Pricing strategies of Apple Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pricing strategies of Apple - Essay Example The price strategy for Apple majorly lies in the fact that they endeavour to sell great phones and products at a lower cost. It therefore offers a small number of products with a focus on the high-end market while giving priority to profits over the share of the market and creating a halo effect that makes people continuously attracted to its products. Apple ensures that when it is pricing its products, it adopts strategies that in relation to the market forces unlike the usual minimal pricing of products in the market place. Therefore, the prices are made in such a way that at times it is two times what its competitor’s charge, which it gets away with through strategies in how the product is implemented. The justification for the higher price of the products y Apple is the fact that it builds beautiful products that are attractive to the consumers and have features and benefits that the competing companies cannot match. Apple strives to create a demand for its products through differentiation, which entails having attractive and unique products to the consumers, and this enables it to have total control over the prices. Apple maintains a higher price for its products which keeps away its competitors in check helps it maintain its margins in terms of profitability (Spencer, 2013). Through the focus on customers that are likely to buy at the premium prices and maintaining it at that level, the company sets a level at which its competitors must also set its prices in the market. Apple therefore offers its products at premium prices by creating a premium product which is of high quality as indicated by the features in the products which translate to a lot of value for the price which helps shore up the profits. For instance, Apple raised the price of the latest iPad Mini by sticking on its high-end pricing strategy with the sole aim of maintaining the profit margins. The new

Cartography of Africa History of Maps

Cartography of Africa History of Maps Youngmoo Kim Under the Western Eyes One of the most popular and decorative map of all early maps of Africa, Africae nova descriptio allows us to picture Africa through the eyes of Europeans in the early 1600s, the golden age of Dutch mapmaking. Unlike many historical maps that remain as mysteries, the origins of this map are identified. Published in his 1630 Atlas Novus, this cornerstone map of Africa was produced by Willem Janszoon Blaeu, a well-regarded Dutch cartographer. Blaeu was an astronomer, an instrument maker, an engraver, and a globe manufacturer. Like many map-makers of his time, he was not an explorer himself: his maps were based from narratives of sailors, traders, travelers, and explorers. In addition to the accounts, he used earlier maps as a basic template for his own as much of geographical information is still based on the Ptolemaic maps. Influences of Ptolemys Geographia, a manual on construction and drawings of maps written around 160, continued to appear in maps across Europe until 1730, apparent in Blaeus map as Ptolemaic lakes of Zaire and Zaflan are shown as the sources of the Nile (Jones). Even if the origin of this map was unknown, one could easily determine the map as Africa perceived by an outsider. The expanses of oceans, constituting a good portion of the entire map, and the prominence of the ships bearing Dutch flags on the oceans, suggest that this is a view of Africa from a maritime perspective. The majority of these ships are drawn sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, and indeed, the European interest in Africa was largely spurred initially by a quest of finding an alternative route to Asia. Written primarily in Latin, the names of places on the map are quite interesting as they are small individual puzzles that can serve as historical markers or hints that help contextualize the map. For example, Barbaria would be familiar to 17th century Europeans as the pirates and slave traders of the Barbary coast were widely feared throughout southern Europe and northern Africa. On the other hand, Nubia, labeled in the region along the Nile located in what is today sout hern Egypt, alludes to more of a historical and anthropological picture: a reference to one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Africa. The majority of the names represented on this map are closer approximations of indigenous names rather than names on maps that were made a century or so later. Because this 1630 map predates the full force of European colonial rule in Africa, the names are also precolonial. For instance, Libya is the precolonial name included in this map. When this territory was broadly incorporated into one huge territory under Italian colonial rule, it was simply called Italian North Africa. It was not until 1934 that the country name Libya- its current name was reintroduced (Libya Profile Timeline). And so forth, the name Libya chronicles the struggle of Libyans indigenous notions of place and space: resembling a situation in Raymond Craibs Cartographic Mexico, where officials of Veracruz attempted to redefine and codify fugitive landscapes with their own conceptions of history and territory (Craib). One of the most interesting features of the map is the cartographers way of labeling the places on the map. The names of the coastal towns and features of the map are printed inward towards the continent giving an illusion of fullness and thorough charting to the map. On closer examination, the densest areas portrayed on the map are the perimeter of the continent. In fact, several regions of interior Africa are unidentified, many of which are decorated with indigenous animals such as elephants, lions, and ostriches. Only coastal towns are named on the Cape, with the printing covering much of unknown territories. The map seems to focus on much more geographic detail in eastern Africa and the Mediterranean coast than the west or the south, a sure sign of European exploration bias. Nevertheless, the blank spaces do not accurately reflect the reality, as Africa was a thoroughly populated continent in the 1600s. Rather, they reflect the limitations of European knowledge and interests and the significance of Africa from a Eurocentric view. The sketches of towns and the illustrations showing various indigenous costumes along the border of the map further imply the coastal perspective of the continent. The side panels, depicting ten different views of costumed natives from areas which Europeans presumably had contact with, take place in coastal towns. The oval views of major cities on the top border include Alexandria, Alger, Tunis, and Mozambique. These nine city and town plans above might have been major trading ports for the Dutch, or they might have been significant places known to Blaeu through the accounts of his various sources. Another captivating cartographic feature is the identification of African territories and kingdoms outlined in color. However, these regions seem to reflect the nationhood of Africa through the eyes of Europeans. Contrary to Europe, Africa was not a place that can be easily presumed and projected onto an unexplored area. In Siam Mapped, Thongchai examines the territorial entity of Thailand by exploring its conception of nationhood. Before the late 19th century, established boundaries were nonexistent in Siamese understanding of a territory. Overlapping or multiple sovereignties were common, while areas without any jurisdiction also existed (Thongchai). Consequently, it is apparent that 17th century explorers and sailors in Africa misconstrued boundary delineations and the struggled to comprehend indigenous conceptions of boundary that may have very well existed in Africa. However, these identifications of territories would continue to be more accurate during the next few hundred year s as more traders and explorers report on hundreds of ethnic territories and tribes. In terms of the maps technical cartographic elements, this map is particularly striking in several ways. Surprisingly, the geographical representation is quite accurate- Africa portrayed on the map is a close depiction to the actual scale and the shape of the continent. Some of the key topographical elements of Africa, such as the Nile river and the lakes in eastern Africa, are present, though they are fairly inaccurate. The compass, sitting on top of the equator, is elaborately detailed, with a fleur-de-lis pointing the north- Europe. This is not much of a surprise as it signifies perfection, light, and life. Although the longitude and the latitude adds more specificity to the directional aspect, a scale or a distance measure is not present on the map. Common to maps of this era, the artistic elements of the map are, indeed, clearly out of scale. It is impossible to tell how large or small the nine towns are or their sizes relative to one another, and the animals and the ships on th e oceans are drawn at a size that wildly distorts the scale. Nonetheless, the artistry of this map is absolutely stunning. The rich colors, the elaborately drawn artwork around the border, and the whimsical creatures scattered over land and sea suggest that this was as much a work of art as a map. It is very likely that this map was a costly and valuable possession and would not be accessible to many. It certainly was not a seafaring map nor a navigational map due to its lack of details or practicality. Most likely, Blaeus readers included upper-class collectors, elites, and, perhaps, the emerging class of intellectuals who were simply curious about exotic places and took part in the expanding worldview of the Dutch in the following era. Works Cited Craib, Raymond B. Cartographic Mexico: A History of State Fixations and Fugitive Landscapes. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004. Jones, Alexander. Ptolemy. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. February 22, 2016. Accessed February 12, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ptolemy. Libya Profile Timeline. BBC News. November 21, 2016. Accessed February 16, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13755445. Thongchai, Winichakul. Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-body of a Nation. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Press, 2009.

The Washington Monument Essay -- Architecture History Historical Essay

The Washington Monument The most stunning monument in our capital is the Washington Monument. At 555 feet high, it is the tallest such monument in the world. It is an obelisk by shape, yet not a true obelisk because it is not carved out of a single stone. The monument was built at intervals between 1848 and 1885. It memorializes George Washington's achievements and his devotion to principles and to his country. The Washington Monument has an interesting history. The idea of a monument celebrating George Washington was first considered by the Continental Congress in 1783. However, the next three decades brought neglect by Congress to take action. Finally, in 1833 the Washington National Monument Society was organized to forward the progress of the monument. Progress was slow for the society and by 1847 they had raised $87,000. Robert Mills, a well-known architect, was soon selected to design the monument. His design called for a decorated obelisk that was 600 feet high, rising out of a circular colonnaded building. This building was to be a 'temple' , an American pantheon, which would house statues of presidents and national heroes, including a large statue of George Washington. The design changed over the years and finally settled on a the obelisk without decoration as we know today. The building progressed well until the civil war. At this time construction was halted for almost 25 years. This left the unfinished obelisk standing 150 feet. Finally, on August 2, 1876, President Grant ordered the completion of the monument. The capstone was placed on the monument on December 6, 1884 and it was finally dedicated on February 21, 1885. Elevators were first powered by a steam hoist. The current elevator was installed in 195... ...ke the ancient Egyptians, we still raise monuments to commemorate our present day heroes. Although today these monuments are ordered and directed by the general public and not by the king or hero themselves. (This probably accounted for the difficulty in final completion of the Washington Monument) The long history or the obelisk being built, toppled, and stolen, further illustrates the ideas it contains. It stood for power and divinity. Today, the Washington Monument stands as a symbol of George Washington's contribution to our nation and our citizens still pay tribute to the great leader. Works Cited: Badawy, Alexander. A History of Egyptian Architecture. University of California Press. 1968. Tompkins, Peter. The Magic of Obelisks. Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 1981. Engelbach, L. The Problem of the Obelisks. T. Fisher Unwin Limited, London, 1923.

The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama

Although he never sets out to explicitly discuss a definition of leadership, we are quite able to see his point of view by considering the two places in the text where the Dalai Lama specifically praises a person as a good leader. The first of these is his own sister. In the course of his discussion of the many difficulties managing the groups of destitute refugees who had fled into India, her contribution was invaluable. As an explanation of why, he tells us that, â€Å"She had an enormous capacity for hard work. This, coupled with her rather fierce nature, made her an excellent leader.By itself, this description does not quite bring out the focus of his compliment; but that focus is made somewhat more clear when he tells us, a few pages later, about Mr. Luthi, a worker with the Swiss Red Cross. He was, â€Å"a man of tremendous zeal and energy, a real leader, who drove the people under him extremely hard. † For the Dalai Lama, then, there seem to be two elements to leadersh ip, one is the ability to bring a tremendous amount of effort to the task in question, and the second is an ability to get a similar effort out of the people you are leading.At first glance, this appears to be somewhat at odds with this holy man’s compassionate, peaceful nature. However, such an appearance is mitigated when we consider the numerous places throughout the book where we see that he holds himself to exactly the same rigorous standard. A particularly good example of this is when his observation of the struggles of his people made his responsibility fully tangible, even given his relative youth. â€Å"One thing my journey down had convinced me of was the need to study hard and learn as much as I could.I owed it to the faith of my people to be the best person I could be. † What was/is their leadership philosophy? As we might expect from the discussion above, the core of the Dalai Lama’s leadership philosophy is to lead by example. In addition to the pa ssages above, this idea also runs throughout the course of the text in the form of his consistent focus on creating opportunities for personal, one-on-one contact with the people he is trying to lead and/or persuade—whether the citizens of Tibet, or the political leaders of China and India.In talking about the positive changes he was able to bring about in government, for instance, we learn that he was, â€Å"determined to be entirely open, to show everything and not to hide behind etiquette. In this way I hoped that people would relate to me as one human being to another. † Even more telling is his narrative account concerning the fighting by Tibetan guerilla forces operating from over the border in Nepal. He feared that their attacks against the Chinese occupying forces would only end in more bloodshed, and he realized, â€Å"that the only way I could hope to make an impression on them was by making a personal appeal. †As the Dalai Lama, any discussion of this man’s philosophy (of anything) must be placed in the context of his religious vocation to bring compassion and an end of suffering to all sentient beings. We see this underlying motivation suggested in the passages already quoted, but we see it move to the fore in the form of leaders that he himself admired. Perhaps none of the examples he gives is more familiar and understandable to us than that of Mahatma Gandhi, whom he considered to be the ultimate politician because he was able to be such a great example to his people of the difficult ideals he expected of them—namely, altruism and non-violence.How did they learn to lead? With characteristic humility, our author shows us that his most important, and most lasting, lessons in leadership were learned from his various large and small mistakes over the years. In one anecdote, we hear the story of the younger Dalai Lama punishing a pet parrot because it did not respond to him with the desired affection. Once he had bea ten it with a stick, it â€Å"thereafter fled at the sight of me. This was a very good lesson in how to make friends: not by force but by compassion. †The same lesson was shaped by his religious studies as a monk, and we see it reflected in mature form years later in his attempt to deal with repeated acts of deception by Chairman Mao. â€Å"Besides,† the Dalai Lama tells us, â€Å"as far as I was concerned, a positive approach was the only sensible one to take. There was no point in being negative, that only makes a bad situation worse. † Did they challenge the process? Not only has he challenged the process for the last forty-plus years, but the Dalai Lama is still challenging the process.In areas from promoting the role of women in Tibetan government to working for U. N. resolutions and intervention in the case of Tibet’s occupation by China, it is not unfair to say that his whole career has been an attempt to challenge the way international politics is conducted. Would you consider them inspirational? If so, why? The thing that is probably the most inspiring about him is that in spite of all that he and his people have been through, he still responds by seeing and hoping for the best in people. Near the end of the book he says, â€Å".. . for there are more than a billion Chinese, and whilst maybe several thousand are participating in acts of cruelty at any one moment, I believe there must be several million performing acts of kindness. † How did they build a team and strengthen others? This is, perhaps, best shown in the account of his discussion with Prime Minister Nehru over the treatment and education of the Tibetan refugees who had come to India. His main approach is to appeal to the very best part of human nature in each of the people around him.In the case of Nehru, the Dalai Lama had laid out his case and, as hoped, Nehru’s humanitarian instincts won out in the end. The same idea is repeated in other places in the book, though not so succinctly. In general we see the application of his faith in leadership by example. In this case by the moral example he presents. By making sure that people can deal with him one-on-one, they are able to see his honesty and sincerity, and, thereby, be inspired by that side of themselves. Did they practice what they preached?In order to answer this question, let us first attempt to encapsulate what the Dalai Lama preached (and preaches). In relation to leadership, it would be fair to say that his sermon consists in: Hold yourself and the people you lead to high standards; the highest of which is to be selfless, altruistic, to put the welfare of others ahead of your own. In looking back over his struggles, there are a lot of examples of this on his part. One of the most pivotal instances was when he had to make the hard decision to leave Tibet.He realized that only if he left would the gathered crowd — protesting against the Chinese, and protecting their leader from the Chinese — disperse, thereby saving them all from deadly Chinese military reprisals. In one decisive moment he gave up his beloved homeland of Tibet in order to save hundreds and hundreds of lives. How did they handle mistakes? Perhaps owing to his lifelong academic training as a Buddhist monk, the Dalai Lama sees each mistake as a learning situation. We have already seen a good example of this in the story of the parrot, in which he made the mistake of beating it to change its behavior.In looking for an example where he made a significant mistake as the leader of Tibet, there is the gradual realization that he had been wrong to believe in the good intentions of Chairman Mao. In contrast to earlier periods where he had been uplifted by his faith in Mao’s underlying goodness, and, in fact, had often appealed to him concerning the conduct of occupying soldiers in Tibet, later in the story we hear the Dalai Lama say, â€Å"I began to see that Chairma n Mao’s words were like a rainbow – beautiful, but without substance.† In response to this realization, the Dalai Lama comes away with a better understanding of how China has worked to create a misleading PR campaign to undermine the appeals of the Tibetan leadership among the world community, and he comes away with a different strategy for moving forward based on getting accurate observers into and out of Tibet to provide objective information on the condition and treatment of the Tibetan people at the hands of the Chinese. How did they recognize the accomplishments of others?Given his varied, persistent needs in trying to keep the Tibetan culture safe and thriving, as well as the managerial tasks of the refugee population, and the political tasks of building international support for his cause, the primary effect of someone showing great leadership or achievement has been to give them more leadership responsibility. We see this talked about in regard to his tut ors, his close associates, and even his own family. By way of illustration, we need only point back to the example given earlier concerning his sister.Because of her ability and demonstrated energy as the manager of the household, he created a situation where the entire refugee population was part of her â€Å"household. † What could we all learn from this person that would make us better leaders? One of the recurrent elements throughout the story is his sincere desire to connect with people, we see him constantly working to meet people — whether they be Tibetan or foreign, wealthy or poor, politician or scientist. In fact, he made it a personal goal to try and meet with every refugee coming into India from Tibet and with other religious leaders whenever he went abroad.He repeatedly mentions these opportunities as being the most valuable part of his life in exile. More than just the intrinsic value of these connections and interactions with people from all different wa lks of life, though, he also helps us to see that there is a secondary benefit in terms of making someone an effective leader. One of the many positive side effects to come from his interactions, especially with the Tibetan masses, is that by remaining close to the common people, a leader avoids being, â€Å"misled by advisors and others around you who, for reasons of their own, might wish to prevent you from seeing things clearly. †

Ict an Important System in the Processing of Accounting Information Essay

INTRODUCTION: We are in an era referred to as the JET AGE; an era where people are no longer interested in cars; they will prefer to fly, why? Basically because it is more comfortable and faster. An era that people will not want to try by guess work, everyone wants to be sure of the outcome of their actions. It is a generation that pays attention to speed and accuracy. It is pertinent to account for our resources as humans either as individuals or as a group hence the need for the preparation of accounting information and such information can become so voluminous over time but humans as a matter of nature, have limited speed and retaining capacity especially when it has to do with figures and are prone to mistakes every now and then. This brings to the mind of every concerned individual the question; how can accounting information irrespective of their volume be processed with the fastest possible speed with little or no error? As a result of technological advancement, the first thing that comes to mind when such a question is raised is Electronic Data Processing Method. (EDP which gave birth to ICT) MOTIVATION: Accounting and Information technology have been around for a long, long time. Basically as long as people have been around, there has always been the need for accountability of personal or joint resources and also, rendering of stewardship to superiors, top family heads and co-owners as the case may be. Also, there has always been ways of communicating through technology available at each point in time. There are 4 main ages that divide up the history of information and communication technology. Only the latest age (electronic) and some of the electromechanical age really affects us today. The subject of Accounting Information and ICT is interesting because it cuts across every length and breadth of human activities since ACCOUNTIBLITY is one foremost issue to be considered both in governmental and non-governmental organisation, profit and not-for-profit outfits alike. In recent times, several individuals and corporate bodies have woken up to the reality of the importance of ICT in the processing of accounting information. On a regularly basis, new hardware are created, new software and programmes are written to facilitate the effective and efficient processing of accounting information electronically. Even as you read, the available software and hardware are being improved upon to match up with the demand of recent times. PROJECT SUMMARY The aim of this project is to stress on the benefits achievable from the adoption of the use of ICT for processing accounting information, it will at certain points compare and contrast the use of ICT and the manual method of processing accounting information PROJECT DETAILS In course of this work; Living Faith Church World Wide Inc. (LFC) which is a non-governmental establishment and at the same time a not-for-profit organisation, shall be our case study. Software and Hardware of different kinds shall be analysed and some of such include; computer set, spread sheets, printer, internet connection, to mention but a few. At the end of this project a comprehensive report will be produced revealing how far technology (ICT) have contributed to the compilation, processing and interpretation of accounting information in recent time. The produced report will also analyse how business owners, accountants and other users of accounting information in this part of the world (Nigeria; Africa) have welcomed and taken advantage of ICT as regard accounting information processing. CONCLUSION The world have left the realm of data to the realm of processed data (Information), that is to buttress the fact that information has encountered revolution just like the human race. Accounting on the other hand has come a long way in human existence also and in recent time though they are both in different paths they have crossed path and have brought about answers to a lingering question in the heart of some concerned individuals; the question of; how can accounting information irrespective of their volume be processed with the fastest possible speed with little or no error? The report that will be provided at the end of this project will bring to the notice of all business owners and accountants that are ignorant of the usefulness of ICT in the processing of Accounting Information, the importance and role of ICT in the processing Accounting Information. It also, will broaden the scope of those individuals concerned in the subject of accounting information and ICT.