Environmental Ethics

1. Your case study will begin by looking up and writing a solid, detailed definition of: BIO-MAGNIFICATION. In order to understand the ethical dilemmas that corporations are facing we must look at some of the more obvious areas to the public: polluted water supplies, polluted air, dirt, etc. They understand bio-magnification and so does the EPA.Research and explain what this scientifically means and how it is applied when the EPA conducts the testing on ground water, as an example. (one page is required) Bio-magnification is a â€Å"Result of the process of  bioaccumulation  and biotransfer by which tissue concentrations of chemicals in organisms at one trophic level exceed tissue concentrations in organisms at the next lower trophic level in a food chain. – Environmental Protection Agency, 2010 (â€Å"Biomagnification,† 2012). In other words, bio-magnification is the increase in concentration of a substance that occurs in a food chain as a consequence of one of th e following: persistence (cant be broken down by environmental processes), food chain energetics, and or low (non consistent) rate of internal degradation/excretion of the substance (often due to water-insolubility).Biological magnification often times refers to the process by whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy metals move up the food chain, work their way into our rivers, lakes and streams, are eaten by aquatic organisms such as fish, which in turn are eaten by large birds, animals or humans. These substances become concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the food chain (â€Å"Biomagnification,† 2012). In summary, bio-magnification is the process whereby the tissue concentrations of a contaminant, such as pesticides or heavy metal, increase as it passes up the food chain through two or more trophic levels. . The second part of this case is about â€Å"genetically modified foods†. Debate the concept that utilitarian is concerned r egarding the rights of consent when dealing with potentially harmful new technologies. (2 pages are required) a. Conduct research on genetically modified foods using at least 2 sources and take a position. What is genetically modified foods? Genetically modified foods  (GM foods, or  biotech foods) are foods derived from  genetically modified organisms. Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by  genetic engineering  techniques.These techniques are much more precise  than  mutagenesis  (mutation breeding) where an organism is exposed to radiation or chemicals to create a non-specific but stable change. Other techniques by which humans modify food organisms include selective breeding; plant breeding, and animal breeding, and  somaclonal variation. Since genetically modified food has been introduced into supermarkets, there has been much controversy as to whether it is actually safe (â€Å"Genetically modified food,† 2012). Genetically modified foods in the US include over 40 plant varieties that have completed all federal requirements for commercialization (Whitman, 2000). . Is it ethical or not to produce these foods? It is ethical to produce the foods as long as the genetically modified foods are being produced for ethical reasons, such as meeting the ever growing hungers need of our world population. One ethical dilemma that is presented with genetically modified foods is â€Å"fairness in the use of genetic information†, which means â€Å"who should have access to personal genetic information, and how it will be used† (â€Å"Genetically modified foods,† 2012)? Another is privacy and confidentiality of genetic information, or who owns and controls genetic information? c. Do the benefits outweigh the costs?The benefits GM foods include enhanced taste and quality, reduced maturation time, increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance. Other benefits of GM foods include improved resistance to disease, pests, and herbicides. Also, new products and growing techniques are benefits of GM foods. Environmental benefits of genetically modified foods include conservation of soil, water, and energy and better natural waste management. The costs of GM foods include potential human health impacts and potential environmental impacts including unknown effects on organisms and loss of flora and fauna biodiversity.Another cost to weigh with GM Foods is the possibility of world food production domination by a few companies. Also, increased dependence on industrialized nations by developing countries is a cost to be considered when thinking about GM foods. Ethically, GM foods run the risk of potentially violating organisms’ intrinsic values and stress for animals. I do not believe the risks outweigh the benefits. I am afraid of what will happen while we are tampering with mother nature. d. Are these foods harmful to human consumption?It is not yet known if the foods are harmful to human consumption. The long term effects on humans after consuming GM foods is not yet known. e. Who is lobbying for this new breed of food? Business, governments, individuals, and why? Who benefits from these foods: financially, ethically, and humanitarian? Businesses lobby for this new breed of food. These businesses can acquire a patent for their GM foods and ultimately corner the market on said food items which is extremely financially beneficial for these businesses.Individuals in third world countries and impoverished countries benefit the most from GM foods. Our governments must find a way to regulate the GM Food industry in such a way that it is ethical and fair to individuals and companies. Thousand of starving people can be saved by implementing the GM food procedures but the risks of long term consumption on the human existence is unknown and therefore makes it very hard to decide whether or not it is ethical to produce GM foods. Works Cited Bioma gnification. (2012, July 8). Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/Biomagnification Biomagnification. (2012, July 8). Retrieved from http://toxics. usgs. gov/definitions/biomagnification. html Genetically modified food. (2012, July 8). Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food Genetically modified foods and organisms. (2012, May 17). Retrieved from http://www. ornl. gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood. shtml Whitman, D. (2000, April). Genetically modified foods: Harmful or helpful?. Retrieved from http://www. csa. com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview. php/review. pdf

Honda Cars

Honda Cars uses in its manufacturing, the state of the art facilities that set standards in the world market (specifically in automotive industry). The company utilized a leading edge painting facility, occupies a full dip paint system based on CED (Cationic Electro Deposition) bath, to guarantee faultless coating, accurate adhesion and anti-corrosion. The cars produce mainly by Honda also guarantees customer’s satisfaction.Honda employs strict measures to produce quality cars throughout the international market. The produced (cars) are subjected to strict inspection and testing. The company tests the products at Vehicle Quality section to minimize company defects and ensure that cars performed at its crest. Upon release to the dealers, the company determines the products (head and toe, wheel) alignment at the company’s G-SWAT and headlight tester. The company tests the running performance (optimum speed), clutch, breaks, and shifting levels at Brake Speed Tester. Other tests consist of Water Leak Tests, Side Slip Test, Visual Inspection and Simulation Test. This test evaluates the performance of the products at different road condition.Sales / DistributionHonda Cars is mainly based in Japan and its branches are spread in the world market. The company in its home country produces quality and good price to Japan. Over the years, through its success, the company maintained a sole proprietor / producer of Honda cars. The company does not join other automobile companies to expand their production. The company maintained its own stlye and makes an icon in the international market. In the recent years (2000-2007, Honda cars was hammered by other big automobile companies in the world market. The company’s introduction of their products in Europe was thrashed by American and European-based car companies. But, the company is still in the line of making and produce cars in the international market.General MotorsGeneral Motors / GM was known with its production of unique interiors and bodylines. The company’s goal was, ‘To provide the finest vehicles possible to every customer in every market around the globe.’ General Motors Corporation is the world’s largest producer / seller of cars in the world market. Based in U.S.A., the company is present in 33 countries with an employment rate about 284, 000 people around the globe. In 2006, General Motors produced; â€Å"Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall, Buick, Cadillac, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, and Pontiac†.The company’s biggest sales in its home country (U.S.A.), proceeds by United Kingdom, Canada, China and Germany. The company made a strategy to expand its production in the world market through Minority Dealer Development. It is bilingual in nature; both the dealers and the company benefit (hefty advantage to the company). It is directed through different companies and directs in human resources (training) and dealership.Toda y, the General Motors had access throughout the globe; from country to country, cities from cities, overcoming production of sole proprietors of cars. The company sweeps away competition among other car companies and still leading the automobile industry.Sales / DistributionThe company focuses in partnership to other car companies around the globe and developed profound relationships to its customers. General Motors is the leading / major stockholder of GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Co. of South Korea and collaborates with Suzuki Motor Corp. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. of Japan. In addition, the company engaged in research and technology advancement with BMW AG (Germany), DaimlerChrysler AG and Toyota Motor Corp. (Japan). Also, the company gambles investing Renault SA of France, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. of China, Toyota, AVTOVAZ of Russia and Suzuki.GM Powertain under General Motors put for sale GM engines and transmissions. Parts and Accessories are retailed via GM Service and Parts Operations under Gm Performance Parts, ACDelco, and GM Good wrench. This supplies GM dealerships and distributors worldwide.Salesperson ProfileSalesperson assist customers to acquire what they need and attempt to make them interested in buying your product / merchandise. Retail salespersons are highly ‘in demand’ and competitions in this job are high. Employers do prefer college graduate in sales; college graduate people take an advantage over high school graduates.In layman’s term, a good salesperson needs to have skills in communication. He / She do not only require good education but also needs to be industrious, creative and with talent in chatting with common people (buyers). His / Her talent in making people believe in his / her products will definitely make him / her best in selling products / produced goods. Employers would definitely choose salesperson with talent rather than a common salesperson.Work CitedHonda: The Power of Dreams (2007). URLhttp ://www.hondaphil.com/ourcompany.php?id=2. Retrieved September 14, 2007.Mckay, Dawn Rosenberg. Retail Salesperson: Career Information (2007). URL https://www.thebalance.com/retail-salesperson-526064. Retrieved September 14, 2007.

Analysis of Service Marketing UBER Technologies †Free Samples

UBER technologies are the company that is headquartered at San Francisco, California. It is the company that deals with transport network services. This company has started its business by developing a mobile application (Cramer & Krueger,   2016). This application is used by the customers to book or request the ride that is being transferred to the drivers who are using their own cars to conduct the trip. As per the data, the company operates its business in 58 countries and 300 cities in the entire world. After UBER, many companies have tried this business idea and launched their own taxi services for the customers. The ear is known as â€Å"Uberification†. This business was founded by two people named Travis and Garrett in May 2009 and they released the app for UBER in June in the same year. In 2012, UBER took the initiate to expand its business at international level (Creighton, 2017). In the year of 2014, the innovation of carpooling is initiated by the business and the company reached at the position of 48 th among the most powerful companies of America. As far as the business UBER is Australia it considered, it has been analyzed that the business has started in 2012 may. In Australia, it has been observed that the market share of the company is rising day by day. UBER has started its business by launching Uber black that includes only the black cars as the cabs by the chauffeurs. This initiative of the business takes up around 3% of the total industry market (Amin & Radhakrishnan, 2013). After that Uber taxi has been launched that allow the taxis to work under Uber as Uber cars. This strategy allows the company to earn more 2% of the market share. As the company has experienced success with these strategies then it started launching the UberX and captured around 22% of the electronic payment market. The above figure clearly describes the spending of the people in Australia on UBER in the electronic payment industry. This suggests that UBER is doing great with its business in Australia and there are more opportunities for the company to grow (Chen, Mislove & Wilson, 2015). as far as the customers and the target market of the company is considered, it has been analyzed that target market of the company are the smartphone users along with the internet access on their phones. They are considered as the potential customers because they are the prospects that can easily be converted into customers. The riders who want to ride are not only the target for the company (Cannon & Summers, 2014). The company also targets the drivers and the car owners. This is because UBER does not have its own cars and employs the individual who are the car owners. As far as the competitors of UBER in Australia are considered, the recent news suggested that Hi Oscar is the company that is taking over the market of UBER. This company has been launched by Perth locals Daniel and Jeremy. It has been analyzed that, may be UBER is cheap and provide convenient rides but still there are many reasons on that the business is replaced by another local company. some of the reasons are surge pricing, internal toxic culture, bad behavior of the drivers etc. the company has attracted around 330 drivers in Perth and then planning to launch its business in Sydney and Melbourne as well (Rogers, 2015). There is several strength of this business over UBER. The first strength or the advantage sis that it is a local company so can attract large number of local people towards it. In terms of income it charges only 15% of the total income from the drivers while other international; brand like Uber charges 25% of the income. This suggests that even if the local compan y is charging, the economy is remaining in the nation only. Strength is that the company is registered with GST (Wheeler IV, 2009). This company allows the users to select their driver and favorite those for future so that in future if they wants to take a ride they can select their driver. The company provides the rating system of thumbs up and thumbs down that help in removing the dilemma of average rating. Another major advantage of the ride from Oscar is that the women customers have the opportunity and chance to select for the women driver. Other than Oscar, GoCatch is another company that has launched its business in taxi industry (Mulley, Nelson, Teal, Wright & Daniels, 2012). Increasing number of companies in the industry is taking over the share of UBER in Australia and becomes a threat for it. The company has launched its services with lower prices than UBER by 10-15%. This is really an alarming stage for UBER to bring innovation in the business of Australia. UBER is observed to be the company that is very much focused for customer service. The company is customer oriented in nature. The major strategies that support the company cater the customer such great services are as follows: Simplicity: Uber app is very much easy and simple to use. It is a user friendly app that supports the customers to operate it easily without being much techno savvy. Even the drivers that are not so much educated can handle the app. it is not only for the users of smartphone but the customer those who are not having nay smartphone can also book their rides by messaging (Australia, 2017). This simplicity is the strategy of customer service by UBER. This is because of the pap is complicated then it cannot be used by nay of the uneducated person. Convenience: Taking ride from UBER is very convenient for the customers. Even if the customer does not know the location where he or she is standing, they can book a ride by sending their location and the driver can pick them up from there. As the company also deal with private cars so they are more comfortable and clean then the cabs or taxis. The payment method for paying for the rise is also very easy (Hall, 2017). It is not necessary to carry the cash all the time to take a ride from Uber. The app can manage the payments by themselves; the customer just need to associate his debit or credit cards with the app and the money will automatically gets deducted. Speed: Speed is another strategy of the company to provide great service to the customers. In any of the city where the UBER serves its customers, they can easily get the UBER cars nearby. This is because there are a lot number of Uber cars available and the system is such that distributes the drivers and the cars according to the demand of the cars at the place. As soon as the customer books the ride, the driver approaches to the customer in lease of the time. Service environment can be defined as the physical environment of the business. All the tangible things that are associated with the firm’s service and provide the proof of the quality of the services form the service environment. After booking the ride: As soon as the customer books the ride with UBER, the driver calls the customer and asks them about the location and tells them about the limit within which they can reach on the location (Tucker, 2017).  This helps the customer to know about the waiting time. After pick up: It has been observed that all the Uber cars are very well managed as after the pickup, the driver greets the customer with poise and ask them if they are comfortable or not. The cars smell good and provide the customer the feel of sitting in his own car rather than a taxi. After the drop: As soon as the driver drops the customer, the customer provides rating to the driver and vice versa. Driver also helps the customer to lift up their luggage if it’s heavy. All the above discussed points provide the information about the service environment of UBER. As discussed in the above section that even if UBER is performing well in its business but facing some of the issues in Australia. The main issue is the issue of surge charging. This is the major issue faced by the company as the local competitors in the place are not charging the surge prices with the customers and thus gaining the higher customer as then UBER. Another issue that has been analyzed with UBER is that most of the drivers do not know how to read the navigation properly. This is to be recommended to UBER that they should concentrate on providing training to their drivers about the application and the navigation app. They should also manage the surge pricing system so that they cannot lose their customers. It has been concluded from the above study that UBER is the company that deal with transportation service in many countries and also in Australia. The Australian business of the firm is doing well but still facing some of the competition from the local competitors such as GoCatch and Oscar. As far as the customer is considered, they have the target market of people those who are using smartphones and have internet connection. The service environment of the company suggests that the services of the company are very much convenient for the customers and provide a good experience of the rides. Some of the issues have also been faced by the company which can be overcome by taking the recommended actions. Amin, S., & Radhakrishnan, M. (2013).  U.S. Patent Application No. 13/672,658. Australia. (2017).  Australia. Retrieved 11 May 2017, from https://newsroom.uber.com/australia/ Cannon, S., & Summers, L. H. (2014). How Uber and the sharing economy can win over regulators.  Harvard business review,  13, 1-4. Chen, L., Mislove, A., & Wilson, C. (2015, October). Peeking beneath the hood of uber. In  Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Internet Measurement Conference  (pp. 495-508). ACM. Cramer, J., & Krueger, A. B. (2016). Disruptive change in the taxi business: The case of Uber.  The American Economic Review,  106(5), 177-182. Creighton, D. (2017).  Uber competitor launches in Brisbane.  Brisbane Times. Retrieved 11 May 2017, from https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/uber-competitor-launches-in-brisbane-under-new-laws-20160904-gr8bcs.html Hall, B. (2017).  Uber has new competitors in Australia.  Uber Drivers Forum. Retrieved 11 May 2017, from https://uberpeople.net/threads/uber-has-new-competitors-in-australia.150636/ Lovelock, C. (2011).  Services Marketing, 7/e. Pearson Education India. Lusch, R. F., & Vargo, S. L. (2014).  The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. Routledge. Mulley, C., Nelson, J., Teal, R., Wright, S., & Daniels, R. (2012). Barriers to implementing flexible transport services: An international comparison of the experiences in Australia, Europe and USA.  Research in Transportation Business & Management,  3, 3-11. Rogers, B. (2015). The social costs of Uber.  U. Chi. L. Rev. Dialogue,  82, 85. Tucker, H. (2017).  GoCatch is launching Australia's first Uber X competitor.  Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 11 May 2017, from https://www.businessinsider.com.au/gocatch-is-launching-australias-first-uber-x-competitor-2016-2 Wheeler IV, G. Y. (2009).  U.S. Patent Application No. 12/453,780. Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2012).  Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm. McGraw Hill.

Understanding strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Understanding strategic management - Essay Example Decision makers and managers must apply their strategic skills in the process of managing an organisation. Increasing competition and changing nature of demand are the two prime reasons behind the increasing demand of strategic management process in the contemporary world. This paper will attempt to assess a company by using strategic management tools and models. The models and tools will be used for two proposes i.e. for environmental scanning and for strategy formulation. Environmental scanning will include internal and external analysis. The next section will show the company’s strategic position in the market. Based on the analysis and findings, relevant strategies will be recommended. Tesco Plc has been selected for the purpose of strategic management analysis. Tesco is a UK based company and is operating in the global retail industry. However, in this paper, the primary focus will be on the UK retail industry. Tesco Plc is a UK based leading retailer. The company was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919. The company was first listed in London Stock Exchange in 1947 and it launched its corporate website (Tesco.com) in 2000 (Tesco Plc-a, 2010). The company offers a wide range of product and retailing service through its numerous superstores. Tesco offers homes products, fast moving consumer products, clothing, consumer durable, electronics etc (Tesco-a, 2010). The latest annual report of Tesco disclosed that it owns 4810 stores in the global market and nearly 472000 employees are working with Tesco (Tesco Plc-b, 2010). It experienced very fast growth and after its global expansion, the company became the third largest retailer in the world after Wal-Mart and Carrefour. The company has developed its reputed brand image in the market. Specially, in UK, the company has gained a large share of the market (Silverthorne, 2010). Tesco has developed an effective and efficient strategic management procedure in

Information System and Enterprise Systems Coursework

Information System and Enterprise Systems - Coursework Example Therefore, organizations will either buy or build their information systems depending on the respective costs weighed against the benefits. In addition, organizations may consider the level of expertise required before deciding whether to buy or build the information systems. Information systems require sophisticated expertise in information technology. It may be prudent to evaluate the level of expertise required before making the decision. Information systems are composed of both hardware and software that are integrated in a complex interplay. Organizations ought to consider the availability of resources required to build an information system. The decision on whether to buy or build the information systems may be based on the availability of the hardware and software required. Customer relationship management is a significant enterprise system responsible for enhancing productivity. However, organizations fail to focus on customer satisfaction and loyalty. In addition, organizations may have a hard time reaching out to customers for information. Customers are fundamental to organizations because the information they provide forms a major part of the input. Customer relationship management may be improved if organizations focus on service as a product rather than as an expense. It is important that organizations value their customers to ensure that customer loyalty is attained. It is argued that customer loyalty is directly proportional to productivity (OBrien et al., 2007). In addition, organizations need to establish platforms that make it easier for them to access the customers. Such platforms include social media and search engine optimization. In the contemporary world, customers prefer companies that have an online profile to the traditional system o f visiting the offices

The Trafficking of Illicit Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

The Trafficking of Illicit Drugs - Essay Example In order to halt the burgeoning economic, safety, and health issues related to these illicit substances, policymakers must address many issues including creating community-based prevention programs for youth and allocating funds for better access to drug rehabilitation programs (National Drug Control Strategy, 2011). Background In Alaska, drug use, and distribution is a massive problem and burden that affects the individual, communities, and the entire state. Illicit drug use is higher among Alaska natives than any other ethnic group (Young & Joe, 2009). In addition, Alaska natives have the greatest rates of use for marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, hallucinogens, and nonmedical use of psychotherapeutics (Young & Joe, 2009). According to the National Drug Control Strategy (2011) budget summary for the last fiscal year, the hindrance of drug use and its consequences contributes approximately $32 billion dollars in medical costs per year. Social Factors The entire United States is affecte d by illicit substance abuse. The impact of losing a loved one due to an overdose of illegal drug use is a paramount issue that cannot be qualified by any outside source. The youth of our nation is affected as well as their families. The National Youth Behavior Risk Survey (2011) for the years of 2009 – 2011 indicates that students in high school grades nine through twelve reported either an increase in incidence or no change for marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, heroin, and/or methamphetamine use (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2011). Citizens of the entire nation are also affected by the crime that is created by means to obtain illicit substances; an average of 71% of males arrested in 10 metropolitan areas in 2011 tested positive for an illegal substance at the time they were taken into custody (Tombak, 2012). Economic Factors The problem of the use of illicit drugs in the United States and the trafficking of illegal drugs cost the nation billions of dollar s each year. Densely (2010) notes that the United States losses as much as $110bn on illicit drugs alone for each year. This loss comes about through a lot of avenues. In the first place, millions of dollars are spent on control and prevention programs that aim at ensuring that people in the country do not fall prey to a very dangerous act of dealing with or using illicit drugs. The control and prevention programs take several forms including strategic campaigns and law enforcement programs. Because there are specially designated agencies who are supposed to be responsible for the control and prevention of illicit drug use, special allocations are made for them in each year’s budget and this is the source of the huge cost involved (Weiler, 2004). Apart from the cost of control and prevention programs, huge liability is incurred by the nation through the cost of managing affected persons who have suffered the consequences of illicit drug use (Davis-Floyd, 2001). This is becaus e special budgetary allocation is provided for people in rehabilitation homes and other healthcare facilities who receive treatment for various forms of illicit drug use side effects. What is most disturbing is that because such people are often neglected by their families, the government is always forced to bear all the cost and this possesses a serious economic challenge for the nation.

Withdrawal of Care Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Withdrawal of Care - Case Study Example The discussion should include the most efficient means of withdrawing the life support services; the needs and significance of withdrawing the life-sustaining treatment are to be realized by those who work in the field. The withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment legal and ethical aspects should as well be put into perspective before embarking on the withdrawal of care process (Gordon, 2008). Nurses have an incredibly decisive role in initiating the plan of withdrawing life support health treatment. In most cases nurses are in charge of taking care of hospitalized patients. Additionally, nurses are as well squarely responsible for executing the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment plan. In most cases, nurses are blamed for lack of sufficient knowledge and resources to put into practice the withdrawal of life-sustaining plan (Kirchhoff et al., 2010). Different Intensive Care Units have dissimilar and unique ways of managing and controlling deaths. As a result this has complicated the nurses’ practice of managing and implementing the life-sustaining treatment withdrawal initiatives.... By referring to his medical history provided by his sister and sister in law, the patient was at one time diagnosed with epilepsy. The patient had as well undergone brain surgery two years ago to access the possibility of brain tumor. In the recent days, the patient was reported to have be fatigued and having consistent out spells. Additionally, two month prior to the presentation of the case, the patient was also diagnosed with pneumonia. Since pneumonia treatment, the patient has been experiencing choric cough, was very weak and tired. Moreover, the ailing man had over years experienced elevated white blood counts. To address the problem, the patient underwent bone marrow biopsy After the initial physical examination, the patient was admitted in the hospital as a chronically and pale ill white male. The assessment on his neck did not reveal signs of a jugular venous distension. There were signs of diminished breath sounds as well as evidence of bilateral course rhonchi. The heart b eat was at a rate of 60-65 bpm. After detailed examination, there were no signs of clubbing, cyanosis, or edema. The patient was as well releasing small amount of urine and the feet were cool. However, after exhaustive assessment, the 50 years old man was revealed to have chronic pneumonia that incorporated massive emphysema. His condition was also complicated by respiratory failure, septic shocks, sepsis, renal complications, respiratory acidosis and leukemia, as well as mixed metabolic problem. There were also indications of poly-microbial complications due to the presence of smelling pus. Owing to his severe and painful heath complications, health practitioners concluded that, his chances of survival were about 25%. As a result, after thorough consultation between health

Hinduism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hinduism - Research Paper Example Majority of these writers define Hinduism as the family of religions. Hindus belief that after a person is born, he or she should strive to obtain impersonal supreme in order to lead a righteous life. It is very difficult to define Hindu religion but the most accepted conception is that Hinduism is rooted in India where the holy books called the Veda were found. The belief system (dharma) of the Hindus is derived from the Vedas. Most Hindus believe in the existence of a supreme being whose character and forms are represented by many deities, which originate from him. In addition, they also believe that living consists of cycle of birth, death, and rebirth and finally administered by what they call the Karma. It is written in the Vedas that the soul goes through a cycle of subsequent lives and its coming incarnation is dependent on how a person lived his or her life while on earth (Knott 41-4). Hinduism belief in eternal life or atman, which they think dictate our existence as human beings. Majority of Hindus have developed different explanations of the self where they view it as eternal servant of God. The belief in the eternal self among the Hindus endorses the concept of reincarnation in the sense that the same self can inherit interim bodies. The concept of eternal self implies that self is a soul or a spiritual entity rather than a physical or material being. This makes Hindus emphasize on the significance of complete detachment from material things and encourages practices such as asceticism (Knott 70). Dharma in Hindu religion is very important since it dictates morality, virtue, and duty. Majority of Hindus have a conviction that dharma was revealed to them in the Vedas or the holy text. Through dharma, the society is held together in peace and harmony since it makes the sun to rise, the vegetations to grow, and makes us ethical or moral individuals. Acting morally does not imply precisely the same for everybody because different

Nursing Research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Nursing Research - Assignment Example e surgical procedures and the result showed that pain levels of patients managed with evidence-based practice were lower as compared to the controlled sample. Pain ratings of patients in the intervention wards were assessed at rest since surgery, on movement since surgery and worst pain on movement and it showed that they were significantly reduced compared with those in the control wards (Bolfman 2014). That is, post-operative pain management using evidence based practice help reduces pain levels of post procedure patients therefore facilitating faster healing. End of life care has been noted to be one of the key areas to improve quality of patient care. It is a phase of life when an individual is living with an illness, which will eventually worsen and cause death. A study was done on palliative care improvement of symptoms with evidence-based interventions and it showed that patients who were managed with evidence-based practice had reduced hospital stays, reduced hospital admissions and incurred lower costs (Whitehead, 2011). Palliative care for these patients was managed according to their symptoms and preferences. Therefore, use evidence based practice in the care of patients on end-of-life care will significantly reduce or prevent their

Personal Identity and the Self Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Identity and the Self - Essay Example Who am I? What am I? Have you ever wondered and kept on thinking about this mysterious question. You would have come across many answers like you are alive because of your brain or you are surviving because of physical existence of your body But does one really think he is just his body, or just alive due to the grey matter situated in the crown of his head. No this seems so absurd, at least for me. I am really convinced that I am only the soul. Soul is that minute particle of energy which is much lighter and smaller than atom and which gives me the immortal life that no death can conquer. I cannot be the brain for the very reason that when my brain stop working my breathe goes on. Same way, when my body is paralyzed I still keep on living. When seeing from both the angle of body and brain, the thing which keep me alive and blissful is my soul, my eternal soul. This concept of soul can be alien to many, but it is one truth which is eternal and divine. It is not right to say that we a re body, or we are alive because of brain as these are just instruments which give our soul chance to perform its duty on this earthly plane. Soul is the part of the God, but still separate from God, and has a motive of merging with God at end of its life cycle. We were created from God and have to merge with God after taking birth in different forms and times. Body and brain is nothing but some physical instrument which gives us reasoning and decision making powers. It may be surprising to many, if I tell you that we had to take many forms like plants, animals and human to complete our life cycle and ultimately merge with the divine. Yes, we survived through many years and strayed in many forms and eventually we get enlightened and get salvation. According to (Jerrry,1978,pg .3) â€Å"Survival means surviving no more no less. I have no doubts that I shall merge with beings, plants will take root in my remains, and the chemical that I am will continue to make their contribution to life†. This cycle goes on, until the soul in our self gets brightened and purified to join with the divine power. It is our aim, to find God in our self and understand it and nurture it and then surrender it to Divine power. We cannot be the body, how can I be the body? If then if my leg gets amputed then I should cease to exist. Does it happen? No, it won’t. If my whole body gets paralyzed until my neck, I keep on speaking .So what is keeping me alive, yes it is the soul undoubtedly. It is hidden in our body, and can be reached only by long lasting meditation and submerging in ultimate self. It very well cannot be the body, which keeps on changing according to the age and time. One may think what happens to this soul, once the body gets destroyed. Yes! This is a very valuable question and the answer is also valuable indeed. The soul never dies, never get destroyed and it remained as an immortal energy .The body is just a covering, a temple for the soul to reside, it re mains there witnessing all the actions of the body and mind. It lies in the body behind the subconscious mind and witnesses all the deeds good and bad. People don’t realize the soul because we are in the illusionary world, and this veil of ignorance keeps us away from the reality. The reality is only experienced when listen to the self and look inwards rather than outwards. If the self was just the body, then there would have been no purpose to this life. It is like we are here just to eat sleep and mating. We just need to give pleasures to the bodily organs and do not even have to look further for happiness and bliss. â€Å"A person’s â€Å"having a soul† is not, for example, a special form of possession or ownership .What we need to understand is that person’s â€Å"having a soul† is not a form of possession or ownership at all†(Rosenberg,1998,pg.58).Soul is the beholder of the body and the mind, and everything we think and do is witnessed by soul and affect the soul. Good deed and bad deed does make the soul pure or

Technology is important for us Essay Example for Free

Technology is important for us Essay Imagine yourself a world without the existence of the word technology? How does that world look like? For me it’s a world without evolution and creativity, a place where everyone is closed minded. Like the cavemen where we once was in the Stone age, but this time infinitely. Technology is something very important for our society and mankind. It gives us hopes and dreams to reach out for. Furthermore, it improves our lives by making it more easier and better. For example, take a look around you, the watch, the laptop, the TV and even the chair. Almost everything you see is the track of technology and have you ever imagined you life without those stuff? A good tips is by sitting on a stone an hour in the woods without bringing anything with you. After that you will surely realize how important technology really is. Personally, technology is something I really love and I have been a dreaming about creating a new technology myself. A Time-machine or something unimaginable that will change this world, in a positive way of course. However, a technology is not always something positive. Clearly, weapons and bombs that is used for war and hurting other people. So can we live without technologies? If the technology stops to evolves or improves, the time will also stops. We will lose our creativity and everything we create or produce will look the same. However that will never ever happen, because we humans are curios creature. We like to explore things and make things easier for us. Consequently, it keeps the technology in track and go forwards. To summarize, technology is something important for us and our world. We can survive without it but the world would not be as fun and easy as today. Even though some evil people use technology in bad ways like starting wars. Technology can still be used to stop wars and connect people by helping each other. For example the internet which keeps us in touch with each other even though we are miles away.

Dracula, Bram Stoker A Religious Analysis

Dracula, Bram Stoker A Religious Analysis Before the Victorian Era of the nineteenth century, faith in Christ was pretty much a necessity in Europe. But Christianity underwent its challenges with the theory of evolution anticipated by Charles Darwin. This event made people in industrialized cities, and most of their views of Christ, dissipate. After the drastic change in peoples views, the idea of the Anti-Christ, in most Christians was highly thought about. Most speculated that the Anti-Christ was already walking with them and were many different ideas of what he looked like. In Bram Stokers Dracula, Stoker simulates Dracula as the Anti-Christ by using many beliefs from Christianity to exhibit abundant amounts of the evaluation of the influence of Dracula with the influence of God, Anti-Christian morals, and superstitious beliefs. In this fictional novel, Dracula has certain powers that the other characters surely do not. A lot of these powers, to Christians, are characteristics of what no man but God could have. The only difference is that unlike God, Dracula uses these powers for evil. One example is the fact that Dracula can change the weather around him. In chapter eight, when Dracula is trying to transport his boxes of earth to Carfax, he crashes the ship by creating a fierce storm. The waves rose in growing fury and The wind roared like thunder, and blew with such force that it was with difficulty that even strong men kept their feet(Stoker 87) This event shines a light on his character because it eventually kills everyone on the ship. Killing innocent people when he didnt have to because he was selfish does portray the Anti-Christ in him. Christians also believing that taking the life of a child of God is a sure-fire way of going to hell (The Ten Commandments) surely puts him in the category of demonic. Christians believe that in order to go to heaven and having an eternal life with God, digesting Gods body and blood (Holy Communion) is vital. For Dracula, he is residually undead, by consuming the blood of the existing to thrive and to gain his power. Doing this, Dracula counts on human beings to renovate his undead being and not directed on God as the foundation. It is also said that you must let God into your heart; Dracula cannot come into a persons home unless invited in. In the Bible, Christ is known as the light, which signifies bliss or life. Dracula moves to an old abandoned Church not used anymore which can show that God is no longer present which would accomplish Draculas purpose of spreading evil. Dracula is too looked as the Anti-Christ by sharing comparisons with Jesus but in wicked ways. As Dracula moves to Carfax and begins his journey on to feeding on his victims, just as God had his disciples, Dracula has his followers as well. Renfield is a prime example of Draculas disciple. I am not even concerned in His especially spiritual doings. If I may state my intellectual position I am, so far as concerns things purely terrestrial, somewhat in the position which Enoch occupied spiritually(287) A few times on the book, when Renfield discusses Dracula, Dracula name or as a pronoun is always capitalized; in Christ, most people would refer to God in that manner. Readers can infer that Renfield thinks of Dracula as his master. Another reason readers think that Renfield is Draculas follower is that Renfield wants to be Draculas wing- man as Enoch was a follower of God. Another power in which Dracula uses most of the time is fact that he can control animals. In the first chapter Jonathan Harker notices that he saw Dracula stand in the roadway. As he swept his long arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves fell back and back further still.(18) This is a very strange and scary thing that even God cant do. Also the fact that he only control dog, wolves, bats, and rats are quite interesting because most Christians say that the Anti Christ was the ruler of the night. In the Bible, God is passed on as the light, which signifies joy or life. This is a coincidence because these animals are creatures of the night, and Dracula has an influence over all of them. Another part where he does this is when he breaks into Lucys house to kiss her. There was a crash at the window, and a lot of broken glass was hurled on the floor. The window blind blew back with the wind that rushed in, and in the aperture of the broken panes there was the he ad of a great, gaunt gray wolf.(157). He controls the wolf into breaking in because Dracula desperately needs blood and would do anything to get his hands on his prey, even if that means hurting others to get to them. Draculas Anti-Christ ways are more protruded by the superstitious beliefs invented by Christians. In the first chapter, when Jonathan Harker departs to Draculas castle, the old lady puts rosary round my neck and said, For your mothers sake. (9) One of the common superstitions is that holy objects, in this situation holy beads, will shield you from all wicked, which in Jonathans case, is Dracula. When Jonathan slashes himself shaving the next day and Dracula starts to attack him, he notices the beads and the crucifix and backs down.You should not put your faith in such objects of deceit(31). This is a prime example of Draculas hatred towards God. This also proves that Dracula is the anti-Christ because he cant even approach rosary without harming him. Another example in which this superstition shows his anti-Christian self is later in the novel where Van Helsing utilizes the communion wafers to prevent Dracula from getting into his coffins. Once Dracula notices that there are holy ob jects around is boxes of earth, he cannot go in them. So much hatred for holy objects, to the point where he has to repel from them proves that Dracula is definitely the Anti-Christ. Even though there are a lot more examples to prove that Dracula might be the Anti-Christ, it is certain that Dracula epitomizes Anti-Christian values and mistreatment of Christianity. In numerous traditions Dracula is symbolized as the essence of sin. Into these closing stages, he is overcome by godliness. By illustrating a similarity between Dracula and anti-Christian beliefs, Dracula employs loads of biblical meanings. In Bram Stokers Dracula, Stoker uses Dracula as a capsule, to trap in all the hate and evil by using countless viewpoints from Christian beliefs to show the signs of Anti-Christianity.

Importance Of Product Strategy Marketing Essay

Importance Of Product Strategy Marketing Essay This chapter gives an overview of the dissertation and the importance of the subject matter. The importance of product strategy, the textile industry and a brief introduction on the Diesel Jeans sector will be presented. Problem formulation, research questions, hypotheses formulation, research aim, research objectives, reasons for choosing of the topic, previous studies, and format of the study will be spelt out. The research is focus on the product strategy implemented by Diesel Jeans in Mauritius. 1.2 Importance of product strategy The value realised by a firm from selling its products is determined to a large extent by the strategy that is used to bring the products to market (Chesbrough, 2003). Organisations that launched flourishing products such as Apple and Microsoft have been credited with adopting the right product strategy for their products (Wall Street Journal, 2006). Consequently it is imperative for firms to recognize the impact of the product strategies formulated. A product strategy is the critical vision of the product and affirmed where the product will cease. When a product strategy is developed, it becomes easy for firm to determine the direction of the product efforts. The product strategy forms the basis for executing a product roadmap and consequently product releases. However company is able to concentrate more on a target market specifically and set feature. Bantel (1997) suggests that particular product/market strategies are effective at achieving particular performance goals to the exclusion of others. The role of product strategy is to make an association between the companys product development and its business strategy (McGrath, Anthony, Shapiro, 1996) and according to McGrath (2000) it guarantees that the firm and its products is engaged in the right markets from a strategic viewpoint. Product strategy is referred as the consequence of making important decisions in managing new product development (Krishnan and Ulrich, 2001; Mintzberg, Ahlstrand, and Lampel, 1998). The product strategy process involved the process of decision making within a company. 1.3 Textile Industry in Mauritius The textile industry is among the most significant pillars of the Mauritian economy. In the earlys 70, the government created the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in order to fight unemployment. Many changes have occurred almost forty two years of its existence. Mauritius manufactures products of quality like Boss, Ralph Lauren, Next, Gap, Mark and Spencer and others trade mark for export towards the Europe and USA due to the high skilled labour force and efficient management practices. According to the Mauritius Export Association (MEXA) report 2012, the export sector contributes around Rs 45 billion revenue to the Mauritian economy representing around 14% of GDP and generates approximately 60 000 direct jobs. It has been resilient to the difficult global economic situation and has achieved a modest growth of 7.8% during the year 2011. Table 1.1 below shows the domestic export of textile products through the year. Table 1.1: Domestic Export of Mauritius for year 2008 to year 2011 Domestic Exports 2008 2009 2010 2011 Cotton articles not knitted Mens trousers 6576 7126 6395 7507 Mens shirts 11796 10742 11017 13691 Womens trousers 2043 2722 3445 2971 Womens blouses 886 1170 968 931 Cotton articles knitted Mens trousers 444 217 363 177 Mens shirts 6384 3671 3883 4010 Womens trousers 622 1226 1779 2495 Womens blouses 2081 1170 968 937 Source: MEXA Report 2012 1.4 Diesel Jeans in Mauritius Based on a report of the Diesel Heritage web site, Diesel is viewed as an innovative international design company, making a wide-ranging collection of jeans, clothing and accessories. Diesel is a leader in pioneering new styles, fabrics, manufacturing methods and quality control to assure an excellent product. The company is present in over 80 countries with over 5,000 points of sale and more than 300 monobrand stores (200 of which are company-owned and the rest in partnership with local distributors). Diesel operates through franchise in Mauritius since 1994, and now runs three shops on the territory. The company imports its entire ready to wear products from its country of origin, that is, Italy. Diesel expanded its design to bags, watches, footwear, sunglasses, belts, to bring more options to the customers. Lately more diversified designed products have been added to its portfolio for example designer helmets for motorcyclists and earphones. Competitors of Diesel in Mauritius are Calvin Klein, Guess, Celio, and Levis and the target market of these competitors are the same as Diesel. They are still expanding their branches simultaneously with building close relationship with customers. Figure 1.1 shows the number of products that the Diesel Jeans imported to Mauritius and those products are classified into two seasons, that is, Spring Summer and Fallwinter. Figure 1.1: The import of Diesel Jeans products from 2008 to 2012. Source: Fieldwork 1.5 Statement of the problem The rapidly changing culture, politics and economics of modern life deeply influence the industrial environment, particularly consumer industries such as textile and clothing (Lowson, King and Hunter, 1999).The problem is that nowadays the consumers control the marketplace in order to customise the style, fit and colour of the clothes to purchase, and require high quality personalised products at low prices. Therefore many organizations adopt aggressive product strategies to survive and maintain market share and surpass their competitors to satisfy consumers. However, seasonal and highly volatile market industry is always vulnerable to the concept of fading out and sometimes difficult to survive. Meeting multicultural consumer requirements by supplying the right products and services in a global market is an ongoing challenge for marketers, retailers, and suppliers. Now, various clothing industries due to the effect of globalisation, were keen to benefit a larger market, within their country of origin, and also in other markets with high potential. (Kim, Forsythe, Gu Moon, 2002) Moreover the Diesel Jeans is a global brand and it should seek to become part of the local culture and difficulties may rise according to the new designs and new collections of clothes that the organization brings to the Mauritian culture. Hence it would be worthwhile to study the product strategy of Diesel Jeans in the context of Mauritian culture. 1.6 Research question The research question of this project is Whether the product strategy of Diesel Jeans suits the Mauritian market? 1.7 Hypotheses formulation Five hypotheses were formulated to test whether there is any difference between product strategy and customer satisfaction in Chapter five under section 5.5. 1.8 Research aim To study the product strategy and it dimensions for customer satisfaction. 1.9 Research objectives The main objectives of the project are as follows: To review the literature on product strategy dimensions. To assess the product strategy of Diesel Jeans in Mauritius. To measure customer satisfaction. To make recommendation within the context of the study. 1.10 Reasons for choosing the topic The reason why the topic was chosen was the authors interest in product strategy adopted by a global branded clothing industry. The author has chosen global industry to show how the brand integrates the lifestyle of people and fashion in Mauritius. In order to be successful a global brand should seek to become part of the local culture, adapting to the unique needs, values and desires of the targeted group. 1.11 Previous research Table 1.2 Previous studies of the subject matter Title Author University/ Institute Year Product strategy in response to technological innovation in the semiconductor test industry. Robert W.LIN Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2004 Product strategies under durability, look-in and Assortment Considerations. Sreelat Jonnalagedda University of Texas at Austin. 2009 Enterprise Product strategies and employer Demand for skills in Britain. Geoff Mason National Institute of Economic and Social Research 2004 Source: Fieldwork 1.12 Format of the study This study consists of 6 chapters and it is organized as follows: Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter provides a background of the textile industry in Mauritius and the study the importance of product strategy. The research question, problem statement, reason for choosing the topic and previous studies on the topic are cited. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter reviews theoretical view on product strategy. Chapter 3: Company Profile The chapter provides details on the company. Chapter 4: Research methodology This section will mainly describe all the methods and tools used in carrying out the entire research. Chapter 5: Data Presentation and Analysis It provides presentation of the data collected through charts, tables and graphs for better understanding. Chapter 6: Recommendation and conclusion The final chapter will make necessary recommendations and the conclusion of the dissertation related to the findings. 1.13 Conclusion This chapter has given an overview of the business climate in Mauritius. A brief detail is given on the Diesel Jeans Company in Mauritius and on the textile industry which is one of the main pillars in Mauritian economy. Furthermore the problem statement, the research aim, research objectives and the research question are spelt out for the purpose of the project. The next chapter will review the literature about product strategy and its dimensions. CHAPTER 2 Literature review 2.1 Introduction The aim of this chapter is to provide a detailed explanation of the product strategy concept and how it evolved. Firstly, the marketing concept and product is well defined. Furthermore the review describe the important aspects in the product strategy for the success of a product such as the market segmentation, product development, product differentiation, product attributes, brand strategy and brand awareness , product packaging, product quality, product price product diversification and customer satisfaction. Textbooks and Journals were used for the study and are considered as secondary information sources (Schindler and Cooper, 2001 p.166). 2.2 Marketing concept According to Kotler, Armstrong, Wong and Saunders (1996) the marketing concept is a philosophy. However the central attentions of all activities of an organization are the consumers, as no organization can continue to exist without the support of its consumers. The marketing concept asserts that the organization should make every effort to satisfy the needs and wants of the customers at the same time meet the companys goals and objectives set. The needs, wants, and satisfaction of all customers should constantly be the first concern for every manager and employee. Marketing is not a function of business, but a view of the entire business seen as the economic organ to provide goods and services (Drucker. 1954, p.38-39). In other words, it is important to understand that the marketing concept refers to sell satisfaction rather than to sell a product or a service only. Kotler (1998) stated that the marketing concept is based on the following pillar, target market, customer needs, integrated marketing, and profit through customer satisfaction. In line with Kotler, Walker, Boyd, and Larreche, (1992, p.22) asserted that the marketing concept is a useful way of getting a competitive advantage and to achieve company objectives that set off the planning and coordinating all activities for satisfying customers requirements. In summary, marketing concept can be viewed as a consumer focus characterized by the capacity to identify basic requirements of targeted customers. And satisfying them by constantly providing and bringing superior value supported by a firm which deeply involved it efforts of all practical areas within the organisation by reaching long-term goals and objectives. 2.3 Dimension of Product A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need, which comprised physical objects, services, persons, places, organizations, and ideas (Kotler and Armstrong, 1990, p 226). Consequently a product is the main element in an organization and without a product there is no place, no price, no promotion, and no business as it refers to the most important ingredient of the marketing mix. Similary Assael (1993) asserts that a product is the most fundamental component of the marketing mix. Kotler and Keller (2006) define a product as a bundle of attributes and benefits provided to satisfy the customer. Kotler and Keller (2009, p.358) defined five levels a product. Figure 1.2 illustrates the five levels of a product. Figure 2.2: Five levels of a product http://train-srv.manipalu.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/clip-image00217.jpg Source: http://train-srv.manipalu.com/wpress/?p=42740 The core product is the main benefit, service or need satisafaction, required by the customer. The basic product is the physical product, made up of the core product or service and includes all physical aspects of the product or services that are brand name, packaging, styling, features and quality. The expected product is a common set of attributes and conditions where buyers expect when they purchase a product. The augmented product is the consumer services and benefits added which exceed customer requirement such as installations, warranty, after sale services and delivery and credit services. And the potential product cover all the possible augmentation and changes the product might experience in the furture. 2.4 Definition of product strategy In order to launch a product in the marketplace firm needs a well-established product strategy. The executed product strategy must include all that is required in planning, manufacturing, advertising, selling and distributing the product from production to customer service. According to Teece, Pisano and Shuen (1997), a strategy is the technique that an organisation used to positions itself, in order to get a competitive advantage on the marketplace. However the achievement of a strategy is to assure the success of the firm by executing specific tasks at a right time and it should acquire the significant purpose of the product. The term product strategy attempts to capture the decisions made by organisations about product within particular markets. Product strategies are decisions settled to improve products to satisfy market requirements and determine in which way to gain competitive advantage for products (Steinhardt, 2010, p.50). Kotler (1991) asserts that product strategy is the heart of the marketing mix. However product strategy formed part of the product management process. Thus McGrath (1995) states that product strategy is involved in the decision and management of the different levels of a product, product platforms, product lines and individual products. And according to Lehmann and Winer (1994, p. 205-206) the main function of a product strategy is to supply managers the path to pursue for running a business. Taggartand, James and McDermott (1993) asserts that product strategies are composed of the categorisation of a differentiated product by the organisation in respect of the needs and wants of the customers and the satisfaction they aim to obtain from the product. For a product strategy to be successful, it should facilitate the classification between different aspects in a way to make a product successful. In addition, within an organization a product strategy aids to depict in what way resources should be allocated and demonstrates how products may reach a high market positioning. Handscombe (1989, p.234) insists on the point that a product strategy should essentially describes the firm that the set of product represent. Following this further groundwork is required for single product decisions, the plan for product development, marketing strategies and development of manufacturing strategy. However assigning resource for particular product, and to segment the market and areas, the product strategy should be able to recognize the priorities of the market. McGrath (2001) broadly describes product strategy and according to him a product strategy is opened to a core strategic vision that demonstrates the directions that an organisation takes. A product strategy is the result of the strategic vision, the platform strategy and the product line strategy and lastly the new product development. However the product platform strategy is obtained from the core strategic vision and the product line strategy referred to the product offering for a specific product platform. And the new product development determines the capabilities for new product offering that is suitable to the product line strategy. The core strategic vision sets the answers to the strategic questions such as, where are we going? How will we get there? Why will we be successful? The first question requires having a balance between the goals and short term objectives. The main purpose of the goals is to set the general directions of movement, whereas objectives state the specific measures of accomplishment. The goals refer to profit, growth, and market share, which potentially can be conflicting. Therefore, the product strategy normally focuses on only one of the goals respectively (McGrath, 2001). The second question refers to the core of the product strategy which involves elements like customer targets, competitive targets, and differential advantage. Besides the choice of customer targets depends on the nature of the goals and objectives selected when answering where an organization wants to go. However, as Krishnan and Karl (2001) assumed that the aim is to boost up the market growth and therefore the targeted group should be from a new segment of population. The third question three is the most important question to be answered for a competitive product strategy, as the answer is related to the differential advantage aspect of the product positioning. A solid product strategy is required to provide concrete arguments for the reason of its success in the light of customers preferences and competitive targets. All the definitions demonstrate that product strategy is a set of decisions or processes that aim at making the product flourishing. Hence the product strategy should always take into account the market and current state of the company when making the decisions. A product strategy is a management process, consequently a product strategy cannot be dependent on individual manager, it must become a systematic way of working. Hence, product strategy process must be an integrated process within the organization. 2.4.1 Scope of product strategy The level of product strategy referred a  set of decisions; the product platform determines how to develop the right platform for a global market. Generally different products with attributes are derived from the product platform and they are developed for a product line. Subsequently the product line from the product platform, defines the width, length and depth in every line. And there is also the individual product with its classification and packaging features (Gabrielsson, 2004). According to Meyer and Lehnerd (1997, p.39), A product platform is a set of subsystems and interfaces that form a common structure from which a stream of derivative products can be efficiently developed and produced. The function of a platform strategy is always essential for the purpose of a successful implementation and development of product lines. 2.4.2 Product line Product line is a group of products that are closely related because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same types of outlet, or fall within given price ranges (Kotler, Wang, Saunders and Armstrong (2005). According to McGrath (1995, p.61) product line strategy is describes as a temporary time-scaled plan for the chain of developing products within a product line and the strategy is based on four primary functions. The first one describes products variations designed to an explicit segment from a market. The following one, attempted to support strategic advantage for a firm compared to its rivals, to be the first one to launch a product at a particular moment within a lifecycle of a product line. The third one brings direction for product development department and made successful productive response to the requirements of particular markets. Finally, product line strategy facilitates in scheduling the introduction of product development and provides the apparent time and setting up of each product. However because managerial and financial resources are restricted, the number of product lines are limited as well (Gabrielsson, 2004, p.35). 2.5 Market segmentation Smith (1956) first established the concept of the market segment that turn into an essential part of the modern marketing. Market segmentation means dividing a market into distinct groups of buyer who have different needs, characteristics, or behaviours, and who might require separate products or marketing programs (Amstrong, and Kotler, 2011, p.78). Another definition Kanuk and Schiffman (1994) state that market segmentation is the method of partitioning a promising market into different subsets of individual with familiar needs or behaviours and choosing one or more segment to target with a separate marketing mix. Furthermore market segmentation is a driving force that leads an organisation effort towards the utmost opportunities. The function of market segmentation is to recognise the taxonomy of consumption pattern by dividing a market into several uniformed sub markets. Markets can formulate product strategies, or product positions, tailored specially to the demands of these hom ogeneous sub-markets (Lin, 2002, p.249). Based on Pollock, Jones, and Brown (1994) point of view, market segmentation should be describes by four primary categories stood on the types of variables applied to define submarket like socio-demographic segmentation, geographic segmentation, product-related segmentation, and psychographic segmentations. There are a number of different ways for segmentation, and the three conventional approaches employed to segment the market are mass marketing, differentiated marketing, and niche marketing. Mass marketing is a segmentation strategy for which the market is treated as one segment. Mass marketing is mainly suitable for commodity products but, it is rare that a firm employed this approach (Ferrell, Hartline, and Lucas, 2002). Since mass marketing is built on a single product or services, however it is not a simple task for firm, since markets contain many different consumers. Differentiated marketing is engaged in partitioning the market into homogeneous submarket which stand on customer requirements and addressing specific marketing plan to the homogeneous submarket. To succeed for a differentiated marketing strategy the behaviors and requirements of consumers for each submarket in particular should be familiar since simultaneously having different needs and characteristics across the different groups. Meanwhile differentiated strategy is the offering of a firm as an original product on the market by evidence that it gives a different advantage over its competitors. Companies that applied this approach must develop an original marketing mix for every subgroup recognised within the market. According to Ferrell, Hartline, and Lucas (2002) both medium and large firms applied differentiated marketing strategy, for the reason that they have the resource needed to provide various products and promoting many marketing mixes that are not common to reach the requ irements of several segments. Finally differentiation is viewed as an art to plan a bundle of significant distinction to differentiate the offering of the organisation from those of its rivals. Kotler et al, (2005) state that niche marketings focal point is to find subgroups of customers. The niche marketing strategy is based on merely a single segment and builds up a marketing plan that matched for the specific subgroup. The niche marketing strategy necessitates an absolute consideration of the requirements of the segment matter because the possibility for the market share to increase in this market gap can surpass the small size of the market. 2.6 Product development Littler (1984, p.20) states that product development is ascertaining the attributes that target customers seek in products and developing products to meet the market requirements. However product development leads to modify an existing product or its presentation, or formulation of an entire new product that satisfies customer or market niche. Product development is critical for the performance of many companies. The success of product development efforts can determine the viability of companies and economies (Ulrich and Eppinger, 2000). Product development consists of three critical elements, namely strategic processes to specifically address the effective management of product development assets, the selection of a target market and a structured product development process. (Bean and Radford 2000, p.3) According to the above definition there are different levels at which the product development process takes place. The purpose of the process is essentially to identify the market needs and the development of the products in order to suit potential customers. The product development process includes a set of activities required for the formation and design of a product, from the detection of a market opportunity to its delivery to the final client. The main focus of the product development process is to convert customer requirements and needs into a design solution. The purpose of the product development process is to make a recipe to produce the product (Reinertsen, 1999). The recipe includes the product, manufacturing process, supply, distribution, and the support systems. (Browning, Deyst, and Eppinger, 2002) The success of product development is vital to the performance of any organisation. And Ulrich and Eppinger (2004) points out that fast and novel product development may be a critical competitive advantages to firms. In addition a successful product development process requires the effective control of the work developed by the persons involved. There are a variety of methodologies for understanding and improving the effectiveness of the product development process. Smith and Morrow (1999) defines product development as a method to transform any objective and market requirements into the information needed to how a product can be manufactured. Even that each product development process is distinctive there are still familiar characteristics that are administered among different tasks. 2.7 Product differentiation Lancaster (1990) asserts that product differentiation study has drawn significant interest in economics and marketing. Product differentiation is concerned to alter the marketing mix of a product so as to differentiate it from what the competitors is offering. Scheuing (1974) defines differentiation by, adding variations of one product which will compete with it within the same market. According to Kotler (1998) differentiation is the introduction of differential features, quality, style or image of brands as a basis for commanding a premium. A product becomes different at the consumers eye when it has some features, which make it different from others products and services offered by competitors, of course the product should be unique and difficult to imitate (Murphy, 2007). Firms that employed product differentiation strategy form a perception between some target groups of the product or services offered by the company. And therefore assured that the products or services are somehow different with the value added that is not available from competitors. Consumers may perceive the product sold by an incumbent firm to be superior to that offered by prospective rivals. Based on this perception consumer is willing to pay more for the incumbent firms product (Browning and Zupan, 2003, p.314). Product differentiation is classified into three categories such as, vertical differentiation, horizontal differentiation, and mixed differentiation. Vertical differentiation arises in a market where various goods which are present can be ordered according to their purpose quality from the highest to the lowest. And horizontal product differentiation is termed as products that have different features which cannot be ordered in an objective way. Features for horizontally differentiated products are often based on colours, styles, and tastes (Piana, 2003). Mixed differentiation is described by vertical and horizontal differentiation. Consequently, mixed differentiation includes products that have distinct quality dimension which is similar to the vertical one and are included diverse characteristics like colour, taste, shapes as well as styles which relate to the horizontal differentiation. And customers pay attention to these prominent aspects when buying a product. Product differentiation is particularly important to undertake any kind of business, because of the economic principles that have been demonstrated time to time again in nearly every market place. If the public perceives no difference between two competing products, then the only possible means of competition is through pricing. 2.8 Brand strategy and Brand awareness The American Marketing Association (AMA) definition of a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors(Keller 2004, p.3). Within this view the author asserts that a brand refers to a product and that each new feature or benefit added in order to differentiate the brand somehow from others products designed to satisfy the same need. According to the definition a brand can be seen, as simple and clear function identifiers. Supporting Kellers view of a brand linking it to the tangibles of the brand, Doyle (2002) states that brand is a particular name, symbol or design or generally an amalgamation of these that is utilized to differentiate a specific p

Quit Watching Me! :: essays research papers

“Quit Watching Me!';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Attempts to monitor employees have always existed in one form or another, from mechanical keystroke counters in the early part of the century, to the latest innovations in electronic monitoring. As technology advances, so do the monitoring possibilities in the workplace. As result of the endless possibilities in surveillance, anxiety in employee’s increase, which in most cases leads to illnesses. Studies have shown that individuals who are constantly being monitored at work suffer from inevitable effects, the majority being illnesses such as physical, emotional, and mental disorders. Employers feel they have the right to monitor their employees, however when extensive monitoring effects a employees health, then the employers has gone to far. Advance technology has lead to monitoring devices such as via computers, video surveillance, and active badges in the last decade, but as the intensity of the surveillance increases so do the negative effects on the empl oyees.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There has been a huge increase to pass legislation’s that will regulate the employer in monitoring his employees’ by via computer. Monitoring an employee by via computer is one of the latest innovations in electronic monitoring, which is done by purchasing and installing software in the companies computer system. Once the software is installed, it will be able to do a variety of types of electronic monitoring from keystroke counting and accuracy, time how long it takes to make a transaction, and how long the computer has been on idle. This type of electronic monitoring that involves advanced technology and “the constant monitoring to measure employees’ performance creates an enormous amount of pressure and stress…the stress that is created by monitoring has caused serious physical effects'; (Ternipsede 447) on employees in the work place. Many employees have been effected from such setting in the workplace, but they are unaware of the effects since they take many years to develop fully. Another type of electronic monitoring that can damage an employee’s health is video surveillance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Video surveillance has existed in the work place since the invention of the television. Video surveillance cameras come in all shapes and sizes, from the obvious ones to some that are small as a dime. Many employers purchase such devices to capture employees and customers who commit theft and fraud, or any other illegal activity. The increase of technology in electronic monitoring is now able to transfer images from a camera to a computer where the employer is able to zoom in and make a positive identity of the employee or customer who is committing an illegal act.

Government Intervention in the Free Market Essay -- Economics

It is not only unnecessary for the government to intervene to maintain a free market, it is extremely wrong. Intervention by any outside party in corporate matters is inappropriate and basically contradicts the meaning of a free market. There are some positive effects government intervention could produce. These pros are, in fact, few, and questionable, at that. Take for instance, the situation with Microsoft. The government is sticking its nose in where it doesn't belong. Let's try and get passed that point for a moment and examine the good that could come out of government intervention. One possible pro to this intervention is that it would most likely create a more equal market (not "fair market.") The term "fair market" is like an oxymoron in this case because basically the government is saying, "Hi, we're the United States government and we're sorry but we cannot let you continue to run your business. Although you have spent your life working to improve and simplify the computer industry, we simply feel you have made too much money." How is this in any way fair? In some people's eyes it is for the best of the economy and the computer industry, but it is definitely not fair. For the government to break down Microsoft, a multi-billion dollar company would be ridiculous. True, maybe the market would be more equal. No more mammoth company, just moderately sized companies. This could be a pro. But who is the government to decide that a company is too large? And if so where is the line drawnone billiontwo billiontwenty billion? One other possible pro to government intervention in the Microsoft case would be that smaller, newer companies would have a "fairer" shot at being recognized. Once again, the term "fair" is open to discussion. What is considered to be fair to some can be completely unfair to others. Smaller computer companies would undoubtedly have a better chance at becoming popular. However, people are free to do whatever they want. No one forces people to use Microsoft applications. They are simply put, the most user-friendly, simple but efficient programs that happen to be compatible with a great deal of PCs. Microsoft was that small, unknown company once too. They had no help from the government in their quest for fame and fortune, why should other companies? The few pros to government intervention are arguable. Now let us discuss the cons to... ...what our government basically saying. Microsoft may well be a monopoly. It is a huge powerhouse corporation that can afford to give its products away for dirt cheap to control the market. There are, however other options. There are other programs for IBM computers and there is also the option of using a Macintosh system. There are other programs that are good, and the new Macintosh computers have proven to be faster than the latest Pentiums. Why, then? Why is Microsoft the leader? The answer is Bill Gate's work is done well. It is user friendly, innovative and works with the majority of PCs. No other company's product is used more widespread than Bill Gates. Even the prosecutors putting him on trial probably use his programs. He should be left alone. He has done no one any harm. He makes life easier for the non computer literate, and has made thousands of employees and shareholders millionaires. He has used fair business practices and started from nothing. Even if Microsoft is a monopoly, it will not end the free market system. If anything, the government will ruin it. A free market should mean it is free of everything excluding commerce, including government intervention.

Essay examples --

Whether you want to disseminate an issue, send invitations for an upcoming event, promote or support a good cause, connect with old friends, or even create a buzz about something for that matter, social networking sites are what people take to these days for any sort of such activity. The rising trend of this generation is that almost everything, personal or professional, is online. Forms like email and instant messaging are losing their significance in the lives of today's generation as the bulk of users engaged in social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, and LinkedIn are increasing at an exponential rate. Although impossible to pick the best, the most prevalent today are Facebook and Twitter. They are both ruling social media today, but are different in terms of their versatility, privacy settings, and features such as groups and pages. Both Facebook and Twitter are extremely popular social networking services with a colossal user base. With Facebook touching a monthly user base of 1.23 billion in 2013, it has emerged as the most powerful social media of all time ("Facebook Userbase," 2014). Not so far behind is Twitter that has now evolved as one of the top most social messaging platforms with 232 million monthly active users (Edwards, 2013). Both are based on the central idea of connecting the world and are special in their own ways. They are both now available as mobile apps for Android, Apple, Windows Phone and BlackBerry users. However, there exist some features that make Facebook quite distinct from Twitter. To begin with, the former is quite evolved in terms of versatility compared to the latter. Every Facebooker can upload photos and videos, play popular games such as Fa... ...nuously as well. In fact, if the user base of Twitter grows at a faster rate and the developers add more new features to make it more versatile and user-friendly it may even prove to be a threat to Facebook. Nevertheless, it is paramount for both to stay in their zones and work on what they are best known and valued for in order to cater to the masses in the long run. References Facebook userbase touches 1.23 billion in 2013. (2014, January 30). The Economic Times. Retrieved from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-01-30/news/46828393_1_ad-revenue-facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-coo-sheryl-sandberg Edwards, J. (2013, Nov 5). Twitter is surprisingly small compared to a bunch of other apps and online companies. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-user-base-compared-to-other-apps-and-online-companies-2013-11

Daisy Buchanan: Victim or Villain? Essay

In Fitzgerald’s novel there is typically more focus on Nick Carraway, the narrator and James Gatsby, who the novel is named after, rather than the secondary characters. However, Daisy is in some way important, because she is what steers the novels course of action due to Gatsby’s love for her. Daisy is what influences his lifestyle and eventually his death. Some people say that Daisy is a victim of both Tom Buchanan and James Gatsby, but this interpretation of her fails to take into account everything we learn of her personality and the way she attempts to manipulate those around her to assure her own security and comfort in life. Daisy is responsible for her own actions. She allows herself to be treated the way she is by the other characters just to ensure her own safety and make it look like she is the good person. It’s just her way of seeking money and security: the two most important things to Daisy. When we are first introduced to the character of Daisy we realize that she thinks a lot of herself. ‘I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything†¦Sophisticated – God, I’m sophisticated!’ She is self-centred, which is not one of the characteristics of a victim. There is more reference in the novel that shows Daisy being more concerned with money and material goods than any deep emotions like love. Gatsby saying that Daisy’s voice is ‘full of money’ is just an example of the evidence that suggests that Daisy is a self-centred character that cares about no one but herself. Daisy comes from a well off family, and that’s what she wants to maintain which is why she married a guy that can ensure the continuation of her background of comfortable living. The reader comes to understand Daisy’s motifs but Gatsby knew it all along. Once he had fallen in love with her ‘he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from the same stratum as herself – that he was fully able to take care of her’. Despite the fact that Gatsby has money, Daisy did not wait for him when he went to war even though she supposedly loved him. This just goes to show that she is so obsessed with maintaining her lifestyle that she would give up on waiting for someone she â€Å"loves† to go and find some other guy that could give her that financial security. She obviously thought that Gatsby would not be coming back from the war. She didn’t want to take that risk. ‘And all the time something within her was crying for a decision. She wanted her life shaped now, immediately – and the decision must be made by some force – of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality – that was close at hand’. Tom Buchanan represented a lot of things that Daisy was after. He was available and not risking his life fighting in the war. She agreed to marry him because ‘there was a wholesome bulkiness about his person and his position’. She was attracted to his status and wealth and found security to her interests. The betrayal of the promise she made to Gatsby only highlights the selfish nature that Daisy tries to hide, which is proof that she is not the victim in the novel. Gatsby along with a many of the other characters are unaware of Daisy true nature, which is why he says that Daisy only agreed to marry Tom because ‘he was poor and that she was tired of waiting for him to come back from the war’, but Daisy didn’t know he was poor at the time. Daisy is not the victim but rather the villain. Later on in the novel when Gatsby was showing Daisy around the house he stopped at his closest and started pulling out all of his expensive clothes. If he did that for any of the other characters it would look like a very arrogant move, but he knew the effect it would have on Daisy. She ‘bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily’ saying that it makes her sad to see such beautiful clothes. We are aware that Daisy is a person who goes off into dreamland quite a lot and associates objects with symbols. If that were the case I think that she is associating Gatsby’s clothes with his wealth, which makes her sad because maybe she thinks that she could’ve had a much better (richer) life if she had waited for Gatsby instead of marrying Tom Buchanan. Some people may take away the responsibility that Daisy has over her actions saying that marrying Tom has made her come a victim to the crude force of Tom’s money. Daisy believed that Gatsby had money; that is why she loved him in the first place. At the time of her marriage to Tom, she had already promised to marry Gatsby, but she made the choice to break that promise and marry Tom. Even when she got a letter from Gatsby right before her wedding, she went through with it, proving that although Tom’s money may be a â€Å"crude force,† in the end she knew what she wanted. She knows that by marrying Tom the love that she could’ve had with Gatsby would be lost. This shows what is most important to her. Daisy has no morality, she id driven by wealth and marries someone for business rather than love. Later when she is reunited with Gatsby, she plays with his affections for her knowing fully well that she would never leave Tom. She was married and had a child which put limitations on the affair she was having with Gatsby. But it wasn’t as far as Tom was with Myrtle. It was all fun and games with Daisy, until Gatsby revealed what they were doing which made her realize she went too far even though she said that she would leave Tom. Some would say that Daisy was right to stop her affair with Gatsby and staying true, as a woman, to her wedding vowels, but if she had not betrayed Gatsby in the first place then she would be more of a victim than the villain that I am trying to portray her to be. The death of Gatsby has to be the cruellest thing Daisy has done to him. Breaking the promise and toying with his affections was nothing compared to hiding the truth from every one. She killed Myrtle which led to the death of two men. None of these suggest that Daisy is the victim, but rather, she is the cause of most of the problems that occur in the novel. She was able to keep her finance and comfortable family life by maintaining her silence even though it cost two men their lives. Daisy is stubborn and too self-absorbed. She should have attended the wedding, because she did have some sort of relationship with Gatsby and indirectly cause his death. Plus, Gatsby didn’t tell anyone that she killed Myrtle even though he had in a way slipped it out to Nick who was too late to do anything. Daisy is a manipulator and I think that Gatsby is much more of a victim than she is. Daisy is a character that is driven by materialistic things. Even though she had love for Gatsby money was of more importance which is why she married Tom. She is not a vicim of Tom or Gatsby, but rather, she is just a confused woman who pushes out anything that is in her way of maintaining her own selfish desires that reside in money and security.

A day in Detroit Michigan

A day in Detroit Michigan It is a cold, cloudy, overcast morning in Detroit, Michigan. It is very remote here and there have only been a few people I have seen walking the streets. I have seen only about four people so far as I am walking downtown, and those were African Americans. I have not seen any white people though at this time. I feel as If I am In another country. Most of the city at this time Is very remote and there are not a lot of businesses that are still in business. I feel cold here and as I am walking the energy that I am feeling is very shut off and bare.I feel as If I am In a place where no one ants to be, and I am a little scared that I am walking these streets with Just my brother and l. Everyone that we have passed by have looked at us strangely probably wondering why we are walking these streets. It Is 10:00 am In October here In Michigan. Dead leafs surround the sidewalks and streets as the colored leafs start changing. This Is my favorite time of year In Michi gan. The sky is grey and the air is chilly so we are dressed pretty warm.The sun is trying to come through the clouds but so far it is still very cloudy and gloomy. No one is around and I am looking at the buildings in the city and how a lot of of Hess buildings are so different. There are a lot of abandoned buildings around and it looks as if non one wants to come and take care of them anymore. This is when that cold feeling really started kicking in as I'm realizing that this city is so dead and seems like no one wants to keep this city alive anymore. The sun is finally starting to peak through the clouds now.It is now 2:30 in the afternoon here in Detroit. I have seen more people at this time walking around. When the sun started coming out, I felt that it touched the city in a way and made everything have more hope that surrounded me as I walked up and down these trees. The city had more of a positive feeling at this time, and the sky was turning but and I even saw more people la ughing and carrying on conversation through each other. The birds were chirping in the trees and the environment seemed more alive.The only down fall that I came to realize was when the sun came out, the streets started smelling and the weather started getting humid and muggy. A lot of people that â€Å"lived† in the city were homeless. That means the outside is their bathroom as well. As I started walking further away from downtown, I noticed some houses along the way. I was in a bad neighborhood but no one seemed to be outside so I kept my head down and continued on my way. The houses were old and not well kept that had trash along the side of them and metal bars on the windows.Every other house on the block was abandoned. I felt sad and blessed at the same time. Sad because I felt so bad for the people that were living their life this way and blessed that I was able to come from such an amazing home and a fortunate family. Night was falling and I cam back to observe the ni ght life In the city. I stayed In my car and drove around the city because I felt that at this time of day It was unsafe or me to be walking around. A lot of gang actively happens at this time and I would of been scared.There was a lot of traffic and I looked and followed it to see what was awesome because events stuck as a Detroit Red Wings game still took place in the city. It was a nice surprise seeing all these people wearing red wings Jerseys smiling with excitement about the game. I drove home with fulfillment that I got to experience a day in Detroit Michigan. Although at first it was a cold, gloomy, grey day, it turned out to be a good day. Being able to experience a day in Detroit reminded me to always be grateful for everything that I have.I think this experience will forever stay with me whenever I feel as though I am having a bad day. I will always look back and remember that it could always be worse. I think everyone should spend a day in a less fortunate area to keep i n mind how much you really do have and to not worry about the little things that life throws your way. To always remember that everyone you come in contact with is fighting a battle Just like you and to never treat those around you less than because we are all humans. Thank you for this humbling experience Detroit.