Self and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Self and Society - Essay Example Each "healthy" society needs people capable of looking forward into the future and capable of showing us the path that leads outside the polluted atmosphere of intrigues of the group of the "little" people we all belong to. Namely, people who serve the truth and not the group or the public opinion are predecessors of the society who warn us of the dangers on our way to freedom. While the group is characterized with sluggishness and inertia, the individual is capable of rapid changes of his/her opinion towards the light that glows over the new facts and warns of new danger. However, those who serve the truth only, are rare and few. Many philosophers and famous writers have tried to find answers to these and similar questions concerning the individual versus society. Camus, Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Thoreau and Emerson are only a few of those who have tried to criticize the society they have lived in, to cynically laugh at and mock their own time, to warn of the dangers of the moral and ethical erosion they have been witnesses of. Knowing the characteristics of existentialism to which Camus belongs, it is understandable why in his short novel "The Stranger" Albert Camus criticizes the judicial system and depicts the irony of a case when a man is condemned for his indifference and avoidance of societal code. Mersault, the protagonist, is condemned not only by the judge but the spectators in the courtroom as well for something else, that is, his lack of emotional response at his mother's funeral, etc., other than the crime he committed (killing the Arab) and the sentence is for him to be decapitated in the name of many people whom he has never known or whom he will never meet. Mersault is forced to be the outsider when he wants to speak on his behalf. Mersault's story is the story of everyman. To Mersault (i.e. to Camus) life's only meaning is seen from the death point of view. According to Camus, people strive to make their lives meaningful in the face of God but it is absurd, because hope and faith are only p ointless measures constructed by each individual to provide purpose and avoid responsibility. Yet, Mersault is not a person who avoids responsibility for his deeds. On the contrary, he accepts responsibility for what he has done, changes into a person readers would like him to be, i.e. he shows that he is fully capable of feeling, he has emotions, he comes to terms with death, and gives a clear picture of what others are like - people hiding their true selves behind the veal of moral and societal code, when in fact they are nothing else but people full of hatred. "With death so near, Mother must have felt like someone on the brink of freedom, ready to start life all over again. It was as if that great rush of anger had washed me clean, emptied me of hope, and, gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe. To feel it so like myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me realize that I'd been happy, and that I was happy still. For all to be accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with howls of execration" (Camus, "The Stranger", p.76). Does not hatred equal less than zero "Someone must have been telling lies about

Autism Spectrum Disorders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Autism Spectrum Disorders - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Ð ¨n an ideal world, most families will have no stress no matter what situation gets in their way. However, most families with children with autism spectrum disorders become more stressed compared with families with typically developing children. Baron-Cohen and his colleague's article support that both parents of the children with ASD report significantly elevated stress levels compared to those with typically developing children. For one to understand the research content, it is significant to define the autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder refers to a term that describes autism and four other disabilities affecting individual’s ability to communicate, socialize, and respond to individual’s environment. The spectrum usually gets diagnosed before age three. Autism is a spectrum disorder since children can have diverse characteristics or symptoms that affect them from mild to severe range. Some of the chara cteristics include the delay in social interaction and communication, repetitive body movements, obsessions over certain objects and having specific rituals and routines. ASD tends to affect mostly the males compared to females. Currently, it is reported in Autismspeaks.org (2010) that in every 110 children, one is diagnosed with ASD and every 70 boys there is one with ASD. Additionally, there are no known ASD cures. However, there are several treatments that lessen the severity of the autism. Usually, people tend to think about the children diagnosed with ASD, and no one tends to think about the impact that the diagnosis has on parents. Often, parents with children diagnosed with ASD go through an emotional experience. The parents go through the thoughts of thinking that their child is perfect to think that their child has an incurable disorder that may affect every aspect of the child’s life. Hence, parents should learn how to cope with the situation after the initial diagn osis.

Kant Ethics Essay Example for Free

Kant Ethics Essay Introduction Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher born in 1724 and died in 1804. He is considered one of the most influential people on modern philosophy for his intensive research in the subject. This paper will discuss various articles written by Kant and analyze his thoughts on deeds that are right and deeds that are morally wrong. It will finally discuss importance of motives and duty of morality as illustrated by Kant’s work. Discussion Kant believed that there is no good that can emerge from the world apart from a good will (Kant, 1998). He said that without good will, qualities that are good and desirable become useless. This is because the person yielding these qualities may at times lack the fundamental will to implement and portray them. He called this lack of good will as bad character. He continued to say that when good will is not present, then Power, honor, health and the overall welfare, contentment and happiness will usually mess with the mind of the person and they will start pretending and believing lies created in their mind. Good will, according to Kant, can be facilitated by application of various qualities. However, these qualities may have no inherent absolute value, but constantly presume a good will, which succeeds the esteem that we simply have for them, not permitting us to consider them as extremely good. He attempted to identify the primary maxims of motives, which people are required to achieve. Kant did not base his opinions on claims about any subjective perception of the good, preferences, moral beliefs or regularly shared desires that people may have. Kant also recognized good will as the only absolute good; he refused to accept that the notion of good will could be established by referring to a tangible good. He believed that nothing could be a moral principle, if it was not initially a principle for everyone. According to Kant, morality starts with the denial of non-globalized principles. This idea was devised as a demand, which Kant termed as the Moral Law. He grouped the maxims in a manner that mediators could refer as â€Å"acting on the only adage that one can, and likewise will, just like an international law†. To clarify the point, Kant gave an example of an agent who gives false promises. He adds to this by saying that the agent’s action in this case does not fit to be termed as an international law. He explains that if the agent was hypothetical, then he would take part in the final outcome and this would make him stop his behavior of giving false promises (Kant, 2009). It is therefore clear that the principle of giving false promises cannot be categorized under universally shared principles. According to Kant, the principle of repudiating false promises is vital and the maxim of giving false morally forbidden. Kant is different from many utilitarian’s who regard false promises as wrong due to their adverse effects. He considers this principle as wrong since it cannot be used internationally. Kant identified two ethical modes of assessment, one of them being the fact that human beings have a high probability of evaluating the maxims adopted by agents. He asserted that if human beings had the capacity of evaluating such maxims, then principles with moral worth would come into being, since humans could decline immoral principles. He stated, â€Å"Those who accept principles that are not universal, have principles that are morally unworthy†. He considered those holding morally worth policies as working out of duty and said that human beings lack knowledge concerning the maxims of one another. Kant added to this by saying that people usually deduce the underlying principles or maxims of agents from the pattern of their actions, though no pattern identifies a unique principle. He gave the example of a genuinely honest shopkeeper by saying that his actions are not different from those of a shopkeeper who is reluctantly honest. Kant said that both shopkeepers deal justly out of an aspiration for a good reputation in business and would cheat if given the opportunity. Thus for common reasons, human beings usually do more than is of their concern with outer compliance to principles of duty, instead of paying attention to claims that an action was done out of such a principle. Kant discussed the relationship between principles of morality and people’s real inclinations and desires (Mac Intyre, 1981). He built the political insinuations of Categorical Imperative, which consists of constitution of the republic and value for freedom, particularly of speech and religion. He linked this with individual happiness which according to him can indirectly be viewed as an obligation. This is because one’s dissatisfaction with the wants of another might turn out to be a great lure to the wrongdoing of duty (O’Neill, 1991). He viewed this from another perspective and claimed that most men possess the strongest tendency to happiness. At this point, Kant gave the example of a gouty patient, who can make a choice of what he likes, and endure whatever suffering that comes with it. If he does this, he does not forego enjoying the present time to a probably wrong expectation of happiness believed to be experienced in good health (Kant, 1994). Kant states that, â€Å"an action from duty has its moral worth not in the aim that is supposed to be attained by it, but rather in the maxim in accordance with which it is resolved upon; thus that worth depends not on the actuality of the object of the action but merely on the principle of the volition† (ONeill, 1991). The moral worth of a deed does not lie in the result anticipated from it, nor in the action or maxim which needs to make use of its intention from the expected result. In relation to the discussed effects, the endorsement of other people’s happiness could be caused by other reasons (Beck, 1960). Conclusion Significance of motives and the role of duty in morality Motives can either be of good or bad intentions. They often influence one’s roles of duty. The morality of duty is relative to the law and is therefore compared to the morality of religion. It, therefore, does not criticize man for not making full use of his life or by not doing good. He states that, â€Å"There is nothing possible to think of anywhere in the world, or indeed anything at all outside it, that can be held to be good without limitation, excepting only a good will† (ONeill, 1991). Instead, it criticizes man for not respecting the fundamental principles and necessities required in life. A good example is the moral rule that man should not kill, since this does not have much to do with aspiration but the recognition that if one kills, he has not realized his duty of morality. I do not agree with Kant on the importance of motives and the role of duty in morality. This is because Kant only points out principles of ethics, but the same principles are so abstract that they can’t guide motives. Thus, his theory of the role of duty in morality is not motivating. He does not also give a full set of instructions to be followed. Kant lays emphasis on the appliance of maxims to cases that involve deliberation and judgment. He does insist that maxims must be abstract which can only guide individual decisions. The moral life is all about finding ways of good motives that meet all the obligations and breach no moral prohibitions. There is no procedure for identifying any motives. However, the role of duty in morality begins by ensuring that the precise acts that people bear in mind are not in line with deeds on principles of duty. References Beck, L. W. (1960). A Commentary on Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kant, I. (1998). Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kant, I. (2009). Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals. London: Thomas Kings mill Abbot. Kant, I. (1994). On a Supposed Right to Lie from Altruistic Motives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ONeill, O. (1991). Kantian Ethics. In A Companion to Ethics. Blackwell: Oxford. MacIntyre, A. (1981). After Virtue. London: Duckworth.

Gay As A Deviant Culture Sociology Essay

Gay As A Deviant Culture Sociology Essay Homosexuality is considered as an emerging issue all over the world. Gay people believe that they are not physically different or incapacitated in any way. They believe that they have every right to be offered the same opportunities, just like everyone else. A while ago this issue could not be spoken out aloud in public. It is unethical and uncouth to think that homosexuality is right. In todays Age much of what cultural values entail has changed over time due exposure to a new understanding, inter relation of beliefs, morals, mind-set, connotations, chain of command, religious conviction, concept of time, responsibilities, perceptions of the universe, and material entity s and possessions acquired. Communities and societies have always had their way of doing things. Most people have at one time or another found that they dont fit in the societies known culturally and social norms (Cook, 28). Occasionally this happens due to ones understanding, mind-set, connotations, chain of command, religious conviction, responsibilities, and in every community and society homosexuality has affected the social ethics. A persons sexuality and preference according to psychologists will normally be easily altered at puberty. Adolescent at times find themselves in a dilemma where they do not actually know to what sex they prefer. Some find themselves in the antagonism of the puberty unpredicted effects like same sex attraction. Somehow when looked at a critical view this kind of preference is not actually a persons fault, it is the stage in life. With this in mind gay people believe that it is actually not their fault that they are the way they are. Most people in the society will not actually put this into consideration due to so many factors and consequences that are associated when this fact is accepted. In turn, the gay people in the community feel that the only way they can be heard out is by coming together and creating one voice. This has been seen over the past years. Gay people have organized rallies, peaceful demonstrations in different places all over the world in order to have their voices heard (Phelan, 25). Years down the line this has become one large community with its own cultural standards, values and rights. In every society, there is the agreeable set of rules and norms that guide the people in day to day living. Eighty three to eighty to five percent of people in every other community will always abide to these norms (Burke, 9), but a small percentage becomes deviant to these norms. It is probably a bit difficult to determine whether a deviant person in the community is always wrong, because what determines whether they are wrong or right is what they are deviant to. Homosexuality is not accepted in so many places around the world (Bamforth, 33), and this has made the gay culture deviant (Stephen, 1). The classical justification of this fact is that a deviant culture will always push the moral boundaries of a society giving alternatives and new options to the status quo and promoting change. Most cultures usually may not always agree on what to do with people who push beyond its acceptable ways in doing things. In fact, norms and accepted social ethics violation that gain enough support may at times become acceptable, a good example being the gay people (Sharon, 1). Thus, the gay culture is deviant because in some places it has made the societies, government constitutions to rethink and redefine the moral boundaries in place. The culture as it is going against so many know defined social ethics rules. Religious and social liberals point out that being gay is against written work of most inspired men like John the Baptist from the Christian bible. Islam does not allow these acts of relationships at all so does the Hindu (Bamforth, 13). It is a bit different for the catholic dominion because today gay marriages have been joined catholic churches. The gay culture deviant as it is faced so many threats about its publicity. Gay people have lost jobs, disowned by families and at other times even their lives have been threatened. It is a definite conviction to the gay culture that there is nothing much more significant than any issues that would make any one guilty and endanger their lives or families just because of their opinion, knowledge and preference about their sexual nature. The gay culture attests that the good of humankind is tied up together by the common pursuit through shared experience toward the likelihood of the same gender relationship (Harry, 43). In the past decades talented artists and poets, musicians openly described their sexuality to the public in their writing, art and songs. The gay community associates itself with the past legends and their exceptional work. They have motivated people who have felt demoralized. Gay people are introverts. And psychologists have backed up the fact that hidden desires of se xuality due to their unaccepted nature feed the possibility of sexual lusts which leads to violations of social ethics, desires to fulfill empty cravings. Gay as a deviant culture suffers from the dominant competitive ethos. This leads to the rise of struggle in interests to gain recognition or control (Harry, 31), and defies the recognition of the accepted social ethical norms and interest which all people have in common. So many factors have led to the rise of this deviant culture. Some of this factors when looked in to, are quite justifiable to those who consider respecting human rights. For instance, a factor that leads to the gay culture becoming so publicized and famous was that some large corporations and organization simply fired and never employed people with this kind of sexual preference i.e. gay. The authorities left no room for gay people. In the United States of America, gay people have come together from so many states and joined hands in so many ways in order to be heard. The 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution which is a protection clause necessitate states and governments to treat people in an equal manner but the fact that the equal protection clause, in the United States Constitution is not absolute and that a government has gotten the right to treat people differently and discriminate against one group if it sees that as a requirement to the interest of the majority. This fact makes the gay culture even more deviant because if it does not publicize its ways well enough then it is just a period of time and it might be considered wrong (Harry, 11). Living requires that each and everyone makes the right moral choices in order to prevent a culture from dissolving into chaos (Harry, 11). Everyone must have a stand over certain behaviors and attitudes over others. In most communities having a stand that does not violate the accepted norms is quite acceptable. In this context violation means that which goes against. Gay preference will have so many views from different people in a society and because of the huge gap in the point of agreement whether it should be accepted or not it leaves a particularly large room for those directly affected to justify why this topic should be considered acceptable just like any other. Some theories that might try to give more details in this topic have ruled out that sometimes being deviant is not wrong, and sometimes it just happens due to one perspective in regard to what information they are exposed to. When it comes to explaining deviance, there are a couple theories try to explain one of them is Mertons strain theory. He was one of the first sociologists in America and his theory generally assumes that societies give both culturally-valued goals and culturally-valued means (Peter, 21)? Theoretically the gay culture argues that this culturally valued goals and cultural valued means do not at all address issues and matters pertaining to the same gender relationship. These have led to the idea of creating a suitable environment by gay people whereby they will be able to associate with the community without any stigmatization. Gay people share so many things in common, they relate to one another than straight people in an exceedingly significant way. If we consider gay to be a community of people with common social interests and sexual preference and behavior then this becomes a culture. Gay people are considered to be more conservative with refined talent compared to straight people, and while this is just an observation by few psychologists they further explain that because gay people will probably have an associative feminine behavior, they tend to be keener in what they do, like what they dress and the way they talk. A good example would be the comparison of two magnificent artists who have different gender preference i.e. a straight artist and a gay artist; studies have shown that gay artists will want to capture every detail in their work compared to the latter. While this does not suggest that gay people are better than straight people it just gives a stronger base of argument as to why the gay cult ure is deviant. Gay theorists and activists have tried through vigorous efforts, to seek public support community in formal civil rights . The legal status of the gay community largely remains unequal and unprotected. In most governments there are no courts of appeal that look closely into hearing sexual; preference based equal protection claims. High courts have avoided in coming to a decision (Sharon, 1) as to whether this kind of cases should be looked in to in a much closer scrutiny. But due to the deviant nature of this culture it has somehow managed to be heard in some states, and these states have enacted laws prohibiting government and private discrimination on the pedestal of sexual orientation. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the fact that gay people are deviant is not entirely wrong because if they do not stand in what they know and believe in, then they will have no place in the society and as earlier mentioned, gay people are people that are not physically incapacitated due to their sexual orientation. They cannot be considered as criminals due to the fact that they are gay. Arguably the failure or success of the attempts to achieve legal equality for gays will in a tremendous way depend on how activists in this field address this deviant unprotected gay cultures needs (Peter, 55). Gay as a deviant culture is an issue that is being addressed to day all over the world today. Religion and denominations are against gay practices. Activists and scholars will have to address churches and different denominations if at all they want to be heard. Every society and community must accept that we are all equal. Discrimination is immoral and no one should be subjected to it. If s society wants to have a healthy and peaceful living, it must accept everybody regardless of their sexual orientation. It this does not happen, gay people will continue to be deviant. Gay people are said to be deviant but there is nothing wrong in that (Peter, 17). On the other hand gay people should be patient with the society every time they come out publicly to push for their rights; they should not have an ego. The gay culture has been observed to stick together because this allows them to be heard as one voice (Peter, 22). The ruling of this issue of gay as a deviant culture will entirely fall on a host of ideological, political and legal variables and at some time when the request has been fully addressed by law, the society and religion than gay culture will probably change from being deviant to a positive mindset accepted community. Scholarly Articles cited Anderson, Rob. THE WEEKLY STANDARDS ABSURD CASE AGAINST GAY MARRIAGE. The New Republic, (2005). Print Harris, Daniel. The Rise and Fall of Gay Culture. New York: Hyperion, 1997. Print. McCreery, Patrick. Out Front: Lesbians, Gays, and the Struggle for Workplace Rights Beyond Gay: deviant Sex and the Politics of the Enda Workplace. Social Text. 17.4 (1999): 39. Print. Cook, Matt. London and the Culture of Homosexuality, 1885-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print. Phelan, Jo. Geneticization of Deviant Behavior and Consequences for Stigma: the Case of Mental Illness17. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 46.4 (2005): 307-322. Print. Bamforth, Nicholas. Sexuality, Morals and Justice: A Theory of Lesbian and Gay Rights Law. London: Cassell, 1997. Internet resource. Peter, Marshall B, and Robert F. Meier. Sociology of Deviant Behavior. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Peter . Nardi, Beth E. Schneider. Social perspectives in lesbian and gay studies: a reader. 1998. print Shah, Bijal, GAY AMERICAN DEVIANCE: Using International Comparative Analysis to Argue for a Free Speech and Establishment Clause Approach to Furthering Gay Marriage in the United States. (2007). Student Scholarship Papers. Paper 52. http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/student_papers/52 Sharon Hughes. The gay culture. March 9 2004 Web. 10 Nov. 2013 http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/hughes/040309 Joe Kort, Ph.D. Making Gay and Lesbian Relationships and Marriage Simple through Ten Truths 04/09/2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013 Stephen Milioti. Why I Reject Popular Gay Culture (Or: What to Know Before Setting Me Up With Your Other Gay Friend) 4/8/2002. Web. 10 Nov. 2013 http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cjas/may_reject.html

The Painter :: essays research papers

Suddenly, he woke up. He sensed that the train had stopped. â€Å"Am I in Beijing?† John Gwen thought. He looked around and saw Tianjing signs on the pillars in the train station. â€Å"Looks like this is it. Well I better hop off and glance around. After he hopped off, he saw two security guards hurrying toward him. Uh-oh. Two strong security guards rushed to him and grabbed him. The other one took his painting. They sent him to the office to confront their chief. The chief was sitting down behind a large desk and looked like a kind looking man that was toughened by the world. He had eyes that can look right through you. â€Å"Chief, we caught this thief trying to sneak off the cargo train that just arrived. This is what he stole.† Said one of the guards as he handed the painting over to the chief. â€Å"I suggest putting him in jail for fifteen days and see if he tries to steal again.† Said the other guard. â€Å"Oh no,† John thought, â€Å"if they put me in jail for fifteen days. I’ll miss the art convention. I must prove my innocence.† â€Å"No, no, I swear, I didn’t steal it! That’s my—â€Å" â€Å"Shut up!† the first guard ordered. The chief had been silent since the suspect had been brought in. The man looks like a high school student. He is shivering and looks very nervous. â€Å"Is he shivering because he is afraid of getting caught? Or is he freezing?† he thought. â€Å"Okay, what’s your name? â€Å"J†¦J†¦John Gwen.† He muttered, â€Å"c†¦can I have hot water?† â€Å"Sure.† And he poured some hot water for him pretending not to hear the grunt from one of the guards. Then he waited as John slowly drank the water. â€Å"Well,† John thought, â€Å"if I can’t prove that the painting is mine, I could get to the convention on time but I will also have to pay for sneaking on the train. However, I could pretend to go to the bathroom and escape but I won’t be able to take my painting with me. Also, how will I get to Beijing then?† â€Å"Okay, what are you doing here?† the chief asked. â€Å"I was going to go to Beijing but at Shenyang, I fell asleep when I was waiting for the train and somebody stole my tickets and all my money so I snuck on a cargo train and I thought it was going to Beijing but when I woke up I was in Tianjing and then two guards rushed over and—â€Å"

Women’s Plight in Katherine Mansfield’s Life Of Ma Parker :: Life Of Ma Parker Essays

Katherine Mansfield’s "Life of Ma Parker" presents the plight of Ma Parker as a working-class woman at the turn of the century, in terms of her position in the sphere of the family and in the sphere of society. "Life of Ma Parker" is a story of a widowed charwoman. Like Miss Brill, Ma Parker is a very lonely woman, but their equally painful story is told quite differently, mainly because Mansfield supplies no background to account why Miss Brill’s Sunday passes as it does. As the title of the story denotes, we receive the story of Ma Parker’s life, which explains her current situation. "As servant, wife, and mother, she’s the generic British working-class female at the turn of the century – cowed by drudgery and burdened by loss. Her husband, a baker, died of ‘white lung’ disease, and those children who survived the high rate of infant mortality fell victim to other ills of the late-Victorian underclass: emigration, prostitution, poor h ealth, worse luck" (Lohafer 475). At the present point in the story, Ma Parker arrives to work in the house of the literary gentleman after she buried the previous day her loving grandson, Lennie, who was the only ray of light in her dreary life. According to Irigaray, "all the systems of exchange that organize patriarchal societies and all the modalities of productive work that are recognized, values, and rewarded in these societies are men’s business†¦.[t]he work force is this always assumed to be masculine, and ‘products’ are objects to be used, objects of transaction among men alone" (171). Ma Parker has to play the role of an object circulated among masculine employers as she has to support her children and herself. Ma begins working as early as the age of sixteen as a "kitching-maid" (143). Later on, "[w]hen that family was sold up she went as ‘help’ to a doctor’s house, and after two years there, on the run from morning till light, she married her husband" (144). Ma is an object of transaction among men, as she transfers from one male employee to another, until she is married. Now then, Ma was working for the literary man, as people advised him to "get a hag in once a week to clean up" (142, my italics). The literary man, insensitive to his surroundings and lonely as Ma Parker at the same time, dirties everything around him and leaves it all looking like "a gigantic dustbin" (142), but Ma "pitied the poor young gentleman for having no one to look after him" (142).

Netflix Case Study Analysis Essay

â€Å"Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.† — Theodore Levitt The importance of this quote comes alive after reading the first three sentences within this case study. A statement by Reed Hastings, the founder and CEO of Netflix. â€Å"Well let’s separate the market into two phases. One is the phase of DVD, which peaks in five to 10 years and last for 20 to 30 years. Then there is the phase of Internet delivery, which peaks 20 or 30 years from now and lasts for 100 years† (Cengage). From the time Hastings founded Netflix in 1997, with his initial online DVD rental business idea, there has been many factors altering the business strategy of the company within it’s internal and external environment that has allowed Netflix to grow to where it is today. Netflix took of quickly and had already achieved economies of scale in as early as 2000, which coincidently was the same year they shifted their goal from DVD rentals to streaming video. From then, Hastings knew that within time DVD’s would be a thing of the past, and online instant streaming was a thing of the future. He has been creative enough to be able to gain sustainable competitive advantage with other competitors, but more importantly he has been innovative enough to stay competitive with our society’s rapidly changing expectations for technology, which is a large barrier to this industry. Society’s rising demand for instant Internet streaming is causing their demand for DVDâ€⠄¢s to decrease. Therefore, it seems as though DVD rentals are starting to fall from its peak and in return instant Internet streaming is starting to climb to the very beginning of its peak. Throughout this report the focus will stay on Netflix’s external environment, internal environment, current strategy, and future recommendations that keep Netflix â€Å"an e-commerce success story in an ever-changing business landscape† thanks to their early start in the subscription DVD rental industry, strong distribution capabilities, and loyal customers (Cengage). When first examining a company’s Strategic Management Process it is important to evaluate their mission statement in order to recognize who they believe they are as a company as well as their vision on how they want to continue to go forward in the future. Netflix is unique for they do not have an official published mission statement, but  Hastings expressed a clear vision for the future of Netflix at a conference in 2011. The se points include: â€Å"becoming the best global entertainment distribution service, licensing entertainment content around the world, creating markets that are accessible to film makers, and helping content creators around the world to find a global audience†. After establishing a good understanding of the company’s mission statement the PESTEL (political, environment, social, technological, economical, legal) model is a general guideline that helps to analyze the general environment of the industry. Political forces seem to be low except for the most recent issue of higher postage prices, which would drastically decrease the DVD rental revenue. Environmental influences on the industry are always present, but they have very little influence on this industry. Social factors are extremely high and compliment the Technological factors which are also very high in this industry. When Netflix first started, they were more focused on DVD rentals and conquered their strategy of providing convenient DVD shipping with more distribution centers and an efficient supply chain, which in return took over many brick and mortar DVD rental stores. However, with the rise of technology and the social pressures of having the latest forms of electronic d evices there is an entirely new landscape of Wi-Fi ready entertainment devices that aids in Netflix’s other market, instant Internet streaming. Economic factors are very high, but this industry seems to tackle them with efficiency and ease. Even during the drastic recession in 2009, Netflix’s revenue increased to $305.7 million because of increased customer awareness and other benefits they provide. Lastly, Legal factors are low, for the biggest legal barrier for Netflix is gaining the rights from movie studios to get the first-run content as soon as possible. Once the external environment is generalized a series of opportunities and threats are established. â€Å"The key for any player in this marketplace is to win the digital fight† and the key factors in order to do this consist of: being first to market, having the best content, and scaling benefits (Cengage). However, there are technological threats that come with developing these key factors like illegal downloads and Internet hackers. Therefore, Netflix had to stay cautious by carefully watching for signs of hackers. On the other hand, demographic trends of increasing population and expansion into foreign customers like China and India provoke certain opportunities that give  Netflix the ability to create a competitive advantage. With that being said, there are five forces of competition within any industry that determine both competition and profitability. These forces are intertwined with each other and consist of: Rivalry among Competitors, Power of Buyers, Power of Suppliers, Threat of New Entrants, and Threat of Substitutable Products. The Power of Suppliers contains two different groups. Movie studio suppliers are associated with the DVD rental aspect of Netflix’s services and TV stations are associated with the Internet streaming aspect. The Power of Suppliers is fairly low for the DVD rental side of the industry because the suppliers rely mostly on companies such as Netflix to purchase their DVDs even though soon DVDs will be a thing of the past. However, Netflix is able to create deals with the movie studios to buy the DVDs in bulk and therefore achieving economies of scale. This then sets a high barrier for new entrants into this aspect of the industry. However, the suppliers are still able to maintain some power by setting the 28-day policy prohibiting the release of their titles to the public. The suppliers have the most power on the Internet streaming side, which lead to competitive disadvantages. At the moment Netflix, still considers a large chunk of their revenue from DVD rentals therefore supplie rs will continue to be reluctant in allowing instant streaming rights without increasing licensing fees. In this situation, the industry is more dependent on the suppliers because they have to fulfill their customer’s demands. Along with this comes the power of the buyers, which is the most constant force in the industry. Customers are in high demand for video distribution services. However, they are not loyal to the providers, they are only loyal to the content. Therefore customers tend to have a very high degree of power in this industry that is supported with the price sensitive industry and low (if any) switching costs. According to the case â€Å"Netflix may be hard pressed to convince consumers to view content from its service as opposed to one of the other many new choices available now and expected to appear† (Cengage). As for the Substitutional Products force within the industry, Netflix does not have a substantial threat to other forms of visual entertainment. However, there is a significant lack of brand loyalty and the biggest substitution threat is seen when considering alternate content providers that offer similar services of quality and cost. Therefore, Rivalry is high within the industry and since Netflix is a  middleman distributor they have to stay competitive and innovative. In order to maintain their advantage they must ensure high streaming quality and easy accessibility along with a fair price. Cost is typically the number one aspect in which industries compete on. Since Netflix consists of two sides to their services they are able to distribute their revenue and use it to achieve economies of scale making the threat of new entrants on the DVD rental side very small since the barriers are so high. Their efficient multitude of growing distribution centers also provide added barriers as well. However, on the other side the threat of new entrants to Internet streaming is very high with very low barriers considering the widely accepted Wi-Fi capable devices with potential streaming updates. It is stated that with disregard to many opposing factors â€Å"The company is clearly focused on streaming, but executives hav e long maintained that DVDs, while declining, are going to be a part of its business for years to come† (GIGAOM). Considering all of these forces, the largest problem that Netflix faces today is being a victim of their suppliers while demand for instant streaming is increasing rapidly and demand for DVD rentals is slowly but surely decreasing. This scenario leads the Power of Suppliers to increase, therefore taking a toll on Netflix’s profit. However, since Netflix was able to develop a stable early advantage with their reputation after dominating the DVD rental side they now must figure out how to keep the sustainable competitive advantage on the instant Internet streaming side as well and make up for their diminishing DVD rental revenues. Next, it is crucial to evaluating the Internal Environment of the Industry while analyzing its resources, capabilities, and distinctive competencies in order to see if the industry creates value. Resources such as Financial, Physical, Human Resources, Innovation, Reputational, and Culture all played a role in Netflix and the Industry in general. Netflix was able to be creative and innovative enough to adapt to the changing market thanks to Hastings managerial capabilities and ideas. Therefore, many of their resources proceeded to capabilities and further to core competencies, the primary resource being innovation. Innovation altered the entire supply chain’s primary activities in order to stay effectively and efficiently competitive, which eventually demolished blockbuster, gave Netflix an upper hand over Redbox, and more recently and finally surpassed HBO’s number of subscribers. Netflix’s strong perseverance to innovate grew with the instant Internet streaming demand by making their services applicable with up and coming Wi-Fi devices that could essentially bring the movie theater directly to your house. Their business strategy quickly developed to be a low cost streaming service. However, this strategy is getting harder for them to achieve under the same guidelines since their DVD rental revenues are dwindling. In order to stay innovative Netflix has taken into consideration their heavy reliance on the industry’s suppliers and decided to provide its own original content that they would not have to depend on any for except themselves. Netflix has developed its own original series, House of Cards, which was a risk at the time and turned into a creative competitive advantage. Other recommendations would be to give the customers what they want by providing the customers with even more listings under their subscriptions. Netflix’s VP of innovation, Todd Yelling sated that â€Å"if you’re not testing things that fail, you’re not testing aggressively enough† (Yellin). This shows that Netflix does not always play it safe and has hence provoked more current innovation strategies. Netflix must stay innovative in order to keep their competitive edge because at this rate â€Å"Internet TV with replace Linear TV† (The Verge). Because of Hastings leadership, the company’s creative and innovative capabilities have provided maximum benefit in the industry while creating a key core competency which will remain over the years to come. Works Cited Farfan, Barbra. â€Å"NetFlix Movie Rentals Mission Statement – A Vision, A Promise and Nine Values.† About.com Retail Industry. N.p., 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. . Roettgers, Janko. â€Å"The Slow but Inevitable Decline of Netflix’s DVD Business — Tech News and Analysis.† GigaOM. N.p., 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. . Toor, Amar. â€Å"Netflix Has Likely Overtaken HBO in Paid US Subscribers, Analysts Say.† The Verge. N.p., 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. . Welch, Chris. â€Å"Netflix Innovation VP Says Bonus Content and Extras May Come to Original Shows.† The Verge. N.p., 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.