Analyze the external and internal environment of the company + SOWT Case Study

Analyze the external and internal environment of the company + SOWT - Case Study Example Other partners of Zip car include the Gridlock partners and Bench mark capital. It major focus is to occupy regions that are populated and witness challenges car parking. Taxicabs also pose a great threat to the Zip car company. Zip car offers two products to consumers. These include fleet management and car sharing. The potential customers for this company are students and staffs in colleges and universities. Membership procedures involves filling of forms. The company uses an in house technology in the production of its products. This type of technology allows customers to be easily accessed without any compromise to security of vehicles. In addition, they employ a technology called radio frequency identification. This is very useful in authenticating drivers (Patrick, 3). Besides, it allows a holder to have access to a car if one holds a reservation. Further, and the radio frequency identification gives the company an opportunity to track cars when some routines are to be carried. Among these routines include inventory management; billing, and car maintained. Zipcar also has well developed software for fleet management. This has enabled Zip Car Company to manage both the public and private organizations fleet The industry environment of Zip car consists of Buyers and suppliers. The major buyers include college students and staff. There is also the category of people who would want to join the company. There is a legal procedure to be followed. They fill the required forms besides paying a legal fee (Patrick, 3). The consumers of Zip car have complemented public transit with car sharing. Public transportation is highly encouraged by consumers in the major cities where this company operates. Car sharing is very useful for trips taken away from town Zip car has many challenges to deal with. One of them is that the consumers perceive owning a car as an expensive affair. In addition, it takes a lot of time

Agricola as Hope for a Troubled Empire Essay -- Tacitus Agricola Essay

Agricola as Hope for a Troubled Empire Tacitus’ Agricola, though it traverses a significant part of Rome’s conquest of Britain, is primarily about the man from whom the book takes it title. Tacitus used British conquest to show the reader Agricola’s many virtues, and he explained why Romans should strive to follow Agricola’s example. At the same time, however, Tacitus echoed Agricola’s virtues to Rome, which, before and during the writing of his book, endured several tyrannical emperors. Tacitus’ book, besides praising an individual, suggested hope for an improved future to many troubled Romans when the virtues of the empire had decayed, and freedom that they once loved had largely disappeared. Despite the mostly laudatory writing in Agricola, Tacitus began the book on a melancholy tone. He expressed anger over what he considered autocratic ruling of Rome, suggesting that it was a terrible political fault. â€Å"An outstanding personality can still triumph over that blind antipathy to virtue which is a defect of all states, small and great alike.† (p.51) Tacitus expressed the idea that any state would carelessly disregard the virtues it once held as important, and by implication of the context he wrote in, find itself in a state of degradation similar to Rome’s at the time. He was not exclusively negative in that statement, however. His believed that one highly virtuous person could in fact successfully counteract a state’s decline. Agricola, he revealed throughout the book, was a paradigm for that person. Tacitus considered Agricola virtuous because he exhibited many qualities that Romans traditionally valued. Perhaps the most important virtue discussed was humility, or, as Tac... ...asting Domitian’s tyranny with Agricola’s equity, and specifically that the former resulted in disunity while the latter resulted in cohesion. Tacitus stated at the beginning of Agricola that it â€Å"†¦sets out to honor my father-in-law Agricola.† (p.53) One can not deny that Tacitus was successful in that effort, but it is also clear that he offered Roman readers much more than an inspiring story about a great man. At a time when many citizens of Rome were subdued by Domitian’s threats to opposition, Tacitus wrote in remembrance of Rome’s greatness and the freedom that Romans had previously enjoyed; and he wrote to inspire hope that they would experience both again in the future when the empire improved. Agricola embodied the ideals of that hope, and his example, Tacitus pointed out in chapter 46, would live forever with Roman destiny and its nobility.

Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive theory is highly important in understanding the processes and elements that influence human learning. One perspective of Bandura’s theory is the innate capacity of human beings to be agents of change and human processes. With this in mind, Bandura presented some human internal and external factors that influence the process of being an agent of change. Social Cognitive theory, under the agentic perspective, relies on human intentions as a means to establish one’s connection to social structures based on three modes of agency: direct personal agency, proxy agency, and collective agency. These three modes of agency acknowledge the role of interdependence on how human beings will be able to manage human learning and processes that constitute life. Human agency necessitates the willingness and intentions of human beings to accomplish things through highly motivated thinking and actions. The results of an individuals’ thinking and actions under the perspective of human agency will assist individuals to undergo self-development and reconstruction in order for them to adapt to various life concerns. According to Bandura, human agency constitutes various core features: intentionality, forethought, self-reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness. Intentionality requires the willingness of human beings to do something in order to achieve desired results. Social functions give birth to desirable, mutual, and advantageous relationships if individuals are willing enough to become part of it. Collaborative activities, for instance, work out well if individuals take into account the desirable outcomes that might come out of it. Forethought complements intentionality, as it is concerned with looking and planning ahead. Bandura suggested that if forethoughts are motivating and desirable enough for individuals, then it will wield the intention of doing things that will eventually lead to its realization. For instance, an individual works with another for a cause but perceives that the relationship will be hostile and unproductive. His non-motivating view will not contribute to intentionality to invest time and effort to nurture the relationship. To continue, self-reactiveness talks about being able to motivate, but at the same time regulate oneself in terms of thinking and taking action. On the other hand, self-reflectiveness is established on the concept of introspection where one is able to evaluate actions and behaviors and determine how to fortify or change them. Aside from the core features of human agency, the three modes of agency influence the process of social cognition. Direct personal agency looks into the unswerving involvement of the individual to arrive at desired results. Intentionality, forethought, and self-reactiveness come into play to motivate individuals to influence the social structure. However, when individuals are unable to control it, they rely on proxy agency. The proxy agency constitutes other individuals or means to achieve the desired result, as the individual’s inability to influence the birth of the outcome is unperceived. Moreover, when direct personal agency and proxy agency do not seem to accomplish desired results within social structures, the collective agency gives off its value. The collective agency looks into the combined efforts to achieve goals and objectives. The collective agency relies on group functioning to harbor desired results. The nature of social structures is highly dependent on how individuals are able to perceive and establish it. At some points, social structures are reliant on the intentions, perceptions, and motivations of individuals to commit to actions and behaviors that will influence how these social structures will be shaped. Aside from the internal influences that might bear weight on the nature of social structures, modes of agencies will also affect how the process will be accomplished. Establishing social structures, under the three modes of agency, will depend on the direct influence of an individual, the dominance of other individuals and means to accomplish results, and the efficiency of group functioning to realize social structural goals and objectives.

Fashion Creations of Christian Lacroix - 1465 Words

â€Å"For me, elegance is not to pass unnoticed but to get to the very soul of what one is.† –Christian Lacroix The creations of fashion designer, Christian Lacroix, are the epitome of the perfect spontaneous combinations of what he truly embodies. Inspiration for these comes from his southern France roots, his passion for the Provence traditions and customs, and his continuing fascination with the history of clothing. Lacroix’s artfully unexpected mixtures express a new form of luxury, simultaneously playful, baroque, and sophisticated. He intertwines bright colors and over the top materials in creations that express a distinct blending of varying cultures. These cultures, and their distant or forgotten costumes, form the basis of the†¦show more content†¦The Christian Lacroix house was inaugurated in 1987 in the city of Paris. On July 26, 1987 Lacroix showed his first collection (introducing the â€Å"pouf† skirt, known as a milestone in fashion history for its inventiveness) under his very own name, and that year the Council of Fashion Designers of America awarded him, â€Å"Most Influential Foreign Designer.† He was referred to as the â€Å"Messiah†, by a French magazine, and even Time featured him on the cover. In 1988, he received his second Golden Thimble, and debuted his first Ready-to-Wear collection. In 1989, Christian Lacroix introduced his first line of accessories including jewelry, handbags, shoes, glasses, scarves, and ties. Also, during this year he celebrated the opening of boutiques in Paris, Arles, Aix-en-Provence, Toulouse, London, Geneva, and Japan. In 1994, he created the â€Å"Bazar† line, a collection based more on folklore and historical time periods than his Ready-to-Wear and Haute Couture lines. In 1995, Lacroix launched the CL Linen and Towel Collection in the spirit of which he believes, â€Å"that fashion and lifestyle are two sides of the same coin.† In 1996, he cre ated his Jeans line. This collection embraces the past, present, and future and was inspired mainly by popular and ethnic art and tradition throughout the world. The fact thatShow MoreRelatedInternational Marketing - Dior Addict4819 Words   |  20 PagesDior Addict Content Introduction FRANCE I. Marketing analysis p 4 A. PESTL p 4 B. Opportunity / Threat p 4 C. Strengths / Weaknesses p 5 D. Segmentation p 5 II. Communication analysis p 5 A. Christian Dior`s image p 5 B. Mode of communication p 6 1. Basic offer p 6 a. FAB terminology p 6 2. Persuasive communication p 6 a. Target description p 6 b. Process of message transfer p 6 c. 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