Running with Scissors

Jenessa OrpillaSummer Assignment AP PsychologyMovies and Mental Disorders Running with Scissors is a film adaption of a memoir written by Augusten Burroughs. It takes place in the 1970s where young Augusten lives with a dysfunctional family; an alcoholic father and a delusional poet. After his parents’ divorce, his mother, Deidre Burroughs goes to see a psychiatrist named Dr. Finch. Incapable of raising Augusten, Deidre gives custody of her son to Dr. Finch, where he deals with an even more dysfunctional family. Deidre Burroughs is a poet who believes that she is meant to become a famous writer/poet.She enters many of her poems to several magazines and newsletters, only to be rejected each time. Each rejection letter she receives, she still believes that she is a talented writer. Nearing the end of her marriage with Norman Burroughs, she believed that he was going to kill her and her son. Dr. Finch was the one who recommended them to divorce and gave Deidre her first medicatio ns. This was the beginning of her drug abuse. Later on in the movie, she would mix pills together. He also advised her to give him custody of Augusten so that she could focus on her writing career.She got into several relationships with other women including a local minister’s wife and a patient from Dr. Finch. According to the DSM-IV-TR, Deidre is diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. A person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder is described as a person who â€Å"demands and expects to be admired and praised by others and is limited in their capacity to appreciate others' perspectives. † (DSM-TR-IV, 1995-2012) One of the signs of NPR is one that â€Å"has a grandiose sense of self-importance. † (Zimbardo ; Gerrig, 1999, pg. 662) Two years after her divorce with her husband, she sees him at a restaurant with his new fiancee.She was very proud of the fact that her poem was published in little-known magazine and that her ‘hobby’ was qui te lucrative, even though that was her second published writing. Another sign is that one â€Å"is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love. † Deirdre often dreams and has delusions about her on a big stage, receiving awards for her works throughout the film. She also holds many poetry workshops where she helps people form their ‘creative conscious. ’ This workshop is an excuse for the admiration of other people, which is another sign of NPR.After her relationship with the local minister’s wife, Dr. Finch introduces her to one of his patients and says that she needs someone who worships her and is willing to feed her talent. The moment that relationship ended, she was quick to accept Augusten back into her arms, but she has a manic episode where the police had to stabilize her. Probably one of the reasons of her divorce was due to the fact that her husband did not really care about her writing hobby. One mor e example of a person with NPR is that he/she â€Å"lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others. (DSM-TR-IV, 1995-2012) From the beginning of the film, she has shown that characteristic. For example, when she gave away Augusten to Dr. Finch, she didn’t even tell him about the adoption papers until much later. She never considered his feelings and only thought about herself. The only time she truly cared for him was when she needed him. It is unknown what could have contributed to Deirdre’s development of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. However, it is known that â€Å"Narcissistic personality disorder might develop as the result of neglect or abuse and trauma inflicted by parents or other authority figures during childhood.The disorder usually is evident by early adulthood. † (Cleveland Clinic, 2011) It was briefly mentioned in the film that Deirdre was ‘oppressed’ by her family and her husband. Othe r than that, the amount of rejection letters and Dr. Finch led her into a worse state. Dr. Finch basically was the cause of her to be estranged from everyone, including her own son. By prescribing her mysterious medications, she always seemed to be delirious and depressed. When she started to mix pills, that’s where she would go into manic states. It’s no wonder why Dr.Finch got his medical practice license stripped off of him. References BehaveNet Inc. (1995). Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Retrieved 2012, from     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://behavenet. com/narcissistic-personality-disorder   Cleveland Clinic. (1995). Diseases and Conditions. Retrieved 2011, from     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://my. clevelandclinic. org/disorders/personality_disorders/     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  hic_narcissistic_personality_disorder. aspx Zimbardo, P. G. , ; Gerrig, R. J. (1999). Psychological Disorders. In P. G. Zimbardo ; R. J. Gerrig (Authors),  Psychology and Life  (15th ed. , pp. 664-665). Longman.

Marketing Strategy of Innocent Drinks Essay

1: Introduction Every organization needs to have a marketing strategy so that they know who are their competitors, which market they need to target, do they have resources to compete in that market and what strategies they need to adopt to gain competitive position in the industry. The most important thing is with the help of marketing, company is able to make people aware of its product. This report focuses on how the company innocent drinks developed their marketing strategy in terms of brand positioning and marketing mix and with the help of SWOT analysis, what further actions they can take to maintain their market share. 2: Innocent Drinks 2.1: Profile After starting the business in 1998 in a friendly way, innocent drinks have become a very established brand now. Innocent has become ten years old this year. It is now the largest smoothie brand in UK and the fourth largest overall. The company has achieved a sale of over 100m pounds within a span of ten years and it has now around 250 employees. The company has won many awards from the year they have started. Its main competitors are Tropicana and own label brands which are still quite behind in terms of market share. 2.2: Company products Innocent drinks has a long range of products which they claim to be made up of pure and fresh fruit and which are free from any kind of preservatives. Their products include smoothies, yogurt drinks, thickies, kids smoothies (taking account of those fruits which children like the most), pure fruit squeezes. Their products are available in different sizes and shapes. The  company developed their logo required for a brand in an unconventional manner and now it is famous as dude. 3: Marketing strategy and analysis 3.1: Marketing objectives The company has highlighted the importance of their smoothie by injecting in peoples mind that drinking smoothie is part of their healthy lifestyle. The company’s objectives are that their product should be delicious, healthy and sustainable and their vision is to make world healthy by providing their products. 3.2: Analysis People are becoming more health conscious and that is what the Innocent highlighted among its consumers to increase its customer base and loyalty. â€Å"95% of our marketing strategy is what goes in the bottle,† as said by Reed. The company is not using latest marketing strategies, they are upbeat with the fact that their customers are happy. The company has restricted its marketing and branding to its packaging. The company didn’t involve in heavy advertisements in the beginning, instead they use their product as a mean to communicate with their consumers. The owners were in favor of print to advertise their product so they had it on the bus sides which will move everywhere in the UK. Innocent has a mixture of both market orientation and product orientation. Developing a user friendly website, publishing a book, inviting people to visit the company’s headquarter, banana telephone where customers can give suggestions and view are clear signs of market oriented co mpany. Secondly, they are quality conscious. They consider their product a fruit and not made of fruits and that is what they want to see in the eyes of their customer. The prices of their product are high but they justify it on the basis of quality by saying that preservatives and concentration reduces the cost and they want the best thing for their consumers. But the company’s over confidence regarding its product being the best and healthy one may divert its attention from customer needs and demands. Because the competitors may come with same nutritional values but better taste, it can then be a threat to a company. The company has a marketing team which is  involved in analysing competition and come up with new ideas regarding the products and strategies. And there is a communication team also which make an effective communication link with its consumers by website, news and feedback. 3.2.1: Brand strategy and positioning Branding creates value for the product and it influences everyone directly or indirectly. Innocent made their brand stand out from the crowd by adopting innovative ways of marketing and that was their beginning in differentiating their product from their competitors Brand name is very critical and it should be consistent with what the company is trying to deliver and how it wants to be perceived by customers. By establishing brand name as â€Å"innocent†, the company is trying to convey the message of being pure. Branding has been effectively used as a strategic tool for marketing by innocent smoothies and that helps the company to maintain its share in the market or in keeping its competitive position. Innocent has developed its brand image by providing excellent satisfaction, by being genuine, healthy and socially responsible in the eyes of their consumers and once the image is developed, they were able to attract the customers. It is because of brand and its perceived value that consumers are loyal and committed to the Innocent products and they do not look for any substitutes (Ginden, 1993). Customers also perceive it less risky in buying a brand product with which they are emotionally attached. It is more important for products like innocent drinks which the customers have to consume and which has direct impact on their health and body. For keeping a brand alive, it is very important to go for heavy promotions and advertisements and innocent drinks have used their resources very affectively in promotion (O’Malley, 1991). Innocent drinks have also taken a move to stay in touch with its consumers by making a family section. It is a method of communication and reminding the consumers about the products and also to get feedback from customers. The company is using family branding policy as all of its products use the company name. This reduces the cost of having different brand policies for different products. The key to positioning is to make it important in the eyes of consumer that you are incomplete without the product and on the  basis of this, innocent smoothies has kept their customers intact with them. Innocent smoothie is considered a premium brand by its consumers as they relate high cost and high quality with the product as compared to its competitors. The following figure is as perception of customers about Innocent drinks. 3.2.2: Marketing mix To make the product successful, company needs not only the products but a mixture of elements which is called marketing mix. The marketing mix is usually designed with the help of marketing research and it is also based on judgment. Every element of marketing mix compliment each other so efficient integration is required to make it successful. Innocent company has used the marketing mix quite efficiently and effectively. Product: Innocent produces fresh and healthy drinks for its customers. The company has a lot of product range including juices, smoothies, thickies, veg. pots and some of their drinks target specific customers as drinks for the kids. The drinks are available in different sizes and in different packings. Their main focus is to keep things natural and they are also very much conscious about the fruits and the farms from where it comes. Innocent smoothies distinguish themselves from other brands on the basis of purity and being 100% natural without preservatives, concentrates and colorings. The company has also described the negative consequences of concentration and that a product loses its quality, taste and nutritional value and it is done just to reduce cost and making more money. The company makes its drinks with little carbon impact. Same is the case with the recycling. Most of their packing is 100% recyclable and they are making efforts to use minimum material and that too with little carbon footprint. Some people are also fascinated from the product just because of the labeling and packaging. Labeling helps in promoting a brand and provides useful information about the product. So innocent drinks made their labeling very different and the kind of which can amuse and make people to give a second look at it. Innocent drinks is enjoying product width from smoothies to veg. pots as well as product length in terms of different flavors which are available to  consumers and that has really helped the company to maintain its market share and a protection against the current uncertainty occurred in the economic environment. Price: There are number of factors that can have an impact on the price. The company is charging high prices as compared to its competitors and still has the largest market share. It has been possible only because of the brand name and positioning. Since the company justifies its high cost with the high quality they are providing to its consumers, so their prices are also at premium level. People paying a premium price because now they have an emotional attachment developed with the brand But since the economic crunch has affected everyone so people are becoming more price sensitive and that is the reason that innocent drinks has lost some market share this year. The company emphasized that it is less expensive to purchase innocent smoothie than to buy fruit and make it at your own. Promotion: Innocent is carrying out various activities to create awareness about the product among the new or potential consumers and to remind and convince the current purchasers to go for the product. The company uses different methods of promotion from advertisement to personnel selling. They have done advertising and sales promotion very effectively. Innocent has used different approach for its marketing by targeting consumers of different products with different advertisements and campaigns. Website is always an effective method to communicate, promote and making relationship with the consumers. Banana phone is used to get feedback from the customers. Customers are allowed to visit their offices. This strategy is used to develop strong relationship with them. Innocent has also taken support from television commercials and they are using it since 2005. Moreover, to make people aware about their products, the company once made a very big compaign on the television and it regularly arranges festivals as well. Innocent used all the leading newspapers for their advertisement. Online advertising such as on facebook has also been used by innocent as a strategy for promotion. Innocent has also developed public relations. The company has been engaged in certain social projects such as giving money to charity, providing drink for homeless etc which are important for long term sustainability of business and to have a good image in the eyes of your consumers. Place: In the beginning, Innocent used the local shop for its products but as the popularity of products multiplied, the company gradually gained a great market share. The company has found a unique method of selling and distributing their products using cow vans. Innocent drinks use intensive distribution strategy by placing their product in as many places and outlet as possible. The company strategy has been shifted from push to pull as being the largest seller in UK and successful brand name, consumers demand the product. It is now available in more than 7000 retail outlets including the big names as Sainsbury, Tesco, Asda and coffee shops like Starbucks. Export has already been started by the company in Europe and Ireland. Children also got greater access to smoothies after the company made a contract with the company offering catering services to school. After the investment by the coke in the company, innocent will now have more distribution channels and will have access to new places as well. 3.2.3: SWOT analysis SWOT analysis has been carried out to evaluate where the innocent smoothies is standing with respect to the market position. It also helps innocent to analyze how strength can be used to exploit opportunities and how weaknesses can be overcome to avoid possible threats. Strengths * brand name / value already developed * company image * customer loyalty * market leader * distribution channels * investment by coca cola * wide product range and substitutes for breakfast / fruits| Weaknesses * high prices as compared to competitors * lower take up among old people * not popular in evening times * can be made at home and even in cafes and shops| Opportunities * new products for evening which enhances night sleep * emerging markets showing increase every year in market growth * global expansion| Threats * competitors (Tropicana) and products by supermarkets as Tesco * new entrants because of market potential * price sensitive people * credit  crunch can affect demand | Why are concentrates so rubbish? We believe that food companies should do everything they can to get food to people in its natural state. A concentrated orange juice is OJ that has been boiled, then evaporated in a vacuum and then homogenised, resulting in a thick tar. This is then frozen and shipped to countries where it is defrosted, reconstituted with water and has ‘add backs’ added (to enhance flavour and aroma). The concentration process not only affects the nutritional value of the juice but also the taste. All the good stuff gets boiled away and you’re left with a sugary syrup which then has to have lots of horrid stuff added back afterwards to make it taste like fruit again. Basically, concentrated juice tastes cooked, has virtually no nutritional value and that’s why we won’t ever use concentrates. It has to be pure fruit for us. How should I look after and store your drinks? Please please please keep our drinks cold. We can’t stress that enough. Because we don’t use any preservatives or other artificial stuff that might make them last a bit longer, they need to be well cared for. They should be stored between 0-5 ° C, which, luckily enough, is the temperature of your average fridge. So stick them in the chiller as soon as you get home from the shops, or if you’re saving a bit for later, don’t leave it on your desk – pop it back in the fridge for a while. Once opened, we reckon our drinks are best drunk on the same day, although as previously mentioned you should refrigerate them between sips. If you leave them out of the fridge, they will eventually start to ferment. This is a completely safe, natural process but it means the smoothie goes fizzy. It normally causes tiny bubbles in the drink. Click here to find out more about fermentation. If you suspect a drink to be fermented, please dispose of the contents of the bo ttle and contact us at hello@innocentdrinks.co.uk or call the banana phone on 020 8600 3939 with details about the bottle or carton and its enjoy by date. So, please do keep our smoothies nice and cold. ^ back to top How long do they last? Our drinks are made from 100% pure fruit and nothing else. Because we don’t use preservatives, stabilisers or additives they generally last about as long as a pint of milk. Please always keep them chilled and drink them on the same day you open them. Can I freeze your smoothies? Our smoothies are made of nothing but whole crushed fruit and pure juices, so it’s completely safe to freeze them. However, we don’t really recommend it because they taste much better fresh. To be more specific, bananas don’t freeze well; when they defrost they go brown and a bit slimy. Check out this picture of a fresh banana and one that’s defrosted. We know which we would rather drink. If you do decide to freeze one of our smoothies, please make sure you defrost it in the fridge so it stays chilled at all times and note that this might take as long as 3 days. You should also drink it on the day of defrosting. What is love? Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more. Do you have any drinks that don’t contain banana? Our kiwis, apples & limes smoothie (also available in 1 litre cartons) and yoghurt, vanilla bean & honey thickie are both completely banana free. Are your products organic? No they’re not organic. We want to minimise pesticide and other agrochemical usage on our fruit, and this is one of the requirements of both the Rainforest Alliance and also the innocent minimum standards for our fruit growers. Both sets of standards also ban the use of any of the ‘dirty dozen’ pesticides as listed by the Pesticide Action Network. To ensure the safety of our drinks we conduct independent tests on our ingredients, at an  accredited laboratory, throughout the harvest calender. Of the test results with anything being detected at all, these detections fall well within the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) that you are allowed. Each year our policy will be reviewed and testing procedures will be updated. And what about all of those plastic bottles? Since January 2008, all our smoothie recipes are in 100% recycled PET* plastic. We’ve been working on this project for quite a while. In 2003 we started using bottles made from 25% recycled plastic and in 2006 improved it to 50% recycled. All the time, people told us that it would be impossible to get to 100%, but we tried and tried and tried again. And now we’re here. 100%. It means a 20% reduction in materials (we’ve made the bottle lighter) and a 55% carbon reduction in terms of the bottle’s manufacture. It’s a big step for a little company. We’re very proud. *PET stands for ‘polyethylene terephthalate’. Clear plastic, in other words, said our Stu, who knows about these things. So can I recycle your plastic bottles and tetra pak cartons? We’ve got a whole section on our website dedicated to this. You can check it out here. ^ back to top Are your products suitable for vegans? Smoothies – We’re afraid as we can’t guarantee that our drinks are shellac free, due to the small chance that tiny amounts of shellac do make it into our drinks, we can’t class our drinks as being suitable for vegans. Thickies – no (they contain dairy produce and honey). Are your products suitable for pregnant women? Yes. Although we’ve heard that some of them prefer coal. Can infants and children drink your products? Infants under 12 months shouldn’t drink our vanilla and honey bean thickies. The Food Standards Agency says that honey should not be given to infants under 12 months old because of the small risk of botulism. Infantile  botulism occurs when honey contains Clostridium Botulinum spores, which infect the infant gut that then produces the toxin. This is not a problem for anyone aged more than 12 months. Regarding children in general, our smoothies, thickies and juices are OK – they contain nothing but crushed and juiced fruit (and low-fat bio yoghurt in the thickies), so the health properties should be welcome for kids who quite like sweets and crisps too. But it should be noted that our smoothies and juices contain a large amount of naturally occurring fruit sugars. For this reason you can add water to dilute them if you like. The FSA also recommends that for children, you should try to keep fruit juice to mealtimes. In general, look on the ingredients panel and check the amount of fruit in each bottle. If it seems like a reasonable amount of fruit, then it will be OK. If you don’t usually give your child this much fruit, then adjust the amount accordingly. We make a range of drinks specifically for children which you can find out about here. They’ve got less bits in them, as children seem to prefer their smoothies that way. Do you think I should dye my hair? No. I’ve always thought that blonde suited you. Why do you always use apples, oranges and bananas in your smoothies? These three fruits are a bit like the salt and pepper of the fruit world, except there are three of them. We use them for natural sweetness (apples), natural sharpness (oranges) and natural thickness (bananas). It beats using artificial stuff. So why don’t you call your mangoes and passion fruits smoothie â€Å"apples, mangoes and passion fruits†? We name our smoothies according to whichever flavours you can taste the most. So we feel if we were to start calling the smoothies â€Å"apples, mangoes and passion fruits,† it would be a bit misleading, as what you really taste when you take a mouthful are the mangoes and passion fruits. All of the ingredients are printed in full on the label, so it’s not like we’re trying to be sneaky or anything. Do your products contain nuts? Our veg pots may contain traces of nuts but our smoothies and juices contain no nuts whatsoever (which keeps the squirrels happy). Are your drinks GM-free? Yes they are. How do you make sure your fruit is from ethical sources? Our ultimate aim is that we are proud of every piece of fruit that we use. We want to buy our fruit from farms that look after both their workers and the environment. To achieve this we have created our own set of minimum standards, that detail our expectations for all the relevant social and environmental issues. We are in the process of rolling out these standards with our suppliers, and will work together with them to implement the agreed action plans. We feel that it is really important to understand the issues relevant to each country, and the pressures faced by our farmers, so we are meeting with more and more of our growers. As our fruit comes from all over the world this is a huge task, but one to which we are passionately committed. We know that there is no point recreating the wheel – so we also work with established international accreditation organizations such as the Rainforest Alliance. We first met them at a banana plantation in Costa Rica, and were so impressed with the work they do, that we now only buy banana from Rainforest Alliance approved plantations. The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour. It not only looks at farm workers rights and wellbeing, but also protects ecosystems on the farms, which encourages bio diversity. We believe this sustainable approach is the best one. A well run farm with motivated workers means better quality fruit and better productivity, which means we get nicer fruit and the farms are more profitable. Are you going to move all your fruit to Rainforest Alliance approved sources? No, it just isn’t applicable for certain countries and certain fruits, like those that we source from the UK. But as the Rainforest Alliance expands into new certification territory, like pineapple, we’ll be keen to keep on building our relationship with them. As they develop new standards for new  fruits, we will assess their suitability for our growers. Whilst we don’t like to boast, it turns out they quite appreciate the work we do and they showed their gratitude last year with this rather fetching trophy. Outside of the world of fruit they certify all sort of things including coffee, cocoa and forestry. Find out more here: www.rainforest-alliance.org ^ back to top Why don’t you buy fairtrade fruit? We take the ethics of our supply chain incredibly seriously and took great care to find the best independent certification scheme that matched our values, and suited our needs the best. Fairtrade’s primary focus is on the prices paid to the farmers and social issues for small farms and cooperatives. It’s a great scheme but we felt that Rainforest Alliance looked at a broader spectrum of issues (both social and environmental), which we thought was a better fit with our own ethos. Also, the Fair Trade scheme predominantly certifies cooperative and and family run small holdings – not all of our fruit is available from these types of farms, so Fairtrade isn’t always applicable to our growers. Articles like this one from The Observer Food Monthly debate the key differences between Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade (this one’s about coffee). What is the innocent foundation? The innocent foundation is a grant giving charity that was set up in July 2004 with the idea of bringing nature and communities closer together for mutual benefit. innocent donate 10% of our profits each year to charity, primarily to the innocent foundation, which funds rural development projects in the countries where our fruit comes from. Find out more here. Do your drinks actually contain shiny trumpets/pebbles/cricket pavilions/small churches? No. Can I have some free drinks for my event please? We get lots and lots of requests for our drinks and as much as we’d love to help everyone out, it would just be impossible. Instead, we give any excess drinks we have to the homeless through the charity, Fareshare. You can find out a bit more about the good work they do here. Okay. But it’s for charity. Does that make any difference? Generally, we feel it’s better to be able to offer a significant amount of support to one cause rather than a little backing to lots of different ones. With that in mind, every year we donate 10% of our annual profits to the innocent foundation. Its remit is to fund Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that work to bring nature and communities closer together. You can see a bit more about the projects we support at www.innocentfoundation.org. Hope that all makes sense. I’m running a marathon/ climbing Everest/ shaving off all my chin hair for charity. Can you sponsor me please? Again, whilst we applaud anyone who gives up their time to sit in a bath of baked beans or run further than the corner shop to raise money for charity but if we sponsored everyone who wrote to us, we’d be living off beans and no toast. Instead, we make sure that we give something back to the countries where we buy our fruit, via the innocent foundation. Can I borrow your car? The clutch has gone funny, the fan belt’s shot and there are no windows. Plus I’ve forgotten where I’ve parked it. Lend us a fiver. No. 4: Conclusions and Recommendations 4.1: Conclusion Innocent’s success has been made possible just because of effective and innovative way of marketing which they adopted. Innocent used every kind of channel, big or small in carrying out its promotion. They used every kind of that marketing strategy in which low cost was involved but its impact was high. The company updates the website and labels regularly. Innocent changed the label quite frequently to maintain the attention of its consumers Innocent made the customers loyal by doing little things but they made huge difference for them. Innocent was of the view that making their drinks easily accessible to customers is very crucial and success of the company depends on it. The innocent also arranged a free event for its customers as a means of giving thanks to its customers for using their products. Innocent always remained active in interacting with its customers. The owners of the company didn’t have much idea about how things should be done and no strategic plan was involved in making the brand name, its packaging and process of launching it but surprisingly their idea was welcomed by the consumers as it was different and something they can amuse or laugh at. Innocent dominance has been affected in 2008 after the introduction of Tropicana in the market. In April 2009, investment by Coca-Cola is seen as a wise step because as a result of decrease in sales, it was necessary to maintain the brand value. Since the company is facing severe competition from rivals such as Tropicana so funding was required to be in the competition. Coke will increase the distribution channels and give access to more markets by making customer aware of the product. Innocent’s premium positioning is a key advantage and it also has developed a strong connection with its consumers over the passage of time. Brand loyalty is good but they have to look at their prices if they want to sustain their position as people are becoming more price conscious. It is more difficult to retain the customers than to attract new customers 4.2: Recommendations Innocent drinks should closely monitor the environment and conduct market research to identify issues as consumer behaviour, competitors’ strategies which can have an impact on their brand or positioning (O’Malley, 1991). This will help the company to be proactive in their approach rather than reactive. As the market is becoming more global, there will always arise new opportunities but also threats as consumers also have access to variety of products from different countries with different tastes and nutritional values so innocent drinks must consider what their consumers want, their preferences if they want to survive and be successful in the long term. SWOT analysis has identified the threats and weaknesses which innocent should  consider and the opportunities which they should exploit by using their strengths. There are some strategies which can be adopted by innocent smoothies as market leaders. They should try to expand the market either by market penetration or by exploring new potential markets. Innocent can also try to protect their current market share which has fallen because of Tropicana by introducing new products into its line. More aggressively, they should try to increase their market share by reducing their prices which are quite high currently and by further increasing promotion. Innocent should also make good use of collaboration with the Coke as it can provide the company with lot of distribution channels. Innocent must focus on strategies which help them to attract new consumers and in retaining the existing customers. Different promotional strategies can be adopted. The company can offer discounts, free samples for new customers to try, free gifts, coupons for customer loyalty, tickets for different events etc. innocent should also ensure that its product is available in as many places as possible. They can increase the availability of products on train/bus stations, petrol pumps and a lot more health clubs. Customer satisfaction is very important because that will encourage them to buy the products of the company again and they will also become a source of advertisement by referring the companys’ product to others as well (Gilson, 1986). It is the least expensive method of advertisement and promotion. Innocent can adopt some defensive strategies against Tropicana as well. Innocent can reduce the prices in the market in which the rivals have greatest share. Secondly, it is good to have information about competitors’ move in advance so that appropriate actions can be taken. Diversification can also be done if the markets are becoming more vulnerable. The research has also shown that smoothies are not consumed in later part of the day so the company can make some drinks which are light, easy on stomach and which help the consumers in getting better sleep at night. Innocent should make use of its brand name by launching new products like ice cream. Sometimes, new products help in compensating the loss of failed products but the company must remain conscious in launching a new product because it is difficult to develop, have to carry out rigorous market research and there are also long lead time involved and if it fails, it will bring bad image to the brand and will affect the brand equity so the company must use all the processes of product development from idea generation to commercialization in order to mitigate the risks associated with new products. References Baines P., Fill C., Page K.,(2008). â€Å"Marketing†. New York: Oxford University Press, Pg 374-382 Ginden, R. (1993), â€Å"The name game†, Cheers, pp.59-62. Innocent drinks. http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk (accessed 02/12/2009) Mintel. http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen academic/my reports/display (accessed 03/12/2009) O’Malley, D. (1991), â€Å"Brand means business†, Accountancy, 107, pp.107-8.

Summary “The Environmental Issue from Hell”

We’re Hot as Hell Is global warming a moral dilemma? Is it the public policy problem from hell? In â€Å"The Environmental Issue from Hell,† Bill McKibben uses many of such phrases en route to arguing for a new approach to global warming. By discussing hell and morals, the reader’s mind is already equating it with two heavily debated issues. Therefore, we begin to question their existence and how we should  deal  with the subjects. McKibben wisely chooses these disputes to represent his main concerns: the ways in which consumerism affects the global ecosystem, and the impact of humans on the environment.McKibben presents a solution on how to handle each of these environmental issues, utilizing both the people and the government. McKibben's point of how consumerism affects the global ecosystem is certainly relatable. With all the new technology forming, global warming has only increased, despite the many efforts to make everything more energy efficient. McKibb en points out that, â€Å"most of us live lives so divorced from the natural world that we hardly notice the changes anyway. (McKibben 747) Choosing the word divorce (which everyone has heard and in some way or another experienced), and also elaborating about parking garages  and air conditioning captivates the reader. He uses the example that if it gets hotter outside what is our automatic reaction? We turn the AC up without contemplation. He explains that these new technologies are not letting us feel the consequences of global warming, causing us to be completely ignorant of it. Related article: †The Proverbs of Administration† SummaryMckibben feels it is subsequently important to make people realize now because, â€Å"By the time the magnitude of the change is truly in our faces, it will be too late to do much about it. â€Å"(747). The author recognizes the delay between the actions we take to lower carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the actual results of it lowering. Due to the outcomes, Mckibben expresses, â€Å"†¦we need to be making the switch to solar  and wind and  hydrogen power  right now to prevent disaster decades away. â€Å" (747), summing up his thought that we need to be making the change to more energy efficient and eco-friendly power before it is too late.Mckibben inaugurates his third paragraph suggesting that we make the environmental issues, â€Å"†the great moral crisis of our time, and the equivalent of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. â€Å"(747). He uses this analogy to explain that in his opinion, we are strip-mining the present and destroying all of whom come after it. Thus, leading him to discuss exactly how humans’ materialistic ways have impacted the earth. From Bangladesh living three months in thigh high-deep water, to polar bears becoming â€Å"20% scrawnier than they were a decade ago† (748).The environmentalist writer goes on to discuss how to deal with global warming since it is indeed creeping up on us. Mckibben once again articulates his repetitive view that, â€Å"it’s a moral question, finally, if you think we owe any debt to the future. † (748). In many circumstances it is believed that if it had been done to us, we would dislike the generation that did it, just as how we will one day be disliked. The solution given in the essay on how to handle these environmental issues is to start a moral campaign.In other words, â€Å"†¦ turn it into a political issue, just as bus boycotts began to make public the issue of race, fo rcing the system to respond. â€Å" (748). As a part of the overall populist causing these issues, Mckibben understands that the hardest part about starting this moral campaign is identifying a villain to overcome. Briefly voicing that Carbon dioxide is the main villain, but you can't be mad at it, only the people responsible, which is us. We often become guilty of only looking through our own perspective lenses.In his eyes, we have fancy technology, unnecessarily big cars, and most importantly ignorance about the environmental world around us. McKibben is asking for us to take a  step  back and look from someone else’s point of view, which as an author is a brilliant idea. He is asking us as the readers to be open-minded and look through someone else’s eyes with the hope that it will be his. Works Cited Mckibben, Bill. â€Å"The Environmental Issue from Hell. † The Mcgraw-Hill Reader. Ed. Gilbert Muller. 11th ed. Boston: Learning Solutions. 2011. 746-49. P rint.

Compensation and Benefits Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Compensation and Benefits - Personal Statement Example Excellent public health, preventive services, which are free from mammograms, diabetic nurses and nurses who visit homes due to new mothers and the elderly, the insurance should provide emergency services at a minimal charge. Cons include unusually long waiting list with elective procedures (Beadle, 2008). The doctors refer the patient to the assigned family doctor; there also is the problem of shortage of doctors caused by brain drain by the United States and mistakes made by collage surgeons and physicians. Employers benefit practices can fulfill employees, transactional and relational expectations of the employer and the employment exchange rate. When an employee is satisfied and happy with the employer treatment, they are usually committed to their job. This allows employers to design and communicate a benefit program which will attract and retain the productivity of the employees. Spouses working in the same place would encourage laziness in any organization; this is because the couple will tend to be together during the working works and, therefore, slowing down their work output. Therefore, this theory has to be disputed to ensure that the employees are

Public Opinion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Public Opinion - Assignment Example One of the often cited examples of bad publicity is the survey carried out by the tobacco company arguing that the â€Å"final cost of smoking outweighed the benefits in Czech Republic† (PHA Media, n.d., n.p.). The campaign has caused a huge PR backlash and led to bad publicity of a company. Many PR campaigns end with bad publicity because of various factors, not because they initially were planned to fail. However, many people and/or companies intentionally who create bad publicity in order to gain publicity in general. Celebrities are good examples of it, as they participate in scandals and other negative events in order to remind about themselves to a public and make people to talk about them. This behaviour cannot be viewed as ethical, especially if it has negative impact on other people. It is important to measure the results of PR efforts as this helps to evaluate the success of a campaign. However, in order to be able to interpret the results it is important to carry out evaluation not only after a campaign but also before it starts (Gunn, n.d.). This information will help to understand what impact the PR campaign has. Some of the ways of measuring these results include the following: surveys, interviews, sales figures, enquiries, changes in behaviour of target audience, website hits, etc. (Gunn, n.d.). PHA Media (n.d.). Top ten worst PR fails, bad PR examples and reputation disaster ever. Retrieved 13 April 2015, from:

Geography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Geography - Essay Example now an ever-present danger of homogeneity and important cultural aspects of a nation are being gradually replaced such as the national language that is slowly being replaced by English. Europe today is considered an old continent in demographic terms. Most of European nations suffer from slower birth rates and longer lifespans due to advances in medicine. These two factors combined to make most European nations suffer from declining populations with profound implications for economic growth, its pension system and competitiveness. There is now a growing backlash against immigration to Europe from the outside as it undermines the respective national identities. This makes multi-culturalism a very tricky issue with most host countries. The recent killings in Oslo, Norway is symptomatic of the cultural clashes in which Europe is being gradually Islamized by the tide of immigrants who are attracted to Europes progressivism in its social, political and economic policies (Hegghammer 1). Asylum seekers abuse these policies and claim asylum status although not qualified; many immigrants simply want to avail the generous benefits provided by European countries. Some call fo r a counter-jihad. Recent internal migrations from those poorer countries do not solve overall population decline. Europe does not have a common culture except perhaps its social democracy today. Essay 2 – the breakup of the USSR and the collapse of the Soviet communist system has profound effects on its economy and culture. The shift towards the capitalist free-market economic system has left many former members of the Russian Domain struggling to adjust. Some countries that were lucky enough to have natural resources are benefiting from the new liberalization and privatization programs implemented to attract foreign direct investments to their countries. Examples are Ukraine (with a good agricultural economy and a manufacturing base that is quite robust) and some Central Asian countries like

Environmental Studies Class Journal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Environmental Studies Class Journal - Case Study Example It would be helpful if we could shut down some of the less efficient plants, even if we can't close all of them. Natural gas is one of the state's largest source of energy and only 10% of the state's energy comes from renewables, mostly geothermals followed by biomass, wind, and solar. Economic analyses are decision-making tools for energy projects and techniques to choose among a number of different options. They do not include the benefit to the environment, the benefit to society, or whether you're being a good neighbor. Objectives for this unit are to understand that these analyses can range from simple to complex, be able to review and understand assumptions, be familiar with the limits, and be able to run through example calculations. Types of economic analyses include rough order of magnitude estimates for budget purposes (ROM), Simple payback, and Internal rate of return (IRR). These are used both on new building projects and retrofits. Investment decision types involved in a nalyses include to accept or reject a single project or system operation, to select an optimal efficiency level for a building system, select an optimal system type from competing alternatives, select an optimal combination of interdependent systems, and/or rank competing projects to allocate a limited budget. Assumptions are everything. They define the project and state the objectives, they establish first cost, cost of energy, cost of labor and materials, cost of maintenance, cost of money, tax credits, and inflation. You need to know where they came from, which ones are solid as compared to guesses, and how to adjust when solid numbers are available. To get an idea of how to do this, we looked at the simple payback analysis. The equation is simple payback (in years) = cost divided by savings where the cost is the cost of the project in dollars and the savings are annual energy savings in dollars. In comparing options, you subtract the cost of one benefit over the other. For cost, you should list the assumptions and the sources you used to reach that number, then use the cost difference between the different options. Do the same thing for savings, convert all units to dollars per year. We looked at a refrigerator analysis as an example in which the simple payback was about one and a half years. Then we looked at the example of a water heater which included more complex variables. These two examples really helped demonstrate the important role played by the assumptions that effects the overall solution. The example with the compact fluorescent bulbs showed how to use the spreadsheet program to help us work out the details and allows us to change the variables when we need to, for example if an assumption has changed. After the break, we looked at an online tool that would do these analyses which showed why it's important for us to be able to check these figures for ourselves and then moved on to talk about energy action plans. The second half of class looked at an energy action plan. This was accomplished by looking at the specific example of Stanford University. He talked about the importance of knowing the location, getting management interested, getting the users involved, the maintenance people involved, and performing the energy audit from a variety of perspectives. Things that were important in this section were involving maintenance, the design team, the issue of capital improvement, non-stop measurement,

Organization as a Metaphor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organization as a Metaphor - Essay Example Openness of an organization to inquiry and also self-assessment inculcates this capability in the top management to take the organization to the next level by showing creativity and innovation. When an organization displays these qualities of a brain, it transforms into a learning system that can be self-organized. This is not only very convenient for the organizational personnel, but also one of the fundamental pre-requisites for the success and growth of organizations in the contemporary age where competition is very high and organizations need competitive advantage in order to earn the trust and confidence of the stakeholders and excel in the market. Using this metaphor as a lens and analyzing the current state of the organization through this lens, it becomes apparent that the strategies of the top management controlling the organization change rapidly, and this has an effect on everybody in the hierarchy of the organizational structure from top to bottom. This has mixed effects on the organizational culture. ... ise the level of motivation of the organizational personnel as least just as much as they invest their time and effort in identifying new ways in which the organization can be changed. It must be realized that organizational personnel fundamentally play the role of wheels upon which the vehicle of organization travels, so keeping them fully functional is no less important than fueling the organization with innovative ideas. Having such a detailed in-sight into my organization with the help of the developed metaphor suggested by Morgan, I have identified several potential strengths and drawbacks of my organization, as well as a way to eradicate the drawbacks and instead, change the risks into opportunities. Change is an integral element for an organization to qualify as â€Å"a brain† and there is a wide range of literature that reveals that change is something that is not much appreciated by the organizational personnel owing to the fact that it challenges their interests and may not let the circumstances remain favorable for the attainment of their individualistic interests. Change management requires sound leadership and management skills on the part of the top management. One way in which change can be managed effectively is by identifying the collective motivation factors for the organizational workforce as a whole and determining the individualistic motivational factors for the workers whose performance matters the most. Performance of the employees in an organization is fundamentally controlled by their level of motivation. The higher the level of motivation, the better the performance of the employees and vice versa. Various theories of motivation have been proposed to date to help the management identify the ways in which employees can be satisfied more. These

Discrimination Against Homosexuals in the Workplace Essay

Discrimination Against Homosexuals in the Workplace - Essay Example Outline The main argument of the paper concerns a mythic nature of federal acts, prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals in the workplace. On the one hand, the Acts of 1975 and 2000 are focused on homosexuals’ rights protection in the workplace, but in reality, a few companies have been acting in compliance with the principles propagated by these Acts. Moreover, a straight society is not ready to accept homosexuals to the fullest extent. Social norms, moral underpinnings and stereotypes have always caused a negative impact on homosexuals in different spheres of their activity. Introduction From the historical perspective, the world’s governments were not too much enthusiastic about hiring gays or lesbians. This group of people was restricted from their rights’ protection, the grounds for dismissal were also found in homosexuality and many other negative impacts were caused by homosexuality until 1975. After 1975 a gradual shift of legal policies protecting rights of homosexuals emerged. Further on this tendency was developed in the Acts of 2000 (Dipboye & Colella, 2005). Nevertheless, it is relevant for the government not only to introduce regulations against homosexuals’ discrimination in the workplace, but also implement them in practice. Legal aspects In 1975 the Sex Discrimination Act was approved. Nevertheless, there are many arguments concerning interpretation of this Act: â€Å"†¦the prohibition against discrimination on grounds of ‘sex’ does not include a prohibition against discrimination on grounds of ‘sexual orientation† (Estlund, 2003). Therefore, an intrusion in the sexual life of homosexuals has been practiced by the majority of the companies. A so-called lavender ceiling for homosexuals was invented in some companies. Courts have taken different paths in spite of adopted federal regulations: â€Å"Although the courts rejected immorality as grounds for dismissing gay employees, the ir deference to administrative expertise and administrators' reliance on a common sense standard meant that distaste for homosexuals bolstered national security concerns† (Estlund, 2003). Thus, it is necessary not only to implement Acts against discrimination in the workplace, not only â€Å"on the paper†, but also in practice. The government has to prevent discrimination against homosexuals in the workplace in accordance with the Directive on Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation (27 November 2000). By December 2003 these legal regulations had to be implemented to the fullest extent. Unfortunately, many homosexuals come across oppressing policies in their workplaces. The courts are not much concerned about sexual discrimination in the workplace. Very often legal regulations and rules are not efficient in practice. There is an interesting quotation concerning legal regulations on homosexuals’ discrimination in the workplace: â€Å"They [courts] treat disc rimination against women with small children as actionable sex discrimination, along with discrimination against aggressive women and effeminate men. Yet, for reasons not fully articulated, they refuse to treat discrimination against men in dresses as actionable† (Yuracko, 2003). It is evident that courts’ actions are full of inconsistencies. These decisions may at first look intricate and unprincipled. There is a need to propagate social policies directed on development of homogenized workplace. Employers’

Philosophies & Democracy Essay Example for Free

Philosophies Democracy Essay Democracy and capitalism gave way to concentration of wealth amongst a small group of people. Private entrepreneurship got a boost due to capitalism. Given this scenario, many private entrepreneurs rose to build their industrial empires. There are many examples, where, the starting point of a given business was zero, and it rose to become a leading international business house. Increase in business, resulted in exaggerated accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few, and that was the time, when these new class of rich entrepreneurs, gave a thought to the society, in which they have been operating, and which has supported their enterprise in its rise. Carnegie Melon, at the beginning of industrial revolution, and Bill Gates, at the end of the twentieth century, are two solid examples of business rise from zero to international giants. Both of them, spent their full life, in amassing wealth, and as they grew, they started framing corporate philosophies, which put society at the focus of their activities. While they applied the rule of ‘everything is fair in business’, they turned towards society at the fag end of their lives. Corporate philosophies, by and large have nothing new to say, except that they work for the society, and they care for their customers. All corporate philosophies are concentrated around these central themes, in different words and sentences. Often, it is proved that corporate philosophies are not as sweet as they sound. When it comes to business, these philosophies are sacrificed, partially or fully. Was only genuine software skill responsible for the stupendous rise of Bill Gates and Microsoft? Of course no. There is in fact, considerable shrewdness going into the rise of Microsoft. In fact, corporate houses, as they grow, turn their attention towards betterment of society, in one or the other way. There are numerous examples to prove this, in the time gap between Carnegie Melon and Bill Gates. However, they are targeted at multiplication of business. An average American fully understands the implications of these corporate philosophies, and their implied meanings. For example, when cyber attacks started assuming alarming proportions, Bill Gates ordered a change in their corporate philosophy. It implied change in the approach of all software development. Now, instead of adding new features to the software, the focus was to be laid on protection of the software, because, Bill Gates argued, â€Å"In the past, weve made our software and services more compelling for users by adding new features and functionality, and by making our platform richly extensible . . . but all those great features wont matter unless customers trust our software, wrote Gates. So now, when we face a choice between adding features and resolving security issues, we need to choose security. ( Trustworthy computing, para 2) â€Å"Some of Microsoft’s perennial critics claim the initiative is long overdue, and question whether or not Microsoft will follow through on its promises, as the company could be forced to bear a reduction in the number of new features in its programs and significant new product delays. Some go further in arguing that such a massive security initiative cannot be undertaken without subjecting the Windows operating system source code to public domain — something the company has fought hard to avoid†. Writes an observer, in his opinion. ( Trustworthy computing, Para 4) What is true of Microsoft , is perhaps true of other companies also. An average American is well aware of the status of the company, and its capacity to deliver the promised goods, and is also right in judging the ethical behavior of a company. Conclusively it can be said that despite the tall claims made by the corporate philosophies, the average American of the ins and outs of that firm. References: 1) Trustworthy computing, Security and privacy deemed Microsoft’s top priorities, retrieved on 5 May 2009 from : http://www. cfif. org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/fl_trustworthy_computing. htm

Regulations and Policies for Children with Disabilities

Regulations and Policies for Children with Disabilities All children with disabilities have the right to be treated fairly and equally to children without disabilities. As of December 2002 schools are required not to treat disabled pupils less favourably for a reason relating to their disability and to take reasonable steps to make sure they are not placed at a disadvantage to those whom are not disabled. It is against the law for schools to treat a child different as it is discrimination. There are several forms of discrimination, one if which is direct discrimination: This is deliberate discrimination against an individual. This is refusing a child into their setting because of a disability. There is also indirect discrimination. This is where events are in place but are not suitable for everyone. For example; language barriers, also spelling barriers could discriminate against a child who is dyslexic. Discrimination due to a disability can occur through sports classes. A teacher may exclude someone with a disability as they may take longer to reach the end result than a person without a disability. This will result on the child missing out on opportunities that children without a disability won’t miss out on. An example of this could be exclusion by other children to be on their team as they are disadvantaged, this would cause the child with the disability to be excluded from other students within the group. This would be discrimination towards a child with a disability. There are specific laws, legislations and regulations in place giving rights to children with disabilities. The equality act 2010 ensures children with disabilities receive the same access to public or private services and that the services make reasonable adjustments to their properties to ensure they are accessible for all. This could include ramps, disabled toilets, lifts to access higher floors if needed, or braille. This promotes equal opportunities. Special educational needs codes of practice was developed to help to provide adequate support for an individual’s personal needs. It provides practical local advice to local education authorities, maintained schools and early education settings on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provisions for childrens special educational needs. A child with disabilities should have their needs met. Children with special educational needs have a right to a balanced education and to work at the right curriculum for themselves. When working inclusively with children with disabilities they should be given equal opportunities. They should be given the opportunity to be educated in a mainstream setting and have their individual needs met the same as other children without a disability do. If a child is treated as they have a medical model of disability in a childcare setting, then this can cause the child to be seen as an illness and not as a normal person. This can result in not only the teacher not respecting the child but also the other class mates not respecting the child and treating the child differently, which will cause discrimination. When the child is being treated different and unfairly they are not able to show their full strengths and their full potential. Inclusive practice is having respect for each individual as a person. By showing them respect they will gain trust for you and feel confident around you. Take time to get to know the person and listen to them. Be thoughtful towards another’s feelings. By letting the child have a say and being involved will empower the child which will help them to be confident. The benefits of working and communicating with parents are all children are different and have different needs and nobody knows their child better than their parents. Parents look at their children and see them as a person and not a disability and know a childs strengths and weaknesses. It is important to understand and respect a parents feelings and emotions and understand that some parents may find the journey more demanding than others. It is important to make sure that a parent understands procedures in a childcare setting and be sure to involve them in everything concerning their child. A parents method of dealing with a situation may be different to somebody else’s so be sure to respect a parents opinion. Parents should always be respected as an individual. When making arrangements with parents allow them plenty of notice as they could have to arrange it through work or through childcare so allow plenty of flexibility. Sometimes extra support maybe needed from a professi onal. It is likely that when a child with a disability or additional needs enters a childcare setting professional support is already established. By working in partnership with other professionals it helps to acknowledge children with learning difficulties and help to provide the correct support. A childcare setting can be adapted to a child’s needs. Things like a ramp for a wheelchair user or a lift if it is required if the building is set over more than one floor. If a lift is not accessible then an alternative would be to move floors so a wheelchair user isn’t discriminated against. Also easy access to a disabled toilet is required. Adapting for blind people by using braille where needed. Adapting certain materials so its age and stage appropriate. Making sure people around them show a positive attitude towards equality and diversity. A disabled child is just as able to take part in activities just as much as other children but adjustments may need to be made. Inclusive practice can only be effective if adults lead by example and reflect on their own attitudes an beliefs. Children with additional needs or disabilities may face barriers that prevent them from having the same opportunities as other children in a childcare setting. Some children with disabilities may struggle with going to the toilet so may need additional help. They may need additional help with zips and buttons on clothing. If children are using fancy dress be aware of the fastenings on the clothes and consider Velcro or bigger buttons. Some children may find it hard to express their thoughts and feelings. Visual aids are a useful method of helping them to pick their preference. If a child has a physical impairment some environments may create barriers to prevent a child from moving around to their full potential. If a setting causes barriers then people need to consider moving furniture around a setting to prevent obstacles. For example not putting materials and activities on the floor so a wheelchair user is unable to participate. It can also cause a barrier to people with a visual impairment. Putting materials and activities on the floor can also be an obstacle and dangerous for someone trying to find their way around safely. Children must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty soley because the language or form of language of their home is different from the language in which they will be taught. A child is disabled if they are blind, deaf or dumb or suffers from a mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed. A person has a disability for the purposes of this act if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Essay -- Visual Arts Paintings Art

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was arguably the greatest graphic artist of his time; he is best remembered for his bold, colourful posters of Parisian entertainers. His childhood years were spent at his family chateau in the southwest of France where he broke both of his legs and therefore stunted his growth. This left him ill proportioned and dwarfish. This unfortunate event probably helped his artistic ability as he spent most of his time on his own. Lautrec was at his peak as a painter and poster artist in the early 1890's at the time of the post impressionists. During his life Lautrec felt most comfortable in the nightclubs, dance halls and brothels of Paris. The narrow life he led is clearly shown in the art that he produced. Lautrec was best renowned for his paintings of the Moulin Rouge and other Parisian entertainers. Lautrec was not the first artist to make the Parisian entertainers serious subjects to paint, Edouard Manet and Edgar Degaswere among the first to paint the Paris nightlife and others soon followed their lead like Lautrec. Although Lautrec's many paintings looked spontaneous and carefree he as never "slapdash" as in he was never messy or careless. He was in fact a dedicated craftsman who knew a lot about the technical matters of his work, especially printmaking. Even after a rough night he would be up to supervise the printing of his lithographs bright and early. Lautrec always carried a small sketchbook with him so he could quickly draw or sketch whatever caught his attention and today thousands of his rapid drawings still survive in the original sketchbooks. He has also reached the elevated position of a dead artist where there is a museum dedicated to him and his work in Albi, France close to where he was born near Toulouse. In the actual paintings of his sketches he tried to keep the spontaneity of the first sketch and therefore liked to work quickly. To work fast he liked to use paint that was thinned considerably with turpentine, which was called peinture a l'essence, which allowed him to so called 'draw with the brush'. He also liked to use absorbent cardboard instead of canvas so the paint would dry quicker and therefore could maintain his momentum. Most painters have a trademark technique and Lautrec's trademark was the printmaking technique called 'crachis' or ... ...reas before this addition the painting must have been a restrained and balanced masterpiece. The unidentified redhead sitting at the table is wearing an exotic headdress that stands out magnificently against her red hair. If you look at each person they each have a distinctive hat or hairstyle as Lautrec was fascinated by different styles of headwear. The mirrored background that lines the walls gives the painting an undefined background so the silhouetted figures stand out boldly in the mirror. I liked this painting because it shows the somewhat quiet of the normally busy Moulin Rouge. The way Lautrec contrasted the brightly painted woman and the redhead at the forefront of the painting with the blacks and browns of the background also attracted me. I also admired the way Lautrec maintained the spontaneity all through his work. My favourite painting of the two that I have talked about is 'At the Moulin Rouge' because I think that this one looks more difficult to paint than 'At the Circus Fernando' as it is in greater detail and most importantly I think it looks better. But take nothing away from 'At the Circus Fernando' as this is also a brilliant piece of art.

Medical Attributes of Cannabis sativa - Marijuana Essay -- Exploratory

Medical Attributes of Cannabis sativa - Marijuana Cannabis sativa is an erect herb commonly known as hemp or marijuana, or by vernacular names such as grass, weed, refer, and pot. C. sativa is a member of the Cannabinaceae or hemp family. Marijuana can be cultivated illegally in eastern and central North America. Marijuana was legal in the United States for industrial, recreational and medicinal uses until 1937 (Anon., 1996a). C. sativa contains about sixty various psychoactive chemicals called cannabinoids. The most active component in C. sativa is tetrahydrocannabinol or THC which is found in greatest concentrations in the flowering tops and leaves of the hemp plants. The word marijuana refers to the whole plant and the resin from hemp or also called hashish (Anon., 1996b). Presently, C. sativa has four medicinal values. First, it is used to relieve nausea and increase appetite. Second, it brings about the reduction of intraocular pressure in glaucoma. Third, it causes a reduction of muscle spasms. Fourth, it provides relief from mild to moderate chronic pain (Anon., 1996a). In 1975, a study was conducted testing the effects of marijuana on the cardiovascular system. People between the ages of 30-40 years, whom had never smoked marijuana were used for this experiment. Results showed that there is no direct cardiac effect of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) unless the THC dose is 50 fold. There were no changes in stimulation of ephedrine production (which stimulates the sympathetic nervous system), levels of blood glucose, lactate or pyruvates and fatty acid fractions. Changes to these effects were observed when the THC dose was 50 fold (Beacansfield, 1975). In a study in 1982, researchers analyzed the biological effe... ...s antiemetic medicine: A survey of oncologists' experiences and attitudes. F. Cline Oncology 9:1314-1319. Sallan, S.E., N.E. Ainberg, and E. Frex. 1975. Antiemetic effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy. The New England Journal of Medicine 293:795-797. Singh, N., S. Vrat, B. Ali, and K.P. Bhargava. 1981. An assessment of biological effects of chronic use of cannabis in human subjects. Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research 19: 81-91. Tashkin, D.P., B.J. Shapiro, Y.E. Lee, and C.E. Harper. 1975. Effects of smoked marijuana in experimentally induced asthma. American Review of Respiratory Disease 112. Volfe Z., A. Dvilansky. and I. Nathan. 1985. Cannabinoids block release of serotonin from platelets induced by plasma from migraine patients. International Journal of Clinical and Pharmacological Research 5:243-246.

Management Accounting Essay -- Management

Finances Future: Challenge or threat?-Management Accounting Missing Article This article is a bout the changing demands of the business world and the impact it will have on management accounting. According to this article the business role that management accountants play will be significantly different in the future. While this change is inevitable it is unclear how many of today's accountants will be able or willing to adjust to the change and conform to what is being called "New Accounting." Accountants in the future will have to play a much larger role in their organization. Becoming a change agent, someone who can help accelerate change in an organization. This is a problem for most accountants who are used to doing the same job year after year with little to no change. Since the introduction of the computer management has recognized that the PC can perform in much less time many of the tedious number crunching activities accountants spend hours doing. As a result of this accountants are being asked to do more and become analytical and proactive, looking into the future and joining with management in making and taking responsibility for all those tough decisions. Management expects the accounting department in addition to its role processing transactions to serve as the central information hub and purveyor of all sorts of data stored on the computers. Accountants doing the same time that all these changes were happening due to PC were also facing change due to the new idea of "reengineering." This is the idea of going beyond seeking efficiencies and asking is this business process really necessary?. And if it is how can it be designed to better serve the business. If a task is unnecessary then the people who perfor... ... constant as learning should be in order to stay competitive. With the introduction of the PC accountants need to step up and prove that their role is still necessary focusing not only on balancing the books but serving as a center of information for the organization. In the future I think that this is what management accounting will be all about. Crunching number is a job better left up to the computer systems. By integrating all the functions of the finance department, finance becomes a chief driver of the decision making process. Accountants in the future must be able to adapt to change, take risks, and do more thinking and analyzing than number crunching and reporting. The new role of management accountants as the data keeper for the entire organization makes them the backbone of today's organizations which is a far larger job than balancing the books on time.

Developing Ethical Leadership

An ethical leadership means leading with the sense of valuing ethical values or considering the old fashioned ways, beliefs and other values that people considers as valuable. It is the leading with all the sense of altruism, kindness, integrity, loyalty, and trustworthiness which are possessed by a certain leader. In this characteristics and considerations to be considered, a question to the ethical means of leadership rises when we pertain to the historical holocaust. In the Holocaust Museum located at Washington DC, a person who goes on visit inside the building will be able to be enlightened about the real meaning of the holocaust. Every image that certain people could see inside would make them feel the pain and the sufferings which the Nazi victims felt during the holocaust period. An example of an image which could lead a person back to the holocaust is the picture where the Americans felt the cruelness of the Nazi soldiers in some of the Nazi’s concentration camps or bases where Nazi soldiers tend to make their prisoners suffer. While inspecting further, a certain image will take the tourists’ attention wherein the image is a picture of a thin and almost dying man handing an aluminum bowl. This image conveys the period when the Nazi soldiers had their prisoners dying because of malnutrition, thus, it also conveyed the same period when the Nazi soldiers force their prisoners to do hard labors. Inside the museum can be seen a large map which shows how far and wide the conquering of the German leadership did during the holocaust period on the year 1941 until 1942. There’s also a part of the museum where all the countries involved during the world war is painted, in this hallway the painted parts were the glass windows. As the strolling inside the museum continues, there were a lot more figures and pictures which showed the cruelty of the Nazi soldiers led by the considered most cruel man on earth, Hitler. There’s a room inside the museum called â€Å"the tower of faces† wherein all the sides of the room are filled with hundreds of pictures posted. Those people’s pictures which are posted in the walls of the room are those who are involved in the holocaust, some are those who became a Nazi victim and some are those who contributed along the side of the Nazis. There’s another large image in the museum where one could see a group of people with the yellow star patch on their dresses just like on the movie â€Å"Schindler’s list† which is used by the Nazis to easily determine if such a person belonged to the Jewish people. In general, there are 900 artifacts displayed in the museum, 70 video monitors which shows all the cruelty of the Nazis towards the Jewish people, and in the second floor of the museum, a tourist could realize and notice how the non-Jewish people risk their lives by trying to save some of the Jews. For the last destination of the tour, tourists are allowed to watch a film entitled the Testimony wherein those who survived the tragic holocaust narrated their real life story. The film would last for 60 minutes then after that tourists are then led to a hall where they could light their candle for the holocaust victims (Times, 2008). All the artifacts and the videos which are exhibited at the museum showed how the sense of true leadership was ignored and were not present at the period of the holocaust. The cruelness of the Nazi depicted how heartless Hitler is as a leader. The moral responsibilities of the Germans were being taken for granted; a part of their ethical culture considers a mean kind of political values. Because of the continuous reigning of power and territory to the wealth of the Germans, they’ve build up a confidence wherein they exceeded to the extent that they thought they could rule everywhere and that they are the most superior people who exist (Jones, 1999). According to the understanding of ethical leadership, leadership should involve a not coerced relationship between the leader and his people or the people who are under the coverage of his power. In Hitler’s situation, he has violated such an important consideration regarding with how he should have governed his people. The holocaust created a devastating nature of leader-people relationship; lots of Jewish people were forced to work under the supervision of the Nazis and they are also forced to comply with whatever law the leader would implement (Price, 2006). The Jewish people should have been heard with their cries but instead they were oppressed and suppressed by the political system during the holocaust. Since good leadership means both technically and morally benefiting, it is clear that though Hitler technically made a great contribution to Germany, he created an opposite effect to the morality of his being a leader (Price, 2006). An evidence of this statement can be seen at the museum wherein lots of Jewish people are a group exposed without any clothing and are humiliated in front of those non-Jewish aristocrats or politically involved people. A morally and technically good leader aims for the betterment of his country as well as for his people. In this way, the justification of the leadership would be justified under ethically valid leadership but the whole success of Hitler by aiming power and territory altered the evaluation of his leading by simply killing most of the Jews (Price, 2006). Hitler never considered saving even a single child soul but instead he commanded that all Jews must be seized and killed just like Anne Franks who wrote her own diary about the whole holocaust. In the entire world’s history, Hitler made the worst kind of violation of ethical leadership wherein morality is considered as a single pin of needle between million strands of hair. In taking the great responsibility of being a leader, morality is easily recognized, thus, it is the reason why there is a study of ethics in order to justify the true essence of leadership. Adolf Hitler, as a leader, allowed exploitation such as rape and humiliation of Jews during his leadership, he used his position and power to gain the authority over other people and instead of using it in order to command people to widen or do something to develop their territory more, he used his authority to do what he wanted and that is to rule his coverage with an undefeated power wherein all people fear and almost worship him (Ciulla, 2003). The essence of leadership changed through the period of time, though however one may look and analyze the way that Hitler led his people, no one would say that he is a great leader. The positive side of his being a leader such as being a great conqueror who contributed more territories in the history of Germany is overlapped by all the negativities of his other deeds such as killing, exploiting, oppressive and suppressive leadership, and most of being a leader who acted as he does not have a heart at all. Whenever one would walk into the Holocaust Museum which has all the memories of the tragic holocaust inside, a certain person will fell the outburst of pain and sadness empathizing the victims of the holocaust. A horrifying movie which could be directly compared to the event during the holocaust is the Schindler’s list where all Jewish people were cruelly shot without any good reason, raped without the ability to refuse, exploited and humiliated, and forced to work without being provided enough amount of food to gain energy from (Spielberg, 1993). This experience of going to the Holocaust Museum made me realize that a good leader does not much contribute to his/her most way when he/she does not consider the goodness of his/her will towards his/her land and people. Thus, no matter how a leader conquers and rules the whole world under his authority, the true sense of leadership will still be judged on his moral or generally ethical deeds onward his ruling and loyalty to his obligation as a good leader. This reveals the fact that no matter how small or few a leader’s contribution is to his land, he will still be considered a good leader as long as he works for the betterment and sake of his land and people. References Ciulla, J. B. (2003). Ethics and Leadership Effectiveness [Electronic Version]. Retrieved January 13 from http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/5284_Chapter_13_Antonakis.pdf. Jones, D. H. (1999). Moral Responsibility in the Holocaust: A Study in the Ethics of Character: Rowman & Littlefield. Price, T. L. (2006). Understanding Ethical Failures in Leadership: Cambridge University Press. Spielberg, S. (Writer) (1993). Schindler's List. In Universal (Producer). USA Times, N. Y. (2008). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum [Electronic Version]. Retrieved January 12 from http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/washington-dc/attraction-detail.html?vid=1154654609095. ; ; ; ;

Coffee delight Essay

I agree with Lisa’s view to a certain extent that the marketing budget is the most important component in the marketing plan. Harry has set a market objective of two million subscribers by 2015; a target that is very ambitious to achieve a fifth of the forecasted market share which is seen as very unrealistic with a basic marketing budget and Robert media plc will need to do a higher proportion on research than normal which will cost a lot more than usual. Another reason why the marketing budget is so important is that Roberts’s media is changing from print format to digital as they seek to achieve their object of increasing ROCE to 8%. Digital media is a new market for the business and therefore will need extensive research to see what the target markets’ needs and wants are. Although the marketing department had previously won awards for the way it promoted print magazines, but was concerned that the new technology would require a very different approach. As digital is completely different to print media, it obviously needs research conducted. However, Harry is being stubborn and dismissive stating that the marketing budget is un-important and will not provide additional funds. This could therefore mean that the businesses target the wrong people and that their objective to increase the ROCE to 8% could be dented and un-applicable. The rivals of Roberts media plc are already one step ahead of the business as they were already launching their own digital magazines within the next sic months and had already started their marketing campaign. This will have a big effect on the Roberts media as their targeted customers are already being targeted by rivals which could therefore mean fewer sales in the future. As the business is behind its rivals, a big promotional campaign will be needed in order to attract potential customers away from rivals. A big promotional campaign will require a big marketing budget but is what is needed in order to out beat its competitors in the race for customers. However, I agree with Harry not to provide addition funds to the marketing budget as the financial situation of the business is not very stable at this moment in time. The return on capital has fallen from 10% to 2% meaning that it will not be wisely to invest as it’s not really worth it to invest. Along with the poor state of ROCE, the current ratio is also in a bad state fallen from 1. 5:1 to 0. 5:1. This means for every 50p of current assets the business had ? 1 of liability. Having such a poor financial position will rupture the finance available and will need to use the scares finance available wisely. To conclude, I certainly agree with Lisa that the business’s marketing budget is the most important feature on the marketing plan. This major change from print to digital will cost a lot and will be in need of a big marketing budget to be successful. Also, Roberts media is already behind its rivals on its marketing and therefore will need something big to attract customers. Finally, Harry has set a very ambitious objective and therefore it will need a big marketing budget to be able to fulfil its purpose. Although the financial state of the business is poor, harry will need to help its marketing team and provide which they feel what is needed as the long run.

Group Proposal: develop a proposal for a group Essay

When the friction heats up in marriages, more people (10-20%) than ever before are considering getting professional help. That is very wise. We may be making progress. I am still disturbed that most do not seek help. What is wrong with the other 80%? Getting therapy seems so reasonable to me; it seems that every friend, every parent, every child, every relative, and every professional person in contact with the unhappy couple should recommend counseling. Why don’t they? Divorce is such an emotionally laden decision (perhaps more so than who to marry), we need help seeing the situation realistically, trying to resolve the problems, deciding what other alternatives exist, considering the consequences to others, making reasonable plans for our future, etc. Anyone going though marital hell or a divorce needs a friend to talk to and vent with, no doubt, but he/she needs much more than that–a wise, experienced, unemotional but empathic and caring counselor and a group of peop le who can relate. We are freer than we have been for centuries to dissolve an unhappy marriage. There are other factors associated with the increasing divorce rate. Many of these social-economic factors would be considered good, e.g. more equal education and job opportunities for women, higher incomes, fewer children, fewer religious restrictions, and general social acceptance of divorce and of women living alone. Yet, as we will see, there are terrible consequences frequently associated with divorce (and with continuing a bad marriage). Over 75% of Americans accept divorce as a solution when a couple can’t get along, even if they have children. There is concern by some that divorce may have become too easy (few people who have personally gone through a divorce consider it easy). But, what about those who are happily married and newly weds? Why not help a relationship strengthen before it gets to that point of divorce or feeling helpless? I would like to start a Support Group for newly married couples. These couples are not troubled couples but rather couples who want to enrichen their marriage and have the support of other newly married couples. Our society is built so much on how marriages fail but forget so easily those who work hard daily to keep their marriage healthy. Newly married couples need to know there are other couples out there who are making and succeeding  in this hard world. They need to know, yes, marriage is hard, but this is what we are doing to make it work. Therefore, I would like to propose a Support group called â€Å"Spousal Support†. Spousal Support would include all newly married couples who do not have serious marital issues. Those who are just married to ten years of marriage. Couples who are looking for support of other couples, building friendships, and other marriage enrichment resources. Couples who will be accepted into the group are those who feel they are alone in being happily married, or put down for saying they are happily married. The percent of married people who say they are â€Å"very happy† has gone down during the last 20 years, especially among women. â€Å"Happily married couples have rosy illusions about their marriage and they idealize their spouse. The more illusions, the happier the couple† (Azar, 1995). This Ideal stated here is the reason why more and more being a happy couple is in the minority and a support group is needed. A support group that believes being happily married is something you have to work on but is possible. Ursula K. LeGuin once said; â€Å"Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new. Screening and selection of couples will be done through an interview. The interview will consist of questions about their relationship and what they want to get out of Spousal Support. Those who are not experiencing major marital issues and want support in their marriage will be accepted. Couples who are considering divorce, infidelity or other major marital issues will not be accepted into this group. Any couple who has been married ten years or less, and considers themselves happily married. Couples who have been married for less than ten years are many times considered either still in the â€Å"honey moon† stage or are considering Divorce. Regardless the first ten years can be hard, not just because you are working out your marriage but because of society pressures. This group will consist of five couples, meeting once a week on Sunday at 4 p.m. for 16 weeks. There will be a break of a month and new members will be  able to join at that time. The group will determine a convenient private meeting place and occasionally take outings to local venues. Group members will be briefed during the initial interview as to what will take place and what is expected in the group. Also discussed will be goals that each couple would like to make. Ground rules for the group will be open for discussion during the first meeting: Couples must always be as a couple never alone Please be timely Please be respectful and caring of other couples and relationships Confidentiality is very important Topics explored will consist of any marriage enrichment discussions, exercises, resources and free for all night once a month. Discussions would include any issues that may come about in day-to-day lives like finding intimate time together, free time, working on careers, building a family, and any outside pressures. Exercises would include questionnaires, inventories, role-playing, communication exercises, and games. Resources are very valuable to have, like a good self-help book, or videos, even ideas to help the couple be there for one another. A free for all night will be given for any topics that couples may want to talk about or focus an entire meeting on in the future. This will allow them to throw out ideas in a less structured tone. Couple will be given time to bond more freely with each other and plan any outings the group will take. The specific outcomes I would like the group members to attain is knowing that a marriage can succeed and not every issue has to be hard. I would like them to realize that there are other couples out there who work hard at making the marriage work. My last outcome I would like the group members to have is resources and ways for them to work through their problems and strengthen their marriage in a healthy way.

Diseconomies of Scale Essay

Diseconomies of scale occur when a firm increases its output and the cost of the long run production of this output also increases. Diseconomies of scale occur when a firm is very big to bring about coordination problems and increasing input costs. This occurs because of two main reasons: coordination problems and the increasing input costs. Coordination problems can be broken down to several issues. And this problem is usually due to the number of employees in a firm. One of the issues with coordination is communication.Upon increasing the number of employees in a firm for the purpose of increasing output, the channels for communication (i.e. telephone lines, cost of having internet connection for further information dissemination, etc) also increases. This is so since ratio of the number of employees and the communication channels is not 1:1. This means an increase in cost. So in the long run, having more people becomes not viable already since it now causes coordination problem th rough communication cost, thus increasing in production cost in general. Another issue with having a lot of people in a firm is that the firm’s response time becomes slower. This can also be connected to the communication problem that I discussed above.This is so since, having a lot of people implies the need for bureaucracy. With bureaucracy, come standard operating procedures, policies to be followed, roles and division of responsibilities, and hierarchies. Consider a policy which reduces the company’s daily cost from 1000USD to 500USD. Before it can be approved, it has to go through a lot, thus causing a slower response time for a very urgent need. Because of the bureaucracy that is needed for coordinating a large number of people, the longer the delay of approving this policy; and the longer the company delays producing twice the output for the same input cost.Increasing input costs can also be broken down to several issues. One issue with the increasing input cost s is that when the firm gets so big, one department might be working with the same projects as with other departments. This means that the firm is producing or profiting from a single project and is paying for twice the number of employees who can actually finish the job. Another issue with increasing input costs is that having a lot of people to do the job needs managers to coordinate them.Having more managers means paying more for employees who does not actually contribute to the production and is only there to supervise the people. So let’s say that there are five employees, paid 10USD, that need one manager, paid 20USD, to supervise them. The manager is getting 28. 6% of the over-all salary, but the company which pays for 70USD over all is only producing 83. 3% since only 5 out of 6 people are actually working. So, having a lot of people means getting a lot of managers which leaves lesser people who actually does the production.

The Impact Of Technology On Modern Warfare Research Proposal

The Impact Of Technology On Modern Warfare - Research Proposal Example In this respect, it will be critical to highlight the history of modern technology in modern warfare. After exploring the history of technology in warfare over time, transitions from one technology to another will be considered. Computer and the internet era, information technology, surveillance, intelligence, weapon accumulation, and fire volumes (Singer 77) will be explored in detail. Use of different sources will provide key insights in this section. Following massive technological developments, it is evident that modern warfare practices are more effective and efficient compared to both World War I and II (Chakrabarti 57). This section will consider current state of affairs as far warfare activities are concerned. Command and control of modern warfare is an intensive and extensive exercise. This exercise encompasses the use of computer, surveillance, information, target acquisition, and communication systems (Loo 91). For successful, effective, and efficient execution of contemporary warfare, it is critical to integrate these systems. This section will explore strategies, actions, and policies that aid in the integration of the aforementioned systems. The continued use of advanced technologies in warfare comes with a number of advantages. Primary advantages of technology in warfare include faster, quicker, and more destructive combat, nuclear weapons, employment of information war as opposed to physical combat, relieving soldiers of heavy load during combat, use of drones, communication anytime anywhere, and global communication and surveillance among others (Howorth 106). Amid the above-highlighted advantages of technology in modern warfare, critical technological vulnerabilities are evident. Privacy and security of software used by military and related agencies could be in jeopardy if massive caution and protection are not in place (Percy 83). Hacking and other forms of cybercrimes are also critical to the prospects of