Diary Entries Of A Murderer

I can see Julia's grave in front of me. And Carla's. Yet, I don't really remember that night. The night they died, I mean. I know that Julie was arguing. She was arguing with me. It was a long and loud argument. Something about a hospital of some kind. She wanted me to go there. I don't know why. I don't think I was sick. I think she had something in her hand. It was glinting in the dim light of the room. She kept repeating that I shouldn't go near her. I couldn't understand why. I loved her. She was my wife and I went closer to her. She was so beautiful. Her hair was soft and pretty. I took two steps towards her. She pointed the silver object she was holding. I held her, holding the shiny metal part towards her heart which was beating fast. Then, I kissed her and she fell to the floor, heavily. Red was her favourite colour. 3rd April 2004 Blackthorn Road Blackthorn Road. What a name! It reminds me of a thorn, a really big one, covered with dried blood – blackened. Then, there she was. She was wearing red stilettos, a matching red dress with a white belt around her slim waist. Her shoulder-length brown hair was floating with the wind. Her bare legs, looking as soft as a baby's, were exposed. She was taking long strides, walking in an elegant manner. She walked right past me. Without even noticing I was there. â€Å"Julia!† I called out. She kept on walking. I called her again. But she continued to ignore me. Rage swept through me. How dare she ignore me like that? I thought to myself. I walked over to her and grabbed her arm. â€Å"Farewell, beautiful.† 8th April 2004 My daughter's bedroom Her bedroom was always well-kept. It has a single bed, and a small desk that occupied one side of the bedroom. The room is empty. No one is at home. She must be watching television downstairs. I love her. What's her name though? Amanda? Or the other one, Carla? It must be Amanda. Then who was Carla? She walks in, her blue eyes wide. â€Å"What are you doing here? How did you get in?† â€Å"What do you mean? This is my house, little miss daughter.† â€Å"I am not your daughter. Your daughter is dead!† â€Å"What are you saying?† â€Å"You killed her! And you killed your wife! Don't you dare come near me! I'll call the police!† I look at her. How did she know I killed her mother? Did she see it? Will she report it to the police? She can't know this and survive. I have to make sure of that. 15th April 2004 Swordbill Hotel I am in room number 101. I want to talk to my Julie. I miss her. She was probably making dinner right now. I dial our house number. It rings several times. Where is she? I almost hung up when: â€Å"Hello?† It is a man's voice. There was not supposed to be a man at home. No man was allowed to visit Julia when I was not there. Julia is having an affair, I think angrily. â€Å"How could you do this to me Julia? And who the hell are you? What are you doing at my house? How dare you!† I slam the phone down. At the same instant, a woman came in. She saw me and started to scream. â€Å"Keep quiet, damn it!† She shuts up. â€Å"What did I ever do to you, Julia?† I said sadly. â€Å"Why did you have to do this to me? Don't you know how much I love you?† She was cowering towards the door looking nervously at me, nearly in tears. I got irritated. Doing that innocent princess act on me is not going to work, I thought, I would have to make her pay for what she did to me Very quickly, I grab her and drag her to the bed. I take a pillow. I put it on her mouth watching her tremble in fear. Then I put it on her eyes and kissed her goodbye. I could taste the salty tears that had fallen on her lips. I then cover her entire face with it and hold it tight. After she lay limp on the bed, I walked out the door. 20th April 2004 Prison bunk I don't know why those men put me in here. I don't think I've broken the law or anything. They keep talking about killing someone. I have no idea what they are talking about. It doesn't matter though. I called Julia. She'll come to bail me out after she picks up Carla from her ballet lessons.

The Housing Allowance – Business Ethics

THE HOUSING ALLOWANCE Wilson Mutambara grew up in the slums of Rambia and through hard work and talent he was given the opportunity to study and receive his MBA in the united states. After three years of working at a cellular telephone service company, NewComm, he received the opportunity to go back to Rambia when NewComm decided to expand. All the employees at the NewComm offices in Rambia were set to receive $2,000 monthly for housing needs to insure that its employees live in a safe and convenient area and that their living arrangements are complimentary to the company image.One of the employees, Dale Garman, found out that Wilson was falsifying his monthly housing expenses and was in fact living in his old neighborhood, which couldn't possibly cost more than $300. The house that Wilson was living in was not up to the company standards and it looked as if he was sharing it with quite a few people. Dale notified Wilson's supervisor Barbara Weston of his living situation and Barbara confronted Wilson. Wilson admitted to the falsified invoices and pleaded to Barbara that there is quite a bit expected of him as a Rambian from the slums.He provides for his family and pays for his nieces' and nephews' educational expenses from that money. He also felt that if he lived in an expensive area like his colleagues, his family would judge his actions and think of him as selfish. Although Wilson had good intentions in falsifying his claims, he did not use the allowance as NewComm intended for him to do and more importantly falsified his invoices. Now Barbara faces a tough decision of deciding how to appropriately handle this situation in an ethical way. At the personal level of analysis, Wilson is the primary stakeholder.He looked at the situation at the beginning and assumed that it was fair for him to receive equal compensation for housing even though he chose to live below his means. He was helping his relatives and was unable to see that the fraud he was committing co uld have dire consequences. At the corporate level of analysis is NewComm, its’ management and employees in Rambia. The company, NewComm, is a very significant stakeholder since it is providing the money to Wilson and expecting that the obligations they allocate to their employees are met without protest.NewComm can also garner trouble from authorities or the IRS if they are reporting the housing allowance under benefits, and Wilson’s imprudence comes out as fraud and the government might also think NewComm is involved. The societal stakeholders in this case are Wilson’s relatives and the Rambian community who perceives Wilson as their hero for achieving success in America. After Barbara confronted Wilson about his indiscretion and he explained his reasoning behind it, she has to decide how to handle this appropriately. Barbara is obligated to handle this by taking NewComm’s best interest into consideration.It is imperative that she consider the harm Wils on’s decision could have caused NewComm since he used the money dishonestly and intentionally misrepresented his false housing, and now Barbara has to decide if Wilson should face disciplinary action, or even termination. However, Barbara needs to show empathy toward Wilson and consider the reasons why he felt obligated to defraud NewComm. Wilson felt that this money was being put to better use since he was helping more people with it instead of spending it to portray a better image of NewComm by living an extravagant lifestyle.From my perspective, the three alternatives for Barbara in this case are: i. For Barbara to give a probationary period to Wilson to correct his actions and find proper housing in keeping with NewComm’s image. He can move out of Old Town and into the â€Å"safer† neighborhood where the rest of his colleagues are residing. Although this is very unfair, he can also receive a pay cut to reimburse NewComm for the money he wrongfully took from the housing allowance allocation. ii.Since Barbara is the supervisor, she is allowed to change the company rules and can make a change in the housing allowance under special circumstances. She could add a provision in the housing allowance for employees to get approval to live in any neighborhood they choose to. Compared to the money that other employees in Rambia are receiving for housing, it would be unfair to pay Wilson less if he is choosing to live near his loved ones and helping his relatives. iii. The final alternative is for Barbara to terminate Wilson’s employment with NewComm.Philosopher Immanuel Kant considered moral rules categorical imperatives, meaning that they are absolute and unqualified commands for everyone, in every walk of life, without exception, not even for stressed professionals. Kant pursued moral principles that do not rest on likelihoods and that define actions as fundamentally right or wrong apart from any particular circumstances. A Kantian appro ach, which considers duty, fairness and rights, would force Barbara to terminate Wilson’s employment with NewComm, even though it would be unfair.It teaches a lesson to other employees to follow proper policies and procedures when it comes to contractual relationships with employers. Wilson did lie and defraud NewComm and for that Barbara can privately sit him down and explain all the reasons why he is being dismissed. For Kant the source of moral justification is the categorical imperative. In order for an act to be categorically imperative, it must be thought to be good in itself and in conformity to reason. Overall, Kant says what you care about simply doesn’t matter.Your duty is your duty, and you must do it whether or not you want to or not. Nothing exempts a moral agent from the demands of moral duty. The dilemma that is faced by Barbara can be solved with proper thought given to Utilitarian principles. Most of the utilitarian philosophers would want her to do th e â€Å"right† thing which would harm the least amount of people since utilitarianism takes into account everyone affected by the action, instead of self-interest only. Aristotle’s four virtues would want to ask about the moral standing of the people engaged in this case.The four virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. Prudence, the cardinal virtue, would require Barbara to exercise sound judgment or apply practical wisdom. Prudence is an ethical excellence of heart and mind, displayed in an eagerness to seek and an ability to find the â€Å"just right† course of action, attaining the best outcome possible in the light of present circumstances. Another very applicable virtue is fortitude which ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in doing the good. Fortitude is sometimes called strength or courage.Justice is another very important virtue; And Barbara could choose to be fair to Wilson and keep him with the company is he corrects his act ions, or better yet have the housing allowance rules changed so that every employee has the right to choose where they want to live. If Barbara were to follow Aristotle’s virtues, then she would think of the greater good and act with prudence, justice and fortitude. Aristotle would advise for Barbara to give a probationary period to Wilson to correct his actions and find proper housing in keeping with NewComm’s image.He can move out of Old Town and into the â€Å"safer† neighborhood where the rest of his colleagues are residing. In this case, Rawl’s theory of original position can also be used. Rawls proposes a set of Principles of Justice to be established through a thought-experiment, a kind of modern replacement for the philosophical state of nature. Basically, Rawls lets us imagine a situation where people are unaware of their own characteristics which may make given principles advantageous or disadvantageous to themselves.Through the veil of ignoranc e, people may then agree upon principles of justice independently of personal interests, meaning impartially and rationally. Those collectively decided principles should thus be socially fair. If Barbara is advised by Rawls, she can then look through the veil of ignorance to make this decision; it would most likely come out to that she terminate Wilson’s employment from NewComm. With the veil of ignorance she would have to look past Wilson helping his relatives and only look at the sham that Wilson committed.Personal knowledge of Wilson helping his relatives might tempt Barbara to select principles of justice that gave Wilson unfair advantage. Rawls claims that rational people will consistently adopt his principles of justice if their reasoning is based on general considerations, without knowing anything about their own personal situation. If Barbara is considering personal benefit over the greater good or the right thing to do then she might not be able to come to a clean an d honest conclusion.There are numerous practical constraints faced by Barbara in this situation. Barbara would have the live with whichever decision she makes regarding Wilson, if she chooses to fire him, she would have to live with the detestations from her inner self because Wilson’s relatives had gotten used to him providing for them and he was the bread winner for a lot of people. Now those people could be going hungry just because Barbara could not make changes to the policy and let Wilson work for NewComm.If Barbara were to let Wilson stay with company, the rest of the employees would think it is okay for them to also break company policy since the falsification by Wilson was taken too lightly. The action that should be taken by Barbara is to be fair to Wilson since he was trying to be a bigger person by helping his relatives and to payback his share to society. Barbara can be fair by amending the housing allowance and allowing for all the employees to receive the same $2,000 housing allowance for wherever they choose to reside. Barbara can show empathy toward Wilson nd consider the reasons why he felt obligated to defraud NewComm. Wilson felt that this money was being put to better use since he was helping more people with it instead of spending it to portray a better image of NewComm by living an extravagant lifestyle. Although, Wilson should also receive some sort of a reprimand for breaching the company policy and deceitfully misrepresenting his housing invoices. This decision is based on the four virtues of Aristotle and also the Utilitarian theory so she can help Wilson to help his relatives lead a better life. Read also: Disadvantages of Ethics in the Workplace

Describe What Is Meant by a Positive Environment Essay

A positive environment is one that supports all aspects of development, learning and provides ways for practitioners to extend on that, challenging children and promoting times for them to rest. It also means an environment where parents, colleagues, all work in partnership to actively make opportunities for children to achieve positive outcomes. Development: Physical development This is mainly about physical skills.Children need to master a lot of different types of movements as they grow, including: large movements- being able to control their head, arms and legs, known as gross motor movements; moving around and balancing – being able to walk, jump and move around, known as locomotive movements; Fine movements – being able to control their hands and make their hands and eyes work together, known as fine motor movements. Communication and intellectual developmentThis is about the way that children learn to talk and understand others as well as the way in whitch they l earn to think and work things out. Social, emotional and behavioural development This is about the way that children learn to play and be with others. It is also about the way that they learn to express their feelings and learn to control their behaviour. Whatever age group or setting you are working with, you must plan an environment that encourages the development of the whole child.First of all you think about the different settings that children and young people aged 0-16 years may experience. These settings have both indoor and outdoor physical spaces that need to be considered. The layout of the physical environment is your team’s responsibility and contributes to giving each child positive outcomes in their learning, and development. The available space will influence the way the furniture and equipment is set out. While it is important to create an attractive environment, everything should be safe, secure and have purpose that supports each area of the children

Art history- Making study guides for a quiz Essay

Art history- Making study guides for a quiz - Essay Example By hiding the faces of his two protagonists, Courbet makes it difficult for the viewer to identify with them and their plight. He treats them as two facts in a painting emphasizing the appearance, texture, and weight of things, through the use of thickly applied paint (often laid down with a palette knife) that conveys the materiality of the physical world. Some writers view it as an expression of conservative fatalism akin to Millet’s BUT, Courbet’s friend the socialist philosopher Pierre-Paul Proudhon, in 1865, says its the first socialist picture ever painted and Courbet referred to it as a depiction of â€Å"injustice.† It shows the inside of a large, horse-drawn bus that transported Parisians along one of Haussmann’s new boulevards. Daumier places the viewer in the poor section of the bus, opposite a serene grandmother, her daughter, and her 2 grandchildren, whose intimacy and unity is contrasted to their physical and mental separation from the upper class passengers behind them. Frustration over the practices of the Salon jury reached its limit in 1863 when they rejected nearly 3,000 works. Napoleon III ordered their exhibition - the Salon des Refuses (â€Å"Salon of the Rejected Ones†). Le Dejeuner , scandalized contemporary viewers and established Manet as a radical artist, challenging academic conventions. Manet born in Paris, studied in early 1850s with Thomas Couture. By the early 1860s Manet committed to realism, due to his friend, Baudelaire, the poet call for - â€Å"the painter of the passing moment and all the suggestions of eternity that it contains.† Manet responded to Baudelaire’s call in, Le Dejeuner. Its frank declaration of modernity was offensive to the academic establishment and the average Salon-goer. Most disturbing was the â€Å"immorality† of Manet’s theme: a suburban picnic with a scantily clad bathing woman in the background and, in the foreground, a completely naked woman, seated alongside two fully

Law Bachelor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Law Bachelor - Essay Example Yang. So, Ying and Yang cannot enforce Mei's initial offer. Intention:Mei, Ying and Yang were colleagues, and not professional gamblers. The general presumption is that there was no legal intention involved. However, the presumption can be rebutted, taking into consideration the seriousness of the consequences. But assessed objectively, the presumption can't be set aside due to the lack of any written or verbal contract acceptance of Mei's initial offer. Consideration: Finally, Mei refused to share the winnings, although initially she volunteered to "buy one last ticket on behalf of them all". Courts will not intervene, for a contract didn't exist at all. It was a verbal contract till four weekly tickets were purchased with the $120 won from the first ticket. The final instance is an evidence akin to Australian Woollen Mills Pty Ltd v Commonwealth (1954). Mei's proposal was merely a statement and not an offer capable of acceptance. This mentioned clearly in: " what is alleged to be an offer should have been intended to give rise, on the doing of the act to an obligationin the absence of such an intention, actual or imputed, the alleged offer cannot lead to a contract: there is indeed in such a case no true offer." (Graw Stephen, An Introduction to the Contract 5th edition, Lawbook Co. 2005, p. 41) . Question 2 Ying was tired of her long musical career so on 3 April she offered to sell her piano to Molly for $3500, saying that she would keep the offer open for ten days. Molly already had two pianos in her shop and was therefore reluctant to buy it. However, always ready to try for a bargain, she replied on 6 April with a verbal offer to buy it for $2500. This was not acceptable to Ying. In the meantime, Molly had... During 2003 the life of an Aboriginal artist, Albert Namatjira, was celebrated in a number of ways, including an exhibition in the Art Gallery of South Australia of his paintings from the 1930's to 1958. Albert Namatjira had a number of relatives who also produced similar paintings of varying quality. Albert's paintings are more valuable than those of other family members. Boondok, a dealer in paintings, located a painting of a desert landscape in colour with the name 'Namatjira' written in the bottom corner of the painting. He paid $50 for it. This painting was painted by one of Albert's cousins and was worth approximately $500. Boondok knew this. Albert Namatjira always signed his paintings, 'Albert Namatjira' in the bottom corner of each painting he did. Boondok placed his landscape painting in his gallery's front window with a price tag of $8,000 on it. Tex, a tourist, saw Boondok's painting on display. Tex said to Boondok, " I have always wanted a genuine Namatjira and here it is. I will buy it." Boondok replied, "It is always nice to buy something that pleases you. Hope you enjoy the painting." The plaintiff bought a bottle of wine from the defendant.The plaintiff was injured due to the sudden ejection of a hidden stopper when he opened the bottle at his home.

Macbeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Macbeth - Essay Example The lady here unsexes herself and questions the manliness of Macbeth. A powerful witch in her is active now to tempt and unsex a powerful nobleman, to lead him into his tragedy. The devices she uses make the lines highly poetical. She plays upon words like hope, drunk, dress, pale, love, valour, and coward. She knows that Macbeth’s strength is in his valour. His weakness is his ambition, overvaulting ambition. Using the metaphor of dress, which pervades throughout the play, she questions the rationale behind cherishing a hope for which either Macbeth is not courageous enough to fulfill, or it was merely a hope in him born in a drunken moment. Whatever the case is, she cleverly hurls the words like desire, valour, fear, and love and waits for his reaction. â€Å"I dare do all that may become a man†, answers Macbeth. This answer compels his wife is to resort to stronger spurs. Still harping on the word â€Å"man†, Lady Macbeth now asks whether he was not a man when he had cherished a beastly ambition. She now strikes upon the most sensitive chord of a gentle character by asking Macbeth whether breaking an oath is manly or beastly. Unsexing herself, she tells him that â€Å"had I so sworn as you†, she would have plucked her nipples from her smiling baby and â€Å"dashed the brain out†. The structure of the passage under discussion here is clear; it is used by Shakespeare to reveal the true character Lady Macbeth. She is shown as a witch, a monster, whose concern as a wife is selfish and mechanical. The passage also shows that Macbeth is dominated by his wife, which precipitates his tragedy. At the same time, the metaphors in this passage reverberate again and again in the play to heighten the qualities of the character in Macbeth. He admits that it is â€Å"better be with the dead† than live a tortured life. Macbeth, like Hamlet, is aware of the predicaments from which a man

Descartes and The Matrix to address a topic Essay

Descartes and The Matrix to address a topic - Essay Example It is about human beings being deceived by their own senses into believing that the state of events in the world around them is true but in actual sense they are in a dream state. In analysing the film in light of Descartes first three meditations, the first meditation is about the things that people may doubt, the second about the nature of people’s minds and how it is easier to know it than the body while the third meditation is about God and whether he actually exists (Wilson 13). In the film, Descartes malicious and evil deceivers are represented by the agents within the matrix whose core aim is to hide the truth and cause doubt in our minds. They deny us the chance of actually differentiating between what is reality and what is false. In the first meditation, Descartes suggested that he believed not an optimal God but somewhat an evil demon was responsible for hiding the truth from him and thus leading him to spiral down a trail of doubts and scepticism that eventually le d him to a possible truth that nothing is actually certain (Wilson 34). In the movie, the matrix is displayed as a program that is fed into one’s mind which causes the person to believe the reality of the false world that is being projected to them. The program deceives senses into thinking that an individual is at that time experiencing a false world but in essence they are just lying in a pod which is wired to the Matrix. The agents, as mentioned earlier, are part of the programme that is fed into a person’s mind to stop people from discovering reality. However, the difference between what is real and what is a dream is still hard to correctly identify as was exemplified in the movie where the main character, Neo, is captured by the agents in the matrix and bugged but instead he wakes up in his bed thinking that it was all a dream. It is with his dream argument that Descartes is able to exercise his doubts on the evidence given to us by our senses. He goes to the ext reme of questioning his own existence in his second mediation where he wrote: â€Å"I am--I exist: this is certain; but how often? As often as I think; for perhaps it would even happen, if I should wholly cease to think, that I should at the same time altogether cease to be† (Chappell 56). Further, in his second meditation, he posits that there is a truth in the existence of a powerful malignant being who is omnipresent and all his endeavours are toward deceiving him. Descartes says â€Å"But [as to myself, what can I now say that I am], since I suppose there exists an extremely powerful, and, if I may so speak, malignant being, whose whole endeavours are directed toward deceiving me? Can I affirm that I possess any one of all those attributes of which I have lately spoken as belonging to the nature of body? After attentively considering them in my own mind, I find none of them that can properly be said to belong to myself.†-Descartes (Wilson 23). He also believes that the possibility of an external world that remains true may also be meddled by the Evil deceiver and still cannot be trusted fully without question. Later, he also introduced the concept of God into his third meditation who actually overpowers the Evil deceiver’s power much like in the matrix where Neo’s Powers was much stronger than the agents who were keeping him and people from discovering reality. The deceiver presented in the Matrix and that proposed have shown certain

Family Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Family Story - Essay Example He was a young man in his early twenties. He was expected to provide for his young family. My mother stayed home and cared for the rest of us. Due to his determination to succeed, my father worked long hard hours, and, with time, he got himself to the top. He has always strived to give his family the best that a father is expected to give. Through my parents, my brother, sisters and I have learnt the value of being responsible, hardworking and honest. We have also learnt that it is important to help the less fortunate. Today, my father is a highly successful businessman. I admire him and hope to follow in his steps in the near future. I value all that I have learnt from my parents over the years because I am now a better person. Seeing my father struggle and work hard for us has made me believe that people can move from having nothing to having almost everything they need. My father always narrates to me about a time he lost his job at the supermarket. He had to rent a truck and sell various products to be able to provide for his family. This was extremely difficult for him, especially because it happened during winter. However, he had no other option and wanted to earn an honest living. It is difficult for me to imagine myself doing that kind of work, under whatever circumstance. My father must have really been devoted to his family. My parents have encouraged and influenced me to be the best I can be. I love spending time with my family. Sometimes, it is difficult for us to get together during the week. This is usually because we are all involved in various activities. Besides my school work, I am deeply involved in baseball. My brother is constantly with his girlfriend and spends a lot of time with her. My sisters are involved in acting, dancing, and other after school activities. My father still works long hours in his. My mother is constantly in and out of the house, taking us to

Principles of Organization and Management Essay

Principles of Organization and Management - Essay Example They have nearly 523 branches spread all across the world. ASDA recently purchased the famous Netto stores for ?778 million, with the sole aim of gaining an upper hand in the UK retail industry. ASDA has faced several problems in the past, to the level of collecting money from various sources including their shareholders to avoid bankruptcy in 1991 and 1993. It has emerged out successfully through various leaps and bounces in the past under the guidance of great leaders like Norman Archie. ASDA’s revival using various principles of organization and management under the leadership of Norman had been studied by various experts all over the world. The paper explores the various strategies used by ASDA to overcome the cultural and economic barriers it faced during its grim past. It also lists the new set of challenges the new COO has to face in today’s highly competitive market and analyzes the scope for ASDA to overcome the new set of challenges. Literary Review ASDA was a t the brim of declaring bankruptcy when Norman Archie came into ASDA as the only applicant for the CEO position of the company. He used various strategies to ensure the company became a successful leader in the retail sector. Within a short span of time, he was able to transform a company at the brink of closing, into a highly successful one. Norman used three strategies reengineering, rewarding and doing it within a given time frame to achieve this impossible feat. Reengineering a company is no easy task. It is simply not enough to patch up the mistakes. The basic structure has to be changed completely by questioning the long time procedures (Hammer & Champy, 1993). Norman did exactly the same to ASDA. The company was highly hierarchical and the upper management used very traditional ways of management. Most of the well paid senior officers were very bureaucratic, preventing any productive changes. He simply did not go about doing the same mistakes other CEO's did. He challenged th e basic structure the company was working. He made every employee in the organization share the vision for reviving ASDA. He never stopped recruitment, treated the low level employees with respect and found out what exactly was lacking in the company. â€Å"The new view is that marketing is the science and art of finding, retaining and growing profitable customers (Kotler , 2008).† Norman reinvented the marketing strategies to increase sales. He understood the core problem in ASDA was it was trying to sell too many things without focus. He streamlined the importance to food and clothing products. His new Spice Girls branded items and marketing during the 1997 Christmas did the much expected trick, increasing their sales considerably. Time is the basic essence. It is an important variable in formulating any strategy and implementing it (Tony Morden). Norman was very clear about what he wanted to achieve at what time interval. Any company would be able to prove its mettle in th e long run. But, its real capability can be measured only when the target is achieved in a given time even under huge pressure. Norman made this magic happen in three short years starting from 1996 – 1999 quite swiftly. "You get more of the behaviour you reward. You don't get what you hope for, ask for, wish for or beg for. You get what you reward." Michael le Boeuf Norman made it a point to involve everyone in the process of reengineering and rewarded each and every behaviour he found useful or appreciable. The employees felt the

Guns Germs and Steel Essay Example for Free

Guns Germs and Steel Essay Yali asked the question of â€Å"why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had so little cargo of our own?† (Diamond 14) In other words, he is asking â€Å"what is the factor between our people and ours that causes human development to proceed at different rates?† (Diamond 16) What Yali is really asking though, is, what is this mysterious factor? According to Diamond, the basis for development is the environment around us including the resources and the native people of New Guinea don’t live in an area where a chance is provided for them to take advantage of. The natural resources are just enough for them to get by. This is why the people of New Guinea produce so little â€Å"cargo† of their own. Pizarro’s capture of Atahuallpa and destruction of the Incas made the Europeans realize what power they head, and what they could do to the rest of the world. They easily wiped out the Inca’s of 80,000 with 168 men. From the Battle of Cajamarca, Pizzaro came back to Charles I saying that Europe had the power to conquer the Americas. There were reasons Pizarro and the Europeans could conquer the Americas†¦ They had better warfare than the Incas. Pizarro’s men had armor rode horseback and used steel compared to their wooden weapons. Eurasia happened to have an abundance of edible material because of the right environment leading to the domestication of plants and animals led the people to settle down in one place instead of being nomads. When people started to settle down and bring the food to them, they started to have a surplus which led for the people to have extra jobs and it started to also support a higher population while allowing women to have more children contributing to job specialization. These specialists were not devoted to farmers or food producers but varied to priests, blacksmiths etc. Permanent agriculture societies were able to from with the food surpluses leading to empires. Some of the reason that people began to settle down and farm are because at the time many wild foods began to decrease due to hunters and gatherers killing off too many large animals leaving life unsustainable. More wild plants that could be domesticated became available at the time. Technological advances allowe3d people to harvest and store greater amounts of food that they cultivated. Human populations rose it’s not clear how much it caused food production and how much food production caused it but researchers believe there’s a connection. As populations rose, they needed to have better food supplies and started farming. The farm societies were able to drive out neighboring hunter-gatherers. A continent with long east-west axis like (Eurasia) has an advantage over continents with long north-south axes (like Africa and the Americas). The reasons it does have to do with crops and longitude. In general similar crops can grow at similar longitudes. In other words a cropped that developed in one place can be spread east to west (or west to east) but less likely to spread north and south. Epidemic diseases developed among the societies that had been farming the longest. These were Eurasian societies. Societies in the Americas, Australia, and other places had not been farming as long and lacked epidemic diseases. When Europeans came in contact with Native Americans, for example, European epidemic diseases killed huge percentages of the Native Americans. This helped the Europeans conquer and the conquest made them richer and more powerful. Therefore germs help to answer Yalis question. The societies that did independently invent writing were those with complex hierarchies and so phisticated systems of food production. Writing was needed for politics and was generally learned by bureaucrats who had the comfort of available time and energy. As food was available to them, they had no need to hunt and gather for themselves. Since their basic needs were being met, they could focus on a higher level of existence and communication. There are two conditions in which technology may develop. The first is â€Å"mother necessity ideology† which is when a society needs something to make things easier they invent it. Technology differed from place to place because there were more people to invent and better diffusion to spread the invention. The opposite happened in the Americas because there were less people and a slower diffusion rate. Also different cultures had different ideas for change. The only way that society can emerge is through food. Such developments include jobs, such as the chief and the beginnings of government. The institutions of society changed over time based on how organized they were. They evolved based around various factors like war and other societies. They are related by diffusion. Whenever a state is conquered by another state they enforce use of their technology or exploit it. States are going to develop weapons, troops, and religion in order to make the state survive. They develop in response to need of their population size. They use these agents of conquest to become larger and to conquer other societies; and for that they need guns, germs, and steel. What Diamond is saying is that he thinks that people really should not think that history is so much different from the sciences. He is saying that the study of history can be pretty scientific if it is done correctly (and that some sciences are not as precise as things like chemistry). Diamond is trying to argue that historians should use what he calls natural experiments. He thinks that there are many experiments where there are two or more places that are pretty similar in many ways but which then turned out differently (like his experiment in Chapter 2). He argues that historians can use these they can look at what was different and what was similar and how the differences led to the differences in the outcomes. Guns, Germs, and Steel Book Review I think Diamond’s central intent of writing the book is to explain how varying societies become dominate, and how certain others can become dominated. By looking at environmental conditions that caused the disparities that lead to certain societies developing guns, germs, and steel, including other technology, and forming a government necessary for conquest. He introduced the book with Yali’s question â€Å"Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people has so little cargo of our own?† This question used a scientific/geographic background, and set his intent is to answer the question or inform how to answer the question. He also tries to analyze the causes of the expansion of civilizations’ in some parts of the world, since all people are physically the same what could cause some to be successful and others to die? He used archaeological and historical case studies and evidence from genetics and linguistics, he argued that technological and gaps in power are not caused by race or culture differences but by environmental differences, He used the idea of the axis as one saying that Eurasia had an east to west (or west to east) therefore having an advantage over Africa or the Americas for instance, because crops could grow at the same longitude but it was more difficult as they went north and south. Also when cultural or genetic differences have favored Eurasians like for example written language or resistance to epidemic diseases he says these advantages occurred because of the influence and geography on societies and cultures and were not inherited as genes from Eurasian ancestors. Diamonds book argues that the differences in progress for different societies around the world do not result from one group being smarter or more resourceful than another. Rather, he focuses on the impact of geography whether food and other key items were plentiful, whether and how disease spread, and how these developments led to different levels of industrialization, and wealth The book â€Å"Guns, Germs, and Steel† was very well written in the sense that Diamond had a question in which was the foundation of the book, he throughout the book acquired evidence and explanations and ideas of how to answer the question. The book had evidence to back it up by explaining how Eurasia had a better opportunity being west to east meaning they had better crop farming. Which led to a growing civilization and soon conquest. The book wasn’t exactly dull or boring but it wasn’t exciting or entertaining either. It was like any other history book it asked a question, then went on to the point. There was an explanation of the main topic which was Yali’s question and evidence that dealt with answering the question. From beginning to end, Diamond stresses that he rea lizes that efforts to compare societies have frequently been used by racists or nationalists to belittle groups or justify mistreatment of them. He argues that his analysis is in fact anti-racism at work because it shows that the white people who enjoy the comforts of modern life are ultimately luckier than, not more deserving than, people in impoverished nations.

Gender Roles Influenced By Media And Society

Gender Roles Influenced By Media And Society One usually obtains their gender roles usually through social interactions rather than obtaining it genetically. When humans are born, one are endowed with a small concept of gender. Manners and proper behavior is mainly learned through the social interactions with others and also the relationships with one another. Our gender identity is build through the interactions or experience from our parents, media, people from school, work or at home and also society can influence our gender identity. Depending on how we are raised greatly affects on how one acts as they grow up. The media can influence every aspect of ones life, their lifestyle, fashion, physical appearance, and also behavior. Society has the power to change the behavior and peoples point of views way more than what genetics or biological can. The genetic make-up for all living beings mainly humans are usually born with might affect their physical abilities, but one usually learns how to act in specific ways by just watching the people around them. An example of this would be that when boys of a young age watches cartoons or anything that involves a male aspect, theses young boys are usually influenced by the characters or what they see on television. Usually these characters are portrayed to be in a violent and aggressive manner, which cause these children to act what they see. On the bright side mainly super heroes are the ones that influence young boys the most such as Superman, Spiderman, Iron or even Batman and they are usually portrayed to be a strong, very athletic and brave hero which can influence a boys every action. In cartoons like these there is also a downside to it to where boys are depicted to be destructive and usually aggressive as well to a point where it suggest that males should be very competitive to one another. Children at younger age are also more vulnerable to be influenced by television when compared to an adult due to the maturity level of one another. Not only just the boys also the older males are influenced by todays media, televisions, music and society. An example of this would be the music artist Eminem where he wants males to be very violent and rebel against homosexuality and also be dominant towards females. Usually the younger teens are influenced by this because of the lack of maturity to make their own choices or decisions and these young males are gullible to a point where they are influenced by what they see. There was a Columbine massacre or incident in 1999 that proved that the boys who killed all those innocent students derived all of their ideas from certain mo vies and television shows. This proves that teens at a very open age that can be easily manipulated by society to act in predictable or spontaneous ways. According to Diekman, author of Stereotypes as dynamic constructs: Women and men of the past, present, and future. states that typical characteristics for women are piety, submissiveness, and domesticity, while authority, and social behavior, are traits commonly held by men. When girls are young, they are usually given a Barbie doll to play with and are expected to grow up as the ideal Barbie girl who is very beautiful looking and supposedly very feminine. Girls are usually less athletic when compared to boys due to their genetic make-up; they just tend to not be athletic. Due to this genetic unfairness between males and females, parents would not treat each gender the same way when it comes down to sports. The boys are usually taught to be very aggressive because they are more athletic and competitive than girls while on the other hand girls are encouraged to express or release their feelings and its ok for them to cry openly. Boys are never encouraged to cry or complain about anyth ing. They are taught to replace the feminine feelings of fear and sorrow and replace them with excitement or anger. Boys or males in particular use the phrase be a man referring to being tough or strong and one that never shows his emotions. Children can also be influenced by their peers to act in specific ways at a very young vulnerable age. One can be made fun of easily if they are usually doing things that dont suit their gender. An example would be if a young boy or any male would easily be made fun of if they like to play with dolls, like shopping or just play in the kitchen. The society and media shows what types of things that certain gender should usually be doing for each gender. On television, it would usually have specific types of clothes, toys, jobs, etc for each of the genders and what they think each gender should follow. Due to these social influences, males and females act the way one does because of how society taught one to grow up to be. As for careers men are the dominant one because of how they can handle tougher jobs than a woman. Women are depicted to be caring for others or cooperative with anything and also just less valued. Woman careers are preferred to usually be models, nurses or even housewives. According to InfoRefuge on an article about Gender Roles and the Media, it states that our society continues to respect and represent men more than women in every aspect of our daily lives. People were raised by the society to think what men and women are capable of. Due to these circumstances these are usually the reasons why men mainly get better jobs than women do and also have a better chance of getting jobs in the work force. Gender stereotypes are everywhere and still occur today. For example, it is not acceptable in this society for a female to coach a mens sports team at any type of level professional, college or either high school team male oriented teams. This is a huge deficit and disadvantage because of the fact that females too can be amazing coaches sometimes way more superior to most males and therefore the players would miss out the chance from learning and gain experience this coach. The female coaches also suffers from not gaining or they miss the opportunity to coa ch these male players and are often force to pass down their knowledge to just female players. Society is unfair to judge solely on ones capabilities on gender. Therefore theses better jobs that usually pay a lot, females are solely at a disadvantage of getting the job due to their gender which is unavoidable. Another influence that society has on one is when people begin to date. There are certain specific behaviors that are supposedly expected by each gender because of the social influence, custom and usage in society. Men are the ones that should be expected to pay for the date, drive and also ask the girl out and many more outdated manners that guys should usually do for a woman. Women on the other hand, also have a specific role in the dating game. When two people get married, society assumes specific roles according to their gender. Men are expected go to work to pay for the bills, put a roof over their heads and also put food on the table. According to an article on CliffNotes on gender stereotypes, it states that Traditionally, the female stereotypic role is to marry and have children. This means usually women are the ones staying at home to take care of the children or plainly be a housewife. These stereotypical roles are starting to deteriorate because of the fact that its societ ys standards. Women are far more important that what society depicts, they also have the same capabilities as any other man or human being. They could also be working or doing the exact same thing as man could or even better. There are no biological or physical abilities that hold men and woman to these assumed roles in society. Humans are born knowing which gender they are, but one learns their gender identity through the interactions of what we grow up with and learn how society expects them to act. There is no possible way that one could learn what one believes in and behaviors through biological influences; society has a much stronger influence on the way people act solely based on gender. Everyone in this world is born with some kind of innate ability on how to act relative to gender, but the way on is raised, how one interact with others and also the influences that the media has is what influences ones gender identity.

Changes vs. Improvements :: Social Issues Government Essays

Changes vs. Improvements Intolerance, war, inequality and poverty - these are just a few of the issues found in the texts that we have read this semester. Even though some of them were written hundreds of years ago, the same problems still exist in our world today. Many things have changed over time, but they have not necessarily improved. Today, we are still involved in wars and violence with our continued presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and other foreign countries. We still persecute the poor by raising taxes and cutting funds to the programs like Medicaid and Welfare, while making it easier on the upper classes. We are very intolerant of the practices and beliefs of others whether it is homosexuality, different religious beliefs or opinions on abortion. Most of these issues have been problems in the past, and unless we do something to change them, they will continue to be problems in the future. There is no better place to find examples of today’s social problems than the newspaper. In the April 15 issue of the Creightonian, the April 14 and April 18 issues of the Omaha World Herald there were an abundance of articles about problems today. Despite the fact that writers and other artists were dealing with them hundreds of years ago, these problems are still on the forefront in today’s society. In the Omaha World Herald, there were many articles related to war. They were primarily about the involvement of the United States in Iraq. In one, it referred to a kidnapped American man and how he was videotaped at gunpoint, holding his passport to his chest and apparently pleading the U.S. to withdraw its troops from Iraq. In response, President George Bush’s spokesman said, â€Å"Our position is well-known when it comes to negotiating.† This seems to be a prime example of the idea of â€Å"One man, or many?† meaning it is better to sacrifice the life of this one man rather than risk the lives of many. This makes the Bush administration seem cold and heartless and shows our stubbornness when it comes to leaving Iraq. Instances like this reaffirm that it will undoubtedly take a major event for us to exit their country. Another article from the Omaha World Herald was about keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Creon As Tragic Hero of Sophocles’ Antigone Essay -- essays papers

Creon As Tragic Hero of Sophocles’ Antigone Since the play’s inception, there has always existed a contention concerning the true hero of Sophocles’ Antigone. It is a widely held belief that Antigone must be the main character simply because she and the drama share name. This is, of course, a very logical assumption. Certainly Sophocles must have at least meant her to be viewed as the protagonist, else he would not have given her the play’s title. Analytically speaking, however, Creon does seem to more categorically fit the appellation of â€Å"Tragic Hero.† There is no doubt as to the nature of the work, that being tragedy. Along with this genre comes certain established prerequisites, and Creon is the only character that satisfactorily fits them all. There are certain qualities that a character must posses in order to qualify as a tragic hero. Ideally, the subject is to be a person of high rank, so that they may have much to lose. (Most frequently a monarch is used.) Granted, Antigone is a member of the royal bloodline. But we must not forget that she is the daughter of incest, hardly a glamorous position to start with. In Oedipus Rex, Antigone was indirectly disgraced, while Creon was socially elevated by inheriting kingship from Oedipus. Also, Creon’s being king comparatively trumps Antigone’s lesser status of orphaned princess. While this in itself objectively proves nothing, it does at a minimum make Creon the more likely choice of protagonist. Another essential component of a tragic hero is that of the tragic flaw, the one attribute that causes the inevitable downfall of the character. A case could be made for Antigone’s hamartia being obduracy. She is called stubbornly wild in the play by both Creon— â€Å"Th... ...d no wrong. Antigone needs no redemption because she has committed no great misdeed. Creon, however, comes to see his grave mistakes after he has fallen from grace. Creon repents, and is even brought to the verge of suicide. Like all tragic heroes, he can only realize his vice once everything has been taken away from him. So who was meant to be the lead character of Antigone? Antigone. So who is the lead character of Antigone? Creon. Somewhere along the line, Sophocles found a more complex story in the insecure king than in the defiant noblewoman. Using Aristotle’s outline of Greek tragedy (which ironically was primarily based on Sophocles), Creon is the only character who meets the criteria. Creon started from the highest position, suffered the greatest net losses, and possessed the only inarguable flaw. Titles aside, the literary content speaks for itself.

Women in Literature :: Essays Papers

Women in Literature The Arizona Territory was a beautiful and impressive area that deserved to have exquisite writings to represent the land. It was particularly the men who were allowed to publish their thoughts. Women’s writings were not looked upon as scholarly and not published for public enjoyment. In the late 1800's and early 1900's women's literature was underrepresented. The ideas of women and their creativity was discouraged. In Southern Arizona, this discouragement existed for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons attributed to this was that there were more limiting resources, an overabundance of women who were illiterate, and geography. Despite these and other stumbling blocks, two women overcame the odds and are seen as great women authors and literary achievers. Sharlot Hall and Frances Gillmor proved that women had a great deal to convey and exhibited the talent of literary expertise to accomplish their goals. Not only do they write about beauty and harmony, they write ab out the conflicts with the Indians and the hardships that other cultures had to endure in Arizona. One reason that few women published literature was because they came to Arizona primarily with their husbands who were in the Army and needed to relocate. These women, who came from populated and larger cities, were exposed to a different way of life in Arizona. There were few educational facilities in the west to teach young ladies about literary traditions. A lot of these women had to take care of themselves, their children, growing food and teaching. They were rooted to the same spot, sometimes for months at a time. This deprived them of a lot of mental stimuli that may have gotten in more populated areas.(1 pg. 48) Therefore sheltered women in Arizona were not encouraged to write stories or poems. Not that they didn’t know how, they told stories all the time. Children loved to hear the stories of their mothers lives and backgrounds. Women just never knew there was a medium to get their work out, so that more than just their children were partial to stories and poems o f landscapes and journeys across many different lands. There is a wealth of information about Ms. Sharlot Hall. Her life was very complex and together it all ties together to tell the story of her fame.

Marketing strategy of Danone Essay

Summary After the market research of manufacture and generic yoghurt brands in Spain we came to a conclusion that the best three brands are Carrefour, Danone and Carrefour Discount in the given order. One of the main attributes for the Carrefour’s first place was the balance between low price and good quality with attractive packaging even though Danone was the market leader when concerning the market share. The aim of the marketing strategy for Danone is to gain back the market share it has lost during the years 2007 to 2013 and how Danone can adapt to the economic situation without damaging its premium brand position. SWOT of Danone in Spain We decided to make Danone’s SWOT to determine its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in Spain. By the analysis we named action that can be done in the future in order to increase the market share of Danone. Strength – quality (packaging, structure of the yoghurt, – variety of product line – well known for its good quality and healthy products – development of new products & innovation – advertising (attracts kids) – known brand – web page discount + agreements with the shops – strong financial situation – a number of CSR activities and initiatives to benefit and support the stakeholders Weaknesses – high pricing strategy (premium brand) – competition from big competitors in every segment, which means limited market share for Danone – presence of many competitors means high brand switching Opportunities – the market of healthy products is growing – using discount coupons – street marketing & viral marketing – cooperation with Kellogg’s – renewable packaging – acquisitions and mergers – new placement of healthy products Threats – economic crisis – rising popularity of generics – increase in cost of raw materials – acquisition by competitor – though competition 3 Strengths As a market leader in terms of market share, Danone’s products present many strengths, and the brand continues to improve those strengths all the time. Indeed, in terms of quality, Danone’s products are the best in Spanish market with healthy, tasty and good structured products. Moreover, with a unique attractive packaging, Danone stands out from the other brands on the market. The variety of its product lines give Danone the strength to meet perfectly the demand. In this way the brand can respond to all the customers’ needs, in accordance with the different target groups, wants and customers’ tastes. All the products can be seen on the web page: http://www.danone.es/Producto/danone/#.UxzBm3kh5GM Moreover, the company is focused on research and development, and in this way concentrates a large part of its work on development of new products and innovation. This aspect makes Danone a brand concerned about the future and its consumers’ future needs. This is why today Danone is a brand with a worldwide reputation, well known by most of the people, and an example for other food-processing industry brands. In addition to that, Danone has webpage discounts and agreements with shops which push new clients to buy and current clients to buy more. Finally, Danone’s advertising represents an important strength for the company because they have strong marketing campaigns. This way, the brand catches all customer’s attention depending on the target endorsed. Advertising variates depending on the product line and the main target  market. For example, many of the brand’s advertisings are focused on kids and their needs, which is making the products for kids very attractive. At the same time Danone is giving valuable attributes for parents to make the final decision to actually buy the product especially when it comes to the healthiness or a daily need of certain vitamins and calcium. Moreover, their advertisements are brilliant to attract new clients for their different product lines. 4 Weaknesses High pricing strategy can be considered as a weakness for Danone when considering the economical situation. As a premium brand Danone has a â€Å"label† of a better and more expensive product that can drive customers to consume generic brand products. Moreover, Danone has permanent competition from big competitors, like Kraft Foods or Nestlà ©, in every segment, and Danone’s sales decline compared to those competitors. Finally, the presence of many competitors means high brand switching, which can represent an important weakness for Danone. 5 Opportunities Danone is a well known brand with a great reputation worldwide that implies plenty of opportunities in the Spanish market. People are more health concerned than ever, and this trend is making its way to the Spanish culture as well. As mentioned before, Danone has a large product line where healthy products such as Actimel and Pro yoghurts with added protein. Especially in Spain where the weather is good and the so called bikini season is longer because of the warm weather, people tend to take more care of their body shape and healthiness, which enables Danone to promote and sell its innovative and health concerned products to Spanish people. In addition as shown in the graft below, the demand of yoghurt is increasing year by year meaning that customers are willing to consume such products. 5.1 Discount coupons One of the main weaknesses of Danone is the high pricing strategy that can make customers turn away to consume generic brand products. Thereby Danone could start using discount coupons temporarily. The coupons would be placed as part of the packaging with a 10% discount. Discounts will not be able to be combined with other discounts and it could be used in the next purchase of any Danone products. The main idea is to give a small discount to lower the threshold for purchase without actually decreasing the real price. At the same time this kind of discount coupons creates a continuous circle of purchase and creates stronger customer relation for the products. The real difference of the price would not be significant regarding to the loss of revenues of Danone but would give added value for the customer to consume Danone products. Since Danone would not lower the real prices but use this kind of discount, it would not harm Danone’s premium brand status. 5.2 Street and viral marketing Spanish culture is used to the street marketing and handing out flyers especially in the bigger cities as Madrid. Instead of giving tasting of the Danone products in the supermarkets, it could be a great opportunity for Danone to place a stand into a centric place of a big city, give tastings and share information especially about the healthy products. Thereby Danone can make its most innovative and special products familiar to the new customers. In addition, Danone could advertise its loyalty club that offers plenty of discounts. To use all the sources of street marketing it would be effective to create something catchy that people would be able to make viral. It could be a small competition, flash mob or a game where customers can be active and be part of Danone. In addition, it is often forgotten or unknown that Danone is paying high attention to environmental issues and acts socially responsible. Therefore street marketing gives Danone an opportunity to communicate with customers and show the great work behind its products. This kind of positive  information is likely to leave a mark to the customers and make them consume Danone’s products in the future. 5.3 New placement Danone offers healthy products and concentrates its promotion on that aspect. This is why we decided to gather some healthy products in specific places, on the first hand. For example, we want to place healthy products, especially products with extra protein, in sport clubs, to familiarize sport-people who like having a snack after their training, with the brand, and to convince them to eat healthy products. On the second hand we want to establish special machines in private universities to spread Danone’s products. In this way, we distribute healthy product to young people, who are more concerned by the â€Å"healthy trend† than people of the older generations. 5.4 Recyclable Packaging It is true that recyclable packagings may be seen as a new concept. Nevertheless, it is a necessary one. Materials such as plastic, glass, metal, cardboard or paper may be reduced. To replace this, some alternative products may be used but still maintaining stability and quality. It is an economic benefit, every stage of the recyclable packaging offers potential savings that can make a great contribution to the environmental protection. Besides the economic factor, it also encourages low energy production technologies, reduced transportations and waste minimization. After this analysis we may ask ourselves, what about Danone? We recommend a packaging in green color, which will have a resemblance with the environment. In this packaging the consumer will be able to visualize written facts about the ecosystem, as well as quotes about nature. To increase the interest in the product an extra souvenir will be provided, a disposable spoon in the shape of a leave, this will be attractive to our customers’ eyes. In this way we can differentiate ourselves from the market and mostly, from our direct competitors. 5.5 Association with Kellogg’s 5.5.1 Kellogg’s Brand diagnosis Parent Company : Kelloggs Category : Food processing Sector : Food and beverages Tagline/ Slogan : Bring out best to you USP : First company to enter into readymade cereal breakfast segment Segment : Food- cereal breakfast and beverages Target Group : Family and children looking for healthy tasty breakfast Positioning : Healthy and tasty breakfast Product Portfolio – Brands : 1. Corn Flakes 2. Coco Pops 3. Chocos 4. All-Bran 5. Krave 6. Frosted Flakes 7. Froot Loops 8. Special K 9. Eggo 10.Fiber Plus 11.Crispix Kellogg’s main competitors 1. Quaker 2. Post 3. General mills 4. Torto 5. Tilo 6. Uncle Sam 7. Nestle 8. Cadbury 9. Familia 5.5.2 Kellogg’s SWOT Analysis Strengths: 1. Geographic Diversity: The company’s products are marketed and sold in more than 180 countries around the world; the company will not be seriously hurt by economic problems exclusive to one market or country 2. Great marketing initiative through various campaigns 3. â€Å"Kellogg’s small changes big differences† earth day celebration 4. â€Å"Fighting hunger† initiative with Walmart 5. Kellogg’s â€Å"heart healthy selection† 6. Has a global workforce of over 30,000 7. High brand awareness and top of the mind breakfast cereal brand globally 9. Solid Revenue Growth: Kellogg reported revenue representing year over year annual growth of 3.89%, a stable and secure rate that is projected to sustain into the future 10. Brand Loyalty: Kellogg’s iconic red logo can be found on the majority of the cereal boxes in your local supermarket, and drives customers back again and again Weaknesses: 1. Saturation of Market: Kellogg’s products are already in nearly every market around the world, so there is little room left for geographical expansion 2. Some products are high in sugar content Opportunities: 1. Development of distribution channels in other countries with help of other company 2. Change in lifestyle of consumers , lack of time increase consumption of ready-made-food 3. Tie-up with restaurants and hotels 4. Product Innovation: Kellogg has for years innovated and created new brands and products, and further product innovation is probable and should fuel sales growth Threats: 1. Increasing competition in readymade breakfast segment 2. Food regulations by government 3. Due to the increase of white labels and store brands, consumers have a lot more choices and a lower price segment to choose from. 4. Strong competitors 5.5.3 Description of the strategy consisting in associating with Kellogg’s After this wide market research of Kellogg’s company, we came to a conclusion that an association with Kellogg’s to launch a new product would be a great enrichment for both Danone and Kellogg’s. Indeed, Kellogg’s believes that with every morning comes a new beginning. The company believes that when we start with a great breakfast, great things can happen. That’s why they make more of the foods that we and our family know, trust and enjoy. A variety of great-tasting, good for our favourites that get us going so that we can make the most of every moment. That is how Kellogg’s will bring additional quality, taste and power to our brand. 5.5.4 Marketing mix of the new product Product: 4-pack Danone yoghurt with Kellogg’s cereals attached to the yoghurt. On one side, Danone yogurt, on the other, Kellogg’s cereals. It offers cereal lovers an alternative to milk. People: This product is directed towards health-conscious consumers, family and children looking for healthy, tasty and quality breakfast. Price: ~2,30â‚ ¬ / 4-pack yoghurts Place: Danone’s distribution strategy is to always be available to everyone. This means the products are distributed widely, in a variety of stores and locations so that it’s easy for customers to purchase it, everywhere. Danone guarantees easy accessibility thanks to a great network of distributors. Their products are available in numerous supermarkets all over spain such as Mercadona, Dia, Carrefour, Eroski, Super core, etc†¦. Promotion: For the promotion of this new product, Danone (and Kellogg’s) will penetrate the consumer’s mind using the following means: 1) Television Commercials 2) Social Media (Facebook and YouTube) 3) Discount coupons 4) Radio Danone’s promotion strategy is also known for using strategic ways to expose their products in supermarkets, so this strategy will of course be used as well for the new product. 5.5.5 Conclusion With this strategy, the launching of a new yoghurt/cereal product, Danone wants to contribute to the development of the consumption of ultra-fresh products at breakfast. This product will be introduced as a trial in the first place. If this product turns out to be a success, we will widen this product line by introducing new flavors of this type of yoghurt with cereals, such as strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, etc. Another expansion of this new line could as well be Kellogg’s classic cereals coated with Danone yoghurt. Threats As mentioned before the economic crisis give a challenge for premium brand as Danone. There can be seen a change of consumption where the low price goes over the quality of the product. Therefore generic brand are gaining more and more market share. Year by year there the prices of the raw materials tend to increase which gives an extra challenge for producers to keep the final price customer friendly but still get revenues.

Mobile Knowledge Management: Systems and Policies

The terms knowledge and knowledge management are such broad topics that there have no common definitions. Knowledge is something that is believed and reliable, as distinguished from information which is a set of data   arranged in   meaningful patterns. Knowledge is information combined with experience, and reflection,   integrating thinking and feeling. Knowledge management refers to a set of practices to capture and disseminate know-how among organizations around the world (Denning, 1998) for reuse, learning and creating awareness across organizations (Wikipedia) . It is easier and faster to transfer information than knowledge from one individual to another.(Denning, 1998). Among the benefits of knowledge management practices are : increased ability to capture knowledge from outside organization and integrate knowledge from departments within the organization; improved skills and knowledge of workers; increased ability to adapt services to clients; define and provide new services to clients; improved worker efficiency and productivity; alleviated the impacts of worker departures (Pratt,   2006). Knowledge management particularly semantic web documents has been applied in integrating ecoinformatics resources and environmental data (Parr, et al., 2006). This was done using the tool ELVIS (Ecosystem Location Visualization and Information System) to construct food webs (Parr, et al., 2006). Other applications were in data warehousing of student data in higher education (Palmer, 2006) and knowledge management design team-based engineering (Reiner, 2006). The latter demonstrated the use of design history as a source of   insight for team design process. It proposed a modeling framework for collaborative and distributed knowledge management for design teams (Reiner, 2006) Advances in computer and information technologies have greatly enhanced knowledge management. Palmer (2006) employed e-mail and the web to get participants to access a questionnaire on improving data quality in a data warehousing   in a higher education setting . The use of metadata and end-user involvement were positively correlated with obtaining high-quality data in data warehousing. Today, mobility and transportability are the emerging as important considerations for sharing information and knowledge. With mobile phones and hand-held computers using wireless technologies, people are no longer tied down to work in a physical office with rigid working hours but can do things in the comfort of their homes or elsewhere in a virtual office. With the ease of sharing knowledge, abuses and infringement of intellectual properties were also made easier. Regulations within the organization and the national government in general are needed to safeguard the companies against these potential abuses. Policies are also needed for security and privacy and can   determine the success or failure of a web service (Bonatti, et al. 2006). Roman et al. (2006) proposed a   combined WSMO (Web Service Modeling Ontology) and WS-policy framework consisting of a set of specifications with heavy industrial backing. This framework combines a conceptual model (Web Service Modeling Ontology), a formal syntax and language (Web Service Modeling Language) and an execution environment (Web Service Execution Environment) (Roman et al., 2006). 2.   Complete Problem Statement and Goal The trend in knowledge management is headed towards the same direction as mobile entertainment. Entertainment equipment has gone down to the size of the i-pod and portability of the DVD complete with small screens and sound system. Although some of the features of the big system are conveniently packed into the miniature system, there will always be a trade-off between the capabilities of the big system and the portable small system. This proposed research will look at the plight of the small system, the size of the mobile phone or hand-held computers that rely on wireless technology. The goals are to optimize its use for the different knowledge management processes, and identify policies to safeguard its misuse especially the threat on knowledge security of the organization. The goals will be measured in terms of the number of process that the handheld devices can handle   compare with the host computer, number of times communications breakdown and their causes, frequency of security breakdown through the use of the mobile devices. Research question: â€Å"To what extent will mobile systems, the size of mobile phones and hand-held calculators, be utilized in knowledge management?† Hypotheses: Downsizing/outsourcing will be the trend in business which will require mobile systems for communication and knowledge management. Mobile systems will become more sophisticated and powerful to be able to perform tasks that are currently done by bigger systems. Security   systems of company knowledge (data) will evolve along with the development of mobile systems 3.   Relevance and significance More and more companies continue to invest in wireless e-mail, personal productivity applications, inventory management and sales automation. More than half   of 250 IT executives surveyed in October 2003 recognize the importance of wireless technologies in their organization’s overall goals and improve user satisfaction (Ware, 2004). Most common wireless devices include a combination of mobile phones (with or without web browsers/email), laptop computers with wireless modem   and PDA’s with wireless connectivity   and pocket PC’s (Ware, 2004). Among the different wireless applications that companies will continue to support in the future, email access tops the list followed by calendar/scheduling, web access, personal productivity (word processing, spreadsheets, presentation softwares), text messaging, real time inventory management, factory floor, transactions, global positioning system (GPS), human resources, finance/accounting, decision support, CRM, sales automation, wireless e-commerce, and procurement   (Ware, 2004). Overall 60% of those surveyed were positive that their wireless investment already paid for itself (Ware, 2004). The greatest benefits came from increased productivity, streamlined processes/greater efficiencies and improved user satisfaction (Ware, 2004). The challenges to wireless technologies are security, user support, privacy and budget restrictions (Ware, 2004). Downsizing can cut down the cost of doing knowledge management. Downsizing can be done through physical reduction in the size of the hardware (equipment), software that can be run on a hand-held computer or mobile phone set, or a networking system whereby the host computer does the data analysis and the final results downloadable to the mobile phones. Government and company policies are needed to safeguard against misuse, industrial espionage and other information security issues. 4.   Approach For Hypothesis No. 1: This will be a time series analysis, with years as independent variable, and numbers of companies undergoing downsizing/outsourcing and mobile devices as dependent variables. A survey will be done on the   internet and from published news reports such as CIO Reports regarding number of businesses which had undergone downsizing or outsourcing of their operations, during the past decade. This will be correlated with the number of mobile devices used by different companies during the same period. The time series plot of the data will show the trends in downsizing and/or outsourcing and number of mobile devices through the years. The years will be the independent variable while the number of companies and mobile devices will be the dependent variables. A correlation between the two dependent variables will be made. A significant positive correlation   and increasing trends in the graphs will support Hypothesis No.1. For Hypotheses No. 2 and 3: This study will identify two companies of different sizes (large and small in terms of facilities, number of staff, type and volume of business) that have a host computer, a local area network (either wired or WIFI) and broadband internet access, and staff who have their own or office-issued hand-held computers or mobile phones with wireless internet capabilities through the years. Questionnaires will be prepared and key management officers and office staff will be interviewed. Information to be gathered will include the company profile, the knowledge management system in place including softwares and consulting firms, knowledge management applications most frequently used, access security levels issued to different classes of office staff. The staff will be asked to enumerate the processes they could do or would want to do using their mobile units, from simple text messaging to internet browsing that help in the overall decision-making process in the company. The capabilities of their host computer will be tabulated side by side with the capabilities of their most common mobile device (brand, model, year acquired). Capabilities will be measured in terms of available memory and the number of tasks the device is capable of performing. This is again a time series data with year as independent variable and the number of features or tasks performed by the host computer and the mobile systems will be the dependent variables. If hypothesis no. 2 is correct we would expect an increasing number of tasks that can be performed by the mobile system. For hypothesis No. 3, the dependent variable will the frequency   of data security   breakdowns and the independent variable will the years the company has been in operation. Another indicator will be the number of regulations formulated to curb security problems (dependent variable) through the years. Company management will be asked regarding existing company policies, code of ethics, data security and standard operational procedures through the years from the time the company was established. They will be asked how frequent did they suffer breakdown in data security through their mobile devices through the years. They will also be asked to comment on the ideal design for their computer hardwares and softwares and features for the mobile equipment.   They will also be asked to comment of what kinds of government support and regulations are needed to curb piracy and infringement of their intellectual properties. This research will need the following resources: interviewers to interview at least three key company officers, two staff per office department (e.g. human resources, procurement, marketing, operations, etc.); a knowledge management or IT specialist to evaluate   knowledge management software system and how the ordinary staff can access to it using their mobile equipment. References: Bonatti, P.A., Ding, L., Finin, T. and Olmedilla, D. 2006. Proceedings of the 2nd International Semantic Web Policy Workshop (SWPW’06). 5th International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC). Athens, Georgia, USA. Nov. 5, 2006. Denning, S. What is knowledge management? Background paper to the World Development Report 1998. from Palmer, H. 2006. A data warehouse methodology and model for student data in higher education. PhD dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. UMI Number 3218332. 202pp. Parr, C.S., Parafiynyk, A., Sachs, J., Pan, R., Han, L., Ding, L., Finin, T., Wang, D. 2006. Using the semantic web to integrate ecoinformatics resources. American Association for Artficial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). Reiner, K.A. 2006. A framework for knowledge capture and a study of development metrics in collaborative engineering design. PhD Dissertation. Stanford University. UMI Microform 3219361.   258 p. Roman, D., Kopecky, J., Toma, I. and Fensel, D. 2006. Aligning WSMO and WS-Policy. Proceedings of the 2nd International Semantic Web Policy Workshop (SWPW’06). 5th International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC). Athens, Georgia, USA. Nov. 5, 2006. Ware, L.C. 2004. The payoff of wireless IT investments. C IO Research Reports. From Wikipedia. Knowledge management. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management

Applying the Results and Conclusion Essay

In the research process, applying the results and conclusion is an important process that answers the underlying question of the study. The results are the findings of the study. Depending on what the study was about and how it was conducted, the results could vary and may determine what exactly was found and how it should be applied. The conclusion is a summary of the findings and this is where the researcher developed his or her theory and tries and proves what it is that they were trying to find out. â€Å"The teen birth rate has been steadily falling for years, but it still remains the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized countries.† (â€Å"Facts About Teen Pregnancy,† 2014). As of May 2014, the state of Texas is ranked number three of fifty-one states in the United States with the highest number of teen pregnancies and number five in teen birth deliveries. Although the numbers have steadily decreased since its peak in the 1990’s, Texas is still considered to be one of the states with the most teen pregnancies preceded by New Mexico and Mississippi. â€Å"In 2010, some 614,000 pregnancies occurred among teenage women aged 15–19, for a rate of 57.4 pregnancies per 1,000 women that age. This marks a 51% decline from the 1990 peak and a 15% decline in just two years, from 67.8 in 2008, according to â€Å"Facts About Teen Pregnancy† (2014). In the state Texas, sex education is not a required subject and researchers attribute this fact along with racial and ethical backgrounds to the problem of teen pregnancy. This problem is costing taxpayers 1.1 billion dollars a year in health care. So, this problem is not only affecting the families, it is affecting the entire community. To collect data for this study the researchers used the Secondary Data Collection process. Secondary data collection is simply gathering data from documents, records and reports of others. â€Å"Texas birth records and population projections were used to simulate pregnancy rates  among women ages 15-19 years from 2005 to 2015† (â€Å"Teen pregnancy in Texas: 2005 to 2015.,† 2012). The data was appropriate because it consisted of recorded facts and records that were taken by accredited sources. In protecting the right of the subjects, the researchers did not disclose any names, medical information, or any other form of personal information where the subject could be identified. This study was conducted on the number of pregnancies and births of women ages 15-19 and the focus was on the numbers not the specific people. To support the reliability and validity of the study researchers used the Scatter Diagram. â€Å"The scatter diagram graphs pairs of numerical data, with one variable on each axis, to look for a relationship between them. If the variables are correlated, the points will fall along a line or curve. The better the correlation, the tighter the points will hug the line† according to â€Å"Teen pregnancy in Texas: 2005 to 2015.† Based on historical rates of natural increase, sexual experience among racial and ethnical groups was used to present the numbers. The data was analyzed after being collected and explored. The gathered information was compared with the information from other states and the result was Texas was ranked number three when it came to teen pregnancies and births in the United States. The analysis procedures were app ropriate because the researcher had to have other statistics from other states to compare with the Texas statistics. Analyzing recorded facts and records was simply an action of comparing the numbers with other states and finding that some were higher and some were lower. This process help the researcher determine in what order each state was listed in teen pregnancies. The two types of data collected were the quantitative data and the qualitative data. The quantitative data gave information that could be converted into numbers. In other words, the subjects were counted and other information, except their age and the fact that they were pregnant or had given birth, was excluded. The qualitative data would be the information that was not disclosed such as the names and the ages. Qualitative research focuses on gathering of mainly verbal data rather than measurements. It is important to gather one or both forms of data to give more insight to the research. Depending on what the research is about, one or both method of data collection can be used. In conclusion it was found that the state of Texas is among the states with the highest number of teen pregnancies and  births. The pregnancies were attributed to lack of sex education, racial and ethnical backgrounds, economic status, and the rise in teen sexual experiences. It proved that the Hispanic race attributes the majority of the teen pregnancies followed by African Americans. Not only is Texas ranked number three and five with teen pregnancies and births, Texas is ranked number one in repeated births among teen mothers in the United States. The pregnancies are costing taxpayers 1.1 billion dollars a year. It is a proven fact that this is a problem that not only affect the families it affects the whole community. The strengths of this study are the fact that the problem is being recognized so that a solution can be found. Because of the awareness of the situation, legislature can began to generate a plan to control teen sexual habits. If this is accomplished, fewer pregnancies will occur. The limits to the study are that it did not include the opinions of the teen women. I feel that if the insight of their situation was given a better idea of controlling the situation could be formed. In order to solve this problem, I feel that the teen young women should give their story and the stories should be compared to find a/the common ground. Once the common ground is found, a better solution could be introduced to control the situation. â€Å"Changing population characteristics in Texas and differences in sexual activity and contraceptive failure among racial/ethnic groups indicate that teenage pregnancy will not continue to decline in the coming decade† (â€Å"Teen pregnancy in Texas: 2005 to 2015.,† 2012). Now that the quantitative data has been collected a researched more qualitative data should be gathered. References Facts About Teen Pregnancy. (2014, July). About Health, 1(1), 1-2. Retrieved from http://pregnancy.about.com/od/teenpregnancy/a/Teen-Pregnancy.htm Teen pregnancy in Texas: 2005 to 2015.. (2012, July). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1(1), . Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/23642480_Teen_pregnancy_in_Texas_2005-2015

Formal vs. Informal Communication

What is Communication? When you think of communication, what is the first thing that comes to mind? What role does communication play in our everyday lives? Researchers have conducted numerous studies on communication and how it is used all around the world. First, let’s discuss the definition of communication. From the textbook, Leadership Communication, communication is defined as the transmission of meaning from one person to another or many people, whether verbally or nonverbally (Barrett, 2011, p. ). Communication from one person to another is often called the â€Å"rhetorical situation,† which is commonly depicted as a simple triangle consisting of the context, the sender, the message, and the receiver (Barrett, 2011, p. 5). The definition of communication, in terms of leadership, is the ability for leaders to put out information that is clear and concise to which their subordinates and peers will be able to comprehend. Barrett defines leadership communication as the controlled, purposeful transfer of meaning by which individuals influence a single person, a group, an organization, or a community by using the full range of their communication abilities and resources to connect positively with their audiences, overcome interferences, and create and deliver messages that guide, direct, motivate, or inspire others to action (Barrett, 2011, p. 6). There are several meanings that has been studied and written by researchers and scholars to describe communication. Communication is used in many fields of study that would differ in its characteristics and content. The way that you would communicate at home with family and friends would differ in the workplace with your bosses and co-workers. Thus far, we have covered the terminology of communication; the next topic of discussion is the two forms of communication: Formal and Informal. We start off by asking ourselves, what is the difference between formal and informal communication? People every day use formal and informal communication on the daily basis. For most of us it is second-nature, almost as if we are immune or equipped, or just simply common practice.

Shea's One of a Kind Boutique Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Shea's One of a Kind Boutique - Term Paper Example Role of Technology in the Effectiveness and Efficiency of the Business Technology can be an important factor in the effectiveness and efficiency of a business if applied properly. In the boutique business, technology would be used smartly in order to make the business more effective and more efficient. A central information system will be set up and all the terminals in the business would be connected to each other. Any entry of data in one terminal would automatically update the data in all the terminals, thus the information would be centralized (Gottschalk, 2007). Use of barcodes will be made and each item in the outlets will be assigned a unique barcode. The barcode will hold the essential information such as price and name of the item. The entry of the data would not be done manually but it will be automated through the use of barcode readers and this information will be updated in the central servers. In case of a sale, the invoice will be generated once the barcode is entered in the system. Thus, the item will be moved from the inventory records and it will be recorded as sold. Another use of technology would be the placement of trackers on the items, specially the items that cost more, in order to ensure that the items are not moved from the inventory unless proper recording has been done in the system in this regard. This control system would also ensure that the items are not stolen from the boutique. Cloud Computing Cloud computing is the sharing of software, information and other utilities over a network among computers and other devices. Cloud computing is a relatively new concept but it is proving to be highly essential for the businesses where centralization of information is becoming necessary. Cloud computing is a combination of infrastructure, platform and applications. Infrastructure include the network, storage and servers; platform includes the database, identity and object storage and the applications include the monitoring, communication, content and financial information. Users access the cloud based applications from their devices using the network or if they do not have access to the network, they can access it over the internet if the network allows virtual access. Cloud computing allows the management to run the business even from remote locations. In this manner, the business remains uninterrupted even when the core management is unavailable (Miller, 2008). For the boutique business, cloud computing can play a very important role. The owners of the business can keep track of all the records in real time without even being required to be available in the premises of the boutique all the time. Another positive aspect of the cloud computing services is that they can be accessed from mobile devices too. Through virtual access, the owners of the business can keep track of all the transactions and financial data of the business even when they are on the move. The major weakness associated with cloud computing in the business is the threat of illegitimate intervention and leakage of information. Since all the records are centralized on the cloud database, any intervention into the network may cause a theft of the confidential records. Technology and Confidential Information Almost all the businesses have some trade secrets and certain records which are not meant to be seen by outsiders or the competitors. The confidentiality

Marketing Managemant 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing Managemant 6 - Essay Example Similarly, in order to be remain profitable in the future also, they need to know the future changes in the consumers' tastes as they imperative for the success of the business as it is the consumer purchases that keep the business up and running and do well for the owners of the company and for all other stakeholders including the company's customers as well. Marketers will have to base their promotional strategy on the basis of consumer's perceptions. If consumers value discounts more than other offers such as free samples than the marketers need to make sure that they get the appropriate promotion technique and hence marketers need to know a lot about the market in order to keep the business on track and up and running. Apart from consumer's perception, the psychology of consumer's must also be kept in mind. If certain ad is considered to be bad according to the culture of the country than such ad should not aired or printed. These are some of the techniques that marketers must ke ep in mind in order to make successful promotional and marketing techniques to contribute to the success of the business.

I want you to read my decument ( IEP Study notes) and answer my Essay

I want you to read my decument ( IEP Study notes) and answer my question 2- 3- 4 - Essay Example There must be a consensus between the parents and the school that that member of the meeting does not attend. This may be for the reason that their area of expertise will not be discussed in the meeting (Siegel, Lawrence M, 2011). Secondly even though the expertise of the member will be needed the member may be excluded from the meeting, but it has also to be in writing by the school and the parents. The member who is excluded from the meeting has to put it into writing that he is not going to attend the meeting, which is done prior to the meeting to ensure that there is a review of what to expect during the meeting. I would recommend that the contract be renewed with conditions whereby I will ensure to follow up on the progress and see whether the performance is improving or that the member is still on the same position they were during evaluation. I would renew because the appraisals states that the member of staff can improve and try to give another