Democracy And Freedom | Azerbaijan

Democracy And Freedom | Azerbaijan To begin this paper, I will define what Democracy is and what Freedom is. In this paper, I will illustrate and evaluate the most challengeable inconveniences that Azerbaijan faces, now more present than ever. Then, I will explain why is Freedom and Democracy are hard to obtain in Azerbaijan and what has been done so far to change the existing authoritarian government. Democracy can be defined as a theory, in which the supreme power is established by the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a method of representation. In political theory, democracy depicts a small number of affiliated forms of government and a political philosophy. Democracy comprises two principles- equality and freedom. These principles are portrayed by all citizens being equal before the law, and having equal approach to power where all citizens are promised certain legitimized freedom and liberty, which are mostly protected by a constitution.[1] Freedom can be classified into two concepts: positive freedom and negative freedom. Positive freedom is freedom to do something rather than freedom from interfering. Negative freedom is a content of options that are open for a person or people in general; it is a matter of X being free to be Z. [2] In Azerbaijan, there are varieties of political parties representing diverse ideological and policy stages. In this sense, Azerbaijan has achieved one basic feature of pluralistic democratic politics.[3] Political parties in my country, mostly weak and small, and do not play a main role in national political life. A number of influences lead to this weakness. Azerbaijan is a presidential republic, and the constitutional determination of the presidency has been reinforced by the powerful political persona as I. Aliyev. Politics in general remains highly personalized, with few-high-profile individuals dominating the area. The personalizations of politics have gone further in my country, where Aliyev supporters and pro-government press from a sycophants refrain to praise the president. In this context, the pro-government parties tent to become vehicles for mobilizing support for the president in parliament, while other parties often serve the same purpose for leading opposition politici ans, readily splitting and adjusting to keep up with the regular disputes and divisions that take on a more or less personal level between their leaders. In Azerbaijan, up to date, there are more than 36 political parties: Pro-government parties (like New Azerbaijan Party) have poorly defined ideological or policy profiles advance the careers of stalwarts. It is hard to maintain a powerful doctrine in any key positive improvement towards to democracy and freedom in Azerbaijan. The corrupted police state is well set up between all ranks of society that it looks unbreakable.[6] People are used to perceiving elections and oppose within themselves. This is the idea of the civil proposal with deep scepticism and a sense of desperation. Those who talk about or try to act in favour of transformation are devastating their lives chasing the freedom. For example, Equality Party stated in May 2005, in Azerbaijan national radio, that Ehtiram Jalilov- deputy head of Azerbaijans National Democratic Party became the second opposition activist to die in unexplained circumstances during the upcoming presidential elections. In July 2009, Freedom House published results of research that calculated countrys political rights, civil Liberties, and status. Freedom House argues that with the population of 8,700,000, the score of Political Rights Score is six, Civil Liberties is five and the Status is said to be Not Free. In an Overview, Freedom House declares following, President Ilham Aliyev and the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party further marginalized the political opposition and other institutions of democratic accountability in 2008. The governments fierce suppression of media freedom was integral to Aliyevs victory in a controlled presidential election in October.[7] For example, while Azerbaijans constitution promising freedom of speech; the authorities absolutely bound press freedom in reality. Novruzali Mamedov, editor of the newspaper Talyshi Sado had been in state custody since February 2007, initially on a trumped-up charge of resisting arrest, which was then changed to a treason charge, who died in p rison on august 2009.[8] Azerbaijans authorities primarily do not limit educational freedom. However, my elder brother had practiced political pressure in State University of Azerbaijan. That pressure included reported threats to lower my brothers grades when he contributed in opposing political activity. Another example is that my father was disregarded as a teacher in college because of his membership in opposition parties. The government limits freedom of the legislature, especially for opposition parties. Azerbaijans government commands key judicial commissions and there is no indication that the court system is capable of bringing the government to book when it behaves unconstitutionally, or securing citizens rights against arbitrary government action. Although Azerbaijani legislators have approved several laws to enhance freedom of information, the law of the Azerbaijan Republic grants legislative ground for an independent judiciary, in practice judges do not role independently of the executive branch.[9] The judiciary is corrupt, inefficient, and obedient. Incidental arrests and detention are very common, particularly for members of the political opposition. Prisoners are often restrained for long periods before trial, and their access to lawyers is constrained. My military commander Gadir Musayev was victim of Azerbaijans corrupt systems. He was arrested during presidential elections and denied de fend by legal lawyer. As he claims, prison conditions were extreme; with many prisoners suffering from overcrowding and insufficient medical care, he was not given adequate medical care in prison. Azerbaijani authorities refused to allow independent medical treatment offered by a European Union delegation that visited Mamedov in prison in June.Musayev was one of the few lucky political prisoners who were liberated from prison with help of International Human Rights Organization. Corrupt leaders that bound the equality of opportunity control major parts of the economy. As I mentioned earlier, followers of the political opposition face job loss, exile, and dismissal. Public norms and poor economic conditions in Azerbaijan restrict womens professional roles. Domestic violence in Azerbaijan is a crisis; moreover, there are no laws to stop spousal abuse. Women can go to court for violence, but poor social values restrict them from doing it. According to Amnesty International, Azerbaijan is among eight authoritarian countries on the territory of the former USSR.[10] To give a clear view what is authoritarian means I will clarify the authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is a political doctrine supporting the principle of absolute rule: dictatorship, totalitarianism and absolutism. Authoritarianism indicates any political system that concentrates authority in the hands of a leader or small elite. Authoritarian leaders often exercise power arbitrarily and without consideration to existing organizations of law. The freedom to formulate opposition political leagues is either limited or nonexistent in authoritarian regimes.[11] In Azerbaijan, National society institutions weakened, while presidential powers were exceedingly reinforced in 2008. Many themes are off-limits to journalists, who generally practice self-censorship to prevent the dangerous consequences.[12] These include national security issues, excessively powerful or personal attacks on the president, and specific declarations about corruption and criminal businesses activities. At the minimum four journalists, jailed for their professional activity, remain in Azerbaijani prisons. The government disciplines widespread control over electronic media and silences all alternative voices. The authorities stopped broadcasts of BBC on local frequencies from January 1st. The move essentially guarantees a monopoly for state-controlled media and prevents any independent news broadcasts from reaching the Azeri people.[13] Corruption is one of the main problems obstructing democratic growths in Azerbaijan. Efforts to improve the situation on a legislative level fail at the application phase, as the state agencies authorized to conduct anti corruption activity are believed to be among the most corrupt agencies in the country. However, the countrys government reinforced its rule by elevating a prohibition from a third term presidency, which may lead to the life long presidency of Ilham Aliyev. The situation with freedom is estimated to stay poor as the government continues to silence judgmental voices in the country and disregard the international communitys calls for reformations.[14] Government of Azerbaijan wants us to welcome those who are constrained to act by their unlawful rules in order to endure teachers, farmers, law enforcement officers, entry and middle level civil employees, striving businessmen those many souls captured in the net of corruption are as considerably responsible as the very leadership that runs the system. They wish that everyone would suffer enough blame to be helpless of feeling and extracting legitimate moral crime at their outrageous actions. The hidden part of their skilful indoctrination machine works day and night to install into the community the guilty verdict. Nevertheless, the larceny, tyranny, praise, moral putrefaction, mistrust and skepticism are the products of their own deliberate actions, not some certain providence or ancient devastation.

Postmans Amusing Ourselves to Death Essay -- Amusing Ourselves Death

Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death I have just read Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death. Postman states that the age of typography has been replaced by the age of television. This has changed the way we look at the world and the way we think, which in turn has almost made us less intelligent. Postman speaks his opinions freely, and really gives the reader a new perspective on media, and the effect it has on society. To often we think nothing of what we see and read in the media, but after reading this book you see things a lot differently. Postman believes that the culture is shaped by how its media is conducted. In the age of typography, for example, politicians spoke of how people wrote. In today?s society the news is broadcasted in bits and pieces, and the unrelated topics are all thrown up and tied together with the phrase 'Now and This'. Our culture, he states, now functions best when focused on tiny bits of unrelated material. We believe that things should come in unrelated bits, continuously, and with lots of flash. To us it doesn't seem weird that commercials interrupt our programs every few minutes, though to someone who has never seen television, it would seem very odd indeed. Postman says that televisions have changed everything in our culture; politics and teaching. Politics have conformed to the ways of television. An example is how debates are conducted in modern politics. Before debates lasted many hours and contained many long thought out res...

International economic institutions serve western

International economic institutions serve western interests. Do you agree? The international economic institutions refer to the Bretton Woods institutions which are the IMF and World Bank which were created after World War 2 and GATT was also created after the war and later became the WTO. I agree with the statement, due to the disproportionate amount of power held by Western countries compared to the rest of the world and the fact that these institutions attempt to press or force western neo-Liberal values on the rest of the world. In this essay I will go through each individual economic institution explaining how they serve western interests and how recent reforms have attempted to curb western powers within these institutions and then I will later discuss how these institutions play out in terms of international political theories. The international monetary fund was set up in 1944 to head off any future world economic crisis similar in magnitude to the great depression and to manage the Bretton Wood’s fixed exchange rates. However over the decades it has gained the reputation of being the lender of last resort and have attempted to enforce neo-Liberal principles on countries who take the loans. This is shown clearly through the procedure of the Structural adjustment programme where it aims to create â€Å"a business climate attractive to investors †. They do this through prescribing Washington consensus politics which involves opening up markets to foreign competition, close down unprofitable markets; reduce public expenditure and privatisation programmes. This has served western interests as this opens up new market for western countries to exploit, as shown in Ghana where it â€Å"used to be self reliant on r... ...ns would act in their self interest when using IGO’s. Realists focus on the fact that liberals tend to overlook power politics which would be played out within these IGO’s. For Marxists they view the failure of IGO’s to spread wealth equally as the failings of the capitalist system where only the rich can gain and by allowing the poor to stay poor due to the greed of capitalism. Overall it is clear that in the past and currently the west have dominated the international financial institutions in order to serve western interests. However the west have started to lose grip of all three of these institutions as the emergence of the BRIC’s have forced the west’s hand, as they have hinted that they would create their own IMF . So I foresee a more balanced international institutions or the west facing BRIC led rival organisations in the form of the BRIC’s own versions.

Nelson Mandela’s Fight for Freedom

Imagine yourself growing up in a country where you might get thrown in jail for drinking from the wrong water fountain; where just because of your skin color, you get paid less money than your neighbor who has the same job; where you can’t even walk on the same sidewalk just because of the pigment in your skin. For Nelson Mandela, this situation was a reality. This style of living began in 1948 and, thanks to Mandela, ended in 1994. Problems began when the National Party—dominated by Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch settlers—came to power in South Africa. Segregation and mistreatment of the less superior—non-whites–became a government policy called â€Å"apartheid,† which means â€Å"apartness† in the Afrikaans language. Nelson Mandela refused to bow down to the unjust of the government. Instead, he became one of the most important warriors in the battle to free South Africa. â€Å"We are at the beginning of an arduous and protracted struggle for a better quality of life. In the course of this struggle, we shall have immediate success; we shall have setbacks; but we shall certainly progress, inch by inch, towards our goal,† Nelson Mandela wrote in his book, In His Own Words. Most of Mandela’s life was filled with many battles, tribulations, and hardships. Born on July 18th, 1918 in Umtata, South Africa, Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela studied to become a lawyer. He then joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1944. The ANC formed in 1912. It is a multiracial, nationalist organization that intended to extend voting rights to everyone in South Africa. This organization was also aiming to end racial discrimination. Even after thirty years of peaceful petitions to the government, the ANC never achieved any concessions. During the apartheid, blacks and whites had different laws that they were to follow. Blacks were not allowed to vote in parliamentary areas, for example, and they were limited in their use of most public places and institutions. Under apartheid, Africans, Europeans, and Indians all lived in separate homelands called â€Å"Bantustans. † While selected jobs were saved for whites, the leaders justified their rulings by guaranteeing that Africans would have full rights in their Bantustans. These full rights would grant Africans to have the poorest homes, schools, and hospitals. A majority of Africans disliked this system of apartheid. This also included Nelson Mandela. Protests were led by multiple leaders including Mandela. Some protests even ended deadly. For example, on March 21, 1960, an organization called, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), called for a protest against the laws. In Sharpeville, a crowd of unarmed petitioners surrounded the police station. The police opened fire in the crowd and killed sixty-nine people, while wounding many more. The government was fighting back; not even caring that the laws that they issued, and the consequences that were given for not following the laws, may or may not be proper. Protestors could also be arrested. For instance, after the South African government declared a State of Emergency, the ANC was banned. This meant that its members could be arrested and imprisoned for up to ten years. However, these activists were willing to accept the idea of imprisonment or even death, for equality was the only thing that was on their minds. Though Nelson Mandela was eventually forced to take action when the government banned the African National Congress (ANC), he remained non-violent. Mandela’s method of fighting back was a powerful weapon: his speeches and protests. He had a strong belief that all people, no matter what race, were equal. â€Å"South Africa belongs to all people, not to one group, be it black or white. † Because Mandela was so dedicated to his belief in equality, he had to pay a high price: his freedom. Mandela and his fellow leaders believed that not only should they continue to fight against apartheid, but that they should take up arms against the government. Mandela alleged that there were only two choices to make: surrender, or fight. On August 5, 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested. He was disguised as a white friend’s chauffer. At this point in time, the government was arresting all black leaders that took part in the Anti- Apartheid movement. So, in an attempt to avoid being arrested, Mandela was forced to live apart from his family. He moved from place to place to avoid being detected by government informers and spies. Usually during important events, like rallies, he would often disguise himself as a chauffer or a gardener. Mandela was nicknamed, â€Å"the Black Pimpernel,† because he was so he was so successful at dodging the police. However, he was not successful enough. After being arrested, Mandela was charged with inciting strikes and illegally leaving the country. He had often traveled to countries in North and West Africa to gain support. He also traveled to England where he met politicians. Throughout his trial—the Rivonia Trial—Mandela carried out his own defense. In the end, Mandela was found guilty and sentenced to prison at Robben Island for five years. This jail was bleak, unwelcoming, and depressing. It is about 7. 5 miles off the coast of Cape Town. Robben Island was one of the harshest prisons in South Africa. The island was bitterly cold in the winter and scorching hot in the summer. Prisoners could only wear short trousers with no shoes. The imprisoned were to sleep on mats that lay out on their cell floor. Mandela’s cell was less than thirty-two square feet. He was confined to it for sixteen hours each day. Even while Mandela was in prison, he still gave hope to the people who carried on the struggle against Apartheid. Mandela was brought to court once more with all of the leaders of the ANC. All were charged with sabotage and attempting to overthrow government offences, which would have resulted in a death sentence. When Mandela spoke at the trial, he said that a free, ideal society was what he wished to live for and to achieve. â€Å"†¦ If needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. † No matter what the officials did to Mandela, he knew in his heart that no matter what the outcome was, he would indeed be free in the end. The judge sentenced the defendants to life imprisonment. The government anticipated that the prisoners on Robben Island would be forgotten. However, they were proven wrong. The anti- apartheid movement continued and a new movement to free Mandela even occurred. This movement actually went global. Nelson Mandela became the most famous political prisoner in the world. Leaders such as Desmond Tutu and Steven Biko continued to speak out against apartheid. Some, including Biko, paid with their lives. Some white South Africans even joined the anti-apartheid movement. Over the next months, outraged Africans rioted all over the country. Many were not willing to wait for change. During the 1980’s, the South African government offered to release Nelson Mandela multiple times. Each time the government asked, Mandela refused. In 1982, Mandela was moved from Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison which is on the mainland in Cape Town. In 1985, Mandela was offered freedom on condition that he stopped campaigning for the ANC. Again he refused because he believed that he still was not technically free since the apartheid was still going on. â€Å"I cherish my own freedom, but†¦I will not give any undertaking when you and I, the people, are not free. † On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years. This day marked the beginning of the end of apartheid. In less than five years after his release, Nelson Mandela was granted the Nobel Peace Prize and was also elected the first African president of South Africa. In 1994, the apartheid officially ended when Nelson Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa. Today, because of Nelson Mandela’s self -sacrifice, the apartheid has been outlawed. Everyone in South Africa has equal rights and can now live comfortable, productive lives. Many see Mandela as one of the most important people in world history, and one of the strongest warriors. Even after the troubles of the apartheid are long forgotten, Mandela’s personal triumphs will be remembered. â€Å"I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal the view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my walk is not yet ended. † Because of Nelson Mandela and other leaders, laws telling people what jobs they could hold, or where they could live based on the color of their skin were abolished. In 1997, observers noticed that most South African blacks continued to live in desperate poverty and in terrible conditions. Black schools still lacked basic necessities like books and chalk. Some schools didn’t have any windows. However, for the first time in years, the South African government was trying to correct the problems of racial inequality. It would take large amounts of time and money, but South Africans felt great hope that the deed of creating equality would be fully achieved.

An Analysis of Jim Morrison’s Poetry

An Analysis of Jim Morrison's Poetry Through the Eyes of a Fan. James Douglas Morrison’s poetry was born out of a period of tumultuous social and political change in American and world history. Besides Morrison’s social and political perspective, his verse also speaks with an understanding of the world of literature, especially of the traditions that shaped the poetry of his age. His poetry expresses his own experiences, thoughts, development, and maturation as a poet — from his musings on film at UCLA in The Lords and The New Creatures, to his final poems in Wilderness and The American Night.It is my intention to show Morrison as a serious American poet, whose work is worthy of serious consideration in relation to its place in the American literary tradition. By discussing the poetry in terms of Morrison’s influences and own ideas, I will be able to show what distinguishes him as a significant American poet. In order to reveal him as having a clearly defi ned ability as a poet, my focus will be on Morrison’s own words and poetry. I will concentrate on his earlier work to show the influence of Nietzsche and French poets such as Arthur Rimbaud and Antonin Artaud and the effect they had on Morrison’s poetry and style.Morrison’s poetic style is characterised by contrived ambiguity of meaning which serves to express subconscious thought and feeling—a tendency now generally associated with the ‘post-modern’ or avant garde. His poetic strength is that he creates poetry quite profound in its effect upon the reader, by using vividly evocative words and images in his poems. While it is obvious that Morrison has read writers that influence his work, and their influence remains strong in subject and tone, he still manages to make it his own in the way he adapts these influences to his style, experiences, and ideas.We would expect to find remnants of quotes, stolen lines and ideas, in a lesser writer, but Morrison shows his strength as a poet by resisting plagiarism and blatant ‘borrowing,’ in order to achieve originality in his own verse. As T. S. Eliot has said, â€Å"Bad poets borrow, good poets steal. † Morrison’s poetry is very surreal at times, as well as highly symbolic — there is a pervading sense of the irrational, chaotic, and the violent; an effect produced by startling juxtapositions of images and words. Morrison’s poetry reveals a strange world — a place peopled by characters straight out f Morrison’s circus of the mind, from the strange streets of Los Angeles boulevards and back alleys. Morrison’s speech is a native tongue, and his eye is that of a visionary American poet. He belongs to what poet and critic Jerome Rothenberg calls the â€Å"American Prophecy . . . present in all that speaks to our sense of ‘identity’ and our need for renewal. † Rothenberg sees this prophetic tradition as: Affirming the oldest function of poetry, which is to interrupt the habits of ordinary consciousness by means of more precise and highly charged uses of language and to provide new tools for discovering the underlying relatedness of all life . . A special concern for the interplay of myth and history runs through the whole of American literature. Thoreau, Emerson, and Whitman saw the poet’s function in part as revealing the visionary meaning of our lives in relation to the time and place in which we live . . . we have taken this American emphasis on the relationship of myth and history, of poetry and life, as the central meaning of a ‘prophetic’ native tradition. The lasting impression of Morrison’s poems is that they attempt to render the dream or nightmare of modern existence in terms of words and imagery, quite bizarre and obscure, yet compelling at the same time.An important aspect about the body of his work and his commitment to his particular style, o ne closely aligned to Rothenberg’s ‘prophetic’ tradition, is that it is in the tradition of what other poets of his time were writing. Morrison’s early experiments with poetry and prose, written between 1964-69, depict — in the language of an intellectually ambitious film student — the strong influence of people such as Nietzsche and Artaud, and his ideas on aesthetics, philosophy, life, and film in particular.His early writings are the foundation on which he develops his poetic style. All the motifs, symbols, and imagery introduced in his first collection of poems recur continuously throughout his later works. The Lords and The New Creatures was conceived as two separate books; however, it was published as one book containing Morrison’s ideas and poetry. Essentially, it is a forum for the fleshing out of style. The first half of the book The Lords: Notes on Vision, is a collection of notes and prose poems; while the second half, The N ew Creatures, is an assortment of poetry.The Lords is a motley work of ideas and prose, loosely held together with motifs of death, cinema, and the reinterpretation of mythical and theatrical theory. While originality seems to be in short supply, and naive idealism in abundance, it is interesting for the allusion to, and presentation of philosophical and aesthetic ideas, central to Morrison’s poetry. Stylistically, The Lords reflects his propensity for ‘dark’ imagery and self-mythology, which would later be a fundamental characteristic of his poetry and performance.The motifs that pervade all of his poetry abound; the ‘city’, ‘sex’, ‘death’, ‘assassins’, ‘voyeurs’, ‘wanderers’, ‘deserts’, ‘shamanism’, and so on. The autobiographical and historical references in the poems reflect the myth making process of turning fact into fiction: the inner world of the psyche and its perceptions of surroundings, a mythological landscape of Morrison’s mind. The poetry, however, has a strong sense of place; the strong observational power of the astute outsider, works well in the invocations of strange border towns and locations. His vision of Los Angeles, or ‘L'america’, is profound in its focus and impressions.It is even stranger because of the ambivalent nostalgia Morrison seems to hold for the place, where he had lived and performed with the Doors: â€Å"Los Angeles is a city looking for a ritual to join its fragments. † At first, for Morrison, it was musical theatre that would attempt to provide the ‘ritual’ for the city, using his shaman principles to try to ‘join its fragments’, and bring his audience together. When that failed, and the ‘summer of love’ and the notion of hippie solidarity had dissipated, he turned to his poetry as the ritual that would piece together the fragments of his own experience.Like Eliot’s ‘fragments’ shored against his ruins in The Waste Land, Morrison’s words and poetry are the means by which he can make sense of his world and guard against his aesthetic mortality. However, as always in his poems, there is a sense of cynicism, directed toward himself as well as the reader. Almost as if, his suffering and sacrifices, made in the name of art and cultural freedom, were not for his own benefit but for the benefit of â€Å"you,† the reader: Words are healing. Words got me the wound and will get me wellIf you believe it. This segment from the absurdly titled, ‘Lament for the Death of my Cock,’ reflects Morrison’s pessimism and poetic idealism. The sense of suffering expressed in this later poem is also found in his earlier work The Lords, in relation to the idea of sacrifice for the good of all: â€Å"What sacrifice, at what price can the city be born? † Morrison’s early aw areness of society’s ills, and his benevolent sense of social responsibility, meant that he had a personally doomed and intense experience of America and its ideals.In particular, the ‘Western Dream,’ as expressed in his apocalyptic invocation of a ‘brave new world’ of dreamlike existence and ritual: â€Å"We are from the West. The world we suggest should be a new Wild West, a sensuous, evil world, strange, and haunting. † With his own experience informing his work, Morrison begins The Lords by addressing the reader rhetorically, as if revealing some truth about modern existence. He introduces his analogy of a society’s relation to place, in terms of a ‘game’. His vision of the city is one of a dystopian environment—it is an interpretation of the American condition and all modern civilisations.Morrison sees the city in modernist and symbolist terms: the metropolis as a metaphorical reflection of society: We all live in the city. The city forms – often physically, but inevitably psychically – a circle. A Game. A ring of death with sex at its center. Drive toward outskirts of city suburbs. At the edge discover zones of sophisticated vice and boredom, child prostitution. But in the grimy ring immediately surrounding the daylight business district exists the only real crowd life of our mound, the only street life, night life. Diseased specimens in dollar hotels, low boarding houses, bars, pawn shops, urlesques and brothels, in dying arcades which never die, in streets and streets of all-night cinemas. Like Eliot’s invocation of the â€Å"unreal city† in The Waste Land, inherited from Baudelaire’s line about the â€Å"[s]warming city, city full of dreams, where ghost’s in broad daylight catch the walker’s sleeve,† there is a relation of person to place. Rimbaud’s perception of a city is more in line with Morrison’s, when he cries: â€Å"O sorrowful city! O city now struck dumb, / Head and heart stretched out in paleness / In endless doorways thrown wide by time; / City the Dismal Past can only bless: / Body galvanised for sufferings yet to come. Morrison’s almost socialist perception of American society and its negative effect upon culture and people, is one of the main concepts behind The Lords. He defines it as: the feeling of powerlessness and helplessness that people have in the face of reality. They have no real control over events or their own lives. Something is controlling them. The closest they ever get is the television set. In creating this idea of the lords, it also came to reverse itself. Now to me, the lords mean something entirely different. I couldn’t really explain.It’s like the opposite. Somehow the lords are a romantic race of people who have found a way to control their environment and their own lives. They’re somehow different from other people. The concept o f the ‘lords’ is a philosophical construct and a poetical device used to distinguish society as hierarchical. Morrison’s idea of the lords can be related to Nietzsche’s view in The Will to Power (1967), of â€Å"the Lords of the Earth — that higher species which would climb aloft to new and impossible things, to a broader vision, and to its task on earth. The lords are the poets and artists — the people who are revolutionaries, who seek to change the conformist culture in which they exist and lead society forward: The Lords. Events take place beyond our knowledge or control. Our lives are lived for us. We can only try to enslave others. But gradually, special perceptions are being developed. The idea of the â€Å"Lords† is beginning to form in some minds. We should enlist them into bands of perceivers to tour the labyrinth during their mysterious nocturnal appearances. The Lords have secret entrances, and they know disguises. But they give themselves away in minor ways.Too much glint of light in the eye. A wrong gesture. Too long and curious a glance. The Lords appease us with images. They give us books, concerts, galleries, shows, cinemas. Especially the cinemas. Through art they confuse us and blind us to our enslavement. Art adorns our prison walls, keeps us silent and diverted and indifferent. Door of passage to the other side, the soul frees itself in stride. In contrast to The Lords, Morrison’s companion text The New Creatures, emphasises the nightmarish existence of other ‘creatures’ who are submissive and almost sub-species in their herd mentality and hellish existence.The violent imagery and surreal nature of the verse in The New Creatures, creates a disorganised and chaotic collection of poetry that seems to have no apparent motive or logic. The content is highly subjective and foreign to most readers; some allusions and imagery are familiar in their generality, yet pointless in the apparent obscurity and juxtaposition. The poems’ personal content unfortunately makes most of The New Creatures inaccessible in their metaphorical and symbolic rendition of Morrison’s psyche.In parts, Morrison evokes a tone and a cadence with the structure of word and image interplay similar in effectiveness to the lyrics he wrote for The Doors, some of which he actually performed: Ensenada the dead seal the dog crucifix Ghosts of the dead car sun. Stop the car. Rain. Night. Feel. Most of the poems in The New Creatures seem strange and unrelated. Morrison gives the reader a clue to his method of poetry, by his comments on art forms like film, especially when his poetry is so obviously cinematic in its style and effect.He states, with a reference to the modernist idea of art replicating ‘stream of consciousness,’ that he was â€Å"interested in film because, to me, it’s the closest approximation in art that we have to the actual flow of consciousne ss. † Many of Morrison’s poems throughout his work are like film-clips in an avant-garde surrealist cinema. There is an intellectual, yet dreamy quality to his juxtaposition of ideas and insights about the world. Like the main technique of crowd manipulation he used on stage, Morrison uses the pause for great effect, yet not in the conventional grammatical or formal sense.Instead of a caesura, an ellipse, or a new line (all of which he also uses to effect), he uses an image as a barrier to overcome, to be ‘broken through’: Savage destiny Naked girl, seen from behind, on a natural road Friends explore the labyrinth — Movie young woman left on the desert A city gone mad w/ fever This pause, this break in flow or subject (in this case the metaphorical ‘labyrinth’) renders the verse as a staccato series of images rather than a progressive stream of ideas and words. In other words, the structure of the poem does try to replicate the irrationa l logic of stream of consciousness.Often these poems differentiate themselves from Morrison’s more coherent pieces; characteristically, they are like abstract paintings of violent and bizarre scenes, giving the reader a sense of the intoxicated state prevalent throughout much of Morrison’s notorious, alcoholic and drug-abused, life. Reading some of Morrison’s less adept poetry is like reading notes someone took while experiencing an LSD trip. This is what a vast percentage of them actually are according to legends of Morrison’s excesses.The same elements combine in his more proficient poetry; in intonation, profound visions, states of consciousness, and hallucinatory images, all culminating in a unique contemplation of the world. His cinematic technique of image juxtaposition also emulates the effects of a ‘psychedelic’ experience, which could also be interpreted as no less than an experience of Morrison’s world and the ‘60s itse lf. Poetry, and his idea of the Poet, was the genesis for most of Morrison’s experience. Poetry inspired and vocalised his love of the cinematic visual, performance art, and musical lyricism.It also expressed his most profound thoughts, philosophies, and beliefs; it was a means to relay his world, which was increasingly close to destruction. In The American Night, his poem ‘An American Prayer’ echoes Frazer’s Golden Bough along with the philosophies of Artaud and Nietzsche. Morrison appeals in his lament for understanding, for a consensus that technology and so-called ‘progress’ is not necessarily better or more exciting than the mythically imbued past: Let’s reinvent the gods, all the myths of the agesCelebrate symbols from deep elder forests . . . We have assembled inside this ancient and insane theatre To propagate our lust for life and flee the swarming wisdom of the streets . . . I’m sick of dour faces Staring at me from the T. V. Tower. I want roses in My garden bower; dig? In this sense, his attitude toward modernity is one of disdain, similar to Eliot’s perception of a defunct Western civilisation in The Waste Land. Consistently, throughout his poems, Morrison is anti-TV, almost as if he sees it as responsible for contemporary society’s decline.It is paradoxical in that he vehemently supports a view of the world through the camera lens of the filmmaker’s eye. Apart from this cinematic aspect that carries through from his earliest work, the consistent use of dark and violent imagery, and the allusion to sublime philosophy and art, there is no one unifying aspect to his poetry. There is, however, an element of autobiography in the poems, subtly placed in the symbols and motifs associated with the lead singer of the Doors: Snakeskin jacket Indian eyes Brilliant hair He moves in disturbedNile Insect Air In The New Creatures, references abound to his clothes, ‘Indian’ vi sions, Alexandrine hair, and shamanic dance moves — it is a story about himself. We then are introduced to the poet’s perception of his reader: You parade thru the soft summer We watch your eager rifle decay Your wilderness Your teeming emptiness Pale forests on verge of light decline. More of your miracles More of your magic arms â€Å"You,† are the reader along for the journey; â€Å"we† are the ‘lords,’ the poet speaks—enlightened ones, the ones who can see ‘your wilderness’ . . America? He continues: ‘You’ are lost now, ‘we’ are still the one’s who can see what the reader cannot. Morrison invites us into his world, but the reader is always kept at ‘arm’s’ length. In the next section of the poem, we are introduced to the state of the world and its inhabitants; disease, despair, images of torture, and the ominous presence of death always lurking in the background. A st range exotic world is revealed, with rites and customs straight out of Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough: Bitter grazing in sick pasturesAnimal sadness and the daybed Whipping. Iron curtains pried open. The elaborate sun implies dust, knives, voices. Call out of the Wilderness Call out of fever, receiving the wet dreams of an Aztec King. The ‘elaborate’ sun is elaborate in its context; the ‘iron curtain’ forcibly opened reveals war, communism, Stalinist tyranny etc. The ‘sun’ could be a reference to the east, the land of the rising sun (also the name of a city in Ohio); its place in the wilderness ‘implies’ its ancient and customary qualities of meaning.The Aztec King brings a whole new dimension and significance to the sun as the ancient Mayans used the blood of human sacrifices to strengthen the daily journey of the sun across the sky. The characters of the poems are ‘creatures’ of a nightmarish world. It is only upon realising that the creatures are meant to be us—we modern humans—that the fragments of society, held up to us as a mirror of ourselves through the experience of the author, become familiar.Robert Duncan, a poet from Morrison’s era, in a passage reminiscent of Morrison’s credo of ‘wake up’ and the paradoxical consequence of his (Morrison’s) beliefs, perhaps best sums up the poet’s meaning and reason for creating such a world: It is in the dream itself that we seem entirely creatures, without imagination, as if moved by a plot or myth told by a story-teller who is not ourselves. Wandering and wondering in a foreign land or struggling in the meshes of a nightmare, we cannot escape the compelling terms of the dream unless we wake, anymore than we can escape the terms of our living reality unless we die.Later in his life, as a more mature and serious writer, Morrison attempted to awaken from his own ‘ living reality, ’ he had become very aware of the naivete of his early work. He reflects on the significance of some of his early ideas and acknowledges the limits of his experience and youthful literary talents in terms of an expression of his life, art, and as a ‘prophetic’ poet: I think in art, but especially in films, people are trying to confirm their own existence. Somehow things seem more real if they an be photographed and you can create a semblance of life on the screen. But those little aphorisms that make up most of The Lords — if I could have said it any other way, I would have. They tend to be mulled over. I take a few seriously. I did most of that book when I was at the film school at UCLA. It was really a thesis on film esthetics. I wasn’t able to make films then, so all I was able to do was think about them and write about them, and it probably reflects a lot of that.A lot of passages in it — for example about shamanism — turned out to be very prophetic several years later because I had no idea when I was writing that, that I’d be doing just that. The motif of the city in Morrison's poetry is as surrealistic as it is symbolic in the strange juxtapositions of vivid imagery, symbol, and metaphors of human consciousness. The truth is, one can never truly understand the mind of the American Poet. We are here, humbled by grandeur of his work, basking in the shadow of a creative mind we cannot comprehend.I have based my life's work off the poetry this one man has sent left behind, and here is my humble attempt to make a third person understand, not the poetry, but what I took away from it. I have reached a point in life where I feel the need to broaden my horizons, to move on from my never ending obsession with Morrison and his words, so I write these words not to have them read or heard, but as a rite of passage. Goodbye Jim Morrison, and thank you for every thing. I shall forever be waiting at the harbor for t he one day when the Crystal Ship comes in. Forever waiting for one last word to the world, from Mister Mojo Rising.

Pablo Membreno

The plaintiff Pablo Membreno was a citizen of Honduras, who worked as an oiler on the ships owned by Costa Crociere, S. p. A (Costa), which was an Italian company whose headquarters were in Genoa, Italy. Costa fully owned another company Carnival Corporation, panama. Carnival Corporation was operating in Miami, Florida. Costa had no land – based offices in the United States. Membreno was hired on contract by Cruise Ships Catering & Service International, N. V. (CSCS), Netherlands Antilles, to work onboard Costa Atlantica, which began its cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.While the ship was in international waters, Membreno injured his wrist in the course of his work. The plaintiff claimed that despite having reported the matter to the supervisor and the ship’s doctor, he had not been given medical treatment. Five days later, his contract was completed and he disembarked from the ship. In Honduras a surgeon diagnosed Membreno with Kinnock’s disease and recommen ded surgery. Membreno sought a second opinion in Miami from an orthopedic surgeon, who performed surgery on the plaintiff’s wrist.He also received physical therapy. Procedural History: Membreno filed a case in the Southern District Court of Florida seeking redress for his damage. The number of defendants in the case was four but later reduced to two upon a consensus of the parties to the case. Costa and CSCS invoked the doctrine of forum non conveniens to move the court for a dismissal. The district court dismissed the case and Membreno appealed in the Eleventh Circuit Court. Issues legal question:The legal issues raised were whether or not the plaintiff could seek redressal in US courts for an injury that had occurred in international waters, the area of applicability of the Jones Act and the General Maritime Laws and whether such actions could be dismissed on the grounds of forum non conveniens. Broad holding: The Jones Act and the General Maritime Laws apply only within th e territorial waters of the United States and the plaintiff will be precluded from filing suit at the location of a subsidiary company. Narrow holding:The district court rejected the application of the plaintiff seeking redress on the basis that he was injured in the international waters and the Florida company was merely a subsidiary company. Doctrinal Reasoning: In Szumlicz v. Norwegian Am. Line, Inc the court had held that if the laws of the United States were not applicable, then the action should be dismissed on the grounds of forum non conveniens (Szumlicz v Norwegian Am. Line, Inc, 1983). In Lauritzen v. Larsen, the Supreme Court laid down a set of eight factors to be satisfied.These factors are the place of the wrongful act, the national flag under which the ship was sailing, the domicile of the injured party, the dwelling place of the ship owner, the location where the parties had entered into the agreement, the approachability of a foreign forum, the law of the forum and t he place of operations of the ship owner (Lauritzen v. Larsen, 1953 ). In the present case, six conditions had been in the favor of the defendants and as such the defendants had argued that the United States law was not applicable to the plaintiff.Policy Reasoning: The district court had properly interpreted and applied the doctrine of forum non conveniens in this case and the Eleventh Circuit Court upheld the decision of the district court. Miscellaneous: There was no difference of opinion between the presiding judges and the decision was unanimous. References Lauritzen v. Larsen, 345 U. S. 571 (1953 ). Szumlicz v Norwegian Am. Line, Inc, 698F. 2d 1192 (11th Circuit Court 1983).

Global Marketing

Introduction and Company Background Tesco PLC is the largest British retailer in terms of both global sales and domestic market share with profits that exceed ? 3 billion. Currently, the company is the third largest after Wal-Mart and Carrefour in terms of revenue but only second to Wal-Mart in terms of profits. The company has diversified its market target into clothing, food, financial services, drink, home, car insurance, telecoms and health. Jack Cohen founded Tesco PLC in 1919 in East London and the company has grown over the years and now has a 30.9% market share in the United Kingdom which makes it the largest retailer in the UK (Applegate & Johnsen, 2007, p. 128). The core business of the company is large format food stores and other convenience items. It operates under four banners namely, Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. This report analyses the critical marketing issues that is facing Tesco PLC. It will explore the global marketing strategies being pursued by the company and attempt to draw comparisons between its approach and appropriate theoretical concepts and models. The study will also evaluate whether the model being used by the company is still relevant in the current marketing practice or not. The study will rely on the following methodology in the analysis.External environmental analysisTesco Plc operates in an industry that is dominated by two other companies in the global business environment. Its main competitors are Wal-Mart and Carrefour who have a huge base of loyal customers. The external environment will be analysed using the STEEPLED model in order to assess the ethics and demographic factors in the analysis.Political FactorsTesco Plc now operates in Europe, Asia and North America and as such its performance is a function of legislative and political conditions of all the countries it operates in including the European Union. The company is affected by employment legislations as most governments encourage retailers to provide mixed job opportunities from low pay ing unskilled to the well paying high skilled jobs (McLoughlin & Aaker 2010, p. 53). The operations of the company are therefore highly sensitive to the political environment. For instance in Malaysia the government passed legislations that limit the number of stores the company can operate in the country. Tesco Plc employs the local people especially at the lower and middle management levels, pays taxes and complies with the local laws to ensure that its operations are not hindered by such factors.Economic FactorsThe economic factors affect the costs, demand, prices and profits of Tesco Plc. High unemployment levels and difficult economic times reduces the ability of households to purchase products and as such affects the demand required for the company to produce such goods (Pradhan 2009, p. 88). The company cannot control such external factors but they have profound impacts on its performance and the marketing mix. It is still highly depended on its core business in the United Ki ngdom and as such any economic slowdowns in the country can grossly affect it because it is exposed to the risks of market concentration. It is for this reason that the company is focused on growing its presence in the international market in order to raise its revenue base.Socio-Cultural FactorsThe British customers have increasingly developed more preference for one stop bulk shopping because of a variety of social changes. Tesco Plc has therefore increased the amount of non-food items in its stores so as to be able to take advantage of the opportunity. The company also offers a wide range of products that cater for the different diverse needs of people of the customers. Attitudes, beliefs and social conditioning often determine the type of goods and services demanded by the consumers (Richter 2012, p. 61). Additionally, the consumers are increasingly becoming aware of their health issues which change their attitudes towards food. Tesco Plc has had to adopt its marketing mix in or der to accommodate the increased demand for organic products. It was also the first to allow customers to make payments using cheques and cash at the checkout.DemographicsThe demographic changes in the UK population like aging population and more female workers mean that there is a decline in home meal preparation in the country. The company has increased food supply in its stores in order to satisfy the needs of such customers. The same approach is replicated in its international stores as it provides the local foods like whale meat in Japan and other foods in Malaysia and South Korea (Cunningham & Harney 2012, p. 90).Technological FactorsMany products of the company have of the company have been influenced by technology. Technology is therefore a major macro environmental factor that benefits both the company and the customers (Baines et al 2013, p. 77). The customers are satisfied through more personalised and convenient shopping while the company benefits through the development of an efficient supply chain.Environmental FactorsCompanies are currently facing increased pressure to acknowledge their responsibility to the society. The companies are required to operate in a way that benefits the society (Bradley 2005, p. 33). Tesco has been accused of selling genetically modified foods to children. The focus of the corporate social responsibility of the company is to comply with regulations and its corporate governance policy.Legal FactorsTesco Plc is required to comply with the different policies and legislations of the countries in which it has operations. For example in Malaysia it faced restrictions that limit its expansion in the country. The company has lowered the prices of some goods to comply with the pricing policies of different countries in which it has business operations. Internal Environmental AnalysisAlthough Tesco PLC has operations in different countries across the world, its core operations are in the United Kingdom which accounts for over 6 0% of its sales. This study will use different theoretical models in analysing the external environment of the company. The company continuously upgrades its ordering system, in- store processes and vendor list to improve the efficiency of its operations. It uses information technology to maintain its low priced leadership approach to supply chain management. The EPRG framework will be used to analyse Tesco PLC foreign marketing involvement. The company has to re-orient itself and align its operations to fit into the different levels of operational activities that a particular market segment requires. The EPRG framework assesses four types of orientation of a firm towards foreign marketing. It is very useful in helping companies asses and determine their operational strategies as it relates closely to the marketing mix. The strategies chosen by the company for each variable determines its overall operational strategy. The table below shows the EPRG analysis and marketing mix of Tes co PLC.ProductThe products of Tesco PLC are a mix of ethnocentric and regiocentric. The products that the company sells do not fit into all its market segments. Instead it sells products that are suitable for the respective regions in order to maximise sales (Thoenig & Waldman 2007, p. 111). The international expansion of the company takes into account the different tastes of the respective market segments. For instance it devoted a very big attention to the needs of the customers while venturing into the central European market as is reflected in the product line (Glowik & Smyczek 2011, p. 117). In the Czech Republic the company concentrated on providing the Czech products through retail shops. The same goes to China where the local consumers prefer buying live fish and turtles and other instant noodles unlike in the European market. Tesco PLC had to provide these products to the Chinese market in order to attract the Chinese customers. The other example is in Thailand where the co mpany had to adapt to the shopping habits of the Thai customers by introducing the fresh market hall to serve the interests of these customers who spent a huge proportion of their income on fresh foods. These new adjustments were introduced by the company to help it penetrate the new markets because some of these provisions are not available in its operations in the United Kingdom. The website of the company is also translated into the languages of the specific market segments to ensure that the prospective and existent customers get the latest information on the products on sale and offers if any. The other aspects of the company like online marketing and sales are consistently available in all the market segments.PromotionTesco PLC uses a mixture of both ethnocentric and polycentric promotional strategy. Although most of its promotional activities are those used in the United Kingdom, it also utilises the needs and characteristics of the particular market in formulating its promot ional strategies (Humby et al 2008, p.68). For example Tesco PLC implemented a strong plan for addressing parts of its offer to the customers in Thailand. The measures included remerchandising of its clubpack range of bulk products. It particularly targeted the small traders who shop regularly with the company. Another example is Poland where the company is launching a turnaround plan to improve its presentation of fresh food and is even introducing new concepts like bistro dining in order to differentiate itself from competition (Gunn 2009, p. 139). These plans are in some ways similar to the build better Tesco strategy being used in the United Kingdom but are a little adjusted to best serve the interests of the local market.PriceTesco PLC pursues a predominantly polycentric pricing approach in its international markets. The company attempts to organise its marketing activities based on the specific countries of operation (Humby et al 2008, p. 198). It treats each country different ly and formulates strategies that suit the specific local needs of the consumers. As such the prices of its products vary across different market segments depending on demand, income levels and demographics. For instance having had a difficult time in Ireland, the company launched pricing initiatives aimed at combating discounters and counter the lower prices offered by its competitors. The company reduced the prices in the stores particularly those close to the Irish border and has plans of extending the same to the rest of its stores in the country in the long run. The same low pricing strategy was also used by the company in Malaysia in order to attract more customers. In the other markets like England and Poland the prices are a little higher because they are sustainable for those market segments. In essence, Tesco PLC tries to ensure that the products and their prices fit into the demands of that particular market segment in question.PeopleThe management orientation of Tesco P LC has elements of both geocentric and polycentric influence. The global expansion of the company has been accompanied by teams that focus on both global and local markets. Its international expansion strategy has mainly been through joint ventures with the local partner firms in order to be sensitive to the needs of the local markets (Maynard 2013, p. 33). The company retains the employees of the partnering firms and continues with the approach of employing the local people because they are well placed to serve the needs of the local consumers. These local personnel are maintained by the company especially in the middle and low management positions because they are better placed to serve the needs of the local market than the foreign expatriates.Place and ProcessThe process of Tesco PLC is a mix of polycentric and geocentric. The company has adopted a global approach in some of its operations as it has designed its value chain in a manner that ensures that it minimises its operati onal costs. For instance when it came apparent that it was critical to reduce the prices of products in its stores in Ireland, Tesco PLC decided to drop its suppliers in the country in preference for favourable ones elsewhere. The management of the company has established its distribution channels to facilitate the movement of its products across the different regional and national markets (Zentes et al 2011, p.173). The process of the company also has some elements of polycentric approach because it uses some strategies based on particular countries. For instance in Asia it treats all the countries differently based their product demands are different making it impossible for the company to use the geocentric approach.As such it acquires the products from the local suppliers and uses local marketing channels for serving the needs of that particular market segment. The polycentric approach has helped the company penetrate into difficult markets like Malaysia, China and South Korea as these countries have significant political, economic and cultural differences with the United Kingdom (Zentes et al 2011, p. 45). The products of the company are sold in its stores which it rents in the major malls and shopping centres whenever it finds space or builds its own stores in cases where that is the best option for the market segment. The place can be said to be polycentric because the products are mostly in the big cities where there are many consumers with the ability to buy its products. The polycentric approach enables the company to strategically position itself in the markets in order to reach as many customers as possible.Proactive Market ResearchThe uses a polycentric approach in research and new product development because the needs of its customers in the different market segments are very diverse. In addition to this, some market segments like the American market have big industrial players like Wal-Mart who have a large base of loyal customers making it di fficult to venture into such markets with an ethnocentric approach.Proliferation of the BrandThe products of the company are standardised around the world to ensure that they are distinct and meet the required company standards.TOWS ANALYSIS of Tesco PlcThe TOWS analysis will be used to analyse both the internal and external factors in order to provide a holistic view of the position and direction of the company. The figure below shows a combination of the TOWS analysis that combines the DEEPLETERS analysis with the competitive advantages and EPRG model. INTERNAL STRENGTHS O Strong global brand and high brand exposure O Strong core UK market O Strong and stable growth in Asia O Financially sound O Variety of products to appeal to different consumersINTERNAL WEAKNESES OEthnocentric reliance on the UK market OStagnant or negative sales in some developed countries OHigh price elasticity due to competition and low costs of customers switching to other brands and loyalty OResistance to large firms in some countries EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES SO OContinue entering appropriate markets across the globe OContinue building on cost efficient pricing to attract more customers OGo into new markets and buy local retailers to gain market shareWO OExplore ways of reducing their operational costs in order to reduce prices for the consumers OIncrease the efficiency of its business process and supply chain OCapitalise on the opportunities present in the developing world by opening more stores there EXTERNAL THREATS OIncreased competition from other well established brands OPolitical and legal opposition against expansion in some economies OContracting consumer expenditures in Europe that reduce the demand for the non-basic goods OEconomic reforms may threaten multinationals like the finances and operations of Tesco Plc ST ORemain ahead of its competitors in terms of research and innovation in order to give the customers what they want OContribute to the society in which it operates to limit the political and legal barriers that inhibit its growthWT OIncrease the awareness of the brand through advertisement OWithdraw from the markets that are not performing well and use the funds to support other operations of the company The above analysis reveals that the company is on the right path as it has enacted mechanisms that will help it capitalise on its strengths and address its weaknesses. For instance the company has closed some of its international businesses that are not performing well like in the United States to reduce on loses. The company has also increased its operations in China and is focused in strengthening its presence in the emerging economies in Asia. Additionally, it is employing more local people and complying with the local regulations to reduce opposition against its operations in some economies.Opportunity IdentificationAnalysis of opportunity identification will be done using the BCG Matrix. The Boston Consulting Group Matrix (BCG) is important in analysing how companies allocate resources (Maynard 2013, p.81). The matrix splits the products of the company into four categories that determine how much money the company should invest in them. The categories are as follows: Cash cows should be used by the company for profits as much as possible Stars should receive investments so that they become the next cash cows Dogs have low share of market growth and should be sold as they depress the performance of the company Question marks have low share of high growth market and have the potential of becoming stars or dogs. The high street shops of the company are the cash cows. Tesco Plc has approximately 30% of market share in this division although the growth of the division has been very slow. The online operations of the company are the stars. The company is the largest online grocer in the United Kingdom. Tesco Plc should make more investments in this sector to improve its online offering because e-commerce is growing rapidly. The question marks of the company include video on demand service and blinkbox which face high competition from the big industrial players. The company should decide on the appropriate level of investments needed for turning this division into star. The Fresh and Easy operation in the United States was a dog and that is why the company decided to pull out of the country.Positioning/ targetingThe targeting strategy of Tesco Plc includes people of all ages and it offers a wide range of products to meet the demands of the customers. The company focuses on the specifications of products that are close to those of the rival companies in order to try and win customers from such companies. For instance it offers fresh and unreserved goods because people spend more money buying fresh products. In addition to product specifications, the company also prices its products fairly to attract more customers because households are very sensitive to price. Conclusion The findings of this study reveal that the strategies being pursued by Tesco Plc in its international expansion are in line with strategic models. The company identifies the opportunities present in the business environment and then devises the strategies for exploiting them. It has also adopted entry strategies like joint ventures and acquisitions for expanding into the international market. Such approach has helped the company expand its distribution network and win over the local markets by giving the customers a local approach. The company has also closed down the international businesses that are not doing well in the United States and Japan to reduce on loses and help it focus on other profitable markets. The company must continue to exploit the potential emerging markets and also looks for mechanisms of outdoing its major competitors. References Applegate, E., & Johnsen, A. (2007). Cases in advertising and marketing management: Real situations for tomorrow’s managers. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Baines, P., Fill, C., & Page, K. (2013). Essentials of marketing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bradley, F. (2005). International marketing strategy. New York: FT/Prentice Hall. Cunningham, J., & Harney, B. (2012). Strategy & strategists. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Glowik, M., & Smyczek, S. (2011). International marketing management: Strategies, concepts and cases in Europe. Mu?nchen: Oldenbourg. Gunn, M. (2009). Trading regime analysis: The probability of volatility. Chichester, England: Wiley. Humby, C., Hunt, T., & Phillips, T. (2008). Scoring Points: How Tesco Continues to Win Customer Loyalty. London: Kogan Page. Maynard, J. (2013). Financial accounting, reporting, and analysis. Oxford: Oxford university press McLoughlin, D., & Aaker, D. A. (2010). Strategic market management: Global perspectives. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Pradhan, S. (2009). Retailing management: Text and cases. New Delhi, India: Tata Mcgraw-Hill Education Pvt. Ltd. Richter, T. (2012). International marketing mix management: Theoretical framework, contingency factors and empirical findings from world-markets. Berlin: Logos. Thoenig, J.-C., & Waldman, C. (2007). The marking enterprise: Business success and societal embedding. Basingstoke [England: Palgrave Macmillan. Zentes, J., Morschett, D., & Schramm-Klein, H. (2011). Strategic retail management: Text and international cases. Wiesbaden: Gabler. Appendix Ethnocentric Polycentric Regiocentric Geocentric EthnocentricProliferation of the Brand Promotionproduct Polycentric Price / place/ Proactive Market Research Regiocentric Geocentric People / process Global Marketing Fairmont Hotels and Resorts (Fairmont) is operating and competing in the hospitality industry, which has been affected vastly by the impact of global financial crisis, terrorist attacks, globalisation of the hospitality and tourism industry, the uncertainty surrounding the sovereign dept of some countries in EU, development of emerging markets, the rapid dissemination of global lifestyles and other economic and political uncertainties in the past few years.Fairmont is also affected by technological innovation as well as other broad macro environmental trends. This essay will examine the most recent trends of global macro environmental factors that are likely to have the most significant impact on the hospitality industry and more precisely on Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. First a brief overview of the Fairmont and its position in a current international hospitality market will be given. After this the nature and impact of global macro environmental variables will be explored. Company history Fairmont Hotels and Resorts (Fairmont) is the largest of the brands in the Fairmont Raffles Hotels International group and by combing three distinct brands: the Raffles, Swissotel and Fairmont portfolios and has become a truly global hotel company with 91 hotels worldwide. More than 65 hotels of Fairmont in Canada, United States, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, and Mexio, Carribean and Bermuda, sit between the upper scale and luxury travel market. They also have one of the largest collections of storied properties in the world with well known addresses in the portfolio including The Savoy in London, the Fairmont Banff Springs, and New York’s The Plaza. The average age of the guest is 47, down about 8 years in the last decade. Fairmont hotels target diverse market segments, for example Fairmont’s clientele has been split almost evenly between group (above 45%) and transient business (around 55%), and almost evenly between leisure and usiness travellers. However, their core customer is the luxury mid-aged traveller. Fairmont hotels are one-of-a-kind properties where sophisticated travellers can discover culturally rich experiences that are authentic to the destination. Situated in some of the most exclusive and pristine areas in the world, Fairmont is committed to responsible tourism and is an industry leader in sustainable hotel management with its award-winning Green Partnership program. What are global macro environmental variables? As Doole and Lowe (2008) state: â€Å"The environments in which international companies must operate is typically characterised by uncertainty and change – factors which, taken together, increase the element of risk for international marketing managers†. As many authors argue the global macro environmental factors are something beyond the companies influence, and must be treated as non-controllable variables. The five major global macro environmental factors, as denoted by Lancaster et al. (2002), Kotler et al. 2005) and Reid and Bojanic (2010) among the other authors, marketing managers often examine and which affect all organisation are: demographic, economic, political/legal, socio-cultural and technological factors. However, Lancaster et al. (2002) suggest if businesses are able to identify and react to these factors quickly enough they would be able to be part of changes occurring and take market leading position instead of being forced into market followers position or worst case being unable to prosper and survive as an international business in the global competition. Yet the macro environmental variables as suggested by mainstream theorists (Lancaster et al. 2002, Kotler et al. 2005, Doole and Lowe 2008, Kotabe and Helsen 2008, Palmer 2008, Reid and Bojanic 2010) needs to be managed through marketing planning process; threats must be minimised and opportunities maximised. For Fairmont, as an international hotel the issue to keep in mind is that hospitality industry is in a â€Å"fast moving environment† as well as their product they sell is perishable when considering changes in marketing strategy or tactics. Thus they face more complex and changing environments where they operate and compete than other industries. In order to survive and prosper, the essential is to take account of, and adapt to, fast changing environmental conditions. To see and take advantage of marketing opportunities while at the same time anticipating any threats to their business. By indentifying environmental trends soon enough, management should be able, at least in part, to anticipate where such trends are leading and what future conditions are likely to result from such changes. (Lancaster et al. 2002, Palmer 2008). Explain how changes in the socio-cultural environment affect marketing decisions The UK population will rebalance by 2015 – families will be the most prevalent group, and the retired will have increased in number fastest. One-person households are set to increase fastest into 2015, following the trend witnessed into 2010. Emerging markets where social exposure and status are important along with the rising income and relatively wealthy middle class. Mainly affect young people who have an above average need for social acceptance, and international travellers, who are exposed to multicultural values. Fairmont target market age group younger than used to be †¦. Embracing social media is a key way to reach customers. â€Å"We could never have predicted the explosion of social media,† Laboy said. And yes, â€Å"you can have meaningful customer engagement via Twitter. † Hoteliers need to consider mobile tagging as a way to offer promotions to customers, he said. †¢Ethical challenges and the Green movement On one hand provides opportunities to connect to customers and employees. On the other hand Western consumers choosing brands look for reassurance that the product has been produced in what they see as a socially responsible manner. On the basis of ensuring products and ingredients came from authentic source of supply which did not leave to the destruction of the environment and that they are free from child slavery and that the people that make them are able to earn a proper living wage. Consumers globally are becoming better informed through better education and faster and more effective communication. Now firms are increasingly expected to ensure that their behavior is ethical and in the interests of the global community which makes up their market. However, international marketing executives operating across cultures will find themselves facing moral and ethical dilemmas on a daily basis on a wide range of issues. Some of those currently receiving particular attention are bribery and corruption, counterfeiting and piracy. Explain how changes in the economic environments affect marketing decisions The international hotel industry has shown signs of recovery in the first half of 2010 according to the bi-annual hotel survey conducted by Hogg Robinson Group (HRG). HRG’s interim survey is based on a combination of industry intelligence, actual room nights booked and rates paid by its UK clients during January to June 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. Globally, the hotel industry has shown signs of recovery in the first half of 2010 when compared to the same period in 2009. Although the survey reveals a fragmented global picture, the hotel market in Europe and the US appears to be stabilising, as rates are either flat or only marginally down. The emerging market economies of India and China have shown strong upturns in growth over the last six months. Year-on-year economic growth in Q2 2010 was 7. 9% and 10. 3% in India and China respectively and the resurgence in economic activity has helped to prop up room rates. Growth in both economies will begin to ease over the next year as central banks begin to raise interest rates to address inflationary pressures. In contrast though, the Middle East region recorded the highest rate decrease, with double digit falls in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. Many western economies are coming to terms with the budget cuts necessary to reduce sovereign debt levels which will inevitably soften room rate growth. Dynamic emerging economies have less need to take fiscal austerity measures in the current climate and we expect growth to be higher as a result. However, the survey shows that emerging economies have not, as of yet, fully recovered from the effects of the global economic downturn. In the UK, growth prospects are buoyed by a weak sterling which continues to support tourism and leisure travel. In addition, the ongoing recovery of the banking and finance sector will contribute to corporate demand for rooms. There are, however, significant downside risks to growth in the market emerging from future cuts in public spending Belfast and Beijing both suffer from an oversupply of hotels, the latter having experienced massive investment in recent years from major players keen to build a presence in this emerging market. Bangalore, a city reliant on business travel associated with the IT industry and call centres, is a classic example of a market ‘popping’ as it has seen rates fall as a result of a drop in demand due to the global recession coupled with significant new hotel openings which have led to a current oversupply of rooms. Services apartments have grown in popularity and some of the IT industry has relocated to other areas in India. The 5 star market achieved a marginal increase of 1%. Whilst there has undoubtedly been a trend for corporates to turn to the 4 and even 3 star sectors in the current climate, hoteliers in this sector have held out for rates at the expense of lower occupancy levels, conscious that any significant rate reduction has an adverse effect on service levels as costs are brought in line, resulting in damage to a hotel’s reputation for quality and standards. Reflecting the need for cost reduction, clients are downgrading between the star ratings as well as continually reviewing their programmes and renegotiating rates where possible. In the 3 and 4 star markets average rates have decreased as suppliers strive to maintain their share of the corporate market. We continue to believe that budget options are not always the cheapest option when the add-on costs are taken into account. Mintel The UK officially exited recession in the fourth quarter of 2009. GDP rose 0. 4%, subsequently increasing 0. % in the first quarter of 2010 then 1. 1% in the second quarter. While fears of a ‘double dip’ recession have eased somewhat, consumer confidence has remained weak as Britain has entered an ‘age of austerity’. Economic growth in Europe remains weak relative to other regions; Euro zone GDP grew year/on/year by 0. 6% in Q1 2010, compared to growth on 1. 2% in Japan and 2. 7% in the US over the same period (Hogg Robinson Group 2010). Global hotel sales are expected to increase 30-40% in 2011, according to hotel investment services company Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. 009 was characterised by frozen liquidity, stalled transactions and drops in hotel performance and values globally, this year signalled a dramatic improvement, with more opportunities for buyers. The number of hotel sales is forecast to continue to rise substantially in 2011, reaching a value of $28 billion (? 18 billion) to $30 billion (? 19. 3 billion). ASPAC has seen strong growth this year. However, overbuilding in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are dragging down levels in the Middle East and Africa. Every region except ASPAC saw a rise in September, but a dip in October. ASPAC remained strong in October. ASPAC is one of White’s bright spots. She sees that market growing by 10-12% in 2011. Other areas showing strong growth this year are Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. She sees occupancy will increase by 3-5 %, ADR by 4-5% and overall RevPAR by 6-9%. Looking at specific RevPARs, ASPAC will increase 10-14%; Europe, 7-9%; the Americas, 6-9%; and the Middle East and Asia, 3-6%. VAT Emerging markets Fairmont regional growth is driven by Middle East markets such as the UAE, Egypt and increasingly Saudi Arabia, as well as growing numbers of Gulf travelers that stay at its properties in the United States, Europe and Asia. The Middle East, despite being impacted by the global downturn, still shows resilience over the past year with revenue dropping less than other regions, industry figures showed. Saudi Arabia has a large critical mass, huge influx of travelers, the built in demand drivers, and it helps us support our partnerships with our shareholders. It is the world’s top oil exporter, is developing its tourism sector to lower dependence on oil and hosts an estimated 10 million Muslim pilgrims every year. The 14 planned hotels will be all under the Fairmont brand. Fairmont is likely to also add hotels in Qatar, the world’s top exporter of liquefied natural gas, whose economy is booming and hosting World Cup in 12 years time†¦(Walid 2010) Explain how changes in the political/legal environments affect marketing decisions Identify the major trends in the firm’s technological environments Broadband penetration continues to increase, even amongst the groups already most likely to have access. 200 mph train from London to Frankfurt arriving in 2013 + opening new markets bringing closer international trade†¦ In a world moving more and more towards globalization, hotel organizations ill need to communicate more quickly, operate more productively, offer their employees greater opportunity and deliver their customers enhanced benefits. Those companies that address these issues today will be better prepared for the global marketplace of tomorrow. Conclusion Fairmont competes in the strongly competitive hotel and lodging industry, focusing on the first class and luxury segments of the markets. Fairmont is impacted by change in the overall travel, tourism and hospitality industries as well as broader macro-environmental trends.Bibliography http://www.amadeus.com/amadeus/goldrush2020.html http://www.arabianbusiness.com/ fairmont-sees-14-more-hotels-in-mideast-by-2014-184514.html