Author: chris

Chapter 4 Worksheet
The purpose of the internal analysis is to assess the competitive capabilities and resources of the company under analysis. For each strategic factor throughout the worksheet, you should conclusively state if the factor is a strength or a weakness. This will strengthen your analysis and help you with your subsequent SWOT analysis.
2. What are the company’s resource strengths and weaknesses
The purpose of this tool is to assess the competitive values of the company’s resources. The four tests of competitive value  are:
• Is the resource hard to copy?
• How long does the resource last?
• Is the resource really competitively superior?
• Can the resource be trumped by a rival’s resources/capabilities?
If you can answer the first three questions in the affirmative and the last question with a no, then decide if the resource is the basis for a competitive advantage. As a minimum, for each of the resource types listed below, assess the competitive value of each resource.
To address the resource strengths and weaknesses question, you must answer all four questions for each of the criteria. For example, answer all four questions for proprietary technology. Then answer all four questions for advertising and promotion. Continue with the same approach for each of the criteria. You may also provide solid logic and analysis in your responses. Why are you answering yes or no to each of the four questions? After completing your analysis, you can determine if the company under analysis has CAs or strengths.

6. Top Management’s values and perspectives. How are the personal ambitions, business philosophies, and ethical beliefs of managers contribute to the competitive capabilities? Specifically state the strengths and weaknesses that you find through your analysis of Top Management’s values and perspectives.

Performance
Sport is the foundation for all we do and exceptional excellence is a core value of our Group.

Passion
Passion is at the heart of our company. We are continuously moving forward, innovating, and improving.

Integrity
We are honest, open, ethical, and fair. People trust us to adhere to our word.

Diversity
We know it takes people with different ideas, strengths, interests, and cultural backgrounds to make our company succeed. We encourage healthy debate and differences of opinion
(Garg, 2013).

7. Organization’s culture
How do the company’s values, policies and culture impact the strategy, strategy implementation and company’s competitive capabilities?
Specifically state the strengths and weaknesses that you find through your analysis of the organization’s culture.
The company right now does not have any

STRENGTHS: Has been a high value brand since its establishment with good brand reputation and good financial position. Strong brand recognition and retention by customers worldwide because of strong marketing innovation Strong international operations because of extensive marketing infrastructure. Diverse range of products including clothing, shoes, equipment, and accessories produced under several different brands like Adidas, Reebok, Rockport and Taylor Made. Sponsors major sporting events like the Olympics, as well as sport teams and sportsmen worldwide. Has a diverse, innovative and invaluable workforce

WEAKNESSES: Overpricing of some products due to production method or innovative technology. Low quality of products produced by 3rdparty manufacturers in Asia especially China Conflicts with re-sellers and suppliers due to direct sale of products to consumers Underperformance of some of its brands .Limited line for some of its products (Clarke, 2005).
8. Provide a summary list of the company’s strengths and weaknesses.

 

Introduction
As the world is modernizing rapidly with a lot of innovations; communication has become a major tool in day to day activities. Saud Arabia’s economy has been emerging at a very fast rate and has developed very productive individuals. People’s purchasing power has significantly increased over the years not only in Saud Arabia but also in other Middle East nations. Due to the expansion of business in Saud Arabia marketing is a critical aspect of an organization success for any business. Marketing is described as the channel that facilitates business growth through targeting existing and potential customers of the company (Strouse, 2004).
Saud Arabia in making positive strides towards a middle-class economy and as the markets from home appliances to fashions brands, marketing expansion has remained dynamic, and its growth is at a slow pace. The marketing agency is a business based service that is obligated to planning, creating and handling promotions or advertisement for the clients. Customers of such a marketing agency may include business, governments, corporations and non-profit organizations. The marketing agencies are hired and task to do online advertisement, TV and radio commercials, and advertising campaigns.
Through data analysis and observation, there is a huge gap in marketing in Saud Arabia. The core reason to develop interest in marketing industry is due to the current trends in the market the demand for marketing services are high. Business is defined as an activity that one engages in with an intend to make profits. To start marketing agency through cost evolution, they are relatively small compared to other parts of the country. Any entrepreneur with an in-progress business idea has got mission and goals ascribed to the business ideas in mind (Ogden & Goldberg, 2002).
Marketing is a topic that influences the demand and pricing of any commodity brought into the market. The selection of the subject ‘marketing agency’ is appropriate facing the fact that demand and pricing affect everyone in the society. Marketing is majorly about information sharing of information of products. However, factors such as the consumer income, competition, advertisement and the trends in globalization and industrialization influences the prices and demand for the products. Consumers have a set of rational convictions in product preferences based on such terms as style, durability and the product fit and appropriateness.
The proposal paper will highlight the objectives of the marketing agency and relevant issues with Marketing strategy, action programs and the budgets, its controls. Finally, the contingency planning as I wrap up my marketing agency proposal at the last part with a conclusion. The paper aims to explain how the company can expand the market as well as create awareness for our immediate customers in the new markets areas and the funding of the projects.
Current Marketing Situation
Marketing in Saud Arabia is relatively in its initial stage despite the wide range of products that are offered on the market. As there is, large immigrants that visit Saud Arabia for business-oriented or job hunting missions have increased competition. Such factor such as technology and innovation has led to Saud Arabia markets to be more dynamic and competitive. Thus, there is an urgent need for products promotions in the long-run of the business running in Saud Arabia. Due to a lot of competition, the market of marketing thus there is the need of better and affordability of the product and its quality compared to other competitors. The channel and logistics of marketing strategy, the agencies may use sells representative rather than using other middle retailers. The use of representatives of the marketing agency is to get the direct feedback from the market directly rather than using other middlemen in channeling the product into the market. The current trends are the use of social networks in creating awareness and the use of software in the phones to reach the bigger market thus marketing agencies can save highly in the advertisement cost.

Objectives and Issues
In this marketing proposal, the major goal of the marketing agency will be expanding the current Saud Arabia marketing industry to attain the 15% share of the market. The marketing company is new in operation also has a goal to expand its revenue returns from the sales of Ads. The primary issues that can affect marketing agencies from attaining its objectives are the international tariffs that can hinder the exports of the contents and ideas. The tariffs are the major issue in expanding the market to achieve the projected 15% share of the market.
Budgets
The estimated budget of the marketing plan for the one year is about 15% in the one-year of the total revenue of the year. The 8% of this will be used in the marketing strategies expenses, 5% will fund the whole project and the 2% should be set aside for the unseeing expenditure in the process of implementation of the marketing plan. This budget can be reflected in the next five years in the efforts of the company’s expansion plans to other markets.
Contingency Planning and Conclusion
My marketing agency will be successful because it is cost effective taking up only 15% of the total revenue. My expectation of increasing the marginal profits can be identified by evaluating the increase in revenue after my marketing proposal has been implemented. If the plans are not met, I feel that it will be logic that we re-draft and find best ways to meet the expectations of my marketing plan. Finally, it is crystal clear that the marketing should incorporate brilliant invention that will effectively withhold the current competition in Saud Arabia.

Project Outline

The project simulates a performance analysis or problem solving study. The project incorporates conceptualization, operationalization, research designs, and statistical methods and analysis.

Introduction the topic
An introduction sets up the purpose of the project through direct and specific data about the topic. An effective introduction is concise and to precise.

Begin by telling the reader what your project’s topic is. Next, tell the reader why the topic is important. “Topic importance” is conceptualized by three types of information:
 Numbers that tell the reader about the scale of the topic and how the metric of the topic have changed in recent times;
 Numbers that tell the reader the impact or costs of the topic; e.g. increased crime rate resulted in lower home values (how much lower) and or residents migrating from a city, neighborhood (how many moved); and
 Policy and or programs that addressed or failed to address effectively the grow/decline or the costs/impacts of the topic.

The introduction concludes with a brief description of what follows in the paper. The paper should identify each section. Each section should have a title. For example, “Section 1: Efforts to Stem Violent Crime in Neighborhoods covers prior crime reduction policies and programs. The review will give special attention studies within the last five years that have measured outcomes of community and law enforcement strategies designed to reduce violent behavior and the tolerance of violence in specific neighborhoods. Section 2″ …etc.

Section 1—Review of the Literature
The literature review weaves together information about the topic. You, the writer, must command the information and not let the information lead you. You are not a story teller. Your role is that of an analyst who objectively surveyed the literature and added value by organizing the information thematically or chronologically, or in some other fashion that relates to the content of the literature and the topic. Good literature reviews contain information about:
 Theories and or research that explain what causes your topic (the dependent variable) to change.
 Policies and programs that illustrate those theories.
 Types of studies that have been conducted using research terms (e.g. survey, experimental design, case study etc.) and definitions of those terms, and how the study collected and analyzed data to increase our understanding of the topic.
 Failures of policy or programs and or gaps in the literature or the limitations of studies. For example, data could be qualitative, data collection could be limited to a place or few places (case studies), or data could be limited to national or the state and you believe we need to know about localities.

This section ends with how you will expand our understanding. The ending logically leads you to the next section on your study.

Section 2—Proposed Study and Methodology
This section begins with a research statement or question. You inform the reader about the definition and attributes of your dependent variable. You also identify at least three independent variables, including definitions and attributes that will be measured. Finally, you tell the reader how…what method…you will use to collect data on your variables. Given the analysis that will follow, you will set hypotheses and you will tell the reader how you will test the hypotheses…what ‘significance” measures you will need to reject or accept the null hypothesis.

In summary:
 Identify and define four variables (one dependent and three independent variables);
 Identify each variable’s level of measurement… all four variables must be interval ratio level measurements;
 Explain how data was collected for each variable;
 Specify your model;
 Propose the appropriate number of null and research hypotheses; and
 Establish what significance level will cause you to reject or accept the null and research hypotheses.

Dependent variable:
Total Percentage of vacant houses (2014)

Independent variables:
1. Unemployed rate (2011)
2. Average Home Appreciation for last 10 years
3. Residential Property Tax Delinquency (2012)

Section 3—Quantitative Data Analysis
This section utilizes analytical steps that in book that is ((Wang, XiaoHu. Performance Analysis for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2010)). The first element of analysis describes data. Each variable is treated separately. Describing data requires letting the reader see the data in tables and graphically and then telling the reader what they notice in the table(s) and graphic images of the data. Next, you begin to analyze the data using statistics that reveals how the data clusters and spreads. We use average and dispersion statistics to describe these patterns. You also need to identify outliers.

Next, you use statistics to tell the reader the variables relate. The reader should know which variables are dependent and independent. We use correlation to see how strongly each independent variable relates to the dependent variable. However, you should also run correlation to see how strongly each independent variable relates to the other independent variable. Remember, your model is theoretical so you could have the independent and dependent variable in the wrong order.

And finally, you conduct a test of the relation between each independent variable and the dependent variable (simple regression) and test the specified model of independent variables and the dependent variable.

 

1. Review the decision of the Respondent that was made to terminate the applicants immediately by reasons of misbehaviour pursuant to sections 41(1) and 46I(1)(a) of the Australian human rights commission act 1986.
2. Review the conduct of the Applicants to identify whether it constitutes the misbehavior ‘by undertaking statutory functions in politically biased manner” pursuant to sections 41(1) and 46I(1)(a) of the Australian human rights commission act 1986
Details of claim
The Applicants are aggrieved by the Respondent`s decision to terminate their positions because:
1. The decision of the Respondent to terminate employment of Applicants violates their rights as government employees pursuant to Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986

Grounds of application
The grounds of application in relation to the mentioned conduct are the following.

1. Respondent`s conduct contravenes the basic principles of Australian Human Rights Commission Act.
1.1 S10a provides that the Commission carries out its functions with regard for the indivisibility and universality of human rights, as well as the principle that every person is free and equal in dignity and rights.
1.2 S11 enumerates the principle functions of the Commission. S11 (1)(e) provides that the Commission has the power to examine enactments along with the proposed enactments in order to determine whether such acts are inconsistent or contrary to any human right, and to report to the Minister the results of such examination. Furthermore, s46c 1(d) specifies that Commission may examine whether enactments or proposed enactments recognize or protect the human rights of Aboriginal people.
1.3 Respondent`s decision to terminate was essentially based on the unfavorable outcome of statutory examinations conducted by the Applicants. Thus the decision violated the principles on which the Commission functions.
2. Commissions report did not constitute a politically biased misbehavior.
2.1 In making the report, the Commission carried out its statutory functions as described previously.
2.2 Misbehavior as defined in sections 41(1) and 46I(1)(a) refers to improper and unlawful conduct sufficient enough to terminate the employment. The Applicants, on the other hand, acted in accordance with their duties and functions of the Commission: their report cannot be regarded as misbehavior leading to the termination of employment.
3. Respondent acted in bad faith when making a decision to terminate Applicants.
3.1 The report of the Commission was highly critical of the government policy and decisions. It was particularly emphasized that the reinstatement of Racial Discrimination Act 1975 would legitimize government action that constitutes racial discrimination against indigenous Australians.
3.2 The findings of the report led to a significant decrease of public support of government. To mitigate the loss, the Respondent decides to terminate the position of Applicants accusing them of politically biased misbehavior.
3.3 The Respondent used his authority to terminate the Applicants in bad faith with the purpose of protection of the interests of the government and ruling party, rather than for a cause of actual misbehavior as provided in sections 41(1) and 46I(1)(a)

Orders sought
On the basis of grounds of application mentioned above, the Applicants claim for the following relief
1. An order authorizing the Respondent to recover the Applicants, Mr. Freedom and Mr. Justice in their positions as the President of Commission and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner respectively.
2. A declaration recognizing that the report of the Commission does not constitute a politically biased misbehaviour as alleged by the respondent.
Applicant’s address
The Applicant’s address for service is:
Place: [see rule 11.01]
Email:
The Applicant’s address is
Service on the Respondent
It is intended to serve this application on the following Respondents:

Date:

Signed by [Name]
[Insert capacity: Applicant / Lawyer for the Applicant]

[* If more than one applicant or respondent, insert names of the second, third, fourth etc as required in this schedule. Delete schedule if not required.]
Schedule
No. of 20
Federal Court of Australia
District Registry: [State]
Division: [Division]
[*]Applicants
Second Applicant: [Name]
[* etc]
[*]Respondents
Second Respondent: [Name]
[* etc]

Date:
[*delete if inapplicable]

Applicant`s outline of submissions

The Applicants acted within the powers granted to them under the Act.

Australian Human Rights Commission Act was enacted with the purpose of establishing of statutory body specifically investigating the alleged violations of anti-discrimination laws. One of the primary functions of the Commission is to examine government proposed enactments in order to determine whether such acts are inconsistent or contrary to any human right. Based on the examination, the Commission files a report to the Minister describing the results of the examination with appropriate recommendations by the Commission for amendment of the enactment or proposed enactment to ensure that it is not inconsistent with or contrary to any human right. The statute specifically provides that such report is to be filed when the recommendations to amend the enactments relate to rights concerning equal opportunity.
Mr. Justice and Mr. Freedom as the President of Commission and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner respectively supervise the implementation of such functions. In the following case, the Commission in the course of its functions, prepared a report titled A Racist Response which criticized governments attempt to reinstate Racial Discrimination Act alleging that such step would create opportunities for the government to infringe on the rights of indigenous Australians. The following termination of officials was based on the fact of their alleged “misbehaviour” was in “politically biased manner”.
It is clear that the officials acted strictly within the functions set in the statute and their actions did not cross prescribed limits of their authority. Based on their knowledge and expertise, the Commission under the supervision of Applicants prepared a report setting out the drawbacks of the proposed enactment particularly stressing how the enactment may be detrimental to the rights of indigenous Australians. In making this examination and preparing ensuing report with recommendations, the Commission has carried out its essential functions. No provision in the statute indicate that the report and recommendations resulting from the examination of enactment must not criticize the political decisions of the government. On the contrary, the Commission must act as an independent evaluator of the government`s actions and decisions in order to ensure that the latter do not result in infringement of human`s rights.

The Commission is not a political body.

The Applicants` office was terminated for a reason of misbehaviour as provided in sections 41(1) and 46I(1)(a) of the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth). The misbehaviour was alleged to take place in that the Applicants undertook their statutory functions in “politically biased manner”.
Australian Human Rights Commission is a national human rights institution acting as an administrative body. While the composition of the commission may depend on political will, the body itself does not intend to represent the interests of any political party or movement. The chief purpose of the commission is to protect the human rights and monitor the legislation so that it`s consistent with human rights. Based on the expertise of the members of the commission, they are vested with the responsibility to provide professional analysis of the legislature on its compliance with human rights as well as investigate alleged violation of anti-discrimination laws. It is particularly important that the commissioners are not affected by their political views because it might adversely affect their ability to make unbiased and fair decisions in the course of their work. For this purpose, the commission constantly comprises of legal scholars, law professors, former justices rather than “professional politicians”
Considering that the current members of the commission, including the Applicants, do not have any political background or political affiliation, it is highly unlikely that the recommendations in their report can be in any degree “politically biased”.

Acoustic of vowels and consonants

To perform this lab, please download the latest version of Speech Analyzer (http://www-01.sil.org/computing/sa/index.htm), then answer the questions on the laboratory (attached as a PDF). Please use your assigned textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and/or other speech and hearing science texts to better understand the acoustics of speech production to verify your results.

spv 249 R01 instrumentation lab.pdf
This is the link where the questions have to be answered.

https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1204158-dt-forum-rid-104638915_1/courses/LEH01_SPV_249_R01_1152_1

English 101
Assignment : Thesis Statement
Topic: Water Pollution

Water, in my country, Saudi Arabia, has always been viewed as a very precious resource; one that must be preserved and not wasted. In our world today, however, water masses are becoming contaminated at such an alarming rate, that each one of us must do our part to recover the hydrosphere from the many pollutants that have caused this contamination.
This paper, will look mainly, at chemical pollutants from factories and agricultural plants. It will highlight the damage being done, by these pollutants, to the environment as a whole and the domino effect that it can have on human life and ultimately, life on our planet.

The Painting that i chose to write on is The Suspension by Llyn Foulkes. Write and essay on the painting describing the painting and the meaning and all its aspects. Its a very deep piece so feel free to be creative with it. for the sources if you could use JSTOR that would be great thank you.

Paper Requirements–Not Suggestions

Go to a museum and look at one work of art for thirty minutes taking careful notes.
Typed, 11-12 point font, double spaced, 900-1200 words (not characters).
Use the Chicago Manual of Style for footnotes or endnotes and bibliography. Citations do not simply fall at the bottom or end of the essay, but also includes a small number in the body of the text at the appropriate places to reference non-common knowledge facts. At the bottom of the page (footnotes) or at the end of the essay (endnotes) you must accurately cite all sources, including lectures, online resources, museum labels. “Works Cited” is not appropriate, and you do not cite the art work as a scholarly source. Please see: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch10_s1-0007.html.
The first page of the paper (The Cover Page) please include the following information: Artist, Title, Date, Medium, your first and last name, and five digit ticket number, name of the museum you visited and the date you visited.
Use a minimum of three SCHOLARLY resources, other than your text books. Two of the sources must be a library data base electronically sourced document. You may also use your text book(s), but two sources from elsewhere. You are evaluated on the quality of your sources.
Paper should be written in the 3rd person, NOT informal journal entry writing such as: “On a bright sunny day I went to the Laguna Museum of Art and discovered the beautiful work of…” Also, instead of saying, “I see that there is a light in the middle of the painting, which makes me think the figure is important.” Instead, you should consider writing, “The artist emphasizes the figure in the middle of the painting by portraying this area of the composition with a lighter palette suggesting a light source on the left of the composition.” Also, do not write as if writing a travel brochure. Ie: The Bowers Museum
Museum Paper-Assignment continued….

of Art has many treasures for the general public and anyone can find something of interest. Please focus on writing a college-level paper, focusing on work of art.
The title of the work (object you are writing about) should be italicized such as, “Thomas Cole’s painting, The Oxbow is reminiscent of….
The Paper

Write complete and coherent sentences. Write in the 3rd person. Write from notes/outlines and your own personal honest, observations.
Avoid vague flowery effusive language. Example: “The artist’s inherent genius is evident in this masterpiece.”
Avoid disorganized and journal entry style writing.
Some scholarly resources are necessary, but this is not a research paper. Research should support your argument/observations about the work. Do not pad the essay with long unnecessary facts that do not pertain to your own observations about the work.
Common mistakes: An artist is not an “author” and a painting is not a photograph. Please know the medium of the work of art and reference it correctly in the essay
The Paper Continued…

The following questions are ways for you to think about the work, but should not be taken literally as question/answers in the paper. What do you see? Colors, textures, composition? What is the subject matter/content of the work? How does the artist portray
what you are seeing? Linear qualities? Painterly qualities? What captured your attention/interest with this work? What do you think about the work? Does it appeal to you for a particular reason? What did you learn about the artist’s intentions/if any? Do you agree? How the work of art succeeds or fails in terms of what you think the artist’s intentions were?

New Dawn Enterprises In Cape Breton
Paper details

Write a critical literature review. It should be used to explore the particular topic in depth, to see what is being written on the subject in the academic literature. The paper should be “critical” in the sense of evaluating the theories and explanations presented in the literature in terms of their robustness and explanatory power. You may also suggest areas where the current theory is lacking and where further research may be needed. The paper should be fully referenced. The focus of the literature search should be on the academic literature (scholarly journals and texts).It should focus on how this enterprise helps Cape Breton to solve social problems like education, unemployment, housing, health care and Inequality in Cape Breton. Also, it should describe the shortcomings of this enterprise to solve those social issues in Cape Breton. In other words, this paper should describe those different opinions deeply, In the end, it should summarize all the different views. My major is Community Economic Development, so the paper should focus on the New Dawn Enterprises that within the Cape Breton region. Length: Max 4000 words.

Technology Strategy Analysis

Purpose: The primary goal of this assignment is to apply the Technology Strategy frameworks, most notably those regarding the influence of sustaining and disruptive technologies on a particular industry and the firms within that industry. We would like for you to conduct your analysis and explain your conclusions in a concise 1-page email. Please complete the analyses by drawing on your understanding of the article, “Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave”. Please be sure to write your email in professional business English and to check grammar and word usage!
Content: To complete the assignment, please write a one-page email that does the following:
(1) Identify a company & industry in which technological innovation is playing an important role.
a. Please consider this firm to be your “client” for the purpose of the email. Assume that you have been engaged as an independent consultant and that you have been asked to write a one-page email explaining some central issues to your client.
b. Consider a leading executive of the company that you are advising as the recipient of your email.
c. In the first sentence of the email, please explain its overall purpose.
(2) Please identify and describe both a sustaining innovation and a disruptive innovation that have affected your client firm or that may affect your client firm in the near future.
a. Please conduct sufficient background research on the sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation that you can introduce each of these innovations in a sentence or two.
b. Please explain which firms did introduce these innovations (or, if the innovations have not yet been introduced, please note which firms are most likely to introduce them)
c. Please graph each of these on a Technology S-Curve & please attach this graphic as Exhibit A, taking care to label the horizontal and vertical axes appropriately. Please see class slides for examples.
d. Please explain your Exhibit in the text.
(3) Please consider how the sustaining innovation affects competition in the industry.
a. Please explain why you consider this innovation to be a sustaining innovation
b. Please explain which firms benefit from the sustaining innovation (and how they benefit) and which firms do not (and why not).
c. If the sustaining innovation has already taken place, please provide the firm with advice about how it could have best reacted to that innovation; if the sustaining innovation has not yet been introduced, please provide the firm with advice about how it can best react to the innovation.
(4) Please consider how the disruptive innovation affects competition in the industry.
a. Please explain why you consider this innovation to be a disruptive innovation
b. Please explain which firms benefit from the disruptive innovation (and how they benefit) and which firms do not (and why not).
c. If the disruptive innovation has already taken place, please provide the firm with advice about how it could have best reacted to that innovation; if the disruptive innovation has not yet been introduced, please provide the firm with advice about how it can best react to the innovation.

Some writing tips:
o Check for grammar & typographical errors!
o Write in active voice wherever possible.
o Avoid colloquialisms, clichés, journalistic language, imprecise statements, unnecessary phrases, & redundancy
o Include an introductory sentence that clearly indicates the purpose of the email/memo.

The Two Propositions
There are two conflicting views pertaining to the widening gap of skill, education and earning inequality between the few who are at the top of the social ladder as compared to the overwhelming majority. One of which is that the falling behind of the majority is because most people have become lazy and uncompetitive on their own doing while others believe that the increasing gap is brought by social factors that are beyond the control of the marginalized majority. Rather, the income disparity is highly influenced by policies. In his article, ‘Skills, education, and the rise of earnings inequality among the “other 99 percent”,’ David Autor, provided a well-researched and informative perspective to explain the mechanics of social mobility and its present status especially in well-developed countries. Social mobility has been defined as the chances or “opportunities for progression within the social hierarchy” (Nunn, A., Johnson, S., Monro, S., Bickerstaffe, T., & Kelsey, S., 2007). According to studies, there is an extraordinary gap of income between the top 1% of American households as compared to the 99% and this gap is increasing at an incredible rate (Autor, D., 2014). Autor believe that this gap has something to do with the supply and demand for skills and how skills are heavily rewarded in highly developed countries (Autor, D., 2014). Because certain skills are in demand and these skills are found in the top 1% of the American household, it is only logical to think that their incomes would exceed that of the other families. However, skills that pay higher are acquired through education. Also, it is quite evident that the amount of education in order to acquire a certain skill is also proportional to how that particular skill is being rewarded. For the same reason, in highly developed societies, those who have attained higher education are among the highly paid while the less educated worker would have to contend with the minimum wage, which is often immobile. The importance of education to social mobility or the ability to rise up the social hierarchy has been emphasized by Autor. Accordingly, a century ago when the demand requires physical strength to be utilized in agricultural labor, education somehow does not pose a huge gap between illiterate and literate Americans. However, economic activity has shifted from agriculture to electronics, technology, hospitality, entertainment, etc., the demand for analytical skills become very much apparent leaving behind physical skill as less in demand because of mechanical and electronic advancements (Autor, D., 2014). Author is implying that in the new economy, education is a critical aspect in order to attain the skill that society demands as well as to maintain a high degree of social mobility. In fact, the nation’s economic and social well-being can be determined through the level of education that the general population has attained (Odland, S.).
Policies Affecting Social Mobility
In the present society, certain policies and dynamics have made education especially higher education restrictive, which also has a significant impact on social mobility. In America, for example, college fees have gone out of proportion that only middle class families can afford to send their children to college while poor families would have to rely on grants before they can get a descent college education. If college education is restrictive, then it does not matter whether people are lazy or not primarily because it is not laziness or industry that determines ones engagement in college but the individual’s financial capability. As a ripple effect, those families who are already earning substantially are also the ones who are more capable of sending their children to college to get their degrees while the others are left behind to contend to learn other skills, albeit more physically intensive skills that pay much lesser. Autor also cites the declining power of the labor union to demand generous wage and benefits for blue-collared employees (Autor, D., 2014). For Autor, this is one example of how policies influence social mobility as well. Autor believe that the rising inequality is a sole consequence of the impersonal forces of supply and demand as what the changes in technology and business interests suggests but rather, the widening gap in income inequality is substantially influenced by social policies that might be altered to minimize the disparity on opportunities between the rich and the poor.

References
Autor, D. (2014). Skills, education, and the rise of earnings inequality among the “other 99 percent”. Science.org, 843 – 851.
Nunn, A., Johnson, S., Monro, S., Bickerstaffe, T., & Kelsey, S. (2007). Factors influencing social mobility. Retrieved February 2015, from http://repository-intralibrary.leedsmet.ac.uk/: http://repository-intralibrary.leedsmet.ac.uk/open_virtual_file_path/i08n191048t/rrep450.pdf
Odland, S. (2012, March). College Costs Out Of Control. Retrieved July 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/: http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveodland/2012/03/24/college-costs-are-soaring/