From Literate to Electronic Communication Essay

From Literate to Electronic Communication - Essay Example Lorimer, et al. (2012, p 39) explains that there exists interpersonal and mass media in activities of media as it tries to define various aspects of the society. Interpersonal media links the sender to the receiver of information while mass media de-links the two. Apart from thee two categories of media, there has emerged a third one; network media. Its uniqueness is that it combines the other two. It can create a geographical network for sharing information where everyone in the internet is both sender and receiver of information depending on the circumstance one is in. Examples of network media in use include teleconferencing, the World Wide Web and email. Networking media has brought into perspective the overlapping nature of the other two such that we can not precisely define the boundary between interpersonal and mass media. This is because even the interpersonal media such as telephone can be used to reach most people through broadcasting. Today, media has recreated itself and as such, is categorized based on mode of operations which include: the channel of communication such as print or electronic, the sense of experience of the media whether visual or aural, economic modality such as direct cost, indirect cost and pay per usage costs. The ever changing nature of media has led to considerations to categorize media material based on the institutions that produce and distribute them. Technology level involved in the production of the media is also used to classify them. Availability of information on the World Wide Web through the internet has met great criticism and opposition from authorities in the society such as parents as well as the government and organizational administrators. People access... From Literate to Electronic Communication Evolution of communication Lorimer, et al (2012 p 26) suggests that the evolution from literate to electronic communication can be dated back to the discovery of the printing press which ultimately changed the landscape as the society switched from the overreliance on monks for information to typed and stored literary materials. Ultimately, the authority of controlling writing and translation moved from the church to secular world leading to the development of secular society and knowledge as opposed to the previous existing religious knowledge. The battle the ensued between the church and the secular writers and this was the jump pad towards information independence. The ability to retrieve, through scanning, such written materials enabled people to do critical analysis of information and point out inconsistencies. This was not possible with the spoken word which was considered highly perishable and could not be stored. Writing provided a form of interpersonal media other than mass media as people could communicate personally and individually through written messages. Media has transformed to become the identity of reality since it is through the media that truth is passed to the targeted audience. As such, there is the ambiguous concept of ‘mediamaking’ where as the media defines the direction of the world, the world also shapes the media to become what it should people. Media passes information while the people receiving the information improve the media to serve them best.

Wal-Mart Stores Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wal-Mart Stores - Essay Example The company was incorporated On October 31, 1969, as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Sam Walton died in 1992, since then the Company has progressed tremendously, transforming from being just the largest American retailer to securing the top spot as the largest company of the world on Fortune 500 list. (Lichtenstein, N. (2006). Business: The CEO of Wal-Mart U.S. believes that tremendous oppertunitunies are waiting to be seized by growing the Company through setting up Walmart ExpressTM and similar new formats in urban as well as minority areas of the United States of America. Walmart has a total of 4,700 retail stores in American, making it the America’s largest retailer. Site to Store ®, Fed-Ex Site to Store ® and Pick up today ® are Walmart’s leveraging innovations which ensures shopping flexibility for customers. Walmart offers web services across 15 countries which do not require the physical presence of the store to provide large discount services. The Company aims to o rganize its web efforts and meanwhile expand the services to many other countries of the world. The professional leadership of Walmart stores is fully prepared to launch financial plans to strengthen important financial issues regarding growth, returns to shareholders and leverage. Profit: Wal-Mart began as a dream which was nurtured with determination, passion and the desire to expand and resulted in being one of the most successful ventures in the American history. Like always, a strong solid financial performance was delivered by Walmart in the fiscal year 2011.Walmart’s net sales showed an increase of 3.4 % and therefore the net sales were increased to $419 billion. In addition, the overall operating income increased by 6.4%. Hence, the operating income was increased to $25 billion. The Company’s diluted earnings from continuing operations showed a rise of 12%, thus increasing the diluted earnings to $4.16 per share. The company, through dividends and share repurch ases was able to return $19.2 billion to its shareholders. The great results of the fiscal year of 2011, reflects the strong basis of its underlying business and the ability to deliver shareholder value. The success of Walmart is due to the fact that it strives hard to maintain a momentum in areas of success, while simultaneously work on weak areas to bring a change. Business Environment: Warlmart owns a total 8000 retail stores worldwide whose global sales are approximately $400 billion annually. Wal-Mart team proposed the idea of forming a supercenter in low income community area near Los Angeles in 2004. The idea behind the construction of large discount supercentre in Inglewood was to introduce the Californians with Wal-Mart’s supercentre project. Due to the consistent efforts of the Walmart team, the Company is the greatest positioned retailer of the world. Wal-Mart Supercenters were first established in the early 1980s and are characterized by a full grocery line and ma ny specialty departments which offer products at large discounts. Thus, accomplishing Wal-Mart’s mission which states: â€Å"We save people money, so they can live better.† The company now intends to expand its supercenters and introduce new formats across many countries of the world. (Fishman, C. (2006). Economy: The 4,700 Wal-Mart departmental stores across America have provided employment to more than 1.3 million individuals. However, the Company is blamed for causing serious economic impacts such as net loss of jobs. Some economists believe that a single