eBay, Incorporated Essay Example for Free

eBay, Incorporated Essay eBay Inc. was founded on 1995. The Company believes that the online commerce is a fast growing industry. For people to acknowledge and recognize eBays transactions, trust and credibility should be first established. It is also the goal of the Company to continuously provide opportunities to people. The Company’s scope is not only on a local basis, but also in national and international scopes. There are millions of items sold worldwide on the company’s online shopping sites. eBay is a fast growing company and since its conception, it has already added new companies to its family. The company bought PayPal in 2002, Skype in 2005, Shopping. com and Rent. com also in 2005. The company’s recent purchases are StubHub in February of 2007 and StumbleUpon also in 2007. Products and Services eBay serves as a marketplace where buyers and sellers meet for the sale, purchase and trading of goods and services. These goods and services vary from collectibles, electronic gadgets, computers, furniture, equipment, appliances and vehicles. Anything can be sold in their website for as long as it is not illegal and it complies with the Rules and Regulations set by the developers. Geographic Locations eBay has different locations all over the world. It has ten outlets in Asia Pacific. Ebay could be found in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and India . In Europe, eBay has twelve branches, in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. North America has only two branches, one in Canada and one in the United States of America. eBay also has an investment in Latin America, MarcoLibre. Size Bay Incorporated has a number of other ownerships, aside from eBay itself. The company owns PayPal, Skype, Shopping. com, Rent. com and Online Classifieds. It also called as the largest virtual shopping bazaar. The company is also open to investors who are interested in being part of the growing online trading industry. Investors could take part either through a Brokerage or a Financial Institution. Revenues Based on financial reports on eBay’s website, within the last twelve months the company’s sales reached $ 6. 8 billion and its income reached $ 1. billion. The net profit margin is 20. 39%, and its revenue per share is $ 4. 84. In July 18, 2007, the company announced that its net revenues for the second quarter reached $1. 83 billion, with a growth rate of 30%. The second quarter of this year was considered to be a good quarter for the company. The company’s Marketplace steadily increased its growth and expanded its margin, and so did its Payments. The eBay community and company believe that their honesty, openness, integrity and trust helped paved the way for their success.

History And Future Of Mahindra And Mahindra Limited Business Essay

History And Future Of Mahindra And Mahindra Limited Business Essay Mahindra and Mahindra limited is a part of the huge Mahindra group. Mahindra is a company, which has started before independence under K.C Mahindra and J.C Mahindra along with Malik Gulam Mohammed. In 1945 the company was called as Mahindra and Mohammed later after independence Malik Gulam Mohammed left the elite and he became the finance minister for Pakistan. After his exit the company changed its name into Mahindra and Mahindra (MM). In 1947, the company started its business from assembling jeeps and slowly moved on to making utility vehicles and agricultural tractors. With in no time MM as emerged as one of the leading brands in India. Today MM is a diversified group employing more that 65,000 people directly. MM has substantial presence in sectors like automobile, equipment for farms, financial services, automobile components, after-market, IT and infrastructure. MM is one of the Indias most respected and reputed business groups. Reputation Institute declared MM as one of the most reputed companies in the world. MM is also only one of the ten Indian companies to get featured in the prestigious Forbes magazine. Over the past few decades the company has grown in the international automotive segment.  MM has a strong presence in several countries across the world including Italy, Spain, Turkey, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Chile and South Asia.   Few of the core values of the MM are Good Corporate Citizenship, Professionalism, Customer First, Quality Focus and Dignity Of The Individual. We dont have a group-wide mission statement. Our Core Purpose is what makes all of us want to get up and come to work in the morning Anand G. Mahindra. The core purpose of MM: Indians are second to none in the world. The Founders of our nation and of our Company passionately believed this. We will prove them right by believing in ourselves and by making Mahindra Mahindra Limited known worldwide for the quality of its products and services. Milestones achieved MM: 1945 2nd October 1945 Mahindra and Mohammed established. 1949 Jeep assembly started. 1956 Company shares were listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). 1969 MM started their venture into the world market by exporting utility vehicles and spare parts. 1975 MM developed diesel engine for over coming the fuel crisis. 1983 MM became the market leader in the Indian tractor market. 1986 established Tech Mahindra. 1994 Implemented BPR programs. 2000 MM adopted a new logo. 2002 Launched SUV Scorpio. 2004 Launched Mahindra World tractor in International Market. 2009 MM launched Xylo. 2010 MM acquired Ssangyong and a major share in electric car company Reva. Few factors that affect the business environments are: Social factors: Every business organisation operates within the norms of the society and exists primarily to satisfy its needs. Hence, a business organisation has an important position in social system. The social factors influence the policy and strategy of business; the organisation strives to satisfy the needs and wants of the society. There are many social factors that affect the policy and strategy of corporate management. Culture, value, tastes and preferences, social integration and disintegration, and so on must be a part of every business organisation. As observed by Keith Davis and Robert Blomstrom, business is a social institution performing a social mission and having a broad influence on the way people live and work together. Many companies that are hugely successful contribute a lot to the society. At MM corporate social responsibility is taken very seriously in 2009 MMs employees contributed 49,280 man-hours towards social programs. Mahindra and Mahindra contribute 1% of its profit after tax (PAT) for developing the society every year. MM considered education and training as powerful tools to address majority of Indian social challenges. Corporate Social Responsibility has always been an integral part of the vision of the Mahindra Group and the corner stone of our core value of good corporate citizenship Keshub Mahindra. In a way by helping the society, MM is enjoying the fruits of it, after all business is only a part of the society. I think because of MMs strong CSR activities it is wining the hearts of the people and not allowing any NGO to point fingers. Ecological Factors: Protection of the environment and preservation of ecological balance is the responsibility of every business organisation. Ecology deals with the study of the environment, biotic factors, abiotic factors, and their interactions with one another. A change in any biotic or a biotic factor causes ecological imbalance. Industrial activities, automobiles, emission of fumes or smoke and effluents, and so on, result in environmental degradation. MM is committed to the preservation of ecological balance. MM has turned 400 acres of barren land in to a park; MM had planted across 7000 trees near its factories to counterfeit the pollution. Environment is the key factor that no company tries to neglect. MM takes up lot of activities to help the environment. Its a fact that buildings consume 40 percent of the worlds energy; keeping this in mind MM started retrofitting their towers for Energy efficiency. The result was that they started consuming 10 percent less energy when compared with their previous consumptions. The retrofitting has affected an average savings of 36,185 kWh / month, the equivalent CO2  saved is 29.3 tonnes / month. As carbon-di-oxide is one of those gases that contribute to global warming MM decided to reduce the consumption of paper. Now MM uses different software to keep the use of paper as low as possible. MM took up an activity of refurbishing of water reservoir, which is now helping 4000 dwellers. Economic Factors: Economic factors, such as per capita income, national income, resource mobilisation, infrastructure development, capital formation, employment generation, and so on, influence the business environment. The economic performance of a company also determines its business environment. The economic factors helped MM to some extent to become successful, like getting cheap labourers etc. but MM had really worked very hard to over come the other things like formation of capital in not so strong economy, dealing with infrastructure problems etc. Government Policies: The government policies provide the basic environment for business. Industrial and licensing policies, trade policies, labour policies, export-import policies, foreign exchange policies, taxation policies etc pave the way for business environment. In brief the policies that were changed and their effect on MM. In between the period of 1947 to 1979 the government intervention was too much and indirectly the government was playing the major role. As MM was not a huge company at that time the government protected it. The policies gave an encouragement to the industry that in turn means encouragement to the company. The one disadvantage MM faced was due to licensing competition was curbed. In between period 1980 to 1990 the policies were a bit liberal and government less involved in companies activities. In this time frame competition slowly picked up which helped MM to be more efficient and effective. After 1991 government never played a direct role but played an indirect role. Due to liberalization MM started raising its standards and started simulating demand. Only after 1991 MM started exporting a lot and investing in RD a lot. The above snap shot shows how important are policies for a business. The success tool for MM was having the flexible nature, which allowed it to take advantage of the policies. Cultural Factors: The cultural factors of a business environment should also be taken into consideration while scanning the environment and during the policy formation. Policymakers in a global business cannot disregard cultural variables like social and religious practices, education, knowledge, rural community norms and beliefs. A company like MM, which has its growth in a globally oriented way, takes these cultural factors very seriously; one example is that MM supplies customised jeeps to Australia, which suits their local style or culture. Geographical factors: In a global business environment, geographical locations, seasonal variations, climatic conditions etc. considerably affect the tastes and preferences of customers, and also prospects and the labour force. The pace of development in various geographical locations considerably influences the policies of the government regarding industrial locations. Some times this helped MM because, if the government wants to develop some particular region it gives a lot of subsidies for the companies that are interested in setting up their plant in that region. Legal Factors: Law in India regulates every aspect of business. Hence, the legal government plays a very vital role in the business. The legal factors in India (pre liberalisation) that effected MM are like heavy protection from government by using the licenses, huge excise duties, discrimination done by the government on the basis of price, very high import duties and liberal policies for the foreign players. During this period MM was not so successful in expanding but after liberalisation MM grew at a huge rate. The legal factors post liberalisation period that helped MM grow are like the complete removal of the license raj system, excise duties were continuously restructured, reducing the duties on import and allowing fdi. Labour factors: Although labour with in the organisation constitute its internal environment, general labour policies and climate may form a part of the external environment. MM always strictly followed Labour laws in compensating their employees and other things that fall under that law. One incident were MM dint handled its employees very well was in 1994 when company went for Business Process Reengineering (BPR) their was huge opposition from the labour unions then the company after few months managed the situation and till date the company enjoyed the support of its employees. One of the core principles of MM states that their employees are considered as a very valuable resource. Technological Factors: Technology is considered to be one of the most important factors of any business environment. That is why the Government has always stressed about sophisticated technology and technology transfer in most of its policies. Foreign investment up to 100 percent is allowed in industries with sophisticated technology. MM has always laid emphasis on RD and always tried to make technologically sound products. The recent acquisition of Ssangyong motors by MM was mainly for the technology, this shows the companies quest for technology. MM recently acquired the electric car company Reva that shows their prediction for the future and they what to be ready by not considering technology as a barrier to their success. Competitive Market Condition: Competitive market condition is an important environmental factor, especially in a global business environment. In a socialist economic environment, a centralised authority -the government controls the market whereas the competitive forces determine the market in a fully capitalist economy. India, which has accepted the middle path, had been fostering both the conditions. As a result of liberalisation, some characteristics integrating the Indian economy with the global economy has emerged. As a result, a competitive market condition has emerged in India, creating a competitive business environment. A situation of perfect competition is seen in automobiles, fmcg etc. This is often taken as an opportunity by MM to grow and to show its capability in the market. Creating competitive market is the responsibility of every player in the market. MM keeps its responsibility by having competition in terms of both price and non-price with its other counter parts. In a way MM is helping itself and also the economy. A competitive business environment is an essential characteristic of globalisation. The nature of competition varies in different economic systems. In the context of widespread globalisation process, tremendous changes are taking place in the business environment of economic systems. MM concern for the international business environment is understandable in relation to the globalisation of business. Conclusions: All the above factors have affected MM in positive and negative way. But by studying these very closely has helped MM to take or to develop broad strategies and very long term policies for itself, by having clear understanding of the different environment factors MM was able to analyse its competitors strategies and, thereby, formulate effective counter strategies. Knowledge about the environment helped MM to be dynamic in its approach, which means that MM had very flexible structure for their strategies or policies that helped them to be dynamic in nature. Being a company that has expanded overseas needs to understand the above factors to have a visibility over the changing socio-economic factors at the national and international level for its stability. The executives of MM were able to adjust to the prevailing conditions and, thus, influence the environment in order to make it congenial for business. The environmental factor plays a major role for MM to expand overseas. In the post liberalisation period government reducing the import duties helped the company to improve its infrastructure and technologies. With the allowance of fdi in to the country MM started expanding and in a way made it a conglomerate. The structure of the industry, which includes the company and the competitors in addition to the potential entrants, suppliers, buyers, and so on determines the level of competition. Hence, the environment is influenced by all of them in some manner or the other. The business policy of every player has, therefore, to take cognisance of the treats posed by every other player including the entrants. Thus, subject to the influence of a number of factors, the business environment provides opportunities and threats, while its internal environment provides its strengths and weaknesses.

Diversifying Education for the Better America Essay -- Learning Divers

Diversifying Education for the Better America America has been known to be a melting pot of different people from all kinds of cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds. No matter where you go, you are always surrounded by all walks of life and from those people, we have learned a lot. They have helped to shape who we are as Americans and what we stand for. Which is, that we strive and thrive on the cultural differences that are all around us. When the canon fails to include their points of view into our educational system, we suffer greatly. With out being exposed to other cultures and backgrounds, we are depriving ourselves of a richer education, from learning about other cultures and backgrounds. It is a shame that people from other cultures and backgrounds arent able to receive in the education that they would like because they are looked at as people who arent capable of doing so. Many colleges and universities just see immigrants as just that and nothing more. Colleges fail to truely see the desire and passion that is in the immigrants eyes to want to learn. Many of the immigrants that come to America are in search of a better life and a good education, because they cant get those in their homeland. The immigrants, in turn have to struggle through our educational system, that doesnt even acknowledge their points of view. Our educational system is based on the great books, books most of the immigrants who have migrated here know little or nothing about because they werent educated in those great books in the countries where they came from. They are being misjudged on their ability just because of their different cultural background, and in a way, punished for not knowing the great books. In the article: Lives on the Boundar... ... of the fact that everyone in this world deserves the best education that they can get. We also need to realize that everyone has the potential to be who they want to be in life, and to push them away because of social and cutlural differences is very wrong. We are depriving them, but mostly ourselves from learning from other people and becoming more culturally diversified. We should learn to look past these difference and realize that we are all one in the same when it comes to education. We all want the best education possible. Works Cited Hooks, bell. Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education. The Presence of Others. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 95-103. Rose, Mike. Lives on the Boundary. The Presence of Others. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 111-116.

Invisible Man Essay: Tone and Language -- Invisible Man Essays

Tone and Language in Invisible Man      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are not many novels that can produce such a feeling of both sorrow and jubilation for a character as Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. There is such a wide range of emotions produced by the novel that it is impossible not to feel both ways. Invisible Man is a wonderfully well written novel about an African American living in pre civil rights America. The novel is an excellent example of a bildungsroman, a character finding himself as the story progresses. The narrator (invisible man) starts off a naive college student and ends with the young man realizing that his world has become that of "infinite possibilities." Ellison's writing techniques include that of visual imagery, irony, occasional satire, and infinite examples of symbolism. All of these writing techniques help to further the novel, and benefit the book as a whole. Two techniques that Ellison used better than any others, however, are tone and language. Although Ellison used these techniques well, there we re some harmful mistakes in his writing which damage the credibility of the story.    One of the most important aspects to any novel is its tone. Tone sets the pace of the novel and dictates what kind of emotional effect the anecdote will have on the reader. The tone of Invisible Man is, for the most part, a remarkable thing. Ellison's tone creates both a tragic and a comic response to the reader. Ellison's tone can be said to be "tragi-comic" (Bellow). This tone occurs "in the best pages of Invisible Man... in which an incestuous Negro farmer tells his tale" (Bellow) of seducing and impregnating his own daughter. Through tone Ellison reveals how his invisible man thought himself to be invisible, as he learns that... ...ropriate to a character who has been presentd mainly as a passive victim of experience" (Howe).    With the exception of a few faults, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an excellent novel. Ellison makes good use of many literary techniques necessary for writing a good novel. These include satire, irony, symbol, imagery, and especially tone and language. The novel appeals to all races and ages of people because of the language used and of the heroic story of the young Negro trying to make it in a predominantly white American society. This novel is truly a classic and should become more and more so as people of all races look back on the symbolic struggle this young man had.    Works Cited Bellow, Saul. "Man Underground" Commentary June 1952   Ellison, Ralph. The Invisible Man 1952   Howe, Irving. "Review of Invisible Man",   The Nation 1952

Life in Dublin :: Essays Papers

Life in Dublin In his book Dubliners, James Joyce looks deep inside the lives of those who live in Dublin. Many of the characters are bored with how they live their lives. They want desperately to get out of Dublin. They wish to lead exciting lives somewhere else, whether it is in a fantasy or in a different part of Ireland. In this book, they will try to escape their everyday lives by traveling outside of their normal everyday activities. Individuals in society are often portrayed as trying to escape Dublin. In the story â€Å"Eveline,† a young woman is trying to escape her household through a journey with a young man named Frank. Her escape is shown through individual and society. This journey takes her away from the miserable life she is living. â€Å"Now she is going to go away like the others, to leave her home† (29). Eveline wants to explore a new and more exciting life with Frank. The two of them are escaping from Dublin by a night-boat to Buenos Ayres. Eveline wishes that Frank can save her from all that surrounds her in the life she leads. Throughout this story, Eveline has encounters with a violent father that she wishes to escape. Leaving with Frank is the solution to her problem. Before her mother dies, Eveline promised that she will keep the home together as long as she could. Eveline’s father tells her that she squanders the money and that he isn’t going to give her the money because he works hard for the money and it shouldn’t be thrown around on the streets. â€Å"†¦she sometimes felt herself in danger of her father’s abuse† (30). Through her escape with Frank she can escape her father’s demeaning remarks and his constant verbal and physical abuse. Eveline is going tired of doing all the cooking and the cleaning. Frank is going to take her away from what he is doing to the family. With her mind set on escaping from Dublin, Eveline realizes that she will have an effect on society, her family, and herself.

Basic Considerations

Hall's evaluation criteria is being applied to gather knowledge of the theoretical adequacy regarding Beck's Theory of Postpartum Depression. The research article â€Å"From Practice to Midrange Theory and Back Again† chronicles this substantive midrange nursing theory of Cheryl Attain Beck (Lassie & Ferguson, 2005). As referenced by the authors, the major concepts of Beck's theory are clearly Identified as loss of control, encountering terror, dying of self, struggling to survive, and regaining control (Lassie & Ferguson, 2005).Beck first determined the core concept or basic psychological Issue of postpartum mood disorder as loss of control (Beck, 1993). Women suffering from this disorder lack control over their emotions, thought processes, and actions which Beck referred to as walking a fine line between sanity and Insanity (Beck, 1993). The remaining four concepts or stages emerged from the data analysis, of Beck's grounded theory study, as the participants attempted to cop e with the Issue concerning the core concept – loss of control (Beck, 1993).In regards o the concept of dying of self, Beck illustrated a partial audit trail for the construct of this concept from the data (Lassie & Ferguson, 2005). Furthermore, Beck precisely explained the major concepts and supported them with direct quotes from the participants of the study (Lassie & Ferguson, 2005). These major concepts are moderately abstract since the phenomena of postpartum depression is measured indirectly rather than through observed evidence. For each major concept, three levels of coding were identified (Beck, 1993).The linear design of the diagram is structured so that the concepts serve as headings which explicate the progression and relationship toward the psychological process used to resolve the fundamental issue of postpartum depression (Beck, 1993). Internal analysis and evaluation.

As She Grows – Creative Writing

â€Å"And it's another thing to have that one person not love you back, not the way you want them to. † (Cowan 106). As She Grows by Lesley Anne Cowan tells us the story of a teenaged girl, Snow, who grew up with no mother or father. The person that acted as her â€Å"parent† was her grandmother, a drunkard. Growing up with no love at home, she leaves for a group home. It is there she makes her life changing decision. To keep her child and to give her a home showered with love and happiness. Throughout this book, the author shows Snow's journey, separation when she leaves her grandmother, initiation when she gets pregnant and decides to keep the child, and return, when she decides to return to her former life in order to raise Betty. In As She Grows, Snow struggles to show her daughter the love that she had never experienced, so that her child might have the life she never had, filled with love and care, demonstrating the power of love to transform lives. The most significant reason for this was the lack of family love for Snow. Snow grows up with her grandmother, an alcoholic. Her mother drowned and her father is unknown. She grows up used to feeling needed by her grandmother, but she is tired of following her grandmother's crazy antics. She finally decides to leave her grandmother and moves into a group home. â€Å"I wait to feel something, anything other than this blankness inside. † (Cowan 277). Snow leaves her grandmother, hoping for a better future, away from her grandmother. When she first arrives at the group home, she finds some bad in each person, giving her a reason for her to hate them at first sight. Yet soon, she discovers that she was wrong and finds qualities in them for her to appreciate. Her â€Å"parents† are now composed of a group of people called â€Å"Staff†. The way Staff acts like a parental figure makes Snow feel a deficiency of love, even away from her grandmother. â€Å"At some point, I saw them differently and I actually wanted to belong. † (Cowan 207). Even though she did not like the group home or the people living there at first, she learns that they were good friends to her when she needed them to be there for her. Another reason for her change is that Snow slowly learns to put trust in her friends. When Snow finds out that she is pregnant, she tries to accept the truth by herself. Yet, she soon finds out that this is too much for her to carry by herself, so she tells this secret to one person. Each person living in a group home is assigned to a counselor. To Snow, going to a counselor is her price to stay in a group home. Her counselor, Eric, slowly persuades her to tell him about her reasons of leaving her grandmother. Soon, she breaks down and tells him why she left and even about her pregnancy. â€Å"Some words spill out of me and other are forced through my throat. † (Cowan 178). At thins point, Snow tells Eric that she is tired, that she does not want to plan her next step in life. She tells him, â€Å"I have no fight left in me. † (Cowan 179). After her friend Jasmyn's persuasion, she tells the group home and Staff that she is pregnant. Soon, Snow learns that sometimes outsiders that are not related to you in any way can become the closest people in the world, the ones you can rely on most. To Snow, going to this group home was her life-changing decision that altered her future for the better. The final reason for this change is to show the maternal love she never received in her childhood to her baby daughter, Betty. Snow struggles to understand the meaning of maternal love. In the very last line of the book, â€Å"If I rise in you, bury me. † (Cowan 289). She tells her daughter that if Snow's life is going to be seen in Betty, she must somehow break away from it. A couple weeks after Betty's birth, she tells her daughter, â€Å"People are afraid I won't know how to love you. (Cowan 225). Snow believes that she will find that courage and bravery in her that is needed to take care of her. Snow is a perfect portrayal of a victim of a society. Society thinks that all teenaged mothers will not know how to love their children. â€Å"Moments when I think, I can actually do this. † (Cowan 126). Snow sometimes has doubts about her ability to raise her daughter, but she also has times where she knows that she can raise her daughter, and not allow her to relive her own life's journey. Yet Snow is not so confident for the majority of the time. â€Å"Look away from her piercing eyes and whisper, ‘I'm sorry', into her soft skin. † (Cowan 277). Snow worries that her daughter's present and future. In the present, Snow is afraid she will not know how and when to love her. In the future, Snow is afraid about what life her daughter will choose to take. She wants the best life possible for Betty, and Snow thinks the life she had was the worst life imaginable, a kind of life she doesn't want Betty to have. In the last two lines of As She Grows, â€Å"If I rise, bury me. If I rise in you, bury me. † (Cowan 289). Snow's difficulties in raising Betty are shown. Her lack of parental love in her childhood has caused Snow to learn maternal love for her child, because she does not want Betty following in her old steps. Even near death, Snow still wants the best for her daughter. She loves her and says that if her bad characteristics or her life ever appear to surface in Betty's life, she is to bury all of this.