Book Review of The Classic Slum Essay - 1626 Words

The book The Classic Slum: Salford Life in the First Quarter of the Century by Robert Roberts gives an honest account of a village in Manchester in the first 25 years of the 20th century. The title is a reference to a description used by Friedrich Engels to describe the area in his book Conditions of the Working Class. The University of Manchester Press first published Roberts book in the year 1971. The more recent publication by Penguin Books contains 254 pages, including the appendices. The author gives a firsthand description of the extreme poverty that gripped the area in which he grew up. His unique perspective allows him to accurately describe the self-imposed caste system, the causes and effects of widespread poverty, and the†¦show more content†¦Roberts organizes his book based on certain themes, such as culture and day-to-day life, paying special attention to the pre- and post-War periods so as to emphasize the evolution of the slum throughout the period of tim e covered. He divides it into chapters that cover specific aspects of society and day-to-day life in order to accentuate certain points. His writing style is a unique and well-chosen blend of personal reminiscences and historical research. Much of his writing, including his own experiences, is presented in a very matter-of-fact way. The impact this style has on the reader is great because he is able to state such horrors so bluntly, as only someone who was truly there can. Occasionally, however, his emotions break through, as is evident in his explanation of his parents separation and subsequent death on page 238. Lastly, the work is scholarly and concise, as Roberts chooses to get straight to the point and elaborate on it rather than saying the same thing in many different ways. The book is far from a complete history and instead focuses on one specific sector of British history, the plight of the poor in early 20th century Manchester. Three main points seems to fight their way to the forefront, as they drive the direction and tone of the book. The first main point stressed is the elaborate and complex social stratification. Roberts says on the first page, I grew up in what was perhaps an idealShow MoreRelatedThe World Of The 21st Century2489 Words   |  10 Pagestheir economic success. However, upon further review, there is no correlation between population and gross-domestic-product (GDP). Of the top ten cities in population, only four are also top ten cities in terms of GDP. Furthermore, rounding out the top ten cities by GDP are the cities San Fransisco and Boston - which are only ranked 35th and 48th in terms of the population respectively. (chart on page 13). 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An Insight into Michael Collin’s Life Free Essays

In 1916 during the Easter Rising his role was relatively low key, but y 1922 he ultimately gave his life in the Civil War for what he believed in. Michael Collins took part in the Easter Rising in Dublin. He fought alongside others in the General Post Office, and he was singled out as the most active and efficient officer in the place’ by Despond Fitzgerald, who had been put in charge of the General Post Office canteen. We will write a custom essay sample on An Insight into Michael Collin’s Life or any similar topic only for you Order Now L This would suggest that Collins always had leadership qualities and a passion for Ireland’s Freedom, which would play such an important part in later events such as the treaty negotiations of 1922. It would also imply that he had an important part In the Rising. However, Collins only played a relatively low key part, which was shown because he wasn’t one of the people who were court-martingale. This factual evidence contradicts the source, which shows even though this source is from a witness of the Rising and would have seen first-hand Collins’ part, it automatically has a low weight of argument because it’s provenance. The source is from one of his close associates who were on the same side as Collins in the Rising and therefore it will be in Collins favor towards his significance in the Rising. Also, Despond Fitzgerald isn’t the right person to edge his part in the rising because he was in charge of the Canteen, so only really saw Collins during meal times, which isn’t when he would be making decisions or under pressure from the British forces closing in. Despond Ryan, however, fought alongside Collins in the General post Office, paints the image of Collins very different to Fitzgerald. He said that Collins ‘sat in a corner, a look of horror in his eyes, a pallor spreading across his face†¦ Straining his control to breaking point’2 this suggests that he wasn’t efficient or significant and broke under the pressure of the Rising. Therefore, this indicates the Rising could have happened without Michael Collins. Both these sources were dated to 1 916 which makes the source reliable because it’s gives a good indication of the feelings towards Michael Collins at the time of the General Post Office takeover. However, Despond Ryan was Parse’s literary executor, and as Pears was executed after the rising for being one of its leaders, Ryan resented Collins for receiving limelight from the Rising, and not being executed like his close associate. Consequently, he is likely to describe Collins in a critical and negative light. The aftermath of the Rising resulted in Collins being sent to Foregone and whilst there he was one of the organizers of a program of protest and non- cooperation with authorities. He saw it as an opportunity to improve his guerrilla tactics and spread revolutionary gospel until it was emptied in December 1916. During his time in Foregone Collins made sure that the other refugees did NT give information about themselves up, as he knew that it was possible to beat them by wearing them down. He wrote to a friend ‘For a time they’ll raise war – in the end they’ll despair† 3. Collins knew the British would ire of trying to get information, and he saw it as an opportunity for networking with physical-force republicans from all over the country and improving his guerrilla tactics. The provenance of this source is from a letter. Collins wrote to a friend while in Foregone, so it gives a clear insight into his intentions which makes this source accurate. However, because it is from himself he may think he is making more of an impact than he actually is. Yet, this is unlikely because they all got released quickly from the camp which would back up this letter and give it a good weight of argument. The canteen staff in Foregone described Collins as ‘highly respected’ and when they took problems to him he ‘always listened logically. This helps us understand Michael Collins’ short term significance because he learnt from the military blunders made; such as the seizure of indefensible and very vulnerable positions like SST Stephens Greene and filled the vacuum made by the executions of the leaders of the Rising. Likewise, Foregone would have been different without Collins as the internees wouldn’t have been able to hold out and the Irish wouldn’t have developed such a fighting force. It’s a useful source because they were employed to work in the Foregone canteens so they are indifferent to Collins, which gives this source a high weight of argument which can be generalized to how others must have seen him who weren’t closely involved with him. Then again, as it is written so long after, it can be doubted On the contrary, the source was wrote over half a century later, so it’s questionable how far someone can precisely remember what the canteen staff thought about Collins. Michael Collins had many responsibilities after leaving Foregone. He was appointed Finance Minister and is described as ‘the unlikely Finance Minister who proved himself an administrator par excellence. ‘6 Collins produced a Finance Ministry that was able to organize a large bond issue in the form of a â€Å"National Loan† to fund the new Irish Republic which was placed in bank accounts of the trustees. This proves how exceptionally significant he was and what a great asset to Ireland he was. The British declared the finances Collins acquired as illegal but Collins carried the money through successfully even though he held down four major positions. The other three being Adjutant- General, Director Of Intelligence and the Director Of Organization. ) FINANCE MINSTER SOURCE He also organized jail breaks because ‘he would obtain information from a wide variety of people’ (Lick O’Connor). Lick O’Connor was he is a well- known intellectual figure in contemporary Irish affairs who was born after the death of Michael Collins which makes him a secondary source, his great- grandfather was Matt Harris, Land Leaguer, Fabian, and Irish Parliamentary party Member of Parliament, which means he grew up being surrounded by animal views to Michael Collins and be more likely to support him. Also without Collins, the finance effort would have been a lot weaker and there would have been less information known by Ireland to aid themselves in jail breaks ACT. Collins was a man of ‘charismatic nature’ and his ‘reputation for decisiveness’ made people want to seek his assistance and advice, which meant he was significant in the sense that he had leadership qualities which helped the Sin Feint, for example in elections. This was said by Winston Churchill which gives it a high weight of argument because he was an enemy f Collins so if he was complimenting Collins then it is more valid as information as he is likely to oppose him. In the Anglo- Irish war, Michael Collins played the most important role in this struggle. As director of intelligence of the AIR he crippled the British intelligence system in Ireland and replaced it with an effective Irish network. At the same time he performed his other responsibilities. He was significant because he maximized efficiency of and minimized losses which made Ireland able to withstand the larger British forces. For example ‘ the British made desirously high estimates of their enemy’ because of Collins tactics they thought that Ireland had a lot more man power than they really had, also, republican victories had widespread support from the Irish, including every level of society, and reaching deep into the British administration in Ireland. Without Collins the Irish Revolution would have been less effective without his skill in guerrilla warfare. The British government perceived him as a murdering criminal mastermind and thought about placing ‘E 10,000’ on his head if he was ‘dead or alive. This was discussed with Winston Churchill but ejected making Collins both Britain’s most wanted man and a Hero to Ireland. It seemed to be futile because he was anonymous to the British authorities and Collins used this to his advantage to unease his enemies, which would suggest why the price would have been so high. Mark Sutures wrote ‘l wonder how it is that the archbishop sees Collins apparently without difficulty and our intelligence fails’ These sources all give a good insight into how exasperated the British became with the notorious Michael Collins, and even though they desperately tried to capture him, they just couldn’t. These al are primary sources with a high weight of argument because they were on the opposing side Of the Anglo- Irish war so they wouldn’t want to outline their failures to capture him, and/or compliment him in the process. ANALYSIS When the war ended Collins was sent to go to the treaty negotiations. He went out of loyalty to De Valier, even though he was opposed to being sent to London as part of the Treaty delegation. ‘To me the task is a loathsome one. ‘8 This source gives a good insight into how Collins felt at the time. Also Collins negotiation skills and political knowledge was small compared to De Baler’s ND it meant giving up his shrouded identity. Nevertheless, David Lloyd George said that Collins ‘did not have De Baler’s slippery political cunning’ but he didn’t doubt he was ‘the head and front of the movement;9 this source is important and has a high weight of argument because someone opposing him recognized his significance. Lloyd George was very unfavorable of Collins at this time as he was the British prime minister. But then again, why would the British want to negotiate with Collins? They thought he was a murderer, so they must have realized he would be more impartial than De Valier in negotiations. When, Collins signed the treaty saying ‘I may have signed my own death warrant’ because he knew that many people wouldn’t agree with it but he did it for the long run good of Ireland. Britain wasn’t willing to give a better deal than that and he signed it under treat of ‘immediate and terrible war’ if it wasn’t signed. This shows the British had the dominant position at the time of the signing, which suggests it could have been forced. However, he had still achieved a lot because Ireland got half of her freedom back with is half more than she already had, and he was repaper to sacrifice himself for it. How to cite An Insight into Michael Collin’s Life, Papers

O-Positive Up Up Up free essay sample

The first impression you get from talking with the members of O-Positive, a Boston-based, close to big time band, is, in all actuality, positive. The five member group is comprised of extremely talented musicians, who for all their skills in music, are very loose, amiable and easy to talk to. Renowned for their powerful love songs, O-Positive is a band on the move. They have recently completed a two-week tour of the Eastern United States, and are looking to continue touring as much as possible. Unlike some bands, O-Positive is not an overly-serious gathering of nihilistic musicians. They are a band that likes to have fun, but in doing so, they dont detract from their musical style or substance; they add to it. O-Positive has struck a balance between comedy and charity, and the end result is a band that is one of the most engrossing, captivating bands of today. O-Positive began about seven years ago in the Boston area. All of the band members (Dave Herlihy, Dave Ingham, Dave Martin, Alex Lob, and Alan Petitti) grew up in and around Boston, specifically Newton and Watertown. We were all in some cover bands to start, says Alan Petitti, but I was getting sick of doing covers, and wanted to start writing my own material. So one day, Alex, Dave Ingham and I got together, jammed, and worked on some original stuff. That was really fun, and we decided to meet once a week to write new material. We made this a point, and I brought in Dave Herlihy, who was an acquaintance of mine. After awhile, he became a big part of what we were doing, and we decided to do a gig. The rest, as they say, is history. Encour- aged by the reaction they were getting, the four members (at the time) of O-Positive stuck with their intentions of originality. The O-Positive of today is made up of five very talented musicians. Dave Herlihy is on lead vocals, and also plays a mean guitar. Herlihy graduated from Watertown High School, and also passed the bar exam to obtain a law degree. Dave Ingham is O-Positives bassist, and also plays a part in the bands vocals. Dave Martin, a new addition to the original four member band and the last of the three Daves, plays guitar, and goes house on the tamborine for certain songs. Martin is also on O-Positives vocal crew. Alex Lob is the man in charge of hammering out a high-powered rhythm on the bands percussion section. Although he has a relatively quiet personality, once Lob hits the stage, hes sure to impress with his own unique style of play. Playing guitar, keyboards and the accordion for O-Positive, Alan Petitti rounds out the band. Petitti also contributes to the bands vocals. By varying playing styles and techniques from song to song, not to mention instruments, O-Positive comes off with a very unique sound, one that is not only hard to replicate, but difficult to develop as well. Upon posing the dreaded question (as seen by Dave Ingham), one can find out why the band decided to call themselves O-Positive. We didnt hate it, says Ingham right off the bat.We started thinking AWow, were not saying no to that, so it stuck, and just like any other name for any other band, it began to work for us. O-Positives first album was an EP that came out on a tiny label called Throbbing Lobster. Only Breathing was later compiled with another EP, Cloud Factory, which had come out on Links label. The Only Breathing/Cloud Factory compact disc came out on Links Label, and allowed O-Positive fans to enjoy such heart-wrenching tunes as Talk About Love and Up, Up, Up on the same album. Alan Petitti affirms the value of the CD by saying, It really was the release of the CD that made people stop and listen to us. Although college stations and WFNX had played our stuff, this CD put it all together, and was more attractive to the fans. When asked which song in particular could be credited with the groups success, Alex Lob doesnt hesitate to say, It was ATalk About Love. It has a real catchy tune that people can easily remember, and by remembering the song, they would also remember us. After Link put out the CD compilation in 1987, O-Positive switched labels and their new Toyboat, Toyboat, Toyboat came out that year on a major label, Epic Records. According to Dave Ingham, making the record with Epic was much easier than putting together Only Breathing or Cloud Factory, since, with the major label, the band actually had a recording budget, and were not pressed to squeeze all the recording studio time into as short a period as possible. One advantage of being with Epic is the number of opportunities that present themselves. O-Positive has already shot their first video for MTV, (Imagine That), and theyre hoping to get in some more videos off the new album. With a band just starting off in the Boston area, the members of O-Positive didnt really expect things to work out the way they did. For Petitti, I just wanted to be in a band considered good enough in Boston to get us gigs. However, the band members attitudes changed after the release of Only Breathing There came a point after the first record, that we all decided we were going to get a major label deal, maintains Ingham.Once we decided that, we just kept fighting towards that end. Youve got to. If you dont, then youre going to quit, because there are alot of points where morale is low, and quitting seems to be the easiest way out. To achieve the goal of becoming part of a major label, it is impossible to toy with the chemistry of a band. O-Positive has all of its original members plus one, so the original make-up of the band has not been changed. The days of the band just starting out are long gone, and O-Positive has just returned from their most extensive tour ever. Going the cheapest way possible, members of the band (as well as three crew people) roamed the country in a Winnebago. Although O-Positive did not headline their recent eleven-city, fourteen-day tour, they were exposed to large clubs, with capacities of over one thousand people. We were playing in front of maybe eight hundred to one thousand people every show. It was our job to get them into the music and to enjoy the acts following ours. But we found many people in many towns were very receptive to our music, comments Dave Ingham about the tour. The tour hit St. Louis, Kalamazoo, Ithaca, New York City, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, to name a few. When asked what they thought of opening for Sinead OConnor at Great Woods, Alan Petitti points out that, Whenever you open for a big name star, at a big venue, you find all the people you work with are professionals. Its really a great feeling to be treated that well. Alex Lob is quick to add, The food was great, too. The tour was a learning experience, as always, but it was also a self-promotional device to get people into O-Positive, which it obviously did. The members of O-Positive claim that there are innumerable things that have affected their music. Alan Petitti is particularly influenced by the guitarist from the Gang of Four, who Petitti claims, just starts pounding on his guitar, with no detectable rhythm; but it sounds great. I try to do that sometimes when Im playing. Dave Martin believes that he has been impacted not just by other bands, but by emotions stemming from watching certain movies, or seeing certain events. Its just that feeling you walk away with that leads you to think of a certain melody or phrase of words, comments Martin. O-Positive is truly one of the few unique bands around today that has its own group of fans, based on a singular, O-Positive sound. When you even come in temporary contact with the band, you become aware of the loose, fun-loving nature of the band members. Alan Petitti articulates, Were just a bunch of guys with the same goals and the same ideals. Through seven years of dedication and hard labor to meet those goals, O-Positive has defined themselves as an extraordinary group of talented individuals, capable of working well as a team. Seven years have seen the rise of O-Positive on the Boston scene. O-Positive has become Bostons premiere band. Within a few years, there is no doubt they will be one of the countrys premiere bands. O+ Up, Up, Up. n

Religious Experience Essays - Vaishnavism, Hindu Denominations

Religious Experience On Wednesday, March 29, 2000 my friendand I attended the Morning Prayer service at the Hare Krishna Farm. The worship began at 7:15 A.M and lasted until 8:45 A.M. Breakfast then followed. At the Hare Krishna Farm wemet Indulekha Devi dasi who explained to us many aspects of their worship. The temple room itself was very impressive. On one side of the temple was a statue of Srila Prabhubada, the spiritual master who brought the Hare Krishna movement to the West. On the opposite side, there was a very big altar with the Deities. The temple room was filled with pictures representing different incarnations of God. Before entering the temple room, a person has to take off his or her shoes. As soon as they enter the temple room, I noticed that all of the devotees (that is how Hare Krishna members call themselves) bow down. Indulekha explained to us that they are offering obeisance to God and the spiritual master. Some of the devotees knock on the entrance door or ring the bells above the entrance door, letting the Deities in the temple know that they are entering. Women were standing on one side of the room and the men on the other side. Service started at 7:15 with Deity Greeting. The priest blew the conches and the curtains on the altar have opened. The two big statues or Deities have been in the center of the altar. The recorded music was playing. Indulekha explained to us that the same song has played all over the world in Hare Krishna temples at 7:15 am. It was a prayer to God. Music was very melodic and pleasant to the ears. The altar itself seemed to be very opulent. Beautiful flower arrangements were surrounding the Deities. Deities itself were actually wearing a clothes. During the greeting, a ceremony called arati is preformed. The head priest or pujari offered incense, the fire lamp, flower, water and a fan in the circular motions. That has lasted for 10 minutes and at the end of the ceremony pujari has blown conchell again announcing the end of the greeting. The fire lamp has been carried around to each person to touch it. Indulekha told us that that is for purification. After the Deity Greeting devotees have turned towards the statue of Srila Prabhupada. Spiritual master worship service was beginning. Indulekha was telling us that spiritual master has a big importance in Hare Krishna religion. He teaches devotees the Holy Scriptures and in that way brings them closer to God. Therefore each morning they have Guru Puja or worship of Guru. One of the man devotees has started singing a prayer for a spiritual master. He would sing one line and the rest would follow. The similar ceremony that has been preformed for Deity greeting has been preformed for Spiritual Master Worship. Flower, water, incense, lamp and fan have been offered. During the ceremony devotees started dancing. As the ceremony was going on the rhythm has been faster and faster and dancing was lively and lively. Each person would go towards the statue and take a flower petals and circle around the Srila Prabhupada in that way offering their obeisance and gratefulness. As the guru worship ended, all devotees (without stopping singing) turned towards the Deities and started singing Hare Krishna mantra. Indulkeha told us that that is the most important mantra. Followers of the Hare Krishna chant that mantra every day. During the meditation hours they repeat it many times: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. After a dancing and singing has been finished, everyone bowed down and prayers were said. The lecture followed. Lecture has been give by local member of Hare Krishna. He would read a verse from the book called Srimad Bhagavatam. Worse was read in Sanskrit, then translation and purport. Then lecture started. The lecture was about detachment from material body. It is said that material body does not represent us. Material body is just like a dress that we wear, and on the end of the life we leave it. When we take a birth again we choose another dress. As Indulekha told us, morning prayers is usually only for members of Hare Krishna but everyone is welcome. But for people like us they recommend Sunday gathering because philosophy is explained on the more basic level. During the morning prayers, it is more for devotees and therefore for us it may be hard to follow.

decline in union membership in essays

decline in union membership in essays Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 2000, show that the decline in Australian union membership continues, despite the efforts of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), to stop the slide. The ABS reports that trade union membership has dropped to 28 percent of the total workforce, compared to 1992, where there was 40 percent. (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2000.) Previous ABS findings show that these recent figures are part of a general trend, with no slight recovery recorded in the past six years. Whilst it is evident that there is a decline in union membership, it is important to analyse why this is so and what the unions are doing to combat the downward trend. In attempting to tackle this issue, it is important to state the main objectives of a union that attract employees to join a membership and why the memberships are declining. Australian unions were established in the first half of the nineteenth century, with growth beginning in the post gold-rush era. It is from then that the fastest growth of the era seems to have been in the decade of the 1880s, where prosperous economic conditions and a tight labour market were forces making for union development (Dabscheck, Griffen, and Teicher, 1992). The primary objective of a trade union is to improve the well being of its members. They were formed to counter the superior economic power of the employers. It has long been recognised that the market dominance of employers could only be offset by workers acting collectively and establishing organisations to bargain on their behalf. The most important function of a union is to maximise the wages and salaries of its members (Deery, Plowman, and Walsh, 2000). Why do employees join unions? There are a number of reasons that an employee may join a union but three major factors are evident. They are; dissatisfaction with economic aspects of the job; a desire to influence those aspects of t...

Heres why your paycheck is disappearing

Heres why your paycheck is disappearing It’s not a magic trick- your paycheck may seem like it’s vanishing faster than you can earn it, but there are reasons why this seems to happen. It’s a common phenomenon: payday comes around and you start thinking about all of the things you’d like to do with your money when it comes in, but then reality hits, and your grand plans for your paycheck seems to evaporate into thin air, along with your funds. If you’re often struck by this disappointing occurrence, take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. The simple truth comes down to this: for many of us, the size of our paychecks haven’t kept pace with the rising costs of the things we purchase, and when this occurs it should be no surprise that the â€Å"vanishing paycheck† is such a common phenomenon.What you’re earningThe statistics on historical wage trends paint a daunting picture, and goes a long way to explain why our earnings don’t seem to go as far as we’d like them to. According to a recent report by The Brookings Institution, inflation-adjusted wages have only grown around 10 percent over the last 45 years, with real wage growth crawling forward at a paltry .2 percent annually. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that when adjusted for inflation, real average hourly earnings have remained virtually unchanged for the American workforce over the last four decades.There are a number of factors that can be pointed to in an effort to explain this trend, from cheap labor overseas affecting supply and demand to globalized corporate competition and an economy weakened by the Great Recession and unexpectedly high inflation, but the bottom line is that this level of wage stagnation reflects a significant lack of opportunity for economic advancement for the average American worker.Furthermore, although companies have been earning massive profits in recent decades, largely due to rising costs of products and globalization o f markets and labor pools, this increased revenue simply has not made its way into the pockets of the employees who contribute to their success. The Economic Policy Institute reports that the average worker’s share of corporate-sector income in the form of wages and benefits has been on the decline since 1979.Wage inequality is another recent yet disturbing trend. According to recent BLS data, although there has been wage growth for those in the top earning percentile brackets, the opposite is true for workers in the bottom and lower-middle earning categories. This growing economic stratification creates a deep divide between the â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have nots,† leaving many workers with little hope that their financial situations will dramatically improve.What you’re spendingIf stagnant wages wasn’t challenging enough, consider the fact that the goods and services we purchase are taking bigger and bigger bites out of our paychecks than ever befo re. This includes everything from essentials like housing, food, and utilities to non-essential purchases like luxury items, vacations, and even expensive coffee (which has turned into a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry), all of which gnaw away at our earnings faster than we thought possible.Current BLS data indicates that average prices for consumer goods are increasing at an average rate of around 2 percent a year; this may not seem significant, but when many workers don’t see steady wage increases each year, paying an extra 2% for everything they purchase can really add up. There’s also a wide array of expenses that today’s average worker shoulders that previous generations did not have to worry about- think student loans, smart phone bills, and numerous credit card payments to name just a few- all of which further stretches workers’ paychecks beyond capacity.The bottom lineWhat does this all mean? There’s a growing unbalance between what th e average American worker earns and what he or she spends, and it paints a bleak economic picture for many people. If you’re not a captain of industry or among the earning elite, chances are good that the money you’re earning just isn’t going as far as you’d like it to, due to a variety of disadvantageous economic forces and trends that are showing no sign of reversing anytime soon. With all of these factors at play, the magic trick known as the â€Å"vanishing paycheck† isn’t so mysterious or magical after all.

Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Assessment - Essay Example Frustrating sights from yellow leaves bring disbelieve as pest and disease had invaded the some trees and spreading to others. With time, the leaves wither and fall forming a carpet of dry and crusty leaves as some trees succumb and dry up. Additionally, gusty whirlwinds introduce flames of withering serenity while carrying everything to the sky. My choice for this description paper is Pillsbury Crossing. It was with joy that I wrote about this amazing place that offered numerous positives and negatives and a mix of numerous first impressions. Whereas peacefulness and calmness were striking features of the floodplain, the nature park’s beauty is under threat from human activities (Stokes n.p). My first sentence explained the mood of the entire paragraph. The sentence ‘nature’s language whispers in my ears’ emphasize the calmness and quietness one finds in this place. Amidst the quietness is harmony from water, birds, and the wind working in inadvertent harmony. Contrasting this harmony is â€Å"grief has had her way here†. The introduction of grief presents an unpleasant tone. However, without the grief the nature would lose its relevance. Defining the tone was a daunting task, but with the tone defined, I identified and chose the right words to use. I was careful to adhere to the intended mood of the description. I defined the atmosphere as filled with â€Å"gentle harmonious tunes making it pleasant. For a person who has never been to Pillsbury Crossing, the words are compelling and it would prompt plans for a visit. However, the â€Å"frustrating sights† from my negative description reveal the ambiance as under attack by harmful and cruel elements. I also describe leaves. The positive description acknowledges them for their â€Å"attractive amber, crimson, gold, and ochre hues.† Conversely, the leaves die after â€Å"falling† to form a leave carpet on the ground. Similes and metaphors satisfactorily created numerous

Understanding Nursing Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Understanding Nursing Theory - Essay Example Grand theory presenters start theoretical formulation at abstraction level and these formulations never link the realities. Roy’s (1971) work was designated for the grand theory. Roy presented the adaptation model. In the adaption model of Roy, a person was perceived as receiving the adaptive system for inputs. This input may be as the stimuli from the external environment, which is processed by the feedback or internal processes. These processes are inherent in the changing abilities of individuals and result into an output in the form of either ineffective response or adaptive (Parse, 2001). Middle range Theory is less abstract and more specific in its scope, which reflects a practice and also addresses the specific phenomenon. This theory deals with a limited number of aspects of real world concepts. A mid-range theory is made up of relative concrete concepts, which are concrete propositions and defined operationally. These concepts can be tested empirically. A period of ten years ago, Georgene Eakes, Mary Burke, and Margaret Hainsworth developed the theory of Chronic Sorrow. This is the application of the middle range theory of nursing that explains the periodic recurrence of a continuous sadness or grief feeling over an important loss. This presents the normal response to the loss. Because, parents always felt sadness over their children’s mental retardation and this response was not permanent. Clinicians could intervene in these conditions if they had similar beliefs. This theory also related with the feelings of parents who have premature infants. Hainsworth, Eakes, & Burke (1994) found that mothers of those children with the spina bifida also had a pervasive sadness. This theory focuses upon the specific phenomenon, which mirror out the clinical practices and has narrowest interest range. This theory is limited to a particular population or a specific field of

Graphic User Interface applications Essay Example for Free

Graphic User Interface applications Essay Both Java and Net technologies aim at transforming software complexity in addition to moving it away from developers and making it easy for them to focus on the business logic. In order to achieve this end, Java and Net technologies offer a managed execution ground, a rich set of libraries, a technique for balanced access to data in addition to an inbuilt prop up for backward compatibility (Fisher, Lai and Sharma, 2006). Nevertheless, these two technologies employ different strategies in order to accomplish their goals. In software architecture, the non-functional requirements are made use of in the selection of the architecture that is best suited for the limits of application among different systems (Patel, 2005). Software giants Microsoft and Sun make use of two technologies, Java and Net in software architecture (Mueller, 2005). Net is a framework comprising of a rich set of libraries, a highly powerful as well as unified development environment, and a common language runtime. Java, on the other hand, is an open specification that describes a set of technology to generate solutions for a variety of problems that arise in the creation of enterprise applications (Fisher, Lai and Sharma 2006). As compared to Net, Java has more advantages than disadvantages. Java is developed in a special manner which instills it with the capacity to handle a variety of issues regarding software architecture. Java has the capacity to access data from DBMS and manage distributed system issues such as naming. Java also has remote method invocation, an aspect that allows application developers to focus their attention on business logic. Java also has a Graphic User Interface based deployment tool that assists in packaging (Patel, 2005). Java, an object oriented language, is a pure language that can be utilized in creating a variety of applications. Due to the fact that all applications are created in java, even if a person who was involved in developing a part of the application leaves the project, then it is not costly for the company to replace him/her. Java can also be made cross language compatible. Another advantage of java, as indicated by Surapaneni and Katre (2004), is that it is available in almost all platforms. It can be run on various systems as well as operating systems without further modification. Java offers maximum security because it verifies all programming before running for malicious activity. If java byte code is compatible with just in time, its performance is enhanced (Patel, 2005). One disadvantage of java is that it does not provide a way through which graphic user components and codes can be separated (Patel, 2005). Java makes use of java swing to develop graphic user interface. Java swing is a powerful tool that requires highly skilled software developers. Java byte code is interpreted by the JVM; this interpretation takes a longer time, an aspect that reduces its performance. Due to the fact that java runs on quite a number of systems, features specific to a particular operating system cannot be implemented into java programs. Some java applications, still, may be different from the default systems of native applications in an operating system (Fisher, Lai and Sharma 2006). Surapaneni and Katre (2004) states that Net is mainly used to deliver infrastructure that can be leveraged to pull together a wide range of solutions, from desktop to enterprise. It is a combination of the Net framework. One major advantage of Net over Java, as illustrated by Fisher, Lai and Sharma (2006), is that it offers a way through which code and components of the user interface can be separated. Net is also easier to apply in the creation of Graphic User Interface as compared to Java. Visual Basic Net is a language made use of in the creation of Graphic User Interface applications (Patel, 2005). Net is easier to make use of as it does not call for highly skilled developers. Net provides users with various languages from which they can select the language that suits their application better. Net also allows a single application to be written in different languages. Intermediate language in Net is efficient and is compiled to native code and then executed. Due to the fact that execution of intermediate language is faster than interpreting it, Net performs in a better manner as compared to Java (Mueller, 2005). Net framework comprises of an inbuilt prop-up for object orientation. Object oriented technology allows reusability of codes. Net have a very competent mechanism for security. Run time in Net makes use of two types of security: Role Based and Code Access Security (Patel, 2005). Net however has disadvantages associated with it as far as software architecture is concerned. One of them is that even though it allows for writing of a single application in a variety of languages maintaining, these applications in different languages is a difficult task (Surapaneni and Katre, 2004). If a person who created a section of an application in a certain language leaves the organization, it may be very costly to replace him/her. Net cannot be made cross language compatible. One big disadvantage of net is that it is available for a limited number of platforms, only Windows related platforms. It is hard to comprehend the principles behind Net because they are many and are composed of numerous different technologies (Patel, 2005). Reference: Fisher, M. , Lai, R. , and Sharma, S. , (2006), Java EE and . NET interoperability: integration strategies, patterns, and best practices, ISBN 0131472232: Prentice Hall PTR Mueller, J. , (2005), Mastering Web Development with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, ISBN 078214439X: John Wiley and Sons Patel, K. , (2005), A Comparison between Java and . NET from Software Architecture, retrieved on August 19, 2010 from http://kaushalp. blogspot. com/2005/08/comparison-between-j2ee-and-net. html Surapaneni, N. , and Katre, D. , (2004), Java and NET: Guide to Interoperability and Migration, ISBN 8120324447: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

LL Bean :: essays research papers

LL Bean: A Strategy For The Future Leon Leonwood Bean, known as L.L., was born in the small township of Greenwood, Maine, in 1872. He was raised on a set of simple yet powerful principles†¦ Nature was something to be revered. Family ties were a priority. Being neighborly was a matter of course. And "do unto others" was more than just a saying; it was a way of life. When L.L. launched his company with the first Maine Hunting Shoe in 1912, he believed so strongly in the Golden Rule that he made it the foundation of his business. This rule "Sell good merchandise at a reasonable profit, treat your customers like human beings, and they will always come back for more" became the foundation of the company. For the next fifty years, Bean forged a business, selling clothing and related gear tailored specifically for people who enjoyed the outdoors. Products including boots, clothing, canoes, fly reels, tents and camping gear became the cornerstone of the company. Bean stated, †I attribute our success to the fact that, to the best of my judgment, every article we offer for sale is practical for the purpose for which we recommend it.† (1)The company sold products through both the store in Maine, and through a growing store catalog. Bean retained active control over his company until he died in 1967 at the age of 94. Leon Gorman took over the business after Bean’s passing in 1967. Although he sited his grandfather as being happy with the size of the company, Gorman was ready for growth. He accomplished this by incorporating technology wherever he could, and expanding product lines, introducing new catalogs for specific markets, and entering foreign markets. Even with this extensive growth, Gorman remained true to the founders values of high quality products, superior customer service, and the company guarantee to replace or refund on any purchase that a customer found unsatisfactory. Gorman realized that building on the L.L. Bean brand would be critical to the success to the company. The company’s goal was to associate the brand name with the image of â€Å"Maine’s natural beauty†, along with the legend of the company’s founder. These efforts led the company thirty years of 20% annual growth. Most impressive is the fact that the company was able to finance this growth internally, ad remain privately held by family members. When Gorman took the position of Chairman in 2001, Chris McCormick became the first non-family member to run the company, taking over the role of President and CEO.

International Marketing Essay

1. Introduction 1. History Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever. The company initially started its operations by manufacturing soap. In 1917, the company began to diversify into foods, acquiring fish, ice cream and canned foods businesses in order to apply synergies caused by commonalities in the raw materials required to produce and distribute these products. In 1930, the Dutch company Margarine Unie merged with a British company, Lever Brothers, to form the multinational Unilever. Unilever has two parent companies: Both companies have the same directors and effectively operate as a single business. 2. Marketing Management Philosophy Marketing management process undertakes the stages of strategy formulation, implementation and control. Therefore, it is imperative to first identify the adopted marketing management philosophy by the organization. Organisational purpose of Unilever clearly states that organisation’s focal attention is centered towards anticipation and satisfaction of customer needs and wants. Kotler (2000) mentions that marketing concept holds that the key to achieving its organizational goals consists of the company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering and communicating customer value to its chosen target markets. Deep insight into organizational purpose reveals that goals and objectives of Unilever depend on determining the needs and wants of target markets and to satisfy the customers efficiently than competitors. The company also considers its role as socially responsible entity by ethical business practices and ongoing welfare projects in many of the South Asian markets. Such adopted marketing management philosophy as a central element of corporate purpose will definitely influence the international/Global strategy of Unilever. Hence, it can be concluded that whole of the business philosophy of Unilever is embedded into marketing oriented organization with the purpose to keep in consideration the expectations of all stake holder groups. 2. Organisational structure of Unilever Organisational structure of Unilever follows a de-centralized setup, where corporate level strategies are formed by board members and executive committee. Unilever operates in two separate global divisions for food and home & personal care business. Table 1: Regional groups Source: http://www.uniliver.com The directors of these global divisions are company’s executive committee. Business level strategies and formulated by Presidents of each of the separate regional groups made for food and health & personal care business. These business presidents are responsible for delivering business results in their respective regions and reports to Directors of Food and Home & Personal care division. At functional level, host country managers are responsible to implement strategies and to make functional level strategies in accordance with the changes in sub-localities. The core building block in Unilever is the local operating company. These companies are organized into eleven regional groups. At regional levels, Unilever has deployed host country managers. 3. Global or international strategy of Unilever At present, it is difficult to suggest any of the orientation stage for Unilever. When it comes to global marketing, market segmentation decisions are no longer focused on national borders. Cateora and Graham (2000) explain that at global marketing stage, companies treat the world including their home market, as one market. Market segmentation decisions are no longer focused on national borders. However, critical review of Unilever’s operations state that the marketing strategies of the company are both internationally and globally oriented. While, developing market segments, Unilever takes into accounts the incomes levels, usage patterns and other factors that span countries and regions. The global brands of Unilever in Food and Personal care business are examples of it. However, the company also laid a minute focus on various regional markets by developing distinct regional market segments in light of the tastes, preferences, income and other factors of these markets. The broad category of local brands is an example of it. Therefore, in order to determine elements of Global/International marketing strategy of Unilever, it is imperative to analyze the stages of international marketing involvement and strategic orientation of the company. The deep insight into these dimensions reveals the stature of organization as international or global company. 1. Stages of marketing involvement Initially, the focus of the company was limited to few product categories, targeted segments and market. However, with the passage of time, the company was gone through the transition process from one stage to another. The learning curve and experience of Unilever along with analysis of market potential and company capabilities enable the organization to extend its product portfolio and to step into different markets. By keeping in view the involvement factors of company towards strategic marketing orientation, it is difficult to suggest any one stage of orientation. Unilever is truly international in a sense that it sells diversified range of products around world which comes up from planned production. However, the concept of global marketing states that market segmentation decisions are no longer focused on national borders. In practice, critical review of Unilever’s operations reveal that the marketing strategies of company are both internationally and globally oriented. Development of market segments at Unilever takes into account the taste and consumption preferences and other segment variables that span countries and regions. The global brands of Unilever in food and personal care business highlight this approach. At the same time, Unilever focuses on regional and country markets by developing distinct regional market segments by considering tastes, preferences, income and other natures of these regional markets. The broad category of local brands made to tailor the regional market needs exhibit this approach. Hence, it can be concluded that Unilever is catering to the needs and wants of mass market segments around the world by making a blend of international and global orientation. 2. Strategic orientation 1. Strategic Brand Management International strategy of Unilever is focused to build its business by creating, developing and delivering value brands. Unilever has a diversified product category and each product line has much depth and width in it. Evaluation of Unilever’s marketing strategies reveals that the organization is more centered towards buildings and positioning brands, Branding is known to be the spinal cord function at Unilever which basically stick together all functions of marketing like marketing research, product development, pricing, advertising etc. Thus, Marketing functions and activities at Unilever are combined together to focus the process of branding. As first step, marketing research function facilitates the brand managers and business level managers with the comprehensive profiles of various regional markets around the world. Then, strong brands are developed as a solution to customer needs. Unilever has core focus towards effective brand management in order to develop both global and local brands. As a part of future growth strategy of company, Unilever implied law of contraction to refine and retune its diversified brand categories by focusing only on potential brands. Consequently, organization resources will be allocated on the brands, which have growth potential and growth levels and will be pursued to enhance profitability. Jean and Kapferer (2000) states that the brand is a focal point for all the positive and negative impressions created by the buyer over time as they comes into contact with brand’s product, distribution channel, personnel and communication. Accordingly, brand managers and research experts at Unilever classify the customer groups in term of their demographic, geographic, economic and personal profiles. Along with, they identify the changing consumer preferences in terms of their needs, wants, satisfaction, tastes and expectations. All these considerations are then tailored to manipulate the marketing mix elements to develop a successful and value delivering brand. One of the prominent examples of Unilever brands which shows the company’s insight into consumer health requirements is Annapurna Salt. Continuous marketing research function and collaboration with health organisations let Unilever to identify that majority of people living in Africa and south Asian region inherently have deficiency of iodine component in their bodies. As a result, Unilever introduced iodised salt for the consumer segments in this market with the brand name, Annapurna. The particular example shows that understanding of consumer needs enables Unilever to build in health benefit into their product. 2. Social Responsibility This dimension of international marketing strategy clearly defines the characteristics of organizational cultural paradigm and purpose of the company to position itself in minds of customers. Kotler (2000) defines that societal marketing concept holds tha the organisation’s task in to determine the needs, wants and interests of target marketes and to deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that preserves or enhance the conusmer’s and the society’s well-being. In realistic and factual terms, in today’s business environment, social responsibility is a good marketing strategy to effectively position the corporate and brand names in targeted markets. Companies have international and global orientation operates in variety of international regional markets. Although, the principle of marketing always remain the same regardless of the market environments, however, at the corporate level, the strategists also take into consideration the role and overall contribution of company with in each market and region. Contemporary marketing philosophies do consider the role of an organization as socially responsible entity by ethical business practices. The degree to which an organization will be socially responsible to its macro market environments is determined at the stage of formulation of corporate level strategy. Incase, of a multinational company like Unilever, international marketing strategies take into account the role of company in various environments. Organization does incur some costs to emerge as socially responsible organization and do seek some benefits out of it in form of consumer’s affiliation and overall perception of organization in their minds. Unilever claims: As a multi-local multinational we aim to play our part in addressing global environmental and social concerns through local actions and in partnership with local governments and organisations. Now it is quite obvious that at broader scale the international marketing philosophy of Unilever is to stand as socially responsible organization. However, the action-oriented approach towards implication of social responsibilities entirely depends upon individual nature of market and environmental conditions. As a decentralized approach of strategy, the corporate level management at local operating companies defines the paradigm of social responsibility in regional and country markets and business level managers pursue the objectives by developing and implementing action-oriented strategies. Unilever Pakistan is the largest consumer goods company in Pakistan. In Pakistan, it is registered as a separate local operating company. In order to pursue international marketing strategy contents in relevance to social responsibility, Unilever Pakistan, in context to the local market environment analyzed and assessed nature of market environmental. The through analyses of environmental and natural resources reveal that the country faces shortage of water resources which are crucial to be used as household, agricultural and industrial requirements. In result, Business level managers worked out to enhance the performance and efficiency of its production and manufacturing processes by cutting shirt the overall requirement of water resources to be used in processes. With in five year time, Unilever reduced its total water consumption by 40% and proved its role as a socially responsible organization in the sector. 3. Identification of Major Competitor: Jobber (2004) defines that the most important part of conducting competitor’s analysis is identification of competitors, following product form, product substitution, generic strategies and competition arena. In FMCG sectors, there are some names which have made significant progress in the industry. Namely, few of them are Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark and Unilever. The examination of Unilever’s business segments and product categories reveal that Nestle and Proctor & Gamble are chief competitors of Unilever in international market. Precisely, Nestle is the chief competitor to Unilever due to parallel level of competition among these two companies in respect to homogeneity among their international marketing strategy. The emphasis of both of the companies towards building global and local brands simultaneously, shows that the adopted business slogan is â€Å"Think Global-Act local†. As a result Nestle and Unilever stand shoulder to shoulder in many of the regional markets with diversified line of their local product brands. Annual turnover of Unilever for the year 2003 shows that its Food division contributed 57% share to total sales turnover and 43% share is contributed by Home & Personal Care division. The percentages clearly exhibit that Unilever has comparative strength in its food division over home & personal care division. In light of the analysis, it can be concluded that Nestle is the chief competitor of Unilever in the business segments of Food as Nestle is recognized as world largest manufacture of food related items. On the other hand, Proctor & Gamble is Unilever’s leading competitors in business segments of Home & Personal care as P&G has relative strength in this sector. In food sector, Nestle is far ahead then Unilever due to width and depth of its product lines. In comparison to Unilever, The product categories of Nestle includes; Baby food, dairy products, Break fast cereals, Ice cream, Chocolate & confectionary, prepared food, Beverages, Bottled water and Pet care nutrition. In Home and Personal care, P&G enjoys leadership position in Beauty and Fabric care as the company attains strong global brands in these categories like Ariel and Pantene. 2. Percentage Contribution of geographical markets to total organizational Turnover Annual Sales figures of Nestle, for the year 2003 shows that European and American markets are its major business markets, as both of the markets contributes 32% and 31% respectively to total organizational turnover. Similarly, in case of P&G, North American and Western Europe are the chief markets with 50% and 24% share to turnover respectively. For Unilever, major business markets are Europe and North America which percentage share of 43% and 23% respectively to total sales turnover. The figures clearly state that all of the organizations have a cut-throat competition in North American and European markets and each of the organization has relative strengths in these markets. However, the Asian Pacific markets which have a huge business potential due to huge house hold size and populated economies, there still exists significant margin of improvement. For P&G, Northeast Asian market contributes 21% share to total turnover for year 2004. For Nestle, Asian and African markets contribute to 16% of annual turnover. And in case of Unilever, Asia and Pacific contributes 17% to total organizational turnover. 4. Nature of markets and methods of entry 1. Nature of Markets The business operations of Unilever are expanded over almost 110 countries world wide. Each of the regional and country market has different nature in terms of economies of scale, market segmentation, level of competition, political and social factors. In order to have a deep in-sight to explore and identify the marketing strategies of Unilever in relation to market nature, we will give you a highlight of company’s operations in Asian region with particular emphasis on Pakistani and Chinese market. 1. Nature of market in Pakistani 1. Economic & Demographic Profiles Pakistani market constitutes total population of almost 150 million people. In Pakistan, the affluent and rich class is no more than 6% of the total population. Almost 32% of population is living a life under poverty line. The major segment of the society belongs to middle class consumers which are actually target market for FMCG Company like Unilever. The product portfolio of Unilever constitutes almost 135 brands for Pakistani market. Majority of these brands are part of consumer basket index in South Asian society. Prominent examples are the items like cooking oil, laundry detergent and tea, as these product categories are used with in every Asian household. 2. Level of Competition FMCG companies like Unilever owns a diversified range of products which are different in their nature and most of the product categories are not even interrelated such as laundry detergent and tea. These differential products in a way are recognizable as different strategic business units. Unilever markets almost 135 brands in Pakistan and have not to confront too many players in FMCG industry. The structure of industry in Pakistani market has been shaped in form of Oligopoly, as there are only few leading players as Nestle and Proctor and Gamble. However, each product category defines different level of competition when it comes to analyze the potential of different competing brands both in global and local context. For example, while comparing to huge industry giant like Uniliver, P&G offers limited range of product categories in Pakistani market. On the other sinde, leading detergent brand, Ariel, owned by P&G gives tough time to brands which are included in Unilever’s product category of laundry detergents. Similarly, there are some local companies who manufacture and market a single brand. Tapal is one of the leading tea brands in Pakistani market which stand in cut throat competition against Unilever’s global brands, Lipton and Supreme. The third important factor which determins level of competition for Unilever in Pakistani is the huge market of unbranded products. The unbranded products are low priced and inferior in quality and they are marketed in within regional boundaries. In order to combat these unbranded products, Unilever extended its distribution network to remote areas to capture market share. 3. Blend of Local & Global Brands Unilever clearly understand the cultural and social differences in Pakistani society which have a significant impact over people’s preferences, tastes and life style. By following the nature of market with heavy regional segregation, Unilever decided to offer both Global brands and developing local brands in the market. Lipton is the leading brand of Unilever in the product category of tea. It is marketed in over 100 countries and it shows the global presence of the brand. However, Unilever Pakistan owns several regional brands in product category of tea which are low priced. These tea brands like; Tazza, A1 and Top star are distributed and circulated in regional markets. Similarly, the advertising and media focuses regional languages to promote these brands. 2. Nature of target market in China China cosmetic market has been expanding rapidly over the past 20 years. In 1982, the total sale was only about RMB200 million. By 2001, this figure went up to about RMB40 billion, a growth of 200 times from 1982. China’s annual sale of cosmetics are forecasted to reach RMB60 billion by 2006 and RMB80 billion by 2010. Despite significant growth over the last two decades, there are still have a number of opportunities in Chinese cosmetic market and the country is expected to remain a dynamic market. This is based on some factors: firstly, with a population of billion and 480 million urban residents, China has the largest number of potential cosmetic customers in the world. Secondly, as a result of China’s 7-8% high rate of economic growth, living conditions will continue to improve, which enable an increasing number of people to join the cosmetic consumption force. Finally, China has opened its market according to WTO rules will further stimulate its cosmetic market with more international and domestic players. 2. Method of Market Entry 1. Market Entry Methods in Pakistani Environment As far as market entry mechanism is concerned, Unilever follows two approaches. First, Unilever sets up a local operating company in a country of choice by following the business regulations & company act status in host country. The second approach of market entry followed by Unilever is acquisition. In some of the market settings, Unilever prefers to acquire a prominent brand in spite of establishing totally new setup of production and distribution. Such approach of diversification and market entry strengthen its grip in local markets around the world. By having an investment to acquire a local brand will enable the company to use the pre-running production facilities and marketing networks & distribution channel. This mode of entrance into a market doesn’t swallow precious time resources to build brand awareness. 1. FDI FMCG sector primarily requires a blend of capital intensive and labour intensive resources. Therefore, it was a best option for Unilever to establish its manufacturing and production facilities in local area to reach economies of scale by using cheap skilled and un-skilled labour. For example, in Pakistan, Unilever is operating as locally registered company and it fulfills all the legal requirements of Company Act 1981 and regulations of security and exchange commission. Moreover, Unilever is a public listed company and follows the legal requirements of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. The Chief Executive of Unilever Pakistan Ltd. reports to Unilever’s top management, based in team leader country of the regional group. Under such form of market entry, Unilever has to made foreign direct investment in selected country markets. By foreign direct investment, Unilever establishes manufacturing & production facilities along with development of integrated marketing and distribution channels. Unilever established a local operating company in Pakistan with the name, Unilever Pakistan Private Limited. 2. Acquisition The strategy of Unilever in regional country markets like Pakistan is to dominate the market by acquiring the leading local brands offered by other manufacturers. Hence, the benefits result into diversification and enhanced market share. The leading example in this regard is of Polka, which was leading ice cream brand in Pakistan. Unilever launched it global ice cream brand Walls in Pakistan in year 1998-99. Initially, Walls faced severe competition from Polka, as the national brand attained a strong image and equity in the market. As a result, Unilever Pakistan, decided to extend the brand lines by acquiring Polka. The acquisition of Polka enables Unilever to use production and distribution facilities to promote Walls. The targeted markets of Unilever are divided into Regional & sub-regional markets. In each of the country, there exists a local operating company. All these local operating companies are organized into eleven regional groups. 2. Methods of Market Entry in China When the Unilever firstly entered the Chinese market, they usually chosen a Chinese company to cooperate or conduct joint venture, because they were not familiar with Chinese market and did not has distribution and sale channel. However, when they had developed their sale force and built sale channel, Unilever has bought the share from the Chinese company and built new plants in other cities, which is direct investment. 5. Extent of standardization or adaptation of marketing strategy Unilever claims to be the one of the biggest consumer goods manufacturing company in the world. It claims that everyday, almost 150 million people in over 150 countries choose our products. So for a multi national company of that stature, an emerging question for marketing directors will definitely be to examine standardization or adaptation approach in order to develop international/global marketing strategies. An expert’s opinion in this regard is that, â€Å"Forward looking, proactive firms have the ability and willingness to accomplish tasks, standardization and localization. Global markets continue to homogenize and diversify simultaneously. The in-depth study of the product categories and length, depth, and width of product lines reveals that the management of Unilever has a dual focus on homogeneity of needs of consumer around world and towards global customization. In addition, some of the marketing analysts state that a successful company should focus on both of the aspects such as standardization and adaptation at the time of deciding target market segments, the measures of determining these segments and targeting strategy. Unilever states: â€Å"Our deep roots in local cultures and markets around the world are our unparalleled inheritance and the foundation for our future growth. We will bring our wealth of knowledge and international expertise to the service of local consumers- a truly multi local multinational† The argument can be justified by Unilever’s motto: â€Å"A Multi-local Multinational†. In-light of the above created discussion, we conclude that Unilever is conscious of the features of global and international markets. For instance, the product category of Unilever constitutes the global as well as local brands, which implies that Unilever manipulates the marketing mix elements by having a favourable blend of both standardization and adaptation. 1. Product When the Unilever wanted to enter the Chinese market, they use product adaptation strategy, which means, â€Å"adapting a product to meet local conditions or wants in foreign markets (Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders, Wong 2001, p.175)†. They did not just bring the products sold in UK to launch in Chinese market, but has done a number of researches about Chinese women’ skin and found that Chinese people’ skin is quite different from European’s. Therefore, they have changed the formula of the pond’s products, which can be perfectly suitable for Chinese women. As can be seen, Unilever has adopted adaptation strategy, which is highly cost, but has increased the market share. 2. Branding and promotion Unilever has implemented plans to make greater use of its corporate brand in support of its companies and products around the world. By 2005 subsidiary companies will adopt the name. Also, over the coming years the Unilever name will appear on all product packaging. Consumers and stakeholders will find it easier to see who Unilever is and what it does. Its goal is to strengthen Unilever’s business and reputation, so that both Unilever and its brands are better understood and trusted throughout the world. The trend shows the enhanced recognition of branding as supreme function of marketing. Al Ries and Laura Ries (1998) explain that marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect. If you can build a powerful brand, you will have a powerful marketing program. Although, Unilever announced corporate brand, they still use the adaptation strategy in some of the products. For example, the Unilever has changed their brand name from English form into Chinese manner, which is easier for Chinese young women to identify and remember. In addition, food division of Unilever claims Knorr as one of its supreme global brand with almost 2.3 billion euro annual sales in over 100 countries. The product range of knorr includes soups, sauces, noodles and complete meals. Similarly, in personal care market, Unilever owns prominent brands as Axe, Dove, Lux, Ponds, Rexona and Sunsilk. However, in frozen food category, Unilever has supreme local brands. i.e. Findus (for Italian market), Bird’s eye for UK and Iglo for other European countries. Moreover, in category of margarine & spreads, Becel is a prominent brand for Dutch market. Flora is the brand in UK and Take control is in American market. In olive oil category, the most important brand, Bertolli is appealing to consumer taste for Mediterranean food. Unilever clearly at the same time recognizes the homogeneity of consumers by developing global brands and also make itself adaptive to the cultural, political and social environment of different regional markets by developing local brands and keeping in view the distinct needs of the consumers. Unilever normally design different advertisement for different countries. For example, when Unilever shoot an advertising film in Asian marketing, it is keen to adopt Asian actresses. 3. Pricing Terpstra and Sarathy (2000) state that incomes, culture, and consumers’ preferences differ from country to country, thus, for the same price in different countries, the demand will be different. Therefore, Unilever has institute dissimilar prices according to the nature of markets in different countries. For example, the level of income in china is relatively low. Therefore, the price of pond’s products in china is lower than Europe. Another reason for low price strategy is that Unilever produce Pond’s in china. The cost is low. However, if Unilever just export its products from one country to another country, the cost will be high considering the tariff, insurance and transport fees need to be added into the cost. Therefore, Unilever would adopt the standardization within the operation to balance the difference. 4. Distribution It is not easy to build distribution channels in foreign countries. When Unilever enters in a new marketplace, it is more likely to find some partners. For example, Unilever has cooperated with several big Chinese companies. Therefore, it can use the existing sales distribution network. However, Unilever not just satisfy to employ this network. It has work with big supermarket in china, which can deliver and sell mass products in china, to build their own distribution channels. However, Unilever do not use joint venture in Holland. They directly work with whole sellers, department stores, and supermarkets to distribute their products. As can be seen, Unilever use different distribution strategy in different countries. In this way, Unilever use the adaptation marketing strategy. In Pakistan, Unilever established its unique distribution system by setting up business partnership with various distributors and traders. Various geographical areas have been distributed into business regions. With in each business region, Unilever selects trading companies by assessing their financial worth and experience. These distributors act on behalf of Unilever as they are responsible to Unilever items directly to the chain of retailers. 6. Conclusion Reference – Kotler P., Armstrong G., Saunders J., Wong V., 2001, Principles of Marketing. London: Pearson Education. – Terpstra V., Sarathy R., 2000, International marketing. London: The Dryden Press – Kotler. P (2000) Marketing Management, The millennium Edition, U.S.A. Prentice Hall Inc – Jobber. D (2004) Principles & Practices of Marketing, 4th Edition, U.K. McGraw-Hill – Ries. A, Ries .L (1998) The 22 immutable laws of branding, Great Britain, Harper Collins Business. – Cateora P.R, Graham J.L (2000) International Marketing, 11th Edition, McGraw-Hill/Irwin – Jean, Kapferer N (1992) Strategic Brand Management. Creating and sustaining Brand Equity Long Term, 2nd Edition, U.K, Kogan Page Limited. – www.nestle.com – Annual Report of Nestle: 2003, http://www.ir.nestle.com/ – www.unilever.com – Annual Report of Unilever: 2003, http://www.unilever.com/investorcentre/ – www.pg.com – Annual Report of Proctor & Gamble, http://www.pg.com/investors/sectionmain.jhtml

Pepita the Life in the Novel

In every novel, there is one character that seems to appeal to almost every reader. That one character seems to be the one who although they perished, they should have made it to the end of the novel. They are the lights in a dark novel, and the energy in a boring one. In the Bridge of San Luis Rey, we meet many characters, all of whom have their own value and place in the story line. Yet the one character that did not deserve the same fate as the others was Pepita. Pepita was an orphan girl who was seen in the eyes of the Abbess as having leadership skills. Such a skill would be necessary for her successor. She needed someone who was able to perform all the task that she must now perform, when she could no longer perform them. As a result Pepita was subjected to a kind of molding process. In this process she was assigned to worst task in the orphanage, which taught her administration. She also became a kind of companion for the Abbess, accompaning her on her trips, on which she was educated in the management of women, wards, and how to beg for money. Yet the strangest part of her education was the Abbess's decision to send her to live with the Marquesa. The Marquesa was a crazy woman who made Pepita's life even worse then it already was. As her companion Pepita was ignored constantly and lived a life of solitude. Pepita is that life in the novel, she is the only good love that exist in a world of those who either love too much or those who love too little. The Marquesa drove her daughter away, because she loved too much. Although she was able to realize this before she died, it was too late. She was not able to show this newfound love to anyone. In the case of Esteban, he was not able to love anyone else except for Manuel. While Manuel was able to love another, this caused strife between them. When Manuel died he was not able to move on, simply because he only had love for Manuel. Then we have Uncle Pio, another character who loved too much. Uncle Pio had a mindset of his three aims that he simply has to fulfill no matter what happens. This causes him to have a constant longing for the Perichole who satisfies his goals in one shot. He loved her so much, that he wanted to live his life through hers. He did this by becoming a sort of parasite on the Perichole. When he could not longer live off of her because she could not take it anymore, he tried to do it to her son. The Perichole's son Jaime like Pepita had the true love, but would not be chosen by me, because he was a frail boy who was always sick and had not seen the hardships of life that Pepita had seen. Although he had been through a hard life, it was still not comparable to what Pepita had to go through. Jaime was also very sickly, which probably made him more humble and loved the world around him more. Most people, who have to go through what Pepita went through, end up hating the world and having no more love in their hearts. Yet Pepita was able to still have love in her heart. She was able to even change the heart of the Marquesa, who loved her daughter so much that she drove her away. Her courage is also worth admiring, she did not want to mail the letter to the Abbess, simply because she felt it was not courageous enough. Pepita has a sort of innocence that can only be found in children. All of the other characters have lost their innocence. Pepita also the most potential for becoming the type of person who will want to help others when she gets older. All of the training that the Abbess has given her has not completely failed. She has learned things that will enable her to grow up to become the type of person who others will look up too as a leader and a sort of mother figure. Out of all those that died on the bridge, I would have to say that, Pepita is the most probable one that I would save.

Historical Profile of the Visigoths

Historical Profile of the Visigoths The Visigoths were a Germanic group considered to have separated from other Goths around the fourth century, when they moved from Dacia (now in Romania) into the Roman Empire. Over time they moved further west, into and down Italy, then to Spain where many settled and back east again into Gaul (now France). The Spanish kingdom remained until the early eighth century when they were conquered by Muslim invaders. East-German Immigrant Origins The Visigoths origins were with the Theruingi, a group comprised of several peoples Slavs, Germans, Sarmatians, and others under the recently acquired leadership of Gothic Germans. They came to historical prominence when they moved, along with the Greuthungi, from Dacia, across the Danube, and into the Roman Empire, possibly because of pressure from Huns attacking westwards. There may have been approximately 200,000 of them. The Theruingi were â€Å"allowed† into the empire and settled in return for military service, but rebelled against Roman strictures, thanks to the greed and mistreatment of local Roman commanders, and began plundering the Balkans. In 378 CE they met and defeated the Roman Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople, killing him in the process. In 382 the next Emperor, Theodosius, tried a different tactic, settling them in the Balkans as federates and tasking them with the defense of the frontier. Theodosius also used the Goths in his armies on campaign elsewhere. During this period they converted to Arian Christianity. The Visigoths Rise At the end of the fourth century a confederation of Theruingi and Greuthungi, plus their subject people, led by Alaric became known as the Visigoths (although they may only have considered themselves Goths) and began moving again, first to Greece and then into Italy, which they raided on numerous occasions. Alaric played off rival sides of the Empire, a tactic which included plundering, in order to secure a title for himself and regular supplies of food and cash for his people (who had no land of their own). In 410 they even sacked Rome. They decided to try for Africa, but Alaric died before they could move. Alaric’s successor, Ataulphus, then led them west, where they settled in Spain and part of Gaul. Shortly after they were asked back east by the future emperor Constantius III, who settled them as federates in Aquitania Secunda, now in France. During this period, Theodoric, who we now regard as their first proper king emerged, who ruled until he was killed at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451. The Kingdom of the Visigoths In 475, Theodoric’s son and successor, Euric, declared the Visigoths independent of Rome. Under him, the Visigoths codified their laws, in Latin, and saw their Gallic lands to their widest extent. However, the Visigoths came under pressure from the growing Frankish kingdom and in 507 Euric’s successor, Alaric II, was defeated and killed at the Battle of Poitiers by Clovis. Consequently, the Visigoths lost all of their Gallic lands bar a thin southern strip called Septimania. Their remaining kingdom was much of Spain, with a capital at Toledo. Holding together the Iberian Peninsula under one central government has been called a remarkable achievement given the diverse nature of the region. This was helped by the conversion in the sixth century of the royal family and leading bishops to Catholic Christianity. There were splits and rebel forces, including a Byzantine region of Spain, but they were overcome. Defeat and End of the Kingdom In the early eighth century, Spain came under pressure from Umayyad Muslim forces, which defeated the Visigoths at the Battle of Guadalete and within a decade had captured much of the Iberian peninsula. Some fled to the Frankish lands, some remained settled and others found the northern Spanish kingdom of Asturias, but the Visigoths as a nation ended. The end of the Visigothic kingdom was once blamed on them being decadent, easily collapsing once they were attacked, but this theory is now rejected and historians still search for the answer to this day.

Again with the Erosion of Income

Again with the Erosion of Income Tired of hearing about how writers are not getting paid? I imagine the writers needing to eat from that income arent. I had a quick unsubscribe of 19 readers within 30 minutes of releasing last Fridays newsletter. Some people do not want to hear that writing on the cheap is not a good thing, because its all they know how to do. People, listen. When pricing is the only factor, you will likely not have a long term relationship with someone. That means editor or reader. When people want to buy you cheap, thats their driving force. There is no LIKE in the factor. Dont make cheap a habit or that becomes your brand. Here are comments from readers that showed they understood the severity of this issue: I agree wholeheartedly that as writers we need to support one anothers efforts If more writers ignored these requests (**from editor for free writing), those markets would either have to find the funding to pay writers properly or realize that if they cant, then maybe they need to look closer at how well they run their businesses. When you give away your work or go for the easier low pay ones you subconsciously tell yourself that you are not good enough to get paid. Worse, getting into the poor or non-paying markets offers a false sense of success. The result of all of this is that you dont have any reason to improve your skills, which would get you into better paying markets. So, I was feeling a little under the weather, and gave my doctor a call. I asked him if he wouldnt mind seeing me for free, since it wouldnt really take much time and he was just fitting me in last minute anyway. Can you believe he turned me down? Claimed hed spent eight years in school, worked his ass off as an intern, was still paying off med school bills, yada yada yada. Well, Ive got options. I go down to the corner drugstore and ask my buddy the manager to give me some free meds. And he starts this whole rant about costs and staffing and insurance and he wouldnt give them to me. I figure, what the hell, Ill just suck it up and get to work. I call up one of my authors and tell him hes booked for a signing, and I promised twenty copies at authors price to the group. Told him I wont be paying him royalties on those. I mean, I cant work for nothing, right? Thank you for this! Ive turned down fabulous projects because of ridiculously low pay and said no to fabulous money because of ridiculous contract clauses. I would never treat anyone that poorly. Its up to each of us to do the right thing and say no. Were saying no for ourselves and for all writers. When we all say no, the low pay and egregious contract clauses would disappear overnight. Good smackdown, Hope. Im with you. If you give your work away, thats what your work is worth. In a race to the bottom, everyone drowns. I was reading an online article from The Guardian this morning on the widening gap between top earners in our industry and the rest of us (theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/15/earnings-soar-for-uks-bestselling-authors-as-wealth-gap-widens-in-books-industry). It was interesting, but much more interesting were the comments, which appear to have been from readers rather than writers. Not only do they not care, but they also think writers are in the wrong in complaining about how much (or rather, how little) they get paid. Definitely an issue for us to resolve in private rather than in public, Philip Pullmans recent action notwithstanding. (NOTE: Regarding that last comment, in case you didnt know, Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass, stepped down as patron from the Oxford Literary Festival because they were not paying writers to make appearances. Good man.) A festival organizer asked an acquaintance of mine for names as presenters. She gave them mine. But without me saying anything, she told me she understood my stance about being compensated, and shed let me have that conversation with them. Like I was the exception, but Ill take that reputation all day long. Wouldnt you like to be known as a decent writer who expects payment for their services, or rather someone who gives it away and can be easily had for free?

Overriding Supreme Court Decisions Statutory Interpretation & Reaction Essay

Overriding Supreme Court Decisions Statutory Interpretation & Reaction Legislation - Essay Example Next, one must ask, what are the powers of the Supreme Court Obviously, the powers that the Congress and the Supreme Court have are going to be different. "The Supreme Court's most important responsibility is to decide cases that raise questions of constitutional interpretation. The Court decides if a law or government action violates the Constitution. This power, known as judicial review, enables the Court to invalidate both federal and state laws when they conflict with its interpretation of the Constitution."2 Secondly, what are Congressional overrides "Congressional overrides are most likely when a Supreme Court interpretation reveals an ideologically fragmented court, relies on the text's plain meaning and ignores legislative signals, and/or rejects positions taken by federal, state, or local government."3 Overrides usually occur when the meaning of a text is skewed and it was misinterpreted by the Court or not ruled on fairly. "Congress is much more likely to override 'plain meaning' decisions that any other type of Supreme Court decision."4 Further, the law requires that certain objectives are met in the reading of a text. "Applying the plain meaning of the text furthers important rule of law values, such as predictability, certainty, and objectivity."6 Usually when Congress overrides the Supreme Court, it is done quickly (usually within two years). However, sometimes the Court may misread the predilections of Congressmembers, or, rather, be cryptic in the way it tells Congress that there are problematic Constitutional issues that need to be resolved. Normally those sorts of overrides are also in a year or so and usually come with added worries that the Court is not functioning efficiently. As is bound to happen, perhaps, certain interest groups such as women and the disabled are usually the key players in Supreme Court statutory decisions. "The Court has been more conservative than Congress on issues involving civil rights. The Court's relative conservatism in civil rights cases can be attributed to the difficulty of applying old statutes and legislative history to unanticipated problems and to the Court's own strongly conservative preferences about civil rights policy. Congress' Democratic majorities have been committed to liberal civil rights enforcement"7 In the 70's, Congress tended to be leaning to the left, politically speaking, while the Supreme Court was more conservative regarding civil rights. As such, the Court generally had to deal with more overrides at that time. That tends to be the case whenever a liberal Congress is harnessed with a conservative Court. However, this is not always the case. "During the late Warren Court and early Burger Court (1967-71), the Court's preferences