Bamboozled: Black People and White Man Essay

In 2000, Spike Lee wrote and directed the film Bamboozled. When discussing his satirical film, Spike Lee claimed, â€Å"I want people to think about the power of images, not just in terms of race, but how imagery is used and what sort of social impact it has – how it influences how we talk, how we think, how we view one another[. . . ]how film and television have historically[. . . ]produced and perpetuated distorted images. † Spike Lee certainly conveyed this message in Bamboozled. Images are powerful and carry massive social impact. They should never be misrepresented. Are all African Americans either lazy or dim-witted or â€Å"happy servants†, always ready and willing to please the White Man? The short answer is, no. However, throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, many people believed this. The ultimate question is, why? As explained in the film Ethnic Notions, this false perception grew and grew, even past the time of slavery, due to images. Derogatory images of African Americans as â€Å"happy servants† or â€Å"savages,† were everywhere; they were published in children’s books and slapped on cans of food to be used as a marketing tool. People bought into this perception of African Americans, as they became acclimatized to it. Today, our society likes to believe that times have changed and there is no longer an issue of race or false perception of African Americans in the media. However, Spike Lee argues, â€Å"A new â€Å"phenomenon† has emerged in film in recent years, in which an African-American character is imbued with special powers, filmmaker Spike Lee told a student audience ? This new image is just a reincarnation of â€Å"the same old† stereotype or caricature of African Americans ? Lee cited four recent films in which there is a â€Å"magical, mystical Negro† character ? in â€Å"The Legend of Bagger Vance,† a black man â€Å"with all these powers,† teaches a young white male ? how to golf like a champion ? â€Å"How is it that black people have these powers but they use them for the benefit of white people? † Spike Lee seems to be under the impression that African Americans are still misrepresented in the media. They have only improved their ability to mask the fact. False image is still there, but it is subtle. His film Bamboozled ripped viewers’ eyes wide open. The film explored and demonstrated two images of African Americans. The first image, is the Black Man who is just like the White Man or the Asian Man or the Middle-Eastern Man; a man who can be rich and successful like Pierre Delacroix in Bamboozled; a man who can be poor and when without money will do almost anything for it like Manray and Womack. However, when Pierre Delacroix pitched television shows about a Black Man living in an upper-middle-class white, suburban neighborhood, his superior, Thomas Dunwitty turned them down, â€Å"they definitely don’t want to see dignified black people [on television]. † However, the network would allow Pierre Delacroix to create a show which blatantly degrades African Americans; a show which goes back to the 1900s, to the time of black face and minstrel shows; a time when black people were considered subhuman. This is where Spike Lee demonstrates the other image of the African American; an image that the media has gently forced down viewer’s throats. Spike Lee, however, did not do so gently. The fictional television show in Bamboozled, â€Å"Mantan’s New Millennium Minstrel Show†, starred African Americans in â€Å"black face† acting like buffoons. It might as well have been an authentic minstrel show in the 1900s. There was dancing and singing. The two main characters hid from the White Man in a chicken coup, saying â€Å"ain’t nobody in here but us chickens! â€Å"4 The creator, Pierre Delacroix’s initial intention with this show was not to degrade his own race. It was to â€Å"break the stereotypes. â€Å"5 He figured the nation would be shocked and outraged! Instead they ate it up. The studio audience dressed in black face. Children trick-or-treated in black face. It was the latest craze of the nation. Black face is an act which digs back to a time of slavery, a time where African Americans were considered inferior. It was now socially acceptable to publicly highlight a moment in history that pained African Americans. People figured it’s on TV, it’s OK! The black man was degraded, as he has always been, but in Bamboozled no mercy was spared. Spike Lee used the film in a variety of ways. He attacked today’s media and the way in which it portrays African Americans. He explored the wide scope of African American’s lives, which is no different than the lives of any other race. He demonstrated the consequences of greed and sacrificing one’s dignity. Furthermore, he exposed society for what it really is: mindless. The majority of a population does not question the media. Instead it swallows images whole, even if those images are as false and misleading as a painted black face.

Literary and Critical Analysis of the Yellow Wallpaper Essay

Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote the Yellow Wallpaper in 1892, the theme of which was feminism and individuality and how one woman dealt with the neurosis of her mind created largely by the expectations of society. The spiral to her breakdown began from her baby’s birth and in today’s time it would be seen as postpartum depression but at the time when the book was written the woman was seen as being highly strung. Gilman creates the plot around the yellow wallpaper in the protagonist’s room and how her obsessive mind personifies the wallpaper. The deterioration of the woman’s mind is signified through the disintegration of the state of the wallpaper. The story was written at a time when the main role of the woman in society was creating a home for her family. Her sense of worth and her values were all gauged against the way her home functioned. In this strive for perfection of the home the women of the time usually lost their own sense of self and it is this struggle to maintain a sense of self that usually caused the most stress. This build-up of stress is what is signified in the book. When the book begins, Gilman immediately makes it clear that the protagonist, as the woman, is inferior to her husband, John, the physician. When she feels ill the solution for John is telling her to stay in bad, not to use her imagination and stop writing. To him her writing anything is something useless and unnecessary. However, to her, writing is her one release. It is with her being able to write that she is able to let go of her pent up feelings. She writes, â€Å"Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do? † (160). This last phrase underlines the state of mind and the actual state of mind of the women on the era. The woman is resigned to her inability to go against the societal norms no matter how unhappy it makes her. She has given birth to a baby and instead of feeling good she is feeling down. Her Husband and everyone around her thinks rest is the best answer and they confine her to her room. She knows that this confinement is not making her happy and she needs something to distract her, â€Å"Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good† (1279), yet she is helpless to counteract her husband’s orders. It is through this repression of her true self that her mind starts to break. The stress of hiding her true feelings and maintaining the semblance of normality, going against her true nature, while all the time believing that she was in the wrong in wanting more. The instances of this sort of conflict are shown throughout the book, â€Å"I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and her I am a comparative burden already† (162). The yellow wallpaper is the only thing she has to break the normality. Initially she dislikes it, â€Å"I’m really quite fond of this big room, all but the horrid paper† (1281). But as time passes and the wallpaper is the only thing of interest in the room she starts looking at it with interest. What initially started as a game in seeing the different patterns of the wallpaper changes into a real psychosis, and her state of mind is defined through her thoughts, â€Å"There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down† (1281). The most integral part of the story comes from the fact that the identity of the woman is never revealed. It is as if her name has no value and she herself is of no consequence and it is the people around her that define her. The story of the Yellow Wallpaper shows the role of woman in society in America in the past. It shows how a woman did not have control of her destiny and how a man could only see her as a possession not as an individual. The callous attitude of the husband who sees her state of mind as the weakness of women is the defining factor of the whole situation. By refusing to accept the woman’s mind as an individual and independent factor of her body and confining his wife to solitude, John the husband aggravates her situation. Her need to talk and write is belittled, her need to expose her emotions repelled by everyone around her. This causes her to get depressed. She does not know how to control herself, she becomes hysterical and needs help but the only help comes from her husband, and comes in a condescending manner that does not help matters. Many critics have given their own point of view and Gilman(1898) wrote in Women and Economics, ‘[regarding women]the same human energies and human desires and ambitions within. But all that she may wish to have, all that she may wish to do, must come through a single channel and a single choice. Wealth, power, social distinction, fame, -not only these, but home and happiness, reputation, ease and pleasure, her bread and butter,-all, must come to her through a small gold ring (Gilman, 57). The fact of the time was that men were considered the patriarchs and they were the ones in control. There was no concept of partnership. The woman in Gilman’s book seems to be conflicted in her concept of her role as a wife. she understands the expectations of societal norms but due to her own character she cannot in her mind accept them as norm. As she writes, â€Å"John laughs at me, but one expects that in marriage† (Gilman, 1973 pp. 9). It is as if women have no value and are mere objects. The woman seems to accept that but unconsciously is rebelling to this â€Å"ridicule† of women. The objectification of women and the judgment passed upon by men causes the woman in Gilman’s book to be constantly projecting an image of herself that is not real. She is reacting to what people expect rather than being what she really is and this is creating a conflict in her own self that she is struggling to overcome and yet cannot. I can feel myself under the gaze of someone whose eyes I do not even see, not even discern†¦ From the moment this gaze exists, I am already something other, in that I feel myself becoming an object for the gaze of others. (Gilman 1973 pp. 215). The struggle to maintain her identity while keeping her ideas hidden and in lieu with the norms is something she is unable to maintain and the disintegration of her mind shows the pressures she is under. The final deterioration of her mind is shown through her referring to herself in as somebody else. â€Å"‘I’ve got out at last,’ said I, ‘in spite of you and Jane’†(Gilman, 436). Critics suggest the woman has created an alter ego where the conventional self, the â€Å"rational self,† and the second is â€Å"the raging and uncontrolled madwoman† (Owens 77). Greg Johnson says that when the anger gets out of control the patriarchal influence is triumphed over (522). Realizing that the suppression of self is creating a regression of the mind the narration ends with the woman sleeping and creeping around the nursery like an infant (King and Morris 30). Victorian women did not have any control over themselves and it was this lack of control that is depicted in the Yellow Paper making it a distinctively feminist novel. Through the ripping of the wallpaper the woman destroys her conventional self and survives through the survival of her new identity or rather rebirth of her new self. References †¢ Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Feminist Press, 1973. †¢ Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Women and Economics: A Study of the Economic Relation Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution Small, Maynard & Co. , 1898 †¢ O wens, E. Suzanne. â€Å"The Ghostly Double behind the Wallpaper in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper. ’† †¢ King, Jeannette and Pam Morris. â€Å"On Not Reading between the Lines: Models of Reading in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper. ’† Studies in Short Fiction 26. 1 (1989): 23-32. †¢ Johnson, Greg. â€Å"Gilman’s Gothic Allegory: Rage and Redemption in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper. ’† Studies in Short Fiction 26. 4 (1989):521-30.

A Study on the AIDS Epidemic

A Study on the AIDS Epidemic Afraid to Know the Truth AIDS is an extraordinary kind of crisis that is both an emergency and a long-term development issue. Despite increased funding, political commitment and progress in expanding treatment, the AIDS epidemic continues to outpace the global response. No region of the world has been spared. The epidemic remains extremely dynamic, growing and changing in character as the virus exploits new opportunities for transmission. The UNAIDS/WHO global overview of the AIDS/HIV epidemic has reported in the year 2003, almost five million people became newly infected with HIV, the greatest number in any one year since the beginning of the epidemic. At the global level, the number of people living with HIV continues to grow. In the year 2001 the number increased from 35 million to 38 million in 2003. In the same year almost 3 million people have died of AIDS; over 20 million have died since the first cases of AIDS were identified in 1981 (5).According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 850,000 to 950,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States one quarter of which are unaware of their infection (par.6).Based on these statistics it is an obvious fact that this is a growing problem which continues to get worse year after year. The AIDS epidemic has been established as not only a national problem, but just as well as an international problem. In 2003, young people (15-24) accounted for nearly half of all new infections of HIV worldwide; more than 6,000 became infected everyday (par.3). I become very dismayed to find out that the majority of people that are infected with this terminal disease are at the ages where many at this age go out in the world to make a life for themselves. But, because of lack of responsible actions they must live with this disease for the remainder of their lives. Even though there are many types of treatment for those infected with this disease and with treatment AIDS/HIV patients can live a lot longer than 20 years ago when the first cases of AIDS were identified, the fact still remains it is an incurable disease. The most vital factor that will have to come into play to make a significant difference in slowing down or possibly stopping this epidemic is prevention. But, despite the seriousness of this problem there are many factors that come into play that discourage steps in prevention.In my opinion, the two main barriers that get in the way of preventing further infections, adequate care and support and treatment to lessen the impact of HIV/AIDS are shame and apprehensive thoughts of being discriminated against. These two barriers can be set off by many factors. Many of which include the lack of understanding the disease, myths about how the disease is spread, prejudice and social fears. Thoughts of mortification and becoming filled with fear of being discriminated against can discourage many people from getting tested, contribute to them infecting others and prevent people who are infected from getting adequate treatment and care. Peoples positions in society could have a tendency of fueling shame, discrimination, and risky behavior. It seems that it is many times thought that members of a community who are viewed as living proper lives can not become infected with HIV/AIDS. Only those who do not have any morals and are promiscuous are the ones who go out and become infected. When the thought of only being viewed as living a proper life is set into an individuals head, it easily becomes linked together with apprehensive thoughts of being discriminated against. Individuals who become infected with HIV/AIDS may become fearful of how people will react to the news and may become afraid that they will look at them differently now. Because of this it makes people afraid to find out whether are not they have this disease mainly fear of others reactions. According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that one-third of Americans were concerned that people would think less of them if they found out they had b een tested for HIV (par.7).Another main factor that may lessen the impact of possible prevention of HIV/AIDS is that many think they are not at risk of contracting this disease. For example, people who come from a small community might see that a majority of people who contract this disease are in more urban populations. Because of these thoughts they may think the HIV/AIDS epidemic does not relate to them or their community. According to a new national survey 8 of 10 (80%) heterosexual adults say the number one reason why they do not get tested is that they do not consider themselves at risk of being infected with HIV, an indication that more HIV/AIDS prevention education is needed for heterosexuals (par.4). One possible solution to these many factors that get in way of prevention of this epidemic could be wider access to VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) it could lead to openness about HIV/AIDS and lessen fears of stigma and discrimination. If people could actually see individuals who have HIV/AIDS speak out about their infection it could then encourage others to come forward to get tested. If people who have been tested and have found out they had HIV/AIDS speak out before they become seriously ill, this could change the image of HIV/AIDS illness from suffering and death to living positively with the disease. HIV positive individuals involvement in activities that contribute to the reduction of the two main barriers of prevention; shame and fear of discrimination could be vital. People speaking out about living with HIV and how they are learning to cope could be one of the many steps that need to be taken to tackle these barriers. This can make people realize that HIV is part of their community and is not just omeone elses problem. A HIV negative individuals role in their community should not be undervalued. Friends and family who show support for an HIV positive individual could have an immense influence on others to show wider support for those who are infected.Just one action can not be taken to overcome these many barriers linked to the prevention of this epidemic. But, there are many things that could be done to overcome them. The fear of prejudice that lies at the core of HIV discrimination needs to be tackled at both community and national levels. A more compliant community needs to be established so there can be an increase of acceptance of HIV positive individuals and can be viewed as a normal part of society. Some may disagree with this; others may suggest that if HIV positive individuals are viewed as a normal part of society it could lead people to think it is acceptable to have HIV/AIDS and further precautions in protecting themselves from it may not be taken. I would suggest that every individual desires acceptance, but it depends on the situation that the person is in that would result in the amount of acceptance that could easily be given. In other words, it is hard to become accepted in society when acceptance is hard as it is to come by, and there is obvious discrimination that is linked to having this disease. Fear of being discriminated against is one of the main reasons why a person is afraid to find out whether or not they are a carrier of this disease. It is obvious that many people believe that contracting this disease is very unacceptable, and would not view it as being okay of contracting it.In conclusion, many people are afraid to know the truth in fear of how people will react and are worried that they will be looked at differently. Many are just afraid to find out the truth, because they may not be able to accept and deal with the reality of the truth appropriately. A CDC( center of disease control and prevention) study interviewed 2370 HIV-negative or untested people, 25% of those who were tested and 23% of those who delayed testing said the fear of a positive result was the main reason why they delayed t esting (par.2). The biggest step in stopping this epidemic before it continues to have an even bigger impact on the world is obviously prevention. People need to become more aware of the risks and must become more responsible in protecting themselves. A crucial factor that would help the prevention of this epidemic even more is getting tested. I must quote the infamous lines that are said in getting tested commercials that are frequently aired on MTV and VH1, Å“Knowing is Beautiful.

The Significance of Kafka's The City Coat of Arms Essay

The Significance of Kafka's The City Coat of Arms - Essay Example The essay "The Significance of Kafka's The City Coat of Arms" analyzes a short story "The City Coat of Arms" written by Franza Kafka. It unveils layers of concepts and phenomena. It is unimaginable yet brilliant how such a miniature of the textual piece may have such a broad range of interpretations. The significance of the story ‘The City Coat of Arms’ lies in the multitude of phenomena it touches upon ranging from a diversity of human existence to common purpose of living to even larger than life realities, and yet converging the ideas in a simple notion of creation which is the essence of human existence. In other words, the significance of the work of Kafka lies in the connotation and explanation of the idea of creation and further explaining how every individual in this world is indulged in the act of creating something. The idea centers around a diverse array of an issue like how humans are divided along a range of societal and other logistical identities. The stor y touches upon how when this diverse array of individuals are engaged in some common act, there are difficulties and differences, yet the common ground is reached at a point often by virtue of consensus. Also, the story talks about larger than life realities, for instance, the construction of the Tower of Babel is itself an extraordinary idea since its purpose is to reach heaven. This serves an immense philosophical purpose since various arguments about bureaucratic culture can be explained with the help of the ideas propagated in the story.

Beneficial Bacteria As Probiotics For HIV In Breastfeeding Children Essay

Beneficial Bacteria As Probiotics For HIV In Breastfeeding Children - Essay Example The first study reported in the article is by Ruth Connor and fellow workers whose objectives were to isolate the bacteria responsible for inhibition of HIV infectivity and to determine whether this ability (inhibition of HIV) was due to specific structural components of the bacteria such as the cell wall or instead the soluble chemical composition of the bacteria. The results of the study would prove or fail to prove the hypothetical basis that lactic acid bacteria in breast milk are responsible for the observed inhibition of transmission of the virus to the baby. To do this, the researchers tested 38 strains of different lactic acid bacteria present in the breast milk of healthy women against HIV-1. Heat-killed virus particles and soluble compounds were utilized to take care of the second objective. The results showed that all the strains tested had antiviral potential with the lowest inhibiting the virus by 6.7% while the highest inhibition was 55.5%. The heat-killed whole particl es were, however, more effective with 11 strains achieving an inhibition of 41% and above while only 6 strains of the soluble compounds were inhibitory of which only one strain achieved over 41% inhibition levels. The studies were done in vitro and the results confirm that lactic acid bacteria are indeed responsible for breast milk’s antiviral properties. The implication of the study results is the possibility of production of probiotics to augment maternal milk in maximizing inhibition of the virus. Tao's study, on the other hand, highlights the fact that in vitro inhibitions of only 30-50% are with high concentrations of the

Toyota. Background and Company History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Toyota. Background and Company History - Essay Example It enjoys a market share of about 45% in Japan alone. Cho was the executive officer who catapulted Toyota into its current state due to his hard work and determination. Cho derived management experience and skills from Taichi Ohno who was the founder of legendary Toyota Production System. Toyota is known to be producing numerous models of cars that ranging from Corolla, Lexus to the Scion xB (Bremner & Dawson, 2003). Toyota enjoys huge revenues and profits from various parts of the world. The company has thousands of employees across the world. The company’s success is attributed to the fact that they build on every challenge and maximize on every opportunity that comes across. Toyota has relaxed her flexes by being able to adapt to any positive change without being too rigid (Bremner & Dawson, 2003). The company has had booming sales across the globe especially in areas where they have bigger market shares. Toyota’s share in the U.S market is 11.2% where they made sale s of 1.94million and 756, 000 sales in Europe where they have market share of 4.4%. Toyota’s model leaders in North America are Lexus while in Europe the leading models are Yaris and new Avensis. In Southwest Asia, Toyota made sales of 268, 000 where their durable Qualis suv was a big hit in India. In Southeast Asia the company made sales 455, 000 where they assemble cars in seven countries with an intention of expanding their operations in Thailand and Indonesia. Some other markets where Toyota is doing exceptionally well are South America, Africa, China and Japan where they made sales of 97, 000, 140,000, 58, 000 and 1.68 million respectively (Bremner & Dawson, 2003). Cho’s positive attitude towards the company has seen it surviving amid fierce competition from other companies such as General Motors. He initiated adaptation of cost competitiveness in the 21st century that is currently used in the company. Frugality is an important aspect that has contributed to the s uccess of Toyota (Bremner & Dawson, 2003). Toyota usually minimizes cost of production in various ways such as reducing of prices on the major constituents of the new models by around 30%. The company concentrates on how to reduce wastage of time and money as much as possible. Also Toyota pays close attention to the customers’ demand as a way of coming up with car models that are consistent with what the customers want (Bremner & Dawson, 2003). Customer/Target market Toyota Company is working on better ways of enhancing their economy, market share and maintaining a sustainable and stable world market. As a tool of global expansion the company creates and invests in various strategies. The company tirelessly works on a number of strategies to enable it reach her set goals and objectives over a given period of time (Bremner & Dawson, 2003). Toyota enjoys a wide range of expertise assisting it in carrying out research and development which are essential in the growth of the glob al market. R&D has ensured high class delivery of products and services. The company also has an extensive array of distribution network globally that enables it to reach a bigger share of the market. Toyota’s customers are really diverse and they comprise of low income earners as well as high income earners who are widespread globally. The company successfully caters for the needs and wants of their customers by creating a wide range of motor vehicles stretching from small sports cars, vans, large family vehicles and trucks. The high class customers are provided with classy and elegance cars while the low income earners also enjoy an opportunity of having a basic mode of transportation which sufficiently satisfy their needs and income (Capon & Hulbert, 2007).Toyota enjoys a good share of North

Strategic HRM Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic HRM Plan - Essay Example While it is a part of Roche Pharmaceutical’s strategic plan to recruit talent from within, the market imperative of getting the best diversified talent available to make itself innovative and competitive will compel the company to get talent from outside the company. In today’s globalized market, the criteria for getting the best talent is not only limited to competencies such as education background, skills and experiences of its human resource but also includes its diversity. Diversity is desired in a globalized market of which Roche Pharmaceutical operates because it provides the necessary perspective for the company to survive and thrive in market conditions whose cultural orientation differ from region to another. While diversity is a desirable quality in its workforce, it is not however devoid of issues. The heterogeneity of the background and orientation of a diversified workforce could not also bring conflict and could be disruptive when it is not managed carefully. Among the common cultural issues that diversity could bring in an organization are; c) Stereotypes – lumping together or generalizing judgment against people or group of people especially when its assumption is wrong. This is a hindrance against inclusiveness for it communicates subtle hostility against the people or group of people being stereotyped. These cultural issues however can be overcome by a deliberate intent of reducing prejudices and use of stereotype in the organisation. This can be further removed by constantly developing and improving the human resource that would eventually removed myopic perspectives that typecast people which are the root of prejudice. Cultural orientation as part of training and job rotation that would allow employees to widen their exposure about their job and their co-workers will also help to eventually remove the issues that are associated with a diversified workforce. A concrete diversity program that is

STANLEY SPENCER ( OR WHATEVER THE WRITER FEELS IS RIGHT) Essay

STANLEY SPENCER ( OR WHATEVER THE WRITER FEELS IS RIGHT) - Essay Example The Lovers or The Dustman is an outstanding piece of work created by Stanley Spencer in 1934. The piece, which is owned by the Stanley Spencer Estate and is currently on display at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle Upon Tyne, is a richly detailed artwork with layers of meaning and depth. Looking at the piece one is drawn into it’s complexity and energy. The superficial experience brings a very defined view of village life. One sees by the nature of the organization of the figures the close knit comfort of those who actively engage in the lives of neighbors. The piece brings a sense of a chaotic moment in the lives of these villagers as they focus on a spectacle and one can see the beginnings of judgment and wonder on their faces. On closer inspection we see that the figures near the bottom are offering gifts of garbage which are according to a critical essay by Don Gray, â€Å"despite Spencers disavowal, ironic substitutes for gold, frankincense and myrrh, a fitting welcome to the new Christ by a non-believing, materialist age.† (Gray) The theme of The Lovers or The Dustman is the resurrection of common workers, specifically garbage men and dustmen. Spencer interpreted this piece by saying â€Å""...The joy of his (the dustmans) bliss is spiritual in his union with his wife who carries him in her arms and experiences the bliss of union with his corduroy trousers...They are gazed at by other reuniting wives of old laborers who are in ecstasy at the contemplation that they are reuniting and are about to enter their homes."(Gray) In this piece one can see a perspective of the female mind as they look on the reunion contemplating their own abilities to survive without these men in their lives. They have been â€Å"doing quite nicely without them thank you†, (Gray) as Gray puts it. One must wonder if this was influenced by Spencer’s relationship with Patricia Preece who was in turn involved in a

During the 1980s and early 1990s recessions, British manufacturing Essay

During the 1980s and early 1990s recessions, British manufacturing management restored profitability, sacked employees, and tra - Essay Example Britain, United States, and China are the most competing nations that have experienced economic recessions since the 1980s. The cause of the 1980 recession in Britain is believed to have been due to the government monetarist policies to reduce inflation; this led to an increase in unemployment rate from 5.3% to 124% of the working population in 1979 to11.9% in 1984. It took 18 quarters for the GDP to recover to the start of the recession. The early 1990s recession is attributed to the US savings and loan crisis, which led to a decrease of company earnings from 25%and 55% increase in unemployment rate from 6.9% of the working population in 1990 to 10.7% in 1993, which took 13 quarters for the GDP to recover to that at the start of the economic recession. The unemployment rate between the 1980s and 1990s shot up to a level not seen since the great depression this in turn affected Britain’s economy badly to the point that even after the recession, many Britons were still unemploy ed. This led to the stagnation of the industrial sector leading to increase in losses and low profit making affecting Britain’s economy. ... Very few people came to live in Britain during the reign of Thatcher. Acceptances for settlement went down from 69,670 in 1979 up to 53,200 people in 1990 the time Thatcher resigned as the prime minister. During this time of economic recession, there were many people leaving Britain than coming to Britain. This trend led to a decrease in the population of Britain. During the economic recession, there was an increase in divorce rate with many babies being born outside marriage. The rate of people getting married also decreased. In the 1980s, many businesses faced the challenge of restoring the spirit of competitiveness with the problems they experienced in the 1970s where British industrial sector was struggling with industrial relations, poor productivity, and low profitability (Haslam, Neale & Sukhdev, 2000). Under the reign of Thatcher, manufacturing decreased. During the 1970s, manufacturing accounted for 20.57% of the UK GDP. This dropped to 17.62% of GDP in 1979 and again droppe d to 15.18 % with the exit of Thatcher. There was a pay gap during her reign with men receiving more pay than women. On house rent, there was an increase of house rent across Britain especially with the privatization of counsel houses. This led to distress across Britain with many people being unemployed, retrenched, and underpaid. With low income, it forced some of the people to move out of Britain and reduced the number of those people who were coming to Britain. Interest rates also sky rocketed to 17% these affected investments in Britain discouraging investors from expanding their investments. Property repossession also increased. For instance, in 1991, 75,500 properties were repossessed and over 186,649 cases reached the court.

The Level of Empathy in Waste Land Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Level of Empathy in Waste Land - Essay Example The task of having to go through the process of capturing events on film without instigation to preserve objectivity is one that is an integral part of the entire process. At the same time, to be able to keep in mind that they are working with people yields the necessity of participating. The fact that Muniz was already involved and is in charge of the process gives the filmmakers the chance to encapsulate the interaction between the world-renowned Brazilian contemporary artist and his advocacy to help. As the director herself has pointed out, â€Å"There’s no limit to the responsibility you have as a documentary filmmaker to portray ordinary people. I think it’s fantastic that in the film, you see Vik arguing with his wife about whether to bring to London or not for the auction† (Steinberg, n.p.). This scene actually built the most tension and a thought-provoking one in fact as both sides have equally persuasive arguments. The level of empathy that was instilled throughout the documentary set out the emotional flow that enabled to send its message across. Near the end of the film, the audience sees Muniz in a pensive mood contemplating how his life could easily have been in the same direction as the garbage-pickers. â€Å"Vik Muniz diligently cleared a trail for himself, which he studied, expanded, and further elaborated, until gleefully setting a distinctive course for his work† (Amaral, par.2). This may have been the case but his life has been one of amazement from the cause which led him to New York to his success as a modern artist. Halfway through the film, any viewer would realize that the story is not about him and how he helped the poor people of Brazil. No, right after Isis’ posing for the camera one immediately realizes that there is more than charity that fuels it.

Hunger and eating Essay Example for Free

Hunger and eating Essay I remember a recent situation that involved my feeling of being in distress. This involved two reports that were due in two separate classes on the same day. One class required a written report and the other class was expecting an oral report. In addition, I had to run a couple of personal errands around town, including trips to the grocery and the pharmacy for my regular supply of items for the week. During that time that required full strategic management of my spare time when I was not in class, my car started making strange noises that was probably sending me a hint that it was time for me to visit the nearest car shop. To top that, my computer was also not cooperating with me, it would freeze every time I would open several windows and would take longer than usual to boot and reboot. In order for me to avoid freaking out over these multiple unforeseen and uncontrollable situations, I would run to the nearest cafeteria or coffee shop and grab a cup of coffee or a can of soda, and even match this with a bagel or a roll. I actually did not feeling any hunger pangs during those frequent trips to food stalls, but I need the chance to be able to â€Å"run away† from my problems for a while. That gave me the notion of freedom, in the sense that I could do something that I was not really expected to. At the same time, the motion of nursing on a cup of coffee or a can of soda kept my mind off thinking of the impending doom that awaits me in the classroom, when I turn in my haphazardly written report or when I start talking in front of my class to present my oral report. In addition, my short breaks from the reality that I have too much on my plate provided me a chance to temporarily forget, or on a more serious tone, deny that I was experiencing problems that could affect my performance in the coming few days. Another reason why I would drank and ate more frequently during stressful situations is that I also thought that most of my time will be consumed by running around town and trying to resolve technical issues of my car and computer. In addition, I would also need time to sit down, read, write and prepare for the two reports that are due soon. My short frequent visits to the cafeteria, fast food restaurants and vending machines would provide me assurance that I will not feel hungry while I work on my multiple tasks. So I was eating just to let my body know that I can not feel hungry later because I will be very busy working on multiple tasks. My recent behavior during that stressful time typifies several motivational theories that are associated with hunger and eating. I knew that my body will need nourishment sometime during the day for simple biological reasons, but I decided to feed myself or eat even when I was not hungry because I wanted to get the activity of eating a meal over with, so I had more time to work on my tasks. Eating right at that moment would also provide me a chance to concentrate on my two reports for a longer duration of time. Such mindset is based on a cognitive motivational approach to eating. There are also times when I would munch on a donut during study sessions with my classmates. I wasn’t really hungry at that time (Herman and Polivy, 1984), but I felt that I should eat with them so that I could fit into the group. We were all studying and reviewing our notes and textbooks, hence I felt like I belonged to the group. And since all of them are eating donuts that were brought in by a fellow classmate, I thought that it was the right thing to join in and act the way the rest of the group was acting. It is interesting to look back at those recent events when I always had either a cup or a can of some drink in my hand. The drink also served as a safety blanket for me (Schachter, 1971), a constant reminder that things are still near-normal because I could still go around will a drink, even if I really knew that I should have been literally running around to finish all my tasks. I think that after this essay, I will have a better control of my behavior, even if there are so many expectations from me in class and at home. I now understand that there are several motivating reasons that set an individual to eat. I am glad that I have not gained a significant amount of weight after that recent event (Jequier and Tappy, 1999; Weisell, 2002), and I think I am now ready for face the next difficult school week. References Herman, CP and Polivy, J (1984): A boundary model for the regulation of eating. In: Stunkard AJ and Stellar E, eds. Eating and Its Disorders. New York: Raven Press. Jequier, E and Tappy L (1999): Regulation of body weight in humans. Physiol. Rev. 99(2):451-80. Schachter, S. (1971): Emotion, Obesity, and Crime. New York: Academic Press. Weisell, RC (2002): Body mass index as an indicator of obesity. Asia Pac. J. Clin. Nutr. 11:S681-S684.

Personal Experience that Changed my Life Essay Example for Free

Personal Experience that Changed my Life Essay America may be experiencing the worst financial crisis this year. People may worry about losing jobs and missing opportunities for bigger earnings. But at age eighteen and fresh from high school graduation, I am all hopes and all set to start the best years of my life. Just a few years back, I was enjoying the comforts of home in Wooster, Ohio, simply unconcerned about my future. My parents were worried about my lagging interests so they decided to send me to a boarding school in Ashtabula called Grand River Academy. The school was noted for its effective programs built especially for struggling students. My parents’ decision was not in vain. I blended so easily in my boarding school and felt at home. I was smoothly able to realign my perspectives and developed the motivation to accomplish many things. Grand River Academy provided just the right push that I needed. While in the academy I developed computer skills and vast knowledge in computer networking. Soon an unexpected opportunity came that changed my destiny. Read more:Â  An Experience That Changed My Life The director of Grand River Academy offered me a workload in one of the special projects for community extension. The project aimed to develop a computer system for the school specifically for the programs involving the school’s beneficiary communities. I was tapped to be part of the team to develop the system. For the first time I was depended on and trusted that I could make a difference for the academy. It was an experience that changed me and made my vision of the future clearer and attainable. The high school project experience was significant to earn me a $6,000 scholarship and college admission into one of the best universities in the country: Ashland University in Ohio. It is a dream-come-true for me. I give special gratitude to the Grand River Academy community for my ample preparations and being part of my achievements. Participating in the project team earned me this scholarship privilege and the key to my college education. No amount of financial crisis or global recessions can stop me now because I am determined to succeed.

Indian Biscuit Market: Segmentation and Customer Analysis

Indian Biscuit Market: Segmentation and Customer Analysis For an effective and efficient segmentation, however, a mix of all of these above mentioned parameters have to be used. Extending the above concept of basis of segmentation, the criteria of segmentation across different conditions is naturally different. For example, for the general understanding of a market, one should keep in mind the benefits sought, product purchase and usage patterns, needs, brand loyalty and switching patterns On the other hand, for positioning studies, product usage, product preference have to be taken into account. On one hand, incase of advertising decisions, when media usage and psychographic /lifestyle is considered seriously, on the other hand for distribution decisions, store loyalty and patronage clubbed with benefits sought in store selection is contemplated over. Also, it has been often concluded that the segment profitability is affected by five principal factors : Industry Competitors and the threat of segment rivalry Potential entrants to the market and the threat of mobility The threat of substitute products Buyers and their relative power Suppliers and their relative power Last but not the least, to decide on segmentation, a knowledge of following five patterns of market coverage is important . They are :- Single segment concentration, selective specialisation, product specialisation, market specialisation, full market coverage. PROMOTION :- For any promotion strategy to be successful, it is primarily important that the flow of thought process behind it be understood. A Marketing Plan is essentially a mix of Product, Place, Price, Promotion, physical evidence and Process Management . This Marketing Plan is a derivative of Marketing strategies and objectives, which is in turn derived from Corporate Objectives. And on an overall level, all of these are derived from the Final Corporate Strategy . Amongst these, the Promotion mix consists of a wide variety of selling tactics like Product Placement, Advertising and advertorials, Packaging, Personal Selling, P.O.S., Publicity .Sponsorship, Sales Promotion, Exhibitions, E-Mails, Text messaging etc. While developing the communications Plan, the following points have to be kept in mind by a Marketer :- The nature and detail of the target audience. The Short-term and Long-term communication objectives The messages that are to be used The Communication channels that will carry the message The Budget The Mix of communication tools that is to be used and how the elements of the promotion mix are to be integrated and how, in turn, the promotions mix is to be integrated with the marketing mix. The measure of the ROI of the campaign. Apart from the above mentioned, approaching the customer in a Integrated Marketing Communication Channel is the most effective. i.e. by achieving a higher level of integration between the individual elements of the communication mix, the planner should achieve a greater degree of clarity and consistency, with the result that there will then be a seamless integration of messages and a broader reach . Brand Management A fundamental element of any product strategy is the role played by the brand. Brands are designed to enable customers to identify products or services that promise specific benefits. As such they are a form of shorthand in that they create a set of expectations in the mind of customers about purpose, performance, quality and price. This in turn allows the strategists to build added value into products and to differentiate them from competitors. To be truly effective, a brand strategy has to develop over time and reflect environmental conditions. There is therefore a need from brand development, the key elements of which involve a detailed understanding of: Current perceptions of the brand amongst customers and the trade The expectations of both customers and the trade The strengths and weakness of each brand within the portfolio The value of each of the brands The links that exist between the different brands owned and the nature and significance of any overlaps and gaps The dangers of brand cannibalization When and where new brand names need to be developed The opportunity for brand stretching Probable competitor moves The starting point for this involves analysing the brand in order to understand detail what it means to customer and how much it is worth. In doing this, the strategist needs to identify the core values, the scope that exists for extending the brand name into other product or market sectors, and the areas that must be avoided at all costs. Developing a brand strategy For many organisations, branding is a fundamental element of the product strategy and provides the basis for a consumer franchise that, if managed effectively, allows for greater marketing flexibility and a higher degree of consumer loyalty. However, it needs to be recognised that branding involves a great deal more than simply putting a name on a package. Instead it is about creating, maintaining and proactively developing perceived customer value, it is only in this way that the organisation is able to promise and continue to deliver to the consumer a superior value than that offered by competitors. It follows from this that any brand strategy is, of necessity, a long term process that involves an investment in and commitment to the development of the brand over time. This long term perspective involves the dovetailing of a number of issues, but in essence can be seen to be concerned with the two principal issue that emerge from the discussion above 1. Where the brand is currently and how it is perceived 2. How the brand is to be perceived in three, five and ten years time, and how this might best be achieved. With regard to the first of these, the starting point for any brand strategy involves identifying: The brands current market positioning Competitors positioning strategies and resource bases The way in which the market is likely to develop, and the implications of product, brand and market life cycles Customers perception of the portfolio of brands in the market Customers expectations and the extent to which these are being met both by the brand and its competitors Levels of customer loyalty across the market The financial, managerial and operational that can be called in managing a brand The bases for competition The relative importance of the brand to the organisation Managerial expectations of the brand It is only against this background that the strategist is able to develop a vision for the brand. Finally in developing the brand strategy, the planner needs to give consideration to a series of financial issues, including the margins and contribution that the brand is required to generate in both the short and the long term, and the levels of investment that the brand needs if it is to achieve the objectives set. Consumer Behaviour From the viewpoint of the marketing planner, the mix of cultural, social, personal and psychological factors that influence behaviour is largely non-controllable. Because of the influence they exert upon patterns of buying, it is essential that as much effort as possible is put into understanding how they interact and ultimately, how they influence purchase behaviour. in doing this, it is important not to lose sight of the differences that exist between customers and consumers, and the implications of these differences for strategy. Against the background of an understanding of the factors influencing motivation, the marketing strategists needs them to consider the influence of perception, since it is the way in which motivated individuals perceive a given situation that determines precisely how they will behave. Consumer is at the centre of all decision making in an organisation. The linkage of the consumer to other aspects is shown in the following diagram. We can see that on the left, the consumer interacts through his perception, understanding (cognition), beliefs and social influences. These aspects determine the behaviour of the consumer. The search for this behaviour is through market research and insight mining. The market Research gives fodder for the strategy to be formulated. MARKSTRAT SUMMARY Before entering any market, it is important to understand what the market stands for, the kind of products in the market, the competitors that the company will face and various external and internal factors that will play a crucial role in making decisions after every quarter/period. The Industry Cheetah has 6 players in the Market namely A, E, I, O, U, Y. After the initial feelers of the whole simulation, it was evident that we would have to focus on certain key areas and others would be on low priority. The key-focus areas that were decided were :- Philosophy, Guiding Principals and Organization Product Portfolio Research Development Advertising and Sales Force Decisions Pricing Effects Competitor Dynamics New Product Launches Production Planning and Inventory Management Financial Focus After setting the above agenda, the next step was to decide what needs to be done in the first period. The single point agenda in this case was to enter the Sonite market while keeping away from the Vodite market . The logic behind this was that to, make Vheetah Y the Stock price leader clubbed with highest ROI. A snapshot of results varying across different periods are as follows :- Base (period 0): 1000 Period 11 (End): 1687 Highest: 2485 (Period 6 End) Lowest: 1000 (base) Highest Stock Price in Industry: 3244 (Cpny. I) Some of the pertinent stock prices Index observations over the periods were :- SPI increased by 68.7% after 11 periods compared to base value. A very encouraging positive growth was seen from Period 0 to Period 6 (138.9% growth from Period 0 to Period 6) On the Contrary there was a continuous decrease in SPI from Period 7 to 11 (32.11% decline in Period 7 to period 11). The high-point of the SPI game was that at the end of Period 6, Cheetah Y was the market leader in terms of SPI. A company vs Company comparison of SPI shows the following results :- The next focus shifted to pushing the Product through Sales and advertising .The logic behind our heavy Advertising Budget was that there was no point in having a perfect product if the target market does not know about it. A fine balance of quality and quantity does the trick.Down the line, Cheetah Y also realised that it is wisest to allocate the money to the products with the highest Return on Investment. Also, from a strategic point of view, it makes a lot of sense to be opportunistic and increase the advertising money when the competitors are squeezed for money . In this regard, the most important function is Competitive Advertising which defines a product (in this case SYGU and SYCA) against what its communication dimensions and message quality are. Initially, the dimensions Economy and Performance and Performance and Convenience fared pretty badly . But towards Period 7 (from Period 3 to Period 7), it reached the message Quality Excellent. Parallely, in the Vodite Market, the product VYLE on the communication dimension Economy Felxibility it scored a message quality of Excellent. A combined overview of how the sales department fared for Cheetah Y is given below. Also, it gives the insight into what cheetah Y fared vis-a-vis competitors and current market scenario. Base (Period 0): (a) Sales Volume: 167.53 Kilo Units (b) Revenue: K$ 48659.3 Million Period 11 (End): (a) Cumulative Sales Volume: 539.60 Kilo Units (b) Cumulative Revenues: K$ 1463564.9 Million Highest Sales in any Period (Units): 788.4 (Period 7 End) Highest Sales in any Period (Revenue): K$ 193776 (Period 7 End) Lowest Sales in any period (Units): Base Lowest Sales in any Period (Value): Base Highest Cumulative Sales (revenue) in industry after 11 periods: K$ 1949822 (Company I) (A snapshot of Sales Volume across all the competitors) After investing in adequate sales force across Speciality Stores, Department stores and Mass Merchandise, the next logical step was to analyse the Market Share after each period. Some of the key highlights in case of market share were :- Market Share at Period 11 (End): 7.03% Highest: 28.35% (Period 5 End) Lowest: 7.03% (Period 11 End) Highest Market Share in Industry (Period 11 end): 38.88% (Company U) The broad strategy to achieve the initially set agenda is that first we enter the Cheetah market with minimum number of products, and with zero product in the Vodite Market. Also, offering the same product across multiple segments enhanced the revenue base. There was an overall increased emphasis on targeted advertising to increase brand awareness. The Pricing strategy also worked in this direction, i.e offer the product at a cheaper price than the competitors (even when the product is superior) . But as dynamic as our market strategies, even the Market threw up a lot of surprises. There were the constantly changing consumer needs, aggressive product development of competition, large disparity in growth rates in different segments of the two markets. Thus a snapshot of the strategies pursued are given below, vis-a-vis what actions were taken . Thus, from the above describes strategies pursued and an analysis of their results, the following lessons were learnt : Offer customized products to each segment in the market Keep track of changing consumer needs; modify products accordingly If the product is not performing well, remove from market Pay emphasis to RD Observe competition and their strategy; tweak strategy suitably Advertising spend does not necessarily lead to greater sales Lowering price will not improve sales even in a price sensitive segment Possible Applications of the learnings :- There is space for growth for additional brands in the customer segments of Buffs and Singles as the entire market is concentrated in just a couple of players. A well positioned and well priced brand definitely has a lot of promise in these segments. We need keep a tap on ideal value evolution of the physical characteristics or dimensions. Continuous re-evaluation and modification of existing brands like SYGU and SYCA should be done and marketing and advertising efforts should be employed keeping the changes in mind. The position of SYGU brand needs to be questioned and, if need be, repositioned with a modified RD project. A product/brand catering exclusively to the Followers segment in the Vodite should be launched with the desired physical characteristics. Need to define the space for competition so that maximum efforts can be employed there with minimal overlap and wastage with any concurrent efforts for any other brand of the company a case in point is Company I which has excellently defined brands in each of the customer segments of Singles, others and followers. Need to use the MDS and SEMANTIC scales more precisely for setting advertising objectives for SYGU and SYCA. COMPANY STRATEGY :- Biscuit industry is the third largest producer and fastest growing industry in FMCG sector.Its Estimated Value is approximately Rs 5000 Crore. It forms a part of the Organized sector: 60% (approximately). Major Segments in which it operates are Glucose, Marie, Cream, Crackers, Milk. Major Brands in the industry right now are : Britannia, ITC, Parle, Priyagold, Dukes etc COMPANY OVERVIEW :- Britannia is Indias second largest food company with Sales close to Rs. 20 billion. Over the years it has shown a Consistent annual growth rate of 15-20% . It Sources products from more than 50 factories spread across the country. Key product lines include Biscuits, Bread, Cakes and Rusk .Product range serves to the whole spectrum from mass market to the premium segment . FINANCIAL ANALYSIS :- An indepth analysis of past few years shows that the Gross sales increased to Rs 2317.11 Cr in 2006-07 indicating a growth of 28% . Britannias Profits declined by 33% due to increase in input prices and stiff competition (like Parle, itc, Priya ). An interesting trend showed that Dividends of the order 100-150% were provided for the past 5 years. Although Britannia followed the industry growth rate for the past 3-4 years, the profit margin followed a zigzag pattern. But owing to Inflation, Costs have increased significantly on the production as well as on selling front. Company has very small debt and its Debt-Equity ratio is 0.01. Company is maintaining good debt rating for future requirements.PBITDM (Profit Before Interest Tax Depreciation Margin) expressed as a percentage of Sales is 6.58.ROE is at a healthy Rate of 21.14% .Current ratio has been improving over the years and hence the solvency position of the company. COMPETITIVE ANLAYSIS :- (Marketing Mix of Britannia ) PRICING :- On the basis of price, the biscuit market can be segmented into the following: Low Range Biscuits (less than Rs 40 per kg.) Medium Range Biscuits (Rs. 40-70 per kg.) High Range Biscuits (over Rs.70 per kg.) Britannia caters to the upper middle and high end of the market with a touch of premium to it. On the price quality matrix, Good Day biscuits can be classified as following a High-Value strategy. PROMOTION :- Britannia has engaged into various Integrated Marketing Communciation activities some of the more prominent ones are mentioned as follows. Since Consumers are becoming more health conscious Swasth Khao Tan Man Jagao (Eat Healthy, Think Better) campaign directly addressed this new trend (Tiger Biscuits). A new logo was created encapsulating the core essence of Britannia healthy, nutritious and optimistic. Good Day is positioned as a healthy and nutritious product and it advocates values that stand for health, hygiene, family, trust and taste. Since events form a major chunk of the Brand visibility agenda, Britannia sponsors a lot of Sports and sporting events as key channel for promotions. One of the majorly acclaimed campaigns of Britannia is Britannia khao, World Cup jao campaign in 1999 and 2003 and was awarded the most recognized sales promotion among all Cricket World Cup-related sales activity SEGMENTATION AND CUSTOMER ANALYSIS :- Before delving deep into Segmentation Targeting and Positioning, it is important to identify what the Key information areas are, specially the Demographic profile of the consumer on the parameters age, sex, income level and occupation. Some of the personal characteristics of consumers include the identification of When do customer consume biscuits, Type of biscuits consumed, Where do the customer purchase, Purpose of buying (personal consumption, gifting, serving guests), How much do consumers spend on biscuits, Factors Affecting the buying decision, order of preference etc. Different products will have different target group depending on the above mentioned factor. Though a Good-day would appeal to the consumers as a mid-range biscuit, a further extension of that product called Good-day Choco-nut falls in the category of High-end biscuits. RD :- Qualitative Research includes an in-depth analysis of the consumer needs and wants and for this, a wide variety of tool may be used. For ex ample, FGDS with a set of consumers to identify major factors influencing the purchase decision of biscuits (and Interacting with friends and family Quantitative Research Customer survey using questionnaire.Survey done through both face to face interviews as well as online. Tools Used are Factor Analysis, Cluster Analysis and Fishbein analysis . Consumer Behavior and MARKET RESEARCH IN CHEETAH Y Market Research forms the basis of almost all of the strategically important decisions that a Company makes over a period of time. Consumer psyche, Brand perceptions, Buying behaviours, Priority or preferences, all of these form the building blocks of information, on the basis of which a decision maker even goes to the extent of changing the very core proposition of a Brand ! BRAND AWARENESS :- To understand the awareness level of brands across our own company Cheetah Y and across competitors, it is important to have a comparative analysis. This has been made possible by Consumer Survey on brand Awareness Segment by Segment . The report delves deep into what exactly is the level of brand knowledge amongst the following segments :- Buffs, Singles, Pros, HiEarners and Others. Initially when the game began, the product SYGU occupied highest mindspace share amongst Singles while the product SYCA occupied highest mindspace amongst Pros. At the end of all 12 periods, SYGU continued to occupy the highest share amongst Singles while also capturing a significantly high percentage amongst Buffs. On the Contrary, the mindspace percentage of SYCA increased excessively for Buffs and Hiearners.Also one more product SYCO was introduced which managed to gain the highest mindspace . This helped in taking proper measures to increase brand awareness amongst the desired segm ent and helped in understanding the impact of increasing advertising expenditure . The next logical step after studying the Brand awareness is to find out that how much of it is actually getting converted into Purchase. To study the Purchase intentions, the report Consumer Survey-purchase Intentions is the apt report. Here we inferred that purchase intention for SYGU was the highest amongst the Singles, which is in sync with the level of Brand awareness amongst them. Also the purchase intention for SYCA was highest amongst the Hiearners which is again in sync with the Brand awareness.IF we analyse the trend across 12 periods, we notice that there is a visible trend reversal i.e. SYGU purchase intention was highest amongst the segment Others while incase of SYCA, the PROS showed the highest purchase intentions . This can be attributed to the fact that a lot of investment was made in the Advertising research and hence overall advertising budget which increased the brand awareness and purchase intention considerably. BUYING BEHAVIOR of consumers :- So where exactly are Cheetah Ys target audience buying from ! This is important to understand because it helped us plan the salesforce and distribute the salesforce accordingly amongst the Speciality stores, Departmental stores and Mass merchandise stores. At the start of period 1, Buffs were mostly buying from Speciality stores, Singles were mostly buying from speciality and Departmental stores while 50% professionals were buying from Speciality stores.High earners preferred to buy through Departmental stores. However, after understanding the buying behaviour, appropriate salesforce was installed in each of these store types. Hence after period 12, singles ended up buying equally from Speciality, Departmental stores and mass Merchandise stores. The result of all the efforts and budget put into Marketing has a direct impact on the market share and stock prices. In this regard, the Report Consumer Panel- Market Shares based on Unit Sales provide the perfect insight into the market share distribution of the two products amongst Buffs, Singles, pros, Hiearners and others. In the Period 1, the highest share of revenue for SYGU was coming from Singles, while highest share of revenue for SYCA was coming from Hiearners (this is in sync with the BRAND AWARENESS report). However, down the line after 11 periods, the highest share of revenue for SYGU was coming from Others while major revenue contributors for SYCA was the segment pros. Since the brand awareness for the product SYCO was low, this duely reflected in in share of revenue being almost nil from each of the segments. After understanding the current scenario and facts and figures related to Brand awareness and Brand purchase intentions, it becomes imperative to do an apt amount of Advertising Research and an estimate of Competitive advertising. The Market research report tells us that initially all the products in the Sonite Market had a rating of poor against the various communication dimensions, except SULI . But over a period of 12 periods, while the communication dimensions and ratings and its corresponding ratings for all the products (and companies) changed, the ratings for SYGU AND SYCA remained poor and only SYCO got a message quality of Good. This can be analysed through the fact that though investment in advertising was being made, simultaneously the changes in the parameters Design, Power, Weight etc through RD was not made. This resulted in a mismatch between the product quality and what is being advertised, hence resulting in poor message quality.

Essay --

Animal testing is a very controversial topic, especially among animal rights activists. Unsually, animal testing is used to test pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and many other products that humans use in their everyday life. Scientists use animals in medical research more as a matter of tradition, as opposed to the fact that testing on animals has proved to fail time after time again. Animal testing has proved to be less accurate and unsuccessful in comparison to other means of testing and experimentation. There is a growing awareness to the limitations of animal research and its inability to be a reliable source of predictions about human health. Reasons on why and how animal research is wrong, and unpredictable are endless, animal studies do not predict human outcome, nine out of ten drugs that appear to be promising in animal research later goes on to fail in human trials, as well animal studies are flawed by design and lacks regulation. Many scientists have come to the conclusion t hat animal testing is very outdated, and should be starting to consider modern ways of testing. They believe that our generation should be looking to the future and creating computer programs, this has many benefits; such as not having to wait as long for a result, and is much more cost effective. Animal studies do not predict human outcome for many reasons. There are obvious and subtle differences between humans and animals, whether it is appearance, the way the body operates, anatomy, and even mental differences. The two species are on completely different end of the spectrum in comparison to how the body works. Taking a healthy animal, artificially inseminating an illness that most animals would never normally get, keeping it in an unnatural and st... ...nimal testing. There are laws which give a simple guide line, but they are so general and broad that they can easily be worked around. Any experiment performed on rodents, reptiles, birds, or fish are not required by law to be reported, this means that it is even more likely for these experiments to involve unnecessary cruelty. Many of the animals used for lab testing are the dogs and cats that many of us keep as pets, and the same ones who eventually love us unconditionally, even sometimes more than they love their selves. Animal testing should be banned for no other reason than the fact that few of us would never volunteer our cats, dogs, or any other pet to a life as a lab subject . It has been proved that there are different more effective ways of testing whether or not a product can be safely used for the use of human consumption without using animals.

Acquired Immune Difficiency Syndrome :: essays research papers

Acquired Immune Difficiency Syndrome AIDS is a life and death issue. To have the AIDS diseas is at present a sentence of slow but inevitable death. I've already lost one friend to AIDS. I may soon lose others. My own sexual behavior and that of many of my friends has been profoundly altered by it. In my part of the country, one man in10 may already be carrying the AIDS virus. While the figures may currently be less in much of the rest of the country, this is changing rapidly. There currently is neither a cure, nor even an effective treatment, and no vaccine either. But there are things that have been PROVEN immensely effective in slowing the spread of this hideously lethal disease. In this essay I hope to present this information. History and Overview AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Defficiency Disease. It is caused by a virus. The disease originated somewhere in Africa about 20 years ago. There it first appeared as a mysterious ailment afflicting primarily heterosexuals of both sexes. It probably was spread especially fast by primarily female prostitutes there. AIDS has already become a crisis of STAGGERING proportions in parts of Africa. In Zaire, it is estimated that over twenty percent of the adults currently carry the virus. That figure is increasing. And what occurred there will, if no cure is found, most likely occur here among heterosexual folks. AIDS was first seen as a disease of gay males in this country. This was a result of the fact that gay males in this culture in the days before AIDS had an average of 200 to 400 new sexual contacts per year. This figure was much higher than common practice among heterosexual (straight) men or women. In addition, it turned out that rectal sex was a particularly effective way to transmit the disease, and rectal sex is a common practice among gay males. For these reasons, the disease spread in the gay male population of this country immensely more quickly than in other populations. It became to be thought of as a "gay disease". Because the disease is spread primarily by exposure of ones blood to infected blood or semen, I.V. drug addicts who shared needles also soon were identified as an affected group. As the AIDS epidemic began to affect increasingly large fractions of those two populations (gay males and IV drug abusers), many of the rest of this society looked on smugly, for both populations tended to be despised by the "mainstream" of society here. But AIDS is also spread by heterosexual sex. In addition, it

San Implementation Essay -- essays research papers fc

SAN implementation over Gigabit Ethernet A Storage Area Network is virtualized storage. A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated, centrally managed, secure information infrastructure, which enables any-to-any interconnection of servers and storage systems. A SAN can be configured to provide a nearly infinite pool of storage that you can grow and move between servers as they need it. The storage can be added to and removed without requiring the server to be rebooted. The services provided by the server continue to operate without interruption. The primary purpose for implementing a SAN is to provide a large storage pool that multiple hosts could access. Common storage configurations involve direct attachment of storage to a host. This storage is only available for use by that host. If there were another host that needed storage, you would need to buy additional storage to install on that host. The host with excess capacity would not be able to share its storage with another host. In a SAN, all networked devices share storage capacity as peer resources; they are not the exclusive property of any one server. You can use a SAN to connect servers to storage, Servers to each other, and storage to storage through hubs or switches. A SAN carries only I/O traffic between servers and doesn’t carry any general-purpose traffic such as e-mail. Storage area networks remove data traffic, like backup processes, from the production network giving IT managers a strategic way to improve system performance and application availability. As SAN technology develops, it is growing beyond the use of any one kind of technology. A SAN can be configured to use a number of protocols such as IP or Fibre Channel over a network medium like Ethernet or ATM. FC over Ethernet supports up to 1.06 Mbps. Emerging standards that are still being defined include Gigabyte System Network(GSN) which promises full-duplex 6.4 Mbps over a 40 meter copper cable. Storage area networks improve data access. Using Fibre Channel connections, SANs provide the high-speed network communications and distance needed by remote workstations and servers to easily access shared data storage pools. IT managers can more easily centralize management of their storage systems and consolidate backups, increasing overall system efficiency. The increased distances provided by Fibre Channel technology make it easier to ... ... all of your different hosts and handle the conversion and routing of data between the servers and their virtual disks. The phrase SAN implementation over Gigabit Ethernet is a misnomer. You are using FC or SCSI disks at all times. The SAN is implemented using the common Fibre Channel or SCSI technology. The hosts however would use a variety of methods to attach to the storage pool. The usual connection methods try to avoid introducing bottlenecks between the server and the storage pool. If you combine the different links from the servers together over a 1000Base switch, you would make better use of the available bandwidth to the storage. Using Gigabit Ethernet in this way makes for an excellent low-cost connection to storage resources. Since many customers already have a Ethernet network in place the additional cost of the GSN capable switch is the only additional cost. Once the switch is attached to the SAN, the benefits of a SAN solution can be pushed out to more client computers in the company. Bibliography http://www.zdnet.com/eweek/reviews/1201/01gig.html#Reference http://www.iol.unh.edu/consortiums/ge/index.html http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/729/gigabit/index.shtml

Ethical Standards of Mental Health Essay

The contents of all therapy sessions, whether verbal information or written records, should be considered confidential. Therefore, this information should not be passed on to a third party without the written consent of a client nor is legal guardian. However some exceptions are made for certain situations. The state law provides that mental health professions should report the following situations to the necessary person or agencies. Duty to warn the protect A client may disclose his intentions to harm another person to a mental health profession. In this case the mental health professional must warn the supposed victim and report the plan to the authorities. If a client discloses his intentions to commit suicide, mental health professions should inform the authorities and the family members of the client. (2. b. ). Abuse of children and vulnerable adults Health care professions are required to notify the legal authorities and the social service agencies, if a client discloses that he has been abusing a child or vulnerable adult or intents to abuse them. Prenatal exposure to controlled substances. Read more:Â  Essay About Mental Well-being Health care services should report cases of admitted prenatal exposure to abusive and controlled substances that are potentially harmful. In the events of clients death When the client is declared dead, their spouses or parents have the right to access their records. Minorsguardianship The guardians or parents of a non emancipated minor client have the right to access the client’s records. Profession misconduct Health care professionals are required to report, cases of profession misconduct by the other health care professionals. During meetings of professional disciplinary, records of the profession actions should be released so as to substantiate disciplinary concerns. Insurance providers Sometimes insurance companies may require information concerning the client’s services especially, treatments plans, types of services offered and the case notes. (2. b. ). Ethics and Laws Related to Mental Health Record keeping Mental health professionals are required to keep records in a secure place and to protect the client’s confidentiality. Failure of the health care professionals could resent to malpractices claims because it breaches the standard of the care that is expected of a mental health professionals laws and ethics that governing record keeping may include; when a patient is admitted in the hospital, there complete medical record should be made available at all times. These documents should reflect the patient’s continuum of case. Medical records should include entries that are made by individual health care professions. These entries must be made immediately after the event as taken place to avoid disputes. The entries made by the health care profession must be legible and consist of the authors and signature and the patient details. Every record made must state the doctor who was responsible for making decisions of the time of the care event. Health care professionals create; control, store and dispose of records concerning their professional work so as to facilitate the provision of services meet institutional requirements and ensure accuracy of billing and payments. Social workers must take reasonable moves to ensure that the entries in medical records are accurate and reflect on the kind of services provided. 2. c. ). The confidentiality of children Children are deemed to consent to their own treatment if they arte capable. The law states that a capable child is one who understands the need for medical treatment, what the treatment entails the benefits and risks of the treatment. Doctors can treat children without the permission of parents or guardians. If they explain all the details and decide that the child understands them. There is no particular age at which a child is deemed capable. Doctors should use their judgments to make the decision. The medical treatment for children can be kept confidential from their parents if t concerns birth control, sexually transmitted diseases and mental health problems. (2. d. ). Multicultural competence Multicultural competence has been expressed as the appreciation of different cultures in regard to education and psychology multicultural competence is the awareness, knowledge, and skills that enable people to interact respectfully with people from different backgrounds and values. Multicultural competence ensures that people have the ability to work effectively and ethically with people from different cultures. Multicultural knowledge is evident when an individual has a clear understanding of other cultures that are different from their own. Individuals who are multiculturally competent should have an informed understanding of the history, practices, traditions and values of other cultures. Multicultural awareness requires that one be fully aware of how the attitudes, values and beliefs of people interact with others who are culturally different from them. Culturally competent individuals should be able to interact successfully and effectively with people who have different beliefs, values and traditions to them. Multicultural skills refer to skills that are used by individual to interact successfully and effectively with people who have a different cultural background from their own. Multicultural competences arise from an individual motivation to develop skills and believe in certain manner, mainly derived from our personal characteristics and from institutions and organizational backgrounds in which we develop. Multicultural competence is therefore seen as a contribution of both organizations and individual’s efforts. How to promote ethical treatment of diverse populations Today our society has evolved into a culturally diverse society and thus multicultural education and training is very crucial. Our training systems should address the problems of the world as a whole to allow students have a better understanding of actions taken by a certain state should be viewed in terms of how they implicate on other states as well. The monocultural nature of training should be abolished from the training of professional counselors. They should be educated on both multicultural and cross-cultural issues. This way, they will be able to recognize that race, ethnicity and culture are functions of each individual. Usually, the traditional counseling techniques used were only applied to the minority groups. Counseling professionals should be trained to recognize that the client and the therapist are highly linked to historical and current experiences of oppression and racism. As a result, the counselor, client and the counseling process are more likely to be influenced by racial relations in the larger society. Counseling professionals should therefore be trained to offer equal opportunities to services and equal judgments. Ethical provisions require that professionals who have no adequate training in working with clients from different cultural backgrounds should not be allowed to work with clients. This is because they are unethical and could be potentially harmful to clients due to irrational thinking and judgments. Quite openly, the white culture is seen as a dominant culture and thus counselors who are biased by this are likely to cause negative effects on the clients. Therefore counseling professionals must become culturally aware, so as to have a better understanding of their own conditions, those of their clients and their socio-political system in which they both belong. Counseling professionals should understand the world view of each culturally different client. Counselors should be skilled in the sense that they must familiarize themselves wit h he relevant research and latest findings regarding mental disorders of different ethnic and racial groups. They should become more involved with minority groups outside the counseling settings as to broaden their perspectives of the minorities. Clinician’s duty to warn Medical health professionals have a legal and ethical duty of keeping confidential their communications with their patients. A clinicians duty to warn and protect states that if a client discloses his intentions to harm another person to a medical health professional, the professional has the right tot inform the supposed victim and report the plan to the necessary authorities. Confidentiality is a primary right of the client accorded to him during his therapy sessions. (2. c. ). However in some circumstance, confidentiality may be broken for ethical and legal reasons. Various court decisions have been enacted to grant the therapist permission to warn and protect individuals who may be affected by a client’s dangerous actions. If a mental health professional fail to predict that a client is dangerous and fails to warn the supposed victim, he thus exposes himself open to lawsuits. (Harman, 2006). A medical health professional has the responsibility of warning, protecting and predicting, when a client communicate serious threats of harming a reasonably identifiable Medical health professionals working with dangerous clients are often faced with legal, ethical and moral dilemmas. They must carefully access the risks involved to the potential victim, the client and themselves for breaching the confidentiality. Health professionals should inform the clients of the limits of confidentiality, record the steps taken in order to protect those under potential danger and keep record of notes of the client’s threats. Confidentiality can be breached in cases where a client poses danger to others, when a client discloses plans to cause harm to someone or to prevent a dangerous client from causing harm to others. When a patient who is HIV positive discloses to his therapist plans of having unprotected sex with an identifiable other who is not HIV positive, without their consent, the medical professional has the right to inform the potential victim and the necessary social service agencies. In this case, the confidentiality of the patent’s communication with the therapist is breached so as to protect the potential victim. The court provides that if a health professional identifies a clients plan to intentionally harm other people, they should warn the potential victim and report to the necessary authorities or risk facing lawsuits. (2. . ). However, this conflict with ethical requirement that, every patient has the right to strict confidentiality and that there should be no sharing of information outside of the therapist-client relationship so as to have effective therapy. (Simon, 2001). A number of complicated and legal issues arise when a HIV positive person intentionally refuses to tell their partner about the possibility of infecting them. The character of the therapist mainly determines the therapist’s ability to disclose the information to the potential victim. HIV is an incurable disease that causes danger and probable discrimination the victim. When there is existence of a real danger to a potential victim, confidentiality is not considered as an absolute value. Before disclosing this kind of information to a third party the therapist should consult with the client and inform him of the limits of confidentiality. He must be made aware of the fact that there are certain limits to the rule of confidentiality. The client must be informed that in such a case, where a client discloses the intentions of harming a third party, thee medical health professional has the obligation of informing potential victim and the necessary authorities. In most states, the confidentiality of patient’s information is protected by statute except in certain circumstances which are, physicians should report information about a patient without his consent in order to protect the society. (Shaner, 2000). Dual relationships A 40 year old therapist becomes attracted to a 38 year old client and soon realizes that the feelings are mutual. They discuss the situation and mutually agree to terminate therapy and begin dating. They eventually get married. Dual relationships exist when therapists assume two or more different roles at one particular time dual relationships may include socializing with a client or becoming emotionally or sexually involved with a client. This kind of behaviour is seen as unethical in the counseling profession. Such relationships impair the judgment and decisions made by the therapist and result in conflicts of interest and exploitation of the client. (2. e. ). Sexual misconduct is considered as the biggest ethical violation of a therapist and as a result has become a common and serious allegation in malpractice suits. According to the laws and ethics of medical professionals, sexual intimacy with clients is prohibited. These laws provide that counselors should not have any form of sexual relationships with clients and should not counsel people with whom they have had a sexual relationship with. Medical health professionals and other social workers must not get involved in sexual intimacies with clients, whether the activity is mutual or forced. The CCA standards provide that psychologists must not engage themselves in sexual activities with current therapy clients. According to these ethics and laws, the therapist has violated the ethics by becoming sexually involved with a current client. By getting involved with a client and becoming sexually active the therapist violated laws which stated that a psychologist must not get engaged in sexual activities with clients. Sexual relationships between a therapist and a client can have very many negative impacts especially on the client. The experience could cause negative effects on the personality of the client arising from mistrust of opposite sex relationships. The client may become emotionally disturbed and experience feeling of depression. Due to this, the client may have difficulty in pursuing therapy. (2. e. ) By deciding to quit therapy and get married, the therapist made an ethical decision. According to the Canadian professional code of ethics, psychologists must avoid getting involved in sexual activities s with the clients. This is because it interferes with therapist’s judgment and the client’s ability to purse treatment. Therefore, quitting therapy so that they both have respect for the professional code of ethics. Medical health professionals must aim at promoting and maintaining cordial interprofessional relationships. However, despite the fact that the feelings between the therapist and client were mutual, and the fact that they both quit therapy to get married, their actions were unethical because they breached the professionals code of ethics. Therapists are bestowed with the responsibility of setting up appropriate sexual boundaries for their clients, communicating the boundaries and aiming at attaining a professional relationship rather than a personal relationship. The CCA provides that engaging in sexual activities before a period of two years after therapy has been terminated, is a violation of professional code of ethics. Therefore quitting therapy so as to get married was unethical on the therapist and the client’s side. Courts have therefore ruled claims of consent by client engaging in sexual relationships with therapists, due to the vulnerability of clients and also the powerful affects of the opposite sex relationships. (Videbeck, 2007).

Karl Marx’s

Karl Marx’s German Ideology is a relook at the foundation of Philosophy and all combined artistic expressions of man in the new focus of material activities and quests. Since Karl Marx was influenced by the disparities in human beings and wanted to explore the conditions that either give birth to, or arise from, these disparities, his philosophy is more aligned to the more mundane daily activities.German Ideology is a critically significant relook at the philosophies of the day to incorporate the basic needs of human being as the basis for the concepts of ownership, labor and family as a unit of the society. Marx argues that 1. Concept of ownership is a convenient work around of self interest, 2. Labor forms the basis of the social structure, and 3. The relationship between man and woman has a pragmatic basis of increasing and procuring labor (more than the element of love or companionship, which is propagated through every other form of philosophy).The main differentiator of Human beings and animals is that Man produces the means of his subsistence. Marx argues that the act of production defines human being and his existence.†This mode of production must not be considered simply as being the production of the physical existence of the individuals. Rather it is a definite form of activity of these individuals, a definite form of expressing their life, a definite mode of life on their part†.Therefore any interaction between two communities or two countries is essentially a discourse between tow productive forces. The act of productivity, in order to continue in a manner that serves the self interest of each of the individual unit as well as the dependant community around it gives birth to the earliest form of ownership. Great stretches of uncultivated lands give birth to the necessity of large ownership including that of an adequate labor force.All social interactions spring out of the necessary exchanges between the different producing classe s or the labor. According to Marx, social and political relations evolve over age from the life process of individuals, not out of any empirical or imaginary form of individuals, but a realistic, form – how they operate and how they produce. Marx goes on to theorize that the production of ideas, conception and consciousness are directly â€Å"interwoven with the material activity and the material intercourse of men, the language of real life.†Production as in the means of distinguishing human beings from animals as argued in point one and the production of more human forms are both two aspects of the same function, argues Marx. According to him, creation of new need (the act of satisfying one need gives rise to the need for instruments and the labor required to produce those instruments) is the first step of creating history. In this step of history, one of the first social interactions of man is to procreate or produce more of human beings and this is to be considered as the family that we know of today.Family and reproduction start of as the essentially production oriented early steps in social interactions. These interactions, when they happen on a macro level, give birth to huge feudal or any other form of community. Marx argues that the necessity of society in Man is equivalent to the herd mentality in animals but in this association instinct is replaced by consciousness.Karl Marx gives a truly â€Å"materialistic† twist to the motives of human endeavor and in this he philosophically captures the radical views of P.B.Shelly. Shelley has been highly sanitized by later day critics in that his works like â€Å"Ozymandias† always appear to be the defeatist or woefully inadequate human ramblings in the face of unattainable immortality or eternity. In reality the highly radical views of Shelly hint at a revolt.That might be one of the reasons why Shelly is considered a very high influence on pre Raphaelites and ultimately the precurs or for labor movement. Marx also subscribes to Shelly’s views of human materialistic quest being worthy of filling the annals of history. As one radical poet wrote in favor of Marxism, â€Å"History shall henceforth be the chronicle of the palanquin bearers†

Charles Finney the Great Revivalist

Charles Grandison Finny was born in Connecticut on august 29, 1792. His family was not religious and didn’t teach him much about being Christian. He was an excellent student in school. When he grew up he was a lawyer. He heard enough about the bible to know he wasn’t going to heaven that scared him. So one day he ran in the woods and said if he didn’t find God he wasn’t coming back. When he came out of the woods he felt the love of God. He wanted to be God’s lawyer.He met with his client and said he had to quit the case and to go be God’s lawyer. He was really blunt when teaching about God he was more like a lawyer than a pastor. When he started preaching he noticed that people where just pretending to be Christians and really weren’t living as Christians. He told them the truth about Christianity and challenged them to be real Christians. Finney preached firmly in a way that people had never heard before and at first people didnâ€⠄¢t like him or his way of preaching.He continued to challenge them to be the way god wants them to be and after a while they began to understand him and his way of preaching. Finney had a great impact on people of his time. Charles Finney proves that when you believe in something strong enough anything is possible. Finney proved that by finding God and convincing people to change their ways even when they didn’t like him. If more people in the world where like Finney everyone would be able to stand up for what they think is right and the world would be a better place.