Lululemon Athletica Analytic Essay - 1633 Words

Case Analysis #1 Problem Essay Lululemon Athletica Inc Samuel Ellison Presented for: Professor Kannangara Sunday, March 6th, 2016 BUSI4003 Introduction Lululemon Athletica Inc., founded in 1998 in Vancouver by Chip Wilson, is a company which designs and produces high-end yoga and technical athletic clothing. They have operated primarily in North America and Australia; their initial target customer was an educated woman who lives an active and healthy lifestyle. They opened their first store in Kitsilano in BC in November, 2000. The first store was intended to act as a community hub where people could learn and discuss about the physical aspects and mental aspects of a healthy life, in addition to selling yoga clothing.†¦show more content†¦The company plans to launch stand-alone mens stores by 2016 and expand their business globally. That same day, the company announced plans to quit the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) due to a lack of trading on the Canadian exchange, stating that the expenses associated with having a dual listing were not justifiable(Nichols, 2016). The one remark that sent the media in a frenzy was in resp onse to the public criticism of the sheer yoga pants, Wilson explained, â€Å"Quite frankly, some women’s bodies just actually don’t work for it. Even our small sizes would fit an extra-large(Nichols, 2016). It’s really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there.† This statement triggered massive social outrage that was felt throughout many media platforms(Nichols, 2016). With this media â€Å"fire-storm† it was clear that Mr. Wilson needs to be reprimanded in the sense of being taught to speak to the media. Christine Day has stepped down from the CEO position and corporate will need to select another leader. To break down the analysis of the case I believe is it best divide aspects of the case and as well what they should do into categories such as : Economics, Sociocultural, Demographic, and Technological. These would all be considered apart of all external aspects. Economic: Continued economic struggles, especially within the European Union, have the potential to negatively affect Lululemon’s international expansion(Thomas

Bonnie Parker Free Essays

Bonnie Parker is a beautiful young woman obviously thirsty for a life more exciting than the one she leads. One dusty morning, she catches Clyde Barrow, handsome ex-convict, looking like he was about to steal her mother’s car. She is a struggling waitress, hungry to make something out of herself while he is a small-time professional criminal from Texas who decides to begin a new career as a bank robber. We will write a custom essay sample on Bonnie Parker or any similar topic only for you Order Now After a flirtatious banter took place between the two of them, Clyde confesses that he is an armed robber. Bonnie then dares him to commit an armed robbery right then and there, in broad daylight and right smack on main street. Incredibly, he complies. What ensues then is a coming together of two kindred spirits as Bonnie becomes Clyde’s main accomplice in the robbing and killing spree that ensued right after. They slowly form a group, eventually known as the ‘Barrow Gang’ consisting of a gas boy attendant, Clyde’s brother Buck and Buck’s demure wife, Blanche. C. ANALYSIS When one consciously bears in mind the spirit of the time in which Bonnie and Clyde was released, appreciation for this film doubles. It truly was an artistic form of rebellion; a type of rebellion that reflected the progressing times. The sixties was truly a dynamic period that gave a new direction to women’s empowerment. Gledhill articulates the underlying logic of film when she said that, â€Å"melodrama deals with what cannot be said in the available codes of social discourse; it operates in the field of the known and familiar, but also attempts to short-circuit language to allow the ‘beneath’ or ‘behind’— the unthinkable and repressed—to achieve material presence. † The film is actually all about identity and the conflicts that occur when such identity is found outside the bounds of acceptable behavior imposed by society and policed by the state. A testament to the fact that the film cuts across many issues and opens up new frontiers in terms of film presentation is how cross-cutting its genre is. It can be filed under action-adventure, romance, gangster, crime and drama; it is perhaps more than what was just mentioned. And just like it’s genre, the film cannot be pigeon-holed into one neat category, much like its characters. While both Bonnie and Clyde cut interesting personalities, one cannot be discussed without the other. In terms of female empowerment, Bonnie does present an interesting role model. A murderous thief if rarely seen as good idol material; however, if one looks past the fact that her choice of ‘career’ is immoral by any standard, she is brave enough to break the mold of women’s role at the time. Scene after scene, she rubs her nose against the norms that society dictates for women. â€Å"Ever since the 1960s, the women’s movement has been concerned with media portrayal of women. Major studies of the most pervasive medium, television, and particularly its commercials revealed the same subordination of women we saw in film. In commercials, most voice-overs were done by men and overall, men were featured more often than women. The women who were featured were limited to family roles. Women were shown doing housework and men were the beneficiaries of their work. On the other hand, men were employed, had careers, and were doing something outside the home. † This portrayal of women in the film is quite apparent and much more recognizable given the fact the Clyde was made less ‘manly’. It is indeed quite interesting how the writers and director presented the film: the female is a strong character that displayed very ‘male’ characteristics (albeit in a very sexy way) while Clyde’s masculinity is put on a chopping block with his sexual impotence. Whether or not this sexual incapability is accurate in terms of the real Clyde Barrow is irrelevant. What is significant here is the importance found by the filmmakers in making Clyde less ‘masculine’ or atleast what society perceives as masculine. Initially, the director suggested that Clyde’s character be homosexual but when Warren Beatty refused to play a homosexual man, they decided that impotence would give the same ‘castrating’ effect to Clyde Barrow; an effect that inevitably led to the ‘masculinization’ of Bonnie Parker. This ‘castration’ of the main male character furthered strengthened Bonnie’s character. Furthermore, the other male characters are either dimwitted (C. W. Moss) or simpleminded and ignorant (Buck Barrow). It was as if the creation of the other male characters had for a goal to make Bonnie—and in consequence, women—look better and appear smarter. At this juncture, it would be quite interesting to ask oneself if Bonnie truly is a picture of female empowerment or is she merely a case of making a woman more male? Bonnie’s character finds its anti-thesis in Blanche (Buck’s wife). Blanche is the stereotypical female of the sixties. She is demure, conservative and relies on her husband for everything. Buck’s chauvinistic comment—It’s the face powder that gets a man interested; it’s the bacon powder that keeps a man at home—paints only two roles for women: as housekeepers and as sexual objects. Bonnie breaks this mold and carves another role for herself—a partner. In many ways, Bonnie represents what women can be if only they dared and Blanche represents what they are. â€Å"This dual recognition—how things are and how they are not—gives popular culture much of its strength, suggesting the way it may be drawn to occupy gaps in political, ideological and cultural systems and how the subordinated may find a negotiable space in which certain contradictions and repressed desires are rehearsed. † According to Arthur Penn, the film’s director, â€Å"Violence is one of the most powerful themes in Bonnie and Clyde. The central point is that crime and violence are interrelated; that one can not exist without the other (†¦) Once the match of violence is lit, it has no choice but to burn until all flammable ends have been destroyed. † This use of violence as a central concept in the film led to change in the film industry as a whole. Bonnie and Clyde are not depicted as the usual murderers. They are charming, beautiful and for all intents and purposes, are of a refined manner and as the tag line goes: they are in love; definitely not the usual criminal sort. However, the film is interesting in its depiction of a criminal life as the audience finds it increasingly difficult not to sympathize or root for the ‘bad guys. ’ Even though the odds are against it, we the audience, find ourselves wishing that the couple will make it out alive and perhaps grow old together and leave the life of crime behind for an idyllic setting. But even Bonnie’s poem foreshadows their eventual fate. Someday they’ll go down together; they’ll bury them side by side; to few it’ll be grief; to the law a relief’ but it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde. Here the film gives us the moral of the story that if one lives by the sword, one dies by the sword. The attempt of the film to ‘subjectify’ the criminal life was definitely successful and the message is clear: not everything is black or white and good or bad. The audience is left with the feeling that although the actions of Bonnie and Clyde cannot be condoned by any moral person, we can sympathize with their situation. This is indeed a powerful effect considering the murders and the thievery that occurred in the film. On the negative side, the film probably opened up a tradition of cinematic endeavors to treat murder and crime in a casual and non-chalant way. The criminals in this film are portrayed in such a manner that makes them icons and idols of sorts—which is actually twisted in a way. The iconography of the film, as examined by Mary Elizabeth Strunk in the American Studies Journal explains that. â€Å"Yes, Bonnie and Clyde commit reckless acts of violence, but they look so good doing it. Against the film’s stagy Depression-era backdrop, the couple becomes the embodiment of youth, romance, and yearning. By contrast, their victims barely register, save as faded cardboard cutouts lacking names or narrative. The camera affirms Bonnie and Clyde as the only living things on an otherwise inert and colorless landscape. † Violence is not only the central theme of the movie but is also the anchor in which the personalities and characters of Bonnie and Clyde are based. The issues relating to identity are also underlying themes for this film. For Bonnie, she knows that she is cut from a different cloth altogether and would like to be remembered for being different. Clyde, on the other hand, grappling with his inner demons (mostly, brought on by lack of sexual potency), thirsts to be remembered by many. For him, it does not seem to matter what he is remembered for, just as long as he is remembered. If one were to psycho-analyze this film, one might even say that it could have been Clyde’s sexual malfunction that led him to a life of crime with the gun serving as a substitute for sex. This misplaced pride they both have in being recognized is clearly seen as they proudly read to each other what the newspapers have wrote about them—even if it is merely a catalogue of the crimes they have done or thought to have done. Works Cited Internet Movie Database. Bonnie and Clyde. Retrieved on May 11, 2008 from http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0061418/ Gledhill, C. (1986). Dialogue on Stella Dallas and Feminist Film Theory. Cinema Journal 25, No. 4 BOOKRAGS STAFF. â€Å"Bonnie and Clyde: Themes†. 2000. May 12 2008. http://www. bookrags. com/films/bonnieandclyde1967/themes. html Strunk, M. E. (2007). Bonnie and Clyde’s Other Side. American Studies Journal No. 50. Retrieved on 12 May 2008 from http://asjournal. zusas. uni-halle. de/85. html FLIPOUT E-ZINE. Women In Film. Retrieved 12 May 2008 from http://www. geocities. com/albanystudent/wif. html How to cite Bonnie Parker, Papers

Speckled Band Essays - Sherlock Holmes, Films, The Speckled Band

Speckled Band This story is about a women that asks for Shelock Holmes help because she belives that she is going to die like her sister that died two years before. She belives that her sister was either frightened to death or killed by gipsies. Because when this woman Helen found her sister the last words the she sad were: Helen! Oh my God, Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!". All this happend just before Helens sister was suposed to get married. And there mother was also a rich woman but she died long before all this happend and their stepfather got ?750 a year from his dead wifes fund. But if the sisters would marry he would have to pay them ?250 each a year so if the girls would marry he wouldn't get all the money! But now Helen had decided to get married but then a few days later her stepfather decided to mend the wall of Helens room so that she had to move into her sisters room and now she was scared for her live. So Sherlock Holmes went to investigate. Holmes investigated the whole house and he build up a plan to catch the murderer! Holmes had found out that there was an air-vent that was inside the house between the sisters room and the stepfathers. Holmes now was in the room that Helen was suposed to be in and suddenly the light was lit in the stepfathers room, and then Sherlock jumped and hit the bellrobe under the air-vent. Then there was a little whistle and then a scream and Holmes ran to the other room and there was the stepfather dead and with a speckled band on him. It was no band it was a Indian snake that the stepfather used to kill Helens sister and was going to kill Helen with it to but Holmes saved the day once again.

Healthcare fraud and abuse Essays

Healthcare fraud and abuse Essays Healthcare fraud and abuse Paper Healthcare fraud and abuse Paper As a Denzel Washington fan, I remembered a movie a couple of years back with a relation to health care entitled John Q.   It depicts a man undergoing hardships to get his son a heart transplant because his HMO would not cover it due to his employee status. Although the plot did not center on health care per se, it got me thinking about how far my own HMO coverage would go. This paper aims to tackle 3 types of abuse and fraud in healthcare in order to prevent and direct much needed resources to those deserving. Along with the advances that we have achieved come those with ill-intent out to further themselves hence health care fraud and abuse.   This is defined in Qui Tam FYI as, â€Å"deceptive means used by an organization to profit from government healthcare agreements. That definition has more recently been extended to include not only deception, but also unreasonable ignorance of the rules.† In 1985, to combat the growing threats against this criminal activity, the NHCAA or National Health Care Antifraud Association was established and has turned to become the leading American organization directed towards health insurance fraud. Their mission statement: â€Å"To protect and serve the public interest by increasing awareness and improving the detection, investigation, civil and criminal prosecution and prevention of health care fraud.†3   Ã‚  We go on to discuss the different type of fraud and abuse. The most rampant is the misrepresentation of goods and services.   A concrete example is when someone is treated for a common cold but when forwarded to the HMO it would appear that the patient was tested for pneumonia and a full blood test was conducted when no such activity was done. The hospital or clinic would then receive compensation for something which was fictitious.   A simple way to prevent this would be to confirm with the person examined unless they were in on it too. Another is padding the costs of medical services and medicines.   Purchase prices for medicine are sometimes marked up 200% onwards under the guise of increased cost. With services however, the modus operandi is billing for each separate exam rather than the comprehensive package therefore increasing the total price.   Both instances would increase revenues while maintaining overhead costs. Lastly, some institutions recommend treatment or exams which are unnecessary.   They plague on people’s fears and tell them it is better safe than to be sorry.   The difference between this example and the first one is that the tests actually took place.   It was just not needed.   In the person suffering from the cold example, a doctor could say that he needs to go through a battery of tests in order to eliminate other possibilities when the symptoms shown were very negligible or unfounded. Healthcare fraud and abuse is covered in the United States by the Federal False Claims Act.   This law protects victims and with penalties like fines and in sever cases even prison sentences.   It provides that any citizen can on the behalf of the government, file a case against companies or persons engaged in misrepresented activities and also protects that citizen from legal repercussions. Medical insurance companies also hire independent auditors and investigators to validate the claims made by clients and establishments to defend against potential loss from swindlers. â€Å"In 2003, health care costs paid to hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, diagnostic laboratories, pharmacies, medical device manufacturers and other components of the health care system, consumed 26.3 percent of the GDP of the United States, the largest of any country in the whole wide world.† That amount of money will attract people with ill-intent who always try to make a quick buck.   This will be a continuing fight from organizations like the NHCAA and governments who want to make sure that persons who deserve medical assistance will always get it. Reference List World Health Organization Report. (2000). Why do health systems matter?   WHO Qui Tam FYI.   â€Å"What is health care fraud?† retrieved 9 March 2008 from quitamfyi.com/healthcare-fraud.html National Health Care Antifraud Association.   Mission Statement retrieved 9 March 2008 from nhcaa.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?webcode=about_nhcaawpscode=WhoWeAre Wikipedia article on health care.   (2008) â€Å"Health Care† retrieved 9 March 2008

An Overview of Game Theory in Sociology

An Overview of Game Theory in Sociology Game theory is a theory of social interaction, which attempts to explain the interaction people have with one another. As the name of the theory suggests, game theory sees human interaction as just that: a game. John Nash, the mathematician who was featured in the movie A Beautiful Mind is one of the inventors of game theory along with mathematician John von Neumann. How Was Game Theory Developed? Game theory was originally an economic and mathematical theory that predicted that human interaction had the characteristics of a game, including strategies, winners and losers, rewards and punishment, and profits and cost. It was initially developed to understand a large variety of economic behaviors, including behavior of firms, markets, and consumers. The use of the game theory has since expanded in the social sciences and has been applied to political, sociological, and psychological behaviors as well. Game theory was first used to describe and model how human populations behave. Some scholars believe that they can actually predict how actual human populations will behave when confronted with situations analogous to the game being studied. This particular view of game theory has been criticized because the assumptions made by the game theorists are often violated. For example, they assume that players always act in a way to directly maximize their wins, when in reality this is not always true. Altruistic and philanthropic behavior would not fit this model. Example of Game Theory We can use the interaction of asking someone out for a date as a simple example of game theory and how there are game-like aspects involved. If you are asking someone out on a date, you will probably have some kind of strategy to â€Å"win† (having the other person agree to go out with you) and â€Å"get rewarded† (have a good time) at a minimal â€Å"cost† to you (you don’t want to spend a large amount of money on the date or do not want to have an unpleasant interaction on the date). Elements of a Game There are three main elements of a game: The playersThe strategies of each playerThe consequences (payoffs) for each player for every possible profile of strategy choices of all players Types of Games There are several different kinds of games that are studies using game theory: Zero-sum game: The players’ interests are in direct conflict with one another. For example, in football, one team wins and the other team loses. If a win equals 1 and a loss equals -1, the sum is zero.Non-zero sum game: The players’ interests are not always in direct conflict, so that there are opportunities for both to gain. For example, when both players choose â€Å"don’t confess† in Prisoner’s Dilemma (see below).Simultaneous move games: Players choose actions simultaneously. For example, in the Prisoner’s Dilemma (see below), each player must anticipate what their opponent is doing at that moment, recognizing that the opponent is doing the same.Sequential move games: Players choose their actions in a particular sequence. For example, in chess or in bargaining/negotiating situations, the player must look ahead in order to know what action to choose now.One-shot games: The play of the game occurs only once. Here, the players are likely to not know much about each other. For example, tipping a waiter on your vacation. Repeated games: The play of the game is repeated with the same players. Prisoner’s Dilemma The prisoner’s dilemma is one of the most popular games studied in game theory that has been portrayed in countless movies and crime television shows. The prisoner’s dilemma shows why two individuals might not agree, even if it appears that it is best to agree. In this scenario, two partners in crime are separated into separate rooms at the police station and given a similar deal. If one testifies against his partner and the partner stays quiet, the betrayer goes free and the partner receives the full sentence (ex: ten years). If both remain silent, both are sentences for a short time in jail (ex: one year) or for a minor charge. If each testifies against the other, each receives a moderate sentence (ex: three years). Each prisoner must choose to either betray or remain silent, and the decision of each is kept from the other. The prisoner’s dilemma can be applied to many other social situations, too, from political science to law to psychology to advertising. Take, for example, the issue of women wearing make-up. Each day across America, several million woman-hours are devoted to an activity with questionable benefit for society. Foregoing makeup would free up fifteen to thirty minutes for each woman every morning. However, if no one wore makeup, there would be great temptation for any one woman to gain an advantage over others by breaking the norm and using mascara, blush, and concealer to hide imperfections and enhance her natural beauty. Once a critical mass wears makeup, the average facade of female beauty is artificially made greater. Not wearing makeup means foregoing the artificial enhancement to beauty. Your beauty relative to what is perceived as average would decrease. Most women therefore wear makeup and what we end up with is a situation that is not ideal for the whole or for the indivi duals, but is based on rational choices by each individual. Assumptions Game Theorists Make The payoffs are known and fixed.All players behave rationally.The rules of the game are common knowledge. Resources and Further Reading Duffy, J. (2010) Lecture Notes: Elements of a Game. pitt.edu/~jduffy/econ1200/Lect01_Slides.pdfAndersen, M.L and Taylor, H.F. (2009). Sociology: The Essentials. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Antitrust practices and market power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Antitrust practices and market power - Essay Example While the pecuniary costs associated with this Google antitrust behavior is price fixation and control for the search engine and website business prices, the non-pecuniary costs associated with the behavior include throwing other website companies out of business, or making them incur losses, which will in turn slow down the economic growth. Monopoly structure entails the operation of a single seller in the market, while the oligopoly structure involves the presence of only few sellers in the market, which work in collusion for their economic benefit (Tucker, 2010). Both monopoly and oligopoly are achieved through effecting entry barriers for other business into the same market. The barriers can be natural barriers, such as high capitalization, infrastructure or specific resource requirement for entry to the market, which is only available to one or a few firms. Barriers can also be government barriers, where the government institutes some restrictions in form of legislation to prevent other businesses venturing into a certain industry, which is only designated for a particular operator (Tucker, 2010). Oligopolies and monopolies are not always bad for the society. Even though oligopolies and monopolies allows just few firms to determine the quantities of products they avail to the market or fix prices they charge for such products, there are situations under which monopoly and oligopoly are beneficial to the society. Monopolies can allow a firm to take advantage of economies of scale by producing more commodities that lower the long run average costs, making it possible for the firm to offer low prices for its products (Tucker, 2010). The same case applies to firms operating under oligopoly, where it is only a few of them which are producing for the large market needs of the customers. This allows such firms to enjoy economies of scale, through producing in higher quantities,

HRM methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

HRM methods - Essay Example This is nothing but performance-based compensation, which is one of the widely acknowledged HRM practices that contribute to business success (Dyer & Reeves, 1995; NC-DHHS, 2005). The employees' knowledge that such a reward awaits them if they perform well should keep them on their toes. Granting pay incentives and job promotions according to seniority and length of stay, which is the usual practice, does not motivate employees across the organization because the newer employees know that they will receive the same benefits and career boosts if they just stayed longer in the company and all they need to do is wait for their turn. While they thus wait for their time, you cannot expect them to exert themselves harder at their jobs. Even with a so-so performance, they tend to feel secure in their positions because of employment laws or labor union agreements that forbid dismissal without cause. With the forced ranking and distribution system in place, employees will strive to avoid bein g included in the worst performing group. ... The downside of the system, however, is the perceived lack of a foolproof benchmarking method to measure performance. As noted in the case study, it is inherently difficult to differentiate between good, average and poor performance. Precisely because of this particular difficulty, Goodyear mistakenly fired one chemist who got a consecutive C ranking for poor performance but who, it turned out, had earlier patented a new type of aircraft tire without management knowing about it. In essence, the forced ranking and distribution system is an anachronism to the popular HRM model that sees companies setting up rigid screening processes to ensure that they hire only the best people (Storey, 1992; Guest, 1999). If these companies hire only the best, then how come there are poor performers to be found in their ranks Dow Chemical, for example, realized in time that the forced ranking system did not fit with its corporate philosophy of recruiting only the best employees. In addition, the forced ranking system is likely to provoke perceptions of status and discrimination, thus encouraging income comparisons and perhaps spreading envy as others see a fellow employee doing much better than them (Guest, 1999). Envy and jealousy could have prompted employees at Ford and Goodyear to complain that the system discriminated against certain type of employees. 2) Suppose any of Ford, Goodyear and Dow Chemical contacts you to modify its performance management system to avoid some of the problems that it has experienced. What would you suggest the company do If asked to suggest a performance management system that avoids the pitfalls of the forced ranking and distribution system, I would propose a system that emphasizes the