Internationalization of the Business

Introduction In the highly dynamic arena of business, strategic management through internationalization has been an increasingly discussed subject. With regards to internalization of business, strategic management can be generally described as the process of designing a long-term business plan that is aims at realizing organizational goals, sustaining organizational efficacy and producing a work plan that streamlines the operations of the business over a particular (Meldrum, 2000; Hedstrom et al., 1998).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Internationalization of the Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In internationalization, the major focus is normally on expanding the tentacles of a business beyond national borders. This is mostly done for a number of reasons including (but not limited to): help increase markets for our goods and services, take advantage of technological advantages brought by venturing int o other countries, help in reduction of expenditure costs while augmenting the making of profits and encourage business diversifications, among many others (Hurn, 2009 Mintzberg, 1994). In this paper, academic spotlight is going to be on the internationalization of Elecdyne; a Japanese company located in Tokyo. Essentially, Elecdyne has been in operation since 1990 and it mainly deals with electronic consumer goods like VCR players, DVD players, hi-fi equipment, and Stereo equipment, among many others. Initially, the company began with as few as 5 employees. An increase in the demand for its goods and services, however, led to an increase in staff to over 100 workers so as to serve its many clients. Unfortunately, due to a number of challenges that this multinational company has been facing over the recent times, the managers are seeking to internationalize the operations of the company. In doing so, three potential countries—Brazil, China and Sweden—have been chosen for the purpose of this internationalization. A rigorous assessment of the country that is most suitable for this internationalization is going to be done below—majorly based on the relevant data that was gathered in assignment one. Even more importantly, appropriate analytical frameworks—the SWOT and PESTEL analysis—will be used to undertake a weighted internal and external analysis of these three countries while intermittently comparing them with Japan so as clearly show the country that will be best suited for the internationalization. All these explicative analyses of Brazil, China and Sweden, in relations to Elecdyne’s internationalization agendas, are succinctly done in the section below.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Weighted analysis of the three countries (External Factors) In conducting a weighted analysis of the suitability of Brazil , China and Sweden for Elecdyne’s internationalization, several multidimensional factors come into play. It is for this reason that this section uses the PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Environmental and Legal) analysis so as to do a circumspect analysis of these countries. Notably, the weightings of these countries will be based on the suitability and relevance of these countries to Elecdyne’s planned internationalization structure. The numbers 0, 1, 2 and 3 will be used to show the risk involved whereby 1 signifies less risky (suitable), 2 signifies moderately risky (moderately suitable), and 3 signifies highly risky (less suitable). The more risky a country is, based on the factors stipulated below, the less suitable it is in terms of satisfying Elecdyne’s internationalization plans and vice versa. Political and Legal Political/Legal risk Japan Brazil China Sweden Government Type Parliamentary government Federal republic Federal Republic Constitutio nal monarchy Political Instability 1 2 3 1 War Risks 2 3 3 1 Labor Freedom 1 2 1 2 Stringency of Legal Rules 2 2 2 1 Average 1.5 2.25 2.25 1.25 Economic Economic risks Japan Brazil China Sweden GDP Growth (Purchasing power) Moderately growing 2 Very Slow growth 3 Highly growing 1 Slowly growing 2 Globalization/ Urbanization (more industrialization, equals less risk) Moderately industrialized 2 Least industrialized 3 Highly industrialized 1 Moderately industrialized 2 Inflation (High equals less stability) Moderate Inflation 2 High Inflation 3 Low inflation 1 Moderate inflation 2 Dependency on other countries Moderately dependent 2 Highly dependent 3 Least dependent 1 Moderately dependent 2 Public Debt (low debt equals less risk) Moderate 2 High 3 Low 1 Moderate 2 Inflows of FDI 1 2 1 2 Unemployment (high equals more FDI opportunities) Moderate unemployment levels 2 Moderate unemployment levels 2 Moderate unemployment levels 2 Low unemployment levels 3 Taxes (high taxes equals less potential profits) Moderate taxation 2 Moderate taxation 2 High taxation 3 Moderate taxation 2 Availability of Consumer Electronic Market Moderately available 2 Moderately available 1 Highly available 1 Moderately available 2 Average 1.44 2.44 1.33 2.11 Social/ Cultural/ Environmental Social/ cultural/ environment Risks Japan Brazil China Sweden Accommodating/ Sociable Moderately sociable 2 Highly sociable 1 Highly Sociable 1 Highly Sociable 1 Freedoms (More freedom equals better markets) Moderate freedoms 2 High freedoms 2 Less freedoms 3 High freedoms 1 Equity and equality Moderate 2 High 1 Moderate 2 High 1 Population Density (high equals better) Moderately Populated 2 Densely Populated 1 Densely populated 1 Moderately Populated 2 Average 2 1.25 1.75 1.25 Technology Technological Risks Japan Brazil China Sweden Electronic Technology (thus (easily compatible with Elecdyne Greatly advanced 1 Less advanced 3 Greatly advanced 1 Moderately advanced 2 Need for Technology (thus market availability) Relative need 3 Great need 1 Relative need 3 Moderate need 2 Average 2 2 2 2 Based on the above external analysis (using the PESTEL business tool), the key issues with regards to Elecdyne’s internationalization can be summarized as follows: Risk/Suitability Japan Brazil China Sweden Political and Legal 1.5 2.25 2.25 1.25 Economic 1.44 2.44 1.33 2.11 Social/ Cultural/ Environmental 2 1.25 1.75 1.25 Technological 2 2 2 2 Average 1.985 1.8325 1.6525 Furthermore, the following key factors, regarding Elecdyne’s internationalization, can be deductively represented as follows: Factor Japan Brazil China Sweden Cost minimization 3 3 2 2 Access to technology 1 2 1 1 Market Access/ Size 3 1 1 1 Risk Factors (Economic and Political) 2 3 2 2 Culture Fit 2 1 3 1 Average 2 1.8 1.4 Summary In both summaries, it is indicatively eminent that despite the fact that Brazil, Ch ina and Sweden are viable markets for Elecdyne’s internationalization. In business, the least risks presented by a market, the better it is in terms of facilitating the prospected ideas (Ormanidhi Stringa, 2008). And from the analysis done above, Sweden apparently averages better (the lower the average, the more suitable) and is therefore the best place for implementing Elecdyne’s internationalization plans. Of course there are a couple of instances that both Brazil and China average similarly (like in market access) or better than Sweden but, in overall; Sweden presents a more balanced market for Elecdyne’s internationalization. List of References Hedstrom, G., Poltorzycki, S., Strob, P. 1998. Sustainable development: the next generation of business opportunity. Prism, 4: 5–19.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Internationalization of the Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hu rn, B., 2009. Will international business always speak? Industrial and Commercial Training, 41 (6), 299-304. Meldrum, D., 2000. Country risk and foreign direct investment. Business Economics, 35 (1), 33-41. Mintzberg, H., 1994. The rise and fall of strategic planning: reconceiving roles of planning, plans, planners. New York: Simon and Schuster. Ormanidhi, O. Stringa, O., 2008. Porter’s Model of Generic Competitive Strategies. Business Economics, 43 (3), 55-64. How to Internationalize Having known the most viable country for its market expansion plans, Elecdyne needs to choose a fitting method of internationalizing Sweden. The available options for this venture include licensing, exporting and Foreign Direct Investment (commonly abbreviated as FDI). Choosing the licensing option will be unsuitable based on the fact that majority of Elecdyne’s technological licenses are held by other related companies thus cannot be re-licensed. Although exporting is a good way of acce ssing new marketing avenues, it is known for not being able to reduce costs or improve the access to technology—which are two key factorial considerations in internationalization (Thill Bovà ©e, 2008). Resultantly, Elecdyne will not be able to adequately achieve its goals of reducing costs while concomitantly gaining access to technologies. This, therefore, leaves Elecdyne with FDI as its only option. However, in using FDI, several options are availed. These include Joint-venture, merger/acquisition and Greenfield site. A summative SWOT analysis of these three options, with regards to the key factors for internationalization, is given in the table below.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Factor Joint Venture Merger/Acquisition Greenfield site Cost minimization Cost shared with the local partner high integration costs incurred when adapting to parent MNE High liability of newness cost in the verge of adapting to host country Access to technology Partners can easily steal technologies Gives access to new technologies Does not allow access to other’s technologies Market Access/ Size Allows access to new markets Allows access to new markets Allows access to new markets Risk Factors (Economic and Political) Greatly reduces economic and political risks Relatively more economic and political risks when compared to the joint venture Highest political and economic risks in comparison to all other FDIs Culture Fit Culture conflicts can arise occasionally Culture conflicts tend to be prevalent Establishment of independent operating routines reduced culture conflicts Summary Going by the intricacies of these FDI options, the joint venture would best fit S weden. This is because the joint venture presents immense potential cost benefits for Elecdyne who direly need cost minimization more than any other thing. Of course the joint venture is not the best when it comes to technology access and culture fit, but all these can be overlooked based on the relative similarity of Japan and Sweden in terms of their culture and technological progress. Learning institutions like universities tend to provide good markets for electronic equipment. As a recommendation, Elecdyne should therefore prioritize such institutions when sourcing for potential joint-venture partners. List of References Thill J. V., Bovà ©e C. L., 2008. Excellence in business communication. Chicago: Pearson Education Limited. Products to develop Considering reports on the nature of the Swedish market, there is a great need for home entertainment, networking with other people across the world and staying trendy with the latest technological gadgets in the market (George, 2002) . The following products would, therefore, be best for the internationalization in Sweden. Firstly, Sweden has been, reportedly, improved in terms of its access to the internet and more people are increasingly sourcing for internet tools. Providing Wi-Fi and broadband items to the targeted Swedish market would perform greatly. This will satiate the need to network with the rest of the world (Windsperger, 2004). Secondly, the use of satellite televisions and LCD TVs has been greatly received across the world. Providing these to the Swedish market would be hugely rewarding based on the fact that few companies in Sweden can manufacture such products. A majority of the public thus relies on exports from countries like USA (Hennigan, 2010). Providing such products at a fair price would, undoubtedly, be a great success. In addition, owning products of this nature would satisfy the need to stay trendy. Thirdly and lastly, for the purposes of home entertainment, providing video game equipme nts for popular games played across the world—would be very effective. Today, video games are played not only by children but even adults. Providing these games to the enthusiastic and receptive Swedish market would definitely result in huge success—in terms of costs as well as socialization (Allwood, 2003). As glimpsed before, the Swedish market is a highly enthusiastic market that easily accepts change—especially when it comes to beneficial stuff. So apart from these three prioritized products, other products and services can also be provided for purposes of maximizing the potential of the Swedish market (Hedstrom et al. 1998). However, if only one product is to be selected, the video game console, providing internet equipment like WI-FI would be my best pick based on the bon-fire effect it has had across the world. Conclusion From the analysis and discussions that have presented in this paper, it is inherently clear that the process of internationalization is a highly involving one that needs several factors to be cautiously considered. Additionally, all these factors—whether internal or external—are interdependently related to one another and in order to succeed in internationalization; all of them should be precariously factored. For example, through political and legal stability in the external environment, economic markets can be easily controlled. Again, technological advances and developments in information, communication, and technology have also been able to greatly affect internal business processes. A good example is the replacement of human labor with computers which are able to do certain jobs easily and devoid of errors. Consequently, in its internationalization agendas, Elecdyne should ensure that all these factors are well implemented so as to facilitate the success of its operations. List of References Allwood, J., 2003. Are there Swedish patterns of communication? Web. George, Y. S., 2002. Gender, science, and technology in higher education and research in Sweden: five years after national policies implementation. Web. Hedstrom, G., Poltorzycki, S., Strob, P. 1998. Sustainable development: the next generation of business opportunity. Prism, 4: 5–19. Hennigan, M., 2010. Sweden tops rankings of global technology report for first time; Ireland remains at 24th rank behind Belgium and United Arab Emirates. Web. Windsperger, J., 2004. Economics and management of franchising networks. OH: Springer. This report on Internationalization of the Business was written and submitted by user Kody D. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Second-Hand Smoke essays

Second-Hand Smoke essays In recent years, the cigarette industry has come under attack for a variety of issues, including second-hand smoke. It is important to examine the effect this second-hand smoke has on non-smokers. The use of tobacco "remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 440,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more the $75 billion in direct medical expenses. Nationally, smoking results in more than 5.6 million years of potential (tobaccofreeqc.org/adult/secondhand_smoke.shtml)." People who are exposed to secondhand smoke run the risk of dying from the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. There are thousands of chemicals, many which are extremely toxic, released in tobacco smoke, and this smoke is the only source of most of these chemicals. "Some of the smoke is inhaled by the smoker, but a larger amount of smoke is released into the air. Two-thirds of the smoke from a cigarette is not inhaled by the smoker (tobaccofreeqc.org/adult/secondhand_smoke.shtml)." Secondhand smoke (SHS), "sometimes referred to as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning ends of a cigarette, pipe, cigar, bidis, and kreteks (sidestream smoke) and the smoke emitted at the mouthpiece and exhaled from the lungs of smokers (mainstream smoke) (cdc.gov/tobacco/>)." The smoke inhaled by the smoker contains almost the exact same chemicals as found in secondhand smoke, however, secondhand smoke may actually contain a higher chemical concentration. Secondhand smoke is composed from a "complex combination of more than 4,000 chemicals, and includes irritants and systemic poisons such as hydrogen cyanide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and formaldehyde. Secondhand smoke contains "at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic or caus...

Business Information Systems Design and Implementation

In the provided case scenario, it is observed that the management of August Online Technology has intended to conduct a financial analysis for the next eight years based on its i e, expenses and tax among others. There are several indicators to evaluate the future potential of the pany among which the ou e of net i e after tax can clearly depict the possible profitability in the near future. Analyzing the overall financial performance is the most essential practice that enables the pany to not only recognizes its own capability but also helps to pare its financial position with other rival panies as well as the external market requirements (Waghmode & Sawant, 2014). Goal seek analysis is considered to be the most essential practice through which the pany can have knowledge regarding the possible practices as per its financial abilities (Waghmode & Sawant, 2014). The following pictorial illustration (Figure 1) clearly depicts that the sales of the pany is expected to increase within the next eight years with the support of the product X. The annual revenue of the pany in the initial year is around $50,373,252, which is expected to increase up to $77,498,088 as shown in the below mentioned diagram. The estimated sales have been calculated based on the total unit sold in the previous years and average sales growth rate prises of $235,411 and 3.25%. The provided scenario describes that the pany has increased the overall sales every year as well as the price of the products are also increased by 3%. Thus, based on these elements, the sales of the next years have been calculated accordingly, which is found to be steadily increasing thereby representin g higher profitability for the pany. Considering the goal-seek analysis, there are certain elements on which the sales growth rate largely depends such as annual price growth, annual sales growth and the previous year’s sales. Now, in case the average of the annual sales growth rate gets decreased, the revenue or annual sales will also be reduced. For instance, in the Year 6 and Year 7 the pany failed to perform due to which the sale growth rate b e -2% and -3%. Therefore, the overall sales of the pany for Year 7 and Year 8 will be reduced from the estimated figure. The stated fact can be elaborated with the help of the following diagram (Figure 2), wherein it is clearly represented that the sales of Year 7 and Year 8 has been reduced due to the changes made in the average growth rate. Thus, based on the understanding obtained from the goal seek analysis, it can be r mended that the pany must require the maintainenance of its estimated growth rate as the minimum point to attain the target sales within the particular period. However, from the diagram (Figure 2), it has also been apparent that after reducing the average growth rate and price increase rate for two years, the pany sales still continues to increase in the Year 7, which reduces in the last year. From this instance, it can be assumed that the pany has high potential in the near future, as it has the capability to face financial loss without slowing down the sales growth. Based on the financial performance of the pany, it has been apparent that the pany can develop its revenue along with higher profitability even in this petitive market (Fridson & Alvarez, 2011). The following pictorial illustration (Figure 3) represents the overall financial projection value of the pany, which has steadily been increased with time and at the end of eight years the pany is expected to earn approximately $23,171,928. Concerning the expenses, advertising the product as shown in the above diagram (Figure 3), cost of web services, maintenance of the production or operation, rent of the corporate space, salaries to the involved workers, cost related to shipping the products to the end users and supply chain expenses are the estimated elements based on which the total expenses has been calculated. All the expenses apart from maintenance are calculated through particular percentages, which have been elaborated below: The net i e of the pany has been calculated based on all these expenses and the overall expected sales or the product during this particular period. The following diagram (Figure 4) depicts the projected net i e that the pany can attain from the product X, which has steadily been increased by the end of the Year 8. Thus, it is apparent that the pany can largely concentrate on maintaining the growth rate with the support of developed strategies and well-managed workforce, which will eventually help to provide the estimated ou e at the end of the period. Apart from this, it is also worth mentioning that the pany can easily enhance the target arena as it has higher financial capability, and can support to bear the possible loss due to new entrants (Fridson & Alvarez, 2011).   The August Online Technology has aimed to enhance the revenue for the product X with the support of new market trends such as internet. Based on the projected financial analysis, it can be stated that the pany has high potential in future, as the net i e is estimated to increase steadily over the period of time. Therefore, the pany can concentrate on enhancing the sales volume of the product by investing in marketing. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that online marketing has b e a huge medium for organizations in the present context, wherein through a particular platform the marketers can target the entire global arena (Fang & Zhou, 2012). The August Online Technology can also utilize the internet source to market the product X, which will help to make the huge numbers of customers aware of the product, thereby enhancing the overall sales volume. Nowadays, every age group of people prefers to use online sources for obtaining information regarding the products in terms of reviews and customers’ feedback. Therefore, with the support of the web designer or developer, the pany can create an online platform for placing the product in front of the target population. There are several services provided by the panies through online forum in the current market to retain the potential customers (Yannopoulos, 2011). However, parallel to creating a website, the August Online Technology also needs to maintain transparent munication with the customers. The pany can develop the website in such a manner through which the customers can provide their feedback or share their experience with the product. This can on one hand help the pany to improve the product quality, while on the other hand the customers can also get attracted due to this facility as they are also valued by the management in the decision making. On the other hand, web publishing is also considered to be another suitable activity to attract customers in this world of immense petition. Internet has b e a huge part of the daily life schedule of the individuals for which the marketers has also initiated to portray all the required information on the social media website (Fang & Zhou, 2012). Taking the reference from the stated fact, August Online Technology can also utilize web publishing as their promotional tool, wherein it will publish all the promotional activities through the pany website as well as other social media websites to make the customers aware regarding their new policies or offers. Security threat has b e the most crucial aspect, which is continuously increasing across the globe and has caused a serious concern for panies to ensure product privacy to the customers (Alabady, 2009). There are numerous threats in security risks or network attacks among which hacking majorly affects the privacy maintenance. Since the pany will be maintaining an online platform, it has huge security risks in terms of hacking. Due to the process of hacking, it is possible that the hackers will extract the required information from the pany website or the pany will not be able to control the website. Apart from this, other security risks include snooping and eavesdropping, which are regarded as the threat to accessing the pany secure data by any unauthorized person without the consent of the pany management (Padmavathi & Shanmugapriya, 2009). While developing online forum or maintaining the platform, August Online Technology needs to concentrate on such aspects to avoid network attack s and ensure security of products to the customers.   Alabady, S 2009, â€Å"Design and implementation of a network security model for cooperative network†, International Arab Journal of e-Technology, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 26-36. Fang, X. & Zhou, Y 2012, â€Å"Internet-future business development focus†, American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, vol. 2, pp. 85-88. Fridson, M. S. & Alvarez F 2011, Financial statement analysis: A practitioner's guide, John Wiley & Sons, United States. Padmavathi, D.G. & Shanmugapriya, M 2009, â€Å"A survey of attacks, security mechanisms and challenges in wireless sensor networks†, International Journal of puter Science and Information Security, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 1-9. Waghmode, M. L. & Sawant, S. B 2014, â€Å"International journal of advance research in puter science and management studies†, International Journal, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 419-423. Yannopoulos, P 2011, â€Å"Impact of the internet on marketing strategy formulation†, International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 2, no. 18, pp. 1-7. Getting academic assistance from

Social policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Social policy - Essay Example Social policy in United Kingdom is inclined towards conservatism policies. According to Spicker (1991: 9), the concept of ‘subsidiarity’ can be a dominant influence on the European community. It upholds the responsibilities resulting from the closeness of the traditional society inside smaller social units. Therefore, intervention in the United Kingdom impersonates subsidiarity and establishes solidarity. Social insurance plan mostly dates back to the Elizabethan period when the society approved poor taxation policies (Www2.rgu.ac.uk, n.d.). The conservatives operate inside the limitations involving xenophobia in the immigration policies. At the same time, the people reviewed the immigration policies in reaction to the 2001 riots where immigrant criminal offenses were prominent in the Northern English cities (Young, 2003, p. 452). Following the adoption of social policy, the generation of immigration staff has received economic prosperity, legal equality, as well as discrimination inside the borders of the country. According to Spicker (1991, p.10), the government features policies in coping with the success of the economy. This involves outdated manufacturing industry. This is because the manufacturing efforts of the government were ignored in the workforce (Www2.rgu.ac.uk,

Using an extended example critically examine whether the sector matrix Essay - 2

Using an extended example critically examine whether the sector matrix framework gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of product or commodity chains - Essay Example ing, franchising and other similar concepts gave rise to the largely held belief that they are the result of the market oriented strategies however on much larger scale they were the result of larger shift into the overall perception in the market regarding how to achieve and sustain the competitive advantage. Many believed that strategic decisions like outsourcing was an attempt to focus one’s attention to core competencies of the firm however, what was not realized is the fact that the resulting chain effects were largely directed at creating linkages between the demand as well as supply dynamics of the respective industries. The evidence from Japan and other East Asian countries suggested that the inter-organizational cooperation between the different players in the market indicated towards a much larger picture of how the inter-relatedness between the industries as well as companies can lead to the creation of chains. The emergence of subsequent ideas on the value chain as well as commodity chains attempted to define such relationships and linkages however, they lacked the theoretical as well as empirical validity and as such a more unique and innovative method of sector matrix was introduced to overcome the deficiencies of the above two concepts. Michael Porter was one of the earliest proponents of the value chain concept as he considered it as something through which firms can achieve and sustain their competitive advantage. By focusing on the primary as well as secondary activities, firms can effectively achieve the competitive advantage as both the activities are considered as mutually reinforcing each other to achieve the desired strategic objectives. What is also however, critical to note that the value chain, for the first time presented a concept which linked different activities of the firm together and as such the overall success and failure of organizations largely depended upon how successfully the organization managers all these

Cynicism in Works of Ambrose Bierce Essay -- Cynic Author

The style and motives of Ambrose Bierce are those of a great intellect and cynic. Ambrose Bierce used graphic images to get his message across in a lot of his stories such as "Chicamauga" and "The Affair at Coulter's Notch". A good portion of his short stories were stories of innocent people and soldiers and their experiences. He also wrote a book called "The Devil's Dictionary," which reinterprets a few terms in the English language. Ambrose Bierce's cynical perspective, which can be seen within his literary works, actually masks a sensitive idealist, who wants to create an awareness in the readers of the horrors of war as well as the injustices and insensitivities in people and society. To start off, Ambrose Bierce used a lot of graphic images to deglorify war. There were many graphic images in the story ?Chicamauga?, for example, ? - lacked a lower jaw - from the upper teeth to the throat was a great red gap fringed with hanging shreds of flesh and splinters of bone?. ?The unnatural prominence of nose, the absence of chin, the fierce eyes, gave this man the appearance of a great...

Epic Stories ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘The Ramayana’ Essay

‘The Ramayana’ and ‘Paradise Lost’ hold stories of ancient times that tend to explain the existence of two different cultures in the present world. Milton, the author of ‘Paradise Lost,’ concerns himself with the Christian story of the ‘Fall of man’ while Valmiki, the author of The Ramayana, tries to bring out an explanation to the goals of human life. In this assignment, I would like to compare author’s use of two female characters in both ‘The Ramayan’ and ‘Paradise Lost’ as I try to explain the mythological themes expressed in these two old myths (Jung 64). Eve in ‘Paradise Lost’ and Sita in ‘The Ramayan’ are the two female characters used extensively by the authors in these separate stories in an attempt to explain the goals of human life and likewise the reason for the fall of man. The story exhibited by Milton in the book ‘Paradise Lost’ has been told in countless stories and also portrayed in pictures in most religious places as well as paintings to that effect. Similar stories that relate to the book ‘The Ramayana’ can as well be found in Classical mythology (Fryer 233). Jung explains the term myths to be fatal experiences whose effects are normally felt in personal life. He classified myths according to its unconscious nature because he believes that by doing so, they will be accepted by the society hence help shape their traditions and culture. The contents of the personal unconscious are chiefly the feeling-toned complexes while the contents of the collective unconscious are known as archetypes (Jung 66). Different interpretations have been made in relation to the Garden of Eden story with most Christians holding the belief that it was actually true, another interpretation tries to portray it as a story that shows transition in t he way of life of the ancient people while a final interpretation tries to show that the truth behind the myth is baseless, though universally people live in accordance to the values it shows (Fryer 248). According to the unconscious nature possessed by people about myths is what constitutes  complex feeling-tones of individual’s private and personal psychic life. Eve, in the book ‘Paradise Lost’ has widely been regarded as the symbol of unconscious. She is seen as the figure of the animating principle and also as one that develops the growth of this principle. Franz holds the same view and explains further that she makes us believe that life may be lived. He says â€Å"Eve is full of traps and snares and in order for man to fall, he should ensnare himself there, reach the earth and stay caught so that he should live a full life† (Jung 68). This he believes that Eve accomplished by not resting until she had convinced Adam of the goodness of the forbidden apple. Eve does not see the apple as evil but as an opportunity to become wiser (Franz 56-74). Empson argues that Eve sees the eating of the apple as a test of her courage to break the commandment and graduate to a new stage of relationship with God Almighty (Empson 45-57). In attempting to comment on the serpent’s witty advances to Eve by explaining the good that comes with breaking the commandment and the benefits that eating the apple brings, Empson agrees that Eve feels that she has to break the commandment so as to show her courage and whether her desire to get to Heaven is real enough to call her courage out. He does not accept the notion that Eve is a female symbol that is used to bring out the unconscious belief in the book ‘Paradise Lost’. Empson differs with Jung’s belief of viewing eating of fruits as a sign of new beginning of life. According to Empson, the test is rooted in hermeneutics. He believes that the reason why Eve disobeyed God was because she thought God never meant what he said (Empson 122-247). The two, Empson and Jung, though both believe that Eve’s contribution to the fall is due to her desire. She does not choose to eat the apple because it is evil, but because it is an opportunity to attain another good in the book ‘Paradise Lost’, Milton differs with his predecessors who had also written stories about Adam and Eve. Milton predecessors portray Eve as deficient in virtuous enterprise. They blamed Eve for the woes of the world and their concept of Eve rooted in dualism, a view that is not depicted by Milton in the book ‘Paradise Lost’. Milton, represent Eve as a literary figure separating her from primitive conception by those who hold on tradition yet they are unconscious of prime examples of Eve in the society. ‘Paradise Lost’ is a literary epic of a personal effort while ‘The Ramayan’, however, is a non-literary epic. Sita is the dominant female character in the story ‘The Ramayana’ and thus is comparable to Eve in ‘Paradise Lost’ in their contribution to bringing the mythical themes to the two stories as they are both mythical symbols. ‘Paradise Lost’ is a work of a single individual and thus it is possible to conclude that the characters involved in the story are a projection of the author’s ideas on how he wants the characters to appear. It can thus be said that the characters in ‘Paradise Lost’ are truly Milton’s characters. This cannot be said of the characters in the epic story ‘The Ramayana since it is a collective effort of different people in bringing out the epic story. It is due to this that the comparison of the two primary characters in the two separate stories becomes interesting . Sita is first introduced in the epic story at Janak’s wedding. She is regularly referred to as faithful, gentle, soft and sweet. In the epic story, a marriage of husband and wife is regarded to as a linkage. This resembles the marriage as depicted in the bible in the book of Genesis, where Adam is quoted as referring to Eve as ‘flesh of my flesh’. The epic story also shows man as superior to the woman, as it indicates that the woman is the shadow to the man’s masculine substance. Sita’s limitation occurs when she gets obsessed with her attraction to the deer’s beauty that she sends Rama out to go and look for it. Her obsession is magnified when she gives an option that if Rama cannot catch the deer alive, then at least he brings her the deer’s body so that she may use it as a rag. Rama becomes angry after Lakshman refuses to obey his orders when she sends him out to look for him. Her desire exposes her to Ravan’s desires which force him to kidnap her and carry her away with him to Lanka. This situation is in sharp contrast to that of Eve in the epic story ‘Paradise Lost’. In ‘The Ramayana’, Sita’s fall is her desire for a good that is illusory which separates her from Rama her protector and thus becomes vulnerable to capture, while to Eve, it makes her vulnerable to temptation by the serpent which later leads to her eating of the apple. The two scenarios depict the same theme content, and that is a woman’s desire that leads to unfortunate endings. In the case of ‘Paradise Lost’, the eviction from the Garden of Eden, while in ‘The Ramayana’, a war ensued. The contrast in the way the two characters are shown in the two epic stories is also different. The author individualize Eve right from the start of the book however in the case of Sita, the author individualize her after the incidence where she became angry with Lakshman for not obeying her when she sends her to go fetch Rama. Of the two, Eve as portrayed in the book ‘Paradise Lost’ is in contrast with how she has always been portrayed by people generally and other poets too. She is shown as an object of desire, her work in the garden and her sexual relations with Adam. She is thus the author’s portrait of an ideal woman with an exception being her desire for knowledge which indicates her as a cultural symbol. Sita on the other hand is more of an ideal character. The psychological reality that is shown by Sita’s story and her loss is evident too in other classical myths and is also present in the Biblical myths of the Garden of Eden. The nature of ‘The Ramayana’ epic story also helps in suppressing many other author’s ideals and aspirations as it is a collective work of individual elements. The analysis of the two characters gives the conclusion that a character’s thematic condition is reliant on the poet’s capacity of showcasing his own ideals. Works Cited Dutt, Romesh. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata. London: Dent, 1910. Empson, William. Milton’s God, London: Chatto & Windus, 1961. Franz, M,-L. ‘The Process of Individuation.† Man and His Symbols. ed. Carl G. Jung. New York: Dell, 1964. Fryer, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1957. Jung, Gustav. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. Milton, John. Paradise Lost; An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. Ed. Scott Elledge. New York: Norton, 1975.