Swot Walt Disney Essay Example Essay Example

Swot Walt Disney Essay Example Paper Swot Walt Disney Essay Introduction The Walt Disney Company was founded in as a cartoon studio in 1923. Walter Elias Disney, founder of the Walt Disney Company, was a pioneer in the development of animation as an industry. Disney is one of the most famous names in the animation industry, known for providing entertainment directed to adults and children alike; with international theme parks and a world-class animation studio and business franchise, the company nearly dominates the industry. Famous names such as Mickey Mouse began with Disney, and were the foundation of a company that has now branched out into several entertainment studios, theme parks, products, and other media productions. The Walt Disney company has a prestigous history in the entertainment industry, stretching over 75 years. It started on October 16, 1923 as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, a joint venture of Walt Disney and his brother, Roy. Three years later the company had produced two movies and purchased a studio in Hollywood, Calfiornia. Pit falls in distribution rights nearly sank Walt and his company, but the creation of Mickey Mouse saved a sinking ship. By 1932, the Disney Company won its first Academy Award for Best Cartoon, for the Silly Symphony. 1934 marked the production of Disney’s first full-length feature film,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which released in 1937 and became the highest grossing film of its time. But afterwards, the expenses of production caused difficulties with the next few animated films; then the advent of World War II halted the production of films as the Walt Disney company contributed its skills to the war effort. Swot Walt Disney Essay Body Paragraphs After the war it was difficult for the company to pick up where it had left off, but 1950 proved a turning point with the production of its first live-action film,Treasure Islandand another animated film,Cinderella. In that time period, Disney also began several television series; in 1955, The Mickey Mouse Club also made its debut. 1955 also provided another landmark moment: the opening of the first California Disney theme park, Disneyland. Disney continued its rise in popularity, and survived even the death of its founder in 1966. His brother Roy took over supervision at that time, and then was succeeded by an executive team in 1971. Several more projects, from merchandising to the continuing production of animated and live-action films to the construction of more theme parks filled the years; in 1983, Disney went international with the opening of Tokyo Disneyland. In the past few decades, Disney has moved into a wider market, beginning The Disney Channel on cable and establishing s ubdivisions such as Touchstone Pictures to produce films other than the usual family-oriented fare, gaining a firmer footing on a broader range. In the 1970s and 1980s, the company suffered from takeover attempts, but eventually recovered; the recruiting of the current chairman, Michael D. Eisner, was crucial to that. Eisner and executive parnter Frank Wells have been a successful team, leading Disney to continue its tradition of excellence into a new century. Strenghts: The Walt Disney Company’s main strength is in its resources, its experience in the business, and its low-cost strategy. Besides, the company has developed clearly a very strong and well known â€Å"brand-name† through many years. The company has also been able to diversify its operations and products to hedge against decreasing sales in product lines. In recent years, it has categorized into Home Video, Film, merchandise, Radio broadcasting, Net-work television and in theme parks. It has also effective ly diversified globally its operations from USA to Japan and Europe. The main strengths in internal resources relate to human resources and financial stability. Employees in the Walt Disney Company studies appear to be extremely creative and they have produced several box-office productions in these recent years. A company without new ideas is bounded in today’s competitive business environment. However, the low-cost-corporate-strategy is a benefit for the company. The company can control costs, and still produce quality goods and services. Financial risks have been minimized by sharing initial investment costs with a maximum number of outside participants. 1. It is the largest media and entertainment company in the world. 2. It has become one of the biggest Hollywood studios. 3. Disney Company owns 11 theme parks and several channels. 4. Disney employees 150,000 people. 5. Innovative ideas 6. Global standardization . It is among the popular brand names in the world. 8. It ha s well established divisions Walt Disney Studio Entertainment, Disney-ABC Television Group, Disney Interactive Media Group, Disney Consumer Products, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney Interactive Studios. 9. Increasing trends in overall revenues and profits. 10. Disney holds US$ 62. 497 billion of assets. 11. Popular characters 12. High brand awareness among the people. 13. Differentiation 14. The Walt Disney logo is famous. 15. Walt Disney was ranked 8th in the Top 100 Global Brands. Weaknesses Corporations always have internal weaknesses. The Walt Disney Company’s main weaknesses are the following: A very large work load, often changes in top-management, and high overhead expenditures. The company has 58,000 employees in 1991. This fact represents possible communications problems, and a high bureaucracy level through the corporation. The company’s work load will increase even larger, and the organizational structure has to be able to support an extension of the w ork load by varying into more businesses and niches. The company has a very frequently changes and its corporate officers makes the corporate structure even more difficult. There are many positive things that often changes, but the changes are also associated with resistance, and high expenses. 1. High operating cost 2. Frequent change in top management 3. The $1. 8 Billion park have only 16 attractions. 4. Religious welfare group protest against the release of material which was found offensive by many people. 5. Poor working conditions in factories that produce their merchandise. 6. Disney was also criticized by animal welfare group for their caring procedure for animals at Disney Animal Kingdom theme Park. 7. Poor management. 8. Disney has been blamed of having sexual implication or references concealed in some of their animated movies,including The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Disney original releases of The Rescuers. 9. High investment wi th high risk involved. 10. Continuous innovative ideas are required to retain the attention of customers. 11. Limited range of target audience mainly Children. Opportunities External opportunities should be recognized, analyzed, and responded to in a very early stage. The Walt Disney Company is facing several external opportunities. However, the external threats facing the company are out-numbering the opportunities. Opportunities include the following; positive government attitudes towards its operations, barriers of entry are significant, and include the entertainment industry itself. Legal and legislative forces are usually identified as negative external factors to the company. Furthermore, the French government contributed greatly in the Euro Disneyworld project in the Walt Disney Company’s case. The French government invested in the project to built communication facilities, and gave the Walt Disney Company tax relief’s on cost of goods sold accounts. In addition , since the barriers of entry into the highly specialized industry in which the Walt Disney Company is still operating, competition will find it difficult to penetrate the company’s highly diversified product or service mix. Therefore, large initial capital investments are required to enter the industry accordingly. 1. Move into different segments 2. Proper inventory management 3. Market development in untapped countries. 4. Reduction in operating costs. 5. Disney music channel 6. Benchmarking to improve management practices. 7. Disney school of management and training 8. Online Websites 9. Develop more attractions for theme park. Threats Major threats to the Walt Disney Company include the following; Over saturated markets, politics and economic aspects from a global perspective, and foreign competition. As the supply of products and services in the entertainment industry is starting to saturate the markets, competition will be more exciting, and only the most powerful compa nies will be able to survive finally. The Walt Disney Company has leveraged this risk to a certain level as it has diversified and globalized its operations, but still, the company is in the service/entertainment business. The Cable-giants such as Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS) may not be able to manage the stress on its operation such as the Network-television division. 1. Security Threats due to terrorism 2. Employee retention 3. High competition in Media Industry. 4. Facing fierce competition from Paramount Parks, News Corporation, CBS, Time-Warner, Universal Studios and Six Flags Theme Parks. . Social and ethnic groups. 6. Government policies 7. High demanding market in terms of innovation. 8. Increasing salaries and labor cost. 9. Recession 10. Maintain product differentiation. 11. Tight competition in national and international markets. 12. Searching, paying and retaining innovative people. 13. Piracy Strategies The Walt Disney Company’s corporate level strategy is b ased on a horizontal and scattered informal management approach. Ideas are born within the departments and are processed throughout the low hierarchy relatively from the final decisions. The management is placed on group creativity and in teamwork. For example, the most creative employees usually met the target in the purpose of generate with new ideas and new business strategies. As seen in this example, a large emphasis is focused on employee participation, especially on the most talented employees. Furthermore, the company is always refreshing its top management with new executives. â€Å"Top-flight† managers from the entertainment corporation and the financial business think new ideas and concepts which can be applied in the Walt Disney Company. There is however a significant increase in expense attached to attracting the very best to join the company. This increase in expense is related to special perk-packages directly, higher bonuses and escalated salaries that are off ered to the top-executives. Another interesting strategy is the focal point that is focused on enhancement of the business. The corporate policy is to grow slowly instead of â€Å"impress others†. It is important for the company to meet demand with a sufficient supply of goods and/or services. It can be accomplished by effective distribution channels and marketing department. This leads us to another corporate policy, efficiency and suppression. Recently, movie industry trend towards increase in costs rapidly, it have a direct effect on the profitability of the company. By reducing the costs involved in making and marketing Disney films, it is cheaper and more profitable movies can be produced. Efficiency enforced by tight budgets and expected high returns, Disney must be able to produce more efficiency and cheaper than its competition. In addition, the corporate strategy is clearly focusing on diversifying its products and services. The expansion overseas rapidly and an incr ease in the product and service mix have created an umbrella effect. Thus, risks have been reduced and minimized. If one product line fails, other product lines have to cover for its losses. The Walt Disney Company is able to produce more and more products to the others countries which do not have Disneyland. Instead of going toward the countries that have Disneyland, the customers also can buy the Disney products in their own countries. 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The Lost Secret of College Supplemental Essay Prompts 2018 Michigan

The Lost Secret of College Supplemental Essay Prompts 2018 Michigan What Everybody Dislikes About College Supplemental Essay Prompts 2018 Michigan and Why College sports are now incredibly common in the usa. Weather isn't co-operating. Football Saturday mornings are called the very best night of the week. University of Michigan is among the top rated public universities in the nation. Nowadays you get to select your very first trip. Wellesley College When selecting a college community, you're selecting a location where you think that you may live, learn, and flourish. Second, when you apply to Michigan, you must have solid reasons that you would like to attend. Something which is offered, presented, or given as a present. Things You Should Know About College Supplemental Essay Prompts 2018 Michigan Write about the guy who has had the best effect on your life. Thus, think beyond just culture or place and provide them an illustration of a group of people who you are part of where you feel most at home. It's normal to forget how far you've come in life. There wasn't any public life. Each suggests a specific means of thinking about the part of athletics at colleges. Are all amazing strategies to encourage physical activities for kids. If your introduction doesn't let you directly segue into a particular program or interest, it can probably be deleted witho ut altering the significance of the essay for a whole. Go over the challenges and rewards of creating your contribution. What Everybody Dislikes About College Supplemental Essay Prompts 2018 Michigan and Why Students have a difficult time in writing if they don't have a draft or outline to follow. They must write an essay based on the picture prompt and make sure that their writing sample is complete, with a beginning, middle, and end. So prospective students should make certain they aren't repeating something which's already been covered in their principal essay. Pick a prompt at random from above, or select a topic that you believe will be hard that you detach from (because you're going to want to write about this issue, instead of the argument) set timer to 50 minutes and compose the essay. As soon as you have completed your topic, it's time for your conclusion. The next thing to do is to figure out which term belongs to which topic. Prewriting In the prewriting phase, you want to brainstorm about the subject and the major idea. The Ideal Strategy for College Supplemental Essay Prompts 2018 Michigan Students should speak in detail about student organizations or meeting particular targets and specific facets of the campus community. Tufts University Think beyond the box as you answer the subsequent questions. To begin with, think of the prompt. The College Supplemental Essay Prompts 2018 Michigan Cover Up There are different kinds of essay prompts. This quick essay will definitely be a positive bit of her application. Illustration essays are written in order to spell out study subjects and offer interesting and picturesque descriptions. Read on to understand how to compose essays for great parts of fiction. The trick to writing a Shakespearian high quality essay are found within this list of Shakespearian literary analysis essay topics. You've got a guide and get ideas about what to do with your essay. There are a lot of excellent essay collections readily available on the internet. There are a lot of good topics for illustration essays to select from. The Common Application's individual essay enables a student to compose a single essay for numerous colleges. Indeed, it's very important to select interesting topics for analysis essay. Also, you can look for sample expository essay topics so you will understand what to research and that which you will deal with. Share an essay on any subject of your selection. What About College Supplemental Essay Prompts 2018 Michigan? Use this as a chance to consider through the complete package you wish to present to admissions and highlight your diverse regions of interest. Our premium plans provide different amount of profile access and data insights that could let you get into your dream school. Be Creative The growth of the prevalence of the supplemental essay made schools to think outside the box and include strange and intriguing questions so as to make students think creatively. College-specific supplements and essay prompts are an essential bit of a student's application since the y help colleges gauge a student's demonstrated and informed interest, and permit the student a chance to demonstrate how he or she's going to add to the campus community and expand upon her or his specialty. Admissions Officers wish to get to be aware of their applicants. Set the time and effort into studying what the university offers and what opportunities attract you.

Radiology Research Paper Topics

Radiology Research Paper TopicsThere are several radiology research paper topics that a student will need to think about while he or she is studying. Although it may seem as though many of these topics are geared towards the basics of medical imaging, students should be aware that there are a number of advanced topics available as well. In fact, many of the basic topics can be applied to other types of imaging procedures such as CT scans, MRI's, etc.One of the first topics a student should be aware of is the diagnostic radiology study. This is essentially a specific type of procedure in which the technician is shown the image of a patient to determine what is going on and to make an accurate diagnosis. The problem with this type of imaging is that there are times when it is not very effective, so it is not recommended for routine use.One of the first areas to be familiar with when one studies this subject is the process by which the patient was treated. This includes all of the vario us tests that were performed to ensure that the patient was able to undergo the procedure. One of the easiest ways to learn this is to ask the doctor directly what tests were performed on the patient and how they were performed.One of the most advanced procedures that students should be aware of is the interventional radiology procedure. The patient that is receiving this type of imaging procedure can usually be seen in the operating room before the procedure has even been performed. The reason for this is to ensure that the entire process goes as planned, and if something does not go according to plan then there is always the opportunity to change it.Another area that is often covered is the individual procedure that is performed on the patient. Students who are studying this subject should be able to identify each and every procedure that is performed on the patient, as well as the benefits of each one. This allows them to better understand the procedures that the doctor will have to perform and the things that they will be using to accomplish the task.Most patients have some type of medical specialty. These individuals can be extremely helpful to a radiology department as well, as they can provide a great deal of information that can be used by the staff. One of the best ways to learn about the specialists that are often seen is to read the medical reports that are made available to the patient.In addition to reading these reports, students should also be able to understand the various procedures involved in the case. There are a number of different procedures that are performed on each patient that involve the use of more than one instrument. This is the way that a specialist will be able to differentiate between various conditions, as well as provide the doctor with an accurate assessment of the patient's current state of health.There are a number of radiology research paper topics that students can work with while they are studying. Many of these are bas ed around diagnostic imaging, but the other subjects that are taught will help prepare the student for all of the different types of imaging that can be done on a patient. For a student that is working towards a degree in this field, this will be a good way to provide a solid foundation for the future.

Examples of Critical Thinking Research Papers

Examples of Critical Thinking Research PapersCritical thinking research papers are needed when an individual is considering changing careers or switching to a new industry. This type of paper provides the information that is needed for a person to make an informed decision. The information presented in the paper will be based on the research conducted and their assigned area of study.An example of this is when a job seeker considers their current position and changes it. This type of paper can also be used to help people decide whether to change careers. For example, a job seeker that is in the medical field may want to change their career, but is undecided whether to move up to a higher position. This can be one example of the application of this paper.The ideas for critical thinking research papers are drawn from many areas. A job seeker may use research about previous studies done to change careers, or suggestions from other colleagues about successful experiences they have had. T his type of research paper can be presented during an interview, or before applying for a job. It can also be used in a job search.There are many different types of research papers available for students. Students will often need to write research papers based on a topic. For example, a student that wants to write an essay about the uses of technology in medicine will need to use critical thinking research papers.Examples of critical thinking research papers include research about using technology in medicine. These papers often include research reports on medical studies, clinical trials, and public statements from doctors. This type of paper also includes examples of e-book reviews that have been written about specific e-books. These are examples of e-book review examples that can be found in many places on the internet.Another important example of this paper is how a job seeker will look at potential career changes or looking at their current position. They will look at these dec isions before taking a step in to make them or after making them. This type of paper gives the idea that you should take a step at least once before you change your career.Example of this type of paper is based on specific examples, or examples of industry. For example, someone who is currently a painter may consider a career change to stenciling. This paper will give the idea that if you do not change your field, or industry, then you will remain where you are. You will never get to experience the life you have always wanted to live.There are many examples of critical thinking research papers that are available for students, or job seekers. There are many different styles and topics for a student to write an essay on. These papers are useful, but there are many examples of this type of paper that are hard to find. In order to find these types of papers, a student can research on the internet.

Essay Topics For the 1800s

Essay Topics For the 1800sIn the 1800s, essays were written in a number of different ways. Many of these essays have been lost, but if you know how to get started, the choices can be daunting. But it is important to make some basic choices so that you know where to begin.One of the first things to do is determine what your specific goals are. This is essential because once you know what you are doing, you will be able to choose the necessary resources. Once you have decided, you must decide how much time you want to spend on each topic. You can spend some time on one topic and save the others for later.In addition to deciding what you want to write, you must decide what the subject matter of your essay should be. This is very important, as it dictates how you will address the essay's content. Your choices include scientific, social, historical, or literary topics. The choice you make here will dictate the topics you will address. You must also decide whether you are going to go to sc hool or take an online class.After you have determined what your topic is, you must decide which essay writing resource you will use. You can find a lot of them on the Internet. If you want a private tutor, there are a number of services you can use, but if you want a hands-on experience, you should consider the following options:I Recommend doing more research and taking more of a traditional curriculum than an online one. If you plan to be a writer, you will need to know some basic grammar and many other things. Taking a traditional college class is easier to keep up with, and you can spend your time better.You may be wondering about the history and the period you will cover. There are several options you can use to learn about this part of the topic. Some of these include:These are just a few of the things you should think about when you are writing your essay. After you have determined the theme, you will be able to start writing, and you can focus on what will be your major top ic. Choose a topic that you can handle, and then get started. Once you have completed the essay, it will be your best work ever.

A Critical Reflection of My Own Experience of Leadership The WritePass Journal

A Critical Reflection of My Own Experience of Leadership Introduction A Critical Reflection of My Own Experience of Leadership ). However, I came to know that he did not go through development programmes for creative problem solving, which I think is necessary, considering that for a leader, the use of collaborative skills and creativity techniques is part of the leadership strategy, just as what Higgins (2012) had suggested. In this regard, since Mr. M enabled his people to work well in delegation, he was able to function well as a coach. He was the kind who was willing to delegate and was comfortable to hand off assignments to the team. The kind of matters he delegated to those he led was not simply those referring to tasks but to responsibilities, which also harmonised with the discussion of Lussier and Achua (2010).   Mr. M was not the kind of leader who would think that he was the boss with adequate knowledge and experience as an approach to problem solving.   Solving problems by a leader because he thinks he is the most capable one is what Tracy (2013) called reverse delegation. Instead, Mr. M avoids committing this reverse delegation by making us define the problem clearly, developing a range of solutions, and selecting a solution being recommended.   I believe Mr. M was able to grow his staff – which was one of his major responsibilities as a leader – by helping them develop pr oblem-solving skills. I once asked him for a solution to a certain problem, and his responses was (as always) â€Å"What do you think must be done in this situation?† Thus, in many cases, he was able to make team members determine the best course of action for a certain problem or situation. There were times when a problem seemed too overwhelming to be handled by a member and would seek his help, to which his usual response would be to insist that the person must learn how to do it, with his guidance. Incidentally, Tracy (2013) stated that in case an employee returns to the leader with a complain that he/she could not do the job rightly, it is better for both of them if the leader guides the person in accomplishing the job rather than taking it back and adding it to his load, which is probably full. As much as he could, Mr. M does not take sides or intervene in interpersonal problems, to which some people in our team would attempt to make him a mediator or a counselor. His tendency was not to express an opinion showing favour to one party over the other. This stance was also taken as positive by Tracy (2013), who said that as a rule, one would not be able to have the full story, and once a leader takes a particular position, it might mean weakening his authority with both persons in the future.   As a result of good performance, the performing employee was rewarded by the leader. Areas for My Own Development Based on the case presented, the suggested areas for my own development as a leader are: delegating responsibilities to my team members, promoting decision-making through problem solving, and motivating the workforce through a high degree of autonomy and job control. I have learned through this exercise that delegating responsibilities is not only to free or unburden the leader of the many workloads but to provide opportunities for growth. Similarly, involving the whole team toward a problem-solving activity results in providing an opportunity for decision making. Noteworthy here is the fact that decision making allows employees to become more involved in the job (Bhattacharya and McGlothlin, 2011). I am also noting that a high level of autonomy in the job necessitates corresponding skills sets for the work, in which employees with high job autonomy tend to perceive greater responsibility for either the success or failure of their efforts, and are also likely to experience increased job satisfaction (Lewis et al., 2007).   My members’ skills must therefore be in synch with the level of autonomy required in their job, and that I could help them work on developing their skills through related training and coaching. Conclusion To conclude, the leader plays a crucial role in the development of members and in achieving organisational goals. This insight was demonstrated by this critical reflection through its discussion of delegation, problem solving, job autonomy, and maintaining one’s authority by not taking sides in members’ problems with interpersonal relationships.   Mr. M was able to promote trust and motivation both for himself and for his team members, typical of transformational leadership theory. Transactional theory had also demonstrated a specific transaction based on a mutually beneficial relationship between the leader and the followers. This case also complemented with the path-goal theory in which the leader guides the members in treading a desired path. The case led to identification of my own areas for development. References Bhattacharya, A. and McGlothlin, J. D. (2011) Occupational Ergonomics: Theory and Applications. Second Edition. NW: CRC Press. Bligh, M. C. and Riggio, R. E. (2013) Exploring Distance in Leader-Follower Relationships: When Near is Far and Far is Near. NY: Routledge. Gittens, B. E. (2008) Perceptions of the Applicability of Transformational Leadership Behavior to the Leader Role of Academic Department Chairs: A Study of Selected Universities in Virginia. Parkway: ProQuest LLC. Griffin, R. W. and Moorhead, G. (2012) Organizational Behavior. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage-Learning. Higgins, J. M. (2012) The role of HR in fostering innovation in organizations. In G. M. Benscoter (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Human Resource Management: Thematic Essays (pp. 226-238). NJ: John Wiley Sons. Lewis, P., Goodman, S., Fandt, P., and Michlitsch, J. (2007) Management: Challenges for Tomorrow’s Leaders. Mason, OH: Thomson Higher Education. Lussier, R. and Achua, C. (2010) Leadership: Theory, Application, and Skill Development. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Martin, B., Cashel, C., Wagstaff, M., and Breunig, M. (2006) Outdoor Leadership: Theory and Practice. IL: Human Kinetics. Parker, G. M. (2008) Team Players and Teamwork: New Strategies for Developing Successful Collaboration. NJ: John Wiley Sons. Pride, W., Hughes, R., and Kapoor, J. (2010) Business. Tenth Edition. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Ricketts, C. and Ricketts, J. (2011) Leadership: Personal Development Career Success. Third Edition. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Tracy, B. (2013) Delegation and Supervision. NY: AMACOM.

The Sinking of the Lusitania and Americas Entry into World War I

The Sinking of the Lusitania and America's Entry into World War I On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania was in route from New York City to Liverpool, England when it was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. Over 1100 civilians died as a result of this attack, including more than 120 American citizens. This defining moment would later prove to be the impetus which eventually convinced United States public opinion to change from its’ earlier position of neutrality with respect to being a participant in World War I.  On April 6, 1917,  President Woodrow Wilson appeared before the U.S. Congress calling for a declaration of war against Germany.   American Neutrality at the Start of World War I World War I had officially started on August 1, 1914 when Germany declared war against Russia.   Then on August 3rd and 4th, 1914, Germany declared war against France and Belgium respectively, which resulted in Great Britain declaring war against Germany. Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia on August 6th following Germany’s lead.  Following this domino effect that started World War I, President  Woodrow Wilson  announced that the United States would remain neutral. This was consistent with the public opinion of the majority of the American people.    At onset of the war, Britain and United States were very close trading partners so it was not unexpected that tensions would arise between the United States and Germany once the Germans started to conduct a blockade of the British Isles. In addition, a number of American ships that were bound for Great Britain had been either damaged or sunk by German mines. Then in February 1915, Germany broadcast that they would be conducting unrestricted submarine patrols and combat in the waters which surround Britain. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and the Lusitania The Lusitania had been built to be the world’s fastest ocean liner and shortly after her maiden voyage in September 1907, the Lusitania made the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean at that time earning her the nickname â€Å"Greyhound of the Sea†. She was able to cruise at an average speed of 25 knots or approximately 29 mph, which is about the same speed as modern cruise ships. The Lusitania’s construction had been secretly financed by the British Admiralty, and she was built to their specifications. In exchange for the government subsidy, it was understood that if England went to war then the Lusitania would be committed to serving the Admiralty. In 1913, war was looming on the horizon and the Lusitania was put in dry dock in order to be properly fitted for military service. This included installing gun mounts on her decks – which were hidden under the teak deck so that guns could easily be added when needed. At the end of April 1915, on the same page were two announcements in New York newspapers. First, there was an advertisement of the impending voyage of the Lusitania scheduled to depart from New York City on May 1st for its’ trip back across the Atlantic to Liverpool. In addition, there were warnings that had been issued by the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. that civilians who traveled in war zones on any British or Allied ship was done at their own risk. The German warnings of submarine attacks did have a negative impact on the passenger list of the Lusitania as when the ship set sail on May 1, 1915 as it was far below its’ capacity of a combined 3,000 passengers and crew on board. The British Admiralty had warned the Lusitania to either avoid the Irish coast or take some very simple evasive actions, such as zigzagging to make it more difficult for German U-boats to determine the ship’s course of travel.  Unfortunately the Lusitania’s Captain, William Thomas Turner, failed to give proper deference to the Admiralty’s warning. On May 7, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania was en route from New York City to Liverpool, England when it was torpedoed on its starboard side and sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland. It only took about 20 minutes for the ship to sink. The Lusitania was carrying approximately 1,960 passengers and crew, of which there were 1,198 casualties. In addition, this passenger list included 159 U.S. citizens and there were 124 Americans included in the death toll.   After the Allies and the United States complained, Germany argued that the attack was justified because the Lusitania’s manifest listed various items of munitions that were bound for the British military. The British claimed that none of the munitions on board were â€Å"live†, so therefore the attack on the ship was not legitimate under the rules of war at that time. Germany argued otherwise. In 2008, a dive team explored the wreck of the Lusitania in 300 feet of water and found approximately four million rounds of Remington .303 bullets that had been made in the United States in the ship’s hold. Although Germany eventually gave in to protests made by the United States government regarding the submarine attack on the Lusitania and promised to end this type of warfare, six months later another ocean liner was sunk. In November 2015, a U-boat sunk an Italian liner without any warning whatsoever.   More than 270 people perished in this attack, including more than 25 Americans causing public opinion to begin to turn in favor of joining the war against Germany. Americas Entry into World War I On January 31, 1917, Germany declared that it was placing an end to its’ self-imposed moratorium on unrestricted warfare in waters that were within the war-zone. The United States government broke diplomatic relations with Germany three days later and almost immediately a German U-boat sunk the Housatonic which was an American cargo ship. On February 22, 1917, Congress enacted an arms appropriations bill that was designed to prepare the United States for war against Germany. Then, in March, four more U.S. merchant ships were sunk by Germany which prompted President Wilson to appear before Congress on April 2nd requesting a declaration of war against Germany. The Senate voted to declare war against Germany on April 4th and on April 6, 1917 the House of Representatives endorsed the Senate’s declaration causing the United States to enter World War I.