Genetically Modified Crops are harmful to the enviorment Essay

Genetically Modified Crops are harmful to the enviorment - Essay Example In reality, GMO crops are an invasive species and harmful to the natural environment. Numerous anti-GMO technology activists have come up to condemn the use of GMO within the ecological environment. The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT Para. 1-10) has provided a biased analysis to the use of GMO crop in the natural environment discouraging the public in the agricultural sector to maintain a firm ground against the use of such crops. One of the reasons why the IRT discourages the proliferation of this technology is the fact that the growth of genetically engineered crops has negative permanent impacts on the environment. For instance, when cross pollination takes place, this species of crop will be spread into the environment and will exist there forever. Resultantly, this species will be propagated within the environment, reducing the number of natural crops existing in the natural ecosystem. The fact that GMO crops are superior in terms of production and the rapid growth ra te, it is not in order for this science to eliminate the natural species within the environment. In this light, GMO crops will hurt the environment by reducing the number of natural plants in existence. The IRT (Para. 3) provides statistical evidence to support its argument against the growth of GMO crops. Surveys conducted in the agriculture industry between 1996 and 2009 show that farmers who grow GMO foods have an increased usage of herbicides every year. The reason underlying this fact is that when weed resistant crops are developed, weeds undergo a genetic mutation forming new inexistent weed species. These â€Å"super weeds† are resistant to ordinary herbicides and demand more concentrated forms of chemicals. In the US, GMO crop growers experienced an increase in the cost of chemicals by about $300 million within a period of 12 years. This implies that the natural soils are concentrated with more chemicals increasing its toxicity levels. This is contrary to the proponen ts of this technology who argue that the use of genetically modified crops reduces the use of herbicides. The strength of IRT on the negative environmental impacts of these crops to the environment can be attributed to the statistical evidence that accompanies it. A third argument against the use of the adoption of the genetic modification technology in the agricultural sector is that this technology is a killer of bio-diversity. According to IRT (Para. 4), the proliferation of the GMO technology will hurt the entire bio species and may lead to extinction of even the most endangered species. The genetic modification technology uses lethal chemicals that have long term outstanding impacts on the environment. As these chemicals flow to the water bodies during rainy seasons, they will cause a great risk to the fish, amphibians and all water creatures in the water sources. Equally, all living species that consume GMO crops or water species will be at high risk of infection with untreata ble diseases. For instance, chemicals such as roundup that are used to develop weed resistant crops are cancerous and pose the risk of death to human beings. In essence, adoption of GMO technology will put the entire ecological system in danger including the creator of this technology. Carrington (Para. 1) is among the scholars who have evaluated the other side of the coin as regards the impact of GMO crops

My Philosophy of Nursing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

My Philosophy of Nursing - Term Paper Example It is this dependence that brings in the essential human touch to the relation between the patient and the nurse. Even as a nurse discharges professional duties, he or she is not immune to the physical and mental condition of the patient, his craving for care/regaining normal health/fears about death/worldly concerns etc., or personal issues that concern the nurse himself / herself. Therefore, nursing profession is impacted by the customer conditions and subjectivity. Philosophically speaking, a phenomenological approach of Husserl helps us to come to correct view on any given situation by identifying the surrounding facts and avoiding predetermined notions, in other words, objectivity as opposed to subjectivity (caring-matters, 2009). A care-giver has to provide service objectively eliminating subjective issues and keeping at arms length any issue that may give rise to moral or ethical conflicts. According to Crigger, â€Å"The discovery of conflict of interest relationships also negatively impact patient and public trust. Many disciplines are addressing this professional issue, but little work has been done towards understanding and applying this moral category within a nursing context† (Crigger, 2009). Conflict of interest arises when the care-giver is in a position of willfully causing harm to a patient’s life, either due to force of circumstances and/or for personal gain. To conclude, ethical and moral considerations of nursing profession demand that a nurse does nothing that would even remotely attach a stigma of negligence or of personal gain in the process of caring for a patient. Crigger, N.J., â€Å"Towards understanding the nature of conflict of interest and its application to the discipline of nursing†, Nursing Philosophy, Issue 10, Volume 4, (pp. 253-262), Available at:

Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin - Research Paper Example This story was written at a time when interracial relationships were not accepted by the society. When Armand noticed that the baby has African-American blood, he instantly came to his own conclusion of Desiree’s family heritage. The story ends with a deserving lesson for Armand. Desiree who was abandoned at birth was adopted by the Valmondes. She later on gets married to Armand Aubigny. Initially they have a happy married life. They seemed to be a devoted couple and then eventually Desiree gives birth to a son. When Madame Valmonde came to see the child, she found something unusual about him but was soon relieved when Desiree exclaimed how proud Armand was of his son. When the baby was three months old, Desiree and Armand realise that the skin colour of the baby is similar to that of a quadroon boy which means he has the blood of African-American. Since the family background of Desiree was not known, Armand immediately came to the conclusion that she has mixed blood. An instant change crept within Armand as he began to mistreat his slaves and also distanced himself from his wife and son and â€Å"when he spoke to her, it was with averted eyes, from which the old love-light seemed to have gone out†. When Armand refused to listen to the denials of Desi ree, she was requested by Madame Valmonde to return to the Valmonde estate. Even Armand insisted Desiree to take herself and her son away from him. Then Desiree leaves with her child and walks off into a bayou. She was never seen again. Armand then burns all belongings of Desiree and the baby including all her letters to him. Among the letters there was one letter which was written by his mother to his father and this letter revealed the fact that Armand himself was of mixed blood. (Chopin, n.d) In this story the final fate of Desiree remained ambiguous. It was not clear whether she along with her son embraced death or whether she chose to live to bring up the baby away from Armand. One author James Trotman in his book mentions about the irony in Armand’s character. His own racial heritage was not clear to him, but still he rejected his wife and son after concluding that they are not worthy of him. When his mother’s letter revealed his own black ancestry, his own views on racism becomes pathetic. Before he noticed the skin colour of the baby, he was devoted to his wife and the baby. After he realised the mixed blood status of the baby he began to believe that â€Å"Almighty God had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him†. He now considered Desiree unfit to be his wife. Trotman also analyses Armand’s views on black and white women. Armand most probably had relationship with a black woman called La Blanche with whom he had a son because of the baby’s likeness to La Blanche’s son. For Armand, La Blanche was valuable only as servant and sexual partner because she was black. For him, Desiree had the right to give birth to his heir because of her white skin. When Desiree failed to meet his expectations, he discarded her with no second thoughts. All his love for her evaporated because of his own notions on racism. In a male dominated society Desiree’s life gets ruined after being abandoned by her husband. As a woman she b ecomes legally powerless because she has no right to accuse Armand. (Trotman, 2002, pp.131,132). In the end Desiree leaves with her baby and her whereabouts remain a mystery. It will be prudent to speculate that she might have settled in some other place where racial prejudice is not so much a curse. As a mother she might have thought of her son who is totally innocent and so deserves to lead a long and happy life. There is a book by Christopher Benfey which tells about the fate of Desiree. Armand becomes extremely angry on learning that his wife has borne him a mulatto child. The author without any doubt, concludes

The Effects of Robotics in Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Effects of Robotics in Industry - Essay Example Industrial robotic use has had an effect on the level of production and has affected the moral components of workers within the firms. Robotics has influences firms policy on human elements. The division of labor has been based on safety, complexity and the risk factors. Firms have chosen to design models that effectively increase their production and at the same time ensure safety within the working environments. Safety is a major concern to many firms. Industries have been subject to court dispute over compensation and other damages inflicted to employees. Firms have spent huge amount of resources in compensating employees. The utilization of robotics in the production line has had a positive impact on the running of different firms. Firms have reduced the risk factors involved while manufacturing. The limited use of human labor in high-risk units along the production line has positively improved production and reduces the number of accidents. The firm has been able to perform high-risk functions and maintain quality (Mathia, 2010). The human element is an important factor in production hence their safety needs to guarantee. The combined use of robotics and humans in industries has enhanced production. Safety being a major concern, firms Firms have been able to design models that improve quality and comply with the safety. The employee welfare is a major issue and safety is an essential com ponent while addressing welfare issues. A safe working environment would mean that employees produce at full capacity. The output of a given firm would depend upon the internal environment. The environmental factors in this case implies reduced accidents In this case, the use of robotics in the production line could positively influence production and ensure steady flow of work (Nof, 1999). The manufacturing industry requires a system that ensures productivity and complies with the existing

Organizational performance Essay Example for Free

Organizational performance Essay Todays society is diverse and rapidly changing and it is the organisations ability to adapt or be in fit with the external environment that will determine its overall performance. Ethical issues arise throughout all organisations daily activities but it is the continual debate about what is right or wrong that will shape ethical decision making now and for generations to come. This essay aims to investigate culture within the internal environment and how culture plays a role in an organisations ability to fit in with the environment. According to (Samson and Daft, 2003:80) the internal environment is composed of present employees, management and business culture. This essay will investigate how culture plays a role in the organisations overall success. In addressing the issue it will be shown how the external environment has changed in terms of how organisations are evaluated. How changing an organisations culture can help the organisation be in fit with the external environment and how the success of changing culture may depend on the level of employee moral development. It is argued that the organisations performance depends on a fit between the organisation and its external environment. Body Key point 1: How the external environment has changed in terms of how organisations are evaluated. The external environment has changed with respect to how organisations are evaluated today. According to ( Samson and Daft, 2003:79) the external environment is all elements existing outside the organisations limitations that have the possibility to affect the organisation. Companies around the world have started to realise that investors are not concerned exclusively with financial performance (Tschopp, 2003). The days of companies being  evaluated on their financial performance are gone and companies are now finding that they are being evaluated on a more overall perspective. Increasing the ethical obligations can help an organisation when adapting to the external environment. According to ( Samson and Daft, 2003:147) ethics is the code of honourable principles and standards that governs the behaviours of an individual or group with respect to what is correct or incorrect. If ethics is incorporated as part of the organisation this can lead to improvements in the workplace and towards society. The triple bottom line approach has been introduced as a way of achieving overall success both internally and externally throughout the organisation. Triple bottom line entails reporting on economic, social, and environmental issues. Corporate success should be considered not just by the traditional financial bottom line, but also by its social/ethical and environmental performance ( Samson and Daft, 2003). Triple bottom line has not only put the emphasis on managers to not only make a profit but to also consider the surrounding external environment that they could be affecting. Businesses now report annually on social and environmental performance as well as their financial performance because they know it provides a more complete measure of long-term value creation and strategic opportunity (Tuchman. J, 2004). Key Point 2: Organisations need to change to fit. They can do this by changing an organisations culture to fit in with the external environment. The external environment has altered and its the organisations ability to change to keep in touch with the external environment that determines its performance. One way an organisation can change to keep in contact with the environment is by altering its culture. According to (Samson and Daft. 2003: 94) culture is the knowledge, beliefs, values, behaviours and ways of viewing shared among members of a society. Organisational culture has been defined, in very simple but intuitive words, as the way we do things around here (Domenec, 2003). The notion that we can make others do what we want them to do by persuading them to want to do  it is one that has a long pedigree. This notion became formalised as an integrative view of organisation culture and became more ingrained after the publishing of the book In Search of Excellence in 1982 (Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., 1982) Moving towards greater corporate responsibility may require culture change or at least cultural re-enforcement. The fundamental values that exemplify cultures at these and other organisations can be understood through the noticeable manifestations of symbols, stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies. Any organisations culture can be interpreted by observing these factors (Samson and Daft, 2003:95). By incorporating symbols, stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies into an organisations culture they will be able to adapt to the changing external environment. According to (Samson and Daft, 2003:97) slogan is a phrase or sentence that succinctly expresses a key corporate value. Hungry Jacks for example has the slogan The burgers are better at Hungry Jacks. They have incorporated this slogan as part of their culture to try and separate them from the other competitors. By incorporating the different types of culture into and organisation, may change the way managers and employees think to incorporate social and natural environmental responsibilities into the workforce. Key Point 3: The success of changing culture may depend on the level of employee ethical development. The success of changing culture can depend on numerous factors but the level of employee ethical development plays a role. The three levels of personal moral development could pose a problem for employee ethical development. The theory developed by Kohlberg goes through the different stages of employee development from pre-conventional to post conventional. Starting at the pre-conventional level which focuses on right vs. wrong and the behaviour is on ones self to the conventional level which focuses on the  group rather then ones self. Then lastly Kohlbergs post-conventional level of individual development which focuses on abstract and self-chosen principles (Arnold and Lampe, 1999). Kohlbergs theory brings attention to the fact that if employees are going in different directions it can hinder the success of an organisation. If there are employees who are focusing on what is right vs. wrong and other employees who are following self chosen principles even though they know people hold different views. In this sense, the greatest danger to modern organisations is the betrayal of ambitious, selfish, untrustworthy people who care more for their own progression than the mission of the organisation (Domenec, 2003). Since each person is unique, each one can focus on personal accomplishment in very different ways (Domenec, 2003). Conclusion This essay investigated culture within the internal environment and how culture plays a role in an organisations ability to fit in with the environment. In support of this argument there has been evidence supported to show how organisations incorporate culture to be in fit with the changes of external environment. Organisations are finding that they are being evaluated not only on their financial status but also their social and environmental performance. This has meant that organisations have had to change their culture to compensate in the change in evaluation. An organisation culture can be observed through such factors as slogans and symbols which now have to coincide with the external environment. The success of the changing culture can depend on the level of employee ethical development and at what stage everyone is at. If an organisation is united and following the same path or views they may find greater overall success. Views that link an organisations culture with its performance seek to shape managers and employees understandings in a common and coherent direction (Kolter and Keskett, 1992). Bibliography: 1. Samson, D., Daft, R.L. (2003) Management: Pacific rim edition. Victoria: Thomson. 2. Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., In Search of Excellence: Lessons from Americas Best-Run Companies (New York: Warner Books, 1982), 3. Tuchman, J. 2004, Big Owners Balance Triple Bottom Line [online], Available from URL: http://www.enr.com/news/bizlabor/archives/040809-1.asp 4.

Hindrance to Effective Communication Essay Example for Free

Hindrance to Effective Communication Essay New technology such as smart phones should be a great asset and a powerful aid to helping us work more efficiently. We can respond to urgent emails on the go, refer to useful websites and look up quick facts. However, these gadgets, as well helping us, can also prove to be a hindrance providing information overload and constant interruptions. We receive so many emails and are exposed to so much information that it can be hard to distil what is actually important and what isn’t. We fill our brains with clutter and lose the ability to focus on our priorities and spend our time responding to trivial emails. We think we are multi-tasking but actually we are becoming less productive. We read each email but don’t always process the information we need. As a result, we risk irritating the sender by asking them to remind us what they said or to send the email again. More worryingly, we allow ourselves to be distracted from more important tasks by the seeming urgency of each email that comes in. This information overload doesn’t only impact the way we process information ourselves but can also have a negative impact on the way others perceive us. It is all too easy to give the impression that you are not listening to the other person. It can be quite obvious even on the telephone that you are distracted by your inbox rather than giving the speaker your full attention. In a face-to-face meeting, of course, it is only too apparent when the person you are talking to is distracted by their smart phone rather than focusing on the content of the meeting. In the past several years, texting and instant messaging have become phenomena that few of us have been able to escape. Though most popular with the younger generations, it is becoming increasingly common to see people of all ages absorbed in silent conversations on their cell phones. The availability of constant, instant communication makes many people feel connected to their friends in ways they never were before. But do these printed messages and instant responses help or hinder us socially? The instant messaging fad brought abbreviations such as LOL (Laugh Out Loud) and BRB (Be Right Back) into our language as commonly accepted words. The younger generations chatted happily in this new language while everyone else struggled to understand what BTW (By the Way) and IDK (I Dont Know) meant. This phenomenon spread over into texting as children as young as five received the latest models of cell phones to communicate with their friends and family. Though everyone with a cell phone is clearly well-connected to other people, the question remains whether engaging in such constant, abbreviated communication is a help or a hindrance in personal relationship skills. Over the past decade there has been a dramatic difference in the attitudes and communication styles of the younger generations, but how much of this change has been compounded by the lack of face to face communication advocated by the texting craze? There is no way to tell for certain whether texting and instant messaging have actually caused the breakdown of one-on-one, face-to-face communication with people, but I believe it has not helped. Instead of using cell phones as a mere communication tool, many young people view them as a necessity they could not possibly live without. We have all seen people glued to their phones, their fingers flying over the keys as they stand in line at the store, or are walk down the mall, and even frighteningly enough, while they are driving. In one case, a pair of girls walking together in the mall admitted that they were texting each other! I have even been engaged in a conversation with someone when they whipped out their phone to send a text message to someone else! Is this the kind of society we are encouraging by allowing young people to be so dependent on their phones? A society where face to face communication all but ceases to exist in place of disembodied text messages, even when the person you are talking to is standing beside you? It may be true that the people sending and receiving those text messages are communicating with each other, but what does it say to the people who are actually physically around them? What happened to the days when you could walk through the store and complete strangers would smile and greet you as you passed? Have the basic societal manners of years gone by disappeared for good? Using cell phones to talk or text is not a bad thing in itself. However, it is my opinion that certain rules of etiquette should be applied when using them in order to maintain a respectful relationship with everyone you are in contact with. Being glued to your cell phone puts off a very distinct signal that you are unavailable and unapproachable to everyone around you. If you text a friend while talking to someone else you are telling the person in front of you that the friend is more important than they are. Bad grammar and spelling are also compounded by electronic communication. Constantly using abbreviations and fragments in instant communication ingrains these bad habits into a person. English teachers have always struggled to encourage correct spelling and grammar in their students. Now, with texting and instant messaging becoming so prevalent, their jobs are that much harder. And it is not just in the classroom where spelling and grammar have fallen by the wayside. Businesses who are interested in maintaining a high level of professionalism are often hard-pressed to find applicants who can spell, speak, and write properly. So, what can we do to help those people who are addicted to their phones remember that there is more to life than texting and instant messaging? I believe that parents should try to encourage their teenagers to talk on the phone for long conversations, rather than texting back and forth 500 times. Doing so will help teens develop real conversation skills which are not possible in the lingo of texting. Also, everyone should be encouraged to give their full attention to the person they are talking to. If you are engaged in a conversation with someone who starts texting some0one else, kindly ask them to finish talking with you first. If they refuse, simply walk away. I have used this method myself very effectively. Usually, if the person cares about you at all, they will realize how rude their behavior is. So, is texting and instant messaging a help or a hindrance? I believe it is both. Texting and instant messaging can be wonderful forms of communication when implemented correctly, but they can also be abused and have adverse effects. People of all ages need to realize that moderation is the key when using alternate forms of communication. By understanding when these forms are appropriate and when they are not, people can gain valuable communication skills, be more likely to absorb correct spelling and grammar principles, be more productive in the business world and appear far more approachable to the world in general. Since society as a whole is becoming increasingly dependent on the instant communication provided by cell phones, I believe that we must all do what we can to engage in respectful behavior ourselves and encourage it in others. Excellent communication, proper grammar and spelling do not have to be things of ages past. With a little effort and encouragement we can all help ensure that these important values of yesteryears are around for future generations. Texting is the preferred method of communication for young people. According to an article by Mike Flacy, DigitalTrends, One in ten young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 report that they send or receive at least 200 text messages per day (approximately 6,000 messages per month). The next age group, 25-34 year olds, typically average about 42 texts per day and this trend continues to decrease down to about 5 texts a day for the 65 and older group. 200 text messages per day? Do they have time to do anything else in life? Will these young adults get carpal tunnel syndrome of the thumbs? Do you prefer to text rather than talk? According to the survey, Most people are too occupied and busy in todays world that they hardly get enough time to have an elaborated conversation on phone, and hence prefer to communicate via text. I can see the attraction to texting, however I do like to hear a persons voice. The emotions and flavor of the conversation can be misunderstood more easily through texting. After all, you cant hear the sighs and laughter while texting. Yes, you can text little acronyms like LOL and put little smiley faces in your text, but sarcasm and irony are lost in texting. I do like to get little morning text messages from my friends far away, and it is how I communicate with my son most of the time. But I would have to say, my preferred method of communication is voice or Skype. With texting taking over, hands-free devices are even more important. Many of the Smartphones have the capability of translating voice into text to send text messages without typing. A good quality Bluetooth headset with noise canceling makes this process much better. Do you have a Bluetooth mobile headset? I have a Droid X, which is a bit cumbersome to hold up to your ear to talk. I love having my Bluetooth headset to use, especially for multitasking around the house while talking on the phone. And of course with more and more states requiring hands-free devices while driving, a good headset is essential. Do you have one? Whats your favorite? Meanwhile, dont get into any thumb wrestling contest with anyone under 30 years of age. You KNOW their thumbs are agile and strong from texting a bazillion words per minute.

The Criteria For Evaluating Strategic Alternative Marketing Essay

The Criteria For Evaluating Strategic Alternative Marketing Essay This strategic plan is prepared by IM Smart Management Consulting Firm and will start off examining Googles external environmental influences. Next, in-depth assessment on the industrys competitive five forces which affect Googles profitability will be done. Lastly, Googles internal strength and weaknesses will be analyzed to generate its competitive implication. From these analyses, we discovered that Google will face legal and performance issues due to its offensive strategy in the long run. We have developed three strategic alternatives (Strategic Alliances, Defensive Strategies and Broadening Diversification Base) which Google can adopt to enhance its competitive position. The plan will be concluded with a recommended strategic alternative and its pitfalls. EXTERNAL ANALYSIS PEST Analysis After conducting PEST and Porter Analysis for Google, we have derived at the following: Political: The expansion of Google was obstructed by the government such as US and Chinese authority. They viewed Google as a monopoly and request authority to monitor its activities (Google, 2009). However, this barrier does not affect Googles operations as Google responded immediately to the customers by addressing its policies in regard to political/legal aspects. Example: Google China announced that it is still providing filtered search results on its website to fulfill the censor search results policy (China Daily, 2010). Economic: Google focuses on highly targeted, measurable advertising, thus making it more successful than other competitors. The crucial need to stay up to date and continuously connected keeps its core services vibrant despite the parched surroundings due to economic recession (Google, 2010). Social-Cultural: Individuals are getting more educated and competent. Therefore lifestyle and demand of individuals are changing rapidly. Google has to take note of such changes in order to compete with its competitors by providing addition services such as email. Individual are also increasingly becoming more connected due to the increased means of communication available through the internet such as MSN, face book and mobile phone with internet capability. Google has responded by building their mobile devices and released its own Android Mobile Phone Platform and Operating System. By tapping on these, Google shall have great advantage with increased number of search queries and better competitive standing. Technological: The widespread diffusion of information and communication technology allows board geographic dispersion and integration of business activists. Innovative web applications set trends in search, internet direct advertising and portable applications thus causing a more rapid and disruptive change in technology. Google has to take detailed measures to stay ahead by keeping pace with technology advancement and maintains low cost (Refer to Exhibit A for Overview of PEST analysis). Porter 5 Forces Analysis Buyers: The bargaining power is high. The lifestyle of users on using the search tool is becoming more sophisticated and demanding. Substitutes are easily available at lower cost or even free. Example: Google online photo storage priced at $5 per year for 20GB, but face book provided it for free. Google are required to satisfy both client groups equally. Example: organizations customers would prefer their advertisement broadcasting in big banner on the webpage; however, individual customers will feel very disturbing as they just want the search results. Substitute: The bargaining power is high as buyers switching cost is low. There are plenty of replacements such as advertisement on television, radio, magazine, poster and search hotline. Suppliers: The bargaining power is low. Google is regionally not globally dominant and hardware purchases are one-time off. Google search is heavily depending on its competitors Microsoft and Apple software. If there are any new software releases from them, Google search may not perform well if no timely update is done. Potential entrants: The bargaining power is low. Yahoo and Microsoft have improved their search engines and can on pass their search tool through their products. There is no specific requirement for search engine, thus a better search engine invented by another will critically affect Google. Also, the monitoring of authority from its political environment could affect Googles current technology and philosophy. Competitors: The bargaining power is high. There is no patent on search engine so the environment can be easily exploited or manipulated. The switching cost is low. Example: Microsoft and Apple have embedded their search tool into their Explorer browser. Also, rival search tools have their own unique strength (Such as Yahoo attracts audience by its nice appearance). (Refer to Exhibit B for Overview of Porter 5 forces analysis) INTERNAL ANALYSIS (VIRO Analysis) We have observed that Googles net revenue keeps growing from 2001- 2008. Since the 2004 IPO, the stock price has soars from less than $100 to above $700. The number of Internet users keeps increasing around the world, especially Asia. As the number one Internet search giant, Google attract majority of the new Internet users to be its customers. Google understands customer demand and monitor how individual lifestyle is changing rapidly each day. This understanding allows Googles business strategy to outshine among its competitors. Overall, we think that Googles business strategy works excellent at present but better strategic alternatives need to be in place. After conducting Google internal analysis, we have concluded the following: Value: Google owns the Page-Rank technology, which allows them to provide the most accurate search results. The dominant market share and huge loyalty from customers gives Google competitive advantages. Rarity: The services provided by Google are not rare. Many other companies also offer alternative services such as search, email, blog, video sharing, online office application and cloud computing. Imitability: All Googles services can be imitated. For example: the Microsoft Bing Search engine has incorporated several elements of the Google search: The Simple UI, sponsor link, and page ranking. Organization: Google has strong financial power, research and development capabilities. The company is ready to delivery new products to stay competitive, or acquire potential competitors to eliminate threats. PROBLEM STATEMENT We have observed that the main problem with Google is that the offensive strategies to improve its market shares/performance will lead to severe problems in the future. Google faces increasingly intensive competition from experienced incumbents like Microsoft, Social networks and Baidu which had been gaining popularity within the Asia region. They will always be active in making fresh moves to increase or solidify their market position. With Google trying to dominate the cloud computing and search engine markets, this long-term strategy is backfiring with incumbents developing similar, if not, improved strategies to retain their market standing. In the long run, Googles plan to become the dominant provider of cloud computing might also lead legal suits and privacy concerns. With increasing use of virtual server hosting, more enterprise networks, servers and data storages run virtually. Even when good security protection methods were employed, important data will still be vulnerable and can be monitored for unauthorized uses. This will lead to data security issues like information used for unintended purpose and data disruption/loss in the event of natural disasters. CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVE Strategic alternatives must be able to create growth opportunities with high return of investment. Hambrick Fredrickson (2001) have mentioned that strategies are an integrated; overarching concept of how business will achieve its objectives. Therefore we recommend that Google evaluate its strategic alternatives by looking at its vehicles (how Google wants to gets there, including alliances); staging (Google speed and sequence of actions); and economic logic (how profits and returns will be generated). STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES AND EVALUATION Strategic Alliances with other enterprises It is futile for Google to fight head with head against equally skilled competitors as its offensive strategic approaches will causes disruption its dominance in innovation in the long run. Hence, we recommend that Google alter their strategy and join forces with its competitors to add-value to its resources and capabilities (Refer to Exhibit C). With strategic alliance, Google can engage in a mutual formal relationship with two or more organizations and join forces strategically to achieve collaborative valuable strategic outcomes. It allows joint contribution of resources, capabilities, shared risk, shared control and mutual dependence. Aim of strategic alliance is for Google to achieve synergy where benefits from the alliance will be greater than those from individual efforts. Google will be able to improve market access via global marketing alliance to have more breakthroughs in international markets such as China. The new partnerships will also bring about faster and better development of new technologies/products to improve competitive position. With alliance, Google can overcome deficits in expertise and creates new competitive capabilities by bringing together unique personnel of each partner. Lastly, it will help Google to achieve economies of scale and achieve better efficiency (Gamble Thompson, 2011). Defensive Strategies to Protect Company Market Position Another alternative that we recommend will be for Google to adopt defensive strategy (Refer to Exhibit D) to enrich its competitive position. The purpose of defensive strategies is to lower the risk of being attacked, weaken the impact of any attack that occurs and influence challengers to aim their efforts at other rivals. There are two forms Google can take if defensive strategies are used. The two forms are blocking the avenues open to challenges and signaling to potential challengers that retaliation is likely. For example: if Google were to choose to block the avenues open to challenges it has to be more innovative and be more receptive in learning culture differences while embarking on businesses with the Chinese in China. China is a country that contains massive human resources with creative minds. Hence to block any new invention or products being produced, Google need to act fast by thinking differently and enhanced its research and development by being more unique and allowing creativity to flourish. If Google were to choose in practicing the latter, its leaders need to be more vocal by publicly announcing managements commitment to maintain the firms market share, publicly committing the firm to a policy of matching competitors terms or prices or maintaining a war chest of cash and marketable securities. However, Google must not be too vocal in a foreign land, especially China is highly unadvisable as Chinese do not enjoy firms that are too vocal and do not know the meaning of modesty. As a result, Google can end up losing its market share totally (Gamble and Thompson, 2011). Broadening the Diversification Base We think that it is important for Google to diversify into a new business with its existing products as it offers the potential to strengthen and build a better competitive advantage. Google is facing risk due to the increasing power of incumbent like social networks, which inevitably affect the search industry (For example: Facebook has search function in their website). Thus through diversification, Google can tap into the mobile world and reposition itself in the market by improving features offered by Android. We also recommend utilizing and incorporating Googles existing services such as Google Images and Google Maps to broaden the companys diversification base with new technologies in the market. In our daily course of work as consultants, we came across a new technology known as the Bokodes. This latest technology provides users with a more interactive approach to information at anywhere and anytime. It opens up a new range of applications in the areas of tagging, user interaction and near field communication. Google can also create an application using Bokode technology that reference to its current services such as Google Images or Google Maps (Refer to Exhibit E.) These can typically result in extensive co-marketing by giving Google many opportunities to widen its share of banner/video ads which in return builds more revenues as well as to be the pioneer in offering an innovative approach to consumers (Gamble Thompson, 2011). RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVES/ EVALUATION AND LIMITATION Among the three suggested alternatives, we recommend that Google implements the defensive strategy. It is futile for Google to fight head with head against its competitors so defensive strategy will minimize the impact of rivals attack moves. This alternative will not cause much disruption and trade-off to Googles operation. As Google has already a large market base for its existing innovative products, it should focus its existing product categories in a specific market segment/geographic area. In addition, Google has innovative people and they have dynamic capabilities and core competencies to strive for continuous improvement and develop breakthrough defensive strategies. We will undertake a SWOT analysis (Refer to Exhibit F) to evaluate strength, opportunities and limitation (Weaknesses and Threats) for this alternative. CONCLUSION In conclude, Google is a firm that has great potential to expand its market position. However, expansion is not an easy task and it takes great strategy and meticulous planning for Google to achieve its objectives. Hence Google need to adopt an open mind in conducting its businesses and practice a strategy that will benefit them in the long run. Exhibit A (Overview of PEST Analysis) Political / Legal Regulation by US and China government Sensitive data to be leak to terrorism, such as bomb making / map Legal suit against Google for 3rd parties content and privacy such as Google map Pest Analysis Google strategy Technology Maintains competitive prices with advance technology Suit the social lifestyle such as photo sharing, search trend Allow more business from all over the world to using internet Ensure technology do not overstep to unnecessary legal issues Hardware getting cheaper Economic Survival during 2009 financial crisis High focus on advertisement Seen threat as opportunity, such as crisis. Individual are more keen on job search and financial new. Google will be their priority search Social No age limit Life style changing Individual are more educated Demand increasing such as addition service, photo sharing, email, storage More individual to own computer / mobile phone. Entrant: Low Technology easy to replicate. No specific standard for search engine Large customer base, Low switching cost Capital requirement is minimum No geographic restriction Authority is monitoring Google activities Supplier: Low Supplier is limited Supplier is also competitor, such as Microsoft, Apple Google is heavily dependable on Microsoft and Apple OS Supplier has more control than Google Competitor: High Easy to replicate Switching cost is low or free Supplier is also their competitor which are well informed of their product Competitor has their own unique strength Buyer/Customer: High Customer lifestyle is changing rapidly Switching cost is low or free Customer with all different demands Customer are well inform of the price Many competitors to choose. Substitutes: High Advertisement on traditional method Newspapers, media, radio, search hotline Switching cost is low Exhibit B (Overview of Porter 5 Forces Analysis) Exhibit C (Suggested Plans for Strategic Alliances and Benefits) Alliance between Google and Microsoft: Microsoft has improvise their Live search, Semantic Search capability and own approach to cloud computing to compete with Googles offensive strategy in substitute products. Semantic search engines will be the biggest threat to Google as it outshines its search engine by attaining more relevant search results thus threatening its core business by building a new search engine empire. Microsoft acquired a firm in the semantic field but the present technology has many limitations. Therefore, we recommend that Google reach a development alliance to fully develop this search engine. Google has highly capable people who are innovative, the joint effort will bury the hatch and make Semantic search a more powerful tool. With the alliance, both can incorporate this fully developed technology into their products, creating a win-win situation. The two companies can also collaborate together in cloud clouting whereby Google can use web based Microsoft Office (instead of Google web based software applications). Apart from having a great search engine and endless innovations, Google is still relatively new to applications that require high amount of user interactions. Tapping onto Microsofts cosmic experiences in technologies which drive the famous Windows and Office suites, Google will undoubtedly benefit from Microsofts vast resources and branding. As Cloud clouting will also lead to higher risk of privacy lawsuits, the collaboration will allow development of a better security program with encryption keys which provides reliable capacity in the cloud can be injected to prevent intrusions, resulting in reduced risks for both in authenticity issues. Alliance between Google and China Companies: China has tight internet regulatory controls which put Chinese companies like Baidu at advantage. In addition, Chinese companies will understand local culture better and can create products which will appeal to the Chinese more. Hence, it will be beneficial for Google to enter into alliance with Chinese partners to have exploit knowledge on product market in order to tap on more china market shares and enhance competitive standing. To start the process, we recommend that they collaborate with partners (example: search engine and social media) on marketing as it will entail finding out what the china market wants and also build on knowledge with its resource market. From there, Google can customize and through their sales partners, market to whole of China in a cost effective manner. For example: free download videos from the Internet are very popular in China. Perhaps, Google together with partners can make available free western Hollywood movies to China. This will help bolster its video offering/advertising revenues for ads display during the video. Other than that, they can sell Google phones or other smart phones bundled with Google/Android operating system. This will help them improve their mobile search market shares, banner ads and video ads within the China market. Exhibit D (Illustration of Putting Defensive Strategies in Its Place for Google) Google could revisit its strategy plan on an ongoing basis so as to improve its return on investment and position in the technology industry. Projected is the recommended strategy plan in adopting defensive strategy. Strategic Analysis Industry analysis Trends in the users preference, especially in search engine usage, advertising and China market Environment forecast (internal/external) Analyzing competitors development esp. from Baidu Assessment of Google SWOT diagram Mission Google purpose Google values Objectives Specific targets (for example to be more innovative and creative in the search engine specialty internationally). Supporting Organizational Arrangements Structure Process Policies and profiles Googles creative/innovative personnel Rewards/benefits Activities Strategy (Defensive) Concept on how Google will execute the defensive strategy to improve market position Exhibit E Bokode: Imperceptible Visual Tags for Camera Based Interaction from a Distance (Data adopted from MIT Media Lab, 2009) It is a camera-based interaction technology which an ordinary camera can detect small optical tags from a comparatively far distance. Consisting of a low-cost optical design whereby the tags reduces up to 3mm visible diameter, unmodified ordinary camera several meters away can be set up to decode the identity plus relative distance and angle. Bokode use intelligent binary coding to estimate the relative distance and angle to the camera and show potential for application in augmented reality and motion capture. A user who is standing right in front of a shop wants to find out information about the shop and its surroundings. Hence, he did a search by using his camera phone to tag onto an image of the shop that has a visual Bokode tag embedded on its signboard. His mobile phone that has a built-in Bokode reader enables the user to gather information in a form of indifferent directions such as providing information about restaurants nearby, hotels information, transportation guide or it says the other brand of cereal are selling at a dollar cheap at the other supermarket store This technology can works in a wide variety of ways including classrooms, public places, print advertisement, outdoor billboards, product packaging and labels. Exhibit F SWOT Analysis of Googles adopting Defensive Strategy Strength Innovative and creative workforce. Workforce has strong passion in what they do and monetary value is not really an issue. Hence Google will be able to defend fast. Strong brand reputation so trusted by consumers. So it better for Google to build defense using existing products/services. Google leaders are young entrepreneurs hence acting fast/defensive may not be an issue to them. Weaknesses Competitor (Baidu) has superior access to distribution channels. Innovations are relatively easy to be imitated so good defensive tools might be duplicated. Google has a history of having offensive strategies which can cause the company to lose large amount of revenues. Google has too many services in order to dominate search marketing and be ahead of others to gain competitive advantage but some of these services are not widely used. Hence, being defensive they have to be more focus in developing the correct defensive tool. Opportunities Massive human resource in China to fully develop good defensive strategy (ability to tap on Chinese creative minds to enhance Google research base). Strategic alliances to join forces (Defensive) instead of fighting against competitors. New product incorporation (example: Bokodes) thus creating good alternative to develop its defensive strategy. Threats Imitation is a norm in China so competitors will still be fast enough to match any defensive strategy. Uncertainty in the external environment that is beyond control therefore comprehensive defensive strategy will still backfire. Chinese users are more loyal to local company resulting in smaller market share for Google (Defensive strategy in China backfires).