Information Technology Applications in Marketing Research Paper

Information Technology Applications in Marketing - Research Paper Example Gradually, in the month of March, 2010 the developers were provided with a monetary value of US$500,000 for developing the service. It was in this year that Josh Riedel joined the company, developing the first version of the program in January, 2011. He added hash tag providing the facility to discover and find each picture. It was in the same year that the company had also collected an amount of US$7 million valuing it at around US$25 million. It was in April, 2012 that the first version of Instagram was released. However, it was viewed that due to a lack of employees and funds to improve Instagram, the service was sold at US$1 billion to Facebook in cash and in stock (Geron, 2012; Hui, 2012). Reason for Growth/Decline The current features of Instagram can be considered to be the primary reason behind its rapid growth. Instagram is amongst those apps that provides seamless social integration to well-known social networking sites such as Facebook, Tweeter, Flickr and Tumbler. The sim ple interface can also be determined as another prime reason behind the success of the social service. Though there are numerous photo sharing apps available however Instagram is simple and it also provides digital edit options which make it separate from others. It is worth mentioning that though Instagram offers the facility of sharing photos or video taken in other social websites, users can also share their photos on it which makes it a social network platform on its own (Stratmann, 2011; Sengupta et al., 2012). Future The future of a social networking site directly relies on the way innovation is made in it. In this context, it has been viewed that Instagram has been a... This essay stresses that Instagram is recognized to be amongst those social network based services that has flourished within a short period of time. Firstly, it is believed that the business model of the Instagram is comparatively simpler than any other form of social app available in the market. Instagram aims at providing a user-friendly experience to its users by adapting innovative ways or features. Secondly, Instagram can be used as a live coverage tool which provides an opportunity for any user to keep updated of the places where they are at. It is worth mentioning that Instagram also aims at improving it series of functionalities with the growing demand of its users and marketers. Marketers can use Instgarm to share the images or videos of their offered products or services to create significant consumer awareness which in turn can enable them to draw a diverse range of consumers. This report makes a conlusion that the social media vehicle i.e. Instagram has been in continuous discussion amid different social networking gurus since its launch for public use. It has been viewed that Instagram has largely been able to attract a huge extent of user base because of its simplicity and uniqueness. With reference to the above stated discussion, it can be affirmed that though Instagram is considerably new in the social networking market however if it keeps on following its innovative ways of making new changes in the app, this social media vehicle would be able to maintain its eminent position.

Reserch paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reserch paper - Essay Example Obesity rates have doubled in the past two decades. There are several health risks that are associated with obesity such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of obesity in the US and in other countries can be attributed to the unhealthy eating habits of the generation today. People today are faced with two options, eat healthy or eat junk. The choice to eat healthy or junk starts from having to know what exactly is healthy food and what is junk food. Health and nutrition experts say that junk food is bad and healthy food is good. For non-nutritionists, junk foods are chips, processed foods, hamburgers, pizzas, French fries, doughnuts, sodas and candies (Unp.me). These are food that are very high in calories and loaded with unwanted fat (Unp.me). On the other hand, healthy foods are fruits, vegetables, and lean meat (Unp.me). So, how does one know the difference? The major difference between junk food and healthy food is the nutrient content. Junk food is referred to as â€Å"foods of minimal nutritional value† because they go through several processes, with high sugar, sodium and artificical additives content. Because of too much processing, which includes excessive heat and exposure to air, the food nutrients are lost. There are approximately 4000 artificial additives that may be found in different types of junk food. Additives may be artificial sweeteners and colors, preservatives and chemically-altered fake fats. Some of these additives have side effects while others are not yet fully-tested. Unlike healthy food, junk food does not help build one’s stamina. Junk food may give one the feeling of instant energy but in reality, an overdose of junk food results in a deficiency in energy (Unp.me). Eating junk food is disadvantageous to an individual because it leads to poor concentration unlike healthy food, which sharpens one’s concentration skills (Unp.me). A high cholesterol level is an end result of consum ing too much junk food. On the contrary, healthy food helps maintain the blood cholesterol level (Unp.me). Compared to healthy food, junk food is usually cheaper than healthy food. The reason behind this is because junk food is mass-produced, has a lot of preservatives & it can be stored for a longer period of time. Furthermore, the ingredients used in junk food may come from low quality food sources which are cheap. Healthy food is nutrient-rich and helps in preventing diseases. It should have a high fiber content, minimal added sugars, zero or low in saturated and trans fat and low in sodium. Pasta or bread, to be considered healthy should be composed of whole grain instead of refined wheat flour. When it comes to sugar in food, sugar in fresh fruit is always a better alternative than refined sugar or artificial sweeteners. Healthy food should be low in sodium; thus, eating canned or packaged food such as deli meats, soups, hotdogs and chips is equivalent to eating junk food. With regards to fat, healthy food should contain monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats that one can get from nuts, seeds and some fruits such as avocado. One category of healthy foods is organic food. Organic fruits and vegetables are those that did not use synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, and did not originate from other genetically modified seeds. These types of food are considered healthy food because less chemicals go into it; thus, less chemicals will also be absorbed by the body. Organic foods are therefore regarded as

Week2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Week2 - Essay Example diary or separate company is the most appropriate strategy as opposed to a branch because the mother company can transfer financial assistance to the separate company from a foreign financial institution in form of grant loans, which is not possible when labelled as branch office. Besides, the separate subsidiary would be able to return the financial favour in form of dividend or loyalty hence minimizing tax obligations(Barney, 2008; PWC, 2008). The IRS has their own strategies of detecting whether a corporation is remitting appropriate amount of tax either through office or field examination. The filed examiners would visit the business strategy and determine the amount of tax payable. During such visits, they conduct auditing interviews and running tax reports(Barney, 2008; PWC, 2008). If the addition tax is found, the team will inform the corporation and require them to sign the tax report. However, the corporation may decide to decline signing until they go through the report and verify the details. The tax policy is not prohibiting foreign investment but rather enhancing transparency in financial dealing. The USA tax policy especially on the transfers, states that every exchange of property must be subjected to taxation under the section 351 and 361(Barney, 2008; PWC, 2008). The corporations are required to declare in the form what details of the property is

Organizational stakeholders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Organizational stakeholders - Essay Example The external are those outside the organization but still has interest in the organization such as the regulatory agencies and the general public. It is important to understand the role of stakeholders so that the company can act responsibly to its various stakeholders. This understanding of the interest of the various stakeholders in the company can serve as a guide for the company as it craft its strategy and executes its operations making sure that these strategies and corporate acts are consistent with the interest of the various stakeholders of the company. The internal stakeholders have a direct interest in the success of the company but it must be balanced with the interest of the external stakeholders. Minding the interest of internal stakeholders alone may make the company short sighted in its pursuit of satisfying the interest of profit of its internal stakeholders. It should be balanced with the interest of the external shareholders to ensure the long term going concern of the company as it balances its interest for profit with social responsibility. "Understanding Organizational Stakeholders for Design Success."Â  Boxes and Arrows Understanding Organizational Stakeholders for Design Success Comments. 6 May 2004. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.

Strategic use of Design-Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic use of Design-Thinking - Essay Example Design thinking is quickly emerging as the best method for strategizing on developing the future of a business or an organization and is gradually replacing the scientific method or analytical thinking or as a strategic method (Jones, 2008). Strategic design thinking as a method is emerging as one of the most influential techniques in the management and design of several programs that are geared towards improving the management operations. It is one of the most powerful tools for transforming the current operations of an organizations and creating strategies for future improvements in designs, programs, projects and business operations (Jones, 2008). Design thinking is solution focused or solution based and aims at producing practical and creative resolutions to emerging problems and improving future results of the organization’s operations (Kelly, 2006). Strategic design thinking starts with the goals or the objectives as opposed to starting with the problems. By focusing on both the present and the future aspects of the problem, all parameters of the issues at hand are explores simultaneously. Strategic design thin king mostly occurs in artificial or in the built environments such as in the artefact industry. The concept of design thinking is however also very important in management of large corporations that seek to maintain their market share and create new designs if their products as a way of maintain and attracting more customers as the companies move in to the future. One company that has benefited a great deal over the years from strategic design thinking is Apple Inc. Apple Inc is one of the leading multinationa ls in the technology industry, known for its computer brands such as Macintosh Computers or simply the Mac and mobile phone brands including the iPhone among a host of other technological brands (Fisher, 2008). Apple is the second largest technology firm in the world by revenue and is the world’s third largest manufacturer of mobile phones (Fisher, 2008). This places the company among the biggest firms in the world of technology amid immense competition from other established multinationals in the industry. In 2012, Apple was ranked by Fortune magazine as the most valuable brand in the world today (Fisher, 2008). The company’s position in the market requires a lot of innovation as it moves forward in to the future. The company has to keep producing the best designs for mobile phones and computers as well as coming up with other creative solutions that will keep the company alive in to the futur

Facebook wastes time Essay Example for Free

Facebook wastes time Essay I believe that facebook is bad. In this essay I will tell that Facebook wastes time, occupies the hosts mind and is not, no matter what people say is not the same as actual social interaction. Facebook is not my friend and neither should it be yours, My first reason why facebook is not my friend is because that it wastes everybody time. Now my argument is just armed at facebook, but also the people who make facebook games, Zynga is a major corporation that owns any and all good facebook is games. Facebook itself almost makes you check it, making you wonder what your friends are up to, the idea of a public diary almost, something that anybody can contribute to, a encyclopaedia of a persons life if you will. You could spend minuets, an hour maybe hours at a time just staring at a page when you could be doing something more important, maths homework perhaps? My second argument is that it occupies the hosts mind and doesn’t let anything else in. What I mean by this is that facebook is what some people always think about, they think how many likes they get, what people say about them through private messages and most importantly for some people, how many friends they have. There has been a term for people like these, facebook aholics, people that are always on facebook or worse, people who always think about facebook. There are times that I know that people lose their social life for a virtual life, people stop planning meetings and instead plan them on facebook, the days of not too long ago of RSVP’ing is no lost as almost every event is through facebook and that’s how people respond to them. Free thinking is gone, it is no more, everything on the internet is a reblog, a reblog of a reblog, and all of this is shared through facebook, people think what they are told, and they are told though facebook, nothing new nothi ng original. My last argument is that instant messaging through facebook is not the same as actual social interaction, face to face. The chat system on facebook is the most used one on facebook, pages, walls, games are all good and everything, but what really makes facebook great is the chat system on it, or so we think. There are 26 letters on the keyboard, 10 numbers, 13 symbols, and yet unbelievably this does not make the same level of interaction as talking to someone. When was the last time a person came up to you in the street, someone you know, and they said Heezzz howssss you doings if you can tell me a time of when that happened I would suggest finding some new friends. While people may express themselves differently from behind a computer screen I still find no excuse for people to talk likez thiss it makes them seem like an even bigger idiot then they are. People cloud their identity, pretend to be something or someone they arent, and that makes the entire socialisation, well pointless . Those are just some reasons you shouldnt use facebook, facebook is horrible, nobody should use it, it wastes time, fills your mind with nothing but junk and is far more unhealthy socially then going out and talking. Facebook is not my friend, neither is it yours, take a stand, unfriend facebook.

The World without Us by Alan Wiesman Essay Example for Free

The World without Us by Alan Wiesman Essay In Alan Wiesman’s book, The World Without Us, it is centered on the idea of what would happen to the world if only humankind were to disappear off the face of the earth. The purpose of this essay is to show how humankind are causing a modern world crisis, specifically focusing on plastic and how its ability to not decompose in the environment is having a negative effect on the wildlife as well as how humans are killing off many birds and bird species each year due to their careless human errors. Weisman through much research comes up with an estimated time of how long it will take the earth to recover from these human mishaps before the world can repair itself to how it was before humans controlled it. The Bialowieza Puszcza, puszcza being the Polish word for â€Å"forest primeval†, spreads between the borders of Poland and Belarus and stretches over half a million acres. In the 14th centaury, Wladyslaw jagiello, declared the forest a royal hunting reserve until many centuries later Russia dominated the Polish- Lithuanian union and proclaimed the Bialowieza as that of the tsars. The forest survived through World War 1 and in 1921 it was declared a Polish national park. Although this forest was supposedly protected there has been damage done to this primeval forest as forest ministries in Poland and Bulgaria have allowed management to cull and sell the mature hardwoods that would have become nutrients and a windshield for the forest. It is believed that before humans build their entire infrastructure and dominated the forest, the whole of Europe would have looked like the Bialowieza Puszcza. Andrezej Bobiec, a forestry student in Krakow, discovered the biodiversity in this forest was ten times more than any other forest. This forest is home to all nine species of the European woodpecker, which is not evident any other European forest, this forest is also home to the wisents, a specie which is nearly extinct, with only 600 in the world, most in this particular forest. This primeval forest is evidence of what Europe would look like without any human influence. It shows how human influence on other European forests have killed many species, driving them from their homes in order for humans to cut down the forest and use it for their own benefit without the consideration of the other species both animals and plants. It is estimated that Europe would need 500 years before a true forest would grow back and once again dominate most of Europe’s vegetation. Weisman uses the Bialowieza forest as an illustration of what part of the world, specifically Europe would look like without any human influence. This forest is seen as the lingering scent of Eden showing how it is seen as a primeval forest. Richard Thompson, studied at the University of Plymouth to become a marine biologist, in the 1980’s he would spend his time organizing the Liverpool contingent of Great Britain’s national beach cleanup whereby his 170 teammates would collect metric tons of rubbish along 85 miles of shoreline. Thompson started to realize over the accumulating years that the trash collected was becoming smaller amongst the usual bottles and tires. Thompson and another student would collect these and examine them under a microscope but they were usually to small to determined what source they came from. Once he had complete his Ph.D, Thompson started to compare this unknown matter to the database of known material using a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer, this device allowed for microbeams to be passed through a substance once this is completed the device compared its infrared spectrum to the database. Thompson found small material waste to be nurdles, these two-millimeter high plastic cylinders come in an array of colours and known to be â€Å"raw materials of plastic production† that are melted down to manufacture many plastics products. In the early 20th century, Alister Hardy the marine biologist of Plymouth, took many samples around the British Isles but only every second one was examined and the remaining samples were stored in a climate-controlled warehouse which decades later were discovered by Thompson who examined the samples. He found that during World War II plastic barely existed and was only evident in telephones and radio applications. In the 1960’s there was an increasing number of plastic particles and by the 1990’s, triple the amount of particles were present than three decades earlier. The evidence from these samples shows that the amount of â€Å"acrylic, polyester, and crumbs of synthetic polymers† in the water are increasing at a rapid rate and most of human kind are not even noticing. These small little plastic pieces mainly float and according to Hardy’s plankton recorder they are being caught about 10 meters below surface. Nurdles are now becoming smaller and smaller because of the friction from both the waves and rocks and therefore are being taken by global sea currents. The problem with these nurdles becoming smaller is that they are still not degrading and there is no sign of them ever being able to degrade. Plastic is very dangerous, once animals swallow it through mistaking it for edible food, the plastic causes a blockage in animals intestines and therefore causes constipation and later resulting in death. Animals also are strangled and caught up in fishing line, nets and polyethylene rings from six-pack drinks. Animals such as sea otters, gulls, sea turtles and fish are all prone to these fatal accidents. Ph.D student Mark Browne also discovered that in beauty products that contain exfoliants such as hand and body washes, body scrubs and face washers that do not contain 100% natural exfoliants are actually using polyethylene in a micro or bead form. These little plastic sizes can also be traces in paint and once they are disposed of and sent through the sewage system they will inevitably land up in the sea allowing for little sea creatures to swallow these bite size plastic portions which, does not have a positive effect. At the marine plastic summit, a senior research scientist at North Carolina’s Research Triangle, Dr. Anthony Andrady produced a long term prognosis compiling a 800 page tome on Plastic in the Environment. Andrady spoke of photodegrade when â€Å"ultraviolet solar radiation weakens plastics’s tensile strength by breaking its long, chain-like polymer molecules into shorter segments.† This means that because the strength of plastic lies in its length of polymer chains, the UV rays of the sun are causing these to break and therefore plastic starts to decompose. Problems that this theory face is that because most of the plastic waste is found in the ocean and water it takes the process of photodegrade much longer as well as its chemical nature will like wise be around for hundreds and thousands of years. Plastic is not having a positive effect on the environment mainly because it cannot decompose. In Weisman’s book he explains how nurdles, which are used to manufacture all plastic products, are being broken down in the sea but are not completely decomposing. This means that these little plastic pieces are being eaten and are causing blockage in sea creature’s intestines resulting in their death. It is not only nurdles but also fishing line, nets, toys and plastic bottles that are suffocating and trapping animals. Some human products mainly used for beauty are also harmful to animals in the environment as they contain small plastic exfoliants within the product that eventually find their way into the sea also causing harm for the sea creatures. Human’s need to find a better and safer way to get rid of their plastic waste so not to damage the environment. If humans were to disappear off the planet completely, plastic would probably still be evident in the world for hundreds of thousands of years before they may decompose due to photodegrade. Weisman also looks at the effects humans are having on the life of birds and how they are slowly causing them to become extinct. â€Å"Of more than 10 000 species that have coexisted with us†¦ about 300 have disappeared.† Of these 300, birds including the moas which were eliminated by the Polynesians within in two centuries of discovery, the dodo which in a hundred years was killed and eaten by the Dutch settles and sailors passing by, the great auk by hunters, the moa-nalo and the passenger pigeon in America. In the 20th century the passenger pigeon could have been classified as the â€Å"most abundant bird on Earth† but humans carelessly lead to their extinction. First humans cut off most of their food supply and destroyed their homes by cutting down most of the forests on the eastern plains of the USA. Because the forests were now being cut down, it made the birds easier prey as they were now spotted faster and more were being shot in a shorter period of time. Once humans realized what they were doing to the bird population, it only increased their need to kill the birds and by 1900 only a few were left surviving, mostly living in the Cincinnati zoo but due to the lack of care the last bird in 1914, leaving the passenger pigeon extinct. The passenger pigeon is a good example of how humans are carelessly allowing animals to become extinct through their own human actions, which can be controlled by law restrictions on hunting and killing. Radio-transmission towers are a huge treat to the different bird species because of their red blinking lights, which are used to warn aircrafts of their position. In Syracuse, Kansas in 1998, a snowstorm occurred at night and because of the fog the only visible thing to the Lapland longspurs was the red blinking lights from the radio-transmission tower which resulted in 10 000 birds lying dead, frozen on the ground. Not only are radio-transmission towers a problem but so are cell phone towers, which result in over half a billion of birds being killed each year. Birds that migrate and travel at night are most prone to the danger of these towers, birds from North America like the red-eyes vireos, Tennessee warbler and wood thrushes and those more rare like the red-cockaded woodpecker are at most risk. Another problem occurring for birds is the telephone and electricity lines. Most birds die from just simply colliding with these power lines resulting in a high amount of deaths each year. If a bird is perched on a power line it is safe as long as they do not circuit themselves with another line or the ground but birds such as hawks, eagles and herons have a problem as they can span across more than two lines. If a bird were to connect the circuit between 2 or more lines not only would their feather ignite but it is possible for their beaks and feet to melt as well. 60 to 80 million birds annually are reportedly killed from flying into windshields and windows. Muhlenberg College ornithologist, Daniel Klem, explains how birds do not recognize both clear glass and reflective pane windows as objects. Migrating bird are forever flying into high-rise buildings and breaking their necks. Klem worked out that over 1 billion birds in the United States alone are killed from flying into windows. Windows are another example or how humans are irresponsibly killing off many bird species. Although humans are quickly killing off birds with their hunting and man made equipment such as towers, power lines and windows there is evidence that birds do repopulate and do come back even after disasters. Ukraine was home to Chernobyl, nearly one of the biggest nuclear complexes on Earth. In 1986, there was a huge explosion due to a human error and landscapes were destroyed and the environment was left birdless. Yet in the following spring the birds returned showing that life does go on and that although there are disasters the environment does attempt to repair itself. Although it is said to believe that humans are killing off billions and billions of bird species all around the world there is one bird, the Attwater prairie chicken, which is questionably only alive due to human impact on the environment. Oil industry apparatus and the arrival of both petroleum and the Chinese tallow tree (a â€Å"cold weather specie coated it seeds with harvestable quantities of wax to guard against winter†) has help keep the Attwater prairie chickens habitat alive. Due to the annual burning in the Nature Conservancy, humans are maintaining the artificial wilderness that these birds need to keep alive and to repopulate in. In the first year of humans disappearing billions of birds would flourish as radio and connection warning lights would cease to blink, the high-tension wires would go cold and birds would once again return to nuclear reactor sites. Humans are having a very negative impact on bird species through out the world and if they are not careful it will result in many more extinctions. Humankind are quickly emerging themselves in a world crisis. Through their plastic waste and carelessness they are causing major problems for mostly the sea wildlife as these nurdles and small plastic particles are being digested and blocking sea creatures intestines resulting in a fatal problem. Plastic, because it is not biodegradable, will be left in the world hundreds of thousands of years after humans disappear. Although there are few species that depend on humans for their survival like the Attwater prairie chicken, humans are having more of a negative impact on birds. Because of their careless hunting and human inventions such as towers, telephone and power lines and windows, billions of birds are dying each year. If humans were to disappear completely it would only take birds one year to flourish and populate over a billion birds more than the previous year. The world varies on how long it takes to eliminate the problems humans are leaving it but over many centuries the world will finally mend itself to look as if humans never existed.