Positive Psych Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Positive Psych - Essay Example In any sphere of performance, this would require the leader to assume accountability for his role, provide appropriate guidance and coaching, and immense motivation. Applying situational leadership to Wiegand and Geller’s (2005) predicament on positive reinforcement gives this argument a stronger base. For instance, Wiegand and Geller (2005) emphasize the need for learning-based focus, goal-setting, planning, self-monitoring, and persistence to attain personal mastery, an important indicator for positive reinforcement. By adopting situational leadership, the leader assumes both directive and supportive roles depending upon the situation and the individual. For a starter, the leader is more directive as well as supportive thus providing a direction; guiding the individual through the task, and providing feedback. For an established performer, the leader will have to delegate tasks, monitor and acknowledge his/her performance. In both situations, the leader is being effective in achieving desired outcomes. Secondly, Wiegand and Geller (2005) indicate the need for personal control through tasks, opportunities and involvement in order for individuals to be motivated coupled with consistent feedback (Wiegand and Geller, 2005). Situational leadership explains when and why tasks and opportunities may be given to individuals; these aspects are not explained in both style and contingency approaches. Thirdly, reduction in anxiety and fear of failure is also accomplished by adopting a supportive role by the leader based on situation, which will enhance achievement motivation in individuals. The style approach explains nature and behavior of the leaders, but with little emphasis on situations and also does not consider developmental level of the followers. Northouse (2009) indicates that the style approach is only descriptive of leadership behavior but does not prescribe what

The Baisakhi Festival Is a Seasonal Festival Essay Example for Free

The Baisakhi Festival Is a Seasonal Festival Essay The Baisakhi festival is a seasonal festival. It is celebrated all over the Punjab and Haryana by all classes of people. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs all take part in this celebration. It falls in he first day of baisakh. It falls every year in the 13th of April. On this day people put on new clothes. They prepare Halawa and several tasty things at home. Baisakhi Fair A fair is held everywhere in connection with the Baisakhi festival. The site of the fair is a place which is religiously famous. Generally the fair is held by the side of a river. The religious body is in charge of the fair. A day before the fair there seen a regular bazaar. There are stalls of sweet, toys fruits on either side of it. On Baisakhi day there is great rush in the fair. There is no place in the fair without visitors. In the fair the crowd is so great that you cannot meet with it even in the over crowded cities. You cannot elbow your way through it easily. Description On one side of the bazaar merry-go-rounds attract the people. They whirl in the air with children and boys of all ages sitting them. The boys enjoy their rides. Near them are the rope dancers. They do their feats on the rope. The moneys men make their monkeys show the same feats as were shown by their forefathers about a hundred years ago. Country Dance On the other side of the bazaar crowd of people can be seen standing on a circle. In the middle there is a group of villagers. They are mostly farmers. They are giving a show of their country dance with the beating of drum. Each one of these villagers has a stick in his hand. These sticks are raised in the air as the dancers lift both hands and raise their legs. They cry,. Gone is Baisakhi, Gone in Baisakhi. The sight is worth seeing. The excitement and enthusiasm of the dancers are very great. So many of onlookers forget there sense of shyness and join the dancers. The dance is wild indeed. Shamianas of Religious Parties Side by side with these means of amusement arrangement are made for the elderly people who are serious and religious minded. Hindus, Arya Samajist and Sikhs have out up their Shamianasunder which they are giving lecture on religion and are signing hymns. The number of the people who are listening to them is small. It is much smaller as compared with huge crowd gathered around the dancers to enjoy the dance. Those people who gather under the Shamianas do not care for the worldly attachments. They go on with their duty. Conclusion By the time evening drawn near, people get tired. They are glad to return home with sweets, toys and fruits for their children for the next day.

Sociology Essays Child Socialising Society

Sociology Essays Child Socialising Society Child Socialising Society Socialisation Every child comes into this world like wet clay, completely bereft of any vices, habits and behavioural patterns. Socialising is the process by which the child moulds itself and learns the process of interacting and surviving in society. There are various key factors that influence this process the family, the peers, the school, society and religious beliefs. The first point of contact to the child and also the most important factor is always the family. The ethics and behaviour that is followed at home is always imbibed unconsciously by the child. Parents are generally role models for children. Hence the socializing skills are passed on in most cases to the offspring. Elder siblings are also a source of influence. It is because of this reason that in the joint family system that existed previously in India, the children were always better adjusted to society. They had such a plethora of individuals to study and imbibe from that under any given circumstances in life, they would adjust and adapt freely. But in the present nuclear family system, the parents play an even more important role in shaping a child’s behavioural patterns. And even in the same family no two children can be the same. This is where the nature versus nurture debate comes in. The genetically ingrained nature has to be nurtured to conform to the rules of society. The most absorptive years in one’s life is till the age of 10. An individual is always on the path of learning but the foundation of what a person becomes is laid during these formative years. Various societies inculcate varied socializing skills amongst their members. It does not indicate that one culture is superior to the other. It just depends on the way that the civilization under study has progressed. A civilization which has cultivated its young generation with a common set of rules and a uniform educational system is more likely to be homogenous and more at harmony amongst themselves. But on the other hand it is also seen that heterogeneous communities, like the United States of America, benefit from the presence of various ethnic minority communities. Each minority community brings along with it, its culture, its ethnicity, their customs etc. Having so many socializing influences makes the parent society a more tolerant one. 1 There are also found to be two types of socializing, depending on the nature of factors that influence them. Positive socializing is one in which a person learns through good and happy experiences. Parents teaching their kids from their experiences, learning from books or from peers are some example of positive socializing. Positive socializing can take on the form of natural socializing and planned socializing. Find out how our expert essay writers can help you with your work Natural socializing is when a child through his own inquisitiveness starts exploring and learning from the various situations around him/her. The way a child responds to such situations is generally genetically ingrained. Planned socializing is when various external factors like parents, teachers, school curriculum, religious doctrines and social dictates try to change the internal response system of the child to conform to more socially acceptable norms. Negative socializing happens when a person understands or begins to comprehend after undergoing a bad experience or ‘learning the hard way’ as it is said. Learning the valuable lesson, that over speeding is dangerous, after meeting with an accident is an example of negative socializing. The victim of a rape too undergoes the trauma of negative socializing after which she shrinks into her own shell and abhors social contact.   Life is always a mixture of positive and negative experiences. The more positive experiences in socializing one has, the happier or more positive the person gets. More negative socializing in a person’s life gets him demoralised and unhappy.   At any given point in time an individual is usually the sum total of his prior socialisation or past experiences. 2 A person does not have any hold over choosing ones parents and place of birth. Thus, effectively a person has no control over the initial socializing influences that one gets in the first 10 or 20 yrs of ones life. But it depends on a person as to how he uses his prior socializing skills and observation power to make a better tomorrow for himself. He should learn from his past and from the situations around himself to better himself. Thus self actualization will set in and a person can work towards his dream of a better tomorrow. 1. http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_1.html 2. http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/baldwin/classes/soc142/scznDEF.html 3. http://www.delmar.edu/socsci/rlong/intro/social.html 4. Writers Own Analysis

Dead Man Walking :: essays research papers

During the first few weeks of our FYS-X class, the students are required to view the movie â€Å"Dead Man Walking. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it to the showing at school, but I rented the DVD from Block Buster Video. I missed an opportunity to gain some bonding time with my classmates, but I could not get off work in the short notice that the class was told about the film viewing. When I viewed film, I had the pleasure of being in my home atmosphere, and I had the opportunity to better concentrate on the movie and the ability to rewind at certain points in the film. Before viewing the film, I was not too excited about having to watch it. I was under the impression that this movie would be boring and more of an educational video. After I watched the movie, I knew that my prediction about it was very inaccurate. â€Å"Dead Man Walking† is one of the finest films I have ever seen, and it has raised my bar of standards for a drama.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The thing that stands out the most about â€Å"Dead Man Walking† is the story. The film is about the death penalty, and the tragic events that lead to it. The story follows Poncelot, a convicted killer, and Helen, a nun, who meet during Poncelot’s death row period, and they both change each other. Poncelot is accused of killing a young couple, and is placed on death row. He writes to Sister Helen, who agrees to come to the prison and visit him. Poncelot immediately says he did not commit the crime, and Helen believes the prisoner. Helen gets Poncelot an attorney, but the attorney fails and Poncelot is sure to be executed by the government. The film does not state a clear bias for the death penalty, but it gives the viewer the chance to decide if capital punishment is right or wrong. At the beginning of the film, the viewer is lead to believe that maybe Poncelot did not actually commit the crime, so someone might believe that his execution would be un fair. During the course of the film, the viewer sees the affects of the victim’s family and the community reactions, and whoever is watching probably feels that whoever actually committed the crime should definitely be punished as harshly as possible. When Poncelot tells Helen that he did indeed commit the crime, the viewer’s feelings about him receiving the death penalty probably change again, but there is so much emotion going on in the scene that one can not help but feel sorry. Dead Man Walking :: essays research papers During the first few weeks of our FYS-X class, the students are required to view the movie â€Å"Dead Man Walking. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it to the showing at school, but I rented the DVD from Block Buster Video. I missed an opportunity to gain some bonding time with my classmates, but I could not get off work in the short notice that the class was told about the film viewing. When I viewed film, I had the pleasure of being in my home atmosphere, and I had the opportunity to better concentrate on the movie and the ability to rewind at certain points in the film. Before viewing the film, I was not too excited about having to watch it. I was under the impression that this movie would be boring and more of an educational video. After I watched the movie, I knew that my prediction about it was very inaccurate. â€Å"Dead Man Walking† is one of the finest films I have ever seen, and it has raised my bar of standards for a drama.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The thing that stands out the most about â€Å"Dead Man Walking† is the story. The film is about the death penalty, and the tragic events that lead to it. The story follows Poncelot, a convicted killer, and Helen, a nun, who meet during Poncelot’s death row period, and they both change each other. Poncelot is accused of killing a young couple, and is placed on death row. He writes to Sister Helen, who agrees to come to the prison and visit him. Poncelot immediately says he did not commit the crime, and Helen believes the prisoner. Helen gets Poncelot an attorney, but the attorney fails and Poncelot is sure to be executed by the government. The film does not state a clear bias for the death penalty, but it gives the viewer the chance to decide if capital punishment is right or wrong. At the beginning of the film, the viewer is lead to believe that maybe Poncelot did not actually commit the crime, so someone might believe that his execution would be un fair. During the course of the film, the viewer sees the affects of the victim’s family and the community reactions, and whoever is watching probably feels that whoever actually committed the crime should definitely be punished as harshly as possible. When Poncelot tells Helen that he did indeed commit the crime, the viewer’s feelings about him receiving the death penalty probably change again, but there is so much emotion going on in the scene that one can not help but feel sorry.

Analytical Response: Romeo and Juliet Essay

Act 3, Scene 1 contributes to making Romeo and Juliet a true tragedy as this scene is the unfolding of a series of ill-fated events (3.1.84-87) ‘This days black fate on more days doth depend. This but begins the woe others must end’. Violence and blood is demanded early in the scene, as Tybalt is after Romeo in order to challenge him to a duel. Newly wed Romeo ignores Tybalt’s insults and respectfully declines his offer, as he knows he must respect and love the Capulet’s. Irritated by Romeo’s calm submission, Mercutio steps up to the challenge to defend the Montague name. Outraged by Mercutio’s death Romeo lets rage control his actions as he seeks vengeance upon his friend’s death, forgetting his intentions to settle the family feud. The dramatic irony of this scene, will possibly affect the audience, as they know this will cause uproar within the family feud. The events in this scene impact greatly on Romeo and Juliet, as this is the b reaking point of the play. This scene also creates a domino effect on the events later on in the play. Characters The characteristics of Mercutio have a significant influence on the events that occurred during Act 3 scene 1. It is evident throughout the scene that Benvolio is the peacekeeper as he see’s a way around the brawling, (3.1.1-3) ‘ I pray thee, good Mercutio, lets retire. The day is hot; the Capulet’s abroad; and if we meet we shall not ‘scape a brawl.’ However, Mercutio ignores Benvolio’s attempts to bypass the Montague Capulet conflict, as he is quick to temper and always ready for a fight. His use of irony to provoke Tybalt (3.1.28-33) provides further evidence on his combativeness ‘But I’ll be hanged, sir, if he wear your livery. Marry; go before to the field, he’ll be your follower. Your worship in that sense may call him man. ‘ Mercutio’s argumentative attitude leads him into a brutal affair; he is left wounded blaming Romeo for his injury. It is unquestionable that Mercutio’s pugnacious, aggressive b ehavior led to the violence of this scene that has guaranteed an unfortunate fate for Romeo and Juliet. Themes and Perspectives Act 3 scene 1 provides perspective on the resentment between the two families, Montague and Capulet. The family feud holds a great deal of power throughout Romeo and Juliet, as it is the reason for many of the unpleasant events that occur throughout the play such as; Mercutio’s death, Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage, Romeo’s exile and of course the feud itself which also provokes the tragic ending of the play. Evidence of the theme is seen throughout Act 3 scene 1 particularly towards the end when Benvolio is left to explain the tragedy to the Prince. Lady Capulet believes Benvolio is lying, as he is a Montague therefore Romeo must die for Tybalt’s death. (3.1.38-42) ‘He is a kinsman to the Montague. Affection makes him false. He speaks not true. Some twenty of them fought in this black strife, And all those twenty could but kill one life. I beg for justice, which thou Prince, must give. Romeo slew Tybalt. Romeo must not live.’ Throughout R omeo and Juliet there is persistent evidence that the resent between Montague and Capulet conduct the tragic events and heartbreaking end to the narrative. Audience response; attitudes, values and beliefs The audience is at an advantage as they are able to see both sides of the family feud, providing them with a true understanding of the tragedy. During this scene they observe the brutal affair between Mercutio vs. Tybalt and Romeo vs. Tybalt and finally Lady Capulet vs. Benvolio. There are various reactions the audience may have experience throughout this scene. Those in the Elizabethan times perhaps felt a sense of gratification towards Mercutio for standing up to Tybalt in order to defend Romeo and the Montague name. However the contemporary audience may declare Mercutio as arrogant or foolish. The audience can recognize that both Benvolio and Romeo gave warnings to Mercutio and Tybalt. They stated the brawl was not required neither did they desire one on numerous occasions however, both Mercutio and Tybalt would not take no for an answer. Either way the audience is able to experience the full effect of the events, which help mould this star crossed love story into a true tragedy.

Dispachers essays

Dispachers essays The night tours pumped fear in many hearts including the authors. Luckily he was only sent out a few times unlike the night ambushers or the lurps, the long range recon patrollers who went out night after night for months. To keep the soilders mind sharpe Dexedrine pills where given out , Her didnt see the need for them his adrenalen was enough for him to get through his endeavors. He knew a fort divison alert that had been in serious contact with the Vietcong and survied. Even the men in his unit feared him, they said looking in his eyes were like looking at the sea floor and that they thought he slept with his eyes open. To get from one to the other Her loved to fly in the chopper because walking was long , hard, and scary. Not saying that he felt completely safe in the chopper, this was Vietnam, the choppers were more quick. He did say that he got a erie feeling when he thought of the concept of being drop from the chopper in the jungle and watching it take off not knowing if it was your last ride. The second base he mentioned was a fire in the american TAOR that went throught the exstreme National Guard weekend. A drunken and lively colonel that was in command of the base was so comical and under the influence he did not realize that the men were not laughing with him but at him. There were also many young soldiers with old minds whose youth were sucked out from the hardships of war. Their faces were dull and blank with no emotions. Even with the dead like faces of the soldiers u could still point a special force unit lurp out of a crowed, their faces were more distraught. After a short while he realized that he was there soely to report the feedback of the war. The 173rd unit held services from Dak to the boots of the dead men were arranged in formation on the ground, it was an old paratrooper tradition. The bodies of the soldiers KIA were tagged, bagged, and shipped back home in the KIA travel Bureau. He...

The Fair Eco Fashion Review Essay Sample

The Fair Eco Fashion Review Essay Sample The Fair Eco Fashion Review Essay Example The Fair Eco Fashion Review Essay Example Fashion for the environmentally friendly products flashed with a new power. Many producers understood that their fashionable clothes should not only look beautiful, but should also be safe for environment, and for a human body. Naturally, it is much more difficult to make clothes from the natural materials, as such a process is complicated. Moreover, the natural materials cost ten times more than artificial ones and, therefore, the product will become more expensive, but safe. It is not only about the product’s safety, but also about the preservation of environment. The label â€Å"Eco† confirms the ecological purity of all the elements used during the process of manufacturing clothes. Eco-Chic: The Fashion Paradox In the 1960s, the brands started transferring their mass production to the Asian countries. It helped to make the price policies flexible and more available. It proceeded for some time, and the movement â€Å"for ecology† became ethical. Nowadays, a lot of modern brands follow this tendency and produce new collections from eco materials. The concept â€Å"eco-fashion† means the use of eco-friendly raw materials and technologies in clothing production. Owing to their efforts, the principle of Fair Trade, which means a fair attitude towards all participants of the production process, gains popularity in America and Europe (Scaturro 2008). The given essay discusses the eco-fashion, the relationship between fashion and environmental awareness of the consumers, pushing the fashion industry to accommodate the environment concerns of the 21th century. Sustainable Fashion and Relationship between Fashion and Environmental Awareness If earlier only politicians took care of fair trade and ecological goods, nowadays, manufacturers and buyers of clothes try to apply eco-friendly methods of production and demonstrate social responsibility. The tendency towards eco-friendly products or sustainable fashion extended on the world of fashion, as well. Today, more and more fashion designers create the â€Å"correct† and â€Å"eco-friendly† clothes. The motives, promoting such a shift, are not entirely altruistic. Consumers demand the goods they buy to be made in a way that does not cause damage to the environment or to workers producing these goods. Often, they are ready to pay more for the â€Å"ecological† products or goods relating to the category of â€Å"fair trade† (Adolphson 2004). The Ethical Fashion Forum is a community of those, who are not indifferent to the future of ethical fashion. Eco-brands, designers, suppliers, consultants, producers and non-profit organizations united for the solution of the common problems of ecological responsibility. The Ethical Fashion Forum includes the designers-innovators and multibrand shops, the production of which can be bought via the Internet or during trips to Europe. All of them observe the principles of the sustainable production to a greater or lesser extent (Ethical Fashion Forum 2014). The joint efforts of the representatives of the industry and the authorities led to the growth of the coalitions in the United States and Great Britain. These coalitions pursue the aim to estimate the influence of the fashion industry on the planet and to carry out search for the socially responsible methods in its reduction with a simultaneous growth of the profitability of fashion companies. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition, located in the USA, unites the brands of the fashion industry, non-profit organizations and environment protection agencies. Such brands as HM and Wal-Mart are among the founders of the coalition. The activities of the organization are aimed at the creation of an index for the measurement and assessment of compliance to the requirements of socially and ecologically responsible production in a segment of the fashionable clothes and footwear. The part of this index includes a search for the technological innovations, which will allow the industry to become socia lly responsible in the environmental direction (Sustainable Apparel Coalition 2014). The Concept of Eco-Fashion Eco-fashion is also called â€Å"ethical†, as it is produced with the consent of nature with the ethical attitude to people and environment. Eco clothes are produced without the use of skin or fabrics of an animal origin. For example, footwear and bags from vegetable skin might be made of the rubber of Amazon, instead of a skin of animals or processed or artificial materials. Ethical fashion is fashion that has been produced with respect for people and the environment. Although there are existing certifications for Organic and Fair Trade, we want to encourage companies who are taking significant action but don’t qualify for certification (Palmer et al. 2012). Eco-fashion includes the following directions: Hand-made. The products made by hands, for example, an embroidery, keeping primordial traditions; Clothes, made-to-order is a qualitative product, which can be used for a long time, unlike mass fashion, which is often disposable; Products made in accordance with the International Labour Standards, at observance of the rights of workers, without attraction of a child labour and reasonable prices; Organic natural fibers grown up without pesticides and other toxic materials, preserving human health and environment; Recycled everything made of already existing or recycled materials, fabric, metal or fiber. Old products can be altered, remade for the new ones; Vintage/Second-Hand. Vintage is the general term for the clothes created during the period from 1920 to 1975, which can be actual at present. Nevertheless, this term is often used for second-hand clothes; Chemicals-free. The chemical dyes and bleaches should not be used in the production process of ecological clothes (Earley 2007). Eco-fashion is not simply clothes from ecological fabrics. It is the whole concept, ideology, and a way of life. There are the following signs by which the clothes are considered to be eco-friendly: A great attention is paid to human health and a state of environment during production. The care for the improvement of life and working conditions of people, respect for work and worthy payments; A respect for cultural diversity and traditions of different people. Eco-fashion promotes preservation and restoration of traditional techniques, such as embroidery, weaving, knitting, etc.; Certification of fabrics by the special organizations; The clothes made by the 3R concept: reuse, reduce, recycle; Ethical clothes: refusal of the use of fabrics of an animal origin (genuine leather and fur) (Hopkins 2009). Fast Fashion Fast fashion is updating of the brand’s assortment several times during a season. It becomes possible due to the copying of the ideas of the world leading designers. It is most often applied in a mass market. Such brands as Zara, HM and TopShop are the main representatives of fast fashion. Fast fashion means an instant adaptation to new trends copying of the successful models of higher segments a fashion market and their delivery to the market of mass production (Tokatli 2008). In the fast fashion segment, the stocks of fashionable clothes are treated as food which have an expiration date and can be quickly spoiled. Producers quickly update the assortment and offer clothes at the height of fashion at low prices, changing the assortment more often than the main classical seasonal collections are issued. The expenditures from the fast change of the assortment are compensated by sales volumes. Sales are reached by about 10% of goods, in comparison with 80% at more expensive desi gn brands (Joy et al. 2012). The fast-fashion strategy of copying was used by the Spanish brand Zara. At present, the brand does not spend money for advertising, but regularly spends money for the trials with owners of companies whom the models were borrowed from. In the first Zara store, the cheap doubles of the clothes of the known Fashion Houses were presented. At that time, the founder of the company Amancio Ortega considered that slow update of the assortment is the main problem of the development of business. More than ten years later, the revolutionary model of clothes production and distribution was found out (Niinimaki 2010). Owning to the new computerized scheme, the company could reduce time from the design of fashionable clothes up to its coming in the market to 10-15 days, in comparison with the standard half-year. Instead of giving the whole work to one designer, Zara formed the internal team of designers, the quantity of which made more than 200 people by the end of the 20th century. Contrary to the standard norms of the fashionable industry, the brand controls all the stages of the technological process of goods production design, production and distribution (Barnes Lea-Greenwood 2006). Fast fashion seriously changes the attitude of people to shopping. If earlier people went to clothing stores once a month or two, now they are compelled to come weekly, knowing that there can be novelties, which will not lay on shelves for a long time. It helps clothing companies to support high sales and avoid the need to arrange sales, which consequently reduce profit. The scheme of companies’ existence is the same: a retail network, selling only one brand, debugged logistics, cheap production and fast update of collections. Collections in shops are updated each two weeks, not considerably, not completely, but customers always have the feeling of the novelty of models in a store. It warms a consumer demand up. Such networks are much faster than the luxury ones: the thing from the sketch to a hanger goes only two months, whereas in luxury brands this way can last for a year. Own outsourcing production and shops allow these networks to enter the flexible system of discounts an d have their own warehouses (Joy et al. 2012). Marks Spencer and HM Sustainable Programs The first steps in the sphere of responsibility of textile production were taken by the companies making clothes from hemp. Such brands as Hemp, Hempy’s caused an interest only among specific audience, remaining in the shadow for mass market. However, the increasing number of brands departs from the stereotypes and proves that fashion business can be both stylish and socially responsible. In January, 2007, the largest British retailer Marks Spencer declared the start of the Plan A Program, assuming the struggle for the ecological reputation by 100 points of charge of violation of the ecological balance in the world. Since 2010, MS established 62 factories, including points on the reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide (due to the increase of energy efficiency of shops) and cooperation with eco-friendly factories worldwide. One of them, located in the territory of Sri Lanka, manufactures the ethic collection of the organic silk, cotton and jersey created in collaboration with Eco-Boudoir in 2009. This collection broke the popularity records in Britain. Similar factories with the equipment, twice lowering a water consumption and energy by 40%, were opened in Bangladesh and Wales by MS (Hamed 2013). According to Green Retail Decisions (2014), Marks Spencer put the following goals in the sphere of sustainable fashion: â€Å"By 2020, the retailer has also vowed to: Procure 50% of cotton from sustainable sources; Ensure 75% of all MS food comes from eco and ethical benchmarked factories; Derive 50% of the energy used in the U.K. and Ireland stores from small-scale renewable sources; Reduce the U.K. and Ireland store refrigeration gas emissions by 80%; Target a 35% reduction in water usage in MS stores and offices† (Green Retail Decisions 2014). The Swedish brand HM was among the first brands in the segment of a mass market which started using organic cotton. After the entrance into the Organic Exchange, the charitable organization supporting the use of eco-friendly textiles, started promoting the organic chemistry not only for children but also for adults. Since 2004, the HM Company included 5% of integrally grown up cotton into some elements of a kids wear, generally from Turkey and India (Environmental Leader 2013). In 2005, HM became the member of Fair Trade Association, and in 2006, the company was recognized as one of six largest world companies, giving preference to the â€Å"green† dyes and materials. There is no natural fur in the HM collections. During 2005 and 2006, there were about 40 tons of organic cotton annually, and in 2007, HM created the new collection made of 100% organic cotton, and its use made 600 tons. In 2008-2009, this figure grew even more, promising to make 50% of all used materials. Besides, the company composed recycled cotton and wool, and the even processed plastic PET bottles (Forbes 2013). The plan of the future sustainable fashion on HM states: â€Å"Conscious is our plan for creating a better fashion future. It’s built on seven commitments and hundreds of Conscious Actions: We have collected 3,047 tones of garments. That’s the equivalent of about 15 million t-shirts; We have used the equivalent of 9.5 million plastic bottles of recycled polyester; All our regular shopping bags are made from recycled plastic† (HM 2013). Fair Trade Fashion People Tree In materials processing, only natural dyes, for example, powders of natural minerals, flower pollen, juice of berries and other natural raw materials are used. Chemical dyes and bleaches are completely excluded. An important role is played by an ethical aspect of a question of production: the principle of Fair Trade. It is a fair attitude towards each participant of the production process. The whole production should correspond to the international standards of work, which assume the observance of workers’ rights, a ban for the employment of minors and child labour (Niinimaki 2010). The People Tree Company is one of the pioneers of eco-friendly fashion. Since 2007, such supermodels as Helena Christensen, Lily Cole, Shalom Harlow and Anne Watanabe appeared in the People Tree clothes in Japanese Vogue. Unlike the majority of Eco brands, People Tree, founded in 2001, quickly got popularity owning to the identity of its founder, Safia Minney, who was the founder of the Fair Trade movement. People Tree does not use artificial dyes and synthetics, preferring the recycled materials. The things of brand are made only in the countries of Southeast Asia. Earlier, People Tree distinguished only ethics, but after the cooperation with Thakoon, Topshop and the actress Emma Watson, whom Safia sent to Bangladesh, it started to produce its own product (Beard 2008). Designers and Materials Genuine leather and fabrics of animal origin (all types of skin, ivory, fur, baleen, a horsehair, etc.) are not used in the production of eco clothes and footwear. For example, at production of footwear natural materials surpass artificial, such as vegetable skin, obtained from plant juice of a hevea (from Amazon). Eco-clothes should correspond to the concept â€Å"biodegradable†, which means that clothes should decay in order not to pollute the planet. Also, clothes and accessories from the recycled materials are urged to reduce the level of pollution on the planet (it can be processing and synthetics). The prefix â€Å"eco† assumes that a producer establishes fair goods prices, which correspond to real production expenses and are not directed at the reception of excess profit (Eco Fashion World 2014). Designers: Sarah Ratty, Katherine Hamnett The Ciel brand drew attention to itself in 2007, when Sara Ratty, famous for the work with the Conscious Earthwear Brand which received attention of the Victoria and Albert Museum, received the Ethical Fashion Awards. Sienna Miller, Eve Hertsigova and Cate Blanchet were the followers of the brand as the jackets, dresses and womanly, almost air jersey with the French dusting (â€Å"ciel† from French means â€Å"sky†) appeared on the pages of the Italian and British editions of Vogue. Since 2011, Ciel got the line of organic cosmetics and underwear. In order not to spend precious eco fabrics in vain, Sara Ratty organized the waste-free production (assuming total upcycling of the jersey remains), and not only out of organic cotton, but also out of alpaca wool, silk and flax. The various Ciel’s prints on t-shirts and dresses are in an active demand they are put with the dyes, not containing nitrogen, that is harmful to skin (Bonini Oppenheim 2008). The design for Katherine Hamnett was always the mean of the political statement: it is enough to remember a t-shirt with an inscription â€Å"58% do not want pershing†, which she put on for the meeting with Margaret Thatcher, protesting against the placement of rockets in the territory of England. However, Katherine launched the campaign for the education of the industry, but, having realized a vanity of own efforts, simply broke the contracts with all suppliers. In 2004, Hamnett starts a new brand with ethic motives. Since then, Katherine uses only organic cotton, produces it in accordance with the principles of fair trade and with suppliers, worthy of her trust. The main thing is that she started controlling her production completely and cooperates only with her adherents. Thus, in 2013, the designer created the line of jewellery from the â€Å"ethically extracted gold and diamonds† for the Cred brand the first European fair-trade retailer of jewellery, and also presented a capsular collection of the beachwear for Yooxygen the Yoox.com joint project and the International Green Cross. Eco Materials Eco clothes are produced on the basis of exclusively natural fabrics, which include silk, flax, cotton, hemp, wool, etc. At the same time, it is impossible to consider clothes made on the basis of raw materials, grown up in the adverse conditions with the use of chemicals to be the environmentally friendly. Thus, cotton does not belong to the environmentally friendly raw materials if it is grown on the plantations processed by dangerous pesticides. In the modern world, a special attention is paid to this fact; therefore, producers of eco clothes buy cotton, flax, fur only from the checked and reliable enterprises. It should be noted that goods belonging to eco clothes should correspond to the environmentally friendly production by composition. The manufacturing companies bear responsibility for any attempts of the fake of natural fabrics and are obligatory exposed to the penalties in especially large sizes. The quality of organic clothes is usually better than the quality of clothes of mass production. Organically grown cotton, hemp and flax are used in textile production in increasing frequency. The plants for fabrics are grown up without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and, therefore, reduce the risk of pollution of ground waters. Such fabrics will also decay naturally after they are thrown out. In order to increase durability and service life of organic fabrics, their fibers are often mixed with other fabrics. At present, organic fabrics are quickly spread in two main directions. First of all, it is greenwashing. Many companies declare themselves as eco brands, but in practice they only improve some production links. The fabrics from ecological cotton are softer and are comfortable to wear. In order to receive the label â€Å"organic†, the product should consist of at least 95% out of the certified organic materials. In order to correspond to the standard, producers should refuse solvents, toxic heavy metals, genetically modified seeds or such chemicals as formaldehyde. All sewage should be cleared, production wastes should be processed, and the used bleaches should have an oxygen basis. Eco fabrics possess very attractive useful properties, hypoallergenicity is one of them. Organic cotton is the most universal and popular fabrics among designers. Owning to a careful collecting and processing organic cotton differs by a higher quality and easy structure, and is very pleasant to the touch. The clothes made out of cotton make people comfortable: in summer it is cool, in winter warm. However, according to Greenpeace, 20% of pesticides and 22% of the insecticides made around the world are used for cotton processing. Thus, a solid share of chemical components is put to each cotton item (Brunger 2012). Bamboo fabric is favourably distinguished by the environmental friendliness, softness, durability and ease. Also, it is capable to support an optimum heat exchange and to protect from the ultra-violet radiation and bacteria. Moreover, the cultivation of a bamboo improves the quality of the soil and can even restore it after the erosion. Besides, the bamboo has some very useful qualities: it easily keeps heat in frosts, but, at the same time, provides a good ventilation, helping a body to remain cooled in a hot weather. Linen fabric possesses antibacterial properties, helps to improve a blood circulation in an organism and to raise vitality. Owning to fine hygroscopic properties, linen is especially popular in summer collections. A natural silk is very light and pleasant to the touch, capable to dry and warm a skin (ideal for people with the increased perspiration), and also is useful for people with blood circulation problems. Wool possesses excellent heat-shielding properties, keeps heat well, and cashmere fabric is very light and pleasant to the touch. The fabric from a nettle differs in a good wear resistance, antistatic, antiseptic and temperature-controlled properties. Visually, such fabric is similar to linen, however, it differs by the gloss. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a compound polyester, used for production of the diverse packing for products and drinks, cosmetics and pharmaceutical means. The PET materials are irreplaceable at the production of audio, video and x-ray films, car tires, bottles for drinks, films with high barrier properties and fibers for fabrics. The main area of the use of PET in the world is the production of polyester fibers and threads. A broad application of PET started in the 1960s from the production of textiles. Since then, the demand steadily grows, first of all, in the developed countries. There is an extremely rapid growing demand in the PET market in the majority of regions. Polyester fabrics are produced from the polyester threads. An increase in demand for PEF was caused, first of all, by a lower prime cost in comparison with the other types of chemical fibers and threads. PET does not concede to polyamide by durability and lengthening, and even surpasses it; it also surpasses the most form-resistant natural fiber wool, has a low hygroscopicity and a high thermal stability, which is an advantage in the production of technical fabrics. Polyester textile fibers are used for the production of yarn polyester and are widely applied in the production cotton, linen and woollen fabrics. Polyester textile threads are used in the production of a wide range of various types of materials: lining, costume fabrics, etc. (Brunger 2012). Eco Labelling Eco labelling is a sign, found on the packing of the goods, which passed examination and proved an ecological safety and a high quality. Eco labelling was created, on the one hand, to give a reliable criterion of a choice of qualitative production to the consumer, and, on the other hand, to help producers of ecologically safe production with the advance of their goods and increase of competitiveness in the market. Eco labelling and marking is one of the instruments of the ecological management, which is an object of the consideration of a complex of the ISO 14000 standards (namely ISO 14020 14024) (Eco Fashion World 2014). The eco labelling existing in the world can be divided into the following groups: Information on environmental friendliness of production in general considering the whole life cycle of its production; Information on the environmental friendliness of separate properties of production. It also includes the signs reflecting the absence of the substances, leading to the reduction of an ozone layer around the Earth; the signs on consumer goods reflecting the possibility of their utilization with the smallest harm for environment, etc.; Eco fashion and eco clothes compose a new area, which has started its active development in the world recently and represents a huge interest for the future. It assumes a new mentality, respect for the nature and a person, and a reasonable use of natural resources. Today, the subject of eco fashion becomes more and more popular and more and more designers produce eco fashion collections. The percent of consumers of eco-fashion grows slowly but steadily. The American and European fashion industry is full with the eco events shows of eco-friendly clothes within the fashion weeks or separate thematic shows. Eco clothes are not only fashionable and stylish clothes, but also very ethic.

John Ray - An Evolution Scientist

John Ray - An Evolution Scientist Early Life and Education: Born November 29, 1627 - Died January 17, 1705 John Ray was born on November 29, 1627 to a blacksmith father and an herbalist mother in the town of Black Notley, Essex, England. Growing up, John was said to have spent a lot of time at his mothers side as she collected plants and used them to heal the sick. Spending so much time in nature at an early age sent John on his path to become known as the Father of English Naturalists. John was a very good student at Braintree school and soon enrolled at Cambridge University at the age of 16 in 1644. Since he was from a poor family and could not afford the tuition for the prestigious college, he worked as a servant to the Trinity College staff to pay off his fees. In five short years, he was employed by the college as a fellow and then became a full-fledged lecturer in 1651. Personal Life: Most of John Rays young life was spent studying nature, lecturing, and working toward becoming a clergyman in the Anglican Church. In 1660, John became an ordained priest in the Church. This led him to reconsider his work at Cambridge University and he ended up leaving the college because of conflicting beliefs between his Church and the University. When he made the decision to leave the University, he was supporting himself and his now widowed mother. John had trouble making ends meet until a former student  of his asked Ray to join him in various research projects that the student funded. John ended up making many trips through Europe gathering specimens to study. He conducted some research on anatomy and physiology of humans, as well as studied plants, animals, and even rocks. This work afforded him the opportunity to join the prestigious Royal Society of London in 1667. John Ray finally married at the age of 44, just before the death of his research partner. However, Ray was able to continue the research he started thanks to a provision in his partners will that would continue to fund the research they had started together. He and his wife had four daughters together. Biography: Even though John Ray was a staunch believer in the hand of God in the changing of a species, his great contributions to the field of Biology were very influential in Charles Darwins initial Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection. John Ray was the first person to publish a widely accepted definition of the word species. His definition made it clear that any seed from the same plant was the same species, even if it had different traits. He was also a fierce opponent of spontaneous generation and often wrote on the subject about how it was an atheists made up nonsense. Some of his most famous books cataloged all of the plants he had been studying over the years. Many believe his works to be the beginnings of the taxonomic system later created by Carolus Linnaeus. John Ray did not believe that his faith and his science contradicted each other in any way. He wrote many works reconciling the two. He supported the idea that God created all living things and then changed them over time. There were no accidental changes in his view and all were guided by God. This is similar to the current idea of Intelligent Design. Ray continued his research until he died on January 17, 1705.

Economic Organization and Transaction Costs Essay

Economic Organization and Transaction Costs - Essay Example Often included in this category are the accrued transportation/ logistical costs. Accordingly, these expenses are crucial in deciding whether or not to make or buy a product/ service (Cheung, 1987, p. 55). The paper will conduct a literature search and review that is related to a case study in transaction cost economics. The focus will be on General Motors and the Fisher Body Company, during the 1920s, in regard to the pertinent economics of organizations. There is have to accentuate at the beginning that there is not and will never be one brought together hypothesis of vertical integration. While the writing on vertical integration has a tendency to concentrate on a basic dichotomy between the choice to "make" inside or "purchase" through the business, from a TCE or NIE viewpoint we must be delicate in the way that there are a wide exhibit of business based administration plans that speak to different options for both straightforward unknown rehashed spot market exchanges and vertic al integration. These two administration plans are polar cases. Hypothetical and exact research in the NIE convention looks at not just the determinants of the limits in the middle of firms and markets additionally the sources of different "half and half structures" of administration structure that lie between basic mysterious spot market exchanges and bound together various leveled associations with fluctuating regions of vertical and even control. These crossover structures incorporate different sorts of long-haul contracts, joint endeavors, double sourcing (incomplete vertical integration), holding organizations, and open undertakings (Williamson, 1996, 2000, p. 598).

Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Innovation - Essay Example on X or Y worker; cafeterias, flexible working schedules as well as the 20% policy which allows each employee to make use of one day every week researching on a unique and innovative project of their own liking. Very few companies can afford such luxuries on their employees. Secondly, Google has built a product innovation culture. Thus numerous new products as well as services can be found from Google at present and engineers are persuaded to constantly create new ones. Google creates its own internal human resource together with talent management system, created on the conviction that Google can go on and do it â€Å"better.†Something that few organizations can afford to do (Carter & Ulrich, 2005). Some of Google’s products have gone on to become market leaders such as Google maps, Google Finance as well as Gmail which all penetrated the market with strong deep-rooted competition. Thus through strong execution and innovation every one of these products has taken on a remarkable market share in a very short length of time. Additionally when the corporation notices an incredible opportunity to penetrate via acquisition, it wastes no time and thus takes the plunge (Blogger and YouTube).Clearly Google’s long term victory is dependent on its ability to create a learning culture that embraces change, admits mistakes honestly, makes heavy investments in the winners and innovates continuously. Carter, L., & Ulrich, D. (2005). Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organization Change:How the Best Companies Ensure Meaningful Change and Sustainable Leadership. New York,NY: John Wiley &

An opinion paper on inaugural adresses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An opinion paper on inaugural adresses - Essay Example economic situation had somehow improved from the grim scenario of the Carter administration. The two parallel situations of the early 1960s and mid 1980s therefore were almost of the same footing as far as both presidential speeches are concerned, and in terms of socio-economic and global realities. Kennedy and Reagan' speeches were equally moving and heart warming. But while the whole of Kennedy's address could be poignantly quotable, it wheeled around solely on world issues such as the threats of communism, nuclear war, and global alliance. Domestic concerns, if at all, were mentioned just in passing. On the other hand, Reagan's speech was much more than just motivational. It was comprehensive and tackled a lot of home grown problems as well as global ones which contained specific concerns such as public administration, taxation, and employment: At the heart of our efforts is one idea vindicated by 25 straight months of economic growth. Freedom and incentives unleash the drive for entrepreneurial genius that is the core of human progress. We have begun to increase the rewards for work, savings, and investment; reduced the increase in the cost and size of government and its interference in people's lives. We must simplify our tax system, make it more fair, and bring the rates down for all who work and earn. We must think anew and move with a new boldness, so every American who seeks work can find work; so the least among us shall have an equal chance to achieve the greatest things-to be heroes who heal our sick, feed the hungry, protect peace among nations, and leave this world a better place (home of heroes). But more than practical issues, Reagan proved to be a man with a deeper sense of history. With an impressive stroke, he took his listeners 'by the hand', toured them back in time using such vivid and vibrant example as: History is a ribbon, always unfurling; history is a journey. And as we continue our journey, we think of those who traveled before us Now we are standing inside this symbol of our democracy. Now we hear again the echoes of our past: a general falls to his knees in the hard snow of Valley Forge; a lonely President paces the darkened halls, and ponders his struggle to preserve the Union; the men of the Alamo call out encouragement to each other; a settler pushes west and sings a song, and the song echoes out forever and fills the unknowing air. Although, most presidential speeches refer to historical events to enhance a crucial issue, no one presented them as dramatic and touching as Reagan did. And he did so by immersing his listeners to a particular point in history, took them there, and made them feel the drama that was unfolding; but only to bring them back to the present with a call to unity, action, hope and faith in God: It is the American sound. It is hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent, and fair. That's our heritage; that is our song. We sing it still. For all our problems, our differences, we are together as of old, as we raise our voices to the God who is the Author of this most tender music. And may He continue to hold us close as we fill the world with our sound-sound in unity, affection, and love-one people under God, dedicated to the dream of freedom that He has placed in the human heart, called upon now to pass that dream on to a waiting and hopeful world. No president had ever reached the stature of

Literature review on the topic of deviation in international carriage Essay

Literature review on the topic of deviation in international carriage of goods and trade - Essay Example It led to an explosion of world trade that involved people in all over the world. (Wilson 8-12) Transportation is a significant part of doing business globally. Freight logistic companies nowadays have to adapt themselves to serve customers' need which is endless. Customers have become global, they require global support and multimodal capabilities. They are interested to use fewer service providers to extend cooperation and communication among modes and between carriers to them. The role of the freight forwarder is changing from an agent who arranges transportation and prepares shipping documentation to a provider of the whole range of additional value-added services to shippers. At the same time, many forwarders are merging with large logistics companies to become part of one-stop-shop specialist companies. (D'Arcy 71-80) In 2002, market demand grew by double digits. As China joined the World Trade Organisation, many multinationals relocate production of a whole range of consumer goods from their domestic plants, mainly in the US and Europe, to this region, where production costs are much cheaper, which led to rapid growth in all trades from China. The major route of ship liners are divided into three main routes, Transpacific (Asia/US), Asia/Europe/Asia, and Transatlantic (US/Europe). The strength of the Transpacific (Asia to US East Coast) trade is continuing, with 491,000TEU moving in 3Q 2003, 18% up from 2Q 2003 and 5.6% up from the same period in 2002. (Chuah 1-22) This has been encouraged by low interest rates despite the slowdown in the US economy. The Asia-Europe trade also grew by 11% in 2002, and carriers have deployed any extra ships on the Asian trades to maximise profits. This strategy is also benefiting other trades such as the Transatlantic, as it keeps the supply of capacity down. Market share of shipping company is based on their capacity in number of TEU(Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit). The top-ten liners are held around 40% of the whole market, while the total market has 459 different players faced with high competitive environment. (Schnitzer 5-25) Maersk Sealand held the largest proportion of market share in the industry over the last five year. Not only the biggest by far but also probably one of the best equipped lines to face the future. MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) are a young shipping line. (Taylor 87-99) The company has grown incredibly fast and ranking number two toward this year and last year. P&O Nedlloyd was following the merger of P&O Containers (UK) and Nedlloyd Lines (Rotterdam). It face with high competitive and fell down to 3rd ranking since 2002. The settlement in the contract is mainly composed of the service provided by the shippers, the flexibility of services, price and the length of contract. The leading companies try to get the globe shipper to be in the part of their portfolio. (Todd 11-13) Due to the fact that a different group of clients have different requirements, some may look for the quality of service rather than price. As a result, the shipper has to offer the tailor-made contract to each group of customer. Whenever the contract has been signed, it means that the carrier is obligated with their promise. In case of missing their commitment, the shippers would loose their reputation which is

Political Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Political Violence - Essay Example The concept of â€Å"internal enemy† was significantly applied during the cold war period. The concept was applied in countries such as Guatemala, Chile, and El Salvador. In Guatemala, the concept was applied to overturn the regime that was seen as leaning towards communism. The concept was successful in the removal of Col. Jacobo Arbenz from power (Byrne 6). Moreover, the idea led to training of people that could topple the regime. On the other hand, the concept was well applied in Chile. In Chile, the concept led to destabilization of Allende government that was successful elected. The concept also led to the elimination of those people that were seen as being leftist. Most of the people were killed and detained in the country (Byrne 8). Additionally, in El Salvador, the concept provided a way in which to train police and military force inn the country to play a role in countering of insurgency. The forces played a significant role in killing of a large number of people in t he 70s and the 1980s (Byrne 10). The political repression in these three countries targeted those that were seen as leftist or supporting communism. In addition, repression led to the elimination of those opposed to democratic ideas. In conclusion, it is clear that United States contributed significantly to destabilization Latin America during cold war period. The destabilization continues to be experienced in the region until

Technology and culture class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Technology and culture class - Essay Example Bill Joy, on the other hand, talks about the threat of artificial intelligence to mankind in his book â€Å"Why the future doesn’t need us†. He talks in a very pessimistic manner and he talks about how robots will take over from humans and will perform everything without the help of human technology. Bill argues against the â€Å"rise of the robots† and predicts a horrific future for mankind because of this. He predicts that the acceleration in improvement of technology mean s that humans will fuse with robots. A comparison of the two authors works show that Ray is more of an optimist about the improvement of technology, while Bill is a pessimist. Bill claims that the doom of humans will occur because humans will drift towards robot control. This is because the problems in future will be s complex on artificial intelligence will be able to solve them after which robots will take control of everything. Ray, on the other hand, believes that the exponential improvement in technology will bring about changes that will shock mankind. He does not talk about the doom of the human

Literature review on the topic of deviation in international carriage Essay

Literature review on the topic of deviation in international carriage of goods and trade - Essay Example It led to an explosion of world trade that involved people in all over the world. (Wilson 8-12) Transportation is a significant part of doing business globally. Freight logistic companies nowadays have to adapt themselves to serve customers' need which is endless. Customers have become global, they require global support and multimodal capabilities. They are interested to use fewer service providers to extend cooperation and communication among modes and between carriers to them. The role of the freight forwarder is changing from an agent who arranges transportation and prepares shipping documentation to a provider of the whole range of additional value-added services to shippers. At the same time, many forwarders are merging with large logistics companies to become part of one-stop-shop specialist companies. (D'Arcy 71-80) In 2002, market demand grew by double digits. As China joined the World Trade Organisation, many multinationals relocate production of a whole range of consumer goods from their domestic plants, mainly in the US and Europe, to this region, where production costs are much cheaper, which led to rapid growth in all trades from China. The major route of ship liners are divided into three main routes, Transpacific (Asia/US), Asia/Europe/Asia, and Transatlantic (US/Europe). The strength of the Transpacific (Asia to US East Coast) trade is continuing, with 491,000TEU moving in 3Q 2003, 18% up from 2Q 2003 and 5.6% up from the same period in 2002. (Chuah 1-22) This has been encouraged by low interest rates despite the slowdown in the US economy. The Asia-Europe trade also grew by 11% in 2002, and carriers have deployed any extra ships on the Asian trades to maximise profits. This strategy is also benefiting other trades such as the Transatlantic, as it keeps the supply of capacity down. Market share of shipping company is based on their capacity in number of TEU(Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit). The top-ten liners are held around 40% of the whole market, while the total market has 459 different players faced with high competitive environment. (Schnitzer 5-25) Maersk Sealand held the largest proportion of market share in the industry over the last five year. Not only the biggest by far but also probably one of the best equipped lines to face the future. MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) are a young shipping line. (Taylor 87-99) The company has grown incredibly fast and ranking number two toward this year and last year. P&O Nedlloyd was following the merger of P&O Containers (UK) and Nedlloyd Lines (Rotterdam). It face with high competitive and fell down to 3rd ranking since 2002. The settlement in the contract is mainly composed of the service provided by the shippers, the flexibility of services, price and the length of contract. The leading companies try to get the globe shipper to be in the part of their portfolio. (Todd 11-13) Due to the fact that a different group of clients have different requirements, some may look for the quality of service rather than price. As a result, the shipper has to offer the tailor-made contract to each group of customer. Whenever the contract has been signed, it means that the carrier is obligated with their promise. In case of missing their commitment, the shippers would loose their reputation which is

Technology and culture class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Technology and culture class - Essay Example Bill Joy, on the other hand, talks about the threat of artificial intelligence to mankind in his book â€Å"Why the future doesn’t need us†. He talks in a very pessimistic manner and he talks about how robots will take over from humans and will perform everything without the help of human technology. Bill argues against the â€Å"rise of the robots† and predicts a horrific future for mankind because of this. He predicts that the acceleration in improvement of technology mean s that humans will fuse with robots. A comparison of the two authors works show that Ray is more of an optimist about the improvement of technology, while Bill is a pessimist. Bill claims that the doom of humans will occur because humans will drift towards robot control. This is because the problems in future will be s complex on artificial intelligence will be able to solve them after which robots will take control of everything. Ray, on the other hand, believes that the exponential improvement in technology will bring about changes that will shock mankind. He does not talk about the doom of the human

Best Buys Problems Essay Example for Free

Best Buys Problems Essay 1. After Anderson took over Best Buy in 2002, he pursued four pivotal strategic initiatives, what prompted him to do so – his rationale? After Brad Anderson became the CEO of Best Buy in 2002 his team of executives came up with and emphasized four main central strategic initiatives, which are customer-centricity, promoting an efficient enterprise, win with providing the best service, and win in entertainment. As we all know, customer-centricity being by far the most important initiative. One major reason that prompted Brad Anderson and Best Buy to come up with these strategic initiatives was the main threat of imitation by competitors for example the emergence of Wal-Mart, Target as mass merchandisers/wholesalers and other forms of retail such as Amazon (online retailers). In the past, most of Best Buy’s competition focused on customers whose main concern is pricing, without providing anything extra such as advice, support and services. However as the competition began to emulate or imitate Best Buy’s strategy/business model by delving into the higher-end consumer domain (electronics) which is of course Best Buy’s bread n’ butter, Brad Anderson and his team of executives had to come up with a new way to do business by focusing on customer-centricity instead of just focusing on the product (or the selling of it) itself. For example Wal-Mart is poaching or headhunting talented Best Buy salespeople or their rising stars by offering them better benefits which will in turn cause a high turnover rate of Best Buy staff and hinder their sales force and development program. Another reason, which is also vital and in turn prompted change in Best Buy’s strategic initiative is the key concept that the environment or the world we live in as well as the people/customer will continually change. One who understands this concept will ultimately grasp the fact that people’s needs are constantly evolving and changing over time. For example as mentioned briefly above whereas in the past clients tended to be more function and price-conscious, in the modern world of today customers will tend to value service and support and put more of an emphasis on those elements rather than just the pricing itself so instead of trying to just sell the product/service, a company must in essence place more emphasis on the customers themselves, thus creating a customer-centric worldview by centering on individual needs instead of the â€Å"one style fits all† approach and by redefining its value proposition in a coherent way which aligns with the central strategic initiative of customer-centricity. 2. What are the key elements of Anderson’s most important strategic initiative – customer centricity? One of Best Buy’s core goals is to create a customer-centric culture by developing a better understanding of customer’s needs or requirements and by providing them with attention, care, excellent service and knowledge. Therefore one crucial element in Anderson’s customer centricity strategic initiative is the introduction of customer segmentation. He firmly believed that Best Buy would do well if it could concentrate on the most profitable segments and deter the unprofitable segments altogether. Because of this Anderson aimed to build customer loyalty with the profitable segments and in doing so, the company’s existing assets can then be leveraged. Therefore 5 different customer segments were introduced and implemented; Barry, Buzz, Ray, Jill and BB4B (for businesses) each led by a segment leader whose primary purpose was to deeply understand his/her segment’s buying behavior, attitudes and tendencies, armed with insight into consumer needs. By focu sing on customer segmentation, Best Buy can come up with or improve its system and products catered to the specific needs of each group thereby also enhancing differentiation to meet long-term trends or needs. Another key element in Best Buy’s customer centricity model is the concept of Best Practice Sharing and instead of just focusing on the selling of the product, staff (sales) must also focus on offering customers solutions. For example instead of just offering to sell a single product, the informed staff can offer to sell the â€Å"whole deal† such as video conferencing, digital signage, and technology lifecycle management packaged altogether for a business client. Because of this I believe that HR has a very important role to play in providing development/training programs for the employee as well as identifying and recruiting â€Å"star† employees, providing them with the benefits so that their services can be retained on a long-term basis. A central element in Best Buy’s customer centricity initiative is a change in its labor force or model. Because of this new specialized positions were added into the Best Buy labor force. So instead of solely having skilled salespeople, Best Buy also employs Geek Squad agents (technology experts valuable to small businesses and well equipped to deal with the BB4B Best Buy for Business segment), home-theater/technological product installers, and even personal shopping assistants. This focuses on extensive training regarding the different customer segments, addresses the need to recognize the different necessities of many types of customers and also finally to identify customers most likely to buy which product from a particular segment/domain (scope). In addition to the change in labor force or model, leveraging prior acquisitions is also an important element in Best Buy’s customer centric ideology. By leveraging the two, Best Buy can pool its resources and put its custo mers first and in turn offer them more options as well as solutions. Customer relationships can also be leveraged to create customer loyalty fostering long-term relationships with the client. For the sake of brevity I would like to briefly mention the last important element in Best Buy’s customer centric ideology/strategy, which is the empowering element. This calls for empowering sales staff to make wholesome, informed merchandizing decisions. With a proper training and development programs, employees can use their knowledge about customer behavior, form hypotheses and test it out in a real world setting to see what works. After they can discuss about the results and if something yields favorable results (promoting and meeting a variety of needs with more choices for customers), new ideas can be implemented to promote and attain the perfect customer experience and customer satisfaction. By empowering its employees new and worthy ideas can be attained. The ever-comprehensive Best-Buy reporting system and its â€Å"chalk-talks† are also vital in obtaining important information (customer centric vs. non-centric stores) and trends as well as teaching its employ ees good business practices. 3. How would you recommend Brad Anderson for further actions? I believe that Best Buy’s problem lies in its function of a flawed business model, which in turn led to a function of poor execution. The poor model being where the merchant organization, segment/domain leaders, and GMs were forced to coexist and work wholly together as a business group. Before the customer centricity initiative kicked in, the merchant organization was in charge of everything such as buying, pricing, marketing/merchandizing, etc. The new model however forced merchants to work together with segment leaders. This in turn forced the merchants to switch out of their comfort zone and take a more holistic view of the business, focusing more on customer needs. The company’s growth path now expected merchants to put the customer first and foremost and grow the business by offering more than just the product itself, it must also identify customer trends. While the merchant organization was used to controlling everything, now they have to listen to and work with the segment leaders who have all the insight regarding customers, where they tended to focus on the opportunity solely from the consumer’s point of view. Ron Boire (VP GM) himself believed that their loss in the third-quarter results was because there was no camaraderie between the three business units (GMs, Merchants, and Segment leaders). Coexistence between the business units is difficult, therefore contributing to a flawed model. For positive further action, one thing Anderson could do is eliminate the risk of fragmentation altogether. Fragmentation can lead to a â€Å"focus on everything† strategy, which in turn can harm the business by trying to do too much, and wasting away valuable resources. It should concentrate and have at all times 3-5, but never more than 5 customer segments, which will create confusion and loss of focus. Best Buy should ultimately focus its assets on its â€Å"angel† group or most profitable customer niche. For example it can separate its most successful segment that being BB4B (Best Buy for Business) and establish an individual unit. This is because that segment in itself can be a separate yet focused unit because it will inevitably also encompass various segments in the business as well, cross-cutting. Another element that Best Buy can focus on is (I know that this has been said and done over and over again) having a proper staff development program in place, which of course, focuses on customer centricity. I’m sure this element is and has been addressed before however I would like to emphasize the importance of having a proper system to measure the results of the program itself. Training can be done repeated again however what is most important is that there is a system that directly measures the results of effects of staff development initiative. Another way to go would be to cut costs and heavily promote online sales. Best Buy has been slow in capturing the online market share. It also has to improve its image as it suffers from price comparison issues. Best Buy should ultimately focus on these factors, which it is of course currently doing in its â€Å"Renew Blue† strategy: * Reinvigorate the customer experience. Best Buys plans include offering customers unique benefits and exclusive membership programs, and continuing to develop a leading edge, multi-channel shopping experience through a highly relevant and effective system. * Attract and grow transformational leaders who will inevitably energize employees to deliver extraordinary results.

New Era Of Societal Marketing Concept Marketing Essay

New Era Of Societal Marketing Concept Marketing Essay Before the new era of societal marketing concept, this is where by people involves in farming to feed themselves and family. All the agricultural crops or food generated was not for sale but some of the output was bartered (i.e. subsistence economy or subsistence farming). The benefit of subsistence economy creates enough food for its people but there is no surplus food so that no food will be wasted. Marketing started during the mass production of goods and services which is called the production era. What led to production era is scarcity or access demand of products and this make firms to measured their success by involving in mass production because its reduces cost of production and increases profitability. The second marketing era is known as Sale era, this is the generating of income for the firm or business. This was during 1950s where there was excess of supply of product in the market and it was too much for what the market demanded for. To make consumer to buy the excess product supplied. Firms involve in using a variety of selling techniques and promotional techniques to inform potential customers to buy their products, by way of advertising and skilful personal selling in order to convert products to cash. The benefit to firm is that it generates income to the business while to the consumers they buy in lower price. Market era is the third era; this is the understanding of the prospective buyers after the Second World War. So many firms or industries were destroyed in other countries, except for that in the United State. Firms found it easy to sell their products because there was little competition, during these period businesses realised they could produce new product in different ways to satisfy customers need and want. To do this firms change their thinking from that of manufacturing products to that of satisfying customers, for them to be able to produce the right products to the market in a low price and also to reduce cost of production. Marketing era is the fourth era; this is where by every activities of an organisation must revolve around customer. To do this some company set up operating policy, technical research, to provide quality products and services to their customers. Also to reduce prices of their product and increase customer value, these enable organisation to satisfy their customers by meeting the marketing concept. http://www.answers.com/topic/subsistence-farming29/12/2009 http://www.answers.com/topic/marketing#Marketing_orientations 29/12/2009 Consumers are often referred to as the king. Explain this statement from notable marketing definitions and concepts. Consumers are often referred to as a king because without them business or organisation wouldnt be able to survive or exist. Marketing definitions that talks about consumers are: Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customers requirements profitably. By The Chartered Institute of marketing. This definition talk about how marketer strives to know what consumers wants are by acting on it to bring the wants to their door steps to please them. Marketing is the human activity directed at satisfying human needs and wants through an exchange process. By Philip Kotler. Marketing is essentially about marshalling the resources of an organisation so that they meet the changing needs of the customer on whom the organisation depends. By Palmer Marketing is the implementation of marketing concept (in the 1990s) requires attention to three basic elements of the marketing concept. These are: customer orientation; an organisation to implement a customer orientation; long range customer and societal welfare. By Cohen. Marketing is the whole business seen from the customers point of view. By Drucker. http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_what_is_marketing.htm 29/12/2009 Question 2 Every marketing organisation operates in a complex and dynamic business environment. Identify and explain various micro and macro environmental variables affecting marketing companies in United Kingdom. Business environment entails all factors affecting business positively and negatively. This can be classified as controllable environmental factors (i.e. internal environment) and Uncontrollable environmental factors (i.e. external environment). Under external environment we have immediate external and general external. All these factors determine the success of a business as far the organisation is able to manage the internal environment and adapt to the changes of any external environmental factors. Internal environmental factors are: Employees Shareholders Company policy Employees For an organisation to be successful employees play a vital role to enable firm achieve their goals and also firms need to empower the employees to make them perform their duties. Employees in UK may affect marketing companies positively or negatively. For instance, if a marketing company employed the right staff. Involves in training and development of these staff on how to render service to a customer these may be a good impact on the firm because the moment customer is satisfy with the service render these might encourage him or her to come back again. This could be an edge over its competitors. If an employee is not motivated, lack training and development these may be a negative impact on the organisation and it could lead to low sales. Shareholders The UK shareholders may affect marketing company by pressurising or forcing them to change their organisations strategy from satisfying customers and focus on profits. In doing these, the organisation may involve in a new tactics like pricing strategy to make more profit. In a competitive market where the market determines the price like in UK, this could lead to organisation failure. Company policy This is a lay down procedure to guide staff on how best to operate in an organisation, in order to make firms achieve their objectives. In a situation where by the company policy is not well layout to guide the staff on what to do, these may affect marketing company not to achieve their objectives. Immediate external environmental factors are: Customers Competitors Supplier Customers factors Every marketing organisation that is profit oriented definitely depends on it customers for success. In any marketing company, customers are very crucial because without them businesses wont be able to survive. Customers in UK may affect marketing organisation either positively or negatively. For example if the government increase the tax and national insurance charges this may affect the customers spending power and it could affect marketing sales because consumers will have less money to spend on their commodities. It also slow down business sales and reduce their profits. In the other hand, if there is decrease in tax and national insurance. This will favour the marketing organisation and customers. Customers spending power will increase because they have more money to spend on their commodities. However, customers need to be respected, given good services, quality products, build up long term relationship with them, listen to their complains, art fast on their complains and provide value for their money to enable them come back again. Any marketing company who is able to provide all these will be successful. Competitors factors This is where by marketing organisations compete with each other in terms of price, quality products, customer services etc. to enable them be in business. UK government uses these forces to checkmate prices of products. They allow competition because if there is a lot of marketing company, these will make price of products to be control by the market and not by the competitors. This is affecting marketing organisation because they are unable to fix price on their products due to many competitors. Suppliers factors Suppliers effect to a marketing organisation cannot be over looked. If there is sudden increase on prices of raw material, they may be force to push up their prices and these may affect organisation marketing strategy by forcing them to raise their products price and it could slow down sales because not every consumer will be able to adapt to the changes in price immediately. Also delayed payment of suppliers or lack of good relationship may affect quick delivering of goods to the marketing companies and it could make customers not to rely on them anymore. General external environmental factors are: The general external forces are factors that are beyond the firms or businesses direct control. Political Economic Socio-cultural Technological Political factors These are factors that affect businesses and the spending power of the consumers through taxation, legislation etc. UK government can influence businesses positively by reducing the corporation tax and indirect tax charges (i.e. the profits of business and VAT charges on some products) to enable firms make more profits and expand, this could lead firms to reduce their products prices as well for the benefit of the consumer. Also they can influence consumers positively by cutting down tax charges on their income earn to allow them have more money to spend on their commodities or wants. The increase on direct and indirect tax this make business to increase their products prices as well and it also decreases the business profits because not every individual will be able to afford the products. However, consumers may find it very difficult to buy their wants because of the high price of products and high charges on their income earned. Laws made by UK government could affect businesses in so many ways. For example if government increase the minimum wage this could affect them, if they are unable to meet the increase in minimum wage. It may lead to some of the staff retrenched and also they may increase their products prices for them to be in business. Economic factors Marketing companies need to look into UK economy in the short and long terms before planning and also look for ways of adapting to any changes in the future such as changes in income, population, gross domestic profit, exchange rate, inflation rate and climate etc. Currently the marketing companies in UK experience climate change which really affect sales because so many people was unable to go out to do their shopping due to bad weather condition (i.e. snow). Also changes in consumers income might affect marketing companys sales as well. For example, if government increases taxes on income these will affect the purchasing power of consumers because they have limited amount of money to spend on their commodities and these will reduces market organisation sales and profits. Technological factors Marketing companies in UK who wants to dominate the market or compete with competitors should be able to adapt to the new technology. For example, car company as advance in technology by providing consumer a good cars, such as automatic and computerised cars. As we all know that the era of manual cars is going gradually because of advancement in technology. If there is any car companies who are unable to adapt to the new technology these may affect it cars sales in the market because of lack of technology. Also technology have enable car companies to sell their cars via internet, paying by bank card and advertising through the internet which is an opportunities to them to sell more cars and increase profitability. Social-cultural factors This looks into some factors such as lifestyle changing, culture, beliefs, value and geographical differences that may affect any organisations. In a marketing organisation where by the lifestyle of consumers changes due to low income earn these may affect marketing company because consumer would like to change some of his or her product to a lower price once in order to manage its income perfectly to its needs or wants. This may be a threat to the manufacturing of the product left and an opportunity to the product consumer change to. Understanding any market requires a thorough classification by segments. Identify and explain various basis of market segmentation by proposing the segmentation criteria that can be used for two products in different markets. Many market organisation use different criteria to segment their product to a particular market, such as: Demographical segmentation Geographical segmentation Benefit segmentation Demographical segmentation This is where by market is been divided into groups based on factors such as age, income, social class grouping, family size, lifestyle, gender and family life cycle. By proposing a social class segmentation criteria that can be used for two products such as motor cars and clothing, a marketers would like to look into the social status and occupation of individual to enable them provide a variety of cars that will satisfy the upper middle class, middle class, lower middle class, skilled working class, working class and those at the lowest level of subsistence by providing them cars that they will be able to afford. This helps marketers to know where to locate their shop site or operate their business because individual in these category live in a different areas that suit each group. Social class segmentation table Grade social status occupation % of UK population A Upper middle class Higher managerial or professional 10% (Company directors, lawyers) B middle class middle managerial or professional 15% (Managers, nurses, teachers) C1 lower middle class supervisory or clerical (shop assistants) 26% C2 skilled working class skilled manual workers (technicians) 17% D working class semi-skilled unskilled manual worker 20% E Those at the lowest lowest grade workers 12% Level of subsistence (casual workers, state pensioners) Age is another factor of segmentation criteria used for product like cloths This is where by market organisation display their product design and packaging to meet the wants of different groups according to age differentiation of consumers. While some marketers may focus on one particular age group (e.g. mother care shops) only focus on baby things nothing else. In terms of cloths, manufacturer produces cloth of different sizes, different quality and different texture to meet the taste of customers. This enable marketer to reach their customers by locating their shops close to them, also these determine the prices of product like cloth they sell in rich people area and poor people area as well. Geographical segmentation This is a process of identifying consumers according to the area where they live such as villages, city, regions, and countries. Also to look into their climate condition if it will be favourable or profitable for their product. Any marketing organisation that is into multi-national and global business involves in some programme activities that will advertise and promote its products to meet the needs of individual geographic units. Climate In most African countries the weather condition is very hot and these enable car companies to produce cars that will suit the needs of their consumers in that very geographic units, by providing them cars that will acclimatize to the countries climate (i.e. by putting air-condition) to make their customers feel comfortable when driving or inside the car. Most of these African countries use a left hand drive cars, so any car companies who want to supply it product to these geographic unit should be able to provide them what they really wanted for the purpose of making profits. Countries Cloth companies produce cloths that will suit the benefit of consumers according to their geographic unit because each country has their own culture and traditional wears. Like in India, the cloth they produce wont sell in United Kingdom due to their different believes. Benefit segmentation This may be used by organisation such as car companies to develop a range of products by segmenting the market through benefit that consumers find from product. For example, some people will be interested in safety, others in load space or performance. Cars companies develop ranges of products to please these different segments and also to promote the product in different ways to the different groups. http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/segmentation_bases_geographic.asp 12/01/2010 http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/segmentation_bases_demographic.asp 12/01/2010 Question 3 Explain product life cycle with a typical diagram and identify characteristics and essential strategies for survival of each stage of the life cycle. Definition of product life cycle Product life cycle is the process of improving a product over time through redesigning or replacing old version of product. Adopted from: http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_plc.htm 2/1/2010 Introduction stage At this stage an organisation may involve in promotion to create awareness to the general public or target market about the new product. For instance, if the product has no or few competitors, a skimming pricing strategy may be used or penetration pricing may be employed to attract customers to buy the product. The level of distribution is limited, at these level sales is low because the product is new to the market. Growth stage This is where by competitors are attracted to the market with similar products because consumers has realised the benefit or usefulness of the product. Sales are growing rapidly and the cost of production per unit is falling (i.e. economies of scale). The product now becomes more profitable and the spending on advertising is high to focus upon the building brand. Because competitors are growing, the firm may still keep to penetration pricing strategy or push up the price a little bit to make more profits. Maturity stage Rapid sales growth cannot last forever. At the stage of maturity these is where by the product sales slowdown and reach it highest because competition is high and most organisations fight to maintain their market share by striving to make their product look difference from competitors products. The profit is quite high and the distribution level is high as well. Pricing strategy employed may be competitive pricing. Decline stage At these stage the market is shrinking, sales is falling and competition is falling as well because no firm will like to invest their money in a product that is unprofitable. To make the product profitable, some company may cut down the cost to enable them use a promotional techniques such as special offer of the product to consumers or by repositioning the product to other market segment (i.e. children, adult etc.). If it doesnt yield any profit still these may be the withdrawal of the product from market but if it does more competitors will rise to do something similar. http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_plc.htm 2/1/2010 Decision of an organisation to embark on either extensive or selective distribution strategy is contingent on some factors. Identify and explain the factors responsible for the choice of a strategy using both industrial and consumer products as examples. Definition of selective distribution Selective distribution: this is where by producer uses few retail outlets in a geographical area to distribute its product (e.g. Televisions, computers and household appliances) to the consumers. The factors that determine the distribution strategy to be use are Market factors Product factors Producer factors Market factors This is where by buyer behaviour determine how product will be distributed to the market; it means would buyer prefer to purchase the product from retailer or through ordering online and in what ways will the buyer get the product information needed before buying (e.g. like motor cars, computers and household appliances). Middlemen willingness to market the product is a factor as well. Retailer may consider the cost involves in training, equipment needed and warehouse expansion that product required. The cost may be too high for them not to be in support to sell the product. Product factors Product like company equipment may be supply direct to customer because of it size while perishable product like meat, fish and bread may be supplier to the consumer through intermediaries such as retailers. Producer factors Manufacturers willingness to control the price that a product will be sold to consumers is a factor. Producers who want to have control over how, to whom and at what price a product is sold dont need a retailer as middlemen to sell its products, because retailer have control over prices of product in their care do to competitors. However, cost involves in distributing products direct to customer is a factor. A producer may not have the resources to recruit, train and equip salesmen. So it may rather make use of middlemen like retailer or agent to distribute it product to consumers. Question 4 Every organisation is striving to compete in a global market where consumers needs are standardised. Explain why companies strive to be global concerns rather than being national heavy weight. Companies strive to be global concerns because they want to widen their customers base by extending their products to other countries to enable them expand their market and gain more customers. They also strive to be global concerns because they want to increase turnover to make the company financially buoyant to manage all its activities effectively, to put smile on the face of shareholders and to encourage other to invest in the company. However, to ensure a very strong brand name is built by making it known to other countries globally just like what Dell, Nike, Sony, LG and Nokia Company as done. These companies have a very strong brand name by providing good quality of product to their customers, they also involves in sponsoring some activities that will advertise their brand name globally and to make them increase their product sales. Companies strive to be global concern rather than to be national heavy weight because they want to advance in technology, face challenges that will make them better than the national companies and to be able to compete globally or make their products to be known. Prepare marketing mix programmes for any consumers product and hospitality services. Compare and contrast the mix elements for the two. Marketing mix: this is the putting together of product, price, promotion and place used to implement marketing strategy. McDonalds uses various channels to build its brand name by providing quality products and targeting their product on workers and children to enable them gets access to their parents or guardians. They improve on product through listening to customers complains and customers needs on products to enable them give consumers a better product or service. Marketing mix programmes for consumers products in an organisation like McDonalds Restaurant. Product Product is anything that is offer to the market. McDonalds have different types of fast food product for their potential and existing customers; they make these products attractive by designing their menu in such a way that indicate what consumer will be having with any product they chose and what each product contain in a very simple way. However, they also know meeting customers requirements is very crucial on product because they can change taste at any time and these make them to check mate their customer preferable product by getting feedback from them and also through profits made on each product they are aware too. They are extremely careful when introducing new product to the market in order not to affect the existing product sales by redesigning packaging or adding extra features. McDonalds sales on product vary according to the stage they are in their product life cycle and the type of marketing undertaking also depend on the stage of a product. They present their product in more attractive way to motivate their customers to buy. http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/static/pdf/aboutus/education/mcd_marketing.pdf 28/01/2010 Price Price is the amount customers paid for good or service. It play a very vital role in customers (demand) and producer (supply). These enable McDonalds to make their prices of product reasonable to customers in order to increase sales. However, they also determine price for product through looking at how customers will value the product. Medium Big mac  £3.89 Before they actually fix the price of Large and Medium Big mac, they look at how customers and potential customers will value the combination of the product by asking them selves if they would be able to pay  £3.89 for the combination of product. If yes, they can now fix price on that amount. They may cut down their price of product due to competitors as match with the lower prices which mean no extra demand of the product because consumers can get similar or the same product at the same price elsewhere. This will reduces the profit margin and sales. Promotion Promotion this is a way an organisation communicate with potential customers about its product. The purpose is to persuade customers to buy the product by advertising. McDonalds know the important of promotion on their products because there are many competitors in the market with similar product. So to differentiate their products from others they use various ways of advertising to tell the potential customers about the product and price through advertising on TV, radio, online, newspapers and magazines. However, they also use some promotional techniques such as direct mail, sales promotions, exhibitions, point of sales display, special offer etc to keep their customer inform. The aims of these marketing communications may be to increase customers, to visit the restaurant or to recommend the product to a friend. McDonald uses these promotional techniques to communicate to their customers in different ways. For example, if they would like to advertise on TV they collect some information from customers to know the kind of TV programme they watch most often, to enable them know the TV programme to use and it also make them to present the advert in a reasonable way that we call the attention of audience and look interesting to their targeted audience. Place Place is a way by which an organisation distribute its product to users or consumers. McDonalds distribute their product direct to customers by using good location and providing a place to eat the product to make customers feel relax and comfortable. Marketing mix programme for hospitality services at virgin Atlantic Airways Virgin Atlantic airways use marketing mix to strategise on the kind of products and services render to customers in order to satisfy them. Virgin Atlantic marketing mix Physical Evidence People Place Promotion Price Product Product Some products under air line companies are not physical while some are. Virgin Atlantic has different package of products that they do offer to customers in a different ways, they are: Customers destination and arrival airport Type of ticket or seat customer would prefer to buy (i.e. first class, economy and business class) Kind of food customer would prefer to eat when embarking on a journey (i.e. vegetarian food, meat and fish). The entertainment of customers through watching films, video games, radio. All these are Virgin Atlantic airways product that is package to satisfy their customer, l will like to talk about ticket or seat as a product. They have three type of seat or ticket to offer to customers and the different between these tickets depend on the service they render to individual. The more money you paid, the more value services you get. Price Virgin Atlantic airway makes decision on prices of ticket base on how many seats they would like to sell to customers because they are aware of the fact that cutting down prices do increase demand while high prices affect demand. However, they are been fair to their customers in terms of prices by providing a good offer that will make them happy, at the moment the price of New York economy seat is  £299 and first class is  £1,487 which will end 9th February 2010. Promotion Virgin Atlantic airways knows the important of advertising their product to the general public to enable them get more customers, they do these through TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct marketing techniques, personal selling and sales promotion. Direct marketing promotion is a techniques use by a business to communicate or update customers directly through email or telephone. Virgin Atlantic airways use these to update customers about their offer or deal of the month in order to increase sales. They also use it to get feedback from customers to know how enjoyable was their last trip and this enable them to improve in their service. Personal selling promotion this is the selling of product or service through face to face or telephone communication with customer or potential customers. Virgin Atlantic airline use personal selling to make customer or potential customer to locate or call their office for any information they may need before buying their product or service. Virgin Atlantic also use advert on Television, Newspapers and Radio to reach the general public about the offers or deals they have for them. Place Virgin Atlantic airways know the important of location for travellers who may miss place their bag during travelling to know where to go for collection or who miss their flight due to traffic delayed or for other reasons to enable them get access to another booking ticket at the airport in a discounted price. People People play a very vital role in rendering service. It also one of the components of extended marketing mix which talks about how employees strive to satisfy customers in term of service. Virgin Atlantic airways know the important of people and recruiting the right staff that will be able to give effective service to their customers. They also make sure their staff treat customers in the way they want to be treated by showing good manners and also to be able to give a good solution to any customers complains or assistance. Process Process is the procedure of how service is being carried out to customer without delay. If customers receive fast service these may make them come back agai