How The Simpsons Affects Kids Essays - The Simpsons,

How The Simpsons Affects Kids The Simpsons is one of Americas most popular television shows. It ranks as the number one television program for viewers under eighteen years of age. However, the ideals that The Simpsons conveys are not always wholesome, sometimes not even in good taste. It is inevitable that The Simpsons is affecting children. Matt Groening took up drawing to escape from his troubles in 1977. At the time, Groening was working for the L.A. Reader, a free weekly newspaper. He began working on Life in Hell, a humorous comic strip consisting of people with rabbit ears. The L.A. Reader picked up a copy of his comic strip and liked what they saw. Life in Hell gradually became a common comic strip in many free weeklies and college newspapers across the country. It even developed a cult status. (Varhola, 1) Life in Hell drew the attention of James L. Brooks, producer of works such as Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Terms of Endearment. Brooks originally wanted Groening to make an animated pilot of Life in Hell. Groening chose not to do so in fear of loosing royalties from papers that printed the strip. Groening presented Brooks with an overweight, balding father, a mother with a blue beehive hairdo, and three obnoxious spiky haired children. Groening intended for them to represent the typical American family "who love each other and drive each other crazy". Groening named the characters after his own family. His parents were named Homer and Margaret and he had two younger sisters named Lisa and Maggie. Bart was an anagram for "brat". Groening chose the last name "Simpson" to sound like the typical American family name. (Varhola, 2) Brooks decided to put the 30 or 60 second animations on between skits on The Tracy Ullman Show on the unsuccessful Fox network. Cast members Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner did the voices of Homer and Marge. Yeardley Smith (later to star in Herman's Head) did the voice of Lisa. Nancy Cartwright did the voice of Bart. Cartwright previously supplied the voices for many cartoons, including Galaxy High, Fantastic Max, Richie Rich, Snorks, Pound Puppies, My Little Pony, and Glo-Friends. Tracy Ullman later added Cartwright to her cast. (Dale and Trich, 11) Brooks, Groening, and Sam Simon, Tracy Ullman's producer, wanted to turn the Simpson family into their own show. The Fox network was looking for material to appeal to younger viewers. The only show they had that drew a young audience was Married With Children. To Fox's pleasure, The Simpsons saved the network from near failure. (Varhola, 3) On December 17, 1989, The Simpsons got their break. The Christmas special, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" aired. (Dale and Trich, 19) In the episode, Bart got a tattoo, much to Marge's dislike. She quickly spent all of the family's Christmas money to remove Bart's tattoo with a laser. At the same time, Homer, still on his morning coffee break at 4:00 in the afternoon, learns that he will not receive a Christmas bonus. When he learns that Marge is relying on the money for Christmas, he decides that he will do the Christmas shopping for the year. He quickly buys Marge panty hose, Bart paper, Lisa crayons, and Maggie a dog toy. When he realizes that he is not doing very well, he gets a second job as a mall Santa for the extra money. On the way home from work, he steals a Christmas tree. The next day at the mall, Bart sits on his Dad's lap and pulls down his beard. Homer responds by choking Bart and making him help make Christmas better. On Christmas Eve, Homer receives his check, $13.70 for over 40 hours work. Homer takes Bart to the dog track as a final chance for Christmas money. They discovered a gem in the third race, Santa's Little Helper. How could this dog lose on Christmas Eve? The odds were 99 to 1, they were going to be rich. Homer put all of his money on Santa's Little Helper, and to his horror, he never even finished. As Homer and Bart were scouring the parking lot for winning tickets into the night, they saw the track manager throw

Describe the most important features of Liturgical worship, non liturgical and charismatic worship Essays

Describe the most important features of Liturgical worship, non liturgical and charismatic worship Essays Describe the most important features of Liturgical worship, non liturgical and charismatic worship Paper Describe the most important features of Liturgical worship, non liturgical and charismatic worship Paper In a liturgical Church, services have a set order. This means that all services are always exactly the same, no matter what country they are conducted in. The only difference is the language it is conducted in.In Liturgical Church services, the altar is at the centre of the Eucharist, or thanksgiving. This is because the altar is the place where the sacrifice of the Eucharist takes place. This is the sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross. This gift of himself is shown in the bread and wine offered at the Eucharist.Roman Catholics believe in the Transubstantiation. This is the act in which the bread and the wine offered by the priest at the altar actually become the body and blood of Christ. The bread and the wine also remind us of the Last Supper shared by Jesus and the Apostles.The priest wears special garments to show that he is different from the laity (the congregation). The long white garment worn on the inside is called the Alb. It is meant to remind us of the long, flowing whit e garments worn in the middle east, which is of course where Jesus lived, to keep cool. The outer garment is called the Chasuble. Chasubles have been used since Roman times, so the priest wears it as a symbol of the antiquity of the priesthood. The colour of the Chasuble depends upon the time of the religious calendar. It is a different colour during each major festival of the year, e.g.: purple during Lent.Finally, the priest wears a Stole. This is the long scarf-like garment he wears around the neck and which almost reaches down to his ankles. It is a symbol of the priests authority.The most important part of the Liturgical service is the Liturgy of the Word. It is a planned reading read by the priest, and represents the theme of the entire service. The theme corresponds with the time of the liturgical or religious year.In a non-liturgical Church, services have no set order. Instead, the Bible is the focus of services, and worship is spontaneous, often involving joyful singing and dancing. Church buildings are a lot plainer, and the altar is a table. A lot more importance is given to the Sermon preaching and teaching from the minister, and to prayer, than to ceremony and tradition. Again the offering of the bread and the wine plays an important part, but as in the charismatic and Anglican denominations, the Church does not believe in the Transubstantiation. Community singing and hymn books play important parts in worship.In charismatic Churches, attention is mainly focused n the Holy Spirit. There is no service order as the congregation wait upon the Holy Spirit to provide the inspiration and its gifts. Worship involves plenty of drama, with healing of illnesses etc. via the laying on of hands by the minister, people speaking in prophecy tongues, and enthusiastic hymns. There are no symbols in the church building, which can often be just a plain building. Great importance is also placed upon Bible readings, the preaching of the minister, and prayer.

Justice Studies Perspectives Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Justice Studies Perspectives - Assignment Example Somewhat the laws which are created by its own are seemingly more aiming towards moral values of the society. In addition, lawmakers are more likely to cater rules that are about to make them profitable. This may also lead to the subject of power that can be gained in case other people are made to follow the orders which will keep them away from ruling or having their say count for their respective rights. Thus, it can be well asserted that law is not moral as it stands to be. This indicates that people who would be working for the justice system will also be a part of the pretending game where they will present the rules to be completely moral in nature (Simmonds, 2007). In order to practice the morality of the laws that are practiced in any part of the world, it is state that officials may use terms and expressions which are going to pose the role of law as eminent. In real terms, the situation goes beyond it i.e. the safeguard of morality is not undertaken by effective practice of lawmaking but the conduct of people which is also termed as ethical context of societal associations (Posner, 2009). Also, many ethical researchers have maintained that in the wake of finding a paradigm that solely provides justice to people by saturating the aspects of morality remains absent. There is an evident need of the lawmakers who would not suggest the rights of the powerful to be safeguarded over the needy ones or the power implication of the richer over the poor which will make sure that the lower class continues to face immoral treatment in the society (Haakonssen, 1996). Thus, it can be well stated that justice system is something which is man-made and has to be questioned for its immoral practices. The ethical grounds are therefore considered to be different from law. A set of rules which is being followed in one part of the world remains a shallow justice system for those who require moral and just

Soul Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Soul Theory - Essay Example The answer to this question goes to an extent of providing the conditions under which we cease to survive and the conditions under which we survive in the process of particular adventures. The adventures do not have to look fancy as the cases of either brain swaps or human fission. Personal identity theory attempts to tell us if we can exist through the possession of cognitive capacities from fetus to person development or if we could have survived accidents if we found ourselves in a constant vegetative condition (Korfmacher, 2006). The personal identity theories have significant metaphysical and ethical implications and in association with particular normative premises, they can support the condemnation or justification of certain issues such as euthanasia or infanticide, or they could falsify or prove certain characteristics of the religious outlook. These implications assist in making decisions such as whether and how we can be resurrected and if we are the true possessors of souls in which their existence is similar to ours (Korfmacher, 2006). Many of the philosophers have attempted to find the solutions to the problem of personal identity or have dedicated themselves to metaphysical systems that have significant implications in regard to the personal identity problem. Other than the philosophers, majority of the religious belief systems have attempted to offer explicit answers to the question of persistence. It is not surprising that almost everyone holds the notion of pre-theoretical personal identity theory in the sense that they believe in life after death and know the meaning of death (Korfmacher, 2006). The task of solving the metaphysical problem of personal identity essentially involves answering the question of how the phenomenon or principle in virtue of which â€Å"entities like us† persist through time is to be specified, under the widely but not universally accepted premises that there is such a phenomenon or principle and that

Human Resources Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human Resources Development - Essay Example yoffs as examples to the survivors so that the survivors know that if their performance is not up to the mark, they can be laid off like others as well. In addition, management can establish rewards and tie them with achievement of specific goals on the part of the survivors. This would make a two-way approach wherein, the survivors would increase their commitment and productivity not only to remain employed and not become one of the layoffs but also to get the rewards that have been established by the management. In addition to these steps, close monitoring and supervision of the survivors is also necessary to ensure that they are making correct use of the organizational resources, though management may consider showing flexibility in terms of time schedule; making the employees sit in the office does not necessarily mean that they work full time. Productivity is optimal when employees are given some relaxation in terms of time of arrival and departure from the

Sanofi-Aventis Business Strategy

Sanofi-Aventis Business Strategy Question 1 Introduction According to analysts, the pharmaceutical industry is changing rapidly and undergoing a shift. Sanofi-Aventis are therefore changing its strategy to help transform itself from a Europe/US-centred pharmaceutical company to a global diversified healthcare company. These changes include a change in its products, markets, top management and its capabilities. This essay aims to discuss the environment within which Sanofi-Aventis is operating, identifying the reasons why the company need to change its strategy and how it will achieve this. Harrigan (1980) and DAveni (1989) showed that when performance is declining or poor, organisations tend to principally alter their activities. This is the case with Sanofi-Aventis, it is running like a French national treasure and performance is declining in the rapidly changing pharmaceutical industry. The Strategic Position of Sanofi-Aventis Porters five forces framework (1980) can help to identify the attractiveness of an industry for a firm by drawing attention to the external pressures it may face. Figure 1 shows that buyers in the industry have a low bargaining power. The major consumers of the industry include doctors, hospitals, patients and pharmacists. Buyer power is dependent on factors such as the number of buyers, switching costs and buyer competition threat. The industry has many buyers and the competition usually takes place between them. Thus the power of buyers in terms of the number of buyers is reasonably small. However buyers are able to choose from other similar products. To avoid this problem organisations within the industry usually spend most of their research and development on new patent drugs to keep up competition. The suppliers within the industry have a certain level of power but it is not such a high threat. The suppliers could include providers of raw materials and intermediates, the manufac turing and production plants and labour. The suppliers provide different levels of threat and cannot easily be changed in this industry, even if suppliers refuse to supply. Thus there are high switching costs for companies within this industry. However, the threat from suppliers in this industry is not much bigger than that in other industries. In the pharmaceutical industry, there is a high barrier to entry. This is due to the high costs which are required to enter the industry. There are high RD costs because the research and development of new drugs is time consuming and costly. There is also heavy regulation of the industry where drugs need to be approved, as well as patent restrictions. Patents are a high barrier for organisations who are trying to enter the market. Organisations already existing within this market have already established a strong brand name with loyal customers and have a large budget to spend on marketing to continuously support their brand. New companies th erefore find it difficult to build up a brand name. The main substitutes for products in the pharmaceutical industry are generic brands of medication. The price of brand name medicines is kept competitive with generic brands. However, there is not always a generic medicine available as a substitute due to patents. Other substitutes include methods such as Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, hypnosis, diet-based therapies, chiropractic care and Reiki. In terms of competition, the industry is very competitive. With high RD cost, strict government regulations and extremely competitive products in the market, companies are constantly trying to release the next best product so that they can stay ahead. Advances in technology are also another factor affecting competition because it opens new avenues for research. Companies are dependent on the long run success of their ideas which puts a lot of pressure on them to find drugs which have high pay-offs. It is common for firms in the indu stry to merge together to gain competitive strength so that it can take on the leaders of the industry. In this industry the competition is such that only the strongest firms will survive. By analysing the five forces for this industry, it can help to determine what problems Sanofi-Aventis may incur. The barrier to entry into the industry will be high which works in the favour of Sanofi-Aventis. In terms of buyers and suppliers, these are low. The substitutes are also fairly low until the patents expire between 2009 and 2013. The power of substitutes will then increase along with rivalry and the bargaining power of buyers as buyers will switch to generic drugs. This will result in a reduction of costs of the drugs and profitability. In terms of PESTEL analysis, this legal factor of the patents is a key driver for change because it is enforcing a threat on the company. Companies within this industry have opted for mega-mergers. This could be another threat to the company as these companies have more competitive strength. Sanofi-Aventis need to overcome these problems by differentiating its products and the company itself for the existing markets as well as for new marke ts. This suggests that a transformation of the companys strategy is required for them to exist in the changing industry which will align them with the changing environment. The company have already a #1 position in emerging markets, so they have an opportunity to exploit this in order to overcome some of these threats and gain a sustainable competitive advantage. The company also need to take into account the other main influences on its strategy. These influences can help determine what threats the company has and how the strategy should be changed so that it can overcome some of these issues. The culture of the company can have a major impact because the company can be confined by that culture making it difficult to change outside the bounds of it. Sanofi-Aventis was being run like a French national treasure. This shows that the company is too rigid and too traditional. Johnson (1992) suggests that changes going on within or without the organisation will affect organisational performance. However, even if managers, as individuals, perceive such changes they may not necessarily acknowledge them as impinging on the strategy or performance of the organisation. Sanofi-Aventis had this problem as the management had acknowledged that the environment was changing but were not changing its strategy greatly to be in line with this. To rise above thi s issue the company have brought in a non-french manager Christopher A. Viehbacher, which has helped to show analysts and investors that the company will not be run like a French national treasure and that the company have changed their attitude. This suggests that the company will not be based on its past ways of doing things and the lessons learnt from the evolving environment of the organisation, as this has not been successful in the rapidly changing pharmaceutical industry. This shows that Sanofi-Aventis have tried to change its culture so that it avoids the problem of strategic drift resulting from focusing on the existing culture when dealing with the changing environment. This is a change in the companys power structure. The company have also changed its organisational structure by changing the management team and by creating customer-focused teams. Looking at Johnsons (1987) cultural web, it can be seen that the company are changing two factors (Appendix 1), which will help Sanofi-Aventis to transform its strategy more easily. The strategic capabilities of the company provide a view of the internal influences on strategic choices for the future. The competences and resources which are distinctive or superior relative to those of rivals may become the basis for competitive advantage if they are matched appropriately to environmental opportunities (Andrews, 1971; Thompson and Strickland, 1990). In terms of Sanofi-Aventis, the threshold level has changed over time and so the company need to invest in its resource base so that it can stay in this industry and gain a competitive advantage. They have an opportunity to exploit its #1 position in emerging markets, so they are creating new strategic capabilities to achieve this by having a better position in emerging markets, adapting its RD efforts to new regulatory and economic constraints and making disciplined decisions about how the company should grow and through what activities for example diversifying into vaccines, OTCs and biologics and not to opt in mega -mergers like all the other companies within the industry. Instead they are going ahead with bolt-on acquisitions as this will add more value to the company. This shows that Sanofi-Aventis have acknowledged that for them to survive they need to differentiate itself from other organisations within the industry and this can be achieved by exploiting its opportunities. The stakeholders play an important role as the strategy of the company needs to take into consideration their interests. Sanofi-Aventis have failed to do this, which has resulted in investors reducing their stake in the company. Sanofi-Aventis need to adapt its strategy so that it takes into consideration the interests of its stakeholders. However the companys stakeholders are changing as they enter into new partnerships and change its management team. These stakeholders will be focused on the external stakeholders (the customers) and so the company need to fulfil the customers needs in order to take into consideration the internal stakeholders interests. The strategic choices and actions Sanofi-Aventis are taking Sanofi-Aventis are responding to these pressures by making choices about the companys future. At a corporate level, Sanofi-Aventis are launching new products such as vaccines, OTCs, diabetes drugs and branded generics and offering them to emerging markets as well as existing markets. This in terms of Ansoffs Matrix (1957) can be seen as diversification at an international level and product development at a national level (Appendix 2). Although the company is providing the existing market with new products such as vaccines to give them a pre-eminent position, major rivals such as Novartis, GSK and Pfizer are closing the gap. Sanofi-Aventis therefore need to continue to focus on the RD of its products to sustain this position. By producing new drugs, the company are trying to fulfil its external stakeholders needs, which in turn takes into consideration the internal stakeholders. At a business level, Porter (1985) provides a framework of generic strategies and suggests that they are distinct mutually exclusive alternatives. However the idea that the generic strategies are mutually exclusive has been criticized (Hill, 1988; Murray, 1988), and studies have shown that mixed or hybrid strategies may be profitable (Miller Dess, 1993). By looking at Bowmans strategy clock (1996), it can be seen that the company are going against Porter and are taking up a hybrid strategy in its existing markets which involves having a low cost base and differentiating its products (Appendix 3). They are trying to develop products that are better than that of its competitors by posing the question ‘why is the drug better than what theyve already got? If this question cannot be answered then the product does not add any extra value for the customer compared to its competitors products and the product does not become a part of the companys product portfolio. In new markets that have fewer economic resources the company are taking up a low frills strategy which involves producing cheap goods with low added value. In terms of Porters generic strategies, the choice of taking up a hybrid strategy can be seen as a differentiation strategy as well as a cost leadership strategy (Appendix 4). By differentiating its products, the company are trying to produce goods which its customers will value so that it can overcome the threat that is enforced from the patent expiries. The way in which differentiation is achieved can be seen by Porters (1985) value chain (Appendix 5). Value is built on the activities that are a part of creating the product, whilst sometimes reducing costs in these activities. For example, the company are trying to achieve this by restructuring its RD as it was costly and unproductive and reduce its operating costs. This makes the product unique compared to those of competitors. These value added products can be charged at premium prices to help achieve higher profitability. This will help make up for the loss of revenues from the patent expiries. The company have chosen to pursue its strategy through organic development, which has also led to the decision of pursuing its strategy through acquisitions. The company are strengthening its capabilities, one of which is the ability to make effective decision which has therefore led to the company taking on acquisitions. The reason behind these choices is because it will allow the company to add value to its products. These are carefully thought out decisions that the company are undertaking so that they have a competitive advantage. When observing how Sanofi-Aventis are changing its strategy to help it to become a global diversified healthcare company, it can be seen that the strategy is an intended one. This is because Viehbacher entered the company having ideas about how the strategy would be changed. The design lens can be used to explain this strategy because Viehbacher has been in charge of making all the strategic decisions, ‘Dehecq, who had long been considered as the driving force behind Sanofi-Aventis, was conspicuous by his absence at these meets. This led to analysts opining that Viehbacher was in sole charge of strategy. The change that the company are seeing is a result of implementing the planned strategy that Viehbacher had when he joined the company. Conclusion Sanofi-Aventis are under-going a transformational change in a short period of time. They have been able to achieve this by first considering the influences on the companys strategy such as its environment, its culture, its strategic capabilities and its stakeholders. These create opportunities and threats for the company and so by looking at these the company have been able to make strategic choices to help them to decide which direction to move their strategy towards and the methods by which this is to be done to help them to overcome some of the problems that they are facing. Question 2 Introduction In the future, the company needs to create a more sustainable growth. Sanofi-Aventis are changing its strategy to deal with the market pressures and demands while focusing on its main activities and developing strategic capabilities. The company need to utilise its resources and competences in such a way so that it can sustain growth and gain a competitive advantage over other key players in the pharmaceutical industry. Viehbacher was aware of this when he first joined the company and questioned ‘How can we change the model? How can we create more sustainable growth? For Viehbacher to be successful in achieving this he had to first identify the resources and competencies the company would need to grow and then decide how these would be developed and utilised efficiently. The resource-based model states that the competitive advantage and superior performance of an organisation is explained by the distinctiveness of its capabilities. Peteraf (1993) explains that the resource-based model can help to understand the long-lasting differences in the profitability of the firm, which cannot be attributed to variations in industry conditions. Wernerfelt (1984) states the model shows that the competitive advantage of a firm lies primarily in the application of the bundle of valuable resources at the firms disposal. Barney (1991) suggests that the resources have to be valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable because then the competitors will not be able to mimic the companys strategy. This can help to explain the heterogeneity or firm-level differences among companies that allow them to sustain competitive advantage. Sanofi-Aventis is in the exploration stage and so during the transformation they are experimenting with new alternatives that will help the company to gain this competitive advantage. One of the major reasons why the company have to do this is because the main resource that they rely on; the patents, are soon to expire. Also in an emerging market the company needs better, more refined resources to compete with. Johnson et al (2008) suggest that for a company to have strategic capabilities and competitive advantage they need to have the necessary resources and threshold competences, which competitors may have or can easily imitate, as well as unique resources and core competences which are better than the competitors or difficult for the competitors to imitate (appendix 6). Viehbacher became CEO of Sanofi-Aventis in December 2008. The experience of working at GSK for 20 years and the knowledge that he has brought to the company is unique and difficult for competitors to gain. His way of thinking and style of leadership is helping the company to transform itself because it varies from the companys old leadership which was like a French national treasure. Thus it can be seen that Viehbacher is developing a new culture for the company by changing the power structure. This will allow any new CEO joining the company, if Viehbacher leaves, to be able to continuously align the companys strategy wit h the changing environment through incremental change by building on the familiar. The company will also be able to develop dynamic capabilities if the environments changes which is mostly likely to be the case. The rapid changes in the industry have meant that for Sanofi-Aventis to be a more competitive organisation, a change in the companys structure is needed. Thus Viehbacher has put a new team in place after joining the company. Only Jean-Francois Dehecq remains chairman and two of the top management team, namely, Marc Cluzel (head of RD) and Hanspeter Spek (head of pharma operations) continue to hold their positions. Laurence Debroux has been promoted as chief strategic officer (in charge of MAs) and Jean-Pierre Lehner as chief medical officer (in charge of drug safety). Elias Zerhouni has been brought in as scientific advisor, Jerome Contamine as the CFO and Paul Chew as chief medical/science officer. By making this change in structure, Viehbacher is further developing the culture of the organisation. His team together have the knowledge and expertise in different areas, which will allow the company to grow as they will be adding value to the different activities of the company. With a stronger management team, the companys future can be and will continue to be shaped allowing it to be more customer orientated. However the team will need to bring new ideas to the company in order for this to happen. The company were the thirds largest pharmaceutical company as of 2009 but it had a costly and unproductive RD pipeline. The transformation of the companys strategy entails restructuring the RD organisation so that it is productive and in sync with patients needs. The company are changing to a company that is based on biotech and specialist-driven therapies research. The RD of the company is a core competence that Viehbacher is creating. It is helping the company to meet the demands of the rapidly changing pharmaceutical environment by shifting its efforts to new regulatory and economic constraints. By moving away from blockbuster drugs, the company can concentrate on medicines that add value for the customers. It is important for Sanofi-Aventis to keep the customers in mind as they will have a major effect on the success of the business. By meeting their needs, the company can create customer loyalty which will provide the company with a steady income. The new approach to RD is allow ing the company to enter into new partnerships to boost its base business. This is an opportunity for the company to try to overcome to some extent the threats that will occur from the patents expiring. These threats include the increase in substitutes and rivalry. If they can achieve this through their new RD approach, this will help the company to achieve growth in the future. Viehbacher was quick to note that Sanofi-Aventis was the #1 pharmaceutical company in emerging markets. This is because they have the ability to make efficient and effective decisions, as well as being able to move quick, ‘everybody says they want to go there, but were already there. Were in business while other companies are still trying to find their way from the airport to the hotel. This is a core competence that the company has, thus as new markets emerge in the future the company need to uphold this status. This is possible for the company to accomplish if they continue to focus on global public health issues and not the traditional markets that are becoming saturated. They also need to continue to act fast as they have done when moving into emerging markets such as Africa, India and China. The market the company was catering to was diverse, so they are moving towards branded generics, consumer healthcare and vaccines to create the basis for more sustainable growth. Viehb acher pointed out that the company was in a strong financial position generating à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬4 billion in cash each year. This capital can be used to invest in RD, which will help the company to grow and strengthen its position in emerging markets as it finds new healthcare businesses and products to diversify into. Using the companys finance, respectable reputation and ability to expand into emerging markets, it will allow the company to compensate from the patent expiries of its top-selling drugs and make larger capital gains in the future. Sanofi-Aventis have the ability to make logical decisions with the help of their CEO. For example they have decided not to be part of any mega-mergers as this would sap the organisations creativity and productivity. By opting for a mega-merger, the company would not be adding to shareholder value, so Viehbacher felt it was not necessary to do so. The capability to make these decisions has come from Viehbachers experience where he has been a part of two mega-mergers in the past. Instead of the mega-mergers Viehbacher has decided to go ahead with bolt-on acquisitions. The five acquisitions the company have taken up has given the company opportunities to tap markets such as the Central and Eastern markets, boost its presences in countries and the OTC business and provided it with a launching pad for the Asia-Pacific region. It has also given a push to its vaccines segment. These acquisitions are helping to fuel its growth in emerging markets whilst reducing its risk profile. In the futu re, the company need to maintain making disciplined decisions about the acquisitions that it takes on, only investing in those that add value. The company should be able to maintain this because Sanofi-Synthà ©labo acquired Aventis and both companies had a history of mergers and acquisitions. By taking on acquisitions, the company can also increase its customer base quicker than with mergers because the company can take on more than one acquisition at a time. Conclusion Sanofi-Aventis are carefully designing their strategy to allow them to have a competitive advantage. They are creating core competences and resources to aid them to survive and compete in the emerging pharmaceutical market. The resource-based model has facilitated the understanding of how Sanofi-Aventis is able to enter the new market and how it can in the future strengthen its position in this market. It is possible for the company to have sustainable growth and a competitive advantage, but they need to utilise its resources successfully in order to achieve this. However if in the future the needs of the environment change, Sanofi-Aventis will need dynamic capabilities to achieve a competitive advantage. Although Viehbacher is creating resources and core competences when transforming the companys strategy, these may need to be renewed and recreated because in more dynamic conditions competitive advantage is achieved when there is a capacity for change, learning and innovation.

Democratic Implications of the Bible :: essays research papers

Democratic Implications of the Bible   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the form of government known as democracy, the power lies in the hands of the people. Be it to change the laws or the structure of the government, the decisions of the legislature are made by either the people or representatives that are elected by the people. Under most government systems, elections are used for people to express their views and beliefs. There is equality for all, including basic freedoms such as freedom of speech and religion. There has been a conflict of opinion among people for many years regarding the presence of democracy in the Bible. The Scriptural Tradition of both the Old and New Testament can be viewed as either democratic or non-democratic. Many instances are present throughout the texts that can point in either direction, depending on a person’s personal views and point of view. After reading select books of both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Testament, along with Brian J. Walsh and Sylvia C. Kessmat’s â€Å"Col assians Remixed†, I could easily see how an argument could be made either way. After much deliberation with each of the two sides pulling me their way, I chose the democratic side.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The issue of democracy arises early in the Bible with Genesis, the first book in the Old Testament. The creation of the world was presented in Chapters 1 and 2 of the Genesis. In this creation, there was no hierarchy among the people, as none of them had to face oppression from a higher individual. In a democracy, all people are meant to be equals. Also similar to a democracy, the people had various freedoms, such as the freedom to develop creation and the freedom to disobey. The freedom is also displayed vividly in the broad mandate that is given to human by God. It is a cultural mandate where the people can create their own cultural institutions, from cities to agriculture to art.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An instance where some people consider inequality to arise is between man and woman. Eve was created out of Adam, which can be considered as man’s superiority over woman. â€Å"†¦and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made the woman and brought her to the man.† (Genesis chapter 2: 21-22) Despite Eve being created out of Adam’s ribs, I still do not view this as an inequality.