What Comes with Old Age?

What Comes with Age What comes to mind when you think of life? Do you view life with an ever go lucky viewpoint and are you happy and content? Are you an optimist? Or do you think life is a means to and end with nothing to look forward to but depression and sorrow. In Earnest Hemingway’s story â€Å"A Clean Well-Lighted Place† Hemmingway makes the point that when you get older there is nothing but desperation and sorrow to live for. He does this by showcasing the story between a younger and an older waiter working late at night in a well-lit cafe where the only customer in the cafe is a very old deaf man getting drunk by himself.The story illustrates through characterization and verbal irony what it means to deal with the harsh reality that everything we are and everything we do is empty. Hemmingway presents two kinds of characters, those that are unaware of the emptiness of life and those that are familiar with it. He does this by focusing on three main characters thro ughout the short story; an old man, a younger waiter, and an older waiter where each has a subtly different outlook on life. At the beginning of the story we meet the old man who is sitting at a bar drinking a brandy just watching the branches of a tree outside.The old man is lonely and drinks by himself. He drowns his sorrows in alcohol. The old man attempts to commit suicide because he is in despair. He tried to commit suicide by hanging himself with a rope but his niece who takes care of him cuts him down. He is in despair and feels unwanted because he is old. His old age shows physical imperfections on his body such as his hard of hearing. He has no one to go home to, and finds comfort drinking in lit places, then home by himself. He is very lonely because his wife died and he has no one to go home to and talk to about his problems or just to keep him company.The old man is also in a good financial position, but regardless of money, he has no will to keep on living. The old manà ¢â‚¬â„¢s deafness signifies a physical and mental isolation from the rest of the world. The younger waiter only cares about going home to his wife and going to bed so he can go to sleep. He seems to think his time is more valuable than the old mans which is ignorant to think since who’s time is really better than someone else’s? In the story the two waiters mention that the old man is in despair. When asked what the old man was in despair about the young waiter replies â€Å"Nothing,† because â€Å"He has plenty of money. This is a typical ignorant sentiment shared by youth who believe that money somehow provides happiness thus a meaningful life. The younger waiter does not show any sympathy to the old man or try to understand his feelings. The younger waiter is very insensitive and only thinks about himself. His attitude towards older people is very harsh and he never stops to think that one day he to might be old and lonely. The older waiter works at the cafe along with the younger waiter but seems to be more aware of the old deaf man’s feelings.He doesn’t have anyone to go home to at the end of the night and he doesn’t mind working at all hours of the night. The older waiter identifies with the old man because he himself has nowhere to go after work. The older waiter himself cannot find a clean well-lighted place of his own to pass the night. The older waiter is offended by how the young waiter treats the man when he decides to refuse serving the man another drink. This is demonstrated when the older waiter says â€Å"Why didn’t you let him stay and drink? The older waiter has a realistic understanding of the significance of â€Å"nada,† in this world and it actually keeps him up at night. He comes to the realization that life is emptiness, that a man’s life means nothing and that his existence signifies nothing to himself, nothing to others and nothing to the universe. One of the most importa nt topics of this story has to do with loneliness. The older waiter and the old man are very lonely. They both would like to stay at the cafe to escape from reality. Whereas the younger waiter is in a rush to get home because his life and reality isn’t filled with loneliness.He has a wife to go home to and he has youth, confidence and a job. The older waiter is very much like the old man except he has a job. The old man feels like he has nothing to live for other than getting drunk, however, life is not found in a bottle of alcohol. Life is found in experiences and relationship and alcohol hinders these experiences and relationships. This story also talks about other topics including death, futility, and meaninglessness. Hemingway shows these topics throughout most of the words and actions of the older waiter.Life is inherently meaningless and leads inevitably to death, and the older one gets, the clearer these truths become and the less able one is to impose any kind of orde r on one’s existence or maintain any kind of positivity in one’s outlook. In Ernest Hemmingway’s â€Å"A Clean Well-Lighted† Place one learns that life seems to get worse with age. Young people seem to be happy and content and think that they themselves will never grow old. The older one gets the closer the realization is that life is not worth living since it is filled with emptiness and despair.

Ap in Cold Blood

Rakshitha Mohankumar 11-16-12 AP English Language Period 3 Timed Writing: In Cold Blood Option C In part three of Capote's In Cold Blood, the book gives a more clear understanding of how Perry and Dick came to know of the Clutters and earned their â€Å"score†. It has detailed excerpts from interviews with Floyd Wells, Dick's friend from prison who is also the same person who tells him everything he needs to know about the Clutters, as well as, Mr and Mrs. Hickock, Dick's parents who are worried for their son and concerned about his whereabouts.The author was able to create and portray a good amount of sympathy for Dick's parents by making them appear poor and gentle as well as by how they speak about their son, and are willing to forgive him for his mistakes. In creating sympathy for the parents, the author also indirectly creates some sympathy for Dick by using certain quotes, by Mr. Hickock, that describe his life before he went into prison. There are many ways in which Tru man Capote portrays sympathy for the Hickocks in this section. He uses interviews from the locals who live around where Dick's family lives.When Officer Nye investigates the nearby folks, one farmer's wife tells him,â€Å"Don't talk to me about Dick Hickock! If ever I met the devil! [†¦ ] Dick would've gone to jail more times than you can count, except nobody around here ever wanted to prosecute out of respect for his folks. † Essentially, she is trying to say that although Dick gets into plenty of trouble, no one ever really says anything about it, out of kindness to his parents, who are â€Å"both plain and honest people. † Capote also uses certain phrases and quotes that stand out to the reader, which in turn evokes sympathy, from the interview with Dick's parents themselves. He wanted to go on to college. Study to be an engineer . But we couldn't do it. Plain didn't have the money. Never have had any money. † The fact that they are not a rich and well-of f family is made clear when Mr. Hickock says that he couldn't afford to send his son to college. This also is an indication of how Dick's life would have turned out to be different than what it was currently, if he had gone to college. Both Dick's parents never really blame their son for his faults. Rather, they blame it on someone or something else. â€Å"That friend of his. That's what happened† is what Mrs.Hickock tells Officer Nye, implying that Perry is the one who was at fault for all the mishaps that Dick had been burdened with. They are typical parents, painting their son in perfect light, and thinking that in no way is he at fault, instead, only badly influenced. The author, by creating sympathy for the parents also creates sympathy for Dick and makes him seem more human. He uses a quote from Dick's father â€Å"I've not got long, I'm with cancer, and Dick knowed that, and not a month ago, right before he took off, he told me, ‘Dad, you've been a pretty good o ld dad to me.I'm not ever gonna do nothing more to hurt you. ‘[†¦ ] That boy has plenty of good inside of him. † In the first two parts of the book, Dick is known to have cared for his family and this just elaborates on that fact. It humanizes Dick and makes him more compassionate. It shows that he is wary of how he has upset his parents and that he is not deliberately hurting them. The aforementioned quote also makes the reader sympathize for the father because it states that he has cancer and knows he is not going to live long.Adding in a disease or illness of sorts always has some sentimental effect on the reader and the author must have chosen this particular quote for that purpose. One last quote that stood out as a form of sympathy for Dick's parents is â€Å"Ashamed and afraid. Of what he's done. Of how he's hurt us again. And afraid because he thinks we won't forgive him. Like we always have. And always will. † This quote is from Mrs. Hickock and it s ignifies a parent's, or more specifically, a mother's love for her child. As Dick's parents, they are always willing to forgive him no matter how many mistakes he has made or how badly he has hurt them.He is their son and it shows that, no matter what kind of a person he turned out to be, they have and always will love him and be there for him. This creates sympathy, more for Dick's parents rather than Dick himself, because it signifies that they are good, loving, and caring parents who see past the faults and errors of their children. There are a few people who might say Dick is â€Å"undeserving† of such loving and kind-hearted people for parents. These are just a few outstanding ways in which Truman Capote portrayed sympathy for Mr and Mrs. Hickock.

Who were the two people who discovered Calculus Essay

Who were the two people who discovered Calculus - Essay Example The first person to come up with the calculus was Newton, owing to new historical findings (Sastry 3), moreover, he did this by developing standard differential algorithms, which were later expounded further by Leibniz after two decades (Sastry 3). This proves that Newton was the original inventor of the calculus although there have been accusations of plagiarism from Newton’s supporters towards Leibniz. However, it has been exposed that Leibniz arrived at calculus on his own independent efforts despite having his discoveries known later to the world after Newton’s. This makes Leibniz the second inventor of calculus, meaning that all of the philosophers made their own discoveries independently. Therefore, with this in mind, each scholar made his own discovery in his own respective place. Isaac Newton made his discoveries in London, but with constant correspondence with Leibniz due to clarifications that Leibniz required to explain his theories later (Sastry 3). Despite the accusation of plagiarism and propaganda against him, Leibniz made his discoveries in Germany. In conclusion, Leibniz and Newton made the discovery of the calculus, despite their independent studies and differences. For this reason, they are co-inventors of the calculus with controversial views and chronological airing of their findings. In conclusion, Leibniz and Newton made the discovery of the calculus, despite their independent studies and differences. For this reason, they are co-inventors of the calculus with controversial views and chronological airing of their

Changes in the Nature of War and Diplomacy after 1989 Essay

Changes in the Nature of War and Diplomacy after 1989 - Essay Example This led to the carving out of the world into two: the Sino-Soviet East and the Anglo-American led West. Although the United States was the first country to create and use atomic bombs in the Second World War, other nations like the Soviet Union developed their own atomic bombs. In the first decade after the Second World War ended, Britain had also joined the group of nations with atomic bombs. These atomic bombs were further developed into nuclear bombs and France and China also acquired theirs. In the 1960s, a trend known as Atomic Diplomacy took centre-stage because the Soviets and the Americans had these weapons (Watson, 1989). However, the extent of damage that the weapons could cause for civilians in both countries. The need for deterrence prompted diplomacy for these two nations. One significant thing that came up after the Second World War was the formation of the United Nations which became a machinery for the rapid decolonisation of nations around the world (Robbins, 2010). The United Nations declared that it was illegal for nations to be ruled by foreign powers and this led to the collapse of the British and French colonial empires.... The first war was the Korean War fought right after the Second World War in the early 1950s. It led to the division of Korea into two parts, a Communist state in the north and a Capitalist state in the south. Other conflicts raged on in Vietnam and other countries where there were divisions on the lines of the dominant global ideological trends and patterns. There were internal struggles and coup d'etats that were influenced by these dominant powers. These were proxy wars that were fought by the chief proponents of these ideologies through their agents in foreign nations. This trend ended until the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and fought a deadly and expensive war with Muslim militants who were backed by the West. This war effectively ended in 1989 and led to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. The end of the war marked a significant change in patterns and trends in war around the world. Aims and Objectives This paper seeks to identify how the nature of war has changed sin ce 1989. The essay would examine the important changes that have occurred in the conduct of war from the perspective of international relations. In doing this, the paper would explore the following objectives: 1. An examination of important changes in international relations and global order since 1989 2. Influence of the changes in international relations and global order after 1989 on wars. 3. Analysis of theories that define the current global order and its impacts on wars. 4. Evaluation of new trends in global order: Terrorism, Islamic Militancy & Internal Strives Changes in Global Order after 1989 In 1989, the Berlin Wall which acted as the symbol of the Iron Curtain which separated the Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe from Western Europe. The unification of

Business environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business environment - Essay Example Every other day in newspapers we see the news about spin off, takeovers, mergers and acquisition. For a successful development of a product or service, at some stage, it is essential to undergo mergers and acquisition. Many experts believe that mergers increase the efficiency and values of a firm and in this way, resources can be utilized in the best possible way, thereby increasing the overall value of shareholding. (The Basics of Merger and Acquisition, 2010) 1.1 What is a Merger? Merger is defined as amalgamation of two or more companies in order to form a single company where only one company survives and the amalgamated one lose their corporate existence. The company that intends to survives take overs all the assets and liabilities of those companies which have been merged. In merger, all the shareholding, assets and liabilities of one company is transferred to the company that has to survive in the form of: Debentures Equity share Cash Or mix of all of the above. (The Basics o f Merger and Acquisition, 2010) 1.2 What is Acquisition? In general, acquisition is defined as acquiring the ownership of a company. In the context of business, acquisition is a purchase of a company where the buyer purchases the shareholding, assets and liabilities of seller. ... Renovation of Product facilities Mergers and acquisition helps in intensively utilizing resources and plants, achieving economies of scales through expanding and efficiently utilizing production facilities. It also helps in after sales services and thereby improving customer satisfaction. iii. Market Expansion The most imperative advantage of merger and acquisition is that it helps in expanding the market and boosts growth of business. Mergers and acquisition helps in eliminating competition and offers new products and diversification strategies to the merged or acquired companies. iv. Financial Strength In history, many mergers and acquisitions have failed but in most of the cases, financial strength of companies after getting merged or acquired has increased. Mergers and acquisitions help in improving liquidity and provide access to the cash resources. Greater backing of assets is provided and gearing capability gets improved. By being merged or acquired, companies are in better po sition to avail tax benefits and the EPS (Earning Per Share) also gets improved. (Sobek, 2000) v. General Gains After merger and acquisition, a company gets in a position to improve its public image and it also attracts experienced managerial talents to look for its managerial affairs. M&As (Mergers and Acquisitions) help in offering better satisfaction to the users or consumers of its products. vi. Strategic Purpose The company which is going to acquire the other one looks for all the available alternatives including product expansion, market expansion, vertical expansion, horizontal expansion etc. Thus, the company sets it strategic purpose which

Marketing Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing Management - Research Paper Example n which marketers try to adapt to the changing dynamics of the external environment, take valuable and crucial decisions related to product launch, its promotion, the key issues surrounding the product / service in question, as well as the various ways to address the same. Toyota Automobiles is a business segment of Toyota Industries Corporation, which was founded by Sakichi Toyoda in the year 1926. From the humble beginnings of a textile manufacturing firm to a multinational multi-million dollar company, Toyota Industries Corporation has come a long way. Such phenomenal success of the company could be mainly attributed to the strategic planning and detailed and timely execution of its plans. The company initiated diversification and expansion measures to include textile, machinery, automobiles, material handling equipment, electronics and logistics as a part of its organizational structure. Today, the company is regarded as the world’s best selling automaker and a world leader in the automobile industry. Toyota Motor Corporation deals in two broad categories of product / service which include: automotive and non-automotive products. The automotive products include major brands Toyota – the core brand which includes cars, trucks, SUVs as well as a range of automotive accessories; and Lexus – which is a luxury vehicle division of the Toyota Motor Corporation; while the non-automotive products / services include: housing, financial services, communications, marine vehicles, biotechnology etc among others (Toyota, 2010). The company aims to be a "good corporate citizen" by continuously striving to win the trust of its customers globally. The company is guided by the spirit of openness and fairness as its corporate philosophy and strives to develop cleaner and greener car technologies to make this planet a safe and better place to live (Toyota, 2010). This section includes detailed / comprehensive discussion of various aspects related to the Toyota Motor

Diseases in Grapevines that are Prevalent in Colder Climates Dissertation

Diseases in Grapevines that are Prevalent in Colder Climates - Dissertation Example Colder climates are often thought to be the most difficult for growing certain types of vines, and evidence suggests that â€Å"grape acreage increases in colder climates† (Smiley et al, 2008, p1) Therefore, the types of disease that affect vines in these climates may be more significant than ever. The diseases that infect vines growing in colder climates affect not only the land in which it is cultivated but they also have an influence on the biology and ecology of the place. Besides, it has a direct bearing on the economy of a nation and thus, the topic assumes great significance. Vines are one of the most important crops in the UK with the area that is dedicated to rising grapes increasing yearly by 2%. Like other plants, vines are also prone to by numerous pests and diseases. Some are more susceptible than others and it appears sensible to attempt and plant those which have better resistance to diseases and climatic conditions. Botrytis and Mildews are two of the major dis eases that affect grapevine cultivation in the UK, especially in Sussex and Kent, due to cold and moist conditions. However, these diseases are prevalent elsewhere also where the climate tends to be damp and extremely cold during winters. Another problem is that the presence of such diseases is very difficult to detect and by the time the farmer realizes that the plants are affected, it will be too late to take any remedial measures. As an alternative, most of the vineyards resort to pre-emptive spraying on a regular basis, to combat the problems of rotting, pests and mildew. Even farmers who are into organic production are forced to use spraying of copper and sulphur solution as a preventive measure. People prefer organic farm products on the premise that these are free of traces of pesticides and other chemicals but cultivating through this method involves the risk of the whole crop being destroyed if some precautionary spraying is not done. Grapes cultivated both in outdoor and i ndoor premises are exposed to various types of fungal diseases which mainly affect the fruit and leaves. The three major types of grape diseases  are powdery mildew, downy mildew, and grey. Thus, to become a successful viticulturist, one needs to take meticulous care in grooming the vines and take preventive measures against any possible diseases. Similarly, vineyards also remain exposed to birds or other animals that consume the fruits. However, the most unique problem with grape cultivation in England is that some varieties take a long time to ripen while others ripen too early and these are prone to being eaten by wasps. In smaller vineyards such problems can be addressed by putting cut-up stockings or tights over individual bunches but obviously on a large scale farms such endeavours are not practical. If properly groomed and maintained, most vineyards can produce high-quality and delicious fruit for decades without any problems from disease. Farmers need to keep the vineyard watered and healthy, with proper manicuring and by providing balanced manures. In most cases, the presence of diseases in commercial vineyards goes unobserved for years as these are very large in size and often it is difficult for farmers to scout vast areas for a thorough scrutiny of vines looking for the symptoms of any diseases. Thus, it become difficult to detect diseases such as pierces diseases and leaf roll virus etc and they remain untreated. Grapes are potentially rich sources of antioxidants and water. But the problem lies with the vines, upon

Language and culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Language and culture - Essay Example The researcher states that if the relationship is a formal one for example a student talking to his professor, then there will be a strict application of the rules and structure of grammar. In cases where the relationship between the two speakers is informal such as in the two students, the conversation is not likely to follow the strict application of the rules and structure of grammar. In the conversation, it can be seen that the two students do not concentrate on explicitly expressing their thoughts. This attributes to the fact that their conversation is mostly informal and as such, they do not feel the need to avoid ambiguity. The two students have a lot of shared knowledge and therefore there is a lot of reference to the information that is shared or known to the two of them. The context in this case refers to the information that is not expressly communicated in the statements that are made but which is important and relevant to the understanding and interpretation of the disco urse or the utterances that are made. An example of this from the conversation is ‘what will we share with them?’ The ‘them’ in this case is not specified. This is because the two speakers are aware of who is referred to as ‘them’. The use of pronouns is also seen in the discourse. As is a feature of informal speech, the discourse uses a lot of personal pronouns for example ‘them, she, they’ and so on. This is as a result of the shared body of knowledge that exists between the two speakers. They are therefore able to make references to the shared knowledge by making use of the pronouns. The use of ‘who’ as seen in the conversation is also a feature of informal speech as opposed to ‘whom’ which would be used in a formal context. Grammatical ellipsis has also been used in many instances in the discourse. This is where material that has already been presented in the discourse is omitted. Another observation t hat can be made in the discourse is the use of contraction. This is usually a common feature in an informal speech. In ellipsis, the omission of words is deliberate when the words that are omitted are expected to be understood from the context. Contraction refers to the practice of shortening words by omitting some of the internal letters in the word. This practice is different from the use of acronyms where initials of the letters are used. It is also different from abbreviation. In the discourse, contractions have been used on several occasions such as in ‘E’m’ instead of them, and ‘gonna’. Lexical density refers to the ratio of content words to the grammatical words that are used in any form of discourse be it spoken or written. In analyzing the conversation between the two students, one can find that the content ratio is low. This means that there are fewer content words than those that would be found in a formal discourse. The conversation is th erefore easy to follow and understand. The level of politeness in a given discourse is often dependent on the relationship that exists between the participants of the discourse. In formal situations, it is likely that there will be a higher level of politeness than in the informal situations. In the discourse, there is no adherence to politeness in discourse because of the familiarity that exists betwe

Making Organizational Theory and Design Effective Assignment

Making Organizational Theory and Design Effective - Assignment Example Additionally, each section can adopt best standards, approaches, and procedures for quality management. Primary organizational design approaches, however, may create conflicts between competing managers. The retail business is organized into functions and executives who could be having diverse interests head these sections; this may spur conflicts of interest in managing the retail business (Jones, 2013). The best organizational structure for the retail business is the team structure. Employees are divided into groups and each group work on assigned projects or develop solutions; the team leader reports the outcomes of the team to the management. Team structure encourages accountability, both within the team and to the management of the retail business. There are several organizational trends associated with the retail business; the trends that I fear most include flattening hierarchies and decentralizing responsibility. I think these trends may increase the number of people participating in decision-making, leading to complex processes of making management decisions. The trend that I could welcome is increasing adaptation. Increasing adaptation is the best trend for retail business of the 21st century because it has encouraged Wal-mart Inc., for example, to form focus groups, react to stakeholders’ concerns timely, and provides trainings crucial for continuous

Land of Bondage, Land of the Free

Land of Bondage, Land of the Free Essay The tao does not come here tonight to be judged, but to judge, Hear then his accusations and his sentiments. I indict the Spanish encomendero for inventing taxes impossible to bear. I indict the usurer for saddling me with debts impossible to pay. I indict the irresponsible radical leaders who undermine with insidious eloquence the confidence of my kind in the government. You accuse me of not supporting my family. Free me from bondage and I shall prove you false. You accuse me of ignorance. But I am ignorant because my master finds it profitable to keep me ignorant. Free me from bondage and I shall prove you false. You accuse me of indolence. But I am indolent, not because I have no will, but because I have no hope. Why should I labor if all the fruits of my labor go to pay an unpayable debt? Free me from bondage and I shall prove you false. Give me land. Land to own, land unbeholden to any tyrant, land that will be free. Give me land for I am starving. Give me land that my children may not die. Sell it to me. Sell it to me at fair price – as one free man sells to another – and not as a usurer sells to a slave. I am poor, but I will pay for it. I will work, work, until I fall from weariness for my privilege, my inalienable right to be free. But if you will not grant me this last request, this ultimate demand, then build a wall around your house. Build it high, build it strong. Place a sentry on every parapet. For I, who have been silent there three hundred years, will come in the night when you are feasting – with my cry and my bolo at your door – And may God have mercy on your soul!

Telenor Group Case Study

Telenor Group Case Study CASE STUDY TELENOR 1. General information about the Telenor Group The Telenor Group is the leading telecommunications company in Norway and one of the leading mobile operators in the world in terms of subscription. The company is also the biggest provider of television services in the Nordic region, while at the same time being present as the mobile operator in some of the fastest growing markets. Headquarters of the Telenor Group are located in Oslo, Norway. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. With the end of the third quarter of 2009, the Telenor Group has achieved 172 million of mobile subscriptions worldwide and it currently employs approximately 40.000 people in thirty countries. As it is widely familiar, Norway, as well as other Scandinavian countries, is known as extremely developed technology market in the beginning of the 21st century, achieving some of the highest penetration rates for new technologies, such as mobile phones and high speed internet. This actually represents a kind of tradition of the country, having in mind the fact that in 1855 the first telegraph line has been built, followed by the first telephone network connecting the cities of Arendal and Tvederstrand in 1878. Furthermore, Norway was one of the first world countries to introduce mobile telephone system in 1967, which was analogue based and manually operated. In order to understand business operations of Telenor, it seems necessary to make a short historical overview of the companys origins. Beginnings of the Telenor Group date back in 1855 when it was established as a state operated monopoly, bearing the name Norwegian Telegraph Administration NTA (also known as Telegrafverket) and offering the provision of telegraph services. In the last decade of the 19th century, development of the Norways early telephone network was handled by private companies. Norwegian Telegraph Administration, which was in the ownership of the state, gradually took over the privately owned companies in the market and gained control over the sector. Since then, Telenor gained more than 150 years of telecom experience. In 1969, the NTA changed its name to Televerket, also known as Norwegian Telecommunications. With the purchase of Andebu, the last privately owned company in the sector of telecommunications in 1974, Televerket obtained control of the monopoly of t he services of telephone and telecommunications and retained that position till the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 1990s, the company pioneered a new generation of mobile telephone services based on the GSM protocol, which was later accepted and implemented thought Europe. GSM service was launched in 1993 and was followed by the expansion of the company in the field of television broadcasting. This strategic decision provided the company with the opportunity to position itself as the dominant provider of satellite based broadcasting in the Scandinavian region. Since the Norwegian authorities had a tendency to deregulate the telecom sector in the country, the process of deregulation commenced in 1994 and lasted till 1998, with a partial deregulation sector by sector. Even before the government deregulation began, Televerket started with the company restructuring which lasted for four years and included the transformation of the company from a state owned to a public company, as well as the change of the company name to Telenor in 1995. Additionally, the company was a subject of partial privatization in 2000, which gave it a substantial boost of 15.6 billion NOK[1] of new capital and listed it on the Oslo Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. At the beginning of the privatization process, the Government remained the owner of 77.7% of the company, while this percentage was reduced to 53% by 2006. The company was rankedtop performer bythe Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes in 2007 and 2008. The main services which Telenor provides to its consumers and companies worldwide include the following segments: voice, data, content and other services. * In the segment of Voice, Telenor provides people to talk to each other by using fast and reliable networks. This segment focuses on the conversation on the phone, including fixed line, mobile or IP telephony. Fixed voice communication services are provided for users in three countries of the Nordic region and mobile voice in twelve different countries in Europe and Asia. * The segment of Data encompasses of the Internet and broadband services. The company offers fixed line data services like ADSL and fiber-optic communications in the countries of the Nordic region, and mobile data services such as mobile broadband, GPRS, UMTS in 12 countries. From the beginning of 2008, the company has started 3G based mobile broadband services inseven of its markets. * In the field of Content, TV services and mobile content, Telenor offers TV services via cable, digital terrestrial and satellite networks in four Nordic markets. Furthermore, the company also provides mobile content services in several markets, such as mobile TV, sports, ring tones, music and movies. * As far as otherservices are concerned, Telenor has a diversified offer that consists of services, which are telecom related, and the service portfolio is different from one country to another. Depending on the market, the company provides services in the filed of maritime communications, IT consulting, and aircraft communications services. In several markets the company provides Net-centric services, which refer to the IT security for individual consumers and enterprises and machine to machine (M2M) services for enterprises. The major part of the Telenor`s activities is organized in three regions and includes thirteen countries: Asia: Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and India. Nordic countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Centraland Eastern Europe: Hungary, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. From the beginning of the 1990s, Telenor begun with its international expansion in the field of mobile communications, penetrating the markets of the following countries: Russia in 1994, Bangladesh, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Austria in 1997, Ukraine in 1998, Malaysia in 1999, Denmark and Thailand in 2000, Hungary in 2002, Montenegro and Pakistan in 2004, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Serbia in 2006. Operations in Greece, Ireland and Germany were sold and the money obtained from this sale has been re invested in the emerging markets. Additionally, in 2005 Vodafone[2] in Sweden was acquired by Telenor. 1.1. Mission and Strategy Telenors primary objective is to create greater value for its shareholders, customers, employees and partners, and for the society in general. The company is dedicated to being at the forefront in creating, simplifying and introducing communication and content solutions to the marketplace. In order to comply with the given goal, Telenor bases its strategy on its customer oriented vision, Here to Help, as well as its core values, Make it easy, Keep promises, Be inspiring and Be respectful. Telenors main strategy is to upgrade the performance of the local mobile operations by combining Groups industrialization with local drive and responsiveness, in the regions where it conducts its business operations: Nordic region, Eastern and Central Europe and Asia. Furthermore, the company plans to maintain its leading position in the Nordic region with a diversified portfolio of communication services. This strategy could be defragmented to the following focus areas: Strengthening of the position of the company as an international mobile operator. Telenor plans to continue the process of strengthening its industrialization of the mobile operations by gaining control over chosen mobile companies. Control is crucial in order to benefit from synergies obtained by cross border activities, such as scale in procurement, development of new services and implementation of best practices, improvement of operational efficiency and the increase of the overall profitability. Telenor plans to manage the non-strategic investments as financial investments and to exit from international mobile operations where the company cannot obtain control over time. Strengthening of the companys position in the Nordic region. Telenor will continue to upgrade its services in the field of mobile and fixed telephony in the Nordic region by using the benefits obtained from economies of scale and cross-border synergies. The company strongly feels that its Nordic presence will improve support to the customers by improving upon its expertise both mobile and fixed services. To find itself at the forefront of communications services providers in Norway. Since the company is the leader in a broad range of services in both the residential and business markets in Norway, Telenor will try to obtain better results in the sense of its profit in the mobile and fixed fields of activity, through the introduction of new services and through various cost-cutting measures. Maintaining of the position of the leader in field of distribution of TV services to consumers in the Nordic region. Telenor additionally insists on finding new possibilities and solutions which will contribute to the strengthening of its strategic position as the leading distributor of subscription based television in the Nordic region. The company will dedicate its activities to contact and attract new users and increase revenue per user through its attractive content and new interactive services. Non strategic companies. Telenor will enhance the value of those companies, which are not strategic for its main business areas and dispose of all or part of its interest in such companies. 1.2. Regional presence Even though Telenor is present in the three dominant regions of the world, the Nordic region is the one where Telenor group has been present since 1855, and the company has held a strong position in the Scandinavian region ever since. The Nordic region is the one from which the majority of Telenor`s income comes from. As it is shown in diagrams 1 and 2, in the first quarter of 2009, 41% of total company revenues came from this region, as well as 37% of EBITDA[3] distribution. The three markets out of which the Nordic region is composed of, in fact represent specific markets with unique differences. For example, although Sweden still has a high use of fixed line telephony, it finds itself at the forefront of the mobile broadband services. Denmark is the market whose customers are the keenest users of SMS and are most interested in content services. Finally, Norwegian customers show growing interest in digital music services and Telenor Group has a high share on this market. The Nordic region is also significant since Telenor combines present and future technologies in the telecom field. As a supplement to existing offers, Telenor provides new broadband technologies, such as Fibre to the Home (FTH) and Long Term Evolution (LTE), the 4th generation mobile broadband standard. The strong distinction between fixed and mobile telephony is slowly vanishing in these markets. According to the data obtained from†¦..there is an evident transition from fixed to mobile networks. The data implicate that the mobile share of voice traffic has increased from 20% in 2003 to 60% in 2008. This is one of the reasons why Telenor acquired Vodafone in Sweden in 2006. Furthermore, the company now has 4G licenses in Norway and Sweden. In order to build networks and share spectrum of mobile communication, Telenor has joined Tele2[4] in a joint venture. The plan is to launch the LTE based broadband services by the end of 2010. This action will position Telenor as the leader of the 4G development worldwide. The same project is planned for Norway, with the difference that it will start in 2011. The Telenor Group has penetrated the Asian region in 1996, through the investment in Grameenphone[5] in Bangladesh. From the very beginning of its operations in Asia, the market has been the cornerstone of the development of the Telenor Group, enabling opportunities for growth in one of the most populated and fastest growing markets in the world. Additionally, mobile operations in Asia have a significant contribution to the total revenues and EBITDA of the Group. Data obtained in the first quarter of 2009 show that the region generated 30% of the revenues, 28% of the Groups EBITDA, and a total of 67 million mobile subscribers of the region. The company has received many awards for innovation and services in the past ten years and has been the driving force in the network development of Asia. Additionally, it has significantly increased the capacity of the regional network and provided coverage, connecting millions of people in new areas, who were previously unconnected. Over the past few years the Asian mobile market has been growing significantly. The growth is additionally stimulated by continuous innovations and new services provided by the company. The Group is active in the markets of Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh, and the company holds 3G license in Malaysia. Another important step of Telenor was the acquisition of Unitech Wireless[6] in India, through which the company penetrated one of the worlds largest and fastest growing markets. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the mobile markets of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia became a part of Telenor`s business operations. The main characteristic of these markets is the growth opportunity, making it significant part of the Telenor`s strategy in the years to come. Even though the markets of Central and Eastern Europe are challenging economic environment due to the process of transition, which these countries have undergone or are still undergoing, mobile operations of the Group deliver solid financial performances. The first quarter of 2009 shows that Telenor generated 17% of Groups total revenues and 32% of EBITDA. The region also generated 93 million of mobile subscribers. Also, the region of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia has achieved rapid growth in mobile subscription both in consumer, as well as business markets. The company is currently involved in investments in the 3G network in Hungary, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro. The priority is given to the n ew technological and eco friendly solutions, like the wind and solar powered base stations in Hungary, and testing of the new generation wireless broadband in Montenegro. 2. Telenor in Serbia Telenor`s presence in the Balkan region started at the beginning of 1990s when the company launched its operations in Hungary in 2002 by operating Pannon[7], followed by activities in Montenegro through Promonte[8] and finally, Serbia in 2006. Telenor penetrated the Serbian market through the purchase of the Serbian company Mobi 63, Serbias second largest mobile operator and this actually represents the largest privatization transaction in the central and eastern Europe in 2006, as reported by the audit company PriceWaterHouseCoopers. Telenor Group outbid two other short listed competitors at the auction (Mobilkom from Austria and Orascom Telecom from Egypt), offering a bid of 1.513 billion euros. Telenor took over the company on 31st of July 2006, upon the completion of all legal requirements and the signing of the Sales Agreement. The entire auction was broadcasted live on the Serbian national television and was attended by the highest state representatives. Mobi 63, formerly known as Mobtel, was formed by the Government of Serbia in the month of April of 2006, upon the revocation of the operators mobile license, which occurred due to the illegal dealings of the companys previous owners, who were suspected to have sold t he operators license in Kosovo to Mobikos, without requesting permission from the official authorities of Serbia. The Government then proclaimed that the sale was a threat to the national security. The acquisition of Mobi 63 made by Telenor includes a ten year license for GSM 900/1800 and 3G operation for the company, which is renewable for a successive period of ten years upon application. Additionally, the company also obtained Mobi 63`s existing assets, which included the base of approximately 2.5 million customers (in the end of 2005). In just three months upon its arrival to the Serbian market, Telenor invested approximately 15.3 million euros in the equipment of the highest technology, necessary to meet the requirements of the planned network expansion on the territory of Serbia. For this purpose, Telenor signed cooperation agreement with Erickson. Additionally, another contract with the Erickson Company worth 40 million euros for the purpose of network improvement was signed by the end of 2006. The main objective of these investments was to upgrade the quality and the capacity of the existing network, which consequently brings additional quality and services to its users. The actual benefit for the users of the Telenor network is its expanded coverage and good quality. Starting form March 1st 2007, the company enabled the use of commercial services in Serbia, provided by the 3G mobile broadband technology, which consequently provides its users with the possibility to get easier and faster access to the contents on the internet, such as movies, music videos or TV program. 2.1. Relationship towards the employees When Telenor acquired Mobi 63 in August 2006, the company had 926 employees. The newly appointed top management reached a strategic decision to take over the entire infrastructure of the company, as well as its personnel, meaning that there will not be any reduction in the number of employees. In fact, quite the opposite thing occurred in the next three years: the number of employees gradually started growing. In the end of 2007 there had been approximately 1000 employees. By the end of 2008, this number grew to 1100, and finally on December 31st 2009, Telenor had a total of 1207 employees. Having in mind that the field of telecommunications is exposed to everyday changes, Telenor`s employees are expected to adapt to them, set their own objectives in their segment of work, as well as to take on new responsibilities and discover their new talents. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the company organized a number of trainings, seminars and workshops for its personnel. Through these actions, Telenor tends to provide continuous professional growth and expertise opportunities. Some of the most important ones are: Trainings for future leaders Welcome trainings Codes of conduct Human resource management Communication skills trainings Telenor`s Code of Conduct is one of the key principles upon which the activities of the company are based. This document includes a set of employee policies that cover ethical and legal practices for nearly every aspect of the business. It focuses on the personal responsibility and each employee has to conduct business legally and ethically. Also, it defines ethical rules of behavior for the companys business partners, as well as users. Corporate ethics is very important in the company. The principles of corporate ethics are applicable to all members of the company, including the members of the managing board and top management and all other employees, who represent Telenor on any occasions. Furthermore, the company launched the so called HIT Project, which was encouraged by the television reportage made on one of Telenor`s subcontractors in Bangladesh, who was an obvious example of a company which contributes to bad work conditions, pollution of the environment and child labor. The project focuses on four elements: health, safety, security and environment, and its main objective is for Telenor to emphasize to its business partners the importance of respecting labor and human rights laws. Therefore, Telenor follows the activities of its suppliers in the field and remains in constant touch with them. Furthermore, human resource management conducts the employee satisfaction survey on a yearly basis in order to get a feed back from the employees about the level of their satisfaction, as well as the issues that could be improved and changed within the company. In 2009, the survey was conducted for the third consecutive year and a total percentage of employees which participated was 96.3%. The survey is conducted among all employees in the end of every working year, and concentrates on several important areas of employee satisfaction: satisfaction with job position and work conditions, communication and interpersonal relations within the company, leadership, bonus systems and career opportunities. Results obtained from the survey serve as the foundation for strategy planning for the upcoming years. This point is of particular importance in order to include the opinion of the staff in the process of future strategy defining and decision making, so that everyone can feel that they are a part of it. 2.2. Relationship with clients Top management of the company tends to combine its international experience and the local potential of the country where it operates. In the first year of its activities in the Serbian market, Telenor introduced a large number of significant innovations and new services important for the subscribers. Some of the most innovative products and services offered to the Serbian users are: New prepaid telephone numbers and new channel of sale Telenor Express. Mobile e mail service. The first internet parks in Serbia. Cheaper roaming prices for Telenor users in Hungary and Montenegro Telenor express is the channel of direct sales to customers, which has long and successful tradition in other markets where the company conducts its activities. The new prepaid numbers were introduced in all newspaper stands in Serbia, but could also be purchased through the Telenor Express channel of sale. Approximately twenty five express sales teams are traveling throughout Serbia with specially designed sales stands. In this way the company tries to have direct contact with the customers, to be closer and more available to them, as well as to offer new and innovative sales possibilities and good quality services. Additionally, new prepaid numbers are offered at a much lower rate than previously applied, and each package has higher value than the nominal value of the package. Persons, who decide to purchase a more expensive package, get substantially more free conversation minutes, as well as free text messages, than the ones who purchase a cheaper package. Mobile e-mail is a service dedicated firstly to those who are business users, with the main purpose to facilitate their activities when they find themselves outside the office and need immediate access to their computers. Furthermore, this service enables its users to access and handle their e-mails, calendar and phonebook. The service is compatible to the programs used on their original computers, and can be used by downloading a special software from the Telenor website. From December 1st 2006, Telenor users have the possibility to pay lower prices for roaming services in Hungary and Montenegro, thanks to Telenor network. At the same time, these prices are the lowest prices in comparison to other mobile operators in Serbia. On average, with this service, Telenor users in the Montenegro` s network Promonte are charged 15% less for their voice calls. Additionally, incoming calls from any destination are free of charge for postpaid users in this network. As far as the Hungarian Pannon mobile operator is concerned, prices of outgoing calls are approximately 60% lower, calls made to local mobile and fixed telephone numbers are 25% cheaper, including incoming calls. Calls made to other destinations are 40% cheaper. Additionally, Telenor subscribers have the opportunity to exchange MMS messages with people in ten different countries. The first countries and operators which established this kind of service with Telenor in Serbia are: 02 in Germany, Pannon in Hungary, Telenor in Pakistan, Telefonica 02 in Checz Republic, Sonofon in Denmark, Sunrise in Switzerland, ONE in Austria, Globul in Bulgaria, Telenor in Norway and DIGI in Malaysia. In June 2008, Telenor opened the first internet park in Belgrade, which at the same time represents the first park of this kind in Serbia. People can have free access to the internet and connecting of their portable computers to the internet network is possible either through the wireless connection, or via USB modems, which are located in different places in the park. In the first three months, citizens of Belgrade, as well as other visitors, had the opportunity to test all possibilities of the Internet network free of charge, while enjoying the open air at the same time. Instructions for the connection to the network are displayed on visible places in the park and offer simple explanations through several easy steps. In just several months upon the opening of the first internet park in Belgrade, similar concept was implemented in other Serbian cities: Nis, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Kraljevo. In this way, citizens of these cities have the possibility to check their e-mails or search the internet sites for various contents. 2.3. Corporate responsibility, young and socially jeopardized categories. Mobile communications contribute to the social integration, having in mind the fact that people can be in touch no matter where they find themselves. However, for a significant number of people worldwide, communication services still represent a luxury and are not available to them. Access to this type of services, in a way, represents the means to fight poverty, ignorance and bad health conditions, as well as to enable people to improve their living situation. One of the main objectives of Telenor is to strive towards creation of value in modern society by offering the possibility of communication services to as many people as possible. In 2007, the auditing company Deloit did a thorough analysis of Telenor`s markets in Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Ukraine and Serbia which pointed to a very close connection between mobile telephony penetration and the increase of the GDP exists. The analysis pointed out to the fact that the increase of 10% in mobile communications could lead to the GDP rise of approximately 1.2%. Furthermore, the study showed that business operations of Telenor have positive contribution to the upgrading of the productivity level, economic welfare, improvements in health and education systems, improvement of conditions in rural areas and social groups with low incomes. Besides the focus on its business operations, Telenor also directs its activities towards the responsibility towards the local community in which it operates. An evidence to support this claim is the fact that Telenor Group is listed in the first position among twenty four leading mobile operators in the world on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index list, which ranks companies according to the criteria of their overall financial, social and ecological impact on the environment. Upon its arrival to the Serbian market, the top management of the company immediately started to develop different strategies concerning the beginning of the work in the field of corporate responsibility. For that purpose, Telenor established its own Foundation in March 2007, and in this way the company continued to invest in the development of Serbias social potentials. â€Å"The main objective of the Foundation is to initiate and support different types of projects and to develop useful and sustainable solutions which are easy to implement on the territory of the entire country. This is the core concept upon which the corporate responsibility of the company is based and which is being implemented world wide. Members of the Foundations Managing Board were chosen upon the criteria of their expertise in different fields and this enabled for the activities of the Foundation to be guided not only by the companys business plans, but also to adequately respond to the necessities of the Serbian society, its growth and development. Additionally, members of the top and middle management are directly involved in the projects of the Foundation and follow their course. Employees are also invited to participate and to set an example by their involvement, volunteer work and individual efforts.† Majority of the activities and projects which the Foundation conducts are directed towards the young population, their education and professional expertise, socially jeopardized categories, as well as the development of cultural production and art. Telenor`s Foundation accomplishes set objectives through various forms of initiatives: Cooperation with non governmental sector, public and private institutions in different types of projects. Programs of exchange of experts in the field of science and art, as well as providing opportunities for professional internships and scholarships. Exchange of information. Establishing the practice of round tables, seminars, conferences and other events which are in any way linked to the activities of Telenor. Organizing of tenders through which different types of trainings and research are offered. Particular emphasis is put on the young generation and talented people and socially jeopardized categories. 2.3.1. Activities of Telenor directed towards young population Foundation launches special programs, seminars lectures, classes and offers scholarships to those who are perceived as young experts in the fields which are relevant for Telenor`s activities. In 2007, Telenor introduced the award â€Å"Professor Ilija StojanoviĆ¡Ã¢â‚¬  in memory of professor Ilija Stojanovic, who was closely connected to the company and participated in its activities from the very beginning of its operations in Serbia. Every year the award of 1500 euros is given to young students, scientists and researchers for their achievements in the field of telecommunications, in three categories: Best paper / project in the field of telecommunications chosen from the Conference for electronics, telecommunications, informatics, automatics and nuclear technique, held on a yearly basis. Best paper / project chosen from the Telflor (yearly conference), held on a yearly basis. Best student of the Graduate School of Electro-technique (course telecommunications). The Foundation was among the first initiators for the cleaning of neglected areas of Belgrade. Participants of the campaign â€Å"Recycling of landscapes: Be creative and revive the city† were pupils of Belgrade high schools and various artists and the entire project was conducted on ten city locations: open cinemas in Vracar[9] and Zvezdara[10] municipality, summer stage and Pioneer city in Kosutnjak, yard filed of abandoned factory, Zvezdani gaj and other locations. The campaign was lasted throughout 2009 and in this period the locations have been cleaned, painted and decorated with art works. There had been approximately 1000 participants in the campaign and they had the opportunity to get acquainted with the creative art process. Development of the environment awareness was one of the key priorities of the project, which was realized in cooperation with the Belgrade City Assembly and Secretariat for sport and youth. The project became the part of the leading environmental project in Serbia â€Å"Let`s wake Serbia up†, under the patronage of the Ministry for the Environment Protection. , In cooperation with the National Television of Serbia, Telenor joined the campaign â€Å"Skola je Skul (School is Cool)†, which promotes school spirit, representing the most active schools that use creative methods Telenor Group Case Study Telenor Group Case Study CASE STUDY TELENOR 1. General information about the Telenor Group The Telenor Group is the leading telecommunications company in Norway and one of the leading mobile operators in the world in terms of subscription. The company is also the biggest provider of television services in the Nordic region, while at the same time being present as the mobile operator in some of the fastest growing markets. Headquarters of the Telenor Group are located in Oslo, Norway. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. With the end of the third quarter of 2009, the Telenor Group has achieved 172 million of mobile subscriptions worldwide and it currently employs approximately 40.000 people in thirty countries. As it is widely familiar, Norway, as well as other Scandinavian countries, is known as extremely developed technology market in the beginning of the 21st century, achieving some of the highest penetration rates for new technologies, such as mobile phones and high speed internet. This actually represents a kind of tradition of the country, having in mind the fact that in 1855 the first telegraph line has been built, followed by the first telephone network connecting the cities of Arendal and Tvederstrand in 1878. Furthermore, Norway was one of the first world countries to introduce mobile telephone system in 1967, which was analogue based and manually operated. In order to understand business operations of Telenor, it seems necessary to make a short historical overview of the companys origins. Beginnings of the Telenor Group date back in 1855 when it was established as a state operated monopoly, bearing the name Norwegian Telegraph Administration NTA (also known as Telegrafverket) and offering the provision of telegraph services. In the last decade of the 19th century, development of the Norways early telephone network was handled by private companies. Norwegian Telegraph Administration, which was in the ownership of the state, gradually took over the privately owned companies in the market and gained control over the sector. Since then, Telenor gained more than 150 years of telecom experience. In 1969, the NTA changed its name to Televerket, also known as Norwegian Telecommunications. With the purchase of Andebu, the last privately owned company in the sector of telecommunications in 1974, Televerket obtained control of the monopoly of t he services of telephone and telecommunications and retained that position till the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 1990s, the company pioneered a new generation of mobile telephone services based on the GSM protocol, which was later accepted and implemented thought Europe. GSM service was launched in 1993 and was followed by the expansion of the company in the field of television broadcasting. This strategic decision provided the company with the opportunity to position itself as the dominant provider of satellite based broadcasting in the Scandinavian region. Since the Norwegian authorities had a tendency to deregulate the telecom sector in the country, the process of deregulation commenced in 1994 and lasted till 1998, with a partial deregulation sector by sector. Even before the government deregulation began, Televerket started with the company restructuring which lasted for four years and included the transformation of the company from a state owned to a public company, as well as the change of the company name to Telenor in 1995. Additionally, the company was a subject of partial privatization in 2000, which gave it a substantial boost of 15.6 billion NOK[1] of new capital and listed it on the Oslo Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. At the beginning of the privatization process, the Government remained the owner of 77.7% of the company, while this percentage was reduced to 53% by 2006. The company was rankedtop performer bythe Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes in 2007 and 2008. The main services which Telenor provides to its consumers and companies worldwide include the following segments: voice, data, content and other services. * In the segment of Voice, Telenor provides people to talk to each other by using fast and reliable networks. This segment focuses on the conversation on the phone, including fixed line, mobile or IP telephony. Fixed voice communication services are provided for users in three countries of the Nordic region and mobile voice in twelve different countries in Europe and Asia. * The segment of Data encompasses of the Internet and broadband services. The company offers fixed line data services like ADSL and fiber-optic communications in the countries of the Nordic region, and mobile data services such as mobile broadband, GPRS, UMTS in 12 countries. From the beginning of 2008, the company has started 3G based mobile broadband services inseven of its markets. * In the field of Content, TV services and mobile content, Telenor offers TV services via cable, digital terrestrial and satellite networks in four Nordic markets. Furthermore, the company also provides mobile content services in several markets, such as mobile TV, sports, ring tones, music and movies. * As far as otherservices are concerned, Telenor has a diversified offer that consists of services, which are telecom related, and the service portfolio is different from one country to another. Depending on the market, the company provides services in the filed of maritime communications, IT consulting, and aircraft communications services. In several markets the company provides Net-centric services, which refer to the IT security for individual consumers and enterprises and machine to machine (M2M) services for enterprises. The major part of the Telenor`s activities is organized in three regions and includes thirteen countries: Asia: Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and India. Nordic countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Centraland Eastern Europe: Hungary, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. From the beginning of the 1990s, Telenor begun with its international expansion in the field of mobile communications, penetrating the markets of the following countries: Russia in 1994, Bangladesh, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Austria in 1997, Ukraine in 1998, Malaysia in 1999, Denmark and Thailand in 2000, Hungary in 2002, Montenegro and Pakistan in 2004, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Serbia in 2006. Operations in Greece, Ireland and Germany were sold and the money obtained from this sale has been re invested in the emerging markets. Additionally, in 2005 Vodafone[2] in Sweden was acquired by Telenor. 1.1. Mission and Strategy Telenors primary objective is to create greater value for its shareholders, customers, employees and partners, and for the society in general. The company is dedicated to being at the forefront in creating, simplifying and introducing communication and content solutions to the marketplace. In order to comply with the given goal, Telenor bases its strategy on its customer oriented vision, Here to Help, as well as its core values, Make it easy, Keep promises, Be inspiring and Be respectful. Telenors main strategy is to upgrade the performance of the local mobile operations by combining Groups industrialization with local drive and responsiveness, in the regions where it conducts its business operations: Nordic region, Eastern and Central Europe and Asia. Furthermore, the company plans to maintain its leading position in the Nordic region with a diversified portfolio of communication services. This strategy could be defragmented to the following focus areas: Strengthening of the position of the company as an international mobile operator. Telenor plans to continue the process of strengthening its industrialization of the mobile operations by gaining control over chosen mobile companies. Control is crucial in order to benefit from synergies obtained by cross border activities, such as scale in procurement, development of new services and implementation of best practices, improvement of operational efficiency and the increase of the overall profitability. Telenor plans to manage the non-strategic investments as financial investments and to exit from international mobile operations where the company cannot obtain control over time. Strengthening of the companys position in the Nordic region. Telenor will continue to upgrade its services in the field of mobile and fixed telephony in the Nordic region by using the benefits obtained from economies of scale and cross-border synergies. The company strongly feels that its Nordic presence will improve support to the customers by improving upon its expertise both mobile and fixed services. To find itself at the forefront of communications services providers in Norway. Since the company is the leader in a broad range of services in both the residential and business markets in Norway, Telenor will try to obtain better results in the sense of its profit in the mobile and fixed fields of activity, through the introduction of new services and through various cost-cutting measures. Maintaining of the position of the leader in field of distribution of TV services to consumers in the Nordic region. Telenor additionally insists on finding new possibilities and solutions which will contribute to the strengthening of its strategic position as the leading distributor of subscription based television in the Nordic region. The company will dedicate its activities to contact and attract new users and increase revenue per user through its attractive content and new interactive services. Non strategic companies. Telenor will enhance the value of those companies, which are not strategic for its main business areas and dispose of all or part of its interest in such companies. 1.2. Regional presence Even though Telenor is present in the three dominant regions of the world, the Nordic region is the one where Telenor group has been present since 1855, and the company has held a strong position in the Scandinavian region ever since. The Nordic region is the one from which the majority of Telenor`s income comes from. As it is shown in diagrams 1 and 2, in the first quarter of 2009, 41% of total company revenues came from this region, as well as 37% of EBITDA[3] distribution. The three markets out of which the Nordic region is composed of, in fact represent specific markets with unique differences. For example, although Sweden still has a high use of fixed line telephony, it finds itself at the forefront of the mobile broadband services. Denmark is the market whose customers are the keenest users of SMS and are most interested in content services. Finally, Norwegian customers show growing interest in digital music services and Telenor Group has a high share on this market. The Nordic region is also significant since Telenor combines present and future technologies in the telecom field. As a supplement to existing offers, Telenor provides new broadband technologies, such as Fibre to the Home (FTH) and Long Term Evolution (LTE), the 4th generation mobile broadband standard. The strong distinction between fixed and mobile telephony is slowly vanishing in these markets. According to the data obtained from†¦..there is an evident transition from fixed to mobile networks. The data implicate that the mobile share of voice traffic has increased from 20% in 2003 to 60% in 2008. This is one of the reasons why Telenor acquired Vodafone in Sweden in 2006. Furthermore, the company now has 4G licenses in Norway and Sweden. In order to build networks and share spectrum of mobile communication, Telenor has joined Tele2[4] in a joint venture. The plan is to launch the LTE based broadband services by the end of 2010. This action will position Telenor as the leader of the 4G development worldwide. The same project is planned for Norway, with the difference that it will start in 2011. The Telenor Group has penetrated the Asian region in 1996, through the investment in Grameenphone[5] in Bangladesh. From the very beginning of its operations in Asia, the market has been the cornerstone of the development of the Telenor Group, enabling opportunities for growth in one of the most populated and fastest growing markets in the world. Additionally, mobile operations in Asia have a significant contribution to the total revenues and EBITDA of the Group. Data obtained in the first quarter of 2009 show that the region generated 30% of the revenues, 28% of the Groups EBITDA, and a total of 67 million mobile subscribers of the region. The company has received many awards for innovation and services in the past ten years and has been the driving force in the network development of Asia. Additionally, it has significantly increased the capacity of the regional network and provided coverage, connecting millions of people in new areas, who were previously unconnected. Over the past few years the Asian mobile market has been growing significantly. The growth is additionally stimulated by continuous innovations and new services provided by the company. The Group is active in the markets of Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh, and the company holds 3G license in Malaysia. Another important step of Telenor was the acquisition of Unitech Wireless[6] in India, through which the company penetrated one of the worlds largest and fastest growing markets. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the mobile markets of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia became a part of Telenor`s business operations. The main characteristic of these markets is the growth opportunity, making it significant part of the Telenor`s strategy in the years to come. Even though the markets of Central and Eastern Europe are challenging economic environment due to the process of transition, which these countries have undergone or are still undergoing, mobile operations of the Group deliver solid financial performances. The first quarter of 2009 shows that Telenor generated 17% of Groups total revenues and 32% of EBITDA. The region also generated 93 million of mobile subscribers. Also, the region of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia has achieved rapid growth in mobile subscription both in consumer, as well as business markets. The company is currently involved in investments in the 3G network in Hungary, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro. The priority is given to the n ew technological and eco friendly solutions, like the wind and solar powered base stations in Hungary, and testing of the new generation wireless broadband in Montenegro. 2. Telenor in Serbia Telenor`s presence in the Balkan region started at the beginning of 1990s when the company launched its operations in Hungary in 2002 by operating Pannon[7], followed by activities in Montenegro through Promonte[8] and finally, Serbia in 2006. Telenor penetrated the Serbian market through the purchase of the Serbian company Mobi 63, Serbias second largest mobile operator and this actually represents the largest privatization transaction in the central and eastern Europe in 2006, as reported by the audit company PriceWaterHouseCoopers. Telenor Group outbid two other short listed competitors at the auction (Mobilkom from Austria and Orascom Telecom from Egypt), offering a bid of 1.513 billion euros. Telenor took over the company on 31st of July 2006, upon the completion of all legal requirements and the signing of the Sales Agreement. The entire auction was broadcasted live on the Serbian national television and was attended by the highest state representatives. Mobi 63, formerly known as Mobtel, was formed by the Government of Serbia in the month of April of 2006, upon the revocation of the operators mobile license, which occurred due to the illegal dealings of the companys previous owners, who were suspected to have sold t he operators license in Kosovo to Mobikos, without requesting permission from the official authorities of Serbia. The Government then proclaimed that the sale was a threat to the national security. The acquisition of Mobi 63 made by Telenor includes a ten year license for GSM 900/1800 and 3G operation for the company, which is renewable for a successive period of ten years upon application. Additionally, the company also obtained Mobi 63`s existing assets, which included the base of approximately 2.5 million customers (in the end of 2005). In just three months upon its arrival to the Serbian market, Telenor invested approximately 15.3 million euros in the equipment of the highest technology, necessary to meet the requirements of the planned network expansion on the territory of Serbia. For this purpose, Telenor signed cooperation agreement with Erickson. Additionally, another contract with the Erickson Company worth 40 million euros for the purpose of network improvement was signed by the end of 2006. The main objective of these investments was to upgrade the quality and the capacity of the existing network, which consequently brings additional quality and services to its users. The actual benefit for the users of the Telenor network is its expanded coverage and good quality. Starting form March 1st 2007, the company enabled the use of commercial services in Serbia, provided by the 3G mobile broadband technology, which consequently provides its users with the possibility to get easier and faster access to the contents on the internet, such as movies, music videos or TV program. 2.1. Relationship towards the employees When Telenor acquired Mobi 63 in August 2006, the company had 926 employees. The newly appointed top management reached a strategic decision to take over the entire infrastructure of the company, as well as its personnel, meaning that there will not be any reduction in the number of employees. In fact, quite the opposite thing occurred in the next three years: the number of employees gradually started growing. In the end of 2007 there had been approximately 1000 employees. By the end of 2008, this number grew to 1100, and finally on December 31st 2009, Telenor had a total of 1207 employees. Having in mind that the field of telecommunications is exposed to everyday changes, Telenor`s employees are expected to adapt to them, set their own objectives in their segment of work, as well as to take on new responsibilities and discover their new talents. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the company organized a number of trainings, seminars and workshops for its personnel. Through these actions, Telenor tends to provide continuous professional growth and expertise opportunities. Some of the most important ones are: Trainings for future leaders Welcome trainings Codes of conduct Human resource management Communication skills trainings Telenor`s Code of Conduct is one of the key principles upon which the activities of the company are based. This document includes a set of employee policies that cover ethical and legal practices for nearly every aspect of the business. It focuses on the personal responsibility and each employee has to conduct business legally and ethically. Also, it defines ethical rules of behavior for the companys business partners, as well as users. Corporate ethics is very important in the company. The principles of corporate ethics are applicable to all members of the company, including the members of the managing board and top management and all other employees, who represent Telenor on any occasions. Furthermore, the company launched the so called HIT Project, which was encouraged by the television reportage made on one of Telenor`s subcontractors in Bangladesh, who was an obvious example of a company which contributes to bad work conditions, pollution of the environment and child labor. The project focuses on four elements: health, safety, security and environment, and its main objective is for Telenor to emphasize to its business partners the importance of respecting labor and human rights laws. Therefore, Telenor follows the activities of its suppliers in the field and remains in constant touch with them. Furthermore, human resource management conducts the employee satisfaction survey on a yearly basis in order to get a feed back from the employees about the level of their satisfaction, as well as the issues that could be improved and changed within the company. In 2009, the survey was conducted for the third consecutive year and a total percentage of employees which participated was 96.3%. The survey is conducted among all employees in the end of every working year, and concentrates on several important areas of employee satisfaction: satisfaction with job position and work conditions, communication and interpersonal relations within the company, leadership, bonus systems and career opportunities. Results obtained from the survey serve as the foundation for strategy planning for the upcoming years. This point is of particular importance in order to include the opinion of the staff in the process of future strategy defining and decision making, so that everyone can feel that they are a part of it. 2.2. Relationship with clients Top management of the company tends to combine its international experience and the local potential of the country where it operates. In the first year of its activities in the Serbian market, Telenor introduced a large number of significant innovations and new services important for the subscribers. Some of the most innovative products and services offered to the Serbian users are: New prepaid telephone numbers and new channel of sale Telenor Express. Mobile e mail service. The first internet parks in Serbia. Cheaper roaming prices for Telenor users in Hungary and Montenegro Telenor express is the channel of direct sales to customers, which has long and successful tradition in other markets where the company conducts its activities. The new prepaid numbers were introduced in all newspaper stands in Serbia, but could also be purchased through the Telenor Express channel of sale. Approximately twenty five express sales teams are traveling throughout Serbia with specially designed sales stands. In this way the company tries to have direct contact with the customers, to be closer and more available to them, as well as to offer new and innovative sales possibilities and good quality services. Additionally, new prepaid numbers are offered at a much lower rate than previously applied, and each package has higher value than the nominal value of the package. Persons, who decide to purchase a more expensive package, get substantially more free conversation minutes, as well as free text messages, than the ones who purchase a cheaper package. Mobile e-mail is a service dedicated firstly to those who are business users, with the main purpose to facilitate their activities when they find themselves outside the office and need immediate access to their computers. Furthermore, this service enables its users to access and handle their e-mails, calendar and phonebook. The service is compatible to the programs used on their original computers, and can be used by downloading a special software from the Telenor website. From December 1st 2006, Telenor users have the possibility to pay lower prices for roaming services in Hungary and Montenegro, thanks to Telenor network. At the same time, these prices are the lowest prices in comparison to other mobile operators in Serbia. On average, with this service, Telenor users in the Montenegro` s network Promonte are charged 15% less for their voice calls. Additionally, incoming calls from any destination are free of charge for postpaid users in this network. As far as the Hungarian Pannon mobile operator is concerned, prices of outgoing calls are approximately 60% lower, calls made to local mobile and fixed telephone numbers are 25% cheaper, including incoming calls. Calls made to other destinations are 40% cheaper. Additionally, Telenor subscribers have the opportunity to exchange MMS messages with people in ten different countries. The first countries and operators which established this kind of service with Telenor in Serbia are: 02 in Germany, Pannon in Hungary, Telenor in Pakistan, Telefonica 02 in Checz Republic, Sonofon in Denmark, Sunrise in Switzerland, ONE in Austria, Globul in Bulgaria, Telenor in Norway and DIGI in Malaysia. In June 2008, Telenor opened the first internet park in Belgrade, which at the same time represents the first park of this kind in Serbia. People can have free access to the internet and connecting of their portable computers to the internet network is possible either through the wireless connection, or via USB modems, which are located in different places in the park. In the first three months, citizens of Belgrade, as well as other visitors, had the opportunity to test all possibilities of the Internet network free of charge, while enjoying the open air at the same time. Instructions for the connection to the network are displayed on visible places in the park and offer simple explanations through several easy steps. In just several months upon the opening of the first internet park in Belgrade, similar concept was implemented in other Serbian cities: Nis, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Kraljevo. In this way, citizens of these cities have the possibility to check their e-mails or search the internet sites for various contents. 2.3. Corporate responsibility, young and socially jeopardized categories. Mobile communications contribute to the social integration, having in mind the fact that people can be in touch no matter where they find themselves. However, for a significant number of people worldwide, communication services still represent a luxury and are not available to them. Access to this type of services, in a way, represents the means to fight poverty, ignorance and bad health conditions, as well as to enable people to improve their living situation. One of the main objectives of Telenor is to strive towards creation of value in modern society by offering the possibility of communication services to as many people as possible. In 2007, the auditing company Deloit did a thorough analysis of Telenor`s markets in Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Ukraine and Serbia which pointed to a very close connection between mobile telephony penetration and the increase of the GDP exists. The analysis pointed out to the fact that the increase of 10% in mobile communications could lead to the GDP rise of approximately 1.2%. Furthermore, the study showed that business operations of Telenor have positive contribution to the upgrading of the productivity level, economic welfare, improvements in health and education systems, improvement of conditions in rural areas and social groups with low incomes. Besides the focus on its business operations, Telenor also directs its activities towards the responsibility towards the local community in which it operates. An evidence to support this claim is the fact that Telenor Group is listed in the first position among twenty four leading mobile operators in the world on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index list, which ranks companies according to the criteria of their overall financial, social and ecological impact on the environment. Upon its arrival to the Serbian market, the top management of the company immediately started to develop different strategies concerning the beginning of the work in the field of corporate responsibility. For that purpose, Telenor established its own Foundation in March 2007, and in this way the company continued to invest in the development of Serbias social potentials. â€Å"The main objective of the Foundation is to initiate and support different types of projects and to develop useful and sustainable solutions which are easy to implement on the territory of the entire country. This is the core concept upon which the corporate responsibility of the company is based and which is being implemented world wide. Members of the Foundations Managing Board were chosen upon the criteria of their expertise in different fields and this enabled for the activities of the Foundation to be guided not only by the companys business plans, but also to adequately respond to the necessities of the Serbian society, its growth and development. Additionally, members of the top and middle management are directly involved in the projects of the Foundation and follow their course. Employees are also invited to participate and to set an example by their involvement, volunteer work and individual efforts.† Majority of the activities and projects which the Foundation conducts are directed towards the young population, their education and professional expertise, socially jeopardized categories, as well as the development of cultural production and art. Telenor`s Foundation accomplishes set objectives through various forms of initiatives: Cooperation with non governmental sector, public and private institutions in different types of projects. Programs of exchange of experts in the field of science and art, as well as providing opportunities for professional internships and scholarships. Exchange of information. Establishing the practice of round tables, seminars, conferences and other events which are in any way linked to the activities of Telenor. Organizing of tenders through which different types of trainings and research are offered. Particular emphasis is put on the young generation and talented people and socially jeopardized categories. 2.3.1. Activities of Telenor directed towards young population Foundation launches special programs, seminars lectures, classes and offers scholarships to those who are perceived as young experts in the fields which are relevant for Telenor`s activities. In 2007, Telenor introduced the award â€Å"Professor Ilija StojanoviĆ¡Ã¢â‚¬  in memory of professor Ilija Stojanovic, who was closely connected to the company and participated in its activities from the very beginning of its operations in Serbia. Every year the award of 1500 euros is given to young students, scientists and researchers for their achievements in the field of telecommunications, in three categories: Best paper / project in the field of telecommunications chosen from the Conference for electronics, telecommunications, informatics, automatics and nuclear technique, held on a yearly basis. Best paper / project chosen from the Telflor (yearly conference), held on a yearly basis. Best student of the Graduate School of Electro-technique (course telecommunications). The Foundation was among the first initiators for the cleaning of neglected areas of Belgrade. Participants of the campaign â€Å"Recycling of landscapes: Be creative and revive the city† were pupils of Belgrade high schools and various artists and the entire project was conducted on ten city locations: open cinemas in Vracar[9] and Zvezdara[10] municipality, summer stage and Pioneer city in Kosutnjak, yard filed of abandoned factory, Zvezdani gaj and other locations. The campaign was lasted throughout 2009 and in this period the locations have been cleaned, painted and decorated with art works. There had been approximately 1000 participants in the campaign and they had the opportunity to get acquainted with the creative art process. Development of the environment awareness was one of the key priorities of the project, which was realized in cooperation with the Belgrade City Assembly and Secretariat for sport and youth. The project became the part of the leading environmental project in Serbia â€Å"Let`s wake Serbia up†, under the patronage of the Ministry for the Environment Protection. , In cooperation with the National Television of Serbia, Telenor joined the campaign â€Å"Skola je Skul (School is Cool)†, which promotes school spirit, representing the most active schools that use creative methods

A Universe in a Pizza Box :: College Admissions Essay

A Universe in a Pizza Box In one corner of our yard, just to the right of the trash cans and behind an aging fence, there is a stack of several pizza boxes, or at least there was one until last Sunday. These pizza boxes had accumulated almost mysteriously over some weeks in a very neat stack in the dirt beside the garbage cans. They waited patiently to be put out by the curb for the Tuesday morning recycling truck. Somehow though, while the neighboring trash cans moved in and out from the curb, and various loads of glass bottles and aluminum passed through this depot, the pizza boxes remained in the dirt, alone and forgotten. The rains came and softened up the cardboard, the stack sagged in the middle, and was again stiffened by the sun. Something amazing began to happen. It was only after trying to throw out these old boxes in a fit of neatness, that I discovered the miracle that had taken place. I found when I pulled back the first layer, not just soggy cardboard, but a miniature ecosystem teeming with life. A herd of slugs meandered over the plain that read â€Å"Woodstock’s† in faded brown lettering. Suddenly exposed to light, a giant earthworm the width of my small finger writhed in the damp center. Flocks of isopod-like pill bugs dove for the corners and dodged around gleaming piles of earthworm eggs. Dashing about madly, a beetle and a confused, many-legged creature searched for a hiding place. I watched the churning scene in amazement, marveling at the microcosm that these pizza boxes had become. I couldn’t bring myself to simply toss this wealth of life in a garbage can, yet the soggy pile shouldn’t sit in the yard any longer. There were only two individuals around that would appreciate this treasure more than I, and who could actually benefit from it too. A few minutes later I watched in satisfaction as my chickens, like two stately ladies, sampled the smorgasboard I offered. This is why I study zoology, I thought, for the enjoyment of just watching life act out its strange and comedic drama. Earlier, while musing about how I came to study the animal world, I had wished I could tell of some cataclysmic event—a revelation or burning bush—that had told me that this should be my path.

Key Elements of Style :: Compare Contrast Strunk White Grace Essays

Key Elements of Style William Strunk and E.B. White's handbook The Elements of Style, and Joseph Williams's book Style Toward Clarity and Grace, are both full of good tips on how to improve writing style. The Elements of Style has some good information on how to make writing more vigorous and forceful, but it also contains a lot of opinions on word choice that seem frivolous. Although the advice may not be helpful, Strunk and White's strongly worded opinions are part of what makes their book enjoyable to read. Of the two, Williams's book is better at describing how to actually form better sentences and paragraphs. Before reading these books, I was of the opinion that everyone had their own writing style. Strunk, White, and Williams make it apparent however, that there are rules every writer can incorporate into their style to help make their writing more clear and direct. Both books contain helpful guidelines for improving writing style, but as Strunk and White say, "the first piece of advice is this: to achieve style, begin by affecting none (70)." Two lines that sum up what Strunk and White want to get across to their readers are, "Brevity is a by product of vigor (19)," and "omit needless words (23)." These authors are all about writing short, concise sentences. When this is done, they believe the product will be clear, forceful writing. They have some good tips on how to achieve this goal. The first is to omit the phrase "the fact that." They feel it "is an especially debilitating expression. It should be revised out of every sentence in which it occurs (24)." They then proceed to demonstrate how "the fact that" can be revised into shorter, clearer phrases. The above quote demonstrates the tone for much of The Elements of Style. Strunk and White remind me of a stuffy high school English teacher I once had, who used to embarrass students by making similar comments. At first I resented this, but after realizing the authors were no chastising me in front of any class, I grew to find comments like this amusing. Another good tip that is included in both books is to "put statements in positive form. Make definite assertions (Strunk 19)." Said another way, write without using the word "not." Again, Strunk and White provide many good examples on how to look for, and achieve this goal.

Advertising Planning Portfolio Essay

Market Analysis and Background Bing is considered to be ‘the new’ search engine. Released in June 2009, Bing is Microsoft’s solution to the current search engine market monopolist, Google. Microsoft has focused on Bing being the search engine with the best quality results. One-click access to desired information, easy-to-use exploring tools, simplified search tasks and more specific search results are the main competitive advantages of Bing. â€Å"Google Australia accounted for 74.61% of Australian searches during February, with Google.com taking 12.65%, equating to an overall market share of 87.26%† Stafford, P. (2011). We can see the incredible market share of Google (refer to Appendix 1) despite the fact that Microsoft has invested more that $80 million dollars on Bing since its launch in 2009 (Sullivan, D. 2009). Google currently owns 89.68% of the search engine market share, while Bing is responsible for a minute 3.77% of the Australian market and 4.21% worldwide (StatCounter, 2011). Business Objectives Increase awareness in Australia Regardless of Bing’s release into the market almost 2 years ago with such a large advertising and marketing budget, many people are still unaware of Bing and it’s functions. The campaign aims to increase awareness by 80% in Australia, and by 90% in the specified Australian Target market within 12 months. Increase brand usage: The 12 month campaign will look to increase Bing’s market share by 6% and also a 40% increase in search engine consumers who have utilized the website at least once. Communication Objective Increase brand loyalty The campaign needs to communicate to the Target Audience how Bing is the best search engine for them. They need to connect with the campaign personally and put Bing at the forefront of their minds when it comes to search engine. Consumer Objective The campaign should increase consumer preference. Over 12 months the objective is for an increase by 10% of the Target Market to prefer Bing rather than Google and other search engines. This will probably prove to be the hardest objective to achieve as consumers have been found to be extremely difficult to change current search engine preference. Target Audience The researched has directed the campaign to a primary and a secondary target market. One is the early adopters – so Bing can build and grow in time, and the other is the older generation – to increase short-term market share. Primary market The primary market for the campaign will be 6 to 13 year olds of both genders. They will have a middle to high education, go to school, and be tech savvy. They will spend much of their free-time online, exploring entertainment and social networking sites such as Youtube and Facebook. They are interested in games (online and video), movies, music, sport and are active information seekers. This market is young, future trendsetters and will not have the strong loyalty that the majority of the search engine market has with Google. Rationale It has been proven to be almost impossible to get current loyal Google users to switch to Bing. Focus group research revealed that 8 out of 12 users thought they would stay with Google as their preferred search engine, despite a positive experience with Bing (Shaer, M. 2009). Also a current Google user stated in an interview â€Å"Bing generates interest, but it’s hard to take me away from Google because I’m so comfortable with it’ (Shaer, M. 2009). Secondary The secondary market will be males and females aged 50 – 65. They will be more likely to have children, slightly less educated, not so tech savvy, generally live in metropolitan areas. They are wealthier than the average search engine user, although due to their children, have a small level of disposable income. Rationale Again it is not possible to effectively target current Google users. This audience is not quite as familiar with the Internet, and therefore do not have the brand loyalty with Google. Also Bing is often the default homepage on Microsoft browsers, therefore if a consumer does not have loyalty to another search engine, all that is needed is brand awareness and they will generally use Bing. The Site-reference: Comparing Google and Bing Demographics video (2010) reveals that this outlined target audience is also Bing’s current target audience and therefore, advertisers who have been wanting to reach a similar market have been investing more on Bing advertising and optimization. This is making the website actually better suited to this audience and must be utilized by Bing ( SWOT Strengths * Massive amount of funds available * Owned by Microsoft * Less ‘clicks’ to arrive at desired result * Provides more visual search options Weaknesses * New search Engine * Low brand recognition * Low customer loyalty Opportunities * Future business expansion * Performing in a thriving and growing market Threats * Google holds a monopolistic position in the market * The many other search engines will be added clutter to affect Bing’s advertising Research Bing is a new search engine, facing an enormous task at competing against the web giant Google, the largest website in the world. However, research has shown that Bing has a number of competitive advantages that are superior to Google. And, although slow, Bing has the potential to slowly grow and increase its market share. Bing is a new search engine, still seeking to position and market itself within the industry to properly compete with Google. Research has been conducted to understand where Bing is currently out and how it has got there. Research has also found gaps in the market; places where Google should be heading in the market and how they can best reach these goals in the future market. Research first found that Google consumers expect that they have to dig through search results before stumbling across the desired answer (Sebald, B. 2009). Bing aims to provide a faster, easier and more specific service than its competitor engines. â€Å"We chose Bing because it’s short, memorable, and symbolic of the moment when information and opportunity come together and a simple search becomes an engine for taking action† state Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (Hartley, M. 2009). The name came about by focus groups, where regular Internet users were probed for a short, simple, catchy name that personified the exact moment when the idea pops into your head. Much research has been conducted to find consumers are not entirely happy when searching for information online. They receive a lot of clutter and it was found that 50% of other search engines results failed to meet people’s needs and also 72% were after help to better organize their results (Hartley, M. 2009). Since Bing’s arrival to the mark place, more recent research states â€Å"81% of the searches done on Bing and Yahoo resulted in an actual visit to a website. Google only showed a 65% rate† (Sebald, B. 2011). The comparison of this research is evidence that Bing has a great search engine, with advantages over Google that are answering consumer demands. Schwartz (2009) reveals, â€Å"Consumers can process results with images 20% faster than text only results†. From this Bing has developed ‘visual search’, an innovative way to search the Internet with images rather than words. Bing search intends to provide a more specific, more integrated results incorporating video and images to the results.