Jung et al. (2004) directed the 3d-QSAR (three-dimensional...

Jung et al. (2004) directed the 3d-QSAR (three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity connections) studies for 88 particular COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) inhibitors belonging to three chemical compound classes (triaryl rings, diaryl cycloalkanopyrazoles, and diphenyl hydrazides) utilizing relative molecular field examination (Comfa) and near sub-atomic similitude records dissection (Comsia). In this COMBINE demonstrate, some protein deposits were highlighted as especially paramount for inhibitory movement. The mixture of ligand-based and structure-based models gave an enhanced understanding in the interaction between the three chemical classes and the COX-2 [1]. The cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) isoenzyme is a key focus for COX-2-particular†¦show more content†¦Despite the fact that X-beam structures of COX-2 complexed with a little number of ligands are accessible, exploratory information are absent for two well-known selective COX-2 inhibitors (rofecoxib and nimesulide) and docking effects reported are questionable. Llorens et al. (2002) attempted molecular modeling studies to produce atomic models perfect with the experimental information accessible. Likewise, docking of diverse COX inhibitors, including selective and non-selective ligands: rofecoxib, ketoprofen, suprofen, carprofen, zomepirac, indomethacin, diclofenac and meclofenamic acid were embraced utilizing the AMBER system. Their effects gave new bits of knowledge into a superior understanding of the differential binding mode of different groups of COX inhibitors, contributed to the design of new selective compounds [4]. Llorens et al. (1999) performed molecular modeling studies on the two cyclooxygenase (COX) isozymes proposing that the cavity at the mouth of the active site on the film area may go about as a real binding site of COX ligands which gave a structural premise to clarify the dynamics of COX inhibition [5]. Filipponi et al. (2000) depicted the requisition of a chemometric methodology to the investigation of COX-2 selective

The Wages Of Whiteness By David Roediger - 912 Words

There is an extricable relationship between race, capitalism, and property and how it perpetuates the notion of whiteness through the exploitation of â€Å"others†. Property is a relationship of a person and an object; slaves were considered as objects. Race is constructed from white workers’ ideology of whiteness and labor wage. Racism has been long constructed through the production of race and its relations to property, and we can see it through the notion of capitalism and the idea of whiteness. In the Wages of Whiteness (an edition revision) by David Roediger, an American labor historian, he examines the growth and social construction of race during the 1800s and its relations to white workers. Roediger states by labeling race based on its skin color and social status, white folks wereâ€Å"...seen as ‘naturally’ white, and Black workers become ‘intruders’ who are strongly suspected of being ‘loafers’ as well† (Roediger 19). The production of race formed once white workers accepted their class positions by accepting their identities as ‘not slaves’ and as ‘not Blacks’. In this case, there was a necessity for white workers to have its own sense of class and gender identity to determine who has power and who does not. Race was socially constructed through white worker’s ideologies of distinguishing themselves from Native Americans and black folks, or simply the â€Å"others†. As Roediger states: After the failure of early attempts to ‘reduce the savages to civility’ by enslavingShow MoreRelatedThe Wages Of Whiteness : Race And The Making Of The American Working Class1565 Words   |  7 PagesIn The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class, David Roediger examines the intensification of American racism in the white working classes in antebellum America. He maintains that, impelled by republican doctrine, the pressures and anxieties of industrialization and the longing for a preindustrial past, white workers constructed a notion of â€Å"whiteness† and of white supremacy in opposition to black slavery that characterized black slaves as their inferiors. ThereforeRead MoreWhiteness and Citizenship971 Words   |  4 PagesCaptain Ahab’s eulogy of whiteness shows that the word â€Å"white† implies more than a chromatic description. â€Å"White† is an untenable perfection that has haunted the American psyche si nce colonial times. The idea of â€Å"white spiritual superiority† can only be enforce by a terrorist politico-legal system, based on brutalizing the non-whites and creating a national fantasy. A national fantasy defined by Lauren Berlant as the means â€Å"to designate how national culture becomes local through the images, narrativesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Wages Of Whiteness 1426 Words   |  6 PagesDavid R. Roediger displays the history of how the theory of â€Å"whiteness† has evolved throughout the years in America in his book, The Wages of Whiteness. According to Roediger, â€Å"whiteness† is much a constructed identity as â€Å"blackness† or any other. He argues that this idea of â€Å"whiteness† has absolutely nothing to do with the advantage of the economy, but that it is a psychological racial stereotype that was created by white men themselves. He claims that it is definitely true that racism should beRead MoreWhiteness as a Field of Study2712 Words   |  11 PagesCaptain Ahab’s eulogy of whiteness shows that the word â€Å"white† implies more than a chromatic description. â€Å"White† is an untenable perfection that has haunted the American psyche since colonial times. The idea of â€Å"white spiritual superiority† can only be enforced by a terrorist politico-legal system, based on brutalizing the non-whites and creating a national fantasy. A national fantasy defined by Lauren Berlant as the means â€Å"to designate how national culture becomes local through the images, narrativesRead MorePostcolonial Historian Matthew Frye Jacobson In Whiteness1756 Words   |  8 PagesPostcolonial historian Matthew Frye Jacobson in Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race traces the â€Å"racial odyssey† of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe who were at ï ¬ rst regarded as racial other, and then relegated to the status between black and white, and finally inclusive as Caucasian white. These in-between groups were classiï ¬ ed as â€Å"Hebrews,† â€Å"Celts,† â€Å"Mediterraneans,† â€Å"Iberics,† â€Å"Slavs,† â€Å"Teutons,† and the like in nineteenth and early twentieth centuriesRead MoreRacism and Identity1122 Words   |  5 PagesFurthermore, by setting a limited standard for what a people look like negates any perceived identity within the group. 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Equal Employment Opportunity the Case of Hy-Vee free essay sample

For my research paper, I have choose to analyze the equal employment opportunities within Hy-Vee Inc. Equal employment opportunity is a very specific yet broad determination of what is allowed and what is seen as discrimination. A lawsuit can be filed against any company that does not follow the strict guidelines put into action by the Supreme Court, Legislative Body, and Executive Branch. The objective of my paper is to explain the role that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission plays when dealing with the Human Resource department at a business during the hiring process and with the treatment of employees. Also, I will explain the importance of equal employment opportunity laws for a general business and how they compare to those at Hy-Vee Inc. The regulations of equal employment not only stem from large companies but to those of all different size of employment. When I started my primary research, I thought it would be beneficial to me to get personal response to some questions I had regarding equal employment opportunities. I lead an interview with Rachel Wright who works for Hy-Vee Inc. as a human resource manager through a series of emails. The basis of my interview was how Hy-Vee Inc. enforces the policies on discrimination, consequences of violating the policy, and how they provide information to employees to avoid discrimination in the workplace. All of my secondary information came from information from multiple online articles and textbooks based upon Human Resource Management practices. During and upon completing my interview with Rachel, the information I was provided was very helpful and insightful to the importance and prevention of discrimination in a workplace. She also assisted me in finding viable information through the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission so I could get an unbiased point of view how important the prevention and implementation of equal employment is on a day to day basis. A question I asked Rachel was, â€Å"How does Hy-Vee enforce the policies of discrimination during the hiring process and to current employees? † She replied â€Å"We don’t stress the fact of actual discrimination to employees because there is a very broad diversion of what is to be considered discrimination. They include race, religion, sex, age, and can get as specific as genetic differentiation. Instead, we stress the concept of inclusion of all employees during the training of new employees and development of current employees. † This has provided positive results from her way of reiterating the aspects of discrimination into the workplace. Upon Rachel getting the job as the human resource manager she had to review and completely understand the anti-discrimination policy, among many others, so she could provide a positive environment for all employees. Rachel also has posted many motivational posters and reminders around her store to encourage togetherness and respect between all employees. The results of her reminders were showing the cohesiveness of employees and also reflected the employees’ interaction with the customers. I also asked Rachel if she has dealt with any discrimination reports while she has been a human resource manager. She said that within her many years with Hy-Vee she has never heard of a complaint from any employees or customers that had to deal with the discrimination of someone. As an ex-employee at Hy-Vee Inc. I saw how diverse the workforce is and especially the customers. From my experience with working with such a diverse group of people, I noticed when managers reiterate the aspect of diversity and discrimination it creates a unity in the department and makes everyone comfortable with each other. This makes the employees look past what the appearance of each other while actually getting to know w ho they are and how they work. It has shown to me how shallow some people can be when they can’t understand that physical appearance has nothing to do with the personality and work ethic of a person. Even though the aspect of diversity is stressed pretty strongly during the hiring process, it is always effective to keep employees aware of the potential consequences for themselves and the company if it happens. In conclusion, Hy-Vee Inc. seems to implement the aspect of effective teamwork into the hiring process and implementation of the day-to-day operations very well. I thought it was very eye-opening when Rachel stated she has never heard of any discrimination complaints since there are thousands of diverse people you interact with when working in retail, especially in the grocery business. This shows how effective the corporate ethics were implemented into the Hy-Vee stores that have great organizational culture. Although from my personal experience at Hy-Vee and my interview with Rachel does not imply that there has not been any circumstances where discrimination was involved between employees or with customers. My recommendations to Hy-Vee Inc. would be to have managers reiterate the aspects of diversity to their departments because I have seen firsthand that it is an effective approach. Also, to have annual store meetings to just keep everyone up to date on the policies including discrimination amongst other aspects of company policy. From the response of Rachel it seems that herself and management staff are taking appropriate and effective approaches to prevent discrimination in the workplace. It’s also very important for Hy-Vee Inc. and their store managers to understand that it only takes one person to discriminate and that can ruin the image of the store and company. II. Theoretical Aspect (Literature Review) 2. Definition of Equal Employment Opportunity Equal employment opportunity is a policy statement that all individuals should be equally considered for a job and not be discriminated against for reasons such as their race, color, marital status, religion, disability, sex, or national origin (Equal employment opportunity, 2011). The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was one of the first laws that were passed regarding equal employment opportunity. This act stat ed that all those that were born in the United States are now citizens, no matter what their color or race. Making them citizens gave them the right to form contracts, sue others, be sewed, as well as own, sell, or lease property (Civil Rights Act of 1866). The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was just an attempt to prevent discrimination and it was not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that racial segregation and discrimination in the workplace, public facilities, and education were outlawed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was divided into titles and each of these titles dealt with specific classifications of discrimination. 2. 2 Definition of Discrimination According to Mathis and Jackson (2003), discrimination is defined as â€Å"recognizing differences among items or people. † There are two categories based on the type of discrimination, disparate treatment and disparate impact. Disparate treatment discrimination is â€Å"(1) different standards are used to judge individuals, or (2) the same standard is used, but it is not related to the individual’s jobs. † (Mathis and Jackson 2003) An example of this is if an obese employee was required to take a special skills test that was not given to other employees working the same job. This type of discrimination has been common in the past and many cases go unreported because the applicant is not aware others did not undergo special tests for the job. This is prominent in factory jobs that require attention and physical movement because the managers want people they think will be suitable for the position so they are not slowing production getting them in trouble for not meeting certain requirements. Disparate Impact discrimination is â€Å"when members of a protected category are substantially underrepresented as a result of employment decisions that work to their disadvantage. (Mathis and Jackson 2003) The court case that made this type of discrimination a legal issue of equal employment opportunity was the Griggs v Duke Power, 1401 U. S. 424 (1971). This case involved African American workers who were required to have a high school diploma or take a special skills test to obtain employment or get promoted at the company. This was in violation of Title VII of t he Civil Rights Act of 1964 which sates, â€Å"Prohibits discrimination in hiring, promotion, dismissal, benefits, compensation, or any other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment based on race, religion, color, gender, or national origin. (Lovey) From this, Congress passes the amendment, Equal Employment Opportunity Act, which gave the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) the power to represent those that were being discriminated and make sure legal action ensued. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 solidified that companies who were partaking in this discrimination would be subjected to jury trials and punitive damages. (â€Å"The civil rights†) 2. 3 Definition of other laws regarding equal employment Discrimination has many types of aspects in the workplace as to how it can be classified. Being discriminated against simply means that one person or a group of people are being treated unequally because of their background and beliefs. The most common and prominent reasons for discrimination is because of age, sex, race, and disability. There are many more aspects as to why an organization or a single person chooses to discriminate. The discrimination claims can include pregnancy, religion, military experience, or sexual orientation. The discrimination of race is when someone is characterized and evaluated differently based upon their ethnic origin which in many cases is determined by the color of one’s skin. This type of discrimination as I stated before is covered in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII also states that it is against the Civil Rights Act to discriminate against an individual who is married or involved with someone of a different ethnic origin. It also states it is illegal to harass an individual through racial jokes, offensive comments, or physical conduct because of their race or color. (Discrimination in the Workplace) Discrimination based upon the orientation of sex of an individual is deemed sexual discrimination. This forbids any employer to make the assumption that an individual of a specific sex cannot perform certain job responsibilities and duties because of their sex. Sexual harassment is also considered a type of discrimination based upon sex. Sexual harassment can involve acts such as talking about doing certain things or it can actually involve sexual favors which are forced upon someone. Sexual harassment can be the result of covering up mistakes one has made or be used to achieve advancement within the company. These allegations can create a work environment that is unhealthy and threatening to many people of the organization. Costello and Mains) Age discrimination is when an employer refuses to hire an applicant because of their age. This can also be applied if an employee is terminated because of their age. â€Å"The Age Discrimination Act in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967, amended in 1978 and 1986, prohibits discrimination in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment against all individuals age 40 years or older working for employers having 20 or more workers. † (Mathis and Jackson 2003) Employees who work for the state government cannot sue in the federal court system because the ADEA is a federal law. Age discrimination has been an increasing problem with the higher demand for products and the want for younger fast paced employees. However, employers that focus on recruiting or providing â€Å"preferential treatment† of older workers do not violate any part of the ADEA. (Mathis and Jackson 2003) Disability discrimination is when an employer discriminates against an individual because of a physical or mental disability they have. The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 coincides with the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. The ADA states that managing employees with disabilities is to make reasonable accommodations in several aspects. Examples of accommodations that employers will make include but not limited to are, modified work schedules, special equipment, job restructuring, job reassignment, and employer-provided assistance. Luckily for employers many of these accommodations can be don’t without much expense. (Mathis and Jackson 2003) To be considered to have a disability the employee must have a medically diagnosed mental impairment or a physical disability. The disability covers many aspects of clinical conditions such as HIV and AIDS but not certain conditions such as kleptomania or pyromania. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978 requires that any employer with 15 or more employees treat maternity leave the same as other personal or medial leaves. Closely related to the PDA is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, which requires that individuals be given up to 12 weeks of family leave without pay and also requires that those taking family leave be allowed to return to their job. Mathis and Jackson 2003) It is legal if an employer terminates a pregnant employee for excessive absenteeism due to the sickness that women face when pregnant because they are not being treated differently than other employees with absenteeism problems. Amongst many other types of discrimination, an employer cannot discriminate against an employee due to their military status or previous status. Two of the most important laws that protect t he military veterans are the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994. These laws require employers to recognize leaves of absence return to employment rights, prompt reemployment on return, protection from discharge/retaliation, health insurance continuations, and continued seniority rights. The employers are not required to pay the veterans while on military leave but many firms provide some sort of compensation (Mathis and Jackson 2003) III. Practical Aspect 3. 1 Background and description of Hy-Vee Inc. The company was started in 1930 by Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg when they opened a general store in Beaconsfield, Iowa. The name Hy-Vee came in 1952 with a contraction of Hyde and Vredenburg. The two owners expanded into Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota. To date there are 235 supermarkets and more than 56,000 employees located through the Midwest. Hy-Vee supermarkets offer a diverse series of products such as, bakeries, catering services, floral products, meal solutions, full service deli and meat products, health markets, coffee shops, casual dining, gas stations and pharmacies. With sales that exceed $7. 6 billion throughout all the stores, Hy-Vee ranks among the top 20 supermarket chains in the top 50 private companies in the United States. Supermarket News has honored the company with a Whole Health Enterprise Award for its leadership in providing services and programs that promote a healthy lifestyle. (Hy-Vee Inc. ) 3. 2 Discussion There have been many companies that get sued and lose settlements over discrimination. Large well-known companies such as Wal-Mart, Target, Apple, Marriot, and Google amongst many others have dealt with these problems in the past and will continue to. When doing my research of discrimination cases against Hy-Vee I was not able to find any that the plaintiff had won according to their discrimination allegations. One of the cases I came across was Oglesby v. Hy-Vee in the district court for the district of Kanas on December 1, 2005. Oglesby brought a suit against Hy-Vee alleging employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation in violation of the Age Discriminations in Employment Act (ADEA). Oglesby stated he was repeated called out by his immediate supervisor for not willingly showing customers where items would be located and just telling them what aisle or section its located. He also stated he was being call â€Å"grandpa† â€Å"abuelo† and â€Å"old man† by numerous employees and managers. Once this continued for a while, Oglesby told the store director and later filed a claim against Hy-Vee since he didn’t think appropriate action was taken. The result of this case did not result in monetary value since he could not prove he was subjected to the hostile work environment and which claims could not be recovered. There was a sex discrimination case that was filed against a manager of a Hy-Vee in Iowa City, IA in 2004. A 19 year old girl filed claims against her manager who promoted sexual tendencies with her often. She was finally left with no choice after he manager exposed himself to her while trying to kiss her. The manager was terminated when he pled guilty to indecent exposure. Although this was not a case against the actual corporation, it proves that it can only take one person like the aforementioned manager to ruin a reputation of a store. Ruth Comer, a spokeswoman for Hy-Vee stated â€Å"We do a great deal of training for managers on sexual harassment issues and dont tolerate sexual harassment in the workplace, about the incident. While interviewing Rachel, I had asked her if she has ever heard of any claims from other employees of discrimination. She said â€Å"I have heard many rumors or statements from the various Hy-Vee employees I’ve worked with about discrimination and harassment claims. All of the instances have not made it outside the store level due to the accommodations made by the managers and store directors that dealt with it. It is not something that is taken lightly but we take necessary actions so those types of things can be avoided and kept from reoccurring. † When I was working at Hy-Vee I did notice that the managers would take appropriate actions when someone was involved in a case but it never ended in termination. Working in retail you find that there is a lot of gossip which can cause many problems. I noticed this was not the case here. When a problem arose, the employees involved would end up not working the same shifts or switching to a different department if they worked together. IV. Conclusion and Recommendations 4. 1 Conclusion The laws that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has enforced are clearly stated and mandatory to follow, in which action will be taken if they are not. Since Hy-Vee Inc. employs over 56,000 workers, it is especially important for each member of the company to be aware of the laws. From my interview with Rachel, it was made clear to me that they are currently implementing ways of eliminating discrimination at Hy-Vee and making it known that it is important to report anything. Concluding from research that I found on Hy-Vee, it shows they have areas that they can improve. Hy-Vee recently has also created the policies and informed their employees of what to do in certain situations by giving employees resources to report violations of the laws and policies. 4. 2 Recommendations What I would recommend to Hy-Vee is create a few more ways to make sure the employees are aware of the laws and policies. One way of doing this is could be hosting yearly meetings for managers to come up with ways to remind the employees of the discrimination laws and the present it to them. Another way that Hy-Vee can remind employees of the policies is to post signs in meeting rooms such as break rooms, office buildings, and lunch areas so that the employees are reminded on a daily basis. Employees could also fill out surveys as to how they think Hy-Vee is doing regarding the policies and if they feel comfortable in the setting they work in. Managers could bet trained to create closer bonds with employees to make them more comfortable about bringing forth their problems and concerns. List of References: Costello amp; Maines (2013). Sex-Based Discrimination | Workplace Discrimination. Retrieved  April  19, 2013, from http://www. costellomains. com/Sex-Based-Discrimination2-25173. html United States Senate. Committee on the Judiciary (2012). The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Retrieved  April  2012, from http://www. judiciary. senate. gov/about/history/CivilRightsAct. cfm US Supreme Court Center (2004). Griggs v. Duke Power Co. 401 U. S. 424 (1971) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center. Retrieved  April  2012, from http://supreme. justia. com/cases/federal/us/401/424/ Hy-Vee Inc. (2013). Company. Retrieved  April  2012, from http://www. hy-vee. com/company/ US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2013). Types of Discrimination. Retrieved  April  2013, from http://www. eeoc. gov/laws/types/index. cfm Mathis,  R. L. , amp; Jackson,  J. H. (2003). Human resource management(13th  ed. ). Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-western. Hand, D. J (1981). Discrimination and classification. Chichester [England: Wiley. Human Resources of IQPC (2013). Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Definition What is Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)? | Human Resources IQ. Retrieved  April  2013, from http://www. humanresourcesiq. com/glossary/equal-employment-opportunity-(eeo)/ United States. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1998). Best equal employment opportunity policies, programs, and practices in the private sector: Task force report. Washington, DC: U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. US General Service Administration (2011, November 26). Equal Employment Opportunity. Retrieved  April  2013, from http://www. gsa. gov/portal/content/101013

Porter Five Forces Assist an Organisation in Their Strategic Planning Essay Example

Porter Five Forces Assist an Organisation in Their Strategic Planning Essay How does Porters Five Forces Model assist an organisation in their strategic planning? Before understanding â€Å"how† we must know â€Å"what† Porters Five Forces model really is (Michael E. Porter, 2008). Company strive to secure a competitive advantage over their rivals, I mean who doesn’t want to be the best? Although the intensity of rivalry varies within each industry and these differences can be important in the development of strategy, but rather the five forces (Porter, 2008) being a strategy of any sort, it acts a framework in securing a strategy. The only time where strategy is irrelevant, would be when you have no competitors where ultimately the environment is a monopoly, or when you have a ton of money to throw around and waste. But having said that, it is not likely at all. Without framework, strategy will inevitably collapse, as they both come hand in hand. Thus a chain arises as the five forces (Porter, 2008) acts as a framework in assisting an organisation in their strategic planning, where strategic planning leads to a competitive advantage over their competitors which then leads to ultimate success of the company. We will write a custom essay sample on Porter Five Forces Assist an Organisation in Their Strategic Planning specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Porter Five Forces Assist an Organisation in Their Strategic Planning specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Porter Five Forces Assist an Organisation in Their Strategic Planning specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Before proceeding to the question at hand on how Porters Five Forces can assist an organisation in their strategic planning, first we have to know two things, what are the Five Forces that Porter (2008) proposed, and ultimately what strategy really means? To ease this journey, let’s start with the Five Forces (Porter, 2008). Before any company enters a certain market, one must first analyse the competitive nature of the market, and this is exactly what the Five Forces (2008) aids to do, to provide a framework to determine the intensity of competition within an industry where three of the five competitive forces comes from an external sources, and the remainder coming from an internal sources. These external sources includes: Threat of potential entrants, threat of potential substitutes and rivalry of existing firms in the industry. Now these sources are external due to the fact that it is simply impossible to temper with. But what we can control, are the two internal sources: the bargaining power of suppliers, and the bargaining power of buyers. Being aware of the five forces can aid firms into identifying existence and the importance of each of the five forces, as well as the roles that each force plays into the success of the firms. The threat of potential entrants: Although it is possible for any company to enter and exit a market of their choice, each market has their own unique barriers to go in and out of. Therefore the essence of this force deals with the level of difficulty that a company can enter into an industry which will ultimately impact competition within the industry. Whenever a new company enters an industry, the competitive climate changes; it provides more alternatives to consumers, therefore reducing its attractiveness and the competition within the industry increases as each company is trying to come out on top. As each industry have their own unique characteristics it allows them to build a barrier from other industries protecting them from profitability while restraining additional rivals from entering the market. These restraints and characteristics that industries create are referred to as barriers of entry. Barriers of entry are a characteristic acquired uniquely to each industry. It attempts to reduce the rate of entry of new companies which maintains the level of profitability for all current industry competitors, where if new companies enters the industry, the profit is shared amongst the original and the newly developed companies in the industry, ultimately decreasing overall profits of each company, which isn’t ideal. Conversely when profitability of an industry is high, companies will attempt to come into the industry to get a piece of the action, which then will eventually result in reducing profits due to the fact that it is divided up into more quarters. Where there’s an entry, there’s an exit, barriers to exit limits the ability of a firm to leave the market, meanwhile rivalries can worsen. So when barriers for entry and exits are high, it means that companies have a higher potential to make more profit and the opposite occurs when barriers are low. The threat of substitutes: where it refers to substitute product as those that are available in other industry which can also fulfil the need and want of the consumers. It can affect competition in an industry by placing an invisible ceiling on prices which companies within the industry can charge, due to the fact that if the cost of substitute is low then the consumers will tend to purchase substitutes, therefore limiting the prices that a company can place on certain items to gain maximum profit. For example, lemonade can be substituted for a soft drink. Generally, competitive pressures arising from substitute products increase as the relative price of substitute products declines and as consumers switching costs decrease. The bargaining power of buyers is affected by the concentration and number of consumers, when buyer power is strong, they gain the power to choose between producers and ultimately equip themselves with bargaining power which then the producers will have to conform to in order to produce profit, under these conditions the buyer has the most influence in determining the price of products. Also when buyers have strong bargaining power in the exchange relationship, competition can be affected in several ways. Powerful buyers can bargain for lower prices, better product distribution, higher-quality products, as well as other factors that can create greater competition among companies. To minimise the power of buyers, companies can develop offers in which strong buyers cannot refuse, also, companies can choose to select buyers with less bargaining power. Similarly, the bargaining power of suppliers affects the intensity of competition in an industry, for a production industry that produces goods, raw materials are needed which creates a buyer and supplier relationship between the industry and companies which produces the raw materials. Suppliers may be able to determine prices especially when there are a large number of suppliers, limited substitute raw materials, or increased switching costs. The bargaining power of suppliers is important to industry competition because suppliers can also affect the quality of exchange relationships. Competition may become more intense as powerful suppliers raise prices, reduce services, or reduce the quality of goods or services. In order to minimise the power of suppliers, industry tend to build win-win relationships with suppliers where both parties benefits from it or arrange to use multiple suppliers so if one supplier chooses to increase their prices, the company doesn’t get affected as much. Competition is also affected by the rivalry among existing firms, which is usually considered as the most powerful of the five competitive forces. In most industries, business organizations are mutually dependent, industries that are concentrated versus fragmented; often display the highest level of rivalry. A competitive move by one company in pursuing an advantage over its rivals can be expected to have a noticeable effect on its competitors, and thus, may cause retaliation of other companies, for example, lowering prices, enhancing quality, adding features, providing services, extending warranties, and increasing advertising, placing themselves in a competitive advantage over the competitors. The nature of competition is often affected by a variety of factors, such as the size and number of competitors, demand changes for the industrys products, the specificity of assets within the industry, the presence of strong exit barriers, and the variety of competitors. These conditions will lead to a more challenging industry where companies compete in, leading to price wars, advertising battles, and the addition of new products. So after going through the five forces, let’s take a look at what strategic planning really means. If we are going to have a good strategy, we must separate strategy from goals and objectives and other issues that managers often think about. Now most management practitioners make the mistake in defining strategy, a strategy is what unique position that we will be able to achieve, what our advantage is going to be at the end of the day as we take these steps accumulatively over time, how we’re going to be unique? How we’re going to have an advantage? How we’re going to sustain the advantage over time? Schermerhorn, Davidson, Poole, Simon, Woods, Chau, 2011). The steps we take aren’t a strategy, but somehow numerous companies make the mistake of fixating themselves on a particular action that an organisation want to approach, which then inevitably becomes their strategy but that usually leads to the downfall of the company simply because they do not know why they’re doing it and when they should stop doing it. As we all know, every industry is diff erent, therefore, there is no universal strategy that can apply to any business. But before proceeding, a company must understand their position and the industry that they are in and their circumstances in order to find a way of obtaining a competitive advantage over the competitors, where indefinitely delivering a unique value to the consumers which rivals cannot. As the five forces (Porter, 2001) suggests that being at a competitive advantage is the idealistic way of being on top, due to the fact that every industry has their own set of economics, the five forces (Porter, 2001) without a doubt acts as a framework to extract any necessary information needed to develop strategy to gain competitive advantage. The Five forces (Porter, 2001) help you home in on what is really causing profitability, or in fact what is causing the trends of the significance and change of the industry. This powerful framework can prevent an organisation from getting tricked or trapped into the latest trends like the technological sensation, and really allowing organisations to focus solely on the underlying fundamentals. This can be applied to any industry whether if its production or a service, high tech or low tech, emerging or developed industries (Porter, 2001). With the framework at hand, it acts as a guide or even a tick off criteria sheet into strategic planning, how should we begin? The strategy formulating process will be pretty straight forward from here after deeply understanding the five forces which Porter (2001) proposed. The first step should be the analysis of the industry that a company is trying to get into, looking at the environment to tick off all of the 5 boxes one by one, evaluating what the industry looks like, how it’s been changing over time, and what are the drivers of competition (Schermerhorn et al, 2011). After a careful analyse the company is then required to under the dynamics as to where the industry is going, how the buyers and substitute’s entry level are evolving, and lastly how to position the company to gain a good profit. These are all extracted from the framework proposed by Porter (2001), although competition is sometimes looked at too narrowly, with careful analysis of the five forces (Porter, 2001) will ultimately position the company in a competitive advantage. Where a competitive advantage allows an organisation to deal with the market and environmental forces much better than its competitors (Ramon, 2012), to achieve this goal, the company needs to be at its best and better than the competitors who are trying to achieve the same goal in the same industry. Rather than a goal, competitive advantage is a position that a company wants to be in, a goal is to make the competitive advantage sustainable in spite of all the mockery of rivals, although achieving and sustaining it is a challenging task, but it will set concrete roots for the company in years to come. The implementation of strategic planning tools serves a variety of purposes in companies, including the clear definition of an organizations purpose and mission, and the establishment of a standard base from which progress can be measured and future actions can be planned. I-O psychologist Ramon E, Henson (2012) and Robert E, Ployhart (2012) although having disagreements in some parts of their papers, they ultimately come forward in reinforcing the importance of competitive advantage suggesting that I-O and strategy has been â€Å"joined at hips for years† (Ramon, 2012), also suggesting hat I-O psychology should stray from the focus of individuals and start focusing more on the company as a whole as they have â€Å"much to offer† in the understanding of competitive advantage (Ployhart, 2012). Furthermore, the strategic planning tools should communicate those goals and objectives to the organisation as a whole rather than just the ones involved in the strategic planning process (O’Shannassy, 2003) to achieve a more efficient work flow. Throughout the centuries, countless strategic approaches has been formed and used and recycled, so why use Porter’s Five Forces (2008)? For example, strategy as simple rules Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, ; Donald N. Sull, (2001). It illustrates the success story of Yahoo! , along with other successful companies coming from an unattractive market. â€Å"So how they did succeed? More generally, what are the sources of competitive advantage in high-velocity markets? What does strategy mean in the new economy? † (Eisenhardt et al, 2001, p. 108). The key is none-other than strategy as simple rules, it targets market confusion and rides the magic carpet to see where or what it will journey into. Although it is indeed called â€Å"simple rules†, a rule still applies to it, as one Internet executive explained: â€Å"I have a thousand opportunities a day; strategy is deciding which 50 to do. † (Eisenhardt et al, 2001, p. 108). As it summarises and illustrates that simple rules is all about taking risks, its essence is to capture unanticipated opportunities for ultimate success. Although for companies like Yahoo! has gained huge success, simple rules (2001) cannot apply to any industry as the authors suggests (Eisenhardt et al, 2001). If the opportunity presents itself, for anyone to use simple rules (2001) as a stepping stone to success, without a doubt, one should take the opportunity, but an opportunity does not just come without any background knowledge of a particular industry, and this is where Porter’s Five Forces (2008) comes into play, as it provides a framework for careful analysis of the industry, by analysing the industry will allow you to grab hold of the opportunities that might come about. Despite the fact that there are numerous of strategies to obtain competitive advantage, Porters Five Forces (2008) acts as a basis of all these trategies, as it is a tick-off criteria sheet which allows a company to understand their position before even implementing any sort of action. It is important as companies strives for ultimate profitability, thus the importance of a company securing a competitive advantage over their competitors is key, as even I-O psychologists supports the important of competitive advantage and that it should be a â€Å"department on its own† (Ployhart, 2012). How to implement strategy and sustaining it is another question. Although Yahoo! nd some other companies has succeeded without the five forces (Porter, 2008), it is a dangerous and risky step, and for those who doesn’t have the resource to throw around, Porters Five Forces (2008) will not only act as a friend but mentor to the journey of success. Reference John R. Schermerhorn, Paul Davidson, David Poole, Alan Simon, Peter woods ; So Ling Chau (2011). Management 4th Asia-Pacific Edition. Queensland, Australia: John Wiley ; Sons Australia, Ltd. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, ; Donald N. Sull, (2001). Strategy as Simple Rules. Harvard Business Review,79(1), 106-116. Porter E. Michael. THE FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES THAT SHAPE STRATEGY. Harvard Business Review, 00178012, Jan2008, Vol. 86, Issue 1. RAMON M. HENSON. Industrial-Organizational and Strategy Are Integrated in Practice! Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5(2012), pp82-86. Robert E. Ployhart. From Possible to Probable: The Psychology of Competitive Advantage. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5 (2012), 120–126. Tim O’Shannassy, (2003). Modern Strategic management: Balancing Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning for Internal and External Stakeholders. Singapore Management Review, 25(1), 53-67.