Propose and Justify a Research Method and Design Essay

Propose and Justify a Research Method and Design - Essay Example If the research questions are not put in mind, in the process of selecting research methods, researchers would fail to meet the purpose of their study. Practical considerations were also highly important in the selection of a research methodology of the proposed study. Researchers must consider whether they have access to specific resources, such as financing, which would allow them execute the study successfully (Myers, 2011). Therefore the resources available to a researcher may limit the type of research methods that are used in the study. The sources of information and their availability were also put into consideration in the process of selecting the specific type of research methods, which are considered to be more suitable for the proposed study. For example, both secondary and primary sources of data or information must be evaluated in order to determine their availability or accessibility (Kraleva, 2011). The availability of resources, such as skills and abilities of the people who undertake the study would also influence the type of research methods that are used in scientific inquiry. A researcher must consider whether the research assistants are competent enough to apply specific research methods. More importantly, the subject under study must be put in mind when determining the kind of research methods that are suitable for a specific study. This is due to the fact that different fields of study appropriately employ specific research designs or methods (Kothari, 2005). In research, facts refer to the things or events whose existence or occurrence has been proved. Normally, facts are drawn from the experiences of study participants. However, the observation of the researcher can also lead to the gathering of specific facts about the topic under inquiry. Facts are advantageous in research because they represent credible information or data, which is effectively used to make accurate inferences about the topic (Kraleva, 2011). Factual information

American History, Mind and Machine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American History, Mind and Machine - Essay Example In many ways after the divisiveness and devastation of the Civil War, the United States searched for order economically, politically, geographically, socially and racially. Select one of these areas, or suggest another, and make a case for the reasons why it was the most vital area that America needed to address. Some examples include the westward expansion of the nation, the reunification of a national political system in the north and south, the influx of immigrants, conflict with Native Americans, and an increase of racial segregation. It seems that the most vital area that the United States needed to address after the end of the Civil War was the reunification of a national political system since it established the United States as a unified state. While before the outbreak of the Civil War American used plural to speak about the United States (the United States are†¦), after the end of the war it became a norm to use the United States in singular (the United States is†¦). It means that the reunification took place on the highest constitutional level, with issues of secession as well as state veto power properly addressed. Specifically, the political unification meant creation of the central government that took under control all U.S. territory. In some way, the motto by the Founding Fathers â€Å"From many, one† eventually became a reality, but strong national government was â€Å"more powerful than even the most nationalistic Americans had imagined before the war† (â€Å"The Civil War, Results of the Civil War†, 2012, [online]). 1b-Most people have views that are strongly influenced and informed by philosophy, often without realizing it. Identify a view you have—whether on politics, religion, science, culture, or even the media and entertainment—that might be regarded as being related to philosophy. What kind of reasons do you have for holding that belief? What figure from the history of philosophy section do y ou think might have some views that are similar, or at least relevant, to your own? Explain why you chose that particular figure. Aristotle spoke of Socrates as of a philosopher who restricted his quest with ethical enquiries. Therefore, Socrates is generally known as â€Å"the first moral philosopher†. Indeed, according to the account of Xenophon, Socrates persistently discussed human affairs and did not stop asking questions like â€Å"what constitutes the character of a citizen?†, â€Å"what is the just?†, and â€Å"what is the unjust? † (Xenophon quoted in Aristotle, 2001, p. 161). This way of addressing the world – in a moral quest – is quite close to my understanding and my life philosophy. Similarly to Socrates I believe that one should rather concentrate on moral self-development than on amassing material wealth. In other words, developing virtues is seen as the primary objective. This position is quite close to Socrates who is known to have said â€Å"virtue was the most valuable of all possessions; the ideal life was spent in search of the Good† (Socrates quoted in Michael, 2007, p. 16). 2a-During a remarkable period of change from roughly 1865 to the early 20th century, the great cities that we know and love today expanded at an incredibly rapid pace and went through a fundamental transformation in composition and construction. Select one of the ways that the American city was changing and analyze its historical significance (explain why this topic is important to the study of the history of the nation). What short and long term effects did the transformation of American cities have on the nation? The decades after the end of the Civil War were the time of the move from the rural areas to the city. While these were initially migrants from small towns or remote farms that filled the cities, in the 1880s American cities were flooded with immigrants from overseas. Immigration became the major factor of p opulation growth in the cities like Chicago (Monkkonen, 1990, p.95). It ensured a constant supply of

Pro Social Behaviour And Islamic Spirituality Religion Essay

Pro Social Behaviour And Islamic Spirituality Religion Essay Spirituality has been defined as that which gives people meaning and purpose in life. Spirituality can be achieved through participation in a religion, but can be much broader than that, such as belief in God, family, naturalism, rationalism, humanism, and the arts. Islam is a religion based on a total submission to the will of the Almighty. The real place for the growth of the spirit is in the midst of life through carrying out all deeds and actions, both spiritual and worldly, as per the will of Allah. As the Quran mentions Those who spend in prosperity and in adversity, for those who curb their anger and those who forgive people. And Allah loves the charitable. In Islam there is significant emphasis on pro-social behaviour as a means to carry out the will of God. It is however seen that this aspect has not been emphasised either in formal training or informal socialisation in the practice of Islam. Accordingly a number of commentators have remarked that some of the ills presently afflicting Muslims in the sub-continent have been due to the neglect of the pro-social behavioural aspect. The present paper is an attempt to throw light on the importance given to pro social behaviour in Islam. Religion Spirituality, definition by psychologists, Islamic phil Pro social behavior, definition, altruism, giving etc Prosocial links with spirituality, other religions, and Islamic spirituality Conclusion: judeo-christian, why not in norms and moral imperative, not there, so conflicts, unhappiness in society, therefore promote spirituality, true meaning of life From an evolutionary perspective, early humans survival relied strongly on the processes of giving and helping. Religious practice has also been associated with prosocial and helping behaviors, as helping is often considered a religious obligation. Weight on giving and helping in the Judeo-Christian culture can be considered a primary reason that prosocial behavior is a social norm and moral imperative in Western Culture today  [2]  . Similar is the case with other religions where prosocial behavior is encouraged although to what extent it has percolated down to becoming a social norm is a debatable issue. The universal presence of prosocial behavior amongst humans has long been a significant puzzle in the social sciences  [3]  . Prosocial behavior can be defined as voluntary actions intended to help or benefit another individual or group of individuals. Prosocial behavior occurs when someone acts to help another person, particularly when they have no goal other than to help a fellow human. Actions that benefit other people or society as a whole are classified as prosocial behaviours. One of the characteristics of prosocial behaviour is that helping does not benefit the helper. It is opined that prosocial behaviour is often accompanied by a cost. Thus the decision to help others is often at a cost to the doer. Prosocial behavior has come to be seen as key in harmonious interpersonal and group interactions. A few terms and concepts frequently overlap in any discussion on prosocial behaviour. Terms like philanthropy, altruism, spirituality, volunteerism, charity, giving, and forgiveness etc are used while discussing prosocial behaviour. It would be useful to throw light on these concepts for a fuller understanding. Philanthropy is voluntary action for the common good, including voluntary giving, serving, and association. The key mechanisms that have been identified as determinants of philanthropy are: (1) awareness of need; (2) solicitation; (3) costs and benefits; (4) altruism; (5) reputation; (6) psychological benefits; (7) values; (8) efficacy. One of the explanations of prosocial behaviour is that people are motivated to behave in ways that help them attain some goal. Often ones own image becomes the prime mover in prosocial behaviour. Thus considerable prosocial behaviour is motivated by reputational incentives. Altruism on the other hand is performed without any reputational incent ives. However personal gratification as a reward cannot be ruled out even in altruistic behaviour. It is also seen that societal pressures and norms impact peoples choice of behaviour. Often people evaluate their lives and find that there is a need to make it more fullfilling by engaging in prosocial behaviour. Giving is viewed as a positive thing to do, especially when giving reduces inequality and when giving is less costly, recipients are not to blame, and is more effective. Giving may contribute to ones self-image as an altruistic, empathic, socially responsible, agreeable, or influential person. In addition, giving is in many cases an almost automatic emotional response, producing a positive mood, alleviating feelings of guilt, reducing aversive arousal, satisfying a desire to show gratitude, or to be a morally just person. There is ample evidence from studies on helping behaviour that helping others produces positive psychological consequences for the helper. There are several reasons why humans may have pleasurable psychological experiences upon giving: people may alleviate feelings of guilt (avoid punishment), feel good for acting in line with a social norm, or feel good for acting in line with a specific (prosocial, altruistic) self-image. Clary and Sneider  [4]  proposed a mod el identifying the factors that initiate volunteerism. They found that it is a combination of the desire to be altruistic, wish to be part of a group, wish to reduce guilt, and the desire to acquire knowledge and skills. Religious texts of all major religions encourage prosociality amongst their believers. The hypothesis that religions facilitate costly behaviours that benefit other people has been variously tested and commented upon. It has also been pointed out that the acute human sensitivity to prosocial reputation is a psychological mechanism, originating unrelated to religion that evolved to facilitate strong reciprocal cooperative bonds within groups  [5]  . It is seen that the threat of being found out therefore became a strong motivator for good behaviour. Norenzayan Shariff  [6]  point out that religious devotion is expected to be context-sensitive, with clear boundary conditions and religious situations habitually facilitate prosocial behaviour. It has also been seen that if religiosity is related to prosocial behaviour in some contexts, it is possible that having a prosocial disposition causes one to be religious. Spirituality is a universally accessible state of mind. It is inexplorable tied to the concept of religion. Pergament  [7]  discussed the question of what makes religion special and concluded that it is the unique substance and function of religion that makes it special. Thus the defining essence of religion is the sacred that refers to things set apart from ordinary life because of their connection to God, the holy, the divine; to transendent forces, Ulitmate truths and Utlimate reality. As Baumgardner and Crothers  [8]  put it, religion is not just a set of beliefs and practices; it also involves how these beliefs are used to answer lifes most profound questions and cope with lifes most difficult challenges. Pargament defines religion as a search for significance in ways related to the sacred and spirituality as a search for the sacred. Religion and religious behaviours represent the many ways in which the search for the sacred becomes organised and sanctioned in society. T hus spirituality becomes a means to address lifes most important questions. It would be interesting to examine the definition of spirituality as proposed by Hill et al  [9]  who define it as the feelings, thoughts, and behaviours that arise from a search for the sacredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ people can take a virtually limitless number of pathways in their attempts to discover and conserve the sacred. These pathways to the sacred may also be described as spiritual strivings, which include personal goals associated with the ultimate concerns of purpose, ethics and recognition of the transecndent. Prosocial behaviour as it is understood can be classified in two broad groups on the basis of motivation, one a purely secular prosocial behaviour where actions to benefit others originate purely out of secular and personal concerns with no obvious and material benefit to the giver / helper. On the other hand a religiosity driven prosocial behaviour is where there is definite benefit to the individual in the form of promised salvation or pay offs as a result of following strict religious injunctions and duties. Let us take the example of Islam to examine how religious injunctions and prescriptions enjoin upon its followers to engage in behaviours that could be termed as prosocial behaviour. Islam is a religion based on a total submission to the will of the Almighty. According to Islam, Allah has appointed the human soul as His Khalifah (vicegerent) in this world. He has invested it with a certain authority, and given it certain responsibilities and obligations for the fulfillment of which He has endowed it with the best and most suitable physical frame. (Maududi). In his capacity as the vicegerent (Khalifah) of God, man is answerable to Him for all his activities. It is his duty to use all the powers that he has been given in accordance with the Divine will. He should utilize to the fullest extent all the faculties and potentialities bestowed upon him for seeking Allahs approval. In his dealings with other people he should behave in such a way as to try to please Allah. In brief, all his energies should be directed towards regulating the affairs of this world in the way in which Allah wants them to be regulated. The better a man does this, with a sense of responsibility, obedience and humility, and with the object of seeking the pleasure of the Lord, the nearer will he be to Allah. Islam rejects and condemns the ascetic view of life, and proposes that the spiritual development of man would take place not outside this world but inside it. The real place for the growth of the spirit is in the midst of life and not in solitary hibernation. In Islam, spiritual development is synonymous with nearness to Allah. Distance from Allah signifies, in Islam, the spiritual fall and decay of man. Maududi  [10]  points out that what will distinguish the actions of the secular and religious will be the nature of their relationship with Allah and the aims behind their actions. Whatever a religious man does, will be done with the feeling that he is answerable to Allah, that he must try to secure Divine pleasure, that his actions must be in accordance with Allahs laws. A secular person will be indifferent towards Allah and will be guided in his actions only by his personal motives. This difference makes the whole of the material life of a man of religion a totally spiritual venture, and the whole of the life of a secular person an existence devoid of the spark of spirituality. Thus spirituality is linking of actions to the purpose of life. Actions on their own, without using this framework are just actions or material constructs. The Islamic road to achieve spirituality passes through several stages, starting from Iman (faith) and progressing towards It~at (obedience, subservience), Taqwa (piety, Allah consciousness), to Ihis~an (Godliness). Faith (Iman) in Islam is a state of happiness acquired by virtue of positive action and constructive conceptions as well as dynamic and effective measures (Hammudah AA  [11]  ). According to Islam, true faith has a decisive effect on the spiritual and material lot of man, and also on his personal and social behaviour as well as his political conduct and economic life. There are numerous references in the Holy Quran and traditions of the Prophet on this aspect. The laws of practical ethics in the holy Quran rest largely upon the principles of justice, but charity, philanthropy, generosity, gratitude and sincerity are also recommended. Strict honesty is demanded in business dealings, with just balances, and upright intentions. Lies of all kinds are condemned, the taking of bribes is strictly forbidden. This is especially the case in regard to trusts concerning orphans. Wrong to the orphan is held to be a grievous sin, and in many Suras of the holy Quran there are one or two verses which say in effect Do not touch the property of orphans. Charity and philanthropy occupy a very important place. There are several commands like Pray, give alms, and the good which you do will find with God, who sees all your actions (Patrick, 1901). Thus we see that one the one hand, Allah commands man to follow all is commands and injunctions, yet at the same time prescribes a prosocial behavioural path for him to follow. In essence, the spirituality of Islam is in fact the righteous and prosocial behavior with the knowledge that it is being done with the pure intention of pleasing Allah.

H.R. department at Coca-Cola :: essays research papers

Q1- Introduction, business profile of Coca-Cola, and its historical prospective. In May 1886, Coca-Cola was invented by Doctor John Pemberton a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. The name was a suggestion given by John Pemberton’s bookkeeper Frank Robinson who was the first to script â€Å"Coca-Cola† into the flowing letters which has become the famous logo of today. Until 1905, the soft drink, marketed as tonic, contained extracts of cocaine as well as the caffeine-rich kola nut. As we know, every new product in its introductory stage faces a certain loss due to higher cost relatively to the revenue generated after sales, and that was the case when Pemberton started the selling process on May 8 of that same year, where he ended up with a loss of $20 as a result of costs equal to $70 and revenues equal to $50. By the late 1890s, Coca-Cola was one of America’s most popular fountain drinks. With another Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Griggs Candler, the Coca-Cola Company increased sales by over 4000% between 1890 and 1900. Advertising was an important factor in Pemberton and Candler’s success. And by the turn of the century, the drink was sold across the United States and Canada. In addition, the company began selling syrup to independent bottling companies licensed to sell the drink. After 19 years of the invention date, the Coca-Cola Company started operating internationally and it became the world’s largest bottle of liquid, nonalcoholic refreshment. It took the company about 119 years to turn the $20 loss in 1886 into $596 million profit in 2004, and that implies a successful business strategy followed by the company. Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottler, selling approximately 43 billion bottles and cans each year. The company markets, distributes and produces beverage products of Coca-Cola Company and its subsidiaries. The products include Coca-Cola Classic, caffeine free Coca-Cola classic, diet Coke, Sprite, Cherry Coke, and Fanta. The company conducts its business primarily under agreements with The Coca-Cola Company, which own around 37% of the company's common stock. These agreements give it the exclusive right to market, distribute and produce beverage products in specified territories. This also provide the Coca-Cola Company with the ability to establish prices, terms of payment and other terms and conditions for the purchase of concentrates and syrups, in addition to other significant transactions and agreements including acquisitions of bottling territories, arrangements for cooperative marketing, advertising expenditures, purchases of sweeteners and strategic marketing initiatives.

Impact Statement Essay

NSTP was one big rollercoaster ride. Admittedly, I didn’t like it entirely because It has a lot of requirements for a non-credited subject. It was fine with me going to our designated area and cleaning the place, but it was not seem necessary for us to still have to submit certain papers/ documents and have this seminar sessions. Well that was what I initially felt. As I reflect on it, I realize that I did actually have fun in one way or another and I realized that NSTP served as an eye opener to us students, as we become aware of the things that sometimes we didn’t notice like having a family. I have learned the value of having a family who can provide their basic needs. Although we didn’t really have any interactions with the children in the orphanage, just by seeing them I realized the blessings that I have right now, that I’m indeed fortunate enough to have parents that support and provide my needs. My experience with this activity will be much cherished because this had taught me the importance of having a family. NSTP also taught me to give back to the community. I may not have the capability to effect one big change on society, but with one random act of kindness, society can slowly but surely change. For if one man performs an act of random kindness, and others follow, then the world will be on happier place to live in.

Silence Kills, Animal Farm Essay

Haley Zrnchik Mrs. Hawkins Honors English 1, Red 1 13 December 2012 Silence Kills In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Benjamin, a soft-spoken donkey, finds his once peaceful home transformed into a tyrannical dictatorship led by a power-hungry pig named Napoleon. Because of Benjamin’s reserved nature, he ultimately was able to lead Animal Farm into its oppression. Benjamin’s silence, his ability to follow without question, and his inability to share his wisdom with the other animals turned him into one of the main contributors to the tyrannical behavior that occurred and the loss of freedom and equality on Animal Farm.When someone keeps their thoughts silent, it usually allows wrong to happen; in this case, Benjamin and his reserved nature is what helped to fuel the farm’s oppression. So when: â€Å"Benjamin . . . seemed to understand, but would say nothing† (109) he allowed the other animals to go without knowing about Napoleon’s true intentions . Perhaps Benjamin assumed that his silence would protect him, and that by staying silent, he was not creating more drama and instead helping to minimize it. Even though Benjamin is one of the more intelligent animals on the farm, his standoffishness is what helped Napoleon lead as a dictator: â€Å"Benjamin . . nodded his muzzle with a knowing air† (109) Benjamin had the ability to share his wisdom with the other animals on the farm. However, instead of spreading the truth about Napoleon, Benjamin kept to himself and refused to meddle in what he considered to be â€Å"nonsense†. Benjamin refused to voice his thoughts and because of that, he allowed his friends to die, his home to be destroyed, and his life to be turned into that of a follower. Instead of speaking up, Benjamin quietly followed the orders he was given. So while he never volunteered to do extra work, he never did less than what he was supposed to: â€Å". . . ven . . . Benjamin . . . did [his] shareâ₠¬  (60-61) Because Benjamin did not try to overthrow Napoleon, he allowed Napoleon to become a stronger and more influential dictator on Animal Farm. Had Benjamin not allowed himself to be turned into a follower, he most likely would have been able to prevent the farm’s oppression. More often than not, it is the followers that help to fuel a tyranny: â€Å"Benjamin was watching . . . [silently and] intently† (102). Followers sit, watch, do what they are told, and they listen. While Benjamin may not have agreed with Napoleon’s rulings, he never objected to any of them either.Benjamin is a follower and he always will be, because even though he possesses the qualities of a leader, he doesn’t have the strength, the care, or the willpower to speak up. Benjamin was always quiet soul, but when he lost Boxer, the pain in his heart only intensified. Benjamin tried to save his dear friend before he was sent to the â€Å"knacker’s† but alas, he wasnâ €™t fast enough: â€Å"Come at once! They’re taking Boxer away! † he shouted . . . Sure enough, there was a . . . van, drawn by two horses . . . And Boxer’s stall was empty . . . â€Å"Good-bye, Boxer! † [The animals] chorused . . . â€Å"Fools! Fools! † shouted Benjamin . . . â€Å"Fools!Do you not see what is written on . . . that van? . . . Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer . . . They are taking Boxer to the knacker’s! † . . . But the van was already . . . drawing away from them . . . [And] Boxer was never seen again. After losing Boxer, Benjamin recoiled deeper into his shell of silence. Little did Benjamin realize that if he chose to harness his anger and use it as a tool to fight against Napoleon, he probably would have been victorious. Even though he spoke in a condescending and undermining tone before, after Boxer died, Benjamin chose not to speak at all: â€Å"Only old Benjamin was much the same as ever . . except . . . since Boxer’s death, more morose and taciturn than ever† (128) Benjamin’s growing silence caused him to become a bigger contributor to the loss of freedom and equality on Animal Farm. At this point, he wouldn’t speak up; Benjamin confirmed his spot as a follower and never as anything more. Sometimes silence is the deadliest weapon. Benjamin proved that by remaining quiet through a time of oppression, one would only be helping to promote a leader’s totalitarianism.His stubborn silence, his adamancy towards following his orders, and his taciturn attitude after the death of Boxer only stood to show that a follower sometimes can be the strongest contribution to a tyranny. Napoleon’s dictatorship, while strong, would not have been as successful had it not been for his followers. Benjamin and the others, while they may not have realized it, were key attributes needed to lead to the ultimate removal of freedom and equality on Animal Farm. Works Cit ed Orwell, George. Animal Farm: With Connections. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1999. Print.

Critical appreciation Essay Example

Critical appreciation Essay Example Critical appreciation Paper Critical appreciation Paper Since Theres No Help is a typical example of Draytons work, yet it has been solely responsible for plucking Drayton from the general obscurity of Elizabethan sonneteers. It was his one and only excellent sonnet, reaching the highest level of poetic feeling and expression1 considered to be the the one sonnet by a contemporary which deserves to rank with some of Shakespeares best1. This poem is written in traditional Shakespearian sonnet form, consisting of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is also consistent of a Shakespearean sonnet, being [abab cdcd efef gg]; yet critics are divided as to whether this sonnet can be split into the traditional three quatrains and a rhyming couplet, as with other Shakespearean sonnets. Lemuel Whitaker, in his essay The Sonnets of Michael Drayton, argued many critics have shut their eyes to the sestet. Now, at the opening of line 9, undoubtedly acts as a Volta, marking a substantial change in tone and causing some critics, including Whitaker, to consider this sonnet as an octave and a sestet, following the Petrachan sonnet form, rather than as a Shakespearian sonnet. The language has a vivid, spoken quality, whilst being sincerely simplistic. It also displays the directness that characterises most Elizabethan poetry. After the Volta in line nine, the language and tone changes greatly. In the final stanza, Drayton employs alliteration and sibilance to great effect. He also uses personification of Love, Passion, Innocence and Faith in the third stanza. This style of expression is very elaborate and contrasts with the simple language used previously. Michael Drayton was born in Warwickshire in 1563, the son of a prosperous tradesman. As a youth, he received his educational training in the house of Sir Henry Goodere of Polesworth2, to whom he eventually became page. Since Theres No Help has been generally regarded as the culminating cry of his unrequited passion3 for Gooderes daughter, Anne, who also served as the inspiration of Draytons collection of sonnets Idea in which Since Theres No Help was published. Whitaker dismisses the idea that Drayton addressed Anne Goodere in the strain of a lover, as a not a tenable theory. His work undoubtedly reflects many of the poetic fashions of the time and it this gallantry of the age that leads Whitaker to this conclusion. This poem appeared circa 1620 under the title Breaking up is hard to do and is also frequently referred to as the Love Parting sonnet. Despite this, the critic Lemuel Whitaker maintains a cursory reading of the final lines shows that it is not a love-parting theme, but a love-reconciliation. This is a view, which I personally disagree with. While, in the final couplet the tone unexpectedly changes, with the poet saying that it is up to his lover (presumably Anne) to revitalise their relationship and breathe life into it, because, despite the sentiments expressed in the opening two stanzas, he really doesnt want to cancel all our vows, there is no suggestion that she returns his affections, therefore making a reconciliation impossible. Line two suggests that it is the poet, who is rejecting the woman, presumably Anne Goodere, which, bearing in mind the strong autobiographical note present in the poem is unlikely. The repetition of glad in line three adds power and emphasis. This type of rhetorical device is often used when a poet is trying to convince the reader of his point of view. It also suggests that that the poet is not only trying to persuade the reader, but himself also. From this, it can be inferred that he deeply loves the woman and that his opinion in line four that so cleanly I myself can free is not the case. This language appears to be a form of self-deception and a male refusal to admit an emotional problem, which he cannot overcome, and is one that I think many modern audiences could identify with. This attempt to conceal pain and true emotion is also evident in line 8, where the poets uses the colloquial expression, one jot, professing to be careless and almost cynical of the power of love. Here, the simplistic language adds poignancy to the words of the poet. While Drayton was one of the sonneteers that indulged in a conventional literary expression, this seemingly male reluctance to admit his pain and loss of control of his feelings for a woman who has rejected him does not fit into this form of sonnet vogue. Despite displaying many of the literary forms and techniques of the time, Since theres no help was not written, as Whitaker claims In terms of the gallantry of the age or as the homage of a friend, but in fact, as the culminating cry of his unrequited passion. Sidney Lee4 agrees with Whitaker that for the most part, Drayton is a sonneteer on the normal Elizabethan pattern and his sonnets are rarely distinguished by poetic elevation but he asserts that occasionally a thin rivulet of natural sentiment winds its way through the fantastic conceitsonly in his famous sonnet [Since theres no help] did his genius find in that poetic form full scope. The third stanza contrasts in both tone and language to the rest of the sonnet. Here Drayton personifies Love on its deathbed. He uses the literary embellishment of alliteration and sibilance to convey the drama, feelings and passion of his conflicting emotions. The word lies at the end of line 10 has a duel meaning. Firstly it can be interpreted as a way of describing Passions position on his deathbed. Alternatively, it can be seen to suggest that Drayton was admitting that his words were untrue and that the feelings his poem professes were not consistent to what he felt. Drayton describes how Faith is kneeling by his bed of death. This suggests that his experience with this woman has shaken his faith in God. Drayton lived in a time of great religious upheaval and this contextual suggestion, is not altogether surprising. It is a very powerful image where even God is mourning the loss of the life of this relationship. The traditional image of first love is consistent with ideas of innocence and purity. Line 11 suggests that Draytons innocence is also standing by, watching his love die. Drayton associates his railed relationship with his loss of innocence. This may be a reference to how his innocent, romantic illusions, possibly consistent with the tradition form of courtly love, have been shattered by this experience. Unexpectedly, the tone again changes in the final couplet. It is only here that Drayton admits that he really doesnt want his relationship and love to die, he wants he to help them recover. It is this idea of recovery that provides the reader with an important clue to the real sentiments of the poet. The couplet also implies, that it was not in fact the poet who ended the relationship, but the woman, as it is her that he begs to save it when all have given him over. While Since Theres No Help displays many of the literary conventions of the time, it is by no means a stereotypical Courtly Love sonnet, conveying no real feelings. Considering the context of the poets life, this poem is probably autobiographical, dedicated to the love Drayton felt for Anne Goodere. I believe that it truly is the culminating cry of his unrequited passion5. 1 Sidney Lee, The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. bartleby. com/213/1212. htm 2 http://print. inforplease. com/ce6/people/A0816085. html 3 Lemuel Whitaker, The Sonnets of Michael Drayton, luminarium. org/renlit/whitaker. htm 4 Sidney Lee, The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, bartleby. com/213/1212. htm 5 5 Lemuel Whitaker, The Sonnets of Michael Drayton, luminarium. org/renlit/whitaker. htm.

International Monetary Federation essays

International Monetary Federation essays I feel that the first paper that I should write about is the IMF. I personally feel that the policies that they have now are horrible. I feel that they are just a big collection agency from which rich countries can profit and take advantage of less developed countries. The IMF feels that they should contribute and make loans to countries that need their help. Most of these countries are never in any need of help until the IMF is done with them. I feel that instead of giving money to fund ill-fated programs they should use the money to educate the people of the lesser developed knowledge. Most of these people dont know that they are getting taken advantage of because they do not know the attachments that come along with these monies. It is very funny how the IMF encourages smaller and less developed countries not to have trade barriers. Big developed countries know the effect of having less trade barriers. Developed countries use the trade barrier as a way of keeping their pe ople employed and not allowing too much foreign made goods. I feel that until the world as a whole becomes more connected and there isnt too much of a difference in wealth this will not have the right affect. Big countries use the IMF as a way to enter countries and have a whole market that is untouched and unknowing. I feel that a few wealthy industrialists take advantage of this and use the less developed countries to make their products cheaper so they can have a higher profit margin. When they encourage devaluation of the lesser developed countries currency it just encourages countries that will be affected by this to do the same and it just nulls out the positive benefits. The funny thing I think is that it allows more developed countries like the U.S. and countries in Europe more spending power with all these devaluations. It may encourage job growth but there are no rules that are set p to see that workers in these less develo ...

Habits and Traits of Gall Wasps

Habits and Traits of Gall Wasps Have you ever seen those misshapen lumps on the twigs of oak trees? Those peculiar growths are called galls, and theyre almost always caused by gall wasps. Although theyre quite common, gall wasps (family Cynipidae) often go unnoticed because of their diminutive size. How Are Gall Wasps Classified? Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClass: InsectaOrder: HymenopteraFamily: Cynipidae What Do Gall Wasps Look Like? Cynipid wasps are quite small, with few species measuring over 5 millimeters in length, and usually drab in color, which makes them rather inconspicuous. Its often easier to identify gall wasps from the galls themselves. Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates is an excellent reference for identifying North American gall-makers from the galls they leave behind. Cynipids infest plants in the rose, willow, aster, and oak families. Cynipid galls vary greatly in size, shape, and appearance, depending on the host plant and the gall wasp species involved. Gall wasps arent the only organisms that trigger gall development in plants, but they are probably the most prolific gall-makers, especially in oak trees. About 80% of gall wasps target oaks specifically. In North America, well over 700 gall wasp species create galls in oaks. Gall wasps look like tiny hunchbacks. When viewed from above, the abdomen may appear to have just two segments, but the rest are simply compressed beneath, in telescoping fashion. Gall wasps have minimal wing venation and filiform antennae (usually consisting of 13 segments in females, and 14-15 segments in males). Youre unlikely to see gall wasp larvae unless youre in the habit of dissecting galls. Each tiny, white larva lives within its own chamber, feeding constantly. They lack legs and have chewing mouthparts. What Do Gall Wasps Eat? Gall wasp larvae derive nutrition from the galls in which they live. Adult gall wasps are short-lived and do not feed. Surprisingly for an insect that eats so much, the larvae dont poop. Gall wasp larvae dont have anuses, so there is simply no way for them to expel their waste. They wait until the pupal stage to rid their bodies of fecal matter. The Life Cycle of Gall Wasps The cynipid life cycle can be quite complex. In some species, male and female gall wasps mate and the female oviposits in the host plant. Some gall wasps are parthenogenetic, and produce males rarely, if ever. Still others alternate sexual and asexual generations, and these distinct generations may use different host plants. In very general terms, the gall wasp life cycle involves complete metamorphosis, with four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The female deposits an egg into the meristematic tissue of the host plant. When the egg hatches and the larva begins to feed, it triggers a reaction in the host plant, causing the formation of the gall. The larva feeds within the gall and eventually pupates. The adult gall wasp usually chews an exit hole to escape the gall. Special Behaviors of Gall Wasps Some gall wasps dont produce galls in their host plants but are instead inquilines of other species galls. The female wasp oviposits into an existing gall, and her offspring hatch and feed on it. The inquiline larvae may indirectly kill the larvae that induced the gall to form, simply by outcompeting them for food. Where Do Gall Wasps Live? Scientists have described 1,400 species of gall wasps worldwide, but many estimate that the family Cynipidae may actually include as many as 6,000 species. Over 750 species inhabit North America. Resources and Further Reading   Capinera, John L., editor.  Encyclopedia of Entomology. 2nd ed., Springer, 2008.Frogge, Mary Jane. â€Å"Most Leaf Galls Dont Hurt Trees (Galls).†Ã‚  Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources: The Nebline, University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lancaster County, May 2012.Johnson, Norman F., and Charles A. Triplehorn.  Borror and DeLongs Introduction to the Study of Insects. 7th ed., Cengage Learning, 2004.Leung, Richard, et al. â€Å"Family Cynipidae - Gall Wasps.†Ã‚  BugGuide.Net, Iowa State University, 13 Apr. 2005.

The Internationalisation of Google Research Paper

The Internationalisation of Google - Research Paper Example First, the Uppsala model highlights the presence of a sporadic export program, which is not controlled by companies but the forces of demand and supply. The export process is also achieved through the help of independent representatives who operate a foreign sales subsidiary within the country of interest (Johansson & Vahlne 2009, p.1411). Finally, the Uppsala model is based on the adoption of a foreign manufacturing and production of units, which will be used to meet the demands of the market by the multinational. To achieve this expansion program, companies such as Google must start their internationalization program in a physics approach, focusing more on nearby markets. This is important in acquiring enhanced knowledge on the operations of the market and to pool together the necessary resources needed to expand to more distant markets. Google first increased its operations to various markets in the United States at the beginning of the millennium as a way of acquiring critical ma rket information and the resources needed to operate in such markets. Beyond the domestic market in the united states, Google entered Canada and Mexico to enhance its understanding of multicultural environments and prepare for major expansion in different parts of the world especially Europe. The second step of the Uppsala internationalization model includes the establishment of various foreign and domestic subsidiaries to augment the functions and operations of the business beyond the local market.

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National patient safety goals and quality indicators on suicide Essay

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REPORT ON TRANSITION PLACEMENT - Essay Example According to Hicks (2008), obesity is a major factor in developing diabetes. The latest trend in technology--automobiles as substitute for walking; video games in lieu of tag and hide and seek, has led more and more people to drop simple physical activities for machines that decrease work effort. In a study conducted across Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations, â€Å"...one in 2 adults is currently overweight and 1 in 6 is obese...† (Robb, 2010, n. pag.). Students working with specialist nursing specializing in diabetes will gain knowledge and understanding of the dynamics that surround the causes of diabetes. Knowledge on prevention of the said disease will help the student educate others in the aim of raising awareness and decreasing the incidence of the disease. Education and information dissemination will be the first step towards this goal; eventually leading towards lifestyle modification among the participants. Apart from education, the skills learned while working with the nurse specialist can be used in monitoring the blood glucose level, as well as drug therapy, of those diagnosed with the said disease. Blood sugar control and proper administration of drugs results in its desirable effects. These effects can range from symptom alleviation to prevention of complications such as heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disease, and amputation (ADA, 2011). In a study conducted by Edwall et al. (2008), constant follow-up by nurse specialist enabled the patient to foster understanding and acceptance of their disease; which demonstrated a desirable effect on the patients’ manner of coping with the struggles associated with the illness. The positive outcome was brought about by the following aspects: â€Å"being confirmed, being guided within the disease process, becoming confident and independent and being relieved† (Edwall et al., 2008, n. pag.). The patie nts gained a sense of power over the disease and this gave them satisfaction. Knowledge of special care regimen will lead to a more effective nursing care. Specialization in this field will allow the student nurse to address the patients’ concern regarding their illness. According to Heitkemper and Bond (2004), specialist nurses can provide support and guidance that can enhance patient care, refine nursing practice, and invigorate the healthcare delivery systems. Reference American Diabetes Association. (2011). Diabetes statistics. Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-statistics/ Boyer, B., & Paharia, I. (Eds.). (2007). Comprehensive handbook of clinical health psychology. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Edwall, L., Hellstrom, A., Ohrn, I., & Danielson, E. (2008). The lived experience of the diabetes nurse specialist regular check-ups, as narrated by patients with type 2 diabetes [Abstract]. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17(6), 772-781. doi: 10.1111/j .1365-2702.2007.02015.x Heitkemper, M., & Bond, E. (2004). Clinical nurse specialist: State of profession and challenges ahead. Clinical Nurse Specialist: Journal for Advanced Nursing Practice, 18(3), 135-140. Retrieved from

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Essay Example nd discussion will be useful with respect to convincing the information provided within the text and appropriately/accurately engaging it within everyday life. The first of these 7 habits that are discussed within the effects is that of being proactive. Ultimately, this is simplistic goal is one which is almost each and every individual can utilize within the course of their daily lives. For instance, by analyzing situations, understanding their determinants, and anticipating potential outcomes, be proactive individual will be more suited to maximizing their gains and situating themselves in a favorable position; regardless of the situation in question. Habits two and three are closely linked. Number two focuses upon the need to began with the end in mind. Accordingly, habit number 3 is contingent upon prioritizing goals and putting first things first. As the reader can accurately denote, both of these two habits can easily be applied within the life of the individual merely by taking time to consider the outcomes of key situations and planning the approach that would maximize their own best interests to the higher degree. Habit 4 encourages the individual to think of the â€Å"win-win†. The application that this has is for the individual to break free of the zero sum game attitude that is so oftentimes part and parcel of the way that individuals engage with situations throughout their lives. However, by understanding an problem or issue outside of the terms of personal gain or benefit, analyzing it from different perspectives can be highly beneficial in terms of creating a degree of benefit for all parties involved. Further, habit 5 was concentric upon listening prior to coming forward with potential solutions or means of integrating with a particular issue. From a personal perspective, this habit was perhaps the most beneficial to this particular student; due in part to the fact that my proactive nature oftentimes leads me to seek an immediate fix to a

Mens Cosmetic Market Essay Example for Free

Mens Cosmetic Market Essay The definition of a niche market is that the product interests just a few people. The target is represented by a limited segment and, in order for the market to be profitable, only one or two companies can be positioned on this specialized segment. In the market of hygiene and beauty for men, and especially in the cosmetics, the offer has been ignored by the cosmetics brand for a long time. In fact, until the end of the 1990s, beauty products for men were almost non-existent on the market. They did not have a special space the stores and the men strictly used products in a utilitarian aspect. This market has interested just a few brands because it was considered as a niche. Only the group L’Oreal had the courage to launch itself in this segment in 1985 with Biotherm Homme. This brand is considered like a pioneer in the men’s’ cosmetics. In fact, Biotherm was almost alone for more than 15 years, and it is the first one which dares to proclaim that men also need to take care of themselves, to clean their skin, combining the pleasure and the wellness by usingcreams, lotions, even anti-wrinkle creams. In the 90s, Nickel, an exclusive brand for men, launched an offensive by creating masculine beauty institutes. Then, in 1996, it launched its own line for men only. In fact, thanks to the succeed of its institutes, the brand noticed an real capacity and opportunity in this market. This new brand bound to men only knew how to enter in this market, thanks to its concept composed by different offers: one on the products, and the other one on the performance of services. But, the real revolution occurred in 2001 with the arrival of Vichy for men and Clarins in 2002. A lot of brands begin to be seriously interested in this growing segment and real competition appears. A new potential is detected by the big cosmetologist firms. †¢ The â€Å"masculinity of the women’s products It is important to consider the cosmetics’ world in two distinct parts; the market for the men and the one for the women. Even if there are not big distinctions between the products, those two markets are quite different. In fact, the men have not the same demand concerning the product. That is why the offer cannot be the same for both. The ideal product for most men must have some properties and qualities such as being invisible, fast, pleasant to put, easy to use, without smells and with an efficient result. Thus, men are not searching for a feminine product, otherwise, they will continue to use their wife’s ones. They really look for a product adapted to them and to their needs and wants. Moreover, the demand is different from the women: They (the women) like to use make up, take care of their body and their face by putting moisturizing cream on it†¦ Men have not already surpassed the taboos of the society, and, moreover, they do not like to â€Å"spread† cream on their body. That is why they will be more attracted by products for shaving, for hairs. But this current demand will probably change in the next years. The strength of Nickel was to propose from the beginning a technique and know-how studied specially for men. For instance, in his institutes, the technique for depilation was specially adapted for them. Moreover, in order to stay in â€Å"a masculine tonality†, the brand gave names with a masculine connotation that do not make the men â€Å"guilty†, such as â€Å"torse de boxeur† (boxer chest) or â€Å"jambes de cyclistes† (biker legs). 1. 1. 2. Changes in the men cosmetics’ market Blossoming (rapid development) of cosmetics for men As it was said before, the market of cosmetics, at the beginning, interested just a few brands and also, few men. Initially, this world is attributed to women only. In fact, cosmetology is synonymous of seduction, beauty, healthiness, or pleasure. Those words represent what the women are looking for when it comes to cosmetics. But, finally, the market of men cosmetics takes off after years of waiting thanks to different changes: mentalities of the new masculine generation, appearance of â€Å"metrosexual†, social liberalization of homosexual, and the fact that men want to stay young. The relationship between men and cosmetic products has changed and nowadays, they admit the fact that they also look for pleasure and wellness by using cosmetics. Bit by bit, firms pass over some barriers that men did not think they could transcend: make the men taking care of their skin, then, make them epilating and after, everything follows and continues to change. Make-up, Spa centres, beauty institutes, anti-wrinkles cream, hair cares†¦ â€Å"Their interest for their appearance expresses in their point: thus, they are 64,6% to take care of their skin, 73,8% to attach importance to their hair, and 31,8% like trying novelties. In addition, 38,7% states they devote time to take care of themselves. Those figures are clearly higher for the men under than25 years old and decrease gradually with the age†. All begins in 1985 when Biotherm launched Biotherm Homme, a line specially dedicated to men use. But, the market really took off in 2001 with the appearance of many brands interested in that specific market such as Nivea for Men, Klorane, Vichy Homme, Nickel, Phytomer, Clarins Men. Many lines and brands still appear on this market. It is in constant growth since its apparition and above all since 2001. This market is bound to be successful for both top-of-range and mass distribution. †¢ Opportunities of the market The advantages of this market are real since it is accessible and opened on the growth. In fact, forecasts are optimistic but the results are above the foretold success. For instance, Clarins Men reached 170% of its objectives in 2002 18 by the fact that the average number of products bought by the men is higher that the women’s one. According to Christian Courtin from Clarins, men buy â€Å"well beyond their forecast, men buy on average 4 products, against only two for women. Another example is Biotherm Homme, the pioneer: its line counts 45 products. Between 1997 and 2002, this brand knew a growth of more than 250%. It is true that the purchase from the men reaches unhoped-for proportions, but a demand without attracting cannot be a balanced market. This is why many brands of hygiene-beauty specialized in the female market launch a reserved range for the men in order to benefit from a market less encumbered, of a stronger growth, evolution of mentalities and to create a place in this market before being lagging behind. Indeed, some firms benefit from advantages before even catapulting themselves in the masculine care, because while being already present for the women, they enjoy a good reputation, therefore of a true credibility, an image of specialist and financial means the consequent ones. The arrival in force of the interest for the male world does not reach only the beauty care. The readers express a real passion for the male press, which arranges the market because, thanks to this mean of communication, it makes them known. Whether it be Maximal, Men’s Health, New look, or even Mr. Magazine, they approach each subject having attracted with the beauty. Men’s cosmetics amount to 50% (one in every two men), whereas nowadays, it is just 21% and in 1994, it was just 4% of men who stated they used regularly face care products 1. 2. THE MARKET IN FACTS 1. 2. 1. The global cosmetics’ market: The market of men cosmetic is absolutely not the rival of the women market because it represents only the fortieth 24 of the feminine cosmetology. But, in spite of its modest size, this market is bound to a continuous and fast growth, which is a sizeable advantage. According to the French newspaper â€Å"le Monde†, the trends are not so optimistic for the manufacturers of cosmetics. In fact, in Europe, the market of cosmetics in general is about 59,47 billion euros according to the European Association of the companies of hygienebeauty- perfumery (Colipa) and it presents a growth of the sales modestly positive (+ 2% in 2004, against + 3,5% in 2003). Those sales even start to regress in Germany and France, the two biggest European markets. If the women still buy as many hair or skin care products, the purchases of perfumes, and more generally of make-up (nail varnishes, for example) decrease. The main reason seems to be probably the price. 1. 2. 2. The European market of men’s cosmetics 2013: It has been a somewhat mixed year for the men’s lines market across the Big 5 wih some ups and downs. Male grooming continues to be a market that on the whole, is growing. But that is not to say the category hasn’t been affected by the credit crunch – a crisis Europe is only now making proper strides out of France As all the group members are French, and because this market is quite representative about what is happening through all Western Europe, it is interesting to present the facts and figures for the French market. The French industry of cosmetics is an industry which â€Å"draws† the growth: In 2006, French cosmetic industry saw its sales progressing for the fortieth consecutive year. The sales turnover is divided harmoniously between exports (57%) and the sales in France (43%). For 2006, cosmetic industry grew of 3,5% which is half more quickly than the national economy. The French market for men’s cosmetics follows the world tendency. The total sales turnover (produced care, of beauty and perfumes for men) progressed of almost 140% between 1998 and 2003, to 42,16 million euros, according to statistics of the federation of industries of perfumery (FIP). For the only products of care and beauty, the progression is 294%, with 21,37 million. Products for men, account for 10,3% of the total French market of the cosmetic, but 25% of the sales of perfumes. 2013: In France figures from SymphonyIRI France revealed that male grooming fell by 0. 2% over the past year in value terms, with volume figures slumping by a worrying 1. 8%. The male grooming market in France is now worth â‚ ¬934. 6m, while volume sales came in at 195. 05m units. Natural products have always been popular with French men and the past year was no exception. Germany  In Germany things were a bit brighter for the male grooming market, which saw growth of 4. 2% over the past year in value terms to total â‚ ¬538. 61m, according to SymphonyIRI Germany. Volume figures were also positive up 3. 2% to 265. 36m units. All areas saw a growth in value sales – men’s shower products put on 1. 6% to make â‚ ¬122. 84m, while men’s deodorant products rose 4. 5% to â‚ ¬140. 62m and men’s facial skin care products increased a massive 13. 5% to â‚ ¬1. 89m. Italy  Male grooming in Italy experienced a disappointing turn of events over the past year as value sales slid by 3%, according to industry body Unipro. All sectors saw a decline in sales with a 1. 7% drop in male soaps, shaving foams and gels; a 3. 7% decline in aftershave products; and a 4. 4% decline in treatment creams. Although the figures for the past year do not seem to suggest it, Italian men are famously into their beauty products and L’Oreal Italy predominantly monopolised launches in this category. Spain  More bad news was in store for Spain, where male grooming fell by a worrying 5. 69% in value terms to â‚ ¬312m and 4% in volume terms to 45. 2m units, according to SymphonyIRI Spain. In terms of what each individual sub-sector was worth, razors accounted for the lion’s share of this, at â‚ ¬203. 1m; shaving foams, creams and gels made â‚ ¬43. 5m; pre-shave treatments and aftershaves were worth â‚ ¬30. 1m; while facial treatments accounted for â‚ ¬35. 3m worth of sales. The recent gloomy environment, however, does not seem to have deterred brands from new product development as quite a few new launches for men hit Spanish shelves over the last year. UK  Fortunately it has not been all doom and gloom in the UK over the past year – the market here put on 2. % in the past year to make ? 782. 74m in value terms, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Volume also inched up by 0. 8% to 345. 15m units. All sub-sectors saw good growth including fragrances up 11. 9% and hairdressing products up 9. 8%. A slew of new launches hit shelves including those from supermarket giant Tesco, salon range Bed Head and a number of British niche brands. 2. 2. 2. THE MARKET ACTORS Men cosmetics’ market is still in a structuring phase. Nevertheless, 3 kinds of actors are appearing: †¢ Cosmetics industry leaders These actors are the most powerful in the market. They all have important financial and organisational ways to impose their products in the male market. They pursue a roll-over strategy close to the one used since a long time in the female market. Among the leaders: Beiersdorf with Nivea for Men, Clarins with Clarins Men, Estee Lauder with Aramis and Clinique, L’Oreal with Biotherm, Vichy, L’Oreal Paris and Lancome, and Shisheido with Shisheido, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Decleor. To keep their ranks, the leaders are now compelled to spread their product ranges to stay in the competition. Care universe actors Some brands benefit of a strong credibility thanks to the care market. This market has several advantages in the distribution network pharmacies, institutes, spas thanks to their support. Actually, these actors take advantage of the know-how and the credibility which characterize care and pharmaceutical world, and could get a determinant rank in the market. Brands and laboratories to know are for instance Pierre Fab re with Klorane, Sanofi-Aventis with Lipofactor, Phytomer and Decleor. †¢ Independent cosmetics’ makers They strongly stimulate the market by adapting their offer to men, but their diffusion stay confidential. To become strong, this group needs distributors to give visibility to beauty for men through specific spaces or special concepts. Independent makers have to use particular ways and specific concepts to introduce the market because they do not have the power of the market current players. Examples of independent makers are The Body Shop or Nickel. 2. 2. 3. Competition analysis †¢ New entrants threat Cosmetics sector is a very competitive one where in which are many brakes. Indeed, companies have to think about rules, high investments’ level, and scale economies. Innovation should be a primacy objective. However, research amp; development and communication costs are very high, and all companies can not invest heavily. This is of course not the case of firms such as L’Oreal, Nivea and Clarins, which already have a past fame very important. Thanks to this successful past, it would be hard for new entrants to find some place in the market. †¢ Substitutes threat Substitutes are not a real threat in cosmetics’ market. Yet, men use more and more aesthetic surgery. Actually, a patient on ten is a man. Today, men better assume their beauty’s envy. Most of men do not like going to buy beauty products. That is why they borrow them to their partners, who have, moreover, an adviser role. Finally, the distributors’ brands can be a threat. The market shares of these brands is growing more and more. Nevertheless, male products in supermarkets are often just shaving products and deodorants. †¢ Suppliers’ power Suppliers’ power seems to be light as well. Without big brands, suppliers and conditionment factories could not live. It is still important to keep good contacts with suppliers, especially those which have rare raw materials. †¢ Customers’ power A company has always to maintain its sustainable advantage by creating original products, adapted to the market targets. It is difficult to attract man’s attention since he is maybe not used to buy cosmetic products. So it is necessary to know and to analyse his needs and wants, and to succeed to satisfy him: a satisfied man is a loyal consumer for a long time.

Human Resource practices in Grameen Phone Company

Human Resource practices in Grameen Phone Company 3.1 HR at Grameen Phone-HR management is about managing people in organizations as effectively as possible for the good of the employees, the company, and society. In GP managing human resources is becoming more and more important to the success of all divisions of the company. With the honest and coordinated effort, HR plays a key role in realizing the vision and strategic direction of the company. In the contribution of GP, the HR Team is a beautiful blend of bright, innovative, enthusiastic and professional members. The entire HR team has had excellent drive to translate concepts into reality. Thus, in within a short period they have accomplished so many successes in the arena of employee benefit and recognition at home and abroad. HR has very actively participated and sponsored HR conferences and meetings in Bangladesh. Thus they are contributing to the uplift of Human Resources in Bangladesh. They are looking forward to be corporate member of Bangladesh Society for Human Resourc e Management (BSHPM).This indicates that they would like to be a part of the professional institution building for HR in Bangladesh. Moreover, the HR division has launched the HR News which has started its journey from May2000 is also another Employee Development initiative. Thus, overall HR of GP is moving forward and playing even stronger role in every year by upholding the team spirit and harmonizing interdepartmental relationship. Human Resources (HR) Department, an important part of Administration Division plays very vital role in the total functioning of Grameen Phone Employee recruitment, selection, transfer, promotion, training, performance appraisal all these are conducted by HR division. The informal structure of HR according to its functions can be classified into three main categories they are: u ma Human Resource Management (HRM) Human Resource Development (HRD) Human Resource management Information system (HR- MIS) Human Resource practices in Grameen Phone Company 3.2 Human resource planning Effective human resource planning (HRP) can be one of the most rewarding aspects of work in human resource management. Effective planning can enhance the success of the organization while minimizing the amount of suffering resulting from poorly anticipated labor surpluses or shortages. In the line of business plan, HRP at GP starts. HRP is tagged with business Plan such as potential investment, subscribers, market shares etc. There is a strong correlation between subscriber and employees requirement. 3.3 Demand of Human Resource Forecasting of Human Resource Demand is done fully on Judgment. The method in this respect used is bottom-up forecasting. Each unit, branch or department estimates its own future need for employees. The sum of the estimated unit needs is the demand forecast for the whole organization 3.4 Mission, Vision, Objectives Strategies of Grameen Phone Company Vision Ideas that Simplify CompanyMission The vision will be achieved by Connecting Bangladesh with ease and care Being user-friendly Providing value for money Providing simple and timely connections Having a right and understandable process Objectives and Mission of the Grameen Phone The objectives of HR at GP are: To be strategic business partner with the line managers. To create an attractive work environment. HR missions at GP are: To attract, develop and retain qualified employees so that they can contribute to business goal. To create an environment which facilitates are effective performance and enhances employee morale and satisfaction. Grameen Phones basic strategy is the coverage of both urban and rural areas. The Company has devised its strategies so that it earns healthy returns for its shareholders and at the same time, contributes to genuine development of the country. In short, it pursues a dual strategy of good business and good development. Serving the mass market is one of GPs primary goals. By serving the general public as opposed to niche markets, the Company plans to achieve economies of scale and healthy profits. At the same time, service to the general public means connectivity to a wider population and general economic development of the country. In contrast to the island strategy followed by some companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links, Grameen Phone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. While the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout Grameen Phones network. In addition, GP has positioned itself to capitalize on the declining prices of handsets, making its goal to serve the general public realistic. Company Strategy Grameen Phone follows strategies at three levels. Those are described below: Functional Level Strategy Grameen Phones focus is on efficiency, quality, innovation, and customer responsiveness. This enables Grameen Phone to earn competitive advantage over the competitors. Business Level Strategy Grameen Phone mainly applies cost leadership strategy. In addition, they also apply differentiation strategy as their business level strategy. Corporate Level Strategy Grameen Phone follows related diversification as their corporate level strategy. It enables them to keep the cost lower. 3.5 Supply of Human Resource Manpower planning is an important function of HR management section. Two major activities in this function are: Planning and forecasting the organizations short-term and long-term human resource requirements. Analyzing the jobs in the organization and determining skills and abilities that are needed. Grameen Phone has both internal and external supply of labor force. 3.5.1 Internal Supply The HR department maintains a strong HRIS for internal supply. It keeps all types of employee data ranging from skill inventory to selection out. For senior level post, they hire internally in most of the case. For senior level position, they are some times from external source. They maintain replacement chart as a part of succession planning. 3.5.2 External Supply HR division has policy to manage labor supply externally such as: Online recruitment policy to attract people from outside as well. Use the temporaries with the help of their HRIS. Rehire the retired person: they have few examples of such case. No formal organizationally sponsored career planning is in existence now, but the HR unit is considering it with due importance and now working on it to implement in near future.HR department ensures integration between HRP and strategic planning of the organization.

The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf Essay -- Papers

The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf "The Death of the Moth," written by Virginia Woolf, explains the brief life of a moth corresponding with the true nature of life and death. In this essay, Woolf puts the moth in a role that represents life. Woolf makes comparisons of the life outside to the life of the moth. The theme is the mystery of death and the correspondence of the life of the moth with the true nature of life. The images created by Woolf are presented that appeal to the eye. For instance, the moth's body during the death is appealing to the eye. The image makes the reader more interested. The essence of true life is energy. As Woolf describes, "I could fancy that a thread of vital light became visible. He was little or nothing but life" (Woolf 427). The thread of vital light represents the energy. Woolf employs several stylistic devices that make the essay more interesting to the reader. The changing in tone, lengthy sentence structure, and personification are three devices that are significant in the essay. Throughout the essay the tone changes by Wool...

Laying the Last Minstrel in Jane Eyre :: Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essays

Laying the Last Minstrel in Jane Eyre To find one work quoted multiple times in a novel, as is the case in Jane Eyre with The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott, should suggest to a reader that this quoted work can serve to shed some light on the work in which it is found. In this case, Charlotte Brontà « alluded to Scott’s work at appropriate moments in the novel, both because of similarities in the plots at those moments, but also, more importantly, because of the theme of The Lay of the Last Minstrel. The Lay of the Last Minstrel tells the story of two lovers, who despite overwhelming obstacles, end up together. This is possible only after the pride which contributes to their separation is vanquished. Use of a story with this theme serves to foreshadow the eventual marriage between Jane and Rochester, but only after their pride is no longer an obstacle. J. H. Alexander’s description of the themes in The Lay of the Last Minstrel in his article "On the Verbal and Thematic Texture" can easily be applied to a discussion of Jane Eyre. He writes that the "overt theme of the Lay [is] the quelling of barren pride" while added to that are "the apocalyptic abolition of all pride in human achievement and the insistance that true love is in its essential nature supernatural" (19). The ability to freely love one another is what enables Rochester and Jane to be together at the end, once pride is no longer an issue for either one of them. Brontà « gives their love a supernatural element in the way that Jane is drawn to Rochester after hearing him call out her name (409; ch. 35). Aside from the legal obstacle to Jane and Rochester’s marriage, pride is a major factor in keeping them apart. The first instance where The Lay of the Last Minstrel appears in Jane Eyre is the scene where Jane tells Rochester of the night that someone (she later learns it was Bertha) came to her bedroom and ripped the veil she was supposed to wear at Jane and Rochester’s wedding: "But, sir, as it grew dark, the wind rose: it blew yesterday evening not as it blows now – wild and high – but ‘with a sullen, moaning sound’ far more eerie" (279; ch. 25). She goes on to explain her uneasiness at his being away and her difficulty in falling asleep that night. Laying the Last Minstrel in Jane Eyre :: Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essays Laying the Last Minstrel in Jane Eyre To find one work quoted multiple times in a novel, as is the case in Jane Eyre with The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott, should suggest to a reader that this quoted work can serve to shed some light on the work in which it is found. In this case, Charlotte Brontà « alluded to Scott’s work at appropriate moments in the novel, both because of similarities in the plots at those moments, but also, more importantly, because of the theme of The Lay of the Last Minstrel. The Lay of the Last Minstrel tells the story of two lovers, who despite overwhelming obstacles, end up together. This is possible only after the pride which contributes to their separation is vanquished. Use of a story with this theme serves to foreshadow the eventual marriage between Jane and Rochester, but only after their pride is no longer an obstacle. J. H. Alexander’s description of the themes in The Lay of the Last Minstrel in his article "On the Verbal and Thematic Texture" can easily be applied to a discussion of Jane Eyre. He writes that the "overt theme of the Lay [is] the quelling of barren pride" while added to that are "the apocalyptic abolition of all pride in human achievement and the insistance that true love is in its essential nature supernatural" (19). The ability to freely love one another is what enables Rochester and Jane to be together at the end, once pride is no longer an issue for either one of them. Brontà « gives their love a supernatural element in the way that Jane is drawn to Rochester after hearing him call out her name (409; ch. 35). Aside from the legal obstacle to Jane and Rochester’s marriage, pride is a major factor in keeping them apart. The first instance where The Lay of the Last Minstrel appears in Jane Eyre is the scene where Jane tells Rochester of the night that someone (she later learns it was Bertha) came to her bedroom and ripped the veil she was supposed to wear at Jane and Rochester’s wedding: "But, sir, as it grew dark, the wind rose: it blew yesterday evening not as it blows now – wild and high – but ‘with a sullen, moaning sound’ far more eerie" (279; ch. 25). She goes on to explain her uneasiness at his being away and her difficulty in falling asleep that night.

Project on McDonald’s Corporation Essay

Introduction and Background In 1940 two brothers Dick and Mack Macdonald opened their own restaurant. Eight years ago the first concepts and rules of fast food production and sales were formulated by them. Initially the business was created in a such way that everything should be very fast and effective. Brothers spent much time elaborating the layout of the kitchen in their first restaurant, so  they achieved the goal. Inspire of the fact that later they sold their business and their family no longer the owners of it, nowadays mcdonalds have the same efficient system of production and sales that it is able to introduce and maintain all over the world using different strategies and methods. External Environment External environment is a bunch of various outward forces that may have a great impact on the company’s performance. The external environment of every company comprises of three levels: the general, industry and competitor environments. The integration of information received from these environments helps to identify and shape the company’s strategies. Thereby, in order to understand what hindrances company faces or may encounter in the future, it is essential to analyze all the levels of its external environment. It was mentioned earlier that the headquarters of McDonald’s locates in the U.S. so we will analyze general and industry environments in this region. General Environment The general environment is usually examined by the analysis of 7 segments: demographic, economic, political/legal, sociocultural, technological, global and physical environment segments. First of all, the demographic segment is concerned with the population structure and Ã' omposition. The USA’s population is estimated at 313 286 000 people in 2012. By analyzing population composition, it can be said that there is very high level of immigration. Moreover, it can be said that the birth rate is sufficient: 13.68 births/1,000 population in 2012, according to CIA World Factbook. Thereby, these statistics help to understand that the region is quite profitable and comfortable to operate in due to the large population size and excessive number of potential employees. Last but no least, according to U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income during period of 2006 to 2010 is $51914 which is quite high. Secondly, the political/legal segment is quite important for the analysis because the industry is highly contingent on the different kind of taxes imposed by the governments. McDonald’s  Corporation is obliges to pay business taxes, payroll taxes, Food Product Association taxes (19% of the total profit and 19% in the price of each product) and health and social insurance for the employees. The changes in government’s tax policy may utterly affect the company’s revenue. As regards the economic segment, one of the major challenge for fast food industry is that to keep the price is low for the customer. However, it is quite hard because nowadays the USA is still suffering from the financial crisis which can be a possible reason to decrease in outside food consumption in a whole. The dimension influencing the fast food industry the most is the sociocultural. The reason is that the industry is dependent on people’s preferences and opinions that’s why even tiny changes are crucial. From 2000 to 2002 McDonald’s profits dropped from $1.977 million to $893 million. It was caused by the increase of customer’s health-consciousness and fears of obesity, as a consequence, some customers prefer more healthier options which offer a greater variety of food for health conscious customers. Furthermore, it is quite important to devote attention to technological segment because the technologies always mean faster operation and cost minimization. McDonald’s uses different modern appliances to prepare its food without many dangers and in a quick way. Moreover, the majority of McDonald’s restaurants provides free Wi-Fi. In addition, McDonald’s improved the technology of its supply chain management. Regarding the global segment, it should be highlighted that most U.S. companies are focused globally which means that they operate in many different countries. McDonald’s is not an exception. It is located in 119 countries and is known as one of the most spread fast food restaurants’ chain. Last but not least, nowadays more and more companies are concerned with social responsibility and environmentally friendly policies. Industry Environment The industry environment is usually analyzed by Porter’s five forces model. Firstly, it is the Threat of New Entrants. The threat of new entrants in the fast food industry is high because there are no legal barriers which would keep them from entering the industry. The major barriers in which a firm faces in the industry are the economies of scale and the access of the distribution. In order for a firm to enjoy success in the industry, they must spend a large amount of capital on advertising and marketing. The industry is very competitive because firms are always attempting to steal customers from each other. Access for distribution is crucial in the restaurant industry because if the customer can’t see you or access you easily it’s possible that they won’t go out of there way to eat there. Franchise options also make is easier to enter the market, for example Subway has built their strategic plan around franchise options. Therefore, initially the only cost to enter the market is the starting capital required to open a restaurant. However, it can cost upwards of millions of dollars for all the equipment, licensing, and the property. This costly barrier is the most probable reason that people do not enter this business. The food-service industry doesn’t have any exit barriers, which allow firms to easily leave the industry if they’re not successful, at virtually only the cost incurred. The second force is Bargaining Power of Buyers. McDonald’s, and the industry, has attempted to gain market capitalization, by keeping the customer satisfied, due to the fact there are relatively no switching costs. For this reason, they have adopted the slogan, â€Å"the customer is always right.† The industry must try to maintain a hold on the market by conforming to a changing society as well as maintaining high quality. One of the industry’s most recent concerns is that of creating a healthier society and prevention of obesity. McDonald’s corporation has faced previous law suits on being held accountable for obesity, similarly following the litigation process of cigarettes and tobacco companies. The courts ruled against this issue in McDonald’s favor, making this a remote future risk factor. McDonald’s has had to paid legal fees in order to defend itself in this type of litigation;  however, even with this incremental cost they are still achieving a significant rate of earnings growth. In addition, McDonald’s, in it’s effort to be a more socially responsible corporate citizen by supporting a healthier society, has developed â€Å"light† and healthy menu items in order to give customers additional eating options and in doing so, broadening the array of its customer base while offering it’s existing customer base with healthier menu options. Thirdly, it is Bargaining Power of Suppliers. It can be said that McDonald’s has a large bargaining power because of the fact that they spend 4.852 billion dollars in food and paper in 2004. This can be argued that the companies that McDonald’s buys from could be largely dependent on McDonald’s business. Although in recent years the industry has had a small problem with beef, because of the outbreak of the mad cow disease. This problem raised the cost of beef in Europe tremendously but the cost actually went up around the world because of the beef shortage in Europe. In this case it can be argued that the suppliers of beef have a strong voice as well. The suppliers that sell to McDonald’s have a strong voice also because of the fact that the switching cost for McDonald’s as a whole would be so tremendous that they would not want to make that change, so any problems or disputes would be worked out with there suppliers. Also, with the competition and the number of buyers in the market place, losing a large company like McDonald’s could destroy any supplier but there are other prospects out there to buy that product like Wendy’s, Jack in the Box, Burger King and a few others that they may be able to salvage there losses. As for the paper goods that McDonald’s buy from the manufacturers, if McDonald’s were to change manufacturers the supplier could easily change there manufacturing to note book paper by just readjusting the machines but it would come at a great cost. The fourth force is Threat of Substitute Products. McDonald’s is known for their famous French Fries, Big Macs, and Happy Meals. Competitors of the industry also try to compete with similar products; therefore, leading to price wars. McDonald’s created a Dollar Value Menu, in response to competitors such as Wendy’s 99 cent menu. Overall, the industry has tried various product differentiations in order to accumulate greater market share, but most consumers are drawn to the classics for which the establishment is known for. However, growing concern  to achieve a healthier society has led McDonald’s, as well as other competitors, to make extensive menu changes, in order to conform to a more concerned society. McDonald’s is doing more and more to compete with health focused restaurants like Subway. Nutritionist and other leading experts have been hired to join the McDonald’s team in order to ensure that the correct items are added to the menu, while still keeping and improving the classics that they are famous for. For example, the chicken nuggets that we all grew up on are now 100% white meat. McDonald’s is flexible in their menu to conform to the changing tastes of society, but they always serve with a smile! The fifth and final force is Competitive Rivalry within an Industry. Currently in the fast food industry, there is intense competition for growth in the market. The market growth is rising because of the convenience factor and busy consumers not having enough time to cook a meal. The restaurant industry is also growing rapidly due to opportunities in other global markets. In McDonald’s case, they actually have a competitive advantage because they have already entered many different countries and are succeeding in these countries. Each firm within the food-service industry is susceptible to losing customers because there are relatively no switching costs for consumers, therefore the industry has to rely heavily on their brand image and quality of products. McDonald’s has a number of competitors; however they are currently the leader of the industry in market capitalization with a cap of $39.31 billion. Competitor Analysis It is almost vital to know the competitors in your industry in order to be able to overtake and surpass them. The top competitors of McDonald’s are Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC and Subway. Burger King Burger King is the second largest hamburger fast-food chain in the world and is the number one competitor for McDonald’s. Burger King has 11,400 locations in 58 countries and derives 55 percent of its revenue from the drive-through window. Burger King reported 1.72 billion in 2002 in revenue which is a 17 percent increase compared to a 4 percent increase reported by  McDonald’s over the same period. Burger King’s distinct assets include the unique Whopper with its one of kind charbroiled taste and the company policy of preparing the hamburger any way that the customer wants it. Burger King has distinguished itself over the years in many ways including being the first in the fast-food industry to enclose its patio seating in 1957 thereby offering customer indoor dining experience. Burger King also differentiated itself when it installed the drive-through window in its restaurants in 1975. In addition to the Whopper Burger King also offers a few set items on its breakfast menu that differs it from it competitors including the Croissan’wiches and french toast sticks. The rest of the menu also offered the unique veggie burger and chicken Caesar salad. Wendy’s Wendy’s is the third largest fast-food chain with 9,000 stores in 33 countries world wide. In 2002 they reported 2.73 billion in revenue which is up 14.2 percent from the previous year. Wendy’s offers several unique items including the Frostys and Spicy Chicken Sandwiches as well as healthier items such as salads, baked potatoes and chili. Wendy’s has also distinguished itself through the creation of the special value menu with all items on it under a one dollar. Wendy’s also owns several small companies including Tim Horton’s and Baja Fresh Mexican Grill. It plans on increasingly using acquisitions of smaller brands to further growth. In next decade Wendy’s plans to add between 2 and 4 thousand new stores worldwide. One important weakness of Wendy’s is the lack of easily recognizable product compared to McDonald’s Big Mac of the Burger King Whopper. KFC Strategic Objectives: KFC has the strategic objectives of expansion along with profits and sales growth. KFC has also been applying its strategies at improving services and making them more and more customer friendly. It has not only been customizing its menu according to the countries that it has been operating in, it has also been trying to cater to different ethnic groups like African Americans and Hispanics. Such types of strategies are focused on increasing the customer base by better customization of products. Other than the  traditional eat-in restaurants, KFC has also been expanding into non-traditional facilities like shopping malls, hospitals, universities, stadiums; office buildings etc and a number of strategies have been formulated to aid this kind of expansion. Competitive Advantage: A very strong financial background is one of KFC’s competitive advantages. KFC has been functioning as a multinational corporation for several decades. As a result, the company is familiar with the logistical and quality problems which accompany operating an international food operation, and has demonstrated that it can work with host countries and businesses within the host country to develop a strategy which works in the most cost effective way. With the passage of time, KFC has developed another very important competitive advantage for itself — Environmental Friendliness. In March 2009, the first eco-friendly green KFC was opened in Northampton USA. The restaurant is designed according to environmental goals that include cutting energy and water consumption by 30 percent and reducing CO2 emissions. Operations at the new site are also expected to reduce waste and the amount of rubbish sent to landfills; the restaurant composts and recycles other waste, grease and used cooking oil. Other than this, in an effort to reduce its packaging by 1,400 tons, KFC is now switching from cardboard to recyclable and biodegradable paper wrapping for some of its products. Subway Strategic Objectives: The strategic objectives of Subway focus on creating a global strategic plan to enable Subway restaurants to succeed internationally. Other than this subway is intent upon introducing the concept of ‘healthy fast food’. Sandwiches of Subway have been included in diet plans by experts. Subway’s stand regarding obesity in children is not new to its customers. Strategies at Subway are not only about a really ambitious increase in franchises all over the world but they are also about making the food more and more appealing to the health conscious customers because health conscious attitudes, according to the experts, are here to stay now. Competitive Advantage: One of the greatest competitive advantages that Subway was born with is its healthy menu. The salads and sandwiches appeal much more to the people as compared to fried chicken, burgers, fries and pizzas. With its advertising and promotion, Subway has long been highlighting its healthy food in advertising and promotions and with the passage of time, it has established itself as a healthy brand. Another competitive advantage that subway enjoys is the fact that along with traditional locations, Subway restaurants can be found in more than 4,000 non traditional locations such as food courts, health clubs, hospitals, universities, amusement parks or just about anywhere. In fact, Subway restaurants can even be found in automobile showrooms and Laundromats! This global presence is indeed a sustainable advantage for Subway and needs to be managed properly. Subway’s fresh food is also a competitive advantage because unlike its competitors like McDonald’s it allows its franchisees to choose their own food suppliers, to ensure they can access the freshest ingredients. Resources, Capabilities and Core Competences Resources †¢ Human resources McDonald’s is does its best to reward outstanding employees for exception work. It is also putting more emphasis on its hospitality training to ensure a friendlier and customer focused support staff. †¢ Brand loyalty The long queues to McDonald’s in food courts is the best illustration of high level of brand loyalty, that company continues to develop. In advertising campaigns McDonald’s uses the slogan â€Å"I’m lovin’ it† which it there attempt to make McDonald’s an easy choice for families. They have also started using popular music to appeal to youth population. †¢ Real estate It may be surprising, but real estate ownership is one of the significant Mcdonalds resources. It is estimated that McDonald’s generates more money from its rent than from its franchise fees. One of the ways in which  McDonald’s receives funds from its franchises is in rent money. McDonald’s owns all property in which a McDonald’s outlet was built regardless if the location is a franchise or company owned. Capabilities McDonalds used to have several capabilities, among them hiring process and employees training and product innovation.  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Hiring process  It is complicated and systematic. It comprises of 3 main stages. 1. Initial interview and psychometric evaluation. On this step the candidates undergoing simple interview and tests evaluating their verbal and critical reasoning 2. Job evaluation. On this step candidates have 2 days practice in a restaurant that allows them to look at McDonalds as a future employees and HR team to assess candidates performance 3. Final interview. The last stage of hiring process includes overall interview and decision about the candidates is made. Taking into consideration staff training, McDonalds has many training programs on every level of restaurant. Training forums are made for basic workers and they start from the very beginning of working in the restaurant. They are designed to help employees with their communicational skills and encourage growth in the company. Other programs are created for managers of the restaurants, such as Basic Shift Management, Advanced Shift Management, and Systems Management Course . Their main objectives are: providing information about internal standards and procedures, teaching data analyses and strategies of identifying and solving different problems. For higher levels employees McDonalds has internship programs for students and recent graduates. Programs let them practice in different spheres of companies performance such as Information technologies, Marketing, Finance and others. Other McDonald’s project – Leadership Development program is based career planning, Individual Development plans, career maps, succession planning, learning activities and others. †¢ Product innovation The main resource developing product innovation strategy are full-time chief working in studios in Munich, Hong-Kong and Chicago. Moreover, localization of products also plays important role in development of innovative products. For example, in India Beef and pork products are not offered due to Indian religious beliefs. What is more, meat and vegetarian meals are prepared in separate areas of the restaurant again as a result of religious laws about preparation of food for vegetarians and meat-eaters. There is an Indian version of the Big Mac in India is called the Maharaja Mac and made with two grilled chicken slices, onions, tomatoes, cheese and a spicy mayonnaise. In Taiwan company introduced kao fan (literally â€Å"baked rice†), that resembles a burger with rice patties in place of buns. Finally, in Philippines McDonalds serves even spaghetti with in sweet tomato sauce, topped with cheese. Core Competences †¢ Produce quick cheap food to large number of customers With this concept, they are able to expand into many countries be the largest fast-food chain in the world. The process of production is the company core competence. Initially it was designed in such way as to be fast and very effective. There is precise guidance of how to do every activity. Mcdonalds pioneered in the systematization of its processes. Efficiency of operations and synchronization is the basis for success of the company. Also, it may be said, that burgers and fries are themselves McDonalds core competences. McDonald’s classic burgers has always taste the same in any outlet in the world. This consistent quality assures customer’s trust and loyalty to the product. It also provides an assuring brand experience. †¢ Structure Some specialists consider the unique organizational structure of McDonalds as its core competence. McDonalds never used rigid hierarchical organizational structure, that company managed to sustain over the years. It uses â€Å"freedom with framework† mantra, keeping structure decentralized. It allows local managers to make decisions by themselves. It also plays significant role in localization of menu due to local needs. Business-Level Strategy The business level strategy McDonald’s uses integrated cost leadership and differentiation. It means the products of mcdonalds is the cheapest on the market and more over McDonalds does its best to make them absolutely different from what others produce, using localization and launching new products almost every year. So the target of its strategy is to meet the needs of buyers whose preferences are distinctively different from others. So MD deals with the costumers who want very fast service with good quality. And it is different from the visitors of not fast food restaurants. The product line is customized to meet their needs. The marketing emphasis is put on communication and market analysis again to satisfy their needs. Finally the way to sustain strategy is remaining dedicated to serving one niche and be better than competitors in everything and do not dilute the brand image entering other niches. Corporate-Level Strategy Corporate-level strategy is a strategy which is aimed at the long term position of a business. A corporation or business can use plenty of methods to develop a corporate level strategy, however, basically, there are four main strategies that almost all businesses use which are: †¢ Concentrate on a single business, other words, business stays on the same industry on purpose to create a strong competitive position within the industry. †¢ Diversification; which is to move to a new business to provide a new good or service. There are two kinds of diversification, related diversification which is to compete in similar area/industry of activities to build a  synergy and unrelated diversification which is to enter a new industry to compete and build a portfolio strategy. †¢ International Expansion. This means some competition in more than one market to serve the needs of the other markets/countries.  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Vertical Integration. This is a way to cut costs by providing your own ways of inputs, backward vertical integration and your own channels of distribution and selling outputs by forward integration. Therefore, now let’s move directly to McDonald’s corporate-level strategy. Nevertheless, before we start to consider all the main points of this particular type of strategy, some overview details will be given. Mc Donald’s is a fast food restaurant operating on a global basis. It is operating on 119countries world wide. Mc Donald’s was opened for the first time in Cyprus in June 1997 and by now there are 16 Mc Donald’s restaurants in Cyprus. So, Mc Donald’s uses corporate level strategies like all other global basis corporations in order to reach corporate goals to be cost effective. MC Donald’s is a business which only concentrates on a single task which is the fast food business industry as stated by Dr. Weber, (2000). This special issue someday will help a lot the business to concentrate directly on one single task and get not only more power and market share, but consumer loyalty also in result. This happens because of the fact that they will run many strategies to find the best solutions of the consumer needs and preferences. However this can be very risky if the business fails to meet the right needs of consumers and therefore will not be profitable and as a result will close down due to the possible bankruptcy. Firstly, as it was stated in Washington post (2005) MC Donald’s diversifies its operations in many ways. Thus, the company uses related diversification in order to produce the same products which are burgers and salads basically, but they provide just an enormous number of choices, such as: Big Mac or Mac chicken, different kinds of salads. Moreover, McDonald’s operates in more than one geographical area but still performing the same task. Also it has opened MC cafes all around the world. McDonald’s gets many advantages by doing related diversification, firstly, if there are two Mc Donald’s restaurants in a city, then the two firms can build a synergy by co-operating with the right to use some special facilities such as the advertisements, suppliers and sometimes events, for instance, charity events. Secondly, as stated by Ricky, W (2003), the firm depends less on a single product, so it’s less vulnerable to competitive or economic threats. Other words, Mc Donald’s having variety of products like burgers, salads, ice creams and drinks is not being threaten of competition because this particular company has diversity in its products, for instance, Mc Donald’s Greek Mac makes it more stable and steady than such rivals as Burger King because the rivals do not have such product. Thirdly, it allows the firm to use technology or expertise developed in one market, for example, fast food to enter a second market more cheaply and easily e.g. MC Cafà ©. However, the only disadvantage that Mc Donald’s faces, is the cost of coordinating the operations of the related divisions. In 2001, McDonald’s launched a new venture by opening two hotels in Switzerland (Zurich and Lully) under the name â€Å"Golden Arch Hotel† Stefan, M (2005). This is a good example of an unrelated diversification because of the fact that Mc Donald’s is taking risks of its business from a single activity to many others like taking part in the Hotel industry. Unrelated diversification provides a portfolio for Mc Donald’s because it is operating on two absolutely different industries and the risk is reduced because if one of the two markets that the business has activity in fails to grow successfully, then the growth of the other market will cover the costs of it. Secondly, such strategy is less vulnerable to competitive threats because any given threat from a competitor is likely to affect only a portion of its total operations. However, unrelated diversification is very difficult to manage since the company has to deal with two markets and their strategies, plans and organization and coordination of each specific market which it is  dealing with. McDonald’s has introduced the American concept of fast food to many foreign Markets as stated by, Francine L, (2005). Moreover, the firm has by now, expanded throughout most of the world by operating on 119 countries. †¢ Thus, Mc Donald’s is known globally today because it is expanded internationally. †¢ Mc Donald’s is using multi-domestic strategy to serve each nations needs. It is customizing the fast food menus for each specific country/nation to suit the people’s wants. For instance there is Greek Mac in Cyprus and Greece. †¢ The advantage of this strategy is that the company is targeting a nation very effectively and gains market share by attracting the customers whereas, the cost of production will increase in order to add a new feature to the firm and the prices will rise to cover the costs. As stated in â€Å"Getting the Facts Straight† leaflet of Mc Donald’s, the firm is working with top suppliers and independent experts on health and safety. The Cyprus Mc Donald’s restaurants’ inputs such as meat, is ordered regularly from Italy with the highest quality and when they enter the island,  it is supplied to all the franchise branches on the island by Mc Donald’s vans and trucks. This shows that Mc Donald’s owns its inputs and has its farms to breed cattle and grow vegetable and potatoes. Therefore, this allows the company to diminish costs by doing vertical backward integration. Moreover, it maintains a guaranteed time, quality and amount of supply to the restaurants when required. The drawback of vertical integration is that, at the beginning of the integration huge amounts of capital should be invested in to the backward integration. Mc Donald’s business has been working since 1956 till now successfully and still operates under these corporate level strategies. Cooperative Strategy A cooperative strategy means interaction between two or group of companies which work together to achieve a shared objective. By measures which are  included in cooperation, companies can create value for the customer at a lower cost or with more benefits than it is able to do by itself. The primary type of cooperative strategy used is strategic alliances. Such kind of cooperations means that companies partly share their resources and capabilities between each others to produce new resources and capabilities, e.g. gain shared objectives. Such corporations as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Disney are the biggest multinational corporation with outstanding profits.But how can they enlarge their profits with the same amount of resources? The answer to this question is cooperation. Let’s look through some strategic alliances formed by McDonald’s. Alliance with Coca-Cola McDonald’s alliance with Coca-Cola has  «no piece of paper to fall back on—just  «a common vision and a lot of trust », according to Mr Ivester (Coke’s chairman) ». On setting up in the burger business in the 1950s, one of Ray Kroc’s first successes was persuading a Coke executive Waddy Pratt to provide him with their drink. Coke’s relationship with McDonald’s goes far beyond than just a supplier – It has helped McDonald’s to go to the new markets all over the world, because Coke is sold in almost twice as many countries as McDonald’s. Michael Quinlan, McDonald’s chairman,  «runs off a long list of areas of cooperation, from banking relationships to equipment design ». There is also very close relations between the members of this alliance at board level. When Coke’s chairman Robert Goizueta died, flags flew at half-mast at McDonald’s around the world. Alliance with Disney The alliance between McDonald’s and Disney has moved â€Å"way beyond doing only movie promotions with Happy Meal toys.† Nowadays this alliance has made enormous amounts of progress, for example McDonald’s being a sponsor of Dinoland, one of Disney’s attraction in Animal Kingdom, has built its restaurant outside this attractions park. This new â€Å"smart McDonald’s† is decorated in DisneyWorld style. The staff wear uniforms which is approved by  Disney, which demonstrates McDonald’s characters. Alliance with Master Card and Visa McDonald’s has announced an alliance with MasterCard and another alliance with Visa USA to bring cashless payment options to McDonald’s restaurants in the US. By this cooperation with MC and Visa, a company has provided more comfortable system of payment in McDonald’s which attracts customers. Alliance with Malls and Gas Stations McDonald’s latest expansion targets call for approximately 3,000 new restaurants world-wide both 2008 and 2009. Two-thirds of new restaurants will be built outside the USA. On the other hand, in the US approximately 600 new restaurants will be so-called satellite units mini-McDonald’s found in malls and especially in nationwide retailer. McDonald’s has formed alliances with Amoco Oil Co. and Chevron Corp. in the US to built restaurants in tandem with gas stations to cover more and more destinations all over the country. Global Strategy McDonalds has initially expanded to international markets in the conditions of strong regulations and overcrowded market in the USA. In the very beginning they offered a standardized products and attracted new clients with clean environment policy and brand equity. Recently the company adapt to new conditions by providing new product line and redesigning retail space in order to meet local needs and tastes. This strategy has allowed McDonalds to adapt quickly to new countries, but at the same time it created a long-term threat of diluting the brand and loosing its association with American culture. For instance, in Europe McDonalds becomes going beyond fast-food conception. In order to compete with coffee shops, McDonalds started offering more comfortable conditions, such as WI-FI and iPods for rent. Moreover, they created new healthier and locally adopted foods. Some specialists suggest, that if the company continue to expand with this strategy, it will be quite difficult to remain recognizable and meaningful brand.  Now it is time to consider McDonalds global strategy in more detail, taking China, South Africa, Brazil and Saudi Arabia as examples of strategy realization. But firstly, it is worth mentioning a few background facts. There is an incredible opportunity to expand in the world. McDonalds annual growth rate is about 1000-1500 restaurants and by 5-10 countries. According to the statistics, the company employed about 2 million people worldwide in 2000. The company adapts easily to new customers preferences by incorporating in the menu pommefrite sauce in Belgium and Holland and special mayonnaise based sauce in Iceland. China The McDonalds strategy in China is vary specific and it is aimed for adaptation to local culture. In comparison with the US, it was important for Chinese clients to focus not only on the food, but also on the restaurants’ atmosphere. That is why in China McDonalds restaurants are very similar to the American coffee houses with comfortable conditions for conversation and meetings. An other part of McDonalds strategy is introducing national tastes in its menu, such as the teriyaki burger. South Africa In South Africa McDonalds decided to focus on high populated cites. The point is to serve people where they eat, shop or play. The companies survey figured out that drive thru facilities are much effective then restaurants themselves, that is why there was made a decision on improving retail spaces. Moreover, McDonalds marketing strategy was concentrated on potential customers with different income level. In South Africa McDonalds has 90 branches spanning all nine provinces. It has 3 000 staff in just 39 restaurants, most working for franchisees. Each new restaurant opening creates as many as 80 new jobs, which is really important in current conditions. Brazil The eighth largest McDonalds market is concentrated in Brazil. Management team here is mostly focused on quality improvement and customer satisfaction and it was awarded for these efforts with Franchising Hallmark of Quality. Furthermore, McDonalds Brazil is one of the best employers and fifth among most admired companies in the country. Saudi Arabia and India The most characteristic feature of McDonalds in Saudi Arabia is that it closes five times a day for muslim prayers. McDonald’s India offers aloo tikki and paneer. And it doesn’t serve beef or pork at all. The Big Mac becomes Maharaja Mac in India. The company created special conditions for vegetarians with separate kitchen, cook and utensils. Moreover, in Ahmedabad the company decided to open an all-vegetarian outlet. Holding in respect Muslim tenets of belief, the company does not serve pork in all Islamic countries. There are two absolutely unique restaurants in the Holy City of Makkah, where Moslem customers are exclusively served by the staff, fully consists of Moslem employees, from the Service Crew to the Restaurant Manager level . And finally, McDonalds efforts have improved the local industries and national economy due to the fact that more than 50% of the products used are manufactured locally and in the gulf regions. Recommendations For Business-Level Strategy The main recommendation in terms of business-level strategy is to remain in the same niche. McDonald’s pioneered the whole concept of the fast food restaurant, that is why it should go to some other businesses, such as higher-level restaurant, because it can dilute their image of best fast food restaurant. For Corporate-Level Strategy Due to the fact that not every family has a direct access to McDonald’s cafes or just their place is too far from the restaurants, the idea to provide fast food to supermarkets. The products will be sold in the special vacuum package, so that it would have their original taste. This way the restaurant will loose nothing because there are only advantages which consist of making extra profit and gaining customer loyalty through spreading their production into the farplaced (far located) regions. For Cooperative Strategy As we have seen in the examples of McDonald’s alliances – cooperation is very efficient way of development. In my opinion, McDonald’s can cooperate with greater amount of companies. However, it should be very selective in choosing partner not to dilute its image. For example McDonald’s can cooperate with Apple: McD’s can provide free rechargers to Apple gadgets in its restaurants, while apple spread some apps by the AppStore. I think that McDonald’s also should create alliance with some attraction park companies, as they’ve made with Disney. Of course it would be more profitable for McDonald’s because of the amount of clients concentrated in one place. On the other hand, ones park logo and symbolic in MacDonald’s is worth it. For Global Strategy In spite of the fact, that McDonalds has great expansion opportunities, it is essential for the company to remember about its strength and to prevent brand dilution by means of concentrating on traditional American fast-food menu and including no more then 30% of specific dishes. Talking about the company’s pros, it is essential to continue developing and improving marketing campaign towards children and adults in foreign countries. In addition, such fresh ideas as creating vegetarian restaurants should be adopted in more countries in order to give customers alternative choice. Moreover. It would be a great idea to install Internet access terminals in each restaurants in order to reduce the amount of lag time between a customer’s orders and pick up of the order. This will show the innovative company level and improve its brand image for customers. Conclusion In the conclusion it is worth mentioning that the best prove of fantastic effectiveness of McDonald’s strategy is the fact that it’s competitors trying to copy its standards and processes to become more competitive at the market where McDonald’s still remains the leader. View as multi-pages