What are Your Strengths and Weaknesses in English?

There are a number of both strengths and weaknesses which I possess in regards to English and the areas of reading and writing. My strengths are that I have a passion for reading, I have a good understanding of grammar and its correct usage and I am a decent speller. I also understand and respect that English is an important part of everyday life. My weaknesses are that I do not enjoy writing, I do not have a good writing process for when I do have to write and I tend to procrastinate when faced with an English assignment. I think that my biggest strength in English is that I love to read.

One of my favorite pastimes is curling up with a good book, particularly a good murder mystery or suspense novel. I am pretty good at being able to extract information and understand the authors meaning from the piece of writing I am reading. It is also through my love for reading that I gain a broader view of the world and become more knowledgeable. Reading for enjoyment is a great way to learn about new things and not even realize it at the time! Another of my strengths in English is that I have a good grasp on grammar and word usage.

This is something that I learned as a child but has improved over time, especially due to my work environment. Whether the goal is to achieve a higher education or persuade a company to use a service, using correct grammar can be the difference between succeeding and failing. This includes the proper use of vocabulary, punctuation, and standard grammar rules such as subject and verb agreement. The goal of communication is to be understandable; proper grammar is a crucial step in reaching this goal. The ability to spell is also an important strength in English.

I was lucky when it came to spelling in school and had a certain gift for spelling. I never had to study much, if at all, for a spelling test. This helps a lot in my career when composing memos and proposals for clients. And although I am grateful to Microsoft Words spell check and auto correct functions they have “dulled” some of my skill in this area. English and writing are important and necessary in everyday life. English is used everyday both written and orally. It is a very important subject because it is a form of communication and is very important all around the world.

How would businesses function with out some sort of base communication? They wouldn’t. From letters to books to resumes, reading and writing is used by everyone. My biggest weakness in English is that I hate to write. I seem to have a hard time trying to articulate myself and get my ideas into words on paper. I especially do not enjoy writing about personal experiences. I think the main reason for this is that I am a private person and do not want my emotions to “pour” out on paper for everyone to see. Another contributing factor to writing being one of my weaknesses is my writing process. Well, actually I don’t even have one!

Usually, not always, but usually, I wait until the night before the paper is due and then begin to brainstorm and write out my thoughts. This is very ironic to me, because for every other class I have a scheduled study time and follow that very closely. Maybe because I dislike writing so much I don’t plan on doing it. My lack of a writing process adds to another one of my weaknesses, being a procrastinator and having a lack of motivation (when it comes to English). When I am required to write a lengthy paper on a subject that is boring or unimportant to me as a person, the writing process is often tedious and mind numbing.

I can mull the topic over and over in my mind and get no where! My only thoughts being that “I am NEVER going to get this done! ” After looking at and thinking about several of my strengths and weaknesses in English, I would conclude that the best course of action for me would be to continue to use and practice activities that use my already strong skills. Making time in my busy schedule for brainstorming and critical thinking could be the first step in trying to overcome my weaknesses in English as they all pretty much stem from not wanting to write.

Amazon SWOT Analysis 2016: Strengths and Weaknesses

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Amazon is one of the best online retailers and it will continue its success and growth into the second half of 2016. One out of every three product searches online is done through Amazon.com and nearly half of online sales are filtered through Amazon.com.

Amazon is the fourth most valuable public company in the world, the largest internet company by revenue in the world and the ninth largest employer in the United States.

Amazon.com, Inc., incorporated on May 28, 1996, offers a range of products and services through its Websites. The Company operates through three segments: North America, International and Amazon Web Services (AWS). The Company’s products include merchandise and content that it purchases for resale from vendors and those offered by third-party sellers. It also manufactures and sells electronic devices. It provides services to four primary customer sets: consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content creators. The company also provides other marketing and promotional services, such as online advertising and co-branded credit card agreements. It serves consumers through its retail websites with a focus on selection, price, and convenience. It designs its websites to enable its products to be sold by the company and by third parties across dozens of product categories. The company also serves developers and enterprises of all sizes through Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure that enables virtually any type of business.

And now let’s talk about the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of .

SWOT Analysis of Amazon

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Amazon Strengths

• Strong brand name
• Customer oriented
• Differentiation and Innovation
• Cost Leadership
• Largest Merchandise Selection
• Large number of third-party sellers
• Go Global and Act Local strategy
• Large number of acquisitions
• Involved into 3 key business
• Highest revenues in the industry
• Superior logistics and distribution systems

Amazon is one of the oldest and time-tested portal providing multi-branded quality products worldwide. Amazon has products in every possible segment, ranging from white goods, books, brown goods, electronics, toys, kitchenware and much more. The last two decades has seen a phenomenal growth for the global e-commerce giant, Amazon.

Amazon is a retail giant. It’s a monopoly in its own right. It offers fast shipping, made faster when you subscribe for their Prime membership — plus video, music, photos, reading, and many discounts. These offerings make Prime membership (lower cost to students) appealing to consumers in many ways.

Additionally, Amazon has strong brand power; people know it by name and use it for discounts, low shipping rates, and product selection. Amazon also has a low-cost structure, as third parties sell through the site and Amazon sees profits.

Also read about importance of commerce in moderm world

Amazon is extremely customer friendly when it comes to acquiring new customers and continuing with on-going customers. As per data, 55% of its customers are repeat buyers, thus this data talks a lot about the trust that the buyers have on Amazon. The added advantage being, Amazon has to spend less money in acquiring new customers. Amazon’s robust CRM helps capture all the details, especially for new buyers.

Amazon Weaknesses

• Easily imitable business model
• Losing Margins in Few Areas
•  Product Flops and Failures
• Tax Avoidance Controversy
• Limited brick-and-mortar presence
• Vox published negative reports related

Amazon has an incredibly thin profit margin in order to sustain its cost leadership strategy, as well as, its promise of free delivery. Lack of focus on profitability in general and a low-profit margin, in particular, makes the business vulnerable to external shocks and crises and other changes in the marketplace. In other words, due to low-profit margins with negative implications on the level of liquidity and cash reserves, Amazon may find it difficult to go through the phases of low demand for its products and services caused by changes in the external environment.

Amazon.com Inc. has a business model that others can easily imitate. For example, other firms could easily establish an online retail website that sells just about anything. Also, Amazon generates most of its revenues from developed countries, such as the United States. When other firms become fully established in developing markets, it would be difficult for Amazon to penetrate and compete in such markets.

Amazon has been running in losses especially in the developing nations, as it is yet to make a mark in the developing nation, thus a major loss in aggregate.

Opportunities

• Amazon can gain the opportunity to penetrate or expand its operations in developing markets.
• By expanding physical online stores, Amazon can improve competitiveness against big retailers and engage customers with the brand.
• Amazon has the opportunity to improve technological measures and organizational policies to reduce counterfeit sales. One case of counterfeit sales came into light when Amazon sold a fake
  My Critter Catcher.
• The product was sold for $1 less than the original product.
• Can do backward Integration by bringing in-house brands in distinct product categories to differentiate its offerings.
• More acquisitions of e-commerce companies can increase the company’s capacity and reduce the competition level.

Expansion mainly in Asian ; developing economies will help Amazon because those are the markets with low competition in E-commerce industries ; are not saturated like developed economies.  By having a physical Amazon stores in a few locations, the company can increase its brand association and familiarity with the consumers for increasing reliability and repeat purchase.

Another opportunity, which Amazon can capitalize on, relates to it rolling out more products under its own brand instead of being a forwarding site for third party products. In other words, it can increase the number of products under its own brand instead of merely selling and stocking products made by its partners. Own branded products would offer attractive and exciting discounts and offers, thus attracting more consumers and increase stickability.

Threats

• Few controversies have caused a dent in Amazon’s brand image. People critically reacted and boycotted Amazon sites in 2010 when they found that it’s selling the book “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love ; Pleasure: a Child-lover’s Code of Conduct.”
• Government regulations can also threaten the business proceedings of Amazon in some critical countries. Amazon does not ship to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Styria.
• Increasing cybercrime can affect the network security system of the company.
• Aggressive competition with big retail firms like Walmart and eBay can give Amazon a tough time in the future.
• Imitation is easy as many new entrants are coming up in the market usually with the same business model of Amazon.

The competition will increase due to the low barriers to entry in the market since offline companies are coming online. All successful Internet businesses attract competition. Since Amazon sells the same or similar products as high street retailers and other online businesses, it may become more and more difficult to differentiate the brand from its competitors. International competitors may also intrude upon Amazon as it expands. Those domestic (US-based) rivals unable to compete with Amazon in the US may entrench overseas and compete with them on foreign fronts. Joint ventures, strategic alliances and mergers could see Amazon losing its top position in some markets. The local brands like Alibaba and Flipkart despite being smaller pose a formidable threat.

Several countries are yet to have a structured FDA policy designed specifically for multi-branded ecommerce organization. Amazon is facing a huge issue with the current Government processes and policies.

Because of its aggressive pricing strategies, the company has had to face lawsuits from publishers and rivals in the retailing industry. The obsessive focus on cost leadership that Amazon follows has become a source of trouble for the company because of the competitors being upset with Amazon taking away the business from them.

Conclusion of SWOT

 analysis on amazon

Amazon.com, with its sales model based on low prices, wide-ranging merchandise, convenience, customer satisfaction, quality recommendations, and delivery efficiency hits a number of high demand features in the modern retail climate. Doing so consistently for years has built a loyal customer base and unparalleled brand equity for the company. Distinct strength in its home market belies its potential in developing regions such as India, where it is poised to become a major player. Focusing on the Asian markets could help it generate better sales there. Another smart way of increasing sales is the use of smart stores. It seems Amazon is already planning to do something big through its grocery stores. However, it can try diversification to increase its profits and generate new sources of revenue. Amazon is an established brand name but it can better use its potential to achieve higher profits.

References

• Wikipedia Amazon.com [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com]
• Amazon climbs into list of top five largest US stocks by market cap
• Amazon SWOT Analysis [http://research-methodology.net/amazon-swot-analysis/]

Our Strengths and Weaknesses in Terms of Our Attitudes/Values, Skills and Knowledge

Social work has been one of the most important pillars for the growth of human society. The role played by social workers cannot be downplayed as it is vital for human growth and development.

Like in any other professional, human service work is founded on some important principles which guide them in their work. Most important of these principles are our attitude and values, skills, and our knowledge. Human help work is diverse in its expectation and therefore the individual strength and weaknesses in these pillars leads to specialization in one of its diverse areas.

Therefore understanding our strengths and weaknesses in attitudes and values, skills and knowledge is important to help us understand the area that we can service successfully. This paper will review different strengths and weaknesses in these pillars and come up with strategies to cope with any weaknesses.

Strengths and weaknesses of attitude and values

Patience is an important virtue in human help work. It is not always things will go as expected. We might want change but they may be coming very slow. We make two steps ahead but our clients take us three steps backward.

  The old adage goes patience pays, and indeed it is true.  One of my strength with patience is that at the end we achieve what we want though at slow pace. However I find it difficult to wait for the long time that this solution will take. I always become frustrated when I can’t achieve what I want. To overcome this weakness, I always engage in other kind of activities like raisin funds to get a break out of the routine. (Brown, 2004)

I have a great weakness when it comes to empathy. In many situation I have found it difficult to put myself in someone else situation not matter what I want. I have realized that empathy is a long path I trend daily with no destination.  I always try to be sensitive to other peoples situation and try to do the best I can to help them.

Self awareness is a great virtue that guides me in my work. In most situations I have been caught in situation where I am supporting what I don’t believe in.  However self awareness has helped me to trend emotional laden topics like rape and suicide with ease. It has helped me to grant individual freedom to make choice. I always try to do the best I can to assess a situation before I support or oppose it.

In most situations I have found out that am not sure of what will happen in any situation.  Social work is complex and dealing with special groups is very demanding. No one is sure of the formula to use to get the desired results. Although I am prepared for any eventualities, I always have fear of negative results. I try to overcome this weakness by developing a positive mind that everything will go as expected.

The aim of any social work is to bring a change through capacity building. This factor helps social workers to direct their energy towards areas which empower their clients to lift them from their present situation. However I am always faced by frustration when clients don’t understand where they are going and what they want. To overcome this I talk with the clients on what they want and together we discuss how to go about it.

Openness mindedness helps social workers to tap more knowledge from others. I have always listened to others to gain more knowledge. I always open my mind to receive more information from other people. However I have a problem towards gender equity and stereotypes that I always side with women.

I have decided to attend a course of gender in order to get more insight on this issue and change my pattern of thinking on men and there relationship to women. Lastly when everything weighs on my shoulder, I find sharing light moments with my clients as one of the most influential thing. This helps me to relax and at the same time understand them.

Strengths and weaknesses in skills

Like in any other profession, skills are very vital for any social worker. A social worker needs different skills depending on the situation at and. Active listening is important as it helps to understand the situation and get the emotion surrounding the words. A careful scrutiny of individual in their surrounding will tell whether they are in deed saying what they mean or not.

These are two important skills that I have applied in my social work to understand my clients well. However I have a weakness in listening to others as I tend to get very emotional. In such situation I try my best to reserve my words as I listen to others or I talk to them later when my emotion subsides. Getting as much information about the clients one can is also important to understand them and their behavior.

In order to raise my skills I always try to attend conferences that are about social work from where I can learn diverse skills on human relations. In situation where I can’t get enough information about the clients, I search more on their background by visiting their homes. However it is even hard to get more information from their homes especially when parents are not cooperative. (Doe, 1998)

Sharing information with other social worker has helped me to gain more knowledge about the clients. This helps to write an evaluation of every client and understand them well. Keeping the records creates continuity for the social worker who will take over. In my work, I have always done my best to build relationship with the clients in order to help them however some like teenager have emotions that break every relationship built over time.

However I try to understand them and build from a collapsing relationship to form a cohesive bond.  When it comes to dealing with clients, it is difficult to negotiate for their contracts or to construct action plans for them. Something they ought to be left to carry out their own duties the way they want. But mutual guidance especially for teenagers is important to give them direction. One of my weakness in this area is that I have tried micromanagement in many cases having a hand in every thing client are doing.

While this helps things to roll out as planned, it is seen as authoritarian. To avert this I have at times delegated my roles to others who can handle it effectively.  To ensure the plan is rolling out as expected monitoring and evaluation is needed to elicit a feedback.  Since am not competent in this area, I would rather hire a professional who can provide unbiased feedback and propose improvements to be made. (Taylor, 1999)