The Textuality of My Writing Essay - 2128 Words

â€Å"Text† is an interesting lens to look at writing through. There are literally brand-new spaces for writing being created by new technology and innovations still to be made in existing spaces. For this reason, I chose to look at my writing through the lens of text. Specifically, I will note what text-space, sometimes referred to simply as space, the writing was completed on or in. Text-space is used in this paper to refer to where the writing was done, whether it be an email program, a forum application, or on a piece of paper. Also I will be looking at the writing as text. In this paper the term refers to the writing as an object, the physical appearance. If the writing is typed, the text will appear considerably different if†¦show more content†¦In the email above, though I was connecting my email with me, I didn’t include a picture. I could have snapped a shot of myself the same day I introduced myself to him in class and pasted it in the email to help him connect me and the email. It might not be necessary, but it might have been quite comforting for some people. Similarly, there seems to be no call for fancy text formatting, but I could have included l inks to the course materials that I would be pulling information from. Again, it might have helped him to find something useful, which I simply didn’t include. In short, this space’s mandates did shape the writing. Unfortunately, I did not take full advantage of the space’s potential. The result is an introduction email which could have been typed on a note-card along with my email address without losing much effect. I also wrote a follow-up email, February, 3rd at 7:17pm. The email is the combination of another piece of writing, a list of terminology (study guide) for an American Literature exam. I wrote the terminology list separately in my word processing program on my computer. Then, I copied and pasted it into an email in my web email application to create the piece below. The email’s appearance is considerably different from the introduction email above, and closer assessment reveals some surprises about the relationships between text, text-space, and my writing. The follow-up email follows: Mandates of a text-space may always beShow MoreRelated Text Messaging Enhances Language Essay1804 Words   |  8 PagesText Messaging Enhances Language My younger brother sits as his computer everyday after work to talk to his friends through America Online (AOL) Instant Messaging (IM). They use terms like BRB (be right back) and LOL (laugh out loud) that seem a little confusing to the out-dated older sibling. It amazes me that he can carry on a conversation using abbreviations for virtually every word or phrase. 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Essay on American vs Asian Happiness - 847 Words

American /vs/ Asian View on Happiness Sandra Branco 9044618802 PSY/220 January 28, 2013 Jeana Esler View on Happiness View on Happiness Americans associate feelings of happiness with personal achievement, the Asian associate those feelings with an entire society’s harmony. Asian people feel emotion less often than Americans. Asians tended to rate their emotional events as more neutral than Americans rated theirs. Overall, Americans were more likely to see their experiences as â€Å"somewhat pleasant.† Asians respondents more often have mixed emotions in â€Å"predominantly pleasant situations† than Americans do. One reason suggested in the paper is that Asians seem to define advancement of social harmony as†¦show more content†¦For example, Americans believe that happy people are more likely to go to Heaven after death. Happiness is also closely related to health and life satisfaction. The active and explicit pursuit of happiness is one of the best ways of living out an independent personhood, which masters and controls the external environment, identifies and realizes potentials, create s and achieves goals. The Asian perspective individual’s inner attributes, the gratification of personal needs and desires, the amplification of personal achievement, the creation and protection of individual uniqueness are not important concerns: instead, the fulfillment of role obligations in interdependent social relationships, the creation and maintenance of interpersonal harmony, the striving to promote the welfare and prosperity of the family. The Asian culture exhibits a ‘‘habit of hesitation’’ towards happiness. Asians follow the theory of the ancient Yin–Yang philosophy which takes a cosmological view that everything from the cosmos to human life is a never-ending, cyclic process of change, between good and bad, happiness and misery, well-being and ill-being. Americans view Happiness in regards to money, family, and what can give them the most, Asians to me are more focused on the family and community. We as Americans really just see ourselves as happy when we have more than what our neighbor has, and that we have the perfect job, perfect family, friendsShow MoreRelatedThe Immigrant Advantage By Claudia Kolker878 Words   |  4 PagesIn Claudia Kolker’s book The Immigrant Advantage, she talks about the cultural tradition of arranged marriages brought by South Asian immigrants to the United States. Kolker agrues that arranged marriages are much more effective in finding a spouse than traditional marriages. Kolker believes that this tradition of assistive marriage should be adopted by Americans. Research and studies have shown that â€Å"women in arranged marriages rated the highest marital status† (Kolker, 71) compared to couples whoRead MoreInterracial Marriage Should Be Legal1365 Words   |  6 PagesStates. 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A Case of Digital Gaming Revolution

Questions: Tasks: The digital gaming revolution has given birth to a multitude of consoles and their various genres of game play from fitness to fighting, from brain training to brain draining. As we approach the peak selling season many new games are being launched at their relevant targets. For the management accountants of the many companies involved the pricing and costing of these products is a perpetual nightmare. You as a management accountant are to prepare a paper to present at a computer games conference. This paper should critically evaluate in detail the following: 1. How would the following techniques be applied in the industry? a) Life cycle costing b) Target costing 2. The market based pricing strategies that should be considered for the launch of any new computer game/ console and recommend the strategy to be chosen for your organisation. (Playstation 3) 3. Each stage in the life cycle of a particular game/ console and the issues that your management team will need to consider a t each stage. (production - limited stock, how much we need to make?, material availability, Sales - how much can we sell? Cost and Sale price need to balance, Managers - manageable, workers to complete the job) 4. Other information that you consider will set your paper apart from the competitors. Answer: 1. Application of financial costing techniques in gaming industry a) Life cycle costing This managerial costing technique determines the cost of the product based on the overall life of the product starting from the procurement cost to the manufacturing costs (Adler, 2011). Since the gaming industry is largely dominated by fast selling innovative products hence the companies can effectively use the life cycle costing to determine the production costs and revenue of the video games at each stage of the product life cycle. The industry life cycle of the gaming industry shows that the three major video game companies namely Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are all in the mature phase of the Industry life cycle. The developed countries are experiencing maturity in terms of hardware and software developments in the gaming industry (Loughran, 2012). Figure 1: Industry life cycle of Gaming industry (Source:T anner, Davis and Davis, 2011, pp-56) Since gaming industry is in the maturity stage of the product life cycle hence the management of the companies can effectively use the following stages of life cycle costing : Make an account for resources used in the past stages and identify the costs of the resources (Jin, 2010) Take decisions on improvement of product designs to retain the target market Identify costs for effective after sale services Assessment of renewal costs to prevent the products from moving on to declining phase of the PLC. b) Target costing Hall(2010) opined that target costing is the approach that helps the companies to reduce the cost at the introduction stage of the new product development by integrating costs of product design, product price, expected profit and product cost (Hwang, 2010). As per reports of Mintel, Sony computer Entertainment and many other Japanese companies are adopting target costing in order to control gaming costs over the product life cycle. The gaming industry can tactfully adopt the target costing procedure in order to increase sales by reducing costs. Step 1: Product design and price Step 2: Determination of desired profit Step 3: Target cost (Step 1- Step 2) Step 4: Engineer the product to achieve the desired cost (Refer to appendix 1) The Bloomberg report shows that by adopting Target costing in the year 2013 Microsoft has been able to increase its sale of Xbox One more than Sonys Play station 4. As an additional feature, the company introduced additional features like multilayer interface, Blue ray players and subscription game networks. (Refer to appendix 2) 2. Analysis of market based pricing strategies for launch of new computer game The gaming industry initially considers the Life cycle costing for the launch of any new video game in the market. When a new game console is introduced, in the introduction stage the marketer adopts premium-pricing strategy (Corbeil, 2012). The companies in this stage sets high price for the product so that the exclusiveness of the product can be expressed to the customers. For instance, Sony adopted a premium pricing strategy at the launch of Play station 4 in 2013 and priced the new generation video game at around 349. Similarly, Microsoft launched its Xbox One at around 429 premium price. This strategy attracts the customers because the customers want to be the first purchasers of the innovated products. This drives the sales of the video games in the introduction stage of the life cycle (Hilary and Hsu, 2011). With the increase in the demand for the product the video games thus launched reaches the growth stage. Being a technological product, the demand decreases with the passage of time. Hence, in this stage the gaming companies use the price skimming strategy. Sony and Microsoft use this strategy to set premium price in the initial stage and gradually lower the price to make the game versions available to a wider target market. The use of the price skimming strategy by Sony in case of Play station 3 in the Asian markets has helped the company to acquire 65% of the market share of the Asian countries (Dormans, 2011). In this stage to maintain the product demand, the companies also offer captive deals. These deals include purchasing of accessory items along with the game software of the same company in order to play the game. For instance to play Halo the customer needs to purchase Microsofts Xbox 360. In the maturity stage, the price skimming strategy is maintained but since the target, market becomes stagnant hence to initiate sales the gaming companies uses bundle pricing strategies. Here the companies offer a bundle of products like Sony offering additional controllers, remote controls and additional game discs along with Play station 3 (Maksoud, 2011). This deal is profitable for the customer because if these accessories are purchased separately then the customer will incur high expenses compared to the low bundled price offered by Sony. Hence, this initiates sales. High technological changes, changes in customers demands and preferences and introduction of new range of games forces all versions of video games to move to the declining stage of the product life cycle (Miller and Washington, 2012). In this stage, the companys major focus is on reducing the price to the lowest possible amount. Here the companies adopt economy-pricing strategies. This strategy enables the companies to attract the specific target customers who are budget sensitive and were waiting for the price reduction in order to make purchase. In this stage, the company should not invest in improving the existing game version rather should invest on introduction of a new version. For instance, Sony adopted an economy- pricing strategy in case of Play station 3 and launched Play station 4 by adopting premium-pricing strategy. This helped Sony to gain profit from the sale of both the Play stations simultaneously (Wesley and Barczak, 2010). Figure 2: Pricing strategies adopted by Video gaming companies at various stages of product life cycle of video games (Source: Tulloch, 2010, pp-96) 2.1 Recommendation of strategy for Play station 3 Sonys Play station 3 that was introduced in 2006 was launched at a premium price of 599. However, the introduction of the Play Station 4 in 2013 indicates that Play station 3 is in its declining stage of PLC (Merchant and Zambon, 2010). From the launch to the declining stage the company adopted the different pricing strategies and with the adoption of price skimming continued to lower the price if the Play station by 20% every year (Ensslin, 2011). For Sony to increase the sale of Play Station 3 in Asian market the company needs to adopt the economy pricing strategy. Suppose if the launch price of the Play station was = 400 and a 20% reduction is experienced each year with the movement of the PLC then the product will be priced as follows: Year 1 (2007): 400 Year 2 (2008): 320 Year 3 (2009): 256 Year 4 (2010): 205 Year 5 (2011): 123 Year 6 (2012): 98.40 Year 7 (2013): 78.72 Figure 3: Prices of video games in different stages of PLC (Source: created by author) 3. Each stage in life cycle of a game and issues related to the stages As per Forbes, analysis majority of the video games generates 85% of the total sales in the first year of launch. After the first year, the games are replaced by the updates versions (Refer to appendix 3). However, the companies face various issues in the various stages of the life cycle. Although the sales decrease in the growth and maturity stage however the companies do not discard the product hence they are involved in different issues. The issues are as follows: Production issues: At the introduction stage, the companies face difficulty in forecasting of the customer demand and hence are not able to make production capacity details. At the growth and the maturity stage the initial demand has been confirmed and hence the just in time approach is followed by the companies to maintain production capacity (Roehl-Anderson, Bragg and Willson, 2005). Resources issue: The digital technologies, CDs, DVDs, and blue ray discs, the use of extensive technologies makes the production of video games costly. The basic manufacturing processes like creation of game records and game formats also are costly hence the companies face cost reduction issues in terms of video games production in each stage of PLC (Hilton, 2005). Sale forecast: It is difficult for the companies to forecast the actual sales statistics in the maturity and declining stage of the video game (Merchant, 2011). Hence, this in turn makes it difficult for the company to plan the production forecast in these two stages. Pricing strategy: The companies have to keep on reducing the prices and adopt different pricing strategies in the different product life cycle stages. For this constant monitoring of the external market is necessary to track the technological changes in the product. Labor issues: The success and invention of a game depends on the thought and innovation of the human effort. Hence, the labor and the human force are the primary backbone of the companies. In the maturity and growth, stages the companies have to incur high labor charges since they try to innovate and make technological changes in the product features to suit the needs to the market (Zagal and Mateas, 2010). 4. Additional information on Video gaming industry As per the reports of Forbes the video gaming industry target market comprises of three types of customers among which 40% are female and 60% are male. Under 18 years 25% 18 to 39 years 49% 40 and above 26% UK records for around 1902 active game companies alone and the 3 major companies regulating this industry are Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. However, the introduction of Smartphone apps has contributed to the development of gaming industry. Thousands of games making hubs are found in different parts of UK. (Refer to appendix 4). The video games industry has flourished in the present social status and the customers generally prefer purchasing the games in the initial introductory stages (McCoy, 2010). However, the growth of the industry is still stagnant in the developing countries and hence the companies can market the products in the developing and Asian countries with economy pricing strategy to generate sales from the declining stage of the products. With the growth of the mobile devices like smart phones and tablets, entertainment value of the video games will further increase in the future years (Shan and An, 2010). Reference list Adler, R. (2011).Management accounting. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Corbeil, P. (2012). Book review: Stretching Video Games.Simulation Gaming, 43(2), pp.286-288. Dormans, J. (2011). Beyond Iconic Simulation.Simulation Gaming. Ensslin, A. (2011). Do avatars dream of electric steak? Video games and the gendered semiotics of food.journal of gaming virtual worlds, 3(1), pp.37-50. Hall, M. (2010). Accounting information and managerial work.Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(3), pp.301-315. Hilary, G. and Hsu, C. (2011). Endogenous overconfidence in managerial forecasts.Journal of Accounting and Economics, 51(3), pp.300-313. Hilton, R. (2005).Managerial accounting. Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Hwang, S. (2010).Advanced management accounting. Singapore: Pearson Custom Pub. Jin, D. (2010).Korea's online gaming empire. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Loughran, M. (2012).Intermediate accounting for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub. Maksoud, A. (2011). Management accounting practices and managerial techniques and practices in manufacturing firms: Egyptian evidence.International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, 3(3), p.237. McCoy, L. (2010).Video Games. New York: Infobase Pub. Merchant, K. (2011). Malea Fashion District: A New Way to Learn Managerial Accounting Antonio Davila and Daniel Oyon.European Accounting Review, 20(1), pp.190-192. Merchant, K. and Zambon, S. (2010). Malea Fashion District: A New Way to Learn Managerial Accounting.European Accounting Review, 19(4), pp.860-862. Miller, R. and Washington, K. (2012).Casinos, gaming wagering 2012. Loganville, GA: Richard K. Miller Associates. Roehl-Anderson, J., Bragg, S. and Willson, J. (2005).Controllership, the work of the managerial accountant. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Shan, L. and An, J. (2010). Gaming of Strategy--Strategic Realignment of Chinese Dairy Industry.International Business Research, 3(3). Tanner, D., Davis, C. and Davis, E. (2011).Study guide to accompany Managerial accounting. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons Ltd. Tulloch, R. (2010). A man chooses, a slave obeys: agency, interactivity and freedom in video gaming.journal of gaming virtual worlds, 2(1), pp.27-38. Wesley, D. and Barczak, G. (2010).Innovation and marketing in the video game industry. Farnham [Surrey, England]: Gower. Zackariasson, P. and Wilson, T. (2012).The video game industry. New York: Routledge. Zagal, J. and Mateas, M. (2010). Time in Video Games: A Survey and Analysis.Simulation Gaming, 41(6), pp.844-868.

A Cultural Approach essays

A Cultural Approach essays The cultural and developmental aspects of American history in the 17th and 18th centuries are certainly among the most important and influential factors in the shaping of this country's long and storied history. Historiographically speaking, there are undoubtedly thousands upon thousands of different studies and opinions on the most influential cultural strides of early Americans well as the pros and cons that each colonial region developed in shaping America and readying it for the Revolutionary Era. Each of these four studies brings a slightly different and even, at times, conflicting approach to analyzing the cultural and social roots of early America, but each one provides a fresh perspective that enhances the idea that America is a true "melting pot" of ideas, social values, and cultural traits. Zuckerman, in his article, focuses his attention on the middle colonies and the erroneous tendencies of historians to ignore controversial or pertinent historical issues in favor of obvious, harmless social arguments. Historians have focused on New England as the true "birthplace of America" because of its early literature and thought that focused solely on Puritanism, and therefore offered an obvious and easy starting point with which to measure the region's cultural metamorphasis. However, as Zuckerman points out, New England was fairly unrepresentative of the real America, as it was a homogenous society dominated by English Puritans and their inflexible doctrines and unstatic customs and economy. The middle colonies, on the other hand, were made up of people of many different origins, races, and creeds, and their interrelationships are definitely more symbolic of American culture. Like most people's idea of America, the middle colonies developed a commercial culture ba! sed on a balanced economy, and, besides that, showed no real homogenous cultural traits that ran through the region. Indeed, most of th ...

How to Write a Solid Film Review

How to Write a Solid Film Review Feature films and documentaries  are sometimes used as research sources. They are also used quite frequently as supplemental learning tools in the classroom. A common writing assignment is a critical review or analysis of films. Your instructor will choose a specific film or documentary for a reason because it relates to the material at hand in some way. A good review will explain how the film has enhanced the learning experience, but it should also provide an account of your personal response. The components and format of your film analysis will depend on the course and your instructor’s preferences, but there are several standard components of a review. Components to Include in Your Review The elements listed here do not appear in any specific order. The placement of these items (or the omission of them) will vary, depending on relevance. You’ll have to decide, for example, if artistic elements are so important that they should be included in the body of your paper (as in a film class), or if they are so seemingly insignificant that they appear at the end (perhaps in an economics class). Title of the film or documentary: Be sure to name the film in your first paragraph. State the date of its release. Summary: What happened in this film? As a reviewer, you must explain what happened in the film and express your opinion about the success or failure of the film maker’s creation. Don’t be afraid to express your opinion, but include specific reasons for likes and dislikes. (You can’t say â€Å"it was boring† unless you provide justification.) Filmmaker: You should do a little research on the person who created this film. Is the director or writer a controversial figure?Is the filmmaker known for a political stance?Does the filmmaker have a significant background? If the filmmaker is known for controversy, this segment of your paper can be lengthy. Devote several paragraphs to an assessment of his or her other works and establish the significance of this work in the film maker’s career. Significance to your class: Why are you seeing this film in the first place? How does the content fit into your course topic? Is this film important for historical accuracy? If you are viewing a motion picture for your history class, be sure to make note of embellishments or over-dramatization. If you are reviewing a documentary for a history class, be sure to observe and comment on the sources used. Is this a motion picture based on a play you’ve read in English class? If so, make sure you specify whether the film illuminated or clarified elements you missed when reading the play. If you are reviewing a film for your psychology class, be sure to examine the emotional impact or any emotional manipulation you observe. Creative elements: Filmmakers go to great lengths to choose the creative elements of their films. How are these elements important to the overall product? Costumes for a period film can enhance a film or they can betray the intent of the film. Colors can be vivid or they can be dull. The use of color can stimulate and manipulate moods. Black and white shots can add drama. Good sound effects can enrich the viewing experience, while bad sound effects can destroy a film. Camera angles and movement can add elements to the story. A jagged transition adds intensity. Gradual transitions and subtle camera movements serve a specific purpose, as well. Finally, actors can make or break a film. Were the actors effective, or did poor acting skills detract from the film’s purpose? Did you notice the use of symbols? Formatting Your Paper The order and emphasis of your paragraphs will depend on your class. The format will also depend on the course topic and your instructors preference. For example, a typical documentary review for a history class will follow guidelines for a Turabian book review, unless your instructor states otherwise. A typical outline would be: Introduction, to include film title, topic, and release dateAccuracy of the depictionUse of sourcesCreative elementsYour opinion A paper for your literature class, on the other hand, should adhere to MLA formatting guidelines. The film would most likely be a feature film, so the outline might go like this: Introduction, with title and release dateSummary of the storyAnalysis of story elements like rising action, climaxCreative elements, use of color, camera techniques, mood, and toneOpinion Your conclusion should detail whether the filmmaker was successful in his or her purpose for making this film, and re-state your evidence. It may also explain how the film was (was not) helpful for illuminating and providing a deeper understanding of a topic in your class.

Change at Faslane Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Change at Faslane - Essay Example According to the study conducted Faslane was entirely operating under the watch of the Ministry of Defense and the Royal Navy. Due to need for minimizing its expenditure and cut costs, but retain its at the top of the base’s interest, Faslane introduced strategic change that witnessed the company decide to establish a partnering program with an independent entity that would help reduce the cost of expenditure and at the same time provide the most effective services to their client. As a matter of course, Faslane collaborated with Babcock, a subsidiary branch of Babcock International. The UK’s Ministry of Defense signed a five-year contract with Babcock Marine in 2002. This evolutional change came in the face of John Howie’s charge that had to make sure that Babcock meets the set targets and delivers a total savings cost of $76 million without negatively affecting any activities or services provided to the UK Navy. The strategic change that Faslane incorporated me asures that managed their strategies with absolute efficiency since it was necessary for Babcock to cut costs as the cut costs would come to them in form of profits. Furthermore, introduction of Babcock Marine would positively transform Faslnane because Babcock would make sure delivery of their services was effective and of high quality at a lower cost. In addition, Faslane is a huge firm with a large number of employees depicting that the cost of running its operations and the cost of maintaining its staff is always high. Therefore, when Babcock Marine Company came on board, Faslane relieved part of its expenditure in view of cutting costs by seconding to Babcock close to 300 Royal Navy personnel together with over 1’700 civil servants posts (The Stationery Office, 2010:7). It also left the remaining number of civil servants within the site, the police, Royal Marines, and sailors under the management of Babcock Marine. With reduced number of employees, Faslane had transforme d and approached an easier system of managing the company operations at a cost effective procedure. Furthermore, the strategy Faslane used to manage change was competent since its transformation styles resulted in the company’s transition of mindset under John Howie’s directive leadership model. This is because; collaborating with Babcock would ensure that Babcock changed the mindset of all the previous employees present at the site. As elaborated, these employees were mostly civilians who worked at the site for quite a long time and had established empires. This deterred them from seeing the importance of delivering service to the Royal Navy, which is their customer (Gapes, 2010:114). Hence, for Babcock to achieve its set goals and objectives, it was necessary to change the mindset of these employees who guarded the submarines as well as the ships. Changing the mindset would incorporate means of delivering service at the lowest possible expenditure. This means that, e ven if Babcock did not wish to renew its contract upon expiry, Faslane employees would still have the knowhow of cutting costs and ensuring effectiveness at the same time. Thus, strategic management of change at Faslane is long-term figurative due to John Howie’s educating and coaching system. Previously, if there were any changes at Faslane, they would take 56 days for them to reach

Brand analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Brand analysis - Essay Example One of the major advantages of Leatherman’s products is the 25-year guarantee (Hoovers). The Argentum, a tool designed by an Argentine silversmith called Adrian Pallarols is manufactured by the company specifically to attract the luxurious community while the younger generation is targeted via the manufacturing of the compact Juice tool. The Company has its principal strength in the duration of the guarantee offered for its products (25 years). Not many organizations offer such a warranty thus making its products the best. The organization provides its customers with sufficient support or back up and awareness of the products they sale hence keeping the customers coming back for more products. The organization has a dedicated staff that adds up to its minimized price offers for their products. In addition, all parts of the tools made by the company are replaceable (SHOT). In respect to the Company’s weaknesses, it manufactures customized tools (SHOT). These tools demand increased payment as compared to normal products hence their low production due to inability to stabilize/moderate the prices of the same. The large range of tools produced by the company accompanied by a list of styles in which to fold pocket tools and the long warranty offered by the company provides the organization with a huge opportunity of capturing or reaching a larger market (Davis). Furthermore, Davis believes that the use of websites for presentation of company products presents an opportunity to expand their market share due to the augmenting use of the internet. Manufacturing of the compact Juice tool for the younger generation as well as the Argentum for the rich/luxury creates room for increased sales thus more profit. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. is not the only company in the industry; hence, stiff competition from companies like Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc poses a huge threat to the company. Another threat is infringement especially incases of retaliatory damages inv olving the use of these products (Davis). One of the competitors is Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc. Just until 2007, the company was called Swiss Army Brands boasting a monopoly in the marketing of the Victorinox Swiss Army knife in the Caribbean, USA and Canada (Hoovers). In addition, the company distributes Victorinox wear for men, consumer and professional Victorinox Cutlery, Swiss Air Force watches as well as products of Swiss Army Brand like writing materials, watches and sunglasses. The company runs a flagship retail store in SoHo district of New York City as well as distributing these products in retail and wholesale prices. The other is Wenger North America or simply Wenger N.A. distributes Swiss Army knives, footwear, watches, luggage, business accoutrements, and outdoor gear to the US and the Caribbean. Hoovers affirms that the Swiss Army knives distributed by Wenger N.A. are not associated in any way with Victorinox Swiss Army knives. The company provides these products on th eir website but at a discounted rate as well as providing customers with videos and manuals as guidelines to the use of their products. Most of these products are sold in chains and a host of specialty sports retailers (Hoovers). Buck Knives Inc. as the third largest competitor boasts skills that comprise four generations in the knife-making business. The company manufactures hunting, pocket and