resort they had to head to the train station where they could rent a stroller for their children. This presented them with a challenge in one main way. The strollers could not be founded and therefore could not be left anywhere without causing inconveniences in case guests wanted to experience a number of attractions (The Walt Disney Company, n.d). The company was presented with a challenge, and it almost came to buying new strollers that could be founded and easy to manage. But this would be extremely expensive. The company, however, came up with a better solution, they partnered with the railway station and came up with a plan whereby guests could leave their rented strollers at one station and pick up another one at the next station. There would be a supply of strollers at each station (The Walt Disney Company, n.d). This created better guest satisfaction and experience without necessarily increasing costs. This is an essential example of how significant continuous improvement is to organizations. It is also an example of how the company carefully manages its operational costs and inventory to keep them at the minimum level possible (Buttonwood, 2011).

It is appropriate to argue that the company has been extremely successful in project management and in social responsibility. As it has already been seen, the company has continuously sought ways through which it can remain a responsible corporate member of the society through the conservation and sustainability of the environment. In the case of project management, the company has also been extremely successful, what with the numerous projects that the company has undertaken in and become successful. For example, the company other than dealing in resorts and theme parks and other entertainment enterprises, it has also been extremely successful in such areas as media networks, studio entertainment and consumer products; producing internationally recognized movies, television programs, toys and other consumer products (The Walt Disney Company, n.d).

With all this success, it is only fair to predict that company will continue to beam in its success as a result of these remarkable business processes and approaches. The company is expecting to expand its business internationally, with a new resort underway in Shangai that should be running by the end of 2014 (The Walt Disney Company, n.d). In addition, other resorts and parks like the ones in Paris and Hong Kong have room for future development and expansions. It is highly likely that with its current success rate, Disney will continue to hold its position in the entertainment industry if not to improve it.

Conclusion

The purpose of this paper was mainly to look at the different ways in which Disney has utilized different aspects of operations management to manage such activities and business processes like quality, social responsibility, cost, inventory and project control, as well as, production of services. It is clear from the analysis that has been done above that the company has performed excellently in the entertainment industry, and that this success has been as a result of utilization of the appropriate business processes and approaches such as employee motivation, observance of quality products and services, the utilization of continuous improvement process, limited production costs and the respect that the company has for the environment and the community at large.

References

Buttonwood. (2011). Slow finance. A new approach to fund management. The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/21533430

Disney. (n.d). Disney approach to quality service. Disney’s approach series. Retrieved from http://wdwinv.com/difiles/Quality%20Service%203.5%20day.pdf

Editorial. (2011). Chiquita and Walt Disney World Resort announce multi- year alliance to offer fresh, healthy Chiquita and fresh express products to Disney guests. New York Times. Retrieved from http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/news/press_release.asp?docTag=201107291307PR_NEWS_USPRX____CL44088&feedID=600&press_symbol=80700&scp=1&sq=walt%20disney%20quality%20&st=Search

Fisk, R., Grove, S. J. & John, J. (2009). Interactive services marketing. New York: Cengage Learning Inc.

Media Decoder. (2009). Disney’s green initiative takes another step. New York Times. Retrieved from http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/disneys-green-initiative-takes-another-step/?scp=4&sq=disney%20company%20corporate%20responsibility&st=Search

The Walt Disney Company. (n.d). The Walt Disney Company and affiliated companies- company overview. Disney. Retrieved from http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/overview.html

William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”

Discussion

William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow” is written in a subjective point of view, which makes it both personal and relatable to the reader. The poem gives insight into the way real people think and gives life to certain topics that are not often talked about. It has impacted me through the way it uses the imagery of an event that is less often discussed. The poem narrates about a man who had to bury his father and loved him dearly, but does not reflect a society where people are quick to seek out and share their feelings (Williams, 2018). The poem illustrates exactly what happens in today’s society; for example, those that grieve do not talk about the death of a loved one every day. It is also apparent in today’s society that people do not discuss feelings frequently, which is evident throughout the entire poem.

To become critical readers, it is important to practice reading actively and with a set of opinions (O’Byrne, 2018). By analyzing and interpreting text in response to one’s own thoughts, beliefs, and experiences, readers gain literacy skills that can be applied to other texts. Several strategies should be practiced to become and active and responsive reader. The key to becoming an active and responsive reader is to take notes on what is being read by creating visual notations about the main idea and supporting details. By taking notes, it’s then easier to recall the material and study it later. This also helps the reader understand what they’re reading with deeper meaning as opposed to just getting through an article (O’Byrne, 2018). This strategy is not only useful for reading articles but also for reading poems and short stories. Students can learn how to read fiction by concentrating on what they are reading in a story rather than just looking at words that have been strung together in a haphazard manner (O’Byrne, 2018). The next strategy requires to understand the primary goal for reading an article. By setting a goal, the reader is able to focus on grasping the content. The last strategy is to have a designated time for reading. By observing these strategies, the reader will be able to develop critical understanding of the literature article more so poems and essays.

Sources

Williams, W. C. (2018). The Red Wheelbarrow & Other Poems. New Directions Publishing.

O’Byrne, W. I. (2018). Empowering students as critical readers and writers in online spaces. In Best practices in teaching digital literacies. Emerald Publishing Limited. http://www.hkaect.org/jce/5(1)/JCE_5(1).pdf#page=14

social learning disability – Discussion

Discussion

These readings have helped me understand that social learning disability does not necessarily means having difficulties on the social domain rather it is when a person misses key languages, for example when one perceive something differently. It is also when somebody cannot find the right word to describe of a certain item. In such a situation a student may not be sure whether it is appropriate to do something or not. I have also learnt that learning disability is not autism and spectrum disability, neither are they vision or hearing disability. People with learning disability are as smart as others without. It is a problem that can be treated if identified early enough. I have also learned that learning disability cannot be caused by emotional disturbance and economic disadvantages of an individual. CITATION Cor11 l 1033 (Cortiella, 2011)The new information that Lyon’s articles offer in the field of learning disability is that learning disabilities are real and the affected are characterized by genetic or neural anomalies. Learning disabilities are not imaginary as perceived earlier. The recent evidence also indicates that directs and systematic instructions affect brain activity. Lyon also points out that a typical brain function can be modified by instruction justifying continued work in the institutional aspect of learning disabilities and neurological.

According to Lyon and Hallahan, students should be taught to approach tasks systematically as this helps to represent a similar contribution from the area of education and learning disabilities. Students should be taught to perform various academic tasks systematically and instructions of reading comprehensions and written expressions given CITATION Swa13 l 1033 (Swanson, 2013). Systematic monitoring of students performance also helps in solving learning disability related problems. This helps to analyze behaviors of students to learning disabilities.

The question I would like to pose for the group is that once a problem of learning disability has been identified in a student is there a special program to train such students or do they just continue with the same syllabus just like other students?

Reference

Mazzocco, M. M., Feigenson, L., & Halberda, J. (2011). Impaired acuity of the approximate number system underlies mathematical learning disability (dyscalculia). Child development, 82(4), 1224-1237.Flanagan, D. P., & Alfonso, V. C. (2010). Essentials of specific learning disability identification (Vol. 82). John Wiley & Sons.

Summary of What I Learned From Tutorial Session

Discussion

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Tittle

Professor’s Name

Date

Summary of What I Learned From Tutorial Session

Upon attending the tutoring session, I engaged myself fully in the session by being attentive and asking the tutor some questions in order to participate fully and learn more. Among the questions I asked include what tools I could use during my studies to learn more and how I could apply critical thinking in answering course work questions. I also inquired about how to formulate a thesis and develop appropriate thesis statements when writing essays. The session provided me with valuable interpersonal, communication, and listening skills. The tutorial session made me discover a new understanding of concepts that helped me enrich my academic studies. In addition, I learned how to explain various concepts in a multitude of ways to accord with my learning style. It also taught me how to hone my communication skills since I may have to explain complex theories in more straightforward language. The session helped to gain experience when networking with other students and professors.

I am confident that the tutoring skills I learned from the tutoring session made me a qualified employer in the near future. Such skills include empathy, positivity, confidentiality, active listening, leadership, communication, and technical knowledge. The session was more effective in a way that it helped increase my attitude and motivation to reach full academic potential. Apart from that, it was more effective in a way that it taught me to think critically about problems and how to solve them. These skills will always help me to face and overcome challenges faced during my studies. During the session, I was given a chance to participate fully by asking questions or commenting. I think the session was more effective.

Open Forum Discussion (2)

Discussion

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Tittle

Professor’s Name

Date

Open Forum Discussion

Upon reading two other articles that address the same topic but are different sources, some characteristics make the sources different. To begin with, the article from Consumer reports differs in a way that it has a formal appearance with illustrations, diagrams, tables, and graphs. It has a summary paragraph above the text and sections describing how workplace wellness programs could be putting the health data at risk. The other article from CNN health has no specific format. Consumer report article is more different because it has several glossy pictures designed to attract a broad segment of the population. Despite the articles from different sources having some noticeable differences, some features add to the sources’ credibility. The differences do not detract from the credibility of the sources. I consider both credible in a way that they are up to date. The first article has some endorsements and reviews that show that it is credible. Its information is high quality and trustworthy in a way that it is unbiased and backed up with evidence. The second one has the author’s credentials and affiliations hence making it credible. I can either use either of the school sources in writing an academic research paper since the tutor will expect me to back up my assertions with credible evidence. Using a credible source will always convince my readers that my claim is correct and plausible. In my personal life, the sources can help me to strengthen my argument in dialogues.

The first article I read is from Consumer reports and the second from CNN health report. The audiences of the first source are the workers and employees in different companies. The second article is intended to inform a general audience. The intended audiences affect language choice so that the sources use specialized vocabulary, their formal appearance, sections, and proper organization to target their audience (Tracy & Will, 2020). Both articles are credible since they are in-depth, with an abstract and documented data. The information in the first article is accurate. Both sources provide a thorough and well-reasoned discussion. The information need addressed by the consumer article includes research, work, and learning. The other article addresses professional and administrative information needs. Experimental, quasi-experimental, and action research will be appropriate for the first source, while content analysis, qualitative, case study, descriptive research will be appropriate for the second source.

Reference

Ajunwa, I. (2017). Workplace wellness programs could be putting your health data at risk. Harv. Bus. Rev, 19.Tracy, A., & Javernick Will, A. (2020). Credible Sources of Information Regarding Induced Seismicity. Sustainability, 12(6), 2308