In 2019, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote: Todays big tech companies have too much power too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy. Theyve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else. And in the process, they have hurt small businesses and stifled innovation. (Warren, 2019)*

*Warren, E. (2019, Mar 8). Heres how we can break up Big Tech. Medium. Retrieved Nov 23, 2020, from https://medium.com/@teamwarren/heres-how-we-can-break-up-big-tech-9ad9e0da324c

In response to Warren, you are tasked to develop an argument in the form of a newspaper opinion editorial (op-ed). You will select a Big Tech company from the following list: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Baidu, Alibaba, Xiaomi, Huawei or Tencent (this list contains American and Chinese tech companies and gives the opportunity to determine the impact of global context and trends on the tech giants vision, objectives and operating climate).

You will research the company and its business practices and activities, and explain how it is not a traditional monopoly and hence why it should not be broken up in the op-ed.

A good op-ed is one that accurately evaluates data relationships, patterns, and trends using a structured process and analysis of multiple sources of available information, to arrive at informed conclusions that are persuasive or at least thought-provoking, i.e. able to tailor communication approach to meet the diverse needs of a broad audience. An example can be found here:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/20/video-games-addictive-disorder-diagnosis

Writing Guidelines and Further Instructions:

Assessment: Your op-ed will be assessed on how well and clearly the following issues are researched, addressed and communicated:

1. Contrast your selected tech giants business approach with that of traditional (i.e. non-tech/non-digital) business, and illustrate, with detailed examples, how your tech giants practices and characteristics could indicate that it is not a conventional monopoly as understood by Elizabeth Warren and others. (25 marks)
2. Examine, with detailed examples, the amount of global and/or domestic competition faced by your tech giant in order to define the limits of its dominance. If you can show that your tech giant faces substantial global and/or domestic competition, you may be able to weaken the case for breaking it up. (25 marks)
3. Discuss some of the ambitious innovation initiatives that your tech giant is currently pursuing, and explain, with detailed examples, how such initiatives need the scale and efficiency of a tech giant to be successful. If you can show that your tech giant is still innovating aggressively, you may be able to weaken the case for breaking it up. (25 marks)

The remaining 25 marks will be awarded for research and writing. This covers (and is not limited to) clarity and coherence / organisation of your discussion, effort at reading broadly, digesting and presenting information accurately in your own words, and proper use of relevant and accurate sources (which includes correct citation and reference / bibliography style, effort to paraphrase etc.).

Page Limit. Your article should not be longer than three pages (excluding bibliography), 1.5 paragraph line spacing, at least one-inch page margin, font size 12, and Calibri, Times New Roman or Arial font.

PLEASE SEE: I'm doing on APPLE as my tech giant company