Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors Essay -- essays research papers

Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s first plays. The minor characters, in the play, Egeon and the Duke, set up the framework of the play. Egeon, at the request of the Duke, describes his adventures and relates his life story. This provides the history of The Comedy of Errors, and helps keep track of the confusion, which unfolds during the play. There are several themes that Shakespeare uses which are only loosely related to the actual comedy. The conflicts between burden and freedom, rule and compassion, loss and rebirth all form a critical undertone within the play. There is also the serious effect time. Shakespeare requires that all the action end at five o'clock, the time of Egeon's execution, Antipholus of Syracuse's meeting with the merchant, and the moment when Angelo must pay the Second Merchant his money. There are also several coercions within the play. The comedy opens with Egeon unintentionally breaking the law, for which he is sentenced to death. In addition to this very real danger of death, there is also the risk that the play will end too soon. At various times the reader could assume the characters are close to revealing the entire plot and ending the play. These occur when Antipholus has the chance to demand payment from his father at the beginning, and also when both Dromios are on opposite sides of the door at Adriana's house. The characters are meant to gain knowledge of something. For instance, the Duke claims th...

Lifelong Learning Essay

It is important for educators to understand special education and how the diagnosis of developmental disabilities, early intervention, educational programs, services for young learners, transitional programs, strengths and weaknesses in assessments and interventions affects their students and classroom environment, while also being able to offer suggestions for student improvement and expected performance. People learn for a lifetime so special education needs to start as early as possible for all children that need it and continue on through their high school years. The learning process is not just about academic learning for special education students, but is also about learning social, emotional, and self-care skills. There is much to learn and it all begins with diagnosis. Diagnosis of Developmental Disabilities Developmental monitoring occurs from the time a child is born through well-child visits with a health professional. There are five areas of development that can be affected and these are what health professional are monitoring: â€Å"cognitive development, physical development (including vision and hearing), communication development, social or emotional development, and adaptive development (Overview of Early Intervention, 2012)†. If any problems are noticed during monitoring, then the child is further assessed through developmental screening. Screening allows health professionals to monitor a child’s progress more closely and determine how their development relates to the general population of children at the same developmental stages. The hope with all well-child visits to prove a child is in perfect physical, mental, and emotional health and if they are not, then the process helps parents and health professional to intervene early. Early Intervention â€Å"Early intervention is a system of services that helps babies and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities (Overview of Early Intervention, 2012)†, which has been proven to significantly improve a child’s chances of success in all developmental areas. For children with developmental delay of disabilities, early intervention can help them develop their physical, cognitive, communication, social, and self-care skills extensively. There are many services that can help develop these skills, such as speech therapies, assistive devices, physical therapies, and many more. Once children reach school age, they may then be placed in special education programs within their selected school system where they will continue the learning process. Educational Programs Once children enter the educational system, IDEA requires schools to provide the necessary tools and support staff to ensure that each student can achieve a free education. This may require something as simple as an assistive device, such as an iPad or computer to use to communicate, or could require more direct assistance, such as an aid to provide one-on-one assistance. Parents, teachers, and other support staff work together to create an IEP for each student. The IEP lays out the plan for each individual student and also includes what that students areas of developmental delay or disability are so schools can appropriately assist the student. Then once the IEP is established, it can then be decided what educational program that the student should be involved in. There are a few different educational programs: 1) strictly special education, which does not include any general education classes, 2) semi-special education, which includes a combination of general and special education classes, and 3) all general education classes, which is intended for those students that require special education, but do not necessarily need to be a part of a special education classroom. Strictly special education situations would be for students that are not capable of actively participating in a general classroom setting. Semi-special education programs are for students that are able to actively participate in a general education classroom, but may only need extra help in certain areas. One example could be in Math and Science, where a student  significantly struggles, but they achieve well in other areas such as Related Arts classes. Some students only need a little help and do well in a general education classroom, but still need to be involved in the special education program in certain facets in order to follow an IEP to ensure their needs are being met and that they are achieving well in school. Services for Young Exceptional Learners Another group of children, often included in the special education program, are those that are gifted, or considered exceptional learners. Although gifted children are often very intelligent, they can struggle with other areas that can affect their education and social development. These students should be offered services to help them reach their true potential. Quite often, gifted students just need focus, which can be achieved through services that help them learn how to develop their skills, interests, and intellectual capacities. (Beckley, 1998) Nurturing students with positive reinforcements, while provided adequate challenge in their stronger areas, can help ensure their ultimate success. It is important to not just throw gifted students into special education because their skills are not seen, but rather to work at understanding the student so that their intellect can blossom and their weaknesses improved or managed. Transitional Programs Children continue through the education program until they complete high school. This can be up through age 22 for some students. At age 16, or before then for some students, IDEA mandates that students begin an Individualized Transition Plan (ITP) as part of their IEP. â€Å"Transition services are intended to prepare students to move from the world of school to the world of adulthood (Transition to Adulthood, 2010).† Just like the IEP, transition service for students must be coordinated between parents, teachers, support staff, and at this age also includes the student. Transition is intended to help students not only achieve academic goals, but also to aid in developing a student’s self-care and independent living skills. In addition, it also aids in determining their interests so that they can interact in their community, begin college or other post high school education, or obtain employment. If transition is successful, then students should be able to adequately a dapt to their new circumstances and  environment after completing high school. Assessments Assessments and interventions can be extremely beneficial to the well-being of a child with developmental delays or disabilities. Assessments by parents, health care professionals, and educators help to identify potential delays or disabilities early so that the child can receive services to help them manage or overcome them. Intervention programs provide the resources necessary for children to receive the services they are entitled to. Unfortunately, assessments and intervention are only as good as the support around the student. Parents must take their child to well-child checks for health professional to be able to identify an issue. Once an issue is determined, intervention can begin and involves parents, educators, healthcare professionals, and other support personnel. It is important for all parties in the support staff to work together and keep in communication about the needs of the child. The support system surrounding a special needs child can be their strongest resource or their weakness. It is up to parents to ensure that their child is getting the best treatments and services available to meet their needs and ensure their child’s success. Improvement Suggestions Improvements in assessment and intervention begins with parents. Parents need to be thoroughly educated on the needs of their child. Knowledge is power and the more the parents have, then the more they will be equipped to work with the child’s other support personnel. Doctors and teachers needs to help parents understand the needs of their child and how all the various programs and processes can help their child succeed. Improvement stems primarily around a cohesive unit of well-educated or well informed support group surrounding the child. Expected Outcomes As parents, students, educators, and health professionals come together to form a cohesive support group, involving great communication, then the child can benefit by overcoming or improving their delay or disability. As more is learned about developmental disabilities, the brighter the future looks for all those that are challenged by such disabilities. Early intervention and appropriate support gives special needs children the chance to reach their dreams. References Beckley, D. (1998). Gifted and Learning Disabled: Twice Exceptional Students. Retrieved from Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development: http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/newsletter/spring98/sprng984.html Overview of Early Intervention. (2012, December). Retrieved from National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities: http://nichcy.org/babies/overview#what Transition to Adulthood. (2010, September). Retrieved from National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities: http://nichcy.org/schoolage/transitionadult

A modern audience Essay

But her marriage to will is all a practical arrangement as she is good at her job and Will is a skilled craftsman. As this partnership moves on the pair become more successful, they manage to pay back Mrs Hepworth the loan she gave then to get started and we see a more romantic side to Maggie as she saves a flower from her wedding day bouquet.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I thought I’d press it in my bible  For keep sake† A factor about Maggie that would appeal to a modern audience is that she is very intelligent. She controls the accounts and organises everything at Hobson’s. She taught Will to read and write, because Will was born into the lower class she was not properly educate and so he was illiterate but Maggie changed that by educating him herself:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I’ll just set you a short copy, for tonight.†Ã‚  Maggie is honest and fair, when Albert and Freddy are trying to get more money than they agreed out of Mr Hobson, she knows he cannot afford what they are asking and so she gets them down to a more realistic price:  Ã¢â‚¬ËœI know perfectly well what father can afford to pay, and it is not a thousand pounds nor anything like a thousand pounds.’ Maggie is also humble because she is not afraid to ask for help when she needs it. She asks Mrs Hepworth for money as her and will haven’t got any from their previous jobs because Hobson didn’t pay Maggie and Will came from a lower class and had little pay, all to get married and start up a good business  Ã¢â‚¬Å"We’ve paid back Mrs Hepworth what she lent us for our start and made a bit o’ brass on top o’ that.†Ã‚  At the beginning of the play Will lacked self-confidence and he was poor. He was also a victim of Hobson’s exploitation:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"What does she want to praise workmen to his face for?† But Will is a talented craftsman and a skilled worker which is why Mrs Hepworth complimented him and asked that he makes her shoes in the future:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"These are the best-made pair of boots I’ve ever had. Now, you’ll make my boots in future.†Ã‚  This is a great compliment for a working class man because they were not often praised for their work and didn’t often do so well. This is a point about Will that would appeal to a modern audience.  Will, like many other working class in the 1880’s could not read at the start of the play but due to Maggie’s help he learns how to read and write. By starting up his own business shows he is a good business man and he pays off Mrs Hepworth the money back she lent the couple to get the business started. â€Å"We’ve paid off Mrs Hepworth what she lent us for our start.†Ã‚  Will is from a working class background; he is one of Hobsons boot hands and suffers social prejudice from Maggies sisters Alice and Vicky but now is near equal class to them but they still see him form a lower class and treat him with a lack of respect  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Will Mossop do you know who you are talking to?†Ã‚  As the play progresses Wills confidence increase as he now dares to stand up to Hobson, Alice, Vicky and Maggie  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I’ll take you into partnership and give you a half share†. The Audience may find Wills character comical due to his sayings â€Å"Well by gum†Ã‚  And make the viewers laugh. When Maggie tells Will she wants to marry him he is a bit worried at tries to back down from the proposal because he did not love her, but they get their partnership up and running and as the story continues he realises that he can learn to love and give Maggie the respect she needs to create a successful business. From the start to the end of the play Will Mossop changes a lot. He went from working in Hobson’s cellar to owning his own successful business and being married to Maggie. His main change was that he went from poverty to being a member of the working/middle class. By doing this he has made his way up the social ladder, which was very hard to do in the 19th century. Wills struggle could be compared to a dream going from rags to riches. In my opinion this would be the most important factor about Will that would appeal to a modern audience.  Maggie’s determination to make a success of hers and Willie’s marriage and the business that they start would make her popular with a modern audience because she did not really love Will when they were married, but she had to do something to get away from Mr Hobson, her authoritarian father and she also managed to get her sisters married.

Yahoo! Internal Analysis

The Company When Yahoo! was founded in 1994 by Stanford Ph. D. students, David Filo and Jerry Yang, it began as their hobby and has evolved into a global brand that has changed the way people communicate with each other, find and access information, and make purchases. Today, Yahoo! Inc. is the Internet's leading global consumer and business Services Company, offering a comprehensive network of essential services for Web users around the globe as well as businesses of all sizes. As the first online navigational guide to the Web, Yahoo! www. yahoo. com) is the leader in traffic, advertising, household and business user reach. Yahoo! is also the most recognized and valuable Internet brand globally, reaching over 345 million unique users in 25 countries and 13 languages. The Only Place Anyone Needs To Go Find Anything, Communicate With Anyone, or Buy Anything Serving the world's largest Web audience, Yahoo! remains focused on becoming increasingly essential to the lives of consumers. St arting with its comprehensive, hand-built directory as well as the popular My Yahoo! ervice, Yahoo! offers a broad and deep array of communications, commerce and content services in over 100 distinct properties that lead consumers to make Yahoo! their home on the Internet and wireless devices. Fitting the lifestyles of the mobile consumer, Yahoo! offers an increasing array of essential, personalized, localized and timely information on wireless devices, including wireless phones, two-way pagers and personal digital assistants. Committed to extending content and services beyond the desktop, Yahoo! as the largest global mobile audience and the greatest breadth of wireless products and services of any Web content provider. Becoming Increasingly Essential to Businesses & Enterprises Worldwide As the No. 1 Internet network on corporate desktops, surpassing a 70 percent reach in the U. S. workplace, Yahoo! also offers a range of services for businesses and enterprises of all sizes. Corpor ate Yahoo! is an information portal solution that enables companies to communicate and interact directly with their employees, customers and shareholders over a secure and scalable platform. Yahoo!Broadcast Services is the leading provider of Internet audio and video streaming solutions for corporate and consumer communications, delivering thousands of live and on-demand, corporate events including: product launches, marketing programs, training/distance learning, keynote addresses, annual shareholder meetings, and quarterly earnings calls. Yahoo! ‘s Small Business services enable small businesses and professionals to establish and grow a business presence with services such as Yahoo! Domains, Yahoo! Website Services, Yahoo! Servers and Yahoo! Store. An industry leader in online advertising, Yahoo! ffers an integrated set of marketing services through Yahoo! Fusion Marketing that unite Yahoo! ‘s media, e-commerce, direct marketing, broadcast, and communication tools to a llow clients to find any audience, connect with anyone, and sell anything. Yahoo! ‘s data driven services provide unparalleled targeting and measurement capabilities far beyond banners, clicks, and conversions. Customized to integrate clients' traditional marketing programs online, Yahoo! Fusion Marketing programs generate greater customer acquisition and retention, extended brand value, and increased sales in today's global marketplace. SWOT AnalysisThe external environment includes all the factors outside the organization which provide opportunities or pose threats to the organization. The internal environment refers to all the factors within an organization which impart strengths or cause weakness of a strategic nature . The environment in which an organization exists can be, therefore defined as the opportunities and threats operating in the external environment apart from the strengths and weakness existing in the internal environment. A systematic approach to understand the environment of Yahoo is the SWOT analysis. Internal Factor Analysis (IFA) of the Yahoo CorporationStrengths The strength is an inherent capacity which an organization uses to gain a strategic and competitive advantage. The strengths of Yahoo Corporation are: * Yahoo! ‘s Overture is a tremendously profitable Internet advertising business. It focuses on affiliate advertising for large advertising accounts, in the same way as Google's Adsense programme. This is an important income stream for Yahoo!. * Yahoo! has over 500 million users of its services and solutions. This makes it a very powerful marketing company, with a very well known brand. Some reports indicate that it is the most popular website in the World. A key long-term strength is Yahoo! ‘s international business presence. As the Internet expands and it is adopted by more nations the opportunities for Internet brands begin to emerge. Yahoo! is well placed to take advantage of these opportunities with its strat egic business units in Asia, Europe and Australia. * The Yahoo! Directory is an original source of structured information. It has built over the last decade, and unlike mainstream search engines, its content is moderated (i. e. sites are vetted before their inclusion). Weaknesses: A weakness is an inherent limitation or constraint which creates strategic disadvantages for the company.It is overdependence on a single product line, which is potentially risky. The weaknesses of Yahoo are: * As per Jan 2012 data, a survey says yahoo’s market share in search engine is only 6% * Google already has more than 50% market share and the immediate competitors are Baidu which has same 6% and bing has 4% in search engine * Google being the leading the service provider on the internet , is grabbing the revenues from advertisements * Most of the services provided by Yahoo are unknown in the internet space. * Yahoo is ranked 5th in visitors among video sites. YouTube was first owned by Google .There has been near about 3 % slump per year in Yahoo’s image search. * Google search results produce double revenues as compared to Yahoo. * Yahoo is losing its market share in mailing services very gradually due to Google’s strong presence in search engine market and it related product portfolio complementing to search engine services * For Yahoo, differentiation is difficult. Almost all of its services are available from other sources such as Mail services, news, shopping, financial data and business directory services are provided by many others like MSN, CNN, e-bay, Money control etc. The future of Yahoo is uncertain as the technology develops and new unforeseen advertising media emerges. * Financial health of the company is not so promising for the investors. The company’s assets both in terms of intangible and tangible are on the declining side. Matching analysis Match the external factors against the internal factors of YAHOO! Opportunities| Threats| * Internet video advertising spending expected to increase by 82% to $610 million by 2009. * Yahoo! Inc has purchased Flickr. * Broadband expansion. * Yahoo! as a strong and talented employee base. * Yahoo! has penetrated markets that are still untouched by competitors. | * Google commands about 50% of all online searches and Yahoo! has only 24% according to Neilson/NetRating. * Consumer attitudes towards online advertising may become more negative. * Increasing strength of competitors. * Social websites such as MySpace and Facebook are now breaking into the online advertising market. * Google is surpassing Yahoo! in revenues. | Strengths| Weaknesses| * Yahoo! Inc. has beaten Google in the mobile market. * Yahoo!Inc. has many more auxiliary products compared to the competition. * Yahoo! Inc. has strong brand recognition. * Partnerships with MLB, VISA and NFL. * Access is available to anyone with internet access. | * Yahoo! is ranked 5th in visitors among video sites. YouTube which is owned by Google is ranked 1st. * Yahoo! image search has been declining 3% per year. * Google search results generate twice as much revenue as Yahoo!. * Advertising revenues are falling due to Google and other competitors in the market. | Alternative strategies or RecommendationsIt is clear that the Yahoo Corporation has faced some major challenges in staying on top of the Internet market. It is suggested that the corporation should continue to grow its customer base. The corporation can grow its customer base by successfully capturing the international market. In addition, Yahoo can enlarge its target customer statistics by including customers outside the age group of 18-34 like people of above 55 years. Yahoo has to distinguish itself from the rest of its competitors in the Internet market in order to successfully accomplish these objectives.The alternative strategy that the Yahoo Corporation can adopt is: Capturing the international market: In capturing the international market, Yahoo has been comparatively unsuccessful. Though, Yahoo provides its services in a variety of languages but it has been unable to contend with national companies of other countries. For example, in China, Yahoo holds less than 5% of the total Chinese market share. The majority of the China market is dominated by Chinese search engine known as Baidu. com. In August 2005, Google, the American rival has captured a significant portion i. . approximately 33% of the Chinese market. Moreover, near about 71. 3% of the overall international market has been captured by Google. Some of this percentage was grabbed from Yahoo. Yahoo must ensure that internet access is available to its target market in order to strategically grow its customer base. If the target market does not have the means or ability to access services, Yahoo will not be successful. It is important for Yahoo Corporation to capture international customers during the exposure to the Internet. This can create a comfort-zone for its new users.Yahoo also, should become familiar with the likes, dislikes, habits and other characteristics of each niche of the international market. The company should use appropriate marketing channels to create the demand in international market. The marketing techniques like sales promotion, advertising, publicity, etc. will work more effectively to capture international market. Expanding the target market: To become successful, it is important for the Yahoo Corporation to expand its target market. It is important that Yahoo tries to capture those who are its first-time Internet users.Through partnerships with telecommunications providers and cable companies, Yahoo should work to become a primary part of a new Internet service package. Yahoo can successfully get new web users to begin their Internet use. The users use the internet because it allows them to communicate with their friends and family members who are separated geographically. Furthermore, people like the Internet b ecause it allows them to find information and items that they can’t find elsewhere. With this demographic, travel, leisure and financial information tend to be popular.Yahoo should promote its different offerings in publications and media to achieve the best reach and to focus on the particular areas. Yahoo should publicize itself as a source of health information as well as a site that provides travel information for those who plan for retirement. Yahoo should portray itself as a portal of information. Differentiation: To remain competitive, Yahoo should adopt and initiate new projects. The company should begin as a search engine and expand its offerings by including finance, personals and hot Jobs and other activities.For example, Yahoo has realized that the potential users of Yahoo music consequently acquire a significant share of the online music industry. The ability to differentiate itself from its competitors is the main reason for the success of Yahoo. To promote new products, Yahoo is able to take advantage of its brand equity and its large user base. Yahoo should not limit itself to fixed media sites. Yahoo should attempt to commence a multimedia Internet project called runner. This video-intensive and web-based reality TV project will focus on a fugitive crisscrossing the country.Yahoo Corporation should also expand its Internet-based market to compete against traditional media. Conclusion Thus, it is concluded that in the dynamic Internet market, Yahoo is a strong and relatively established company. Its core competence includes focus on young adult users, regularly improving fixed web sites, driving advertising revenue and encouraging employees to be practical. All this points have been a formula for its success. Yahoo must apply aggressive strategies and maintain healthy financial statement to remain competitive.It is important that Yahoo carefully review all these strategies and examine the timing of its initiatives. The company can achiev e its target and growth by hiring competent managers and experienced consultants as well as by remaining focused on its core competencies. By maintaining the strategies, Yahoo will be able to position itself to become a leader in the race for multimedia domination. An understanding of the external environment in terms of opportunities and threats and the internal environment in term of strengths and weaknesses is important for the existence, growth and profitability of Yahoo Corporation.

Forensic Science Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Forensic Science - Case Study Example Since his execution, his parents and relatives have been striving to show the world the misuse of justice evident in the case because they still trust that their son was not guilty of the crime. Various articles and books have been published with respect to the case of James Hanratty, with some supporting the fact that Hanratty was not guilty following their investigation and the medical reports that were using the DNA of the victim and those of the deceased. For one to better understand the investigations and the trial that was conducted on Mr. Hanratty, it is essential to consider the criminal record of the individual prior to the case that led to his death. It can be retrieved from the criminal accounts of Hanratty that by the period when he was found guilty of murdering Michael Gregsten, he has already been convicted of four crimes that were linked to motoring offences and minor theft such as housebreaking. In atatininig seventeen years of age, Mr. Hanratty appeared before Harrow Magistrate for taking someone’s motor vehicle without authority, and also driving a vehicle without insurance or a driving license. Such led to Hanratty being introduced to psychiatric treatment at the Portman Clinic where he was treated as an outpatient. At the age of eighteen years, Hanratty appeared before the court at the county of Middlesex Sessions where he was found guilty and sentenced to two years of imprisonment due to breaking in into someone’s house and stealing some property. After the release of the release, his father opened a window cleaning business to help me keep away from crime. However, at the age of 20 years, five months after release from Wormwood Scrubs, he was sentenced for six months due to a variety of crimes associated with motor vehicles and driving without a license. However, he was released after four months, but later he was convicted of car theft when he was

Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Business Ethics - Essay Example Throat cutting competition and desire for growth is pushing companies to make every possible effort to improve their performance. It was during the 1950s when experts used the term â€Å"performance management† to refer to the systematic and controlled process with which organizations would monitor their performance in order to achieve their goals effectively and efficiently. Today, performance management is a crucial part of every big organization. Despite the fact that the Human Resource Departments are usually responsible for conducting the performance management functions and activities, entire organizations contribute to the process to make it successful (Dresner, pp. 214-219). There are five major pillars of performance management. First, planning the goals and objectives and deciding on the expectations. Second, performance management, as mentioned earlier is also about having a check and balance on the performance of the organization and its employees. Third, performan ce management also binds managers to ensure that there are enough resources available at the disposal of the company, departments, and employees to achieve those goals. Fourth, with the help of balance scorecards and performance appraisals forms, performance management also requires managers to rate and evaluate the performance of individuals and groups. Fifth, lastly, with different pay systems of contribution-based pay, performance based pay, skill based pay and others, and it rewards and appreciates employees for their performance (Cardy, Leonard & Newman, pp. 85-89). Managers all over the world are realizing that many decisions and processes required for performance management necessitate upholding of high ethical and moral standards. These ethical dilemmas are everywhere in the system of performance management. It becomes even more important to answer and address because many decisions concerning the future of the company and the future of its employees, remains depended on the se performance management decisions. Companies use this data for recruitment, selection, layoffs, terminations, promotions, bonuses, pay increases, rewards, demotions, and others (Cardy, Leonard, & Newman, pp. 85-89). One ethical question, which comes up during the performance management of companies, is the fact that whenever companies manage performance of their employees, they are well aware of the fact that the element of â€Å"bias† is embedded deeply in the system. Experts have pointed out many forms of bias, which are present in the system when employees are being rated. First, leniency error when the rater or the manager has the tendency to be lenient, nice, and kind to all the employees because he knows that these ratings would probably decide their future. Furthermore, in order to keep harmony within the group or the department, to gain support, to avoid any tensions or confrontations, managers also try to give above average ratings to all the employees. Second, cen tral tendency error occurs when managers do not want to give very high or very low ratings to anyone. Many managers know that their high and low ratings would force employees to ask them a series of questions, explanations and proofs and the best way to avoid that conversation is by giving them all average rating (Luecke, Hall & Harvard Business School, pp. 321-324). Third, halo effect occurs when manag

Market Structures Analyses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Market Structures Analyses - Essay Example The producers can't afford the labor without selling their crops. Their debts build up and their crops are left to ruin. In a perfectly competitive market, there are many buyers and sellers and therefore no individual player can influence the market as a whole. Hence the firms become "price takers" by accepting the price determined by the intersection of the demand and supply curves. Therefore the firm's demand curve is perfectly elastic and price equals marginal revenue as shown in the graph. Individual firms cannot increase prices due to the competitiveness of the market and the highly elastic demand curve. Hence there are normal profits to be gained for the producers. The products are homogenous and therefore the buyers are indifferent as to which firm they purchase from. There are no barriers to entry or exit; hence firms can enter and leave the industry with no cost liabilities. In such a competitive environment, there is maximum efficiency and competent allocation of resources with minimum wastage. A trace of monopolistic competition is found in chapter 13 of the book where the Joads stop to fill gas at a gas station. The owner of the station is characterized as a crushed man, one who is afraid of the change that the world around him has embraced. He talks about how he sees cars move west all day and the only ones that stop in his station are the ones that have no money. They exchange beds, baby buggies, pots, pans, dolls, even shoes for the gas. The rich cars, however, stop only at company stations in town. He refers to these stations as the yellow painted ones in town. We also notice how the owner tries to imitate the company stations with the yellow paint but fails because of the loose hangings and the old cracks in his beaten old station. Monopolistic competition or imperfect competition is relatively similar to that of perfect competition except that the products are not homogenous. There are large number of players in the market, but due to differentiation of products, each individual firm has a small market share and a limited ability to influence prices. In this market, the barriers to entry are very small and there is sufficient product knowledge among the consumers. Product differentiation, which is the characteristic of monopolistic competition, creates a difference between products by deeming them similar but not identical. The product of one producer can be differentiated from that of another. A competitive producer uses non price competitive methods such as advertising, packaging, brand names, design to differentiate his products. There are substitutes in the market but they are not perfect substitutes. Firms have some control over prices, but the demand curve remains downward sloping and elastic. The producer aims at maximizing his profits by charging as much as he can over and above the output where his marginal revenue and costs equal, without compromising his sales. In the long run, however, new entries will shift the demand curve and the cost curve, thereby squeezing the profits. Oligopoly Chapter 19 narrates the