Amazon SWOT Analysis

Amazon SWOT Analysis Amazon is an american electronic commerce company that has become an icon of internet business. Jeff bozos founded the company in 1994 and launched it online in 1995 as an online bookstore. However, the logo soon became symbolic as they started to sell everything from a to z. Time magazine names bezos 1999 person of the year and said, bezos vision of the online retailing universe was so complete, his amazon.com site so elegant and appealing that it became from day one the point of reference for anyone who had anything to sell online. In 2001, amazon.com reported a fiscal loss and over a couple of years they laid off over 1000 workers. But, this set back did not discourage bezos instead he came up with the idea of joining forces with other retailers to sell their products online through amazon.com. So, through hard work and determination bezos has been able to turn the simple online bookstore from its early beginnings into the global phenomenon that is amazon.com. INTRODUCTION OF AMAZON:, Amazon is one of the largest internet retailing company in the world, that sells from books to electronics to potential buyers from all over the country, it is well known to have cheaper prices for their items, and having great expertise in making sure their customers needs are met at all times (Amazon, 1996-2010) Amazon has been in business for so many years to where they will not be undersold to any other company that are trying to compete with them. The products are displayed with great advertising publish with using the press release, competent customers who will invest their products to be displayed through amazon to make money, and great policies that show lower rates, When the customer is needing for their product to shipped to them (amazon, 1996-2010). Amazon has always kept their prices to a minimum, to where most customers will use Them around the holidays, to have the products sent to their families that live in further Countries. There have been customers that apply for a career at amazon, making money Just sitting at home, waiting for potential buyers to show interest in wanting a great Quality product that they would not find cheaper at any other retail store, such as target, Sears, and toys R us (amazon, 1996-2010). Amazon has a type of behavior that it shows customer satisfaction as being no.1, that if a product is defected, it would not cost anything to have it sent back to them. The product will be returned with one that is new and will have warranty. SWOT ANALYSIS:, Amazon.com has become the king of its own private little industry. The only problem with being the king is that everyone wants your throne. While Amazon.com has many strengths and opportunities it has threats and weaknesses, too. STRENGTHS: Well established web brand Loyal customers base of over 12million shoppers Distribution facilities to handle growth and fulfillment Leader in use of technology to delivery targeted content Excellent offline customer service Amazon has moved away from being a low price supplier of books toward a focus on delivering outstanding service at a price, WEAKNESSES: Too much diversity in their product line and Amazon.com could risk damaging its brand name. There is the potential for confusing their clients Shipping costs could be a deciding factor on whether a customer buys from Amazon.com or goes to a traditional store. More online retailers are offering free or discounted shipping and some, such as Wal-Mart, offer site-to-store free shipping. Need to restructure business to drive toward profitability has meant upward pressure on prices No offline brand presence Insufficient community added value No telephone support OPPORTUNITIES:, Opportunity to establish itself as a global mass merchant leader in the online shopping arena Building community events around the brand would help create brand affinity as well as loyalty Establish 247 hour telephone support for customers and order processing Frequent shopper discounts will increase retention and repeat purchases Further offline partnerships can potentially help Amazon by allowing customers to return products offline stores. Amazon has an opportunity to Create a higher international market segment. Also can make Strategic alliances with companies. THREATS:, Competitors such as Barnes and Noble, eBay.com, and half.com. Book publishing companies could start up own website and get rid of the middleman companies The continuous changing of trends in the marketplace. Amazons lack in-depth community leaves it exposed to customer being attracted to competitors with more in-depth content. AMAZON.COM KEY SUCCESS STRATEGIES:, CONTINOUS INNOVATION The areas of innovation shown by amazon was the use of collaborative filter technologies which allows customers to evaluate books on a one to five star rating system and browsers can rate which reviews are helpful and which are not. The site offers peep into books contents index and beginning pages with a search inside the book feature that allows customers search the entire text of 120 000 books- about as many times as are in Barnes Nobles bookstore. Amazons .com one click shopping lets buyers make purchase with one click. Another innovation is the syndicated selling networks. Through this network or association, amazon.com has a cross product programme that enables those who visit those associate sites to purchase several titles across multiples product lines, from single source. In addition, almost all web search engines are members of the associate programme with hotlinks on the entry of every research page, its like amazom.com has a store on every major mall around the wall, i.e. clever advertising Amazon .com has also established itself as an electronic market place enabling merchants of all kinds to sell items on amazon.com. It powers and operates retail websites for Target, the NBA, Timex, Marks and Spencer. Amazon.com cards offers every visitor the ability to send free cards to friends from its web site, these creates an opportunity to set new customers as well as keep current customer happy, because the recipients of the those cards must visit Amazons website to view the personalized messages. VALUE ADDED SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS In a competitive environment, amazon.com has scaled through as a firm with the offer of value added service as its competitive advantage which includes courteous, personalised customer services. Amazon.com personalised the storefronts for each customer by providing more useful information and more choices that could not be found in neighbourhood bookstore. This Allows customers communication flows, information site on products, quality, praise, complaints, rating, featuring, description, reviews, comparison, discussion, problem report, information statistics, ranking prices, discount, e.t.c thereby building its customer relationship management (CRM). Through this (CRM) Amazon were able to record customers reading habits, buying habits and buying trend, which allows Amzon.com to offer different promotion and selling strategies tailored to meet customers demand and needs. Amazons diversification into other types of services (music, video, home improvement and auction) also enhances their competitive advantage because all other services links back to them faster than their competitors can duplicate. Amazon.com offers services beyond discount, for example; the ability of the site to allow students search book of related topics for their projects, search for books in foreign languages or out-of-print, provides information about its products editorial contents in the form of reviews, interviews, excerpts, purchases, circles and related recommendation made for deeper exploration of the site, provide information for those who cant remember a book or video or are looking for a sound bit , but dont remember exactly what they want. UNBEATBLE LOGISTICS Amazon.com offering for fast, inexpensive shipping has helped the firm to overcome the lag between purchase and delivery of a product. For a $79 annual fee, Amazon.com prime offers unlimited free express shipping for most items. At amzon.com customers orders are handled in-house and to achieve this they established distribution centres and each distribution centre is equipped with the latest material-handling equipment technology. For instance, each distribution centre has a pick-to-light system which uses a terminal display mechanism to guide a worker through the picking and packing process; frequency technology is used to direct workers to warehouse locations with a radio signal, and voice technologies which allows computers to communicate instructions to workers. 2. Current Strategic Situation Amazons mains resources and capabilities: , The presence of strong as well as effective leadership in todays organization imposes a great responsibility to the organizations team and management networks as leadership implies the overall capacity of the organizations performance like for instance, in terms of operations and research development. It can be said that Amazons resources and capabilities can be divided in the management of the company specifically their leader which is Bezos, the ability of the management to effectively use strategic supply chain management and aligning it with their business process and information technology, their competitive advantage in the online market, and the financial resources that it gains through its successful approaches. There are various resources in the enterprises such as human resources and customer resources. First of all, concerning human resources, AMAZON COMPETITORS: , Amazon.com has major competition including such well known business as below Ebay.com EBay is Amazon.coms prime competition for its online auction services .Ebay.com is also on the Internet and it is much larger than Amazon.com and offers live auctions and bidding for customers. Amazon and eBay all provide generally similar information, but additional information is provided based on the companys primary of sales method. Customer product reviews are one piece of extremely valuable data for making purchases that is provided by all three companies. One difference is that since Best Buy is a retailer that primarily focuses on driving sales through physical stores and they have a place where customers can go to physically touch and feel their products, they have the ability to provide information that is less extensive on their website Barnes Noble.com Is an internet commerce branch of Barnes Noble Inc. which includes physical bookstores that have been designed with comfort and convenience. It receives more than six million unique visitors per month to its Web site, www.bn.com. It is perhaps their largest competitor. Barnes and Nobles and Amazon.com are competing, but both stores and other online stores recognize what works and are studying one another often duplicating one anothers business strategies. This has resulted in them having more similarities than differences and it helps the consumers find similarities across the Web such as; When a description of an item is given, Amazon and Barnes and Nobles both place the shopping cart option prominently displayed to the upper, right portion of the screen. This makes it very efficient and useable for the viewer and they do not have to search around the page for this button. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) In pricing, both Amazon.com and Barnesandnobles.com display the average price for their items above their own discounted rates so that the users feel as though they are saving money. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) Both sites are Flexible, there is an option of buying things at a later date and placing them in the shopping cart temporarily. This option is called the wish list and it is displayed just beneath the Add to Cart button. Users can access this saved information and access it on their next visit. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) Both sites offer Security that provides safe shopping, privacy and efficiency by requiring customers to join as members at a certain point during a transaction. Membership is free and requires an email address, full name, home address and phone number. It allowing customers to maintain an order status and helps provide a history of what they bought. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) C) Wal-Mart.com Wal-Mart has experienced success internationally because of its ability to transport the companys unique culture and effective retailing concepts to each new country. They respond to customer needs, merchandise preferences and local suppliers. Business strategies that have helped Amazon.com to enhance its competitive advantage are The first strategy, cost-leadership is pursued by Amazon.com by differentiating itself primarily on the basis of price. Due to this strategy, Amazon.com always makes sure that it offers the same quality products as other companies for a considerably less price. Its third strategy is long-tail, Amazon only started the online retail business with books, but now it sells everything from toys to books and is looking in future to sell more and more products. Unlike its competitor Amazon.com didnt maintain huge inventories of books; it relied on wholesalers to supply books on time. The most obvious benefit of this just-in-time procurement system was that it multiplied inventory turns and reduced working capital requirements. Amazon saved money on everything except people and computers. Amazons investment in computer technology was focused on software rather than hardware. In that sense Amazon.coms business strategy involved maintaining Unique resources, its people. Amazon did more than just sell books; It also provided a range of services including information about books: interviews with authors, book reviews and recommendations from other customers and media, links to other sites, new release information and more. Stakeholder Analysis: . A) . Government Agencies The Federal Communications Commission, is a commission that defines the broadband to meet customer broad communication needs and desires. B. Labor Unions Since Amazon is an online buying center, there are no labor unions. These unions exist when there are enough in center employees to need protection as an employee. C. Completing Organizations In the technical products and systems market, competitors are looking towards opportunities to get ahead of others. The best thing for Amazon is to push forward ahead of the competition because of their diverse background and continue their surge for new customers. D. Employees Failure to remain competitive will affect the employees. The president is about making cost cuts to improve profits which in turn will cut the salary of current employees. Layoffs are the first method most often in making cost cuts. E. Suppliers The suppliers for this company include the sellers that offer their personal products for sale, as well as the partnerships Amazon formed. F. Customers Amazon.com caters to people of all ages and discretions. These customers include seniors, baby boomers, generation X, and generation Y. Each group have a percentage in the population of customers with tastes for different products 3. Strategic Direction for the future Strategic Management The main area we will look at is Amazons strategic management capabilities, we will look at the External factors that have influenced Amazons stratgey and the Opportunities and Threats this industru poses. We will also look at the strengths and weakenesses that Amazon have to address these threats and take advantage of the opportunites presented to them Firstly it is necessary to conduct an external analysis of the environmnet that may have influenced amazons strategic management decision. We will look at the PEST analysis model that may have influenced Amazons strategic planning. The main two external factors that influenced amazons strategies were Political These factors address legal issues such as trading laws etc. The low sales tax in seattle was one of the factors that encouraged Amazon to set up their first distribution center Technological Factors Introduction of new technology can create new markets. The main reason for Amazon setting up an online store was the growth in the use of the world wide web technologies and their ability to offer a flexible service online. Ansoff matrix: Amazon seem to have chosen two of the four growth strategies: 1. Market Development Â- through the opening of distribution centers and the launching of websites in the UK and Germany Amazon offered their existing goods and sevices for sale in new markets. 2. Product Development Â- through the acquisition of several online companies such as pets.com and drugstore.com Amazon could offer new products for sale in their existing market Based on these strategies the following mission statement has been formulated: Our vision remians being the Earths most customer centric company, the best place for customers to find and discover anything they want to buy online In addition Amazon wish to achineve the objective to become the best place to buy, find and discover anut product of service available online. In line with this and the growth strategies adopted to do this Amazon will continue to enhance and broaden its brand, customer base and eCommerce expertise Recommended Solution Implementation Technology Integration and RD Amazon.com should increase expenditure in the research and development arena. We believe that Amazon should prepare itself for additional telecommunications implementations such as high speed internet and network security. These types of implementation, though representative of considerable RD costs, are probably most significant factors that etailers must prepare for near future. As users, connections increase in speed, any delays on the part of the etailer they are connecting to will become obvious and less tolerable. Amazon can stay ahead of the pack by preparing a unique and comfortable interface for the users. Strategic Cost Analysis Amazon.com should also use Strategic cost analysis process where identify the firms value chain, diagnose the key elements that drive the costs of each value activity, identify competitors value chains, develop a strategy to lower relative costs by controlling cost drivers, ensure that any cost reduction does not erode differentiation in service and test the cost reductions if its sustainable in the end of the analysis. Differentiation They should also consider by costs by determining Differentiation where the process goes as determine who the real buyer is, identify buyers value chain and put in rank order the buyers reason to purchase, asses the current potential sources of diffentiation, identify the cost of these resources, design a value chain to maximize value relative costs, test for sustainiablity and reduce costs in activities that do not affect the chosen forms of differentiation. Inventory; There are programs built to be extremely user-friendly, and most offer great support along the way of usage for online businesses to maintain the book database. Amazon should invest in software to best highlight and maintain the data on the site and importantly back up systems. Keep inventory accurate and up to date; This is also an important aspect that Amazon can out beat its competitors with as this is first step towards building a long-term relationship with that customer. Inventory of the books stock-out and sold out will be kept up to date on the site. Visionary Informative A picture is worth a thousand words; Uploading pictures by decreasing explanations or descriptions could attract customers attraction and curiosity in exploring the book. Somehow it boosts up sales compared to other online booksellers who give attention in words. Product Review Information; In case of books, editorial reviews are provided by the company and it applies for all books. Customers can also rate each others review. A rating is placed against each review so that customers can decide whether to read or not based on that. Most online booksellers do not include this but they display the customers satisfaction on the delivery service provided by them which is less important to boost up sales. People out there want to pay you for your books; Amazon should use own merchant service account or a service offered by a listing site, make sure that customers can buy books quickly and painlessly with a credit card while you have them on the brink of finalizing said purchase. Dont judge a book by its cover; First impressions are lasting impressions. When a customer receives the book theyve ordered, make sure the first thing they see is a product and package that you are proud to have supplied by using use clean, new boxes without writing (or envelopes for low-cost paperbacks) for shipments. Customers will be expecting an excellent service but if its vice versa then they are chances for them to switch to other online retailers. Keep customers in the loop on everything; Amazon should update the status of order to customers on the order made and also keep them in loop by e-mail the listing service directly with questions about their orders and keep updating the latest events and new stocks of books through emails. Shipping Delivery Follow-up; After shipping out an item to the customer, Amazon should send them an e-mail a day or two after expecting that theyll receive their package, asking them if theyve received it and are satisfied, and reminding them that there customer rep are there to help should they have any questions about their order. This is also a great time to remind them that you have similar items in stock or to offer them a coupon towards future purchases. Expansion to Asia Region Amazon should strive to expand its expertise to Asia region as well as high potentials are there which huge population. Education is becoming one important aspect in Asia and lack of important reference books are always a problem in many parts of Asia. It should diversify its marketing capability in Asia too to capture the market. Amazon is very less popular in Asia regions. Amazon.com should take Asia to consider for its business expansion. Amazon could also diversify its marketing and research ability to expand mostly to the developed countries of other territory. In order to grow big and always sustain in the market and competition, Amazon should takes this sort of steps to expand. International Sites; Amazon.com has got an added advantage of international sites on Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and China. All about what the customers have to do to browse the site with their language is by clicking to their national site. For example, if you clink Japan, immediately the whole website will change its descriptions and instructions into Japanese language. This is not at all applicable for a customer in Malaysia or any other regions of Asia. It should expand and add more languages options in its site to accumulate its customers. Giving customers what they want is also one strategy not all online business can do but if this can be proven in Amazons case then it have all the potential to be the one. Word-of mouth advertisement Amazon also should increase its word-of mouth advertisement. This might seem odd for an industry leader to rely upon such a quaint tactics as this, but we truly believe that in the world of Internet this is a powerful tool. We are quick to visit sites that our friends identify as being fabulous, and Amazon might capitalize on this by rewarding its customers who can reel in a new prospects. Expand the product lines Amazon should expand its product lines. Givens Amazons vision and its unique position in the etailer industry, the cost associated with entering new markets is significantly lower than that of its competitors. There is no reasons to let this advantage slip away unused. Conclusion In order to stay focus on business Amazon.com has various ways and strategies that can be implemented with proper organizations communication networks. Financial reports should be reviewed annually and quarterly if necessary to come up with decisions whether to boost up sales or to maintain on a certain criteria for the wellness of business. Amazon.com also should have a frequent customer feedback program where they could exchange view on the services and products most desired to be acquired online by customers. Top level management meetings should be initiated to assure goals are achieved. A proper corrective action should be determined after the first year if annual objectives werent accomplished. 3) Recommendations 1. Develop and implement a B2B exchange for suppliers manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to use. Because the largest percentage of e-commerce sales resulted from transactions conducted on B2B exchanges, this opened up a large potential market for Amazon.com to expand into. The benefit of this alternative was that Amazon.com could easily market this service to its large number of affiliates and partners that it conducted business with. 2. Amazon should expand its online auctions. Amazon has a need for an intermediary in transactions and would be able to market this additional service to both current customer base and use of personalized emails to new customers through advertising campaign. The benefit of this alternative is that Amazon.com would be expanding on an existing service offering and would not incur any developmental or startup expenses. This would work because of the prior experience of Amazon in expanding and marketing other product lines and services. 3. Develop an effective differentiating enterprise wide strategy to survive and prosper over the competition for the long-term future. 4. Amazon should use a web-based model to personalize service. Amazon should attempt to use personalization to build the right store for every customer. Each customer has a web page personalized based on his or her recent purchases. This is the equivalent of having a unique storefront for each customer in hopes of drawing in as many return customers as possible. 5. Increase advertisement to increase brand awareness. Through a general advertising campaign, like television and print ads, Amazon would be able to market their service to current customers and new customers. 6. Create a location where people have access to the internet to do online shopping. This could be in an Amazon location in different cities. The cities could consist of major populated areas to start. If this idea is a success, then they could venture out to under populated areas. Conclusion Amazon.com is a public owned company, which focuses on employees and excellent services. It is team oriented organized by product. Amazons web site offers the ability to present a broad range of merchandise. Well organized and easy to navigate help and FAQ pages make the difference in smooth shopping experience. Building a customer community helps to keep customers coming back to the site. It also helps shoppers identify with the brand. Amazon has built a loyal customer base of millions, thanks to a highly efficient web buying experience and outstanding customer service. With some controlling interest in popular Web sites, word-of-mouth from users, the ease of communication using e-mail and options such as gift certificates, Amazon.com has created one of the most popular home-shopping sites today.

Diagnostic and Statistics Manual for Mental Disorders Essay

Although Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and homosexuality has been in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for many years, I was personally unaware of the controversy that surrounded it. I realized that I needed to educate myself in the issues and changes that have occurred in the DSM regarding GID and homosexuality over the years. The APA is in the process of revising its DSM and part of that process has been to create a Work Group on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders (WGSGSID). The Work Group is one of 13 groups participating in the DSM-V revision process (Drescher, 2010). There has been a high level of concern from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in regards to the status of the category of GID in the DSM (Drescher, 2010). Activists argued that it is wrong to label expressions of gender variances as symptoms of a mental disorder. Advocates for the removal of the GID compare it to the removal of homosexuality in 1973 (Drescher, 2010). According to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, people experiencing â€Å"strong cross-gender identification and a persistent discomfort with their sex or a sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex† were diagnosed with transexualism in the DSM-III. In 1994, the DSM IV changed that diagnosis to GID. (Drescher, 2010). Removing GID from the DSM would be a major step in destigmatizing the lives of transgendered people, however it would come at a price and this will be reviewed in this paper. Individuals that identify as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgendered do not believe that they have a disorder and are mentally ill. The inclusion of gender nonconformity among disorders creates stigma for transgendered individuals in society. In 1973, homosexuality was declassified in the DSM (second edition), however, transgender identity and expression still remains. In this paper I will discuss issues of gender identity, how they are defined in the DSM, and the controversy that surrounds them. History of Gender Identity Disorder (Transgender) I’ve always learned that to understand the issues of today we must look at history. And so we don’t repeat the misfortunes of yesterday we must learn from them. So, for this section I have researched a brief history of Gender Identity Disorder and how it became a psychiatric classification. Under diagnostic codes in the DSM, transvestic fetishism, formerly transvestism, (TF) means to wear the clothing of the opposite sex. This term was created and used by Magnus Hirshfeld in 1910. Transsexualism, also termed by Hirchfeld in 1923, first appeared in the DSM-III (1980) as a diagnostic category. Currently in the DSM, heterosexual men can be diagnosed with TF if they meet only two criteria: they have sexual fantasies about cross-dressing and those fantasies cause â€Å"impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas. † DSM Manual The DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition) development timeline began almost ten years ago with a series of meetings and conferences that summarized the findings that had accumulated in the scientific literature since the publication of DSM-IV and then developed research agendas for DSM-5 (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010). There are no restraints on the amount of change that can occur in formulating the DSM-5, provided that the changes are based on sound research findings and will enhance its clinical usefulness (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010). The DSM-5 Task Force is composed of workgroup chairs and professionals from other stakeholder groups including APA governance representatives. There is a consumer representative on the task force and the members of the task force are diverse in ethnic and racial groups and gender. There are 13 workgroups, and the workgroups focus on specific diagnostic areas (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010). The taskforce and workgroups are composed of 163 members, 39 of whom are from outside the United States. Thirty percent of the members are female, 18% are non-Caucasian, and there is a diversity of disciplines represented. There is a DSM-5 Web site, www. dsm5. org, which contains Task Force meeting summaries, workgroup progress summaries, the names of the members of the taskforces and workgroups and their disclosure information (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010) . There has been a subworkgroup formed to work on the Gender Identity Disorder. Four topics were nominated by the group to discuss: general issues, the differences and similarities between homosexuality and GID with regard to the DSM; and specific research literature of the criteria for GID in adolescents and adults (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010) . One of the first things that the subgroup did was distribute a short survey amongst transgender organizations. The survey was designed to help the group learn what transgender organizations, not only in the United States and Europe but also worldwide, were thinking about various hot topics in gender identity. They were interested in suggestions for possible reconstruction of the diagnosis if it were to remain a diagnosis in the DSM-5 (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010) . More than 50% of respondents believed that GID should not stay in the DSM. Political and educational transgender organizations were very much in favor of removing GID from the DSM. The political groups had the highest percentages (75%) favoring removal of the diagnosis, followed by the educational groups (70%) (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010) . The DSM is a political document—a social construction—shaped more by sociocultural influences than the demands of practicing professionals in the field of mental health (Conner-Greene, 2006). The DSM has become a profoundly powerful book in terms of the health insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and even the courts (Conner-Greene, 2006). Problems with the Current Diagnostic Criteria for GID Some reasons given for deleting GID from the DSM included: (1) concerns that the diagnosis inappropriately pathologized an aspect of one’s identity; (2) the conviction that the diagnosis is stigmatizing and that this is a major cause of distress; (3) the potential use of the diagnosis as a discriminatory tool, resulting in, for example, exclusion from military service or healthcare services; and finally (4) the belief that GID is a neurological or brain phenomenon, not a mental disorder (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010). Support of Keeping the GID Diagnosis in the DSM The most important reason cited for allowing the diagnosis to persist was insurance reimbursement and legal advocacy. Some members and advocates of the trans community expressed concern that deleting GID from the DSM-V would lead third party payers to deny access to care for those transgender adults already having issues with inadequate private and public sources of healthcare (Drescher, 2010). Some argued that keeping the diagnosis of GID in the DSM would make it harder to misdiagnose transgender individuals with other mental illnesses. Others suggested that it would be easier for family and friends to accept a transgender person’s identity if this identity had an official place somewhere (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010). Retention of the GID diagnoses would eventually lead to putting the diagnosis of â€Å"homosexuality† back into the manual (Drescher, 2010). I personally do not see this ocurring, however, it is not inconceivable. Clinical efforts with gender variant children aimed at getting them to reject their felt gender identity and to accept their natal sex were unscientific, unethical, and misguided. Activists labeled such efforts as a form of reparative therapy (Drescher, 2010). Definitions of Conditions in the DSM Transsexualism The second half of the twentieth century saw the development within the psychological and medical communities of a transsexual model and procedures for identifying, describing, and treating individuals who sought sex reassignment. This model viewed transsexualism as a form of mental illness characterized by a pervasive and ongoing wish to be a member of the other sex (Denny, 2004). The 1990s, however, brought an increasing awareness among researchers and clinicians that genital sex reassignment surgery (SRS) is not uniformly desired or sought by all persons who dress and behave as members of the other sex on a full-time basis (Denny, 2004). Therapists Role in Transgendered Issues There is a world of difference when both the therapist and the patient believe the patient to be mentally ill and in crisis, and when both the therapist and the client believe the client to be healthy and self-actualized and contemplating a life-altering decision (Denny, 2004). There is evidence that is reasonably strong that psychotherapeutic interventions are not particularly successful with transgendered individuals (Zucker, 2008). The empirical evidence from adulthood suggests that gender dysphoria is best treated through hormonal and surgical interventions, particularly in carefully evaluated patients (Zucker, 2008). Today’s client is likely to be educated about transgender issues, to know his or her options, and to have a broad-based support system. The therapist can and should provide factual information, help the client understand the available options, and make necessary referrals. This can prove difficult to a therapist unfamiliar with the transgender model, hence it is important to be educated in this area (Denny, 2004). Psychiatrists and other caregivers should be careful not to confuse their personal beliefs about gender with the clinical needs of the patients they are treating. Therapists should know that despite nonsurgical lifestyle options now open to transgendered people, transsexuals tend to view SRS as the treatment of choice (Denny, 2004). In most communities, there are not enough such specialists available to allow for two different roles needed of specialists: one who is the therapist and one (or two, in the case of surgery recommendations) who is the evaluator. Thus, clinicians often find themselves in dual roles of therapist and evaluator. This frustrates many clinicians who worry that clients will withhold information that would aid in the therapeutic process for fear that it will jeopardize their chances of acquiring letters of recommendation (Griffin, 2011).

Asian Low Cost Carrier Essay

1.1. Budget Airlines The original concept of budget airlines is basically outsourced business. It puts together other businesses into and integrates those separate businesses into a form of operation and put effort to create a brand. Basically, it will try to minimize capital investments and cover it with operational expenses. And by nature of its business model, the cost structures are all variable costs, or very minimum fixed costs. With this business model, the company is not only rent the aircraft, but also outsourced its pilots, flight attendants, and other employees. It will sell tickets through agents and use service from company doing aircraft maintenance and services. And to ensure the profitability, it is critical that the operational costs, which is the main source of expenses, to be as low as possible. Therefore, it is typical that companies using this business model to use old airplanes which are close to end of the service-life. This will cost them much lesser than new airplanes. 1.2. Low Cost Airlines BusinessDictionary.com defined low cost airlines as â€Å"charter and/or scheduled flights to offer bargain-basement fares. Budget airlines usually land at and take-off from secondary airports, do not provide inflight meals or refreshments, and may not even offer numbered seat allocation. Their ticket prices are fixed, and non-refundable in case of a cancellation or no-show. Also called no-frills airline†. Wikipedia defines it as â€Å"an airline which tries to keep its prices and fares lower than competitors. It usually does this by not offering services like free food and drink on a flight and keeping fines from airports low by keeping on time. They also usually only use one type of aircraft† In this business model, airline companies are trying to squeeze cost structure and create an affordable ticket price. It minimizes services, uses budget terminal, reduces allowable luggage, less leg room, no in-flight entertainment and meals. Secondary airport will be the first choice, and the each airplane will only have approximately 25 minutes between flights for refueling, cleaning, onboarding passengers, etc. SECTION 2 –Low Cost Airlines in Asia 2.1.Air Asia A Malaysian-based low-cost airline owned by Tony Fernandez.AirAsia is Asia’s largest low-fare, no-frills airline and a pioneer of low-cost travel in Asia. AirAsia group operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 400 destinations spanning 25 countries. Its main hub is the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Malaysia. AirAsia’s registered office is in Petaling Jaya, Selangor while its head office is at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. 2.2.Tiger Airways Tiger Airways is headquartered in Singapore. It operates scheduled flights to regional destinations in Southeast Asia, Australia, China and India from its main base at Singapore Changi Airport. Its head office is in the Honeywell Building in Changi Business Park Central. Tiger Airways won the CAPA Low Cost Airline of the Year Award for 2006 and 2010 2.3.Lion Air Indonesia’s largest privately run airline, capturing the largest share of the domestic market share. Headquartered in Jakarta, Lion Air flies to cities within Indonesia and to Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Its main base is Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. As of July 2010, it operates scheduled passenger services on an extensive network from Jakarta to 56 destinations. Along with most other Indonesian carriers, Lion Air (including its Wings Air subsidiary) is on the list of air carriers banned in the European Union due to safety concerns as of February 2012 2.4.Jet Star Jetstar is an Australian budget airline established originally as a local subsidiary of Qantas. It first served domestic routes and New Zealand destinations. In subsequent years it expanded its network to South East Asia, China and Japan. The sister company Jetstar Asia Airways operates routes out of Singapore. Combined they serve almost all major destinations in Asia. Valuair was acquired in 2005 and fully integrated into the network. SECTION 3 – Airline Trends It is obvious that the airline industry is a rapidly growing, and it is now much more affordable to fly. Years ago, fly was a luxurious thing and airline industry was one of most wanted industry to work. The existence of low cost carrier model has helped the industry to grow and affordable flights are become realistic. It elevates the market growth and snapshots of LCC capacity share below will give better perspective in explaining that. 3.1.Deregulation When fly was expensive and only for certain people, it was a challenge to keep the existence of airline companies. Most of countries are supporting its airline companies to keep it operates and available in many different ways including financial supports. Along with this privilege come sets of regulations that airline companies need to comply, and some of these conditions were barriers to the industry to grow. Currently, as airline industry grows with its huge and growing market, companies are becoming much more independent and profitable. With this situation, the industry is now less regulated. Overall industry is more controlled by competition among airlines and market demands. However, deregulation does not mean that there is no regulation. The industry still regulated such as in the area of safety, some environmental aspects, taxes and permits, etc. 3.2.Asia Open Sky Policy 2015 Globalization is something that should be anticipated, and different countries implement different strategy to implement it. Some of countries are well-prepared, and some neglect it and sitting in the lowest level of the food chain. Indonesia has signed the agreement for open market and in airline industry, there is Asia Open Sky Policy where all airlines can fly their airplanes to any destination in Asia by 2015. This means that the passengers from Makassar do not need to transit in Jakarta or Bali if they want to go to Phuket, they can take direct flight instead. This means that there will be more airports in each Asian countries serves international flights and there will be custom check at each airport. 3.3.Infrastructure Construction Given the fact that the business is profitable, the market is growing, travel with airplane is now for everyone, and the open sky policy, it considered by most stakeholder in this industry as potential opportunity. To boost the growth, many countries are trying to upgrade their infrastructure such as airport, terminal and commuter to connect terminal and the city. Jakarta has also part of this effort where government is thinking to connect Gambir train station to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Apart from upgrading the infrastructure, there are also number of airport will be built. Indonesia is planning to have at least 24 additional airports in the next five years. This is also supported by the fact that current International airport in Jakarta has served double of its daily capacity. Besides the business aspects, there is a more important aspect that needs to be taken care, safety. 3.4.Electronic Booking Computer and internet technologies have given better flexibility, efficiency and effectiveness of most of human work and interaction. This helps the globalization to grow to what it is today. The existence of these technologies helps companies to connect with their customers easier and cheaper compare to have a physical representation. Low cost carrier has captured this concept and built its online booking system, and some are also provide online check in system. AirAsia is one of pioneer in this online booking system. SECTION 4 –Strategy and Positioning 4.1.Generic Strategies Using Porter’s Generic Strategies model, we can analyze further airline industry and segment it based on its general strategy. There four sections where airline companies can be classified based on strategy they use, as describe in below figure. It can be seen that airlines such as Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines are in the same box. They are working on the uniqueness and differentiation, make the experience of flying with their airplanes are memorable moment and service are mainly excellent. In the Focus-Cost, Airfast and Riau Airlines as example are low cost carrier with focus market. Airfast exist because of Freeport mining, and only serves air transportation for Freeport. And Riau Airlines are only exist in Riau province, connecting regions within the province and still supported by provincial government. Premi Air, Indika and Trigana Air are chartered airlines for. Indika is specifically doing cargo services, while the other two airlines will carry passengers. These airlines are customers are companies and government, and in some occasions are political parties during campaign. As described above, AirAsia, TigerAir, Jet Star and Lion Air are working on cost leadership servicing broader type of customers. In this concept of strategy, there might be companies that are trapped in the middle, and in this case, Merpati is taken as an example. Merpati trying to be low cost as well as provides memorable flights through its certain level of service. It makes a lot of complication and might lead to financial consequences. 4.2.Five Forces to Generic Strategies This is the model that is used to see the relationship between Five Forces to the Generic Strategies model. In cost leadership strategy, companies will be able to handle almost all of five forces elements through their strength in cost and price, as long as they can avoid power suppliers. And in the focus strategy, companies are more effective in handling five forces. When cost leadership style companies will avoid power supplier, the focus style companies will better able to pass on the pressure from suppliers to their customers. While in the differentiation strategy, companies are relatively most effective in managing five forces and mostly will be able to waive potential challenges from five forces by using their strength. SECTION 5 – Defining Strategy 5.1.Low Cost Airlines Strategy Definition In defining strategy, there are three factors should be considered. They are steering factor that is overseeing things that a company wants to achieve : sustainable business or maintain in maturity stage and large market share. The second is resource factor, which is things that a company has, this includes people, assets, knowledge, technology, etc. The third is environment, a condition where company does the business. This includes market condition, regulations, etc. In environment elements, LCC has to meet cut throat market; it is a situation where competitors use predatory pricing and heavy promotion to eliminate or undermine their rivals. In term of regulation, LCC meets open sky policy where the airlines can fly more routes. Lack of human resources availability is one of the threat for LCC. 5.2.Low Cost Airlines Strategy to Cope with Operational Cost LCC implements low fare business concept, to cope with operational cost, LCC implements several strategies. * Fuel hedging Airlines can sign contract locking in current price for months or even years to anticipate the fuel price is going to rise in the future * Smaller airport to get cheaper airport fees * Short haul Direct flight to destination, this increases the number of scheduled flights, boost profits and cuts down on waiting time on the ground. The crew comes from local area, fly in the same route everyday, no layover, this will cut the operational cost. * Simplified * Use 1 kind of aircraft only, this will save money on maintenance and repair, on pilot and mechanic training since they don’t need to separate training programs for each different type of aircraft. * 1 class only, single class, first come first served basis, simplifies interior design of the plane, reduces the number of crew members required per flight and reduces the overhead necessary to run complicated booking systems. It also speeds up turnaround times, allowing the airlines to schedule more flights and therefore make more money. 5.3.SWOT Analysis It is fundamental to assess company’s SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) and put it as a foundation to build further analysis and decision around strategies. LCC may implements some strategies to run their business, and have the strategies as their strengths but sometimes they have to face the threat that comes from the environment, then turns their strengths into weaknesses. For example, overcapacity of the airport can be a threat in safety and on time performance because there will be flights queue during take off and landing. SECTION 6 –AirAsia, the Strategic Management 6.1.Key Success Factor A key success factor is a performance area of critical importance in achieving consistently high productivity. * Safety is quality * On time performance * Qualified crew * Point to point route system (No Transit) * Pricing strategy 6.2.Core Competence * Simple and Easy booking website * Secondary terminal LCC usually use the secondary terminal not the primary terminal, example like Low Cost Carrier Terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (LCCT-KLIA) welcomed Tiger Airways. Benefit of using secondary airports * The airport fees for secondary airports are usually a fraction lower than major hub airports as they are otherwise left idle. * Smaller airports have simple check-in and baggage systems, which will allow LLCs to operate a simple and efficient baggage system with the minimal man power required. * Due to the low traffic at secondary airports, LLCs can achieve a very efficient turnaround time of their aircraft allowing more scheduled services. * Decentralised flight crew for efficiency the crew comes from local area, fly in the same route everyday, no layover, cut crew accomodation cost. 6.3.The Growth * Blue Ocean Strategy Blue ocean strategy that air asia create in the south east asia market was uncontested one by 2003-2004. they have no match, and this was even overlooked by indonesia’s Lion air at that time as well. Obviously airlines such as Garuda finally saw the opportunity, and in order to compete they create a subsidiary Low cost airlines called Citilink * Competitive advantages (must have if want to growth ) * Lower check in time * Lower turn around time * Pioneer in IT implementation * Personalisation 6.4.Challenges in Growth * Tighter government security Despite its just a secondary airport, it still need the x-ray for security reason. * Training requirement for flight crew This flight crew is not create in one night. It Take many times to train flight crew. It need times to stick this on their brain that aviation is a big industry and a very dangerous industry. * Restriction on infrastructure (airport, access, and Traffic controller) Like Medan they have a new airport already built but guess what, there is no road that connects they city to that airport. Land acquisition for the new airport is done but not yet for the road. SECTION 7 – Expansion and Strategic Alliance 7.1.Expansion * Air Asia Malaysia – Indonesia, Thailand, Japan Air asia is started in malaysia, now they have air asia indonesia, air asia thailand, air philipines, air asia japan. Its very good growth and Strategicly are contested nevetheless. * Jetstar Australia – Singapore, Japan Now jetstar australia see opportunities in asia, they also expand to singapore and japan. Working with local investor, jestar now operate hubs out of asia’s major cities * Tiger Air acquired Mandala Tiger airways which is singapore base aquired Mandala airlines recently. Mandala Airlines will focus on LCC market in Indonesia, while expanding their fleet to meet the demand of the market * Lion Air, Malindo Air, Pacific Air Lion air extend to vietnam with pacific air. Anyone that lives in Medan, Balik Papan, Pekanbaru or even Surabaya has to go to Jakarta now to go abroad, and that would cost them more in air fares and take more time. the purpose is to make either Singapore or Malaysia a gateway to carry Indonesian passengers onward. Now lion group have Malindo, which is going to be their gateway to fly to Kuala Lumpur and beyond. 7.1.Strategic Alliance Strategic alliances can be done a few ways. Joint venture is a strategic alliance in which two or more firms create a legally independent company to share some of their resources and capabilities to develop a competitive advantage. Example such as Air Asia and Air Nippon Airways to create Air Asia Japan inorder to expand in Japan Low Cost market. Equity strategic alliance is an alliance in which two or more firms own different percentages of the company they have formed by combining some of their resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage. This can be seen in Air Asia Flight Academy where Air Asia allied with Canadian based CAE, a training solution provider to train Air Asia Pilot, using human resources from CAE and the building of Air Asia. This strategic alliance was a way to avoid using Air Asia pilot in ground training, so the pilots can stay flying and maintain the crew strength of Air Asia. Meanwhile a way of exapanding the brand for CAE is the advantage that CAE received. Non-equity strategic alliance is an alliance in which two or more firms develop a contractual-relationship to share some of their unique resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage. This can be seen through brand strategy awareness of Air Asia by endorsing Manchester United paint in one of the plane. Or Emirates building an emirates stadium in Arsenal City. Global Strategic Alliances working partnerships between companies (often more than two) across national boundaries and increasingly across industries, sometimes formed between company and a foreign government, or among companies and governments. At the moment there are three big Global Airlines Alliances. The biggest one that consist of 5 star airlines is One world. Airlines such as British airways, Japan airlines, and Qantas are joint together to share airline code. In such a way that Qantas passenger may board British airways using Qantas ticket if they wish to travel within Europe. Second global Alliance is the Star alliances, consist of four and five star airlines. Its members are Singapore airlines, Thai Airways and United Airlines. Serving the world as a competitor for One world. Third global alliance consists of mostly Four star airlines such as Garuda Indonesia, KLM and Korean Airlines. Recent development in the global airlines alliances is the notion to create a global alliance of low cost carier. Pitch by Richard Branson to Tony Fernandez, Virgin airlines proposed to Air Asia to create a big LCC alliance to cter the demand of low cost air travel through out the world, where people my travel anywhere in the world by buying only one ticket from their home country. An idea that is progressing but very well indeed. New Development of airlines in the world According to Centre of Asia pacific Aviation is the Hybrid Airlines, where Airlines must adopt its way of doing business and cater customer for its own preferences to fly with the airlines. In other words personalisation is the new buzz in the aviation business.

A Perspective on Why Abortion Isnt Murder

The question of whether or not abortion is murder is one of the most contentious social and political issues of the day. Although the United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in 1973, the morality of terminating a pregnancy has been debated in the U.S. since at least the mid-1800s. A Brief History of Abortion Although abortions were performed in colonial America, they were not considered illegal or immoral. Premarital sex, however, was outlawed, which may have contributed to abortion being considered taboo by some. As in Great Britain, a fetus was not considered to be a living being until quickening, usually 18 to 20 weeks, when the mother could feel her unborn child move. Attempts to criminalize abortion began in Britain in 1803, when the procedure was outlawed if the quickening had already occurred. Further restrictions were passed in 1837.  In the U.S., attitudes toward abortion began to shift after the Civil War. Led by physicians who saw the practice as a threat to their profession and people opposed to the emerging womens rights movement, anti-abortion laws were passed in a majority of states by the 1880s. The outlawing of abortion in the U.S. did not make the practice disappear, however. Far from it. By the middle of the 20th century, it is estimated that as many as 1.2 million abortions were performed annually in the U.S. Because the procedure remained illegal, however, many women were forced to seek out abortionists who worked in unsanitary conditions or had no medical training, leading to the unnecessary deaths of countless patients due to infection or hemorrhaging. As the feminist movement gained steam in the 1960s, the push to legalize abortion gained momentum. By 1972, four states had repealed their abortion restrictions and another 13 had loosened them. The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 that women had a right to an abortion, although states could impose restrictions on the practice. Is Abortion Murder? Despite or perhaps because of the Supreme Court ruling, abortion continues to be a hotly debated issue today. Many states have imposed severe restrictions on the practice, and religious and conservative politicians often frame the issue as one of morality and preserving the sanctity of life. Murder, as it is typically defined, involves the intentional death of another human person. Even if one were to assume that every embryo or fetus is as sentient as a grown human being, the lack of intent would still be enough to classify abortion as something other than murder. A Hypothetical Argument Lets imagine a scenario in which two men go deer hunting. One man mistakes his friend for a deer, shoots him, and accidentally kills him. Its hard to imagine that any reasonable person would describe this as murder, even though we would all know for certain that a real, sentient human person was killed. Why? Because the shooter thought he was killing a deer, something other than a real, sentient human person. Now consider the example of abortion. If a woman and her physician think theyre killing a non-sentient organism, then they would not be committing murder. At most, they would be guilty of involuntary manslaughter. But even involuntary manslaughter involves criminal negligence, and it would be very hard to judge someone criminally negligent for not personally believing that a pre-viable embryo or fetus is a sentient human person when we dont actually know this to be the case. From the point of view of someone who believes that every fertilized egg is a sentient human person, abortion would be horrific, tragic, and lethal. But it would be no more murderous than any other kind of accidental death. Sources Ravitz, Jessica. The Surprising History of Abortion in the United States. CNN.com. 27 June 2016.  BBC staff. Historial Attitudes to Abortion. BBC.co.uk. 2014.Carmon, Irin. A Brief History of Abortion Law in America. BillMoyers.com. 14 November 2017.Gold, Rachel Benson. Lessons from before Roe: Will Past be Prologue? Guttmacher.org. 1 March 2003.