Foreground, Middle Ground and Background. Winslow Homer compared to Essay

Foreground, Middle Ground and Background. Winslow Homer compared to Andrew Wyeth - Essay Example The grass in the foreground also suggests that the picture was drawn regarding to the dry spell or the harvest season in Chadds. Christina seems mesmerized by her rural setting, a suggestion of breeze stroking her loose features of hair as she stares in the direction of her home, totally fascinated. Besides, we can note the distinguished passive color palette in the foreground that helps us to differentiate the harvested grass and that which is yet to be harvested. Moreover, the different color used helps distinguish the clothes that Christina is wearing from the where she is crawling. The light sandwiched between the household and the barn is the brightest theme of the painting and Christina is leading her head upwards in the direction of it.   In the middle ground of the Christina world painting, we can note several different features from the foreground. The foreground contains a huge part occupied by dry grass fields. In addition, we can see a huge part of this grass field has been harvested exposing the Christians family home. There is also a path created by a car that is used to access Christians home. At the rear end of the middle ground, there is a fence that surrounds Christians home. In the background of the painting Christina’s World, we can see the the family home where she lives. The painting suggests that she might be living with her family since it shows a huge two storey family home with other structures surrounding it. Among the structures are two large separate houses and a small single structure built in the unharvested grass field. We can also see a huge section of Christian’s family home has a compound with harvested grass. From the picture, we can suggest that the economic activity in the Christian’s World was farming. Content, Style, Axis, Symmetry, and Asymmetry In Christina's World, Wyeth used subdued colors to convey the tranquility of being restricted to a country setting.  Andrew Wyeth’s works merged i nto his established and continuing style characterized by a passive color palette, convincing representations, and the illustration of emotionally charged, symbolic objects or people. Christina's World is based on a real life situation, which he encountered in Chadds, Ford area. This picture is a depiction of a victim of polio disease who tried to crawl up a hill. Christina looks as if fascinated by her rural background, a suggestion of just cuddling her movable filaments of hair as this woman stares en route to her home, entirely captivated. The perkiest part of the sky looks as if to gesture Christina like a blissful white light. A sole figure in the vast countryside, Christina is fairly susceptible to the harsh set up, but embraces it nevertheless to relish the attractiveness of the scene and her freedom. Andrew Wyeth’s, main passion of painting lay on the land and people around him. His works paintings were mainly based in his home town of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and a t his seasonal family home in Cushing, Maine.  His most popular painting was Christina's World, a 20th century art, currently preserved in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.   This painting portrays his neighbor, Christina Olson, rambling on a dry ground fronting her house. The countryside is in her world is generally dry and unproductive but has a suppleness to it which is bizarrely appealing. An else intimidating scene emits a sense of safety to the onlooker. The addition of a "crippled" young girl alters the background to to some degree obliging and approachable. This meant that Christina Olson had to

Employee and Customer satisfaction Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Employee and Customer satisfaction - Assignment Example In real sense, within the government, satisfied workers are individuals who the government could do better without them. Satisfaction of employees does cover the basic needs as well as concerns of employees. It happens to be a good point to start at, however, it typically stops short of what matters really (Susan, 2015). Inefficient HR department which does not place a right employee to do the right job as well as tracking the employees’ individual performance makes employees dissatisfied. The executives in HR department need to listen to the views of the department’s employees (MBA Lectures, 2011). Work pressure in the HR department could cause employee dissatisfaction. When the HR bosses mask the HR employees to finish many tasks within a stipulated time, it brings about work pressure on HR workers. The employees will develop some sort of aversion to the work (Rose, 2015). Employee educational background- where an employee lands on a job of distinct profession from his training then the employee will have to be dissatisfied with the work. This happens to be quite natural since the worker will not be able to match his/her preference for such job kind (MBA Lectures, 2011). Work politics within the HR department- as well as inability for an employee to fit in an office environment will definitely lead to dissatisfaction. It leads to reduced efficiency as well as productivity of an employee. Reduced salaries within an HR department will definitely make HR employees dissatisfied with their jobs. HR employees feel like they should be paid a suitable price for services they undertake. No one is willing to work for a trifling amount (MBA Lectures, 2011). Organization- when employees are dissatisfied their performance go down. This happens be a big blow to the organization in the sense low productivity leads to less profits as well as poor public welfare, not forgetting that these are the main goals for an

Relationship Between The Nation State And Global Market Economics Essay

Relationship Between The Nation State And Global Market Economics Essay This paper discusses the relationship between the nation state and the global market. Giddens Structuration theory is used to conceptualise nation states as agents and the global market as the structure. It is argued that nation states may shape the global market according to their vested interests and needs and that power plays an important role in this process. A strong and effective state is therefore better able to use the opportunities offered by global market. Globalisation and Developing CountriesThe term Globalisation has been widely used in literature in a number of contexts. It has been seen as the global integration of financial markets (Walker and Fox, 1999:2), interconnectedness of world economy (Neuland and Hough, 1999:1), trans-border movements of capital and goods (Gill, 2000:4) and breakdown of national borders (Redding, 1999:19). Braibant (2002) further includes the development of advanced means of communication, growing importance of multinational corporations, population migrations and increased mobility of persons, goods, capital, data, ideas, and even that of infections, diseases and pollution in the process of globalisation. One aspect that is common among these perspectives is the breakdown of borders between countries, governments, economies and communities that has given rise to the global markets that are not controlled (but may be influenced) by a single country. The use of the term globalisation for the purpose of th is paper is limited to that of trade, finance and investment. A variety of terms are used to differentiate between developed and developing countries (for example north/south and rich/poor etc.), however the literature has come a long way since the days of using the terms such as first world and third world countries. This paper will stick to the term developing countries, which is used to refer to a number of heterogeneous groups of countries. For example it may mean the rapidly growing economies in Asia, negative growth economies (in terms of GDP/capita) in Africa, middle income and very poor countries, small and large, landlocked and ocean access and heavily regulated and recently liberalised countries. This paper however, when referring to developing countries includes all low- and middle-income countries as defined by World Bank (2000). There is a growing body of literature on the affects of globalisation and the opportunities and problems it may cause to the developing countries. The developing countries are characterised by weak economic, legal and political institutions that lead to corruption, insecurity, conflict and lack of competitiveness in labour, technology and skills. The introduction of trade liberalisation and increased international competition in such conditions can have serious consequences for the infant industries in the developing countries (Stiglitz, 2000). However it is generally claimed that opening to the global markets increases the flow of foreign direct investment into the developing countries, allows them to catch up with the latest technology without need for considerable investment or research, bring capital into the country, build expertise, induce innovation, and thus contribute to the general economic growth. Francois and Schuknecht (2000) provide some empirical evidence that openness to global markets leads to GDP growth. These findings are of course challenged by others. The Hegemony of Global Market StructureIn the sizable amount of literature, a form of structuralism can be observed that views the relation between the global market and the nation state as a zero-sum game where the growth of globalisation is seen as increased shrinking of sovereign state. Last two decades of 20th century saw proliferation of the literature that predicted the eclipse, retreat, crisis and even the end of the nation states as a result of growing forces of globalisation. The main premise of these viewpoints is that the nation states have lost control over their territorial boundaries, national economies, currencies and even their cultures and languages as well and thus the macroscopic form of power has shifted from the nation-states to the global market represented by global institutions and multinational corporations (Barrow, 2005). For example Castells (1997:243) in his chapter named A powerless state? argues that State control over space and time is increasingly bypa ssed by global flows of capital, goods, services, technology, communication, and information. Similarly Hardt and Negri (2000:xi) in their book Empire claim that along with the global market and global circuits of production has emerged a global order, a new logic and structure of rule-in short, a new form of sovereignty. Empire is the political subject that effectively regulates these global exchanges, the sovereign power that governs the world. Similar view is held by Camilleri and Falk (1992:98) global processes and institutions are invading the national state and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [are] dismantling the conceptual and territorial boundaries that have traditionally sustained the theory and practice of state sovereignty. The authors concluded that the nation state little choice other than delegating their authority to international and supranational organisations. Hence, it may be a bit exaggerating that the globalisation is the only reason that has resulted into the degradation of s tate authority but it appears from the literature that it is seen by many as the central one (Evans, 1997). Various examples are given to support this point of view. The powers of World Trade Organisation (WTO) to enforce sanctions and punish individual countries are cited as one of the ways in which the global capitalist system coercively seeks conformity. It is argued that individual countries have little influence on the creation and enforcement of rules in the system and even on the level of their own integration into the world economy. A well cited example of this is the attempt of Indonesian government to protect its domestic automobile industry by providing facilities such as tax holidays, lower import duties for spare parts and very low interest loans. These actions and their positive effect on Indonesian automobile industry did not go well with the global automobile exporters who saw their market share potentially in danger. A case was therefore raised against the Indonesian government at the WTO where it was defeated and thus forced to either roll back the measures it had taken t o protect and promote one of its nascent industries or risk severe sanctions (Hartungi, 2006). Another adverse effect of growing power of global capitalist system is that the developing countries have to increasingly compete within each other to attract the FDI which is termed by some as a race to bottom (Chau and Kanbur, 2006). In order to prove them more attractive to the MNCs, developing countries are forced to deregulate hastily and keep the wages and taxes low. Any attempt by these countries to increase the minimum basic wage, labour safety standards or restrictions on capital may result in relocation of MNCs from the country. This exposes the work force to further exploitation in countries where union representation, legal protections and access to basic facilities such as health and education and any kind of social safety net is already limited. Labour exploitations therefore have been reported in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Kenya and the Dominican Republic where govern ment is forced to keep the wages low due to for example competition from countries like India and China where the garment giants Levi-Strauss and Gap have been considering to relocate due to availability of raw materials as well as packaged services such as cutting, sewing and packaging etc (Hartungi, 2006). Similarly developing countries are coerced into various agreements (such as Trade Related Agreements on Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS) under the auspices of WTO that are unreasonably costly for these countries to implement. It cost Mexico for example US$30 million to upgrade and enforce intellectual property laws (Finger and Schuler, 1999). Some developing countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Morocco and Cambodia are forced by the US government to enforce patent protection mechanisms for pharmaceuticals that go way beyond the standard TRIPS agreement and are known as TRIPS Plus. One of the many additional obligations forced on developing countries under TRIPS Plus is the extension of patent terms beyond the 20 years required by standard TRIPS agreement and used commonly by most countries in the world. The Almighty StateThis strand of literature focuses on the role of individual nation-states in enacting and reifying the global market structure. It views these as the principal agents of globalisation and the patrons of the political and material conditions required for its sustainability and influence. Its main premise is that the nation states are going through a transition in order to adjust to the new global political economy and balance the contradictory pressures of global requirements and national interests, hence there is considerable realignment taking place within the state apparatuses which many scholars incorrectly interpret as a decline of nation state. It is argued that without the intervention of the state, the existence and the reproduction of global capitalist market is not possible. The process of creation and strengthening of this system therefore requires active role of the nation states (Aglietta, 2000). However, the policies, attitude and institutions that are required to shape the capitalist structure of global scale take time to develop and thus the developing countries must manage the conflict between domestic and global interests until such institutions take root in the society (ibid.). This point of view is partly based on the work by Robert Cox (1987) published as a book titled Production, Power and World Order in which he challenged the notion that state is in decline and instead proposed the concept of internationalisation of the state. He argues that internationalisation of state is the conversion of state into an agency for adjusting national economic practices and policies to the perceived exigencies of the global economy. The state becomes a transmission belt from the global to the national economy, where heretofore it had acted as the bulwark defending domestic welfare from external disturbances. (Cox, 1987:254) Similar views have been expressed by Panitch (1993) who believes that far from witnessing a by-passing of the state by a global capitalism, what we see are very active states and highly politicised sets of capitalist classes (p63). He adds that the global capitalist structure as it stands today has been authored by the states and it has primarily rearranged rather than by passed states. The level of influence that individual states have on global markets may be different but ultimately the imperial economic and political relationships are not organised by the multinational and transnational firms, but by a system of states that have unequal influence across the globe. Aglietta (2000) therefore defines imperialism as a system of hegemony through which states are coerced by other state/s to adopt a set of rules that favour the stability of global system that may be inclined heavily towards promoting the benefits of stronger states. Thus the current form of globalisation has been constituted by a number of states with uneven inter-state relations and strengths. The role of states strength/power in benefiting from the global capitalist system is substantiated empirically by the work of Weiss (2005) by examining the evidence from Japan and East Asian NICs (Newly Industrialised Countries). The author concluded that the states with strong hold over the socio-economic goal setting and strong relationship with domestic audience were better able to adapt to the process of globalisation and crucially, were also better able to promote the internationalisation strategies of their corporations. Thus the differences between the states capacity (strength) directly affect its ability to exploit the opportunities of international economic change.

A Paper on Euthanasia

The term ‘euthanasia’ according to the 2007 guidelines on euthanasia published by the American Veterinary Medical Association is derived from the Greek term eu meaning good and thanato meaning death, combining the two Greek words, euthanasia means good death.However, the definition was applied to animal with the concept that if animals life is to be taken, it should be done with the highest degree of respect and with an emphasis on making death as pain less and distress free as possible.For some patients who had been suffering from illness and had bed ridden for a long period of time, death is better than to live having that kind of situation.Some even prayed that God take their lives, as they are themselves tired of their condition so they beg that they had better be dead. I would say that euthanasia is humane act as death is inevitable for everyone. Those who are suffering extreme pain or are brain dead with hopeless chance of survival must be given option be they wish ed to die. Euthanasia or painless death should be an option for the patient with terminal illness as part of their last will.Generally Euthanasia is the deliberate killing by act of omission of the immediate family member being for the patient alleged benefit. Voluntary euthanasia however means that the person has requested to be killed; physician assisted euthanasia is when doctor assisted the patient to kill him or herself.This subject is a good topic because it is a real ethical issue that the society is facing. Based on the recent development on the study of euthanasia, American doctors find it a competent way of easing a patient of the pain and struggle caused by his or her terminal illness. Ian Dowbiggin pointed out that with diagnosis and prognosis more accurate; physicians were able to with fair probability whether a patient was unlikely to recover (p. 5). Thus, according to Dowbiggin doctors â€Å"could now propose active euthanasia† particularly on patients with hop eless chance of recovery.EvaluationEveryone will surely die but the manner by which death comes differs and at a different age. Euthanasia is truly a good death because patients are first given relief from pain before administering a lethal dose of morphine or chloroform that would allow a painless death of the patient.It is quite common that despite of the modern life saving technology many people are extremely suffering from terminal illness, in which the only thing that technology can do is to prolong the patient’s life, which eventually will also end in death. I believed that the quality of death by euthanasia is one that is with dignity, as the patient’s remaining life was treated with highest degree of respect by emphasizing on painless death.Prolonging the sufferings of patient from terminal illness reduces the quality and dignity of his life and increases the level of the patient’s suffering. In the words of Shai Joshua Lavi, the purpose euthanasia socie ty was to â€Å"relieve needless human suffering† (p. 120) Citing the ESA (Euthanasia society of America) statement, Lavi stated that euthanasia is the lawful termination of human life by painless means for the purpose of avoiding unnecessary suffering under adequate safeguard.However, regardless of the quality of death by euthanasia, it remains morally a criminal act to take someone’s life. Euthanasia is humanistic argument, which view life based on secular perspective. Life is sacred and God has the right to take it back, and euthanasia is not an excuse to escape the consequence of humanity’s sin that made human body vulnerable to disease.Comparing the good and the bad side, the effectiveness and ineffectiveness, its best and its worst, the competency and in competency, and its success and unsuccessfulness, Euthanasia has been widely thought to have bad impact on society rather than good.The proponents of those who favor euthanasia emphasized that it good for terminally ill patient while the greater majority claims euthanasia is a crime on human life. Thus, efforts by proponents of euthanasia were mostly unsuccessful than success.During the earlier period prior to World War I, Dowbiggin noted that many people supports doctors administering euthanasia on terminally ill patient. Perhaps euthanasia’s best were widely recognized than its worst, however with improve technology this has been reversed. In most comparison, today’s generation oppose euthanasia, and cast their opinion against it.Evaluative ClaimLooking at the positive and negative aspect of I would say that euthanasia is a better option not only for the patient but also for the love ones who are directly affected by the circumstances surrounding the patient’s illness. With out congress-enacted law on euthanasia, it will remain an ethical debate whether or not it will be allowed. However, based on reality of the situation of terminally ill patient, Euthanasia i s a competent option for the benefit of the patient who wished for it.The criteria on which euthanasia has to be administered have been quite clear. Patients with terminal illness and whose chance of survival is hopeless, is suffering from extreme pain, and is begging for his or her death are qualified applicant. According to Derek Humphry, the quality of life is vital and if the body is destroyed by disease that is not worth living (p. 90). Humphry noted that it is an intensely individual decision which should not be thwarted† (p. 90)Evidence that the subject meet the criteria is that those that had assessed or had performed euthanasia in all parts of the world that had been convicted was either paroled, or released. Humphry pointed out that in some strongest places; tolerance for euthanasia appears (p. 4) Evidence suggest that the lack of specific laws of many countries regarding euthanasia, means it meets the criteria.Work CitedDowbiggin, Ian. A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement USA: Oxford University Press, 2003Humphry, Derek. The Good Euthanasia Guide 2004: Where, What, and Who in Choices in Dying. USA: Norris Lane Press, 2004.Lavi, Joshua Shai. A History of Euthanasia in the United States. USA: Princeton University Press, 2005.AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasiahttp://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf   June 2007.   

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 6 - a Quick Introduction

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 6 - a Quick Introduction Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 6 Write about the way in which the conflict felt to you and what happened as a consequence of it. Choosing from a period of life and a specific situation, it's well worth choosing the latter to continue to keep your story brief and clear. Now that the story was born in raw form, students can start to shape it. Writing stories about the important relationships in their lives can be an additional great way for students to create ideas. Students lead busy lives and frequently forget about an approaching deadline. Some students utilize the very first idea which arrives in their head and work on it, but the outcome isn't profitable. Every student demands help with homework from time to time. Therefore, many students and employees decide to purchase cheap essay rather than writing it themselves. The Benefits of Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 6 Try us today and you may be confident that you'll get just what you need at the cheapest price. If you're thinking that you will need a person to compose my essay at this time, you can merely rely on our honest reviews. There's no need to discover extraordinary stories to compose a narrative essay that's interesting to read. After you inform us about all of the paper information, we'll begin searching for an acceptable writer for your paper. If you're tasked with writing a descriptive essay there are lots of things you can write about. Therefore, to write a great essay you've got to brainstorm all thoughts concerning your life experiences. Let's look at some narrative essay topics in every single category that will help you tell your very own riveting story! Editing a Narrative Essay It become vital for all of the writers to take a look at their essays so they can rectify all the mistakes in it. If you discover that the writer did not provide precisely what you expected, request a revision, and we'll make the corrections. More important is to select an essay topic that you're going to be interested in writing with passion. It's difficult to pick just a single topic whenever there are so many you could write about. Academic papers can't contain any signals of plagiarism. Narrative essays serve a wide range of purposes. If that's the case, then you need to try out writing narrative essays. Writing an excellent narrative essay is dependent mostly on the subject you chose. Whenever you choose to ask us for expert guidance, don't hesitate to get in touch with our support managers. When you have to choose a topic to write about, it can be a bit difficult because the majority of people can't really consider something they think is interesting enough to write about. To make certain you will locate a complete answer to every question, we've got a support team that's always online. Someone becomes essential wisdom and experience there. The cost of an essay is dependent upon the quantity of effort the writer has to exert. Picking the proper topic may be true problem, but we are here in order to get you inspired. It's extremely important to read carefully essay services reviews, because you wish to prevent low excellent services. Bear in mind, however, that convincing your intended audience about something which you don't know for sure really isn't the perfect way to compose your paper. Describe a conversation with somebody you love and why the conversation was meaningful to you, together with how it impacted the remainder of your relationship. Concentrate on the toughest areas of the interview and why you wanted so badly to find the job. Describe the story of the final instance you can remember doing that. Write a story about spending time with somebody who's essential in your life. Write an essay about an important relationship you've got with a person in your loved ones, focusing on one specific story about that individual and the time you've spent together. For some, it can be the very first time they've been away from family for a protracted period. It is possible to write about the relationship with your loved ones, for example. The True Meaning of Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 6 Longer books like the Harry Potter series would be finished within a couple of days. It's also advisable to describe what the story shows about your loved ones, your values, and what exactly you share with one another. The story is usually from an individual's perspective and is also usually utilized to create a point. Write a story concerning this. The average qualities of a story are used. Make sure you understand the important questions of your topic to concentrate on the most crucial moments. Well-written narratives figure out ways to involve the reader rather than simply retelling the events. You don't need to decide on a wide topic with lots of of characters.

Diversity in the Workplace and the Opposites of the Advantages Free Essay Example, 3000 words

Human resource management is a complex task and diversity makes it even more complex (Nelarine, 2002). As this study will explain, there are various ethical and legal issues that are tied to human resources management. The study mainly focuses on the hospitality industry as both a reference point and a special object of study. Further, a case study on Cityside Financial Services has been conducted to derive a real-life experience on ethical and legal issues in talent management. Diversity in the workplace means the presence of differences of characters that for the staff (Nelarine, 2002). There are various advantages of these differences both at a personal level and at the institutional level. Some of the major advantages are as follows: Diversity promotes flexibility, in an organization s part, in undertakings such as marketing and innovation (Nelarine, 2002). For example, having people with different levels of experience and from different disciplines provides options when the org anization requires representation beyond its market boundaries and/or introduction of a new procedure (Nelarine, 2002). Similarly, a delegation of different problems and consultations are made internally and therefore the company becomes self-sustaining. We will write a custom essay sample on Diversity in the Workplace and the Opposites of the Advantages or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page The resource management definitely seeks to derive a workforce that solves various solutions and seals every problematic loophole. Similarly, the overall performance of the management depends on the kind of workforce developed.

Coursework assingment Example

Essays on Coursework assingment Assignment Macroeconomic Analysis of GlaxoSmithKline plc. Brief Company Background GlaxoSmithKline plc (henceforth GSK) is a London-based, â€Å"science-led global healthcare company that researches and develops† products in three primary areas, namely Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare. For 2011, the company generates annual turnover of â‚ ¤27.4 billion, 68% of which was from Pharmaceuticals, 13% from Vaccines, and 19% from Consumer Healthcare. Pharmaceuticals makes available innovative, patent-protected medicines under established brand names. Its vaccines business is one of the largest in the world, and its consumer health products include over-the-counter medicines, oral healthcare and nutritional health care (GSK Form 20-F, 2011). Demand and supply factors that affect the sales and the profitability of GSK There are a number of demand and supply factors which impact of GSK sales. Primary among them is the successful development of patent-protected medicines to reach market stage. When the medicines address those diseases for which there is the greatest human need, in particular cancer, cardiovascular diseases and HIV/AIDS. Medicines account for up to 60% of increases in survival rates for cancer since 1975. Deaths due to cardiovascular diseases dropped 28% from 1997 to 2007, and the AIDS death rate has fallen 75% since 1995 (PhRMA, 2011). From 2006 to 2010, investment in personalized medicine (PM) grew by 73%, and investment in PM is expected to grow further by another 53% (see figure following). Source: 2011 Profile, Pharmaceutical Industry, p. 2 That demand exists is apparent, and there is little threat on the supply side for patented-protected medicines. Patents last for 20 years, after which the protection is lifted and a new supply factor is added – that of the generic drug producers, who do not undertake research on their own but manufacture those drugs no longer under patent. At this juncture, prices for drugs suddenly drop, and if the high cost of RD has not been recovered by then, the company loses. Market structure of the global pharmaceutical industry The structure of the market is determined by the market players; data for GSK’s direct competitors are shown in the table below (Source of the market data are from Reuters, through YahooFinance.com.) Direct Competitor Comparison    GSK MRK NVS PFE Industry Market Cap: 112.98B 123.27B 132.77B 169.31B 1.40B Employees: 97,389 86,000 124,000 102,500 1.70K Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy): 0.01 0.01 -0.02 -0.07 0.11 Revenue (ttm): 42.91B 48.20B 59.07B 66.33B 2.13B Gross Margin (ttm): 0.74 0.66 0.69 0.79 0.55 EBITDA (ttm): 15.57B 17.55B 17.05B 27.41B 124.00M Operating Margin (ttm): 0.31 0.22 0.21 0.29 0.12 Net Income (ttm): 7.91B 6.95B 8.65B 8.28B N/A EPS (ttm): 3.12 2.24 3.55 1.23 1.12 P/E (ttm): 14.59 18.09 15.46 18.34 15.32 PEG (5 yr expected): 2.01 2.71 2.61 4.20 0.92 P/S (ttm): 2.68 2.53 2.23 2.53 2.14    MRK = Merck Co. Inc. NVS = Novartis AG PFE = Pfizer Inc. Industry = Drug Manufacturers – Major *ttm – trailing twelve months, from 27 June 2012 While GSK lags behind in revenues and market capitalisation, it does have a comparatively strong net income, and exceeds its competitors in operating margin and earnings per share. This means that GSK is able to lower its operating costs and has more efficient cost management than its rivals. Because of greater operating efficiency, the company is more defensive and can better withstand fluctuations in inflation (Datamonitor, 2011). Furthermore, threats of business cycle volatilities due to the 20-year patent limit are reduced by GSK’s entry into the generic drug manufacturing, as shown in the following table against its competitors, led by Watson. Generic Drugmakers Ranked by Sales    Company Symbol Price Change Market Cap P/E Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. WPI 71.32 0.00 9.09B 33.52 Mylan, Inc. MYL 20.95 0.01 8.98B 16.22 Pfizer Inc. PFE 22.61 0.01 169.31B 18.34 Johnson Johnson JNJ 66.84 0.01 183.57B 18.33 GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK 45.54 -0.01 112.98B 14.59 Sanofi SNY 36.09 0.00 95.55B 12.19 Novartis AG NVS 54.81 0.01 132.77B 15.46 Roche Holding AG RHHBY 42.37 -0.00 143.63B 14.83 AstraZeneca PLC AZN 43.75 0.01 55.74B 6.71    Strategies the company can take to sustain operations in a profitable market environment GSK is faced with market contraction in developed countries due to the slow recovery from the economic recession. There is reduced demand from governments which have switched to generic drugs. Thus, the company should pursue the following strategies: 1. Enter into emerging markets. China, India, Argentina, and Southeast Asia have strong demand for pharmaceuticals, and opening production centres there may lower production costs (PhARMA, 2011, p.6). Furthermore, emerging markets were largely spared by the last crisis (Datamonitor, 2011). 2. Continue research and development into new pharmaceuticals and establish new patents. It takes 10-15 years from concept to market in biotechnology RD (p.2). The faster GSK can patent its new drugs, the more it can secure its future revenues. 3. Collaborate further with smaller research biotech companies to reduce research risk. Many small biotech companies lack capital to pursue their research; GSK can partner with them to supply the capital and eventually market the products, without having to shoulder the high costs of early RD (p. 10). Elasticity concepts that can influence the pricing strategy or competitiveness of GSK GSK’s products have particularly high price elasticity of demand, insofar as patented drugs are concerned because there are few substitutes, the drugs as of great necessity to their users, and therefore demand is not affected by increasing prices. After the patent life, however, price elasticity drops and generic drugs compete on lower prices. Income elasticity of demand is also high for patented drugs because reduction in customers’ income does not reduce quantity demanded as the drugs are necessary. Finally, price elasticity of supply is also high, because for each patented drug, the firm commands a monopoly and thus controls the price (Boldrin Levine, 2008). GSK’s efficiency in the use of its resources As earlier noted, GSK is able to realize a higher profit and higher earnings per share despite comparatively lower revenues than its competitors. It is able to rationalize its expenses throughout its pipeline by having newly developed drugs ready for market just as the patents of its former income-generating drugs mature (i.e., their patent expires). Furthermore, GSK’s leadership in the vaccine sector is capable of supporting its â€Å"aggressive moves to bolster its presence in key markets† (Datamonitor, 2011, p. 6). GSK’s supply chain relies on quality yet reasonably-priced suppliers; despite this, the high cost of basic research threatens the profitability of GSK, since only one in six drug candidates that enter clinic trials is approved by the FDA (PhARMA, 2011, p.10) . Therefore, the company makes strategic acquisition of small biotech companies with strong prospects, or enter into collaborative agreements with them, so that the risk of a failed basic research effort early in the RD of the drug will be shared. The resource efficiency of GSK also lies in its own RD process, wherein projects are systematically evaluated so that poor risks may be discontinued early, rather than carry them to completion only to determine that they fail clinical trials or the FDA review. This screening process is shown in the diagram on the next page. Projects are screened from one stage to the next, and the most promising are identified so that resources may be concentrated on them. Source: PhARMA, 2011, p. 12 References Boldrin, M Levine, D K 2008 Against Intellectual Monopoly. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Datamonitor 2011 GlaxoSmithKline plc Company Profile. Accessed from EBSCO. GlaxoSmithKline plc 2011 Annual Report for Shareholders. Accessed from GSK company website. GlaxoSmithKline plc 2011 Form 20-F, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, March 13, 2012. Accessed from GSK company website. PhRMA 2011 Profile of the Pharmaceutical Industry. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Washington D.C. Yahoo Finance 2012 GlaxoSmithKline. Accessed 27 June 2012 from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/co?s=GSK+Competitors