Abstract
This paper gives a comprehensive analysis of both the industry analysis tool Porter's National Diamond (PND) as well as applying the model to a specific industry, namely the Australian wine industry. The essay also considers a critical analysis of the tool comparing and contrasting it to other analytical measures such a PESTLE analysis. The paper includes a discussion of the wine producing industry in Australia and related aspects, such as weather conditions and soil. It also discusses the importance of the labor market. Additionally, the paper uses the PND model to examine competition between producers in Australia and their market strategies. The paper concludes by addressing the advantages and disadvantages of Porter's National Diamond in analyzing the Australian wine industry. It states that while the model provides a detailed level of analysis it does not cover all of the factors which must be considered by a firm operating within the international business environment. A table is included in the paper.

Outline:

Factor Conditions
Demand Conditions
Related and Supporting Industries
Firm Strategy, Structure and Rivalry
Summary of Statistics
Product Life Cycle

From the Paper
"Demand conditions takes account of the demand for a given product both domestically and internationally. For the prospective entrant into Australian wine market the prospects are relatively weak. At present the country has seen falling demand both domestically and internationally with exports having recently fallen by 21% (Just Drinks 2009). Despite this fall in demand for the nations wine both domestically and in traditional export markets such as the UK, there is the prospect for further demand based growth in emergent markets such as China and the wider parts of East Asia.
"As such, one recommendation is that a prospective entrant into the Australian winemaking industry should focus upon the production of products and marketing efforts which are conducive to generating sales in such new emergent markets as China and East Asia. As a growth area, an early move by Australian producers into the region could see that the country builds up a significant national advantage over time as those in emergent markets come to associate ..."

Tags:Porter's National Diamond, Australian Wine Industry, PESTLE analysis

Abstract
The paper details how Fred Wah, the product of a Chinese-Scots-Irishman father born in Canada and raised in China, and a Swedish born Canadian mother from Saskatchewan, reflects on his multicultural heritage in his biofiction work, Diamond Grill. The paper shows how Wah's words and ideas challenge binaries through a deconstruction of oppositional thinking, a part of the author's own attempt to compare, contrast and assimilate the different lives that come with being part of more than one culture.

From the Paper
"Fred Wah, the product of a Chinese-Scots-Irishman father born in Canada and raised in China, and a Swedish born Canadian mother from Saskatchewan, reflects on his multicultural heritage in his biofiction work, "Diamond Grill". Wah's words and ideas challenge binaries through a deconstruction of oppositional thinking, a part of the author's own attempt to compare, contrast and assimilate the different lives that come with being part of more than one culture."

Tags:diamond, grill, wah

Abstract
This paper summarizes the book Jared Diamond"s "Collapse". The author explores some of the examples of social collapse presented. The paper argues that the book falls short by failing to consider other possible causes of social collapse besides environmental disaster.

From the Paper
"As the keyword of its title suggests, this book deals with the catastrophic collapse of societies. Specifically, it deals with collapse ..."

Tags:collapse, environmental

jared diamond

maya

greenland

environment

easter island

Abstract
The paper refers to a well-known advertisement from the diamond industry which emphasizes that diamonds are forever, but the marketing may be superfluous because the demand for diamonds in the United States remains strong today. The paper notes that many observers, though, suggest that the diamond industry in the United States is being manipulated by international terrorist organizations to fund their operations at home and abroad. Others suggest that the market is being unfairly controlled by the major players in the diamond industry to keep supplies low to maintain current pricing levels. The paper provides the background and an overview of the global diamond industry, followed by some salient facts concerning this industry. The paper discusses the most and least dominant firms (in terms of size, investments and income) in the diamond industry which is followed by an analysis of how major players in the industry collude to keep diamond supplies on the world market low and prices high. A summary of the research and important findings are presented in the conclusion.

Outline:
Review and Discussion
Background and Overview
Facts about the International Diamond Industry
Most and Least Dominant Firms in the Diamond Industry
Conclusion

From the Paper
" The Central Selling Organization (CSO) buys the rough from mines owned or controlled by De Beers, from cartel members, and also from independent producers. As a result, much of world production flows through the CSO to be sorted, valued, and ultimately resold" . By sharp contrast, perhaps the least dominant firm in the diamond industry, especially in the United States, is the Crater of Diamonds State Park located in near Murfreesboro, Arkansas, the only diamond mine in the country that allows the public, for a modest price, to dig for and keep the diamonds they find. Other firms in the United States involved in the diamond industry include the New York Diamond Dealers Club, which is a 2000-member private organization for site holders, manufacturers, wholesalers, and brokers".

Tags:geological, fluke, industry-grade, diamonds, conflict, diamonds, cartel

Abstract
This paper takes a look at the elements in the story, "The Diamond Necklace", and how the author defines the concept of quality.

From the Paper
"Guy De Maupassant's short story "The Diamond Necklace," revolves around the character Mrs. Loisel's perception of quality, both symbolically and literally. Mrs. Loisel's vanity and her love of beautiful things creates an ironic situation in which she and her husband end up paying a huge price for a beautiful necklace that is practically worthless. Through the literary elements of setting, character, and symbol, De Maupassant poses the argument that human avarice and desire blind people to genuine quality, superiority, and excellence. An examination of the elements in "The Diamond Necklace" supports this argument. "

Tags:quality, diamonds

Abstract
The paper discusses how in a global world, powerful multinationals have sweeping power - not least of all because they can take their assets, jobs, and investment capital wherever they wish, thereby leaving nations that refuse to "play along" with the prospect of serious economic reversals that could result in serious political reversals for those in power. With that in mind, this paper looks at the film, "Blood Diamond," and examines two of the main characters - Danny Archer and Maddy Bowen - and how their ethical foundations are very different, at least initially. The paper also looks at the diamond industry's impact upon local industries (both positively and negatively) and concludes by looking at the various ethical issues that arise for multinationals trying to secure a profit in the global marketplace while, at the same time, doing the right thing for investors, employees, and local residents (and the environment) in foreign lands. The paper reaches the conclusion that teleological ethics may bring you your final goal, but the cost in terms of collateral damage can be too great.

From the Paper
"In a global world, powerful multinationals have sweeping power - not least of all because they can take their assets, jobs, and investment capital wherever they wish, thereby leaving nations that refuse to "play along" with the prospect of serious economic reversals that could result in serious political reversals for those in power. With that in mind, this paper will look at the film, "Blood Diamond," and examine two of the main characters - Danny Archer and Maddy Bowen - and how their ethical foundations are very different, at least initially. The paper will also look at the diamond industry's impact upon local industries..."

Tags:international, business, ethics

Abstract
This paper analyzes the two short stories by Anita Desai, "Winterscape" and "Diamond Dust". The paper examines how in "Winterscape", the oriental culture starts to create a space in an occidental society. It also looks at how in "Diamond Dust" even inside a non-dominant culture, there are ideologies that are also claiming a space of containment. The paper discusses how in both short stories, characters and situations acquire a symbolic meaning and thus they are capable of being associated to phenomena specific of different cultures or of major spheres, such as the Eastern/Western opposition.

From the Paper
"In the process of creation of a certain cultural identity, heterogeneity tends to be replaced by homogeneity. In this way, the image that such identity projects in other cultures is an homogenous and identifiable whole. Western culture has built an stereotyped image of India. We can find an instance of this in Beth and her prejudice against the Hindu sisters in Winterscape. Anita Desai seeks to deconstruct the Hindu cultural identity stereotype that has been built by Western societies. From the localized way of thinking of post modernity, she presents the spatial configuration of India as a conflict between opposing forces. In Diamond Dust, she wants to show that in India the past and the present, the wild and the civilized world are living together."

Tags:post, colonial, post, modernity, hybridism, culture, east, negotiation

Abstract
This paper provides an analytical and critical review of the article, "How Community Institutions Create Economic Advantage: Jewish Diamond Merchants in New York" by Barak D. Richman. The writer explains that the article provides a deep insight into the highly complex world of diamond industry and its historical background, and discusses its main arguments and questions some of them. Non-economic factors affecting economic exchange are discussed as being of particular importance in this industry. This paper contains MLA-style footnotes but does not include a works cited page.

From the Paper
"The specificity of participants is the first argument put forward in answering this question. They all belong to the system called "the F-connection" (family and friends (i.e. community) members). The Jewish communities were historically predetermined to engage in the diamond trade, since due to their continuing prosecution in earlier times they had to be able to easily transport their assets, and engage in professions with portable inventories. Their dominance and success in the diamond trade is explained by the author through a competitive advantage of the Jews in organizing diamond transactions more effectively than their potential rivals."

Tags:exchange, commitment mechanism, Ultra-Orthodox Antwerp lucrative competition Sabbath monopoly

Abstract
This paper examines Fred Wah's bio-fiction work, "Diamond Grill." It describes how Wah's words and ideas challenge binaries and how he reflects on his multicultural heritage throughout the book. The paper also questions why deconstructing oppositional thinking is important and discusses this in the context of Wah's work, "Diamond Grill."

From the Paper
"One must deconstruct oppositional thinking and analyze whether one can be both taken at face value based only on their individual person (regardless of race), and at the same time still champion a love for one's racial origin. Wah asks, "Why deny the immigrant his or her real world?" (125) and, at the same time, rejects society's ideal of what his family's "residue" must be: "Sorry, but I'm just not interested in this collective enterprise erected from the sacrosanct great railway imagination dedicated to harvesting a dominant white cultural landscape" (ibid). Again, even Wah admits it is difficult to loosen oneself from the bias that directs us to categorize people based on their race. The author himself notices glimpses of Chinese in his children's body posture, and searches for the hint of the "Nordic gloom" in their countenances (133). His brother Donnie is "the blondest Asian in our family" (140), "too blond to be the best Chinese cook in the family" (ibid). This is a bit of comic rhetoric on behalf of the writer: it is difficult to rid ourselves of these illusions, as society imputes them on a continual basis."

Tags:immigrant, culture, rhetoric

Abstract
This paper explains Jared Diamond's theme in his book that geography determines all of the differences between the world's societies. The author points out that, according to Diamond, geographic factors have been responsible for all historical developments. The paper describes such geographic factors as population size, the transfer of knowledge between continents, the availability of potential crops and domesticated animals and the orientation of continental axis to facilitate the spread of agriculture.

From the Paper
"In the epilogue of "Guns, Germs and Steel", Yali asks Jared Diamond, "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?" This question is answered by Diamond through the theme of his book, for according to Diamond, geography determines all of the differences between the world's societies. Population size in civilizations and diffusion between continents have been determining factors, as the geography of Yali's homeland demonstrates, for it imposed isolation from the rest of civilization and kept the population low, which resulted in a primitive culture in which material progress was not valued or pursued."

Tags:guns, germs, steel