Pestle Factors Essay Example for Free

Pestle Factors Essay PESTEL analysis stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological, Environmental and Legal analysis. It is a part of the external analysis when conducting a strategic analysis or doing market research and gives a certain overview of the different macro-environmental factors that the company has to take into consideration. Political factors or how and to what degree a government intervenes in the economy. Specifically, political factors include areas such as tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions, tariffs, and political stability. Political factors may also include goods and services which the government wants to provide or be provided and those that the government does not want to be provided. Furthermore, governments have great influence on the health, education, and infrastructure of a nation. Economic factors Businesses need to make money to continue to exist. They do this by listening to customers to ensure they keep their customers and attract new ones with good services that customers want and need. It is extremely important for businesses to respond to changes in demand from customers. They include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate. These factors have major impacts on how businesses operate and make decisions. For example, interest rates affect a firms cost of capital and therefore to what extent a business grows and expands. Exchange rates affect the costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported goods in an economy. Social factors Society’s habits and tastes are changing. People are more aware of the importance of the environment and becoming ‘green consumers’. Green consumers prefer goods and services that are ‘environmentally-friendly’ and which have less impact on the environment. They include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Trends in social factors affect the demand for a companys products and how that company operates. For example, an ageing population may imply a smaller and less-willing workforce (thus increasing the cost of labor). Furthermore, companies may change various management strategies to adapt to these social trends (such as recruiting older workers). Technological factors Businesses are continually developing new technologies to provide the best solutions for the market place. Intelligent companies find out what the most appropriate technologies are for their businesses and use them. They include ecological and environmental aspects, such as RD activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. They can determine barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. Furthermore, technological shifts can affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation. Environmental factors include weather, climate, and climate change, which may especially affect industries such as tourism, farming, and insurance. Furthermore, growing awareness to climate change is affecting how companies operate and the products they offer-it is both creating new markets and diminishing or destroying existing ones. Legal factors Legal changes that affect business are closely tied up with political ones. Many changes in the law stem from government policy. They include discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law, and health and safety law. These factors can affect how a company operates, its costs, and the demand for its products.

Asthma :: essays research papers fc

Asthma is a respiratory disorder marked by breathing difficulty caused by temporary narrowing of the bronchi, the airways branching from the trachea to the lungs. Attacks usually are brought on by allergic reaction to ANTIGENS such as grass and tree pollens, mold spores, fungi, animal dander, and certain foods but may also be caused by chemical irritants in the atmosphere or by infections of the respiratory tract. Susceptibility to an asthma attack is based on hyperactivity of the bronchial muscles, which constrict on exposure to one or another of these agents. Episodes of asthma vary widely in severity and may last from a few minutes to several days. They may begin at any age but usually occur in childhood. In children, asthma often is associated with eczema, a skin inflammation that may reflect the tendency of the child to develop hypersensitivity reactions. The attacks usually become less frequent and less severe over the years and disappear in about half of all affected children before adulthood. In one form of asthma, called intrinsic asthma, however, the attacks become less frequent and less severe, but recovery between them is less complete. The bronchi in such patients become chronically narrowed, causing a progressive loss of capacity for physical exertion. The prevalence of asthma is only about 1 or 2 percent worldwide but varies greatly from country to country. In the United States, asthma affects about 6.9 percent of children. Typically, an asthma attack begins within minutes after exposure to a triggering agent. Symptoms include a sensation of tightness in the chest, coughing and wheezing, and difficulty in breathing. Persons having attacks usually find it more difficult to exhale then inhale, which causes overinflation of the chest and impaired lung functions. The breathing difficulty is alleviated somewhat by leaning forward and supporting the trunk with the arms on some object. Attacks that last several hours or more, even several days, despite treatment are called status asthmaticus. Patients with this condition develop a rapid pulse as the heart attempts to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the blood by beating faster. They also develop signs of exhaustion and dehydration. On a long-term basis, asthma usually is managed by determining the agent responsible for the attacks so that the patient can avoid it. When avoidance of allergens is not feasible, patients can sometimes be

The Awakening – a Feminist Analysis

The Awakening  is a  novel  by  Kate Chopin, first published in 1899 , set in  New Orleans  and the Southern  Louisiana  coast at the end of the nineteenth century. The plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century  South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early  feminism. Kate Chopin’s  The Awakening  was a bold piece of fiction in its time, and protagonist Edna Pontellier was a controversial character.She upset many nineteenth century expectations for women and their supposed roles. One of her most shocking actions was her denial of her role as a mother and wife. Kate Chopin displays this rejection gradually, but the concept of motherhood is major theme throughout the novel. Edna is fighting against the so cietal and natural structures of motherhood that force her to be defined by her title as wife of Leonce Pontellier and mother of Raoul and Etienne Pontellier, instead of being her own, self-defined individual.Through Chopin’s focus on two other female characters, Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna’s options of life paths are exhibited. These women are the examples that the men around Edna contrast her with and from whom they obtain their expectations for her. Edna, however, finds both role models lacking and begins to see that the life of freedom and individuality that she wants goes against both  society  and nature. The inevitability of her fate as a male-defined creature brings her to a state of despair, and she frees herself the only way she can, through suicide.All throughout â€Å"The Awakening,† Kate Chopin shows examples of how women should and should not act in society, in their homes, and with their husbands. In Edna Pontellier's adopted society, women are viewed more valuable when they conform into the mother-woman role. The mother-woman role is another form of men control, because it dictates how women should idolize their children, worship their husbands, and honor their isolated but inferior positions      As the novel progresses, Edna begins to make increasingly â€Å"open-eyed choice[s] to defy illusions and conventions†.Throughout the novel Edna becomes increasingly sexual, also becoming aware of her sexuality. Her bond of friendship with Robert seems harmless at first, but when he leaves for Mexico Edna believes she is in love with him: â€Å"For the first time she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation. . . to torture her as it was doing then with the biting conviction that she had lost that which she had held, that she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded† (Chopin 44).Edna has never had any sexual encounters with Robert, yet her emotions are so a roused by her close friend she is â€Å"infatuated† with him. Until this point, Edna seems to have not realized her feelings for Robert. In time she will call these feelings love, but at this point she is deeply upset because the man she is â€Å"infatuated† with is leaving. Edna’s emotions have been stirred for the first time in a long time, and she is unwilling to merely deal with the fact that the man who did this is leaving.Edna goes into a childlike pout, neglecting the familial duties she previously completed without fail. Edna’s awakening comes in two parts, the emotionally sexual awakening she experiences with Robert and the physically sexual awakening reached with Arobin (Seyersted, Kate Chopin 155). When Robert leaves her the first time, she is upset and broods, unable to believe he left so abruptly, and without saying goodbye. Arobin cannot gain this control over Edna’s emotions, as she distances herself from him and restrains herself fr om becoming too emotionally attached.Through her experience with Robert, Edna has learned to keep her emotional distance from men, lest she be hurt again. Edna is definitely a more sexual being now than previously in the novel. Before she recoiled at the touch of her closest friend, and now she is indulging in a forbidden kiss, holding Arobin close to prolong the contact. She is also more reserved. Arobin is quite anxious to see Edna again, but Edna pushes him away telling him she will see him at her dinner party, â€Å"not an instant sooner† (Chopin 82).Edna takes control of the situation, pushing Arobin away when he begs to see her again, having come to an enlightened state of being, learning from her mistakes and being an active force in her own life. Edna now makes decisions (such as moving out of the house) based on what is right for her, choices that will drastically affect her life, doing so with open eyes and a clear head. Edna is feminist in nature, but her feminism comes with a price, and not many people are strong enough to endure social ostracizing to enjoy personal freedom.Chopin wonderfully illustrates Edna’s dilemma, showing possible consequences of becoming enlightened outside the context of a broader social movement. By the end of the novel, Chopin still refuses to tell us whether Edna’s awakening is liberating, or if it is tragic. They argue that Edna Pontellier’s awakening is one of mental clarity, and her suicide is a triumphant act. By committing suicide Edna is finally freeing herself from social constraints and possession. Her suicide is an act of liberation, therefore Edna is the ultimate feminist.

The Odyssey And Beowulf s Morality - 1591 Words

Stories have always been a means of imparting the wisdom and knowledge of a society to young and old alike. Works like The Odyssey and Beowulf contain as much moralizing as children’s tales from Aesop’s Fables, the only difference being that The Odyssey and Beowulf’s morals are revealed in subtler ways. With the advent of the novel, many used the new genre as a way to moralize to women through novels such as Moll Flanders or comment on society such as A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Yet, Henry James in his essay, â€Å"The Art of Fiction† seeks to dispel the notion that novels must moralize by offering a new, better purpose for the novel and allowing novelists artistic license in how they create their stories. However, though his ideas may have been fresh at the time, not all of them have held up over time. Though he sought to separate morality from the novel, the two still work together to create memorable, lasting fiction. Henry Ja mes had a threefold purpose in writing â€Å"The Art of Fiction.† He sought to respond to Walter Besant’s lecture wherein the novelist asserted that there were hard and fast laws which governed fiction, to defend the novel as a significant artistic genre, and to advise aspiring novelists (Richter, 434-435). In his final paragraphs, he addresses what he found most interesting about Besant’s lecture: the â€Å"conscious moral purpose† of the novel (Richter, 446). The morality of a novel â€Å"is a question surrounded with difficulties,† James saysShow MoreRelatedBeowulf: The Canonization of Anglo-Saxon Literature into Modern Popular Culture769 Words   |  4 Pages The cover of the November, 1975 comic book Beowulf: Dragon Slayer features a red-haired, horn-helmeted Beowulf swinging a large broadsword at a purple-caped villain also bearing two razor-sharp swords. As Beowulf rears up on his steed, a bikini clad woman, cloth slightly aside to reveal the shadow of a buttock is drawn falling, face filled with terror. In the background, a rising full moon and silhouetted gothic castle keenly set an atmosphere of dread and foreboding. Above the emboldenedRead MoreWhy Forrest Gump Is Very Much An Epic1584 Words   |  7 Pagesdifferent characterizations of the title character and minor characters along with additional events, or changes to the timeline. Many of the events in the story are comparable to happenings in other epic tales as well such as Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey and to a lesser extent in its precursor Homer’s The Iliad. Odysseus’s journey and the epic adventure that was Forrest Gump’s life are quite reminiscent of each other. When Forrest Gump leaves Greenbow, Alabama to play football for the University of