Impact of Media in Shaping Perceptions and Policies

Impact of Media in Shaping Perceptions and Policies CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Information Age has seen a transformation in the nature of war. The emerging trend is towards low intensity conflicts and proxy war waged between states and non-state actors. Information Warfare, Information Operations and Psychological Operations have come to dominate the battle space. Besides military dominance, warring sides aim to create positive perception to gain international support and public acceptance towards their strategic goals. The media, including print, radio, television and internet has become a preferred channel to this end. History is studded with a number of instances where media was effectively utilized to shape perceptions and influence the will of allies as well as adversaries. Right from the Boer War, World Wars One and Two, the Vietnam War and the various Gulf conflicts, the victors have successfully conducted intensive campaigns to create and sustain a favorable narrative. The United States of America, during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan an d Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq embedded journalists with its frontline forces. As a consequence, the global audience was exposed to a new intensity and immediacy of combat never before experienced. The massive information overload thus produced almost entirely favored the United States and its Coalition allies. Despite criticism for indiscriminate and subjective broadcasting of violence without context or commentary, the embedded journalists garnered the bulk of global attention and were faithful purveyors of the Coalition narrative. In the Indian context, the war of 1971 was an example where media, including international war correspondents, accompanied the forces advancing in the East. There was no attempt made to either hinder or influence their reporting. At present, the Indian Army is faced with a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir where both the adversary state and its non-state proxies contest the nation in the military, political as well as the information domain. The violent actions of terrorist groups are complemented by a massive media offensive. The aim is to influence perceptions of the domestic audience and the global community. Then Chief of Army Staff, General B C Joshi, had referred to the media as a Force Multiplier while giving out guidelines to the Army deployed in proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir in 1994.[1] Until Kargil, the thrust of Army Media interaction was to highlight the Army’s role in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, focus on sports, jubilee celebrations and to avoid me dia glare during operations. However, the 1999 Kargil conflict was a watershed in wartime reporting. Until then, media was viewed as a meddlesome diversion at best and a threat to Operational Security at worst. During the conflict, the Indian Army realized the potential of the media to gain an Information Warfare advantage over the adversary. In view of this experience, and in line with the report of the Kargil Review Committee report, the Army changed its media policy. It is perhaps time to take a cue from the United States of America and explore the feasibility of embedding journalists with troops engaged in fighting the proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. At first glance, the concept seems impractical and pointless; however, a strong case may exist in its favor. METHODOLOGY Statement of the Problem The impact of media in shaping perceptions and influencing policies needs no further evidence. However, the Information Warfare advantage that may be gained by the Indian Army in the proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir from embedded journalists has not been studied in detail. With a visible slant in media against the prolonged military campaign in general and the Armed Forces Special powers Act in particular, there is a need to analyze the likely results of embedded journalists. Is the experience of Coalition forces in the Global War On Terrorism relevant to the Indian context? Is there a need to modify the concept of media interaction accordingly? Will the outcome justify the risks? Hypothesis Embedding journalists with troops engaged in proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir will present an Information Warfare advantage to the Indian Army. Justification of the Study At present, the Indian Army is alive to the reality of conducting operations in the full glare of the media. However, there is little enthusiasm among the majority of the rank and file towards media interaction. The anti-establishment tone of the vernacular media has fostered a sense of passive hostility towards all media in general. The possibility of embedded journalists revealing classified information and indulging in sensationalizing sensitive issues has also influenced the leadership to restrict the scope of media interaction in proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. Scope The scope of the study being vast, the paper concentrates on the possible implications of embedding journalists with troops engaged in proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. The paper highlights the need to increase media interaction and brings out the advantages of ensuring broadcast of a favorable narrative across all forms of media. It also aims to support the hypothesis with research on similar initiatives elsewhere in time and space. Operational Definitions The special terms used in this dissertation are defined below :- (a)Â  Information Warfare.[2]Â  The offensive and defensive use of information and information systems to deny, exploit, corrupt or destroy an adversary’s information, information based processes, information systems, and computer based networks while protecting one’s own. Such actions are designed to achieve advantages over military or political adversaries. (b)Â  Information Operations.[3]Â  The integrated employment of electronic warfare, computer network operations, psychological operations, military deception, and operations security, in concert with specified supporting and related capabilities, to influence, disrupt, corrupt or usurp adversarial human and automated decision making, while protecting our own. (c)Â  Psychological Operations.[4]Â  Efforts to convey selected truthful information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning and ultimately, the behavior of their governments, organizations, groups and individuals. Methods of Data Collection The sources of reference are :- (a) Books from Defence Services Staff College library. (b) Articles from newspapers, magazines and journals. (c) Articles from the Internet. (d) Interactions with serving and retired Army officers, journalists and bureaucrats. Organization of the Dissertation It is proposed to study the subject in the following manner :- (a)Â  Chapter I. Introduction and Methodology. (b)Â  Chapter II. Historical Background of Army Media Relationship. This chapter covers the origin of modern combat journalism and the rise in the influence of media in conflicts. (c)Â  Chapter III. Information Operations and Media. This chapter highlights the utilization of media for perception shaping and conducting successful Information Operations. A special case is made of the Kargil conflict, 1993. (d)Â  Chapter IV. Embedded Journalists in the Global War On Terror. This chapter looks at the Coalition experience of embedded journalism to draw relevant lessons for the Indian context. (e)Â  Chapter V. Suggested Contours of Media Interaction. This chapter draws a theoretical model for embedded journalism in Jammu and Kashmir, to meet the requirements of the Indian Army. (f)Â  Chapter VI. Advantages from Embedded Journalists in Jammu and. This chapter relates the relevance of embedded media in fighting proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. (g)Â  Chapter VII. Conclusion. The conclusion will knit together the relevant aspects of all chapters to summarize the research and point the way ahead. The final statement of the hypothesis will be made in light of the evidence studied. While the paper will be ended, there will pointers to further research included, given the vast scope of the subject. [1] Chakraborty, A K Information War : Challenges In The Twentyfirst Century. Noida; Trishul, 2003, p.15. [2] Forest, James J.F.,ed. Influence Warfare : How Terrorists And Governments Fight To Shape Perceptions In A War Of Ideas. New Delhi: Pentagon Press, 2010, p.10. [3] ibidem [4] ibidem

Analysis of Amazon.Com

Ans: From the traditional bricks and mortar industry, Amazon. com is the first company to evolve â€Å"book retailing† by going online on a large-scale. To date, Amazon. com provides an online retail store which constitutes of numerous products across a common platform. The company's retail website includes established web portals spanning across all leading economies as depicted in the case. In revolutionizing the e-commerce industry, Amazon. com is able to leverage information by making use of existing and new technology effectively in order to gain a competitive advantage. In attaining a competitive advantage, Porter's five competitive forces can be used to analyze Amazon. com. These forces include threat of new entrants within the market, bargaining power of suppliers, substitution of products and services, bargaining power of buyers and industry competition. The Internet has changed the nature of doing business, so has the competition that surrounds it. By supplying a wide range of products to the consumer, Amazon. com shares a market space with the likes of Wal-Mart and eBay. Rivalries amongst existing firms are strong as the industry is growing and the products that are being sold to the consumer are not so differentiated. Amazon's business strategy â€Å"to become the best place to buy, find and discover any product or services available online†, has allowed for further competition within online and offline retailers. An example of online retailers would be eBay and offline retailers being Exclusive Books. Since the industry is increasingly attractive, it gives way to new entrants in the market as the Internet facilitates in reducing barriers to entries. Offline competitors such Wal-Mart which traditionally followed the brick and mortar approach is using technology such as the Internet to increase buyer awareness, capture a wider market of customers to increase its revenue. As the numbers of offline competitors that adapt their business strategy towards becoming online competitors are increasing, they pose a threat to existing online businesses such as Amazon. com by broadening the consumer's choice of vendors. By broadening the consumer's choice of vendors, the Internet offers customers an opportunity to compare product prices in the industry across various mediums. These mediums range from high-street book shops, online web portals such as Kalahari. net and online book databases such as Google books. These factors play an important role as high bargaining power is given to the consumer allowing them to easily switch to a competitor within the industry based on price where there is minimal product differentiation. Amazon. com offers several services such as loyalty discounts thereby making consumer switching to a competitor difficult. There is minimal loyalty to a brand as consumers are provided with numerous options in the industry. In general, Amazon's supplier bargaining power is low because the products existing in this industry are sold by numerous online and offline firms. Products such as books, CD's, DVD's and electronics provide a lower supplier bargaining power, caused by an existence of many suppliers in the industry. Amazon's diversified product portfolio range allows them to gain greater control in terms of price, delivery schedule and quality. Bargaining power of suppliers within the retail industry is limited as market dynamics dictate power to the retailers such as Amazon. om who have built the necessary infrastructure and scale required for the online retail industry. Information based industries such as Amazon. com can easily sell products to consumers over the internet which bring upon threats of substitute products or services within the industry. Substitute products or services that are priced lower such as books, DVD's and reduced online delivery charges can be a threat to Amazon. com as the consumer will be drawn to a lower price. Amazon’s Value Chain: Primary Activities and Support Activities. Primary activities are those needed to produce a product or services for the end customers. These activities typically include: ?Inbound Logistics: receiving goods from suppliers, and storing and moving those good ?Operations: Manufacturing or assembling the product ?Outbound Logistics: Sending the goods to wholesalers, retailers or directly to the end customer ?Marketing and Sales: Marketing involves understanding customer needs, communicating those needs, and promoting the end products. ?Service: Involves after-sales support (e. g. handling, complaints, installation, training) Support activities help to facilitate or assist the primary activities of producing product. Examples include: ?Procurement: purchasing raw material and other items used in operations ?Human Resource Management: recruiting, hiring, firing, training, developing, compensating ?Technological Development: research and development, process aut omation, software, hardware, equipment, etc. , to support operations ?Infrastructure: May include accounting, legal, finance, planning, public affairs, government relations, quality assurance and general management.

Essay about Dystopia Society in the Handmaid´s Tale by...

In Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood writes about a dystopia society. Atwood used situations that were happening during the time she began writing her novel, for example, women’s rights, politics, and in religious aspects. Atwood’s novel is relevant to contemporary society. There are similarities between Atwood’s novel and our society today, which lends to the possibility that our modern society might be headed to a less intense version of this dystopia society. In the novel Atwood writes how Offred the main character transitions from her life before to a Handmaid. Offred wasn’t her real name but the name that was given to her when the Gilead society formed. Prior to the Gilead forming Offred lived with her husband and†¦show more content†¦In the Gilead society the handmaids have to cover up their bodies, wear long dresses, and cover their faces with vial’s and wings. These rules for the women are the same if not similar in Afghanistan, India, and some south Asian countries. In Pakistan women can be raped and if no evidence is found to prove it was rape the men could get away with it and the women could be charged with pre-marital sex and sentence to prison. This is similar in The Handmaid’s Tale; the handmaids go through â€Å"the ceremony† as they call it. The handmaids had to lay on their backs once a month in hope to become impregnated by the commander. The handmaids are valued only for their womb, ov aries, and reproducing. If their ovaries were no good or if they couldn’t have children for any other reason, then the handmaid was not valued or not needed and was sent to â€Å"the club† where all the unclean, no use of handmaids are. The handmaids with valuable ovaries are alive only to serve a purpose which is to reproduce. The women in Gilead have no rights. They have to obey the rules and commands that are given by the commanders in charge or from the Aunts who also get their orders from the commander. They are forbidden to read and write. The handmaids are allowed to leave the home of the commander and his wife once a day to go to the market. Iranian women were subjected to similar laws to those in Gilead. Iranian women are not allowed to choose or control various aspectsShow MoreRelatedThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1249 Words   |  5 PagesDystopian Research Essay: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood In the words of Erika Gottlieb With control of the past comes domination of the future. A dystopia reflects and discusses major tendencies in contemporary society. The Handmaid s Tale is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood in 1985. The novel follows its protagonist Offred as she lives in a society focused on physical and spiritual oppression of the female identity. 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The Reasons Behind The Collapse Of Clive Peeters Limited Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2281 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Cause and effect essay Did you like this example? The purpose of this report was to discuss the reasons behind the collapse of Clive peeters limited, one of the leading electronic appliances sellers in Australia and examine these reasons to reach an ultimate conclusion on the future of this company. Research for this report was based mostly on this companys annual report for financial years 2006-2009, calculating various debt ratios and web based researches done on Clive Peeters Limited collapse done by experienced academics. The major findings indicate that the company had serious flaws in its business structure and eventually failed to deliver due to its heavy dependency on debt coupled with some other factors like: bad image caused by the theft of the company accountant, too much discounting, company size and recession. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Reasons Behind The Collapse Of Clive Peeters Limited Finance Essay" essay for you Create order This report also sheds light on the current position of the company and explains different methods of external administration: receivership, voluntary administration and liquidation. Table of Contents Contents Page Number Company Background: Clive Peeters Limited 1 Types of Companies 2 Debt Analysis of Clive Peeters Limited (2006-2009) 4 Debt-Equity Ratio 4 Current Ratio 5 Debt Ratio 7 Acid Test Ratio 8 Times Interest Earned Ratio 10 Cause of Clive Peeters Limiteds Collapse 11 Status Quo of Clive Peeters Limited 13 Conclusion: Personal View on the Future of Clive Peeters Limited 14 References 15 Company Background: Clive Peeters Limited Clive Peeters Limited was one of the leading computer and electrical appliance retailer throughout Australia. The first store for Clive Peeters Limited was opened in Melbourne way back in the years of 1972. Since then it expanded its business to other states of Australia including: Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. In the year of 2005 Clive Peeters took over Rick Hart, a chain retail store located in Western Australia (Company Overview: Clive Peeters Limited Website). Around August 2010, Clive Peeters Limited failed to pay ASXs listing fee which disabled them to be listed in Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Just few days before Clive Peeters Limited losing their ASX position, their accountant was found guilty of misrepresenting accounting figures for payroll and stealing a mammoth amount of 20 million dollars. According to a lot of critics Clive Peeters Limiteds demise was caused due to this bad image created by their accountant to the public. Soon after that Clive Peeters Limited went into administer ship. About that time Harvey Norman took over 32 of the Clive Peeters Limiteds and Rick Harts stores. According to Gerry Harvey the person who bought most of the stores of Clive Peeters Limited, Clive Peeters Limited may have been trading as insolvent for the last two years before getting into administration (Recent Highlights: on Clive Peeters Limited). Types of Companies Usually companies in Australia are registered with Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) under the corporations act. The two main branches of companies are: Public Companies and Proprietary Companies. Proprietary companies are of two types: Limited by Share and Unlimited with share capital. On the other hand, public companies can be of four main types. These are: Companies Limited by Shares: Usually as per s.9 of Corporations Act whereby the liabilities of the members of the company is only limited to the unpaid amount of shares held by them (Australian Corporations Act, 2001). Unlimited with Share Capital: In this case members of the company usually have no limit on their liability towards the company. Company Limited by Guarantee: Company formed on the principle of having the liability of its members limited to the respective amounts that the members undertake to contribute to the property of the company in the event of it being wound up. No Liability Company: In this case company is formed on the basis that members of the company would bear no liabilities towards the company (Harris et al 2009). Clive Peeters Limited was a public company prior to its collapse. It was also listed in Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) index. Its main area of business was retail. Before it collapsed it was operating as company limited by shares. This meant that members of the company were its shareholders and their liabilities were only limited to their unpaid amount of capital. This company was listed in the ASX meant that the shares of the company was available to the public and they could trade them easily individually or through their brokers. This meant that as shareholders they all were members of the company and would be affected if something is to happen to Clive Peeters Limited. There are lots of differences between the companies based on their types. Clive Peeters is a public company limited by share capital and ASX listed company where CPA Australia is a public company limited by guarantee and ASX unlisted company. CPA Australia limited by guaranty that means no required share capital for its formation. A public company limited by guarantee is one of which members guarantee to contribute a certain amount in the event of liquidation. Kimberley Diamond Company NL was a public company with no liability but it had a share capital and it was listed before 2008. The main revenue generating source was diamond mining and exploration. Singapore telecommunications Limited is listed on the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges. Its a private limited company and limited by share capital. SingTel is the parent company of Optus since 2001 and listed on both the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges. (ASX Website) Debt Analysis of Clive Peeters Limited (2006-2009) Debt-Equity Ratio Usually a debt equity ratio indicates the amount of debt a business has borrowed from external lenders in comparison with the owners equity. This gives an idea out of the whole equity how much a business has borrowed and how much it has received from its owners. Normally a debt equity ratio can be calculated using the following formula: Total Liabilities/owners equity If the ratio is too high, it means that the business is too much dependent on external financing and these external lenders have higher risk in case the business becomes insolvent. For Clive Peeters Limited the debt equity ratio was following starting from year 2006 to 2009: For 2006: 87.6 / 71.6 = 1.22 For 2007: 118.1 / 77.6 = 1.52 For 2008: 174.8 / 80.2 = 2.18 For 2009: 150.8 / 69.4 = 2.17 We can see from the above figures that Clive Peeters Limiteds debt-equity ratio increased dramatically over the years from 2006 to 2009. This meant that over the years Clive Peters Limited had relied a lot on borrowings from external lenders for their business activities. Current Ratio This ratio helps users to figure out the ability of a business to pay its short term liabilities. The formula for current ratio is as follows: Current Assets/Current Liabilities If a company has a higher current ratio, it indicates that the company would be able to pay its short term liabilities like: debts and payables using its cash, inventory and receivables. For Clive Peeters Limited the current ratio for the period of 2006-09 are as follows: For 2006: 115.3/83.5 =1.38 For 2007: 140.5/114.9 =1.22 For 2008: 193.0/138.0 =1.40 For 2009: 158.9/111.1 = 1.43 This clearly indicates that Clive Peeters Limiteds ability to pay its current liabilities like payables and debts were clearly decreasing using its current assets like cash, inventory and receivables over this particular period of time which surely is not a good sign. This implies that Clive Peters Limited was unable to manage its cash properly and had a severe loophole in their cash management system. Debt Ratio A debt ratio refers to the amount of the debt a company has in regards to its assets. It is calculated using the following formula: Total Debt/Total Assets The higher the ratio indicates the lower the chance of a company to pay its debts using its assets. For Clive Peeters Limited the debt ratio for the period of 2006-09 are as follows: For 2006: 87.6/159.2 =0.55 For 2007: 118.1/195.7 =0.60 For 2008: 174.8/255.0 =0.68 For 2009: 150.8/220.2 = 0.68 The figures clearly indicates an upward movement of debt ratio which indicates over this particular period Clive Peeters Limiteds debt in comparison to its assets increased quite enormously. Acid Test Ratio This ratio helps users to figure out whether a company can pay off its current liabilities like payables and debts using only its cash, receivables and current investments but not using its inventory. If this ratio falls below 1, a company usually has to work out its strategy with extreme caution so that in case of bad times they do not fall into any financial hardship and become unable to pay their debts. It is calculated using the following formula: (Cash +Accounts Receivables + Short Term Investments)/ Current Liabilities For Clive Peeters Limited the acid test ratio for the period of 2006-09 are as follows: For 2006: 41.2/83.5 =0.49 For 2007: 41.6/114.9 =0.36 For 2008: 61.7/138.0 =0.45 For 2009: 150.8/220.2 = 0.46 From the figures it is quite clear that through out the whole period Clive Peeters Limiteds acid test ratio was below 1 which indicates that in case of financial hardship Clive Peeters Limited would face difficulty to pay off its current debts using its cash, receivables and other forms of short term investments. Times Interest Earned Ratio Again this ratio is used to indicate whether a company would be able to pays its debts. It is calculated using the following formula: EBIT/total interest payable on bonds and other debts This ratio usually indicates how many numbers of times a company can pay its interests on debts using its pretax income. Sometimes if a company is unable to maintain a certain times interest ratio may enable its creditors to undertake further actions. For Clive Peeters Limited the Times Interest Earned ratio for the period of 2006-09 are as follows: For 2006: 19.51/1.4 =13.94 For 2007: 20.51/27.2 =0.75 For 2008: 17.3/16.7 =1.04 For 2009: (8.1)/14.1 = (0.57) From the above numbers we can easily understand that over the years of time Clive Peeters Limiteds Times Interest Earned ratio dropped dramatically to a negative figure on 2009 which eventually forced Clive Peeters Limited to be declared as bankrupt. Cause of Clive Peeters Limiteds Collapse One of the major contributors of Clive Peeters Limiteds collapse was the theft by its own company accountant for an amount of $ 20 million dollars. In her two year period as an accountant of Clive Peeters Limited, Ms. Sonya Causer had been involved in stealing of almost 19 million dollars worth of money which later she used to buy herself 44 properties and expensive cars and jewellery. According to the prosecutor in charge of this case a primary cause of the collapse of Clive Peeters Limited was this theft and the bad image that they earned due to this incident. Apart from this, too much debt and borrowings from external creditors were another reason held for Clive Peeters Limiteds collapse. During the time it was booming it used quite a substantial amount of debt to expand its business but as soon as the economy was hit by a recession a people stop buying luxury goods like plasma TVs and LCD TVs Clive Peeters Limited started to experience its consequences. To increase their volume of sales Clive Peeters Limited kept on providing discounts to their customers. Since their discounts were on pretty much all through the year, when the economy was hit by recession and people stopped buying their products they could not even reach their breakeven. The size of Clive Peeters Limited is another important factor to be considered. With only 45 stores across all over Australia it would be considered as a fairly a medium company compare to its direct competitors during that time like Harvey Norman. Harvey Norman could easily provide huge discounts to its customers and still could make profit margin due to its size but its not as same for Clive Peeters Limited. But Clive Peeters Limited tried to follow the strategies of Harvey Norman and ultimately paid the price. Overall it can be concluded that Clive Peeters Limited had serious flaws in their business models which eventually made them to pay dearly. Relying on too much debt, too much discounting, and following its competitors strategies and not coming up with some differentiating strategies were the main reasons for its demise (Thomson 2010). Status Quo of Clive Peeters Limited Clive Peeters Limited collapsed and went into voluntary administration on 19th of May, 2010. During that time the appointed administrators started to investigate whether the company could be preserved through a deed of company arrangement or a sale (Stafford et al 2010). There are different types of external administration in case a company is in financial hardship. The main three of them are as follows: Receivership Voluntary Administration Liquidation Both receivership and voluntary administration are methods to keep a company alive during their time of financial hardships. The main difference between them is that in case of receivership, the process is being initiated by one of the secured creditors of the company. Usually they appoint a receiver who tries to sell the assets of the company in order to recover the money of the companys creditors. On the other hand, in case of voluntary administration, an administrator is appointed by the court who tries to keep the company afloat by restructuring its strategies, selling part of it and reducing the costs incurred by the company. Liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to a complete end. All the assets and properties are distributed amongst companys creditors following a certain order. After the company is liquidated it would no longer exist in that name and the company would be de-registered from Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). (Harris et al 2009). Conclusion: Personal View on the Future of Clive Peeters Limited We all know that part of the Clive Peeters Limiteds business was bought by Harvey Norman Holdings Limited after it went into voluntary administration. Its original name was kept as it is and its staffs in some of its stores were being able to keep their jobs. In my view, though Harvey Norman has bought part of its business, to keep the company afloat more money needs to be injected and its whole business structure needs a restructuring. Otherwise, it is going to be very difficult to keep Clive Peeters Limited from getting liquidated.