Gift of the Magi William Sydney Porter or better known as O. H

Gift of the Magi
William Sydney Porter or better known as O. Henry uses
several literary devises throughout his short story "The Gift of
the Magi.” Allusions, Imagery, and Simile are just some of the
devises he uses in his short story. Even in the title the "The Gift
of the Magi" Henry used Allusions and Imagery to bring in the
reader’s attention. The title speaks of the three Magi, or three
kings "who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger."
“Had the Queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft,
Della would have let her hair hang out the window someday to
dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King
Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the
basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he
passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.” This
insert is an example of the imagery or visualizations of Della's
hair dangling out of the window. By giving such detail you can
almost see the Queen of Sheba envying Della's hair from afar or
King Solomon stroking his beard while noticing Jim's watch. O.
Henry also used the allusion when he said that Della resembled
“A Coney Island Chorus Girl” after she cut her hair for Jim.
O. Henry’s reference, "like a Coney Island chorus girls," by
using the work "like" to compare Della to the female
singer/dancers with short hair that worked there was also a
simile. "Della's beautiful hair fell about her, rippling and
shining like a cascade of brown waters" and "Della leaped up
like a little singed cat" are some of the other similes of him
using the word "like.” O. Henry’s use of the word “like” the
reader was able to visualize the events that were currently
taking place inside the story.
The imagery he used in the story include began with the phrase
"beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims," and
the image of Della: “On went her old brown jacket; on went her
old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant

sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door and down the
stairs to the street.”

Citation
Henry, O. The Gift of the Magi. Simon & Schuster, 1997.
Battle Royal
As far as the literary illustration of racial inequality goes,
Ralph Ellison’s invisible man is considered a masterpiece and is
a timeless depiction of the injustices faced by a group of
African Americans in a Southern village. Battle Royal
constitutes the first chapter of the novel and provides the tone
for the rest of the story. The story is based on a boy who tries to
fit in an overwhelmingly white neighborhood and remembers
the words of his grandfather “live with your head in Lion’s
mouth” (Ellison, 7). From the start of the story, we see that the
grandfather of the protagonist wants to find a way to merge into
society by hook or by crook. This is perfectly described in a
dialogue in which the grandfather tells the boy “overcome ’em
with yeses, undermine ’em with grins, agree on ’em to death
(Ellison, 15). One of the most intriguing aspects of the author’s
writing is that it is replete with symbolism. The audience cannot
help but notice that the author wanted to correlate the struggles
of the boy with the hardships of the larger African American
community. The setting of the story is also important in
understanding its true meaning. The narrator was born and spent

all of his life in a small village in the South of the United
States. He moved to Harlem New York which is regarded as the
melting pot of black culture in the country. The narrator’s
astonishment at the culture of the North is another point of note
in the story. We see that he is completely mesmerized by the
fact that there are black policemen who are giving orders to
white taxi drivers in the streets. The freedom that the narrator
experiences in the North is another reminder of the blessings he
has in life. Ellison has done a brilliant job in establishing a
psychological ingenuity about the character. We feel that he
defines himself by how others perceive him. This is where the
concept of invisibility cloaks him and he admires the fact that
he can operate whatever way he likes in a society that is
completely different from him. The audience also realizes that
Ralph might be speaking of his own accord in the story and how
he felt as a black man in different geographical landscapes of
the country. The writer’s experience during a very tumultuous
time in the United States must have inspired at least some parts
of the invisible man.
As Ralph Ellison was a renowned lover of Jazz, the concept of
battle royal was conceived as an equivalent to the music genre.
In fact, we see the author making several of his concepts in the
whole of the invisible man based on jazz music. Battle royal is
significant because it tells us the injustices faced by a whole
community through the lens of a single individual. The narrator
in the novel is a human representation of suffering and pain and
constitutes the embodiment of racial persecution. Glimpses of
the author himself are all over the story as we see that the
invisible man was considered to be the smartest young lad of his
community who was also given a chance to speak in front of
some of the most respected people of the white community. He
undergoes several harsh treatments along the way which is also
symbolic of the cruel history of the African American
community in the United States. The reader is completely
shaken away at one point in the story in the Battle Royal when
the boy has to undergo a ton of humiliation to secure a

scholarship. This is a remnant of the fact that even the tiniest
accomplishment and success have to be earned by forgoing self-
respect by the African American community. The text of the
story is written in an extremely descriptive manner and the
narrator does not shy away from describing everything the way
he sees them to be. The story is to be perceived more than
reading because the author has used numerous symbols. Even
though the story could have easily been turned into something
melodramatic, the narrator uses a frank and thoughtful tone
which allows the story to have a more reflective edge. The
audience also feels that the invisibility of the character is also
important for a better understanding of the times. Ellison is
trying to convince the reader that the best way to endure
hardships is to rationalize them and make them important to
your struggle for success. Similarly, we can learn a lot about
people and society just by looking around and observing. The
molding of the character and the identity of the narrator tells us
that everybody can learn a lot by countering the deceit and
corruption that exists in society. The battle royal is a perfect
name given to the chapter because the narrator has to fight
many internal and external battles in his pursuit of identity.
Power through viewership is another major theme in the story
because it gives us the relationship between how certain people
have the power in a situation by just being external observers.
The white people are shown to hold power in several situations
because of their ability to pass judgments on their subjects. This
is evident in the part of the story where black people are
confused about whether to look at the dancing women in front
of them or to look away. The white men ridicule the children to
a point where they are confused about how to carry themselves.
Internalized racism is another theme that describes the
confusion the character goes through in the story. For instance,
the invisible man remembers the harsh words of his grandfather
about settling in a white neighborhood and the hardships people
of his color have to go through to be on an equal footing with
white people. We also feel this at the beginning of the story

when the narrator is confident in fighting kids whom he thinks
are intellectually inferior to them. This is a perfect example of
how a black person is made to feel a certain way about a
specific type of people from his own race. The narrator
experiences these hardships to a full extent as he is humiliating
time and time again. But the invisible man feels a contrast to
the treatment he received in the South when he travels to the
North of the country. This confuses him to such an extent that
he wonders about his own character and personality and the
effect external settings have on his life. This is an important
symbol that can be attributed to the wider African American
community because this problem is extremely common in the
black people of the country (Walsh, 34). The struggle for
identity is the most profound theme in the story and the narrator
struggles between the option to comply with the advice given to
him by his grandfather or to find his way in life with pride and
dignity. Battle Royal can easily be described as a masterpiece
because it prepares us to think about contemporary issues from
the lens of the persecuted people in society. It also helps in
understanding the different barriers in our social-cultural
domain and the effects they have on generations of people.
PEER REVIEW CHECKLIST
ISSUE
GUIDED QUESTIONS
THESIS STATEMENT
1. How is the thesis structured?
2. Does it follow the teacher’s instructions?
3. How can the thesis be more specific and complex?
4. How can the writer demonstrate why his/her argument is
significant?
5. Does the thesis provide an outline of where the paper goes?
ORGANIZATION
1. How do the ideas in the paper progress?
2. How does the writer transition between points and/or

paragraphs?
3. Does the writer use paragraphs that are too short?
4. How can the writer develop the paragraph more or integrate
this information somewhere else?
5. Does the writer use paragraphs that are too long?
6. How can the writer condense these paragraphs or split them
up?
EVIDENCE/ANALYSIS
1. Is every piece of evidence followed by analysis?
2. Where can the analysis better explain the evidence?
3. How often does the writer use quotations ?
4. Where can the writer paraphrase instead?
5. Is it clear how examples support the argument and connect to
the thesis statement?
6. Does the writer make any leaps in judgment that are
questionable or illogical?
7. Where can the writer incorporate a counter argument?
CITATION
1. What citation style should the writer be using?
2. Is the writer following this style?
3. Does the writer cite the text appropriately in the works cited
page?
4. Are any in-text citations missing?
5. Is the punctuation correct for each direct quote and citation?
INTRODUCTION
1. How does the introduction hook the reader?
2. Does the introduction provide enough context on the topics
covered in the paper?
3. Does the introduction use cliches (like rhetorical questions or
dictionary definitions)?
CONCLUSION
1. Does the conclusion introduce new information?
2. How can the conclusion restate the thesis in a more complex
way?
3. Does the conclusion summarize the main points of the paper?
4. How does the conclusion reinforce the significance of the

writer’s argument?
GRAMMAR/SENTENCE STRUCTURE
1. Is there appropriate variation of sentence structure? (Using
phrases, inverted syntax, no fragments, etc.)
2. Is everything punctuated correctly?
3. Did the author appropriately capitalize and punctuate names,
titles, beginning and ending of sentences, and quotes?
4. Is the paper free of major grammatical errors and typos?
*
CONTEMPORARY STRATEGY ANALYSIS
tenth edition
Robert M. Grant
John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2019
Chapter 8
Industry Evolution and
Strategic Change
The industry life cycleThe challenge of organizational
adaptation and strategic changeManaging strategic change
Industry Evolution and
Strategic Change

Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
OUTLINE
37
INTRODUCTION
GROWTH
MATURITY
DECLINE
Industry Sales
Time
Stages of the Industry Life Cycle
THE INDUSTRY LIFE CYCLE
Drivers of industry evolution :
demand growth
creation and diffusion of knowledge
Product and Process Innovation Over Time
© 2016 Robert M. Grant,

www.contemporarystrategyanalysis.com
Product Innovation
Process Innovation
Time
Rate of Innovation
Life cycle model can help us to anticipate industry evolution—
but dangerous to assume any common, pre-determined pattern
of industry development
Color
B&W
Portable
HDTV
Flat screen
How Typical is the Life Cycle Pattern?
Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Technology-
intensive industries (e.g. pharmaceuticals, semiconductors,
computers) may retain features of emerging industries.Other
industries (especially those providing basic necessities, e.g.
food processing, construction, apparel) reach maturity, but not
decline.Industries may experience life cycle regeneration, e.g.
motorcycles, TVs:
Sales
Sales
1900 1950 1980 2017
1930 1950 1970 1990 2010
TELEVISIONS
MOTORCYCLES

42
1840 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960
1980 2000 2018
“Category
Killers”
e.g. Toys”R”
Us, Home
Depot
Internet
Retailers
e.g. Amazon,
JD.com
Mail Order,
Catalogue
Retailers
e.g. Sears
Roebuck,
Montgomery
Ward
Chain

Stores
e.g. A&P,
Woolworth’s,
W.H. Smith
Discount
Stores
e.g. K-Mart
Wal-Mart
Warehouse
Clubs
e.g. Price Club
Sam’s Club
Pop-Up
Stores
Department
Stores
e.g. Le Bon
Marché,
Macy & Co.,
Harrods
Innovation and Renewal over
the Life Cycle: Retailing
Evolution of Industry Structure over the Life Cycle

THE INDUSTRY LIFE
CYCLEINTRODUCTIONGROWTHMATURITYDECLINEDEM
ANDEarly adoptersRapid increase in market
penetrationReplacement/ repeat buying; price sensitive
customersObsolescence TECHNOLOGYCompeting
technologies; rapid product innovationStandardization; rapid
process innovationDiffused know how; incremental
innovationLittle innovationPRODUCTSWide variety of features
and designsDesign & quality improve; dominant design
emergesCommoditization; brand differentiationDifferentiation
difficultMANUFACTURINGShort-runs, skill intensiveCapacity
shortage, mass-productionOver-capacity emerges;
deskillingOvercapacity TRADE------Production shifts from
advanced to emerging countries------COMPETITIONFew
companiesEntry, mergers exitShakeout & consolidationPrice
wars & exitKSFsProduct innovationDesign for manu-facture;
Process innovationCost efficiency (scale economies, low cost
inputs)Low overheads; rationalization

43
Customers become
more knowledgeable
& experienced
Diffusion of
technology
Demand growth
slows as market
saturation approaches
Customers become
more price conscious
Products become
more standardized
Distribution channels
consolidate
Production shifts
to low-wage
countries
Price competition
intensifies
Bargaining power
of distributors
increases

BASIC CONDITIONS INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
COMPETITION
Excess capacity
increases
Production
becomes less R&D
& skill-intensive
Quest for new
sources of
differentiation
8
The Driving Forces of Industry Evolution
44
Source: S. Klepper, Industrial & Corporate Change, August
2002, p. 654.
Changes in the Population of Firms over the Industry Life
Cycle: US Auto Industry 1895-1960

Note: The figure shows
standardized means for each variable for businesses at each
stage of the life cycle.
Strategy and Performance across the Industry Life Cycle
11
Chart1ROIROIROIValue Added/RevenueValue
Added/RevenueValue Added/RevenueTechnical
ChangeTechnical ChangeTechnical ChangeNew ProductsNew
ProductsNew Products% Sales from New Products% Sales from
New Products% Sales from New ProductsProduct
R&D/SalesProduct R&D/SalesProduct R&D/SalesAge of Plant
& Equip.Age of Plant & Equip.Age of Plant &
Equip.Investment/SalesInvestment/SalesInvestment/SalesAdvert
ising/SalesAdvertising/SalesAdvertising/Sales
Growth
Maturity
Decline
4.5
4.8
1.67
6.5
5.6
0.7
7.8
0.4
1.5
4.85

4.5
3.9
8.9
2.2
0.2
9.4
4.4
0.4
0.8
6.1
10.1
5.1
2.3
1.5
3.5
2.7
2.1
Sheet1ROIValue Added/RevenueTechnical ChangeNew
Products% Sales from New ProductsProduct R&D/SalesAge of
Plant &
Equip.Investment/SalesAdvertising/SalesGrowth4.56.57.84.858.
99.40.85.13.5Maturity4.85.60.44.52.24.46.12.32.7Decline1.670.
71.53.90.20.410.11.52.1
Organizational Routines: existing patterns of coordinated
activity make it difficult to develop new capabilities
Social & political structures: change threatens existing social
relationships and power structures
Conformity: imitation locks firms into common structures and
strategies (“institutional isomorphism”)
Limited Search: “bounded rationality” encourages local search;
this is reinforced by managers’ contentment with satisfactory
rather than optimal solutions
Complementarities between strategy, structure, and systems:

firms create unique configurations of close-fitting
organizational features--localized changes tend to be
dysfunctional, while systematic change difficult
Organizational Adaptation and Change:
The Sources of Inertia
THE CHALLENGE OF ORGANIZATIONAL ADAPTATION
AND STRATEGIC CHANGE
The World’s Biggest Companies by Market Capitalization, 1912
and 2018
AND STRATEGIC CHANGE1912$ bn.2018$ bn.US
Steel0.74Apple876Standard Oil NJ
(Exxon)0.39Alphabet737J&P
Coates0.29Microsoft658Pullman0.20Amazon567Royal Dutch
Shell0.19Facebook511Anaconda0.18Tencent496General
Electric0.17Berkshire
Hathaway488Singer0.17Alibaba441American
Brands0.17Johnson & Johnson376Navistar0.16JP Morgan
Chase371British American Tobacco0.16De Beers0.16

Some types of technological change are more difficult for
established firms to adapt to than others: Competence
Enhancing versus Competence Destroying Technological
Change—established firms will have difficulty in adjusting if
the new if technology requires different resources and

capabilities from those they already possess Architectural
versus Component Innovation—established firms have greater
difficulty adjusting to innovation that involve a new product
architecture than those that relate to particular components
Sustaining versus Disruptive Technologies—new technologies
that augment existing performance attributes are easier to adapt
to that than those that incorporate different performance
attributes than the existing technology
The Threat of Technological Change
AND STRATEGIC CHANGE
Managing Strategic Change: Dual
Strategies and Organizational Ambidexterity
Dual Strategies
Firms need A strategy for today that exploits existing resources
and capabilities and current market positionsA strategy for
tomorrow that prepares the firms for the future
Organizational Ambidexterity
Firms need toExploit existing resources and capabilities and
market positionsExplore new opportunities for the future
Doing both simultaneously requires ambidexterity:
Structural ambidexterity: exploration and exploitation allocated
to different organizational units
Contextual ambidexterity: same organizational units and people
perform both exploration and exploitation
MANAGING STRATEGIC CHANGE
Creating Perceptions of Crisis—a crisis facilitates
organizational change. If there’s no crisis—create the
perception of one! Establishing Stretch Targets—demanding

performance targets can generate ambition and mobilize
effortOrganizational Initiatives—initiatives launched by the
CEO can be vehicles for changeReorganizing Company
Structure—restructuring breaks down existing power bases and
creates openings for external hiresNew Leadership—capacity of
the existing leadership to initiate change is limited by
investment in the status quo and lack of cognitive flexibility—
hence, the need for new leadershipScenario Analysis offers a
structured approach for managers to address the forces s that are
changing their business environment and to prepare for the
future
Combatting Organizational Inertia
Firm Capability Early history
Exxon Financial Exxon’s predecessor, Standard Oil
(NJ) was the
management holding co. for Rockefeller’s
Standard Oil Trust
RD/ Coordinating Shell a j-v formed from Shell T&T
founded to
Shell decentralized sell Russian oil in China, and Royal
Dutch
global empire founded to exploit Indonesian
reserves
BP “Elephant Discovered huge Persian reserves, went
on to
hunting” find Forties Field and Prudhoe Bay
ENI Managing deals & Pioneering spirit of the
founder, Enrico Mattei; the

relationships in challenge of managing
government relations in post-
difficult political war Italy
environments
Mobil Lubricants Vacuum Oil Co. founded in 1866
to supply
patented petroleum lubricants
Distinctive Capabilities as a Consequence of Childhood
Experiences: The Oil Majors
ORGANIZATIONAL
CAPABILITIES
RESOURCES
TANGIBLE INTANGIBLE HUMAN
FinancialPhysical
TechnologyReputationCulture Skills/know-howCapacity for
communication & collaborationMotivation
Integrating Resources to Create Organizational Capability
Processes
Organizational
Alignment
Motivation
Organizational

Structure
AssemblyProduction
engineeringLocal
marketingAuto styling &designCasting & forgingChassis
designToolingBody productionExport mktg.FWD
engineeringCAD/CAMAssembly
control
systemsAdvanced
component
handlingHydrodynamicsThermodynamicsFuel engineering
Emission controlLubricationKinetics&
vibrationCeramicsElectronic control
systemsLarge-scale design integrationGlobal logisticsLifecycle
engineering
SKD CKD
Ford Cortina
Pony
Accent
Avante
Sonata
Excel
Products
Capabilities
‘Alpha’
engine
1968
1970
1974
1985

1994-95
Hyundai Motor: Developing Capabilities through
Product Sequencing
Dynamic capability is a “firm’s ability to integrate, build, and
reconfigure internal and external competences to address
rapidly changing environments” Dynamic capabilities typically
viewed as “higher order” capabilities that orchestrate change
among lower-level “ordinary” or “operational” capabilities.
There are three types of dynamic capability: sensing and
shaping of opportunities and threatsseizing opportunities
maintaining competitiveness through enhancing, combining,
protecting, and, when necessary, reconfiguring the enterprise’s
intangible and tangible assets
Dynamic Capabilities
OLD BRICK
NEW BRICK
Top management is responsible
for setting strategy
Everyone is responsible for setting strategy
Getting better is the way to win
Innovation is the way to win

IT creates competitive advantage
Unconventional business concepts
create competitive advantage
Being revolutionary is high risk
More of the same is high risk
We can merge our way to
competitiveness
There’s no correlation between
size and competitiveness
Innovation is new products
and technologies
Innovation is entirely new business concepts
Strategy is the easy part,
Implementation the hard part
Strategy is the easy only if you’re
content to be an imitator
Change starts at the top
Change starts with activists
Big companies can’t innovate
Big companies can become gray-haired revolutionaries
Gary Hamel: The New Foundations of Management

Knowledge Management and the
Knowledge-based View: Types of Knowledge
MANAGING STRATEGIC CHANGEType of Knowledge
CharacteristicsImplicationsExplicit: knowing aboutEasy and
cheap to transfer. A “public good” (non-exclusive) Easy to
exploit within the firm—but difficult to protect from rivals:
hence, a weak basis for sustainable advantage Tacit: knowing
howDifficult to articulate or codify. Transfer is slow and costly:
requires observation and practiceSound basis for sustainable
competitive advantage; challenge is to replicate it internally
Knowledge
identification Managing intellectual
property
Corporate “yellow pages”
Texas Instruments’ appraisal and
licensing of its patent portfolio

Knowledge
Retention
Skandia (Swedish insurance co.);
Dow Chemical
Knowledge
Transfer and
Sharing
US Army Center for Lessons Learned
distils kn. from maneuvers & operations
into procedures
Accenture's Knowledge Xchange
Communities-of-Practice
Best practices transfer
Databases
Knowledge
Measurement Intellectual capital
accounting
Ford Motor’s best practice replication
Benchmarks processes across all
its plants
Lessons learned
Knowledge Management Practices
Knowledge Types of Examples
process activity

BP's ‘Connect’ database of employees’ skills and experience
Schlumberger’s Eureka project of
virtual, distributed teams of experts
Data Analytics
Big data analysis
Walmart’s analysis of >1m. Customer
transactions every hour
Robert grant (Rg)
Individual
Organization
Explicit
Tacit
Skills,
Know-how
Organizational
routines
Types
of

Knowledge
Levels of knowledge
Facts, Information,
Scientific kn.
Databases, Rules,
Systems, IP
Internalization
Externalization
Systematization
CRAFT
ENTERPRISES
INDUSTRIAL
ENTERPRISES
Combination
Socialization
Routinization
Knowledge Conversion and the Power of Systematization
0
50
100
150
200
250
1895190519151925193519451955
No. of firms
024681012
ROIValue Added/RevenueTechnical ChangeNew Products%
Sales from New

Products
Product R&D/SalesAge of Plant &
Equip.Investment/SalesAdvertising/Sales
GrowthMaturityDecline
Project SchedulePriority StatusDeadlineTask
ProgressPlanningList tasks hereHigh1/14/0000DoneMediumIn
ProgressLowOn holdMilestonesList major milestones hereNext
StepsList next steps here

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