Apple and Best Buy Essays

Apple and Best Buy Essays Apple and Best Buy Paper Apple and Best Buy Paper These factors are important because before an organization can egging strategy formulation, it must scan the internal environment for strengths and weaknesses and their external environment to identify possible opportunities and threats (Wheeled Hunger). In this paper I will describe the internal and external environments of Apple and Best Buy using an environmental scan. I will also determine what their competitive advantages and strategies are. Apples Internal and External Environments Strengths Apple is a very successful company and has many strengths. It is a geographically diverse business with a strong research and development team. Apple has an innovative culture and strong workforce. Apple has bargaining power with retailers and outstanding customer loyalty. Apple has a strong brand and reputation. Apple also makes a lot of money and dont have any debt. Weaknesses Even though Apple is a very successful company they still have some weakness. Apple products are expensive and some products lack customization. Because Apple products are so great, which makes them premium products they can be expensive for many consumers. Some Apple products are considers a distraction electronic device. Accidents such as auto-mobile crashes have been caused by people using electronic devices. Opportunities Apple has some great opportunities such as off-the-shelf military procurement. To reduce cost and increase speed to development the Military is buying off the shelf Apple software and hardware. Phone APS is another big opportunity for Apple. Apple APS produces thousands of small programs that utilize the phones unique capabilities which creates barriers to entry for the phone. This helps increase revenue for Apple. Threats A big threat for Apple Face Time capability is Keep. Because Keep is coming available on more devices it has a negative impact On Apple Face Time capability. Googles Android smart phone is another threat for Apple because its the number one competitor in the smart phone sector. Cost of production is also a threat for Apple because it takes from Apples profit. Best Buy Internal and External Environments Best buy is another great company with many strengths. They are a global market leader with outstanding service. Best Buy Mobile and Busty. Com are also strengths. Best buy has international expansion and a unique in store marketing plan. They also have in-house brands like insignia and they have powerful customer loyalty. Best buy is engrossed on customer service and variety, also they have pricing power over their customers and suppliers. From the geek squad to sales people, there is an innovative culture at Best buy. They have exclusive brands and their brand name allows premium pricing. Weaknesses Best buy also has some weakness such as bad customer service and they need more knowledgeable employees in specific areas. They have undifferentiated products and the none commissioned based sales causes errors not to be motivated. One of Best buys main attractions are DVDs and blue ray disc, and they are becoming less popular. The large store format at Best buy dont fit all customers and their warranty programs could use improving. Opportunities Best buy have some great opportunities such as online growth potential and the State taxes on online sales may possibly spin growth. There store branded products could increase margins and new products and services could increase revenue. More innovation could help best buy because it would add alee. Threats A big threat for Best buy is strong competitors and the digital media rely on physical products and is hurting best buys profits. Some of the smaller products that Best buy sell are becoming more desirable. But, they are brought over the internet easily. Electronics are cheaper online and they have intense competition for stores like Best buy. Lastly the substitute for lower margin products could hurt best buy. Apples Competitive Advantages and Strategies One of Apples competitive advantages is that multiple products that integrate as one and the constant, never-ending change in Apples business climate. Its hard for Apple customers to tell the difference between their product apart from for the size and shape. There is no other company that has efficiently corralled customers to other seemingly different products by getting them to purchase just one. Another one of Apples competitive advantages that really stands out is in marketing. Apple recognizes what will get customers enthusiastic about its products, and then they fulfils that vision. Apple shows how the computer will make your life better, rather than liking the about features and technology. Apple has manufactured a truly sustainable competitive advantage and created value by locking in deals with big record labels such as Universal, Warner Sony, and MME. Clouds generates 30% of revenue alone.. Best Buys Competitive Advantages and Strategies Historicity Best Buy competitive advantage has been pricing. They also have competitive advantage by being the largest source for electronics in most cities. Locality is also a big plus for Best buy, they currently operates 1,347 stores across the united States. If Best Buy is the closest place to pick up a new television, computer, or Pad, its likely they will get your business because, Best Buy is convenient for the majority of American populations to shop at. Now that other specialty electronics retailers have dropped out of the market, Best Buy has that sector of the market to themselves. Another one of Best Buy competitive advantage is service installation and advice. Conclusion In conclusion SOOT analysis is the simplest way to conduct environmental scanning. SOOT important because before an organization can begin strategy ruination, it must scan the internal environment for strengths and weaknesses and their external environment to identify possible opportunities and threats (Wheeled Hunger). Apple and Best buy are two very successful companies and has many strengths, but you must consider the weaknesses, opportunities, and threats before you begin strategy formulation.

Fake US Soldiers Robbing Women Online

Fake US Soldiers Robbing Women Online The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) warns that women in the U.S. and around the world are being scammed by persons pretending to be U.S. soldiers deployed in war zones. CID warns that these fake soldiers promises of love and devotion only  Ã¢â‚¬Å"end up breaking hearts and bank accounts.† According to CID, the pretend heroes sink so low as to be using the names, ranks and even pictures of actual U.S. soldiers - some killed in action to target women 30 to 55 years old on social media and dating web sites. We cannot stress enough that people need to stop sending money to persons they meet on the internet and claim to be in the U.S. military, said Chris Grey, Army CIDs spokesman in a press release. It is heartbreaking to hear these stories over and again of people who have sent thousands of dollars to someone they have never met and sometimes have never even spoken to on the phone. According to Grey, the scams typically employ clever, romantically worded requests for money to help the fake â€Å"deployed soldier† buy special laptop computers, international telephones, military leave applications, and transportation fees needed to keep the budding â€Å"relationship† going. Weve even seen instances where the perpetrators are asking the victims for money to purchase leave papers from the Army, help pay for medical expenses from combat wounds received, or help pay for their flight home so they can leave the war zone, said Grey. Victims who get worried and ask to actually talk to the fake soldiers are typically told the Army does not allow them to make phone calls or that they need money to help keep the Army internet running. Another common thread, according to Grey is for the soldier to claim to be a widower raising a child or children on their own. These perpetrators, often from other countries, most notably from West African countries are good at what they do and quite familiar with American culture, but the claims about the Army and its regulations are ridiculous, said Grey. Report Them All forms of financial fraud, which is exactly what these fake, love for money soldiers are trying to pull, can now be reported through the StopFraud.gov website Military Leave is Always Earned, Never Bought No branch of the U.S. military charges service members money for permission to take leave. Leave is earned, not purchased. As the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command recommends: Never Send Money - Be extremely suspicious if you are asked for money for transportation costs, communication fees or marriage processing and medical fees. In addition, be very suspicious if the person you are corresponding with wants you to mail anything to an African country. Where to Turn Them In If you suspect or know you have been victimized by a fake soldier scammer, you can report the incident to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Out of a concern for the safety and privacy of their servicemembers, all branches of the U.S. military have removed their web-based, online personnel locator services. Scams Targeting Veterans, Military Personnel, and Retirees In another despicable outgrowth of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the IRS warns of email phishing scams targeting veterans, current military personnel, and retirees receiving VA disability benefits. The emails falsely claim that individuals currently receiving disability compensation from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) may be eligible to obtain additional funds from the IRS. The emails come from a bogus outfit calling itself Defense Finance and Accounting Services, and while the email address ends with a â€Å".mil† domain, it is not a legitimate government military email address. The email promises the victims that by sending copies of their VA award letters, income tax returns, 1099-Rs, Retiree Account Statements, and DD-214s to a colonel at an address in Florida, they can receive additional money from the IRS. Of course, as the IRS points out, they cannot and will not. In fact, by giving the non-existent â€Å"colonel† the personal financial information shown on the requested documents, the victims could face financial disaster. To avoid falling victim to this or similar scams, the IRS reminders taxpayers to watch out for the following: Fictitious claims for refunds or rebates based on false statements of entitlement to tax creditsEmails from unfamiliar senders asking for personal informationInternet solicitation that direct individuals to toll-free numbers and then solicit Social Security numbers or other personal information The IRS never contacts taxpayers by email. The IRS initiates most contacts with taxpayers through regular mail delivered by the United States Postal Service.

East Asia Past and Present Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

East Asia Past and Present - Essay Example The membership has expanded to ten countries that include Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Brunei and Vietnam. East Asia had experienced decades of internal conflicts and economic depression, but the formation of ASEAN enabled sub-regional cooperation and trade liberalization (Borthwick 71). The main three pillars include economic growth and cooperation, social progress, and political-security. The model of security and stability in the region attained high success and ASEAN started playing a major security role in even beyond Southeast Asia. The security matters in Southeast Asian countries encompass various political, economic, social, cultural and military dimensions and ASEAN has utilized regional cooperation in order to further peaceful external environment and allow the member states to concentrate on their domestic development priorities (Borthwick 29). ASEAN was a focus of rivalry and competition between the US and Soviet Union, but ASEAN preferred regional solutions by declaring the r egion as a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality in 1995 (Holcombe 241). ASEAN rise to greater importance in East Asia affairs has been facilitated by the ASEAN Free Trade Area that aims at enhancing the competitive advantage of local manufacturing. The region has signed free trade agreements with China, Japan, Australia and India that aim boosting economic growth in the community. The free trade agreements have led to consistent growth in member states GDP by between 4 percent to 7 percent since the end of Cold War. The region has benefited from technology transfer and e-commerce evolution since member states like Malaysia and Singapore account for more than 50 percent of e-commerce transactions in the entire region (Borthwick 81). The economic community is committed to equitable economic development and integration with the global economy as demonstrated by the consistent reduction in import duties (Borthwick 112). ASEAN member states

Life of Martin Luther Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Life of Martin Luther - Research Paper Example Luther was convened as a revolutionary defender of the truth, and religious freedoms of Christians but some people viewed him as a religious rebellion leader. However, most of the contemporary Christians consent that martin influenced and shaped the protestant Christianity more than any leaders. Luther saw the necessity of reforming the church because he wanted to abolish the traditions, papacy laws and restore churches of Christ from perishing. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the life of Martin Luther, his accomplishments and the goals for reforming the church. Although Martin saw a need for protestant reform because of the schism within western Christianity, he wanted to abolish the traditions, papacy laws, promote unity and restore churches of Christ from perishing. ... enrolled in Erfurt university, which was one of the most significant universities in German and it was full of conflicts among the Renaissance humanists and the scholastics people, who practiced theology and philosophy. Luther joined in the faculty of philosophy where he embarked on both theology and law studies; therefore, this was the period when Luther read widely and graduated with a master degree. During the year 1505, the promising law career seemed certain and Luther rejected the world; thus he decided to become a preacher. Additionally, despite the disappointment from the parents for not being a lawyer, Luther experienced a conversation of having been struck by a bolt of lightning. Martin began to study law in order to fulfill the dreams of his father that his son will one day became lawyer. However, Martin had a terrible thunderstorm that narrowly struck him to death; thus he eventually cried to God and promised to live as preacher3. Although this opinion did not please his parents, Martin decided to change the course of his future despite the strong disappointments from his parents. Luther started learning theology and one time when he was sitting in his room, he started reading the bible randomly. Luther became to a passage in the manuscript of Roman 1: 17, which was from Saint Paul revealing that the justice from God can be revealed to those who only has faith because it is through faith that the just shall live forever4. Events That Took Place Prior To Martin’s Conversion Prior to Martin’s conversion, the events that drastically altered the course of Luther’s life took place near Stotterheim. The law student was altered into a humble preacher seeking for the grace of God. The awful thunderstorm struck Luther when he was on his way back to Erfurt

Workplace Ethics Essay -- essays research papers

I can describe ethics in the workplace as the right way to act on the job, whether you are the manager or the employee. You can use ethics positively the right way or negative and possibly get yourself and or others fired. I worked at Target for two and a half years and I only have experienced one negative ethical situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I was hired at Target to be an overnight stocker during Target’s remodeling. There was a team of us five guys and three girls. One night our supervisor called in and said that she was not going to be able to come until the morning. To everyone expect for me, since I was new, this was normal. Our supervisor left a list of instructions for us to follow that night and told us that if anyone had any problems or questions to ask Mike, one of the team members that had...

Occupational Outlook Handbook Essay

Click and drag to select the assignment questions below. Then press CTRL C to copy, or right-click the text and then click Copy. In a word processing program such as Notepad or Microsoft Word, open a new blank file. Then press CTRL V to paste, or right-click the blank area and then click Paste. The assignment questions will appear. Save the file in your course folder, and name it with Assignment, the section number, and your first initial and last name. For example, Jessie Robinsons assignment 1R for Section 1 would be named Assignment1JRobinson. Type the answers to the assignments questions. Use complete sentences unless the question says otherwise. You will have more than one day to complete an assignment. At the end of each day, be sure to save your progress. Review Lesson 4 of the Course Overview for instructions about turning in your assignments. Assignment 7 Careers (25.0 points) 1. Describe at least three specific individual differences that may give you an advantage in the wo rkplace. (1-3 sentences. 1.5 points) Diversity, rapid innovation, and productivity 2. Choose an industry you might be interested in working in, and explain why this industry interests you. (2-4 sentences. 1.0 points) I would like to work in the music industry because I cant go a day without listening to music, it motivates me. 3. Describe at least two methods you would use to identify job opportunities if you were looking for a job. Explain why you would use these methods. (2-4 sentences. 1.0 points) Use the internet, go to agencies, go to union hiring halls 4. Choose a career from the following list financial planner, financial analyst, accountant, risk manager, cash manager, treasurer, CFO, and comptroller. Use the Internet to find information about this career, and answer the questions below. TIP The U.S. Occupational Outlook Handbook ( HYPERLINK http//www.bls.gov/oco/ http//www.bls.gov/oco/) may be a good source for this information. a. What is the name of this career (0.5 points) Financial planner b. Describe at least two tasks a person with this career might perform. (1-2 sentences. 1.0 points) They would have to do a lot of math and good at planning c. What level of education is this career likely to require (0.5 points) Degree in finance, business, or accounting 5. Choose another career from the following list financial planner, financial analyst, accountant, risk manager, cash manager, treasurer, CFO, and comptroller. Use the Internet to find information about this career, and answer the questions below. TIP The U.S. Occupational Outlook Handbook (HYPERLINK http//www.bls.gov/oco/ http//www.bls.gov/oco/) may be a good source for this information. a. What is the name of the career you chose (0.5 points) b. Describe at least two tasks a person with this career might perform. (1-2 sentences. 1.0 points) c. What level of education is this career likely to require (0.5 points) 6. Choose another career that you are interested in. This does not need to be a career in the finance indu stry. Use the Internet to find information about this career, and answer the questions below. a. What is the name of the career you chose (0.5 points) b. Describe at least two tasks a person with this career might perform. (1-2 sentences. 1.0 points) c. What level of education is this career likely to require (0.5 points) d. Why does this career interest you (1-3 sentences. 2.0 points) 7. Choose another career that you are interested in. This does not need to be a career in the finance industry. Use the Internet to find information about this career, and answer the questions below. a. What is the name of the career you chose (0.5 points) b. Describe at least two tasks a person with this career might perform. (1-2 sentences. 1.0 points) c. What level of education is this career likely to require (0.5 points) d. Why does this career interest you (1-3 sentences. 2.0 points) 8. If you were in charge of managing a group of employees, how would you assess their job performance Describe at least two methods you would use. (2-4 sentences. 2.0 points) 9. Describe a time when you or someone you know conformed to the behavior of others. Why do you think this person chose to conform (2-4 sentences. 1.0 points) 10. Describe a time when you or someone you know chose not to conform to the behavior of others. Why do you think this person chose not to conform (2-4 sentences. 1.0 points) 11. Describe a time when you have worked with a group of people, such as with students for a school project, with coworkers at a job, or with family members to complete a chore. Describe the dynamics of the group, and then describe at least one way the group dynamics could have been improved. (3-6 sentences. 3.0 points) 12. Describe a real or made up but realistic example of a misunderstanding that occurred because of unclear written or verbal communication. How could this misunderstanding have been avoided (3-6 sentences. 2.5 points)

French Colonial Governance and the French Revolution in Pondicherry - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2483 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/06/26 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: French Revolution Essay Did you like this example? By the late 18th century, the French presence in India was on the decline. Once the only serious challenger to British dominance on the subcontinent, by the 1780s lInde Fran? §aise had been reduced to a series of demilitarized and economically neutered stations on the subcontinents east coast. Though all of these territories had experienced substantial decline since their mid-18th-century peak, none had fallen so far as Pondicherry. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "French Colonial Governance and the French Revolution in Pondicherry" essay for you Create order What had once been a thriving and cosmopolitan city had declined to a remote outpost with a fraction of its peak population. Largely to blame for this decline were the successive losses of the French during the Seven Years War and the resulting political instability in the former possessions of the French East India Company. By 1788, Pondicherry was a marginal backwater of the First French Empire, a sorry remnant of what had once been a thriving French presence in India. It is in this position that Pondicherry found itself when revolution consumed France in 1789. Already forgotten by Paris and more than two months removed from the French capital by boat, Pondicherrys French and Tamil inhabitants reacted with anxiety to the news of revolt in the metropole. To the Tamils, the Revolution raised questions as to their relationship with their colonial overlords and the true nature of their status in the French nation. To the small Franco-Indian population, the Revolution brought a chaos that threatened their precarious dominance over Pondicherrys economic and political life. To both groups, the Revolution threatened to topple what remained of the French Empire in India altogether. The stakes, in short, could not be higher. In a colony where European military and political dominance was so precarious, and where the colonial state had been substantially weakened by decades of war fatigue, one might expect the chaos of the Revolution to have induced a native uprising. Further, stronger French colonial presences in St. Domingue and elsewhere would succumb to similar power vacuums and ultimately be consumed by Revolutionary violence. But in Pondicherry, the Revolution did not produce violence. The uniqueness of La Revolution Pacifique is grounded in the stability of the political and cultural relationships built between the French and Tamil inhabitants of the territory, and the consequent goodwill that existed between the two populations when the news of revolution reached Pondicherrys shores in 1790. The Revolution swept the French Empire when Pondicherry was at its weakest, forcing the French and Tamil populations to engage with one another to preserve the territorial integrity of their city in the face of a British Raj at the zenith of its power. However, while the directness of the conversations that took place might have been novel, the interactions themselves were notrather they drew on a tradition of political and cultural engagement between the French and the Tamils that had been developing in Pondicherry since the colonys establishment in 1674. And though the British would put an end to Revolutionary activities when they occupied Pondicherry in 1793, the three-year long conversation between the Franco-Indian and Tamil populations constituted an exceptional manifestation of what had already been an exceptional relationship in 18th century colonial South Asia. Examining primary and secondary literature regarding the Revolution in Pondicherry, it is clear that the anomalous upswing in peaceful political discourse that took place was due to the stability of the rapport between the territorys European and Indian populationsa stability that was formed over centuries in the unique conditions that existed at the margin of Frances empire. The existing secondary literature on this subject is sparse. The vast majority of sources that discuss the nature of French rule in Pondicherryof which there are still exceedingly fewfocus on the tenure of colonial governor Joseph Francois Dupleix in the 1750s and 60s, a period that is widely considered the zenith of French rule in India. The number of historical analyses available declines sharply as one enters the 1780s and 90s, and thus the unique conditions created in the territory leading up to the Revolution have not been as thoroughly analyzed, particularly by English-speaking authors. This is perhaps due to the fact that the vast majority of primary literature on this subject is written by French visitors to and inhabitants of the colony. These sourcesand analyses of themhave been monopolized by a small number of French-language secondary works. The flagship example of such French scholarship is Marguerite Labernadies La Revolution Et Les etablissements Francais Dans LInde, w hich remains the only example of French or English scholarship that focuses on the revolution in French India and from which this paper will borrow heavily. However, like other French-language works, Labernadies piece does not include references to the small number of crucial Tamil sources from 1790s Pondicherry. In combining analyses of pre-Revolutionary Pondicherry from both the English and French secondary literature with a renewed look at court and personal documents from the Revolutionary period, this paper will attempt to trace the roots of the French Revolutions peaceful manifestation in Pondicherry. The Establishment of Pondicherry: La Compagnie des Indes and The Chaudrie Court The French East India Company began its relationship with Pondicherry in 1674, when the Company made the coastal town the headquarter of their operations. Prior to the arrival of the Compagnie des Indes, Pondicherry had been a minor settlement in a series of great South Asian empires and had most recently fallen under the suzerainty of the Vijayanagar Emperor and the Sultan of Bijapur. At the time of Pondicherrys establishment as a colonial outpost, the mission civilatrice that would come to dominate the French Empire in the 19th century was not yet a priority for Paris imperial projectthe French had established Pondicherry solely on strategic and economic grounds. Though its pre-colonial history and founding have not been thoroughly explored by historians, Pondicherrys position as a strategic outpost, rather than an economic colony, would prove essential to the nature of everyday life in the city. Unlike in St. Domingue or Quebec, where resource extraction in the form of sugar and f ur would predominate, Pondicherry would remain an imperial outposta waystation for the spice trade and other goods flowing out of South and Southeast Asia. Thus, as the city was merely an imperial outpost, King Louis XIV established a Sovereign Council in 1701 to preside over basic municipal governance but excluded from its purview local legal issues. Though we cannot presume to know the exact motivations behind the decision, a pattern of French colonial governance suggests that Paris so completely considered Pondicherry a strategic outpost that the citys civil administration did not warrant attention or resources. Though it came from a place of dismissiveness, this decision to procrastinate on the establishment of a local court would eventually lead to a degree of enfranchisement for native Tamils somewhat rare in 18th century imperial history. As Pondicherry began to grow and a spike in local disputes demanded the creation of a more active administration, the Sovereign Council would charter le Tribunal de la Chaudrie. The Chaudrie Court, as it is referred to in English secondary literature, would oversee cases of inheritance, marriage, property, and other disputes through indigenous legal interpretations. And as the colonial government recognized Frenchmen were not well equipped to rule on such cases, the court was made up of native Tamils. The importance of this decision can to be understated: a colonial government empowering indigenous justice is not a common sight in early 18th century global history. Though it might be nice to imagine otherwise, it is unlikely the move was informed by not ions of racial equality or civic progressivism. Rather, as the docket of Indian civil cases had already grown dauntingly large, it became clear that local justices were clearly the best equipped to handle the cases quickly and without controversy. Thus the Tamils of Pondicherry experienced decades of devolved judicial administration, interrupted only briefly by English occupations of the territory, and this responsibility likely helped establish goodwill and ease tensions between European and indigenous inhabitants of the territory. LApogee: Joseph Francois Dupleix and the Zenith of French Pondicherry Such a laissez-faire approach, though its impact on intercommunal relations would be felt for years to come, was not to last. Under the leadership of Joseph Francois Dupleix, the political component of French rule in India took on an increasingly interventionist character. Though the transition from economic to political colonialism in South Asia is often viewed as a British phenomenon, there is bountiful evidence to suggest that the British learned this lesson from the French. Just as it would in the Raj, such an adjustment in imperial priorities during the Apogee, as Dupleixs tenure is referred to by French historians, demanded increasing intervention in local customs by the colonial authorities. However, it should be stressed that Pondicherry did not figure prominently in Dupleixs plans for a future French India, as he focused his attention on other cities on the subcontinent, and therefore he did not take pains to completely overhaul the intercommunal system at play in the territ ory. Further, whatever discontent was caused by increasing French intervention into local administrative affairs was likely offset by a convergence in cultural and religious values between Europeans and South Asians in the territory over decades of exposure and intermingling. By the arrival of Dupleix in the 1730s, there had already been profound social changes under previous administrators that had altered the social life of Pondicherry in a way that was amenable to positive intercommunal relations. Primary among these alterations were the religious transformations that preceded Dupleix resulting from the influx of French missionaries, who had flooded into lInde Fran? §aise in large numbers from its founding well into the 18th century. This influx notwithstanding, the French had displayed remarkable levels of religious tolerance that had helped established goodwill with the local populations over the first half of the 18th century. The relative religious tolerance combined with prolific missionary activity in the early 1700s profoundly impacted Pondicherry society, converting large segments of the lower caste population into casteless Christians, whose new religious affiliation bound them to French culture and custom. This cultural and religious transformation had reverberations in the political relationship between the native populations and their European government. With the Catholic population steadily growing, particularly among marginalized castes, the authority of the Catholic church presented large segments of disenfranchised Tamils with the opportunity to appeal to a supremeand distantauthority in cases of discrimination and segregation. In both 1745 and 1761, lower caste Christians appealed to Rome to int ervene on their behalf in caste disputes. Though the papal authorities expressed no sincere interest in pursuing a more equitable policygoing so far as to sanction discrimination in Catholic colonies in 1783the repeated instances of civil disobedience in Pondicherry were significant in the precedent they established if not in their actual effectiveness. Extensive primary source evidence regarding the motivations behind the 1745 and 1761 unrests does not exist, but one can only extrapolate from their repetitive peaceful resolution that these interactions helped establish a relationship in which civil disobedience and peaceful acceptance of the results became normalized. It was the unique conditions of French Indiawhere caste, Catholicism, and benign neglect coexistedthat enabled this relationship to form over the 18th century. The relationship between the French and South Asians was further improved by the governing philosophy of Dupleix, who allowed for Tamils of all castes, religions and creeds to serve alongside Europeans in the colonial government. On the Eve of the Revolution: British Occupation and the Collapse of the Old Order In order to illustrate the unique character of the colonial project in Pondicherry, it is important to stress that much of these colonial governance strategies existed in direct contrast with the modus o perandi of the neighboring British Raja contrast that is easily discernable due to the nature of the British occupation of Pondicherry in the 1780s. In the 1770s, the relatively liberal French colonial government had created a consultative Chamber of Indian Notablesa body that even further empowered segments of the Tamil population in Pondicherry. In 1778, when the British occupied Pondicherry during the Anglo-French war, this chamber was abolished as intercommunal relations were reconfigured along the British model. This paper by no means intends to paint a picture of French colonial governance as the pinnacle of social progressivism and political liberalism. But such actions taken by the Raj during its brief occupation of Pondicherry at the very least illustrate the relative liberalism of the citys colonial government and highlight the ways in which the conditions in the city were unique among other South Asian colonies. More than just sharpening the contrast between British and French colonial governing philosophies, the occupation of Pondicherry by the Raj had a lasting impact on life in the colony in that it undermined any sense of security that was still felt among its population. Above all of these currents running through life in Pondicherrythe uncommon cultural exchange, judicial independence of the locals, and unique interplay of faithsit would be this element of instability that would inform Pondicherrys experience during the Revolution. Beginning in the 1760s, life in the colony would be rendered almost intolerable by a series of military skirmishes with English forces that would reduce the territory to only nominal independence. In 1763, Pondicherry was reduced to ruins by British forces in a conflict that ousted Dupleix and would end the period of LApogee. Then, during the hostilities surrounding the American Revolution, the British would occupy Pondicherry for 5 years from 1778 to 1783. Though it was returned to French sovereignty after the conclusion of the war, life in the city would never be the same. While French institutions abolished under British ruleincluding the Chamber of Notableswere restored, the entire city, and the French colonial project in South Asia more generally, had been irreparably traumatized. The total population of the city declined dramatically, with the number of European inhabitants declining even more precipitously. On the eve of the Revolution, only 260 French soldiers remained in the territory. Government documents from the period show a desperate lack of resources on the part of the French military and government establishment. French primary sources from this period illustrate the dread and discontent among the Europeans who remained in the colony, with colonial administrators reflecting on their critical and unhappy position and disastrous circumstances in the aftermath of the British occupation. The secondary literature on this period draws similar conclusions from the evidence available, calling the conditions of poverty and disorganization nearly impossible to solve. It was in this environment that news of the French Revolution arrived in Pondicherry. Brought to the shores of South Asia by the French vessel La Bienvenue, news of the events in France were met with unease by the European population in particular. Complaints from the period declare that the incomplete and vague stories emanating from France had thrown the colony into the greatest worry, and the Europeans waited with great impatience for news of what sort of kingdom or state would emerge at the end of the rebellion.