Face-to-Face Communication Essay

Topic 3: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Face-to-face communication is better than other types of communication, such as letters, email, or telephone calls. Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. Different forms of communication have been developed nowadays and they make it really easy for people to contact with each other. We have become familiar with popular types of communication such as letters, email, telephone calls or chatting on the internet. However some people say that face-to-face talk is better than other means of communication. In my opinion, I disagree with this opinion. Due to the limit of distance, face-to-face communication shows its disadvantages in a lot of situations. We cannot meet and have a chat if we are far away from each other like in different countries or different areas. It is very disturbing when we need to speak out something immediately or we are in an urgent situation. Face-to-face talk really takes much time and money if people are not close enough. Moreover, in the fast pace of life, everyone is very busy with their own work. They have to deal with piles of work and contact with several dozen people. Therefore, it is difficult for them to always sit down in a nice place and talk to each other because it limits their level of work productivity. Apart from distance and time, other types of communication outweigh face-to-face talk in terms of convenience and secrecy. You can email to a lot of people in different countries with only one click. You want to share your happiness with your friends and relatives, just pick up your phone and call them without going around to make an announcement. When you fall in love and find it difficult to express your passion directly, then a love letter to that person will be a right choice. With the comfort of using the internet, we easily make friends without being worried about our appearances. Regardless of the fact that we are fat or thin, pretty or ugly, neat or slovenly, we still have great talks because no one sees us right then. In conclusion, face-to-face is just one form of communication among others. Each of those has its own advantages and disadvantages and it is difficult to say which one is better. People should be flexible in using means of communication to make our relationships more interesting.

Cross Cultural Training Essay

Globalization of business has led to cross border flows of physical, financial and human resources. It has resulted in both a large number of people working abroad, as well as an increasingly multi cultural domestic work environment. To face the ever growing competition, organizations are expanding their businesses, outsourcing and even establishing offices overseas. Organizations are not only searching the world for opportunities to sell or source but also to find intellectual capital- the world’s best talent and ideas. This brings new employees of different origin, language and national culture thus adding complexities to the culture of domestic organizations. Effective use of cross cultural teams can provide a source of experience and innovative thinking to enhance the competitive position of organizations. However, cultural differences often lead to misunderstandings, frustrations, cultural shock etc. These have to be tackled effectively if the benefits of a diverse and talented workforce are to be realized. Another dynamic factor that brings about a cultural change within organizations is cross border acquisitions. Many domestic companies are entering foreign markets and signing merger deals. Other companies such as the ones in the IT sector have businesses which depend heavily upon foreign markets. This has necessitated the development of competent â€Å"global managers† who would be able to work in new environments efficiently and will act as a bridge between the parent company and its subsidiaries. Working effectively in cross-cultural context is becoming of vital competence for aspiring managers. Organizational research has shown that cross- cultural training mitigates or proactively guards against the frustrations, misunderstandings and culture shock often resulting from cross-cultural interactions that lead to poor adjustment and job performance. (Harris and Kumra 2000). This paper attempts to define the possible sources of cross-cultural differences and illustrate a failed cross cultural merger through a case study. It then goes on to highlight the cross cultural challenges and issues to be considered in designing cross cultural training. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: 1. To understand the influential factors that lead to cross-cultural differences. 2. To identify the key cross cultural challenges. 3. To identify issues to be considered while designing cross cultural training. METHODOLOGY: A literature survey was conducted to study the issue and its various implications. Information was gathered from various articles about cross cultural training. An opinion survey was conducted regarding key issues in cross-cultural training. A total of 10 professionals from large multinational organizations both in India and abroad responded to the survey between 1st and 30th November 2009. The responses were collected through interviews and telephonic conversations. This was a preliminary study, and the small size of the sample means that definitive conclusions cannot be drawn, but rather an indicative trend can be observed. Sample 1. 10 respondents from 10 different companies responded to the survey. 2. Positions held within the organizations: Senior Management level 3. Organizations: Financial Services, Consumer Business, Construction, Manufacturing, Import and Export, Telecoms, Media and Technology 4. Size of Organizations: more than 1000 employees Culture is a powerful force which plays an important role in how businesses are run and managerial decisions are made. Professionals in today’s multicultural global business community frequently encounter cultural differences which can at times interfere with the organizational working. The nature of international collaborations is such that professionals need to be aware of differing perspectives and cultures. Working across significant differences in culture is a complex process involving intellectual and emotional challenges. It takes learning and exposure to accurately interpret the vagaries of cross-cultural issues. Sensitivity to other global views- managing in a different culture and new business environment presents challenges for the individuals, their team and the organization. To understand these challenges, one must first understand the definition of culture. Culture can be defined as, â€Å"A perceptual structure of human activities that include, behaviors, values, arts, beliefs, languages, custom, dress, rituals, manners, religion, laws, morality, & code of honors. † It basically refers to a group of people with whom we share common experiences that shape the way we understand the world. It includes groups that we are born into, such as gender, race, or national origin. It can also include groups that we join and become part of. For example, we can acquire a new culture by moving to a new region and even by a change in our economic status. In an organization, culture defines, decision-making practices, communication styles, working styles and influences how we act and respond in the working world. Cultures differ distinctively in the ways they seek to resolve universal problems. These differences can create obstacles to smooth collaborations. When people from different cultural groups take on the challenge of managing international businesses by working together with the global community, cultural values sometimes conflict. One can misunderstand another, and react in ways that can hinder what are otherwise promising partnerships. There are several frameworks which have been developed in making comparisons across cultures. One of the most widely used frameworks in managerial settings, is that of Geert Hofstede. Dr. Geert Hofstede conducted perhaps the most comprehensive study of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. From 1967 to 1973, while working at IBM as a psychologist, he collected and analyzed data from over 100,000 individuals from forty countries. From those results, and later additions, Hofstede developed a model that identifies four primary dimensions to differentiate cultures. He later added a fifth dimension, Long-term Orientation. Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions: 1. Power Distance Index (PDI) focuses on the degree of equality, or inequality, between people in the country’s society. A High Power Distance ranking indicates that inequalities of power and wealth have been allowed to grow within the society. These societies are more likely to follow a caste system that does not allow significant upward mobility of its citizens. A Low Power Distance ranking indicates the society de-emphasizes the differences between citizen’s power and wealth. In these societies equality and opportunity for everyone is stressed. 2. Individualism (IDV) focuses on the degree the society reinforces individual or collective, achievement and interpersonal relationships. A High Individualism ranking indicates that individuality and individual rights are paramount within the society. Individuals in these societies may tend to form a larger number of looser relationships. A Low Individualism ranking typifies societies of a more collectivist nature with close ties between individuals. These cultures reinforce extended families and collectives where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. 3. Masculinity (MAS) focuses on the degree the society reinforces, or does not reinforce, the traditional masculine work role model of male achievement, control, and power. A High Masculinity ranking indicates the country experiences a high degree of gender differentiation. In these cultures, males dominate a significant portion of the society and power structure, with females being controlled by male domination. A Low Masculinity ranking indicates the country has a low level of differentiation and discrimination between genders. In these cultures, females are treated equally to males in all aspects of the society. 4. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) focuses on the level of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity within the society – i. e. unstructured situations. A High Uncertainty Avoidance ranking indicates the country has a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. This creates a rule-oriented society that institutes laws, rules, regulations, and controls in order to reduce the amount of uncertainty. A Low Uncertainty Avoidance ranking indicates the country has less concern about ambiguity and uncertainty and has more tolerance for a variety of opinions. This is reflected in a society that is less rule-oriented, more readily accepts change, and takes more and greater risks. Geert Hofstede added the following fifth (5th) dimension after conducting an additional international study using a survey instrument developed with Chinese employees and managers. That survey resulted in addition of the Confucian dynamism. Subsequently, Hofstede described that dimension as a culture’s long-term Orientation. 5. Long-Term Orientation (LTO) focuses on the degree to which the society embraces, or does not embrace, long-term devotion to traditional, forward thinking values. High Long-Term Orientation ranking indicates the country prescribes to the values of long-term commitments and respect for tradition. This is thought to support a strong work ethic where long-term rewards are expected as a result of today’s hard work. However, business may take longer to develop in this society, particularly for an â€Å"outsider†. A Low Long-Term Orientation ranking indicates the country does not reinforce the concept of long-term, traditional orientation. In this culture, change can occur more rapidly as long-term traditions and commitments do not become impediments to change. India’s ranking on the five cultural dimensions of Hofstede: [pic] India has Power Distance (PDI) as the highest Hofstede Dimension for the culture, with a ranking of 77 compared to a world average of 56. 5. This Power Distance score for India indicates a high level of inequality of power and wealth within the society. This condition is not necessarily subverted upon the population, but rather accepted by the population as a cultural norm. India’s Long Term Orientation (LTO) Dimension rank is 61, with the world average at 48. A higher LTO score can be indicative of a culture that is perseverant and parsimonious . India has Masculinity as the third highest ranking Hofstede Dimension at 56, with the world average just slightly lower at 51. The higher the country ranks in this Dimension, the greater the gap between values of men and women. It may also generate a more competitive and assertive female population, although still less than the male population. India’s lowest ranking Dimension is Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) at 40, compared to the world average of 65. On the lower end of this ranking, the culture may be more open to unstructured ideas and situations. The population may have fewer rules and regulations with which to attempt control of every unknown and unexpected event or situation, as is the case in high Uncertainty Avoidance countries. Defining Cross Cultural Training: Cross-cultural training in general can be defined as â€Å"Any intervention aimed at increasing an individual’s capability to cope with and work in foreign environment† (Tung, 1981, in Zakaria, 2000). Hence cross-cultural training involves all the methods like lectures, simulation etc. used to make the person familiar with a different culture. It involves interacting with and/ or comparing two or more cultures, & understanding their values, beliefs, & norms. The term cross-cultural training hence is broad enough to include differences in areas like language abilities, business etiquettes, beliefs and values, social system, negotiating styles etc. f any culture. Cross-cultural training has also been defined as â€Å"Formal methods to prepare people for more effective interpersonal relations and job success when they interact extensively with individuals from cultures other than their own† (Brislin and Yoshida, 1994). The advantages from cross-cultural training hav e been listed as following (Zakaria, 2000: 2): 1. A means for constant switching from an automatic, home culture international management mode to a culturally adaptable and acceptable one 2. An aid to improve coping with unexpected events and cultural shock in a new culture 3. A means to reduce uncertainty of interactions with foreign nationals 4. A means for enhancing expatriates coping abilities Design of cross-cultural training: Organizations are required to choose between culture specific or culture general training, which areas of the culture to focus upon and what are the personal requirements of the person who might have to deal with a situation like this or who is shifting to a different culture for work. The study by Hun and Jenkins (1998) mentions following issues for the cross-cultural training: 1. Different aspects of time like punctuality- The time factor here involve two dimensions that are punctuality and relationship dimension. While in some cultures like USA starting and ending on time are very important in others like South American countries that may be considered exceptional. Some cultures prefer to take time for relationship building, which may not be acceptable at all in others. Hence cross-cultural barriers related to time need to be taken care of. 2. Linguistic barriers- English is being used for most transactions but then usage of English tends to change with the country contexts. For example the pronunciation in India is significantly different from the American way. Secondly certain terms may have different meaning in different languages; hence context also plays an important role. In case of countries with different languages the expatriates must be trained in opening dialogues and discussions with the help of translators. 3. Different business practices- Like conduct in meeting and unstructured and open discussion. Hofstede’s (2001) dimensions like power distance can play an important role in situations like conduct during the meetings. In cultures with lower power distance the employees may tend to call their bosses with their first names while this may be impossible in cultures with higher power distances. Hence developing a first hand knowledge about the practices is very important. 4. Cultural stress (ambiguity and difference of perceptions)- The training should also involve methods to counter stress and to interpret situations. The expatriates will have to understand the situations on their own and then form perceptions. The training should avoid any kind of stereotyping where trainees may be lead to believe certain things about any culture. The culture may broadly explain value system of a community or country but every individual is different. Hence any individual with a pre-formed notion about the culture will be shocked to see people different from his beliefs leading to lot of confusion and stress. 5. Body language and greetings- The way emotions are expressed in the various cultures may differ, for example the face expressions and hand gestures may convey different meanings in different cultures. Cross-cultural training should have components related to both general orientation and specific skill development (Harrison, 1994). The component of general orientation here consists of self assessment (dealing with change, stress management and identifying attributes) and cultural awareness (general dimensions, national values and work place incidents). The specific development on the other hand consists of knowledge acquisition (area studies, language studies and host attitudes) and skills training (case studies, area simulation and behavior modeling). Hence the training should focus on providing trainee the knowledge about national cultures and attitudes in the host country in the first phase while in second phase the trainee should be made to go through a rigorous process of handling the situations in a simulated environment. This will help the trainee to acquire hands-on experience. The paper by Nicola (1993) suggests following issues for cross-cultural training: †¢Feed back †¢Getting beyond culturally determined stereotypes †¢How to raise and deal with cultural stereotype How to counsel employees †¢Coaching and team building †¢Resolving conflicts (those including various ethnic groups at work place) †¢Counseling so as to go beyond all kinds of stereotypes and perceptions. After the internet revolution things have vastly changed for various organizations. For example many firms use internet as a medium to coordinate between different employees working in different locations as a team like one of the team members would be in India, other one might be in Europe and third one in South America. The group dynamics in these situations becomes very important; hence the employees must also be trained at handling people from diverse cultures at the same time ensuring equal treatment and opportunities for all. One of the most important factors that is often forgotten while designing the training programs is the requirement of the employees. The design of training program should be made keeping in mind the length of stay in the host country, type of function he/she will have to perform, degree of socialization required by the employee and the personal characteristics of the employees (like interpersonal skills). Hence cross-cultural training program should be customized for each employee to a certain extent. It’s not only the employee who needs to be trained; the family of employee should also be trained on certain issues like cultural differences. Many firms have started giving due importance to the training of spouse because the socialization of expatriate and job success to a large extent will depend upon socialization of his family Key Cross Cultural Challenges: Cultural dissimilarities affect the ability to be effective in a foreign market. Some of the root causes for the problems arising in International businesses result from differences in communication styles, decision-making styles and working styles. †¢ Communication Style – The way people communicate varies widely between and even within cultures. Recognizing the impact of culture on communication style is essential to the success of cross-cultural business communication. †¢ Decision making- Decision- making processes differ from culture to culture. Some cultures emphasize individual autonomy and responsibility while others focus more on group participation. †¢ Working styles- The working styles may differ on the basis of elements such as leadership, conflict management, level of co-operation, competition among colleagues, teamwork, autonomy, etc. Case Study: Daimler Chrysler- A Cultural Mismatch? Synopsis: An example of a cross-cultural failure has been that of DaimlerChrysler. Both sides in the partnership set out to show that intercultural hurdles would and could be overcome in their global merger. Articles in the Wall Street Journal and Business Week suggested however that Daimler Chrysler underestimated the influence of culture, and due to culture clash, almost two years later was still struggling to become a unified global organization. In the period leading up to the Daimler-Chrysler merger, both firms were performing quite well (Chrysler was the most profitable American automaker), and there was widespread expectation that the merger would be successful (Cook 1998). People in both organizations expected that their merger of equals† would allow each unit to benefit from the other’s strengths and capabilities. Stockholders in both companies overwhelmingly approved the merger and the stock prices and analyst predictions reflected this optimism.

Liberal Democratic Model in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Liberal Democratic Model in the USA - Essay Example Liberal Democratic Model - USA There exist different versions of liberal democracy adopted by countries. Using case study, this paper will address the concept of liberal democracy in the United States of America. Freedom of speech, elections, and separation of power, are components of democracy, which will be analyzed using the liberal democratic model to determine how USA embraces liberal democracy. The concept of democracy dates back to Aristotle’s era. He was the first Greek philosopher to explore this concept. Later, Christian thinkers related democracy with the worship of God, that all human beings are equal before God. The American Revolution was first to introduce components of liberal democracy. Slavery and other discriminatory practices were abandoned, as Americans embraced a more popular rule. This marked a new beginning of liberal democracy in America. Today, liberal democracy is associated with the American political philosophy (Vanberg, 2011). Components of libera l democracy are dynamic. For instance, in the 18th Century, liberalism protected citizens from the government. However, in 20th Century people started to consider governments as source of protection from social crimes. In the USA, the human rights activists rely on government authority to develop programs that enhance human rights. The government is no longer a threat to its citizen’s freedom, but a positive force (Neal, Douglas, Simon, and Joseph, 2012). The liberal democratic model encompasses three views, political pluralism, the elitist theory, and the Marxist view of power. As we shall see, political pluralism is deeply rooted in American politics. Pluralism theory holds that multiple groups, and not few individuals, run a country. These groups are; trade unions, environmental groups, and civil rights bodies, among others, which influence a country’s policymaking process. In pluralism, political power is distributed differently among the groups. For example, the C ongress addresses tax issues, the president sends the USA army on missions, the Supreme Court passes the death penalty, and a police officer stops a motorist for over speeding. In the USA, of all the multiple groups, no single elite group dominates. Some of these groups are well funded, organized, and have more influence, while others are not. They also vary in size, are politically autonomous, and exercise their right to participate in the politics. Freedom of speech is an element of democracy, which characterizes a pluralist society. In democratic states, freedom of speech ranks above all liberties. In the US, freedom of speech is provided in the constitution’s First Amendment of the Bills of Rights, and in different state and federal laws. Individuals and organized groups, including the media, are free to air their opinions on political decisions, thus indirectly controlling political leaders. Individuals have the right to gather information and hold meetings. However, in the US, restrictions are put on child pornography, obscenity, and lawless acts, among others. Separation of power is another element of democracy present in a politically pluralist society. In the US, state power is divided into three parts. These are: 1. The legislative power (the Congress) 2. The executive power (the president) 3. The judiciary power (Courts) The US constitution authorizes the legislative to makes law, the executive to enforce law, and the judiciary to interpret law.

Literature Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Literature Review - Essay Example Its symptoms include palpitations, shortness of breath, fatigue, and dizziness. Other symptoms of AF include poor exercise intolerance, generalized weakness, and irregular pulse (Cottrell, 2011). It can also result in death. Despite this, over 90% of the victims of AF maybe not show any symptoms (Cottrell, 2011). The risk factors of AF include degeneration heart disease and atherosclerosis. Obesity, hypertension as well as metabolic syndrome and diabetes that are associated with cardiovascular disease are also the risk factors for AF (Cottrell, 2011 and Campbell-Cole & Lee, 2014). Apart from the structural complications of the heart, causes of AF may also be as a result of the thoracic surgery as well as coronary artery bypass grafts. Complications of AF include stroke, heart failure, and in severe can lead to death (Campbell-Cole & Lee, 2014). AF is often diagnosed by an irregular pulse. However, this is often confirmed by ECG (Elliott, 2014). Use of ECG helps one to identify acute changes and co-existing cardiac abnormalities like left-ventricular hypertrophy (Elliott, 2014). Management of this disorder includes considering patients with AF for anticoagulation. However, anticoagulation may also increase the risk of serious bleeding, and as a result of this, patients need to be informed about AF and treatment options (Elliott, 2014). According to Roberts and his colleagues (2015), warfarin therapy is crucial for prevention of systematic embolism as well as stroke associated with AF. It also aids in the prevention of venous thromboembolism. The decision for use of warfarin in stroke prevention is based on the CHADS2 score; 1 point for congestive heart failure, age above 75 years, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, and 2 points for transient ischaemic attack (Roberts et al., 2015). Patients using warfarin should be cared t hrough approaches such as usual care by the GP, patient self-monitoring, and laboratory care program. As a

Women must demonstrate male characteristics in order to succeed as Essay

Women must demonstrate male characteristics in order to succeed as leaders and must cast aside feminine qualities - Essay Example Women must demonstrate male characteristics in order to succeed as leaders and must cast aside feminine qualities Not all researchers or organisational practitioners support the ideology of domination and assertive behaviour as being vital to gaining followership, with some offering that effective leadership consists of such behaviours as compassion, nurturing and helpfulness. At the sociological level, again based on long-standing cultural distinctions between typical male and female behaviours, such leadership traits are largely associated with the feminine personality. In order to fully understand whether women can maintain their innate, feminine attitudes and personality traits, it is necessary to examine the conceptions of what constitutes successful leadership. This essay examines the distinctions made by many in society and within the organisation of what comprises typical male versus female behaviours and how these traits translate into positive leadership capability. Based on the research findings, this work will illustrate that in order to gain followership as a leader, women must aban don their feminine qualities and utilise male-oriented strategies even if such philosophies conflict with inherent personality factors. One can first make the argument that there are distinct biologically-driven differences between the male and female that determine social conceptions of gender. Campbell (1989) offers research describing the differences between male and female brain structure in which the female maintains distinct hemispherical structures known to be related with superior verbal and linguistic skills. Male brain biology, in opposite accord, is structured in a fashion known to support aggression and assertiveness (Gorman 1995). Science supports that women are more likely to be passive, inherently, than their male counterparts based strictly on the genetic differences between the sexes. Science would seem to support the notion that women must make radical adjustments to their innate personality traits if they wish to adopt male-oriented characteristics in the role of organisational leadership. However, there is much more to the debate when attempting to explain the difference between sex and gender. Ac cording to Oakley (1972) gender is a socially-constructed concept deeply engrained in time-honoured cultural values and principles. Gender is â€Å"constructed through situational and institutional processes† and such beliefs can be regularly subject to change and variable among international cultures (Oakley 1972, p.41). In most Western cultures, as one relevant example, distinctions between men and women are made under social identity theory, a psychological model which iterates that one builds their own self-concept based on membership within a relevant social group (Hogg 2001; Turner and Oakes 1986). If the dominant group prototype suggests that the female gender should maintain such characteristics as submission, empathy or nurturing behaviours, compliance with the social ideology of male versus female attitude and personality becomes a sociological consideration and is

Plato and Solomon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Plato and Solomon - Essay Example In contrast, Solomon is of the view that that love is rather a convergence of various desires i.e. sexual, ethical or other practical emotions which makes love a matter of rational choice based on human`s subjective understanding of phenomena. Thus, it is clear that on one hand where Plato treats love as a philosophical entity, on the other hand Solomon takes love as reciprocity of emotions based on one`s past experiences. To further elaborate, it is crucial to discuss in detail separately how Plato and Solomon perceived the concept of love. In one of his speeches, Plato clearly reinstated the idea that seeking love is parallel to seeking wisdom. In other words, there is no wisdom in suppressing one`s sexual desires or other similar emotions, rather wisdom lies in training and refining these desires to acquire higher levels of wisdom (Plato 84-85). One of the speeches where Plato presented his idea of love was at a symposium which was central to the social life of Athens, during a discussion on the concept of love. During the speech, the central argument of Plato was to prove that love surrounds the concept of philosophy always, and can`t be understood otherwise. More so, he treats philosophy as the highest of the expressions that love may acquire and further prompts that this philosophy drives us in our everyday affairs (Santas 33). This could further be augmented by the fact that humans develop a se nse of attraction and appeal to beautiful people or aesthetic music as a direct appeal for ‘beauty’ and philosophy is what directs one to desire what is considered to be beautiful. This concept can be related to Aristophanian view of love, alongside Socratian analysis of the conception of love. Aristophanes understands love as one of the forms of some myth. He presents his myth as the genesis of human race, where they had four legs and four arms, also two heads where a few were males and other were females, and yet a few hermaphrodites. Thus, we were

Environmental and Access Issues in Outdoor Adventure Essay

Environmental and Access Issues in Outdoor Adventure - Essay Example Human interest in nature, as recorded back in history, helped in discovering many wonderful facts. We have discovered many natural processes which we were unaware of in the past. Yet a lot has to be discovered. Researchers gave their valuable time and lives for the sake of the facts about nature. They tried harder and harder to be as close to the nature as they can. And they are noticeably successful. They provided us with the knowledge of environmental change. They gave us information about the unpredictable weather changes and tried to solve this and many other issues like to measure the intensity of natural disasters etc. The questions arise, how did they find out such problems What made them think about these problems Did they find any solution What problems did they face while researching A person who asks these questions is a researcher. The curiosity to find out the answers led them to eradicate the hurdles in their way. They had an aim to come up with something new, some new ideas, information, data or discovery. There are many environmental issues to be solved and to protect the natural resources in the world as these natural resources after a time will vanish from the world. ... Many people endanger their lives due to lack of knowledge and proper guidance. We lose many priceless lives due to these issues. Due to insufficient facilities mountain climbers are not able to avail the opportunity to climb on the mountains. The adventure lovers are crazy about the mountain climbing. Due to insufficient sources and guidance, they harm themselves and also develop a fear among other students and tourists. In the under developing countries like Pakistan, Ukraine Afghanistan etc mountains are not preserved properly. This is a major factor that should be reviewed as the tourists who come to visit these places can give harm to these places. The forts in these countries are not conserved appropriately. No authority is available to protect them from the people and weather changes. No material is available to make them strong enough to bear the weather dangers. In these countries, there is also a great threat posed to the wild life as even now the hunters may come and hunt animals. This is causing a great harm to the wildlife. Laws must be passed and followed to avoid these threats. The weather of many untouched places is not bearable for human. This is being the cause of many natural secrets unrevealed. Global warming leads to many problems. Due to the pollution in the society this is becoming an alarming problem which needs to be solved. In winters the weather of a certain place rises to such a level that the tourists can face difficulties. In summer, the weather of certain places gets too warm that it becomes difficult for them to reach the camp everyday. No proper shelter is available for the people visiting those places. Once they reach the place, it becomes difficult for them

History Western Civ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

History Western Civ - Essay Example News of such atrocities by the Muslims angered the Christian peoples of Europe so that nobles and commoners alike were summoned over for the mission of recovering the Holy Land from Islam. Numerous knights joined the crusades because the popes promised them forgiveness of their sins as a reward for fighting for Christ. In short, Christians considered crusades as holy wars against the enemies of God. However, not all the crusaders had such pure and noble motives for many of them had selfish intents as well. To the landless, the crusades were an opportunity to acquire lands in Asia whereas to the adventurous, the crusades offered excitement. For the greedy, the crusades meant the possibility of rich loot from the East while the ambitious ones chased after glory and monarchical recognition. The Muslims, perceiving their own advantage of defending Islam to be the chief benefit that would eventually influence Islamic nations, regarded wars against European crusaders as jihads or ‘holy wars’, believing that these were means to fight for their god ‘Allah’ against the unbelievers. Crusades were also launched to address the growing suppression in pilgrimages of Christians. Being a pilgrim is an aspect of Christian life which greatly affects the religious as well as the socio-political grounds of living as a Christian at the period Europe was experiencing the height of political turmoil in several respects among its nations. European Christians to this day have adhered to the faith that pilgrimages, like the essence of penance, is able to purify or atone one of all the present iniquities once a passionate journey to Jerusalem is successfully carried out. In the absence of pilgrimage, it would be difficult for Christians to claim authority and possession of a certain region thus, crusade was necessitated to intervene and cease oppression and persecution of Christians by Muslims who took extensive

Glaxo Dual Pricing case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Glaxo Dual Pricing case - Essay Example The legislation determining the price was used to identify the price of the drug. The law in Spain allowed for drug sale at prices determined by Glaxo. Hence, Glaxo sold drugs in Spain at low prices while it raised the prices if the drug was to be resold in a country that would buy at a higher price. In 2001 the Commission made a decision which regarded article 81 was applicable to the medicines that were to be sold and thus, they did not warrant exclusion. Glaxo’s position was that the precise factors that were ongoing at that time in the pharmaceutical trade were supposed to lead to various evaluation of competition in the industry. The precise factors as determined by Glaxo were the impact of parallel trade on medicine consumers, the effect of parallel trade on drug shortages, the effect of price control by European Union member states and the effect of parallel trade on research and development. The attorney general rejected these points of view by Glaxo. They were also nullified by the European Court of Justice. It was stated that the pharmaceutical business was not exempt from the criterion of Competition Law as all industries were under it. Articles 81(1) and 81(3) were of importance to the case. Glaxo noted the importance of price regulation by countries. The fina l judgements of the case were applicable to all undertakings in spite of their sectors (Rey and Venit, 2009). The European Commission has protected and encouraged parallel trade for prescription medicines under its administrative wing. Also, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice in relation to competition laws and free trade of goods has resulted in existence of parallel trade for prescription medicines. The pharmaceutical industry depends on its own profits to finance its objectives, hence a reason of encouragement to partake in parallel trade. According to Rey and Venit (2009), variations exist in European Union member countries in terms of their

Medieval and Renaissance Art Essay Example for Free

Medieval and Renaissance Art Essay The most significant difference between medieval and renaissance art is that renaissance art paid more attention to the human body, and to detail. Both, however, focused mainly on religious themes, although not necessarily Christian. Renaissance artists are remembered because they brought about the changes that led to the art of today. When looking at medieval art, such as The Notary of Perugia Writing a Document it is quite obvious that very little attention to detail is included. There is no depth to the painting, the writing on the parchment bares no resemblance to actual text, and everyone in the picture has the same face. In contrast, when looking at a renaissance painting, like Christ the Redeemer by Titian quite a bit more attention is given to detail, even though the scene does not encompass nearly as much. It is possible to see shadowing in the painting, as well as to the behavior of fabrics. There is also a good feel of depth with much attention paid not only to making a nice background, but separating it from the foreground as well. There are many similarities in the two styles; they are, after all, separated by a short period in history. One similarity might be a choice of colors, as the most visually appealing color combinations had yet to be discovered. Another similarity would be the lack of understanding of how to accurately represent the human body, as this was considered sinful by the church; Leonardo di Vinci did began to change this with some of his works though. The short period in time left similarities between the styles of art, but they were few, far between, and diminished fast. Renaissance artists put forth much greater effort into these works and it really shows in the quality, rather then the quantity produced.

Economic Development In Taiwan And South Korea Economics Essay

Economic Development In Taiwan And South Korea Economics Essay In the mid 1900s, the poorest countries were still not able to develop at a faster rate than the advanced countries. But surprisingly enough there were two countries in Asia that developed very rapidly but did so without experiencing the customary great and increasing inequalities and the emergence of mass unemployment. These two countries were from the group of Four Tigers, Taiwan and South Korea. Both Taiwan and South Korea did have similarities in their historic traditions but also developed upon different economic policies. When we talk about economic development it usually includes three parts: economic growth, distribution of wealth, and quality of life. Therefore, in this critique essay, I will be talking about how Taiwan and South Korea were similar and different in terms of developing its economy based upon Tibor Scitovskys essay on Economic Development in Taiwan and South Korea, 1965-1981. Taiwan and South Korea were able to be successful in developing their country due to similarities in tradition and background. First, the two countries share a common Chinese tradition and Confucian philosophy. From this tradition and philosophy, getting a high level of education and increasing the level of skills have been very significant. Hence, after the war in 1940s, literacy rates have been rising considerably. Secondly, both countries have the capability and motivation to work hard which is also one of Chinese traditions. Even to this day, people from Asia are known to work hard for longer hours. In addition, the success to their economy was due to the flexibility in wages as well as having greater employment stability. As the countries followed the Chinese traditions, bonuses were given to their workers which resulted to a higher rate in personal savings. When the Japanese ruled over both Taiwan and South Korea, they had helped the two countries see a rise in agriculture pr oductivity and infrastructure investment. Additionally, as the rule came to an end, the countries were able to observe the decrease in inequalities of wealth. A big factor that assisted in equalizing the distribution of wealth was the land reforms distributed among small tenant farmers (landowners were also forced to sell all their land for a price less than the market values). In the early 1960s, Taiwan had published the Nineteen-Point Economic Financial Reform of the Third Four-Year Plan which encouraged many private manufacturing enterprises to make an investment. Many of these firms were heavy industries of steel, shipbuilding, and petrochemicals. And there were much more Taiwanese firms in terms of number; privately owned manufacturing firms were much smaller than in Korea because of four significant reasons. One is the vast number of immigrants from China that brought 30% of the total inflow of foreign capital used for establishing independent firms. There was also higher rate in personal savings which allowed firms to easily secure the capital for establishing independent businesses. Knowing that Taiwan better fulfilled the conditions of competition, firms were created to be smaller so it permitted newcomers to enter the market for a cheaper price. Lastly, Taiwan provides infrastructure facilities to enable new firms to establish. In observing these reasons, we can articulate that Taiwan and South Korea have very different monetary policies. The monetary policy for Taiwan has been keeping actual interest rates close to the level of equilibrium interest rate. Instead of keeping the interest rates low to provide low cost of investment for firms, even under inflationary pressure, Taiwan had raised their interest rates. High interest rates encouraged saving, which became productive capital for firms and major force for anti-inflation. In result, the interest-rate monetary policy has both managed the inflation and investment and growth. In contrast with Taiwans economic plan, South Korea policymakers have made general and forceful use of a wide range of incentives intended to reassure private industrys close agreement with their plans. The main incentive is differential access to credit and concessionary cost of credit. Unlike Taiwan, the qualifying criteria for a borrower for low-cost credit in Korea have been far stricter. Hence, the low average interest rates have given the real interest cost of concessionary loans to be zero or lower. Because South Korea is very government-oriented, firms that do not follow the rules formed by the government do not get the loan applications accepted. This concludes that the authorities do have strong control over the decision making in private firms firms that do follow the governments economic plans (the substantial credit and tax incentives) are enabled in the country. And in result, Korea has created twenty large conglomerates. Overall, Taiwan has not only achieved great results in all three aspects, but it also has done quite well according to other economic indicators. For example, it has enjoyed a mild inflation rate, low unemployment rate, and has accumulated vast foreign exchange reserves with almost no foreign debt. Limited natural resources and a high population density mean that Taiwan is not self-sufficient. Hence, foreign trade has come to play a leading role in Taiwans economic development. In addition, because exports from Taiwan have been very strong, Taiwan has not experienced any serious unemployment problem. Labor-intensive export firms have provided jobs to large number of people from both rural and urban areas. South Koreas economy grew rapidly under the rule of former President Park Jung Hee. The economy was able to develop as he shifted the countrys strategy to stimulating growth through export promotion. His policies encouraged private entrepreneurs. Businesses were given powerful incen tives to export, including preferential treatment in obtaining low-interest bank loans, import privileges, permission to borrow from foreign sources, and tax benefits. Therefore, it is inevitable to conclude which one of the two countries was more successful in developing their economy in this period of time. However, when we look at the economy today, South Korea has done an impressive job in bringing them into the position they are in now. Taiwan is still a small, resource-poor economy, vulnerable to foreign pressures, dependent on exports and dependent especially on the U.S. for markets and security.

Jean-Luc Picard as a Leader :: Star Trek Essays Papers

Jean-Luc Picard as a Leader Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, is a good leader because of his ability to guide and direct his crew in such a way that protects the Federation from its enemies and inspires others to have similar goals. Every leader has their own unique characteristics and Picard is no different. He is able to utilize his crew members' talent's, ship's technology, and his own experiences to be the best leader he can be. Webster's New World Dictionary defines a leader as one who guides or directs in a course that inspires the conduct of others. As well, a leader is one who makes decisions based his or her knowledge gained personally and from other sources. A leader is also aware of all the consequences of their actions and the ability of those that they lead. He must be a responsible and trust worthy person because of the many people who follow him and depend on him. Jean-Luc Picard has these qualities and uses them to the best of his ability to lead his crew on the Starship Enterprise. In the episode "The Defector," Picard shows that he is a leader by making smart decisions and by giving direction to others. From the beginning, Picard is directing the android Data in a scene from Shakespeare's play Henry V , with the help of the halo deck. He is giving advice on how Data can act more as a human. He explains why King Henry has gone in disguise among his troops before the battle. Picard explains that it was to find out the state of the Kings army's morale and confidence (The Defector, Dec 30, 89) . Picard knows that it is important to know the confidence of his crew because it directly corresponds to him because he is like the king of the Enterprise. Later, in another encounter with Data, Picard asks him to make a record of the events before their possible war with the Romulans . The last thing he asks Data is, " How is the spirit of the crew ?", and as Data responds , "they are confident, why do you ask?" Picard responded by saying that, "It would be hard to disguis e myself and walk among my crew like King Henry did" (The Defector, Dec 30, 89). This shows that Picard is generally concerned about his crew as any leader would be.

The Most Appropriate Pricing Technique for Cadbury Essay -- Business M

The Most Appropriate Pricing Technique for Cadbury There are 7 different pricing techniques that are available to Cadbury. 1. First pricing technique is skimming pricing. With skimming pricing, these prices are set very high to take advantage of some peoples desire for a new product or design at any price. Skimming is most effective if demand is inelastic. For e.g. Cadbury put their prices at the same as most of their competitors and at the price their customers are able to pay. 2. Cost plus pricing Pricing methods which are based on the cost structure of Cadbury that are favoured by accountants because they are supposedly more accurate and reliable. Cadbury is trying to maximise it profits. This method works successfully because all costs need to be accurately accounted. In many firms this is a very difficult process which is why the simpler mark-up procedure is used. Cost plus pricing tends to ignore the demand for the product and the competition. 3. Positioning pricing Cadbury uses this method to position prices that are set which reflect the consumers view of the chocolate bean. 4. Demand based pricing Cadbury set their prices based on what they think the consumer is prepared to pay. If they don’t then they wont sell as good as they thought. If they do sell at the customer’s price they will have a good reputation and an output of more customers. 5. Competitive pricing In this situation Cadbury set a price roughly in line with their competitors. This will depend on the type of competition that exists for the chocolate bean. It is particularly the number of seller and the number of buyers. This process works reasonably well if the cost structures of the companies are roughly similar. 6. Discount pricing Cadbury is a competitive market which buyers should be able to obtain goods for less than the advertised price. Many firms can be forced into price-cutting if they are short of cash or need to increase sales quickly. 7. Different pricing Cadbury may change different prices sometimes for the same product at different times. Its prices will be based on the elasticity of demand for the chocolate bean. Which is the most appropriate for this market type? The most appropriate strategy for Cadbury is Cost Plus pricing and Demand based pricing. Cost plus pricing is appropriate because the information is more accurate and reliable which is good... ...ghtly difficult but they have managed due to good marketing strategies. It has distributed its products in many ways even if they have failed in some but they always try to find the right way to distribute their product so their customers stay satisfied. PRODUCER WHOLESALER RETAILER COMSUMER When there are a large number of retailers, Cadbury (the manufactures) will usually deal with a wholesaler who buys in bulk, stores the products and sells them on to the retailer in smaller quantities. A small grocer will usually go to the wholesaler. This is mainly done regularly to avoid the small space. Advantages of long channels - Retailer gains convenience and minimises storage costs - Consumers are able to buy in small quantities from retailers - Goods are available close to where they are needed - Wholesalers provide valuable retailer support services - Transport costs are lower because the producer does not have to make as many deliveries. Disadvantages of long channels - Prices tend to be higher when goods change hands many times; compare prices in the corner shop with those in supermarkets - Producers have less control over the way in which goods are stored and sold

Korea and the Internet :: Computers Language Communication Papers

Korea and the Internet Since its birth a generation ago, the Internet has been dominated by the English language and North American culture. In a 1998 survey conducted by the Internet research group, eMarketer, two-thirds (68 percent) of a little over 60 million Internet users worldwide reside in just two countries, the United States, with 37 million users, and Canada, which has just over 4 million. About 60 percent of the Internet host computers are located in the United States. Nine out of 10 Internet users today are English-speaking. No fewer than 82 percent of home pages (web sites) are in English, according to the Internet Society’s survey of 60,000 computers with Internet addresses. Yet some foresee an end to this electronic hegemony. The number of non-U.S. Internet users is about to outnumber those inside the country soon and increase by nine-fold over the next five years, from 16.4 million in 1997 to 143 million by the year 2002, representing an annual growth rate of 70 percent. In that case, the present practice of conducting business, presenting news and information, and performing discussion on the Internet will have to be drastically changed. The widespread use of English will eventually be contested and the Internet itself will become multicultural. This is already happening. A consortium of American computer companies has developed a universal digital code known as Unicode to allow computers to represent the letters and characters of virtually all the world’s languages. Major search engines like Yahoo and Excite offer their services in multiple languages. Netscape Communications in partnership with the leading Latin American Internet service, Star Media Network, provides a free Internet guide in Spanish and Portuguese. Internet services in languages other than English, like Star Media, are starting to provide world and regional news, weather, stock listings, e-mail, chat rooms, Internet access and more, all in the users’ native language. Given such developments, optimists argue that far from ending diversity, the Internet will promote it by allowing even small groups of people to disseminate their messages worldwide. By overtaking the "middle range" languages, it may actually protect minority languages threatened with extinction. A wider range of languages on the Internet means at least in theory that a wider range of ideas will be exchanged in a cyberspace, the long-promised global village. Despite a tremendous influx of non-English languages in recent years, however, the Internet has a long way to go before it becomes a truly multilingual medium.

Manual Washing Machine

http://www. bukisa. com/articles/38621_review-of-related-literature-renewable-energy The acquisition of renewable energy can not only provide a stable and secure energy in a country but also can lead to further growth and advancement of a country’s state. http://wiki. answers. com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_of_manual_washing_machines An advantage is that it saves time so you aren't using a whole day for your washing Written by Joanna Hoang http://www. greeniacs. om/GreeniacsGuides/Energy/Manual-Washing-Machine. html Manual Washing Machine Washing machines can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars a year to run depending on your washing machine type, whether or not you use hot, warm, or cold water, your energy company’s prices, water company’s prices, and the number of loads you run per week! Most significantly, roughly ninety percent of the energy used by washing machines just goes towards heating water! 1So, how about a bike pedal-powered washing machine? C urrently, there are many different designs and ideas for pedal powered washing machines. The goals differ, but they include reducing energy and water consumption and costs, and increasing accessibility for people who cannot afford and/or do not have the energy capacity to own conventionally powered washing machines. By now you are probably wondering how you can manage to get your hands on a pedal powered washing machine†¦Unfortunately, at this time there are no pedal powered washing machines available for mass production and thus for purchase by consumers. However, if you are handy with tools you can build your own! BENEFITS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: Medium to High. Using a pedal powered washing machine will help you use significantly less energy and save water. COSTS: Low – Medium TIME AND EFFORT: Extremely High

Frontline Digital Nation Essay

In the last half century of watching television many authors, critic, and people in general has had an opinion on weather watching television is a good thing or a bad thing. In a couple of recent articles that I’ve read one Author Steven Johnson, who wrote â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter†. Tells us of how violent and gruesome shows of this era are as opposed to shows of the past. Steven also tells us of how there are some good shows that actually teach people and helps them to learn in a different way. The second article that I recently read was â€Å"Thinking Outside The Idiot Box† by Dana Stevens. Not only is Dana an author she is also a paid television critic who states that TV does not make us any smarter and that television is â€Å"brain-liquefying poison† for all but especially for children. Dana insist that Steven Johnson theory be put to the test by having everyone partake in a National TV Turnoff Week event to see if anyone gets any dumber. In my opinion Television has many different purposes, such as keeping us updated with the news, educating us on different species/creature inside and outside our planet, but the main purpose for television is soley for entertainment. When Television is being debated whether it is good or bad, I think that it should be taking into consideration just as any other subject we talk about when past/present is involved, and that consideration is â€Å"Evolution-Things forever evolving or changing†. Take for insistence the way countries would defend their land. In the 1700s militaries fought with swords, in the  1800s militaries were introduce too and fought with muffle rifles and one shot hand guns in which were probably a headache to deal with considering they could only fire their gun once and 2 step process to reload the guns, in the 1900s militaries fought with rockets, missiles, and nuclear bombs and today militaries have perfected the rockets, missiles, and nuclear bombs. â€Å"Evolution†, just as militaries have evolved over the past centuries so has our everyday life. If you can remember back when you was a adolescence the things that you did and/or cared about then such as playing outside with your friends all the time, getting junk food from the store, or just living a carefree world for the most part. As a teenager those adolescence things become less important to you because you are probably into dating, driving, sports or some other kind of school activity. When we became adults the things that we once knew really do not exist because we have evolved over the past years. So why would television b any different? In 1939 when the Television was first introduced the screen was black and white and had no sound. Over the years television became colorful, sound was added and the screen got bigger. Now televisions are in 3D huge and flat. In shows of today such as 24 and The Sopranos: Steven Johnson states how violent and gruesome the shows are and how the â€Å"Sleeper Curve† alters the mental development of young people today because you have to integrate far more information than you would have a comparable TV show decades ago. Dana Stevens believes that shows such as 24 and The Sopranos are the â€Å" great leap forward in human cognition: multi-threading† Which makes viewers behave like â€Å"rats in a behaviorist maze†. I believe that people are entitled to watch whatever show they please because that’s what television is for â€Å"entertainment† after working a long shift and attending school I like to go home and kick my feet up with the remote and watch Whatever show that I think is appealing to me at the time whether it’s a comedy, drama, horror, western, or sitcom. Steven Johnson also states in his article about shows associated with â€Å"quality† entertainment shows such as Murphy Brown and Frasierand how the intelligence arrives fully formed and the witty things that the actors say to one another to avoid lapsing into a tired sitcom but says that â€Å"You no more challenge mind by watching these intelligent shows than you challenge your body by watching Monday Night Football†. Steven also states how another televised intelligence is on the rise that has cognitive benefits ascribed to reading: attention, patience, and retention the parsing of narrative threads. Dana Stevens says shows such as The Teletubies which is a children program instructs toddlers the basics of vegging out. She also states how shows are â€Å"zapworthy† and watching TV only teaches us to watch more TV. I say of course TV makes you want to watch more TV but that is the same as if you were reading a good book. After finishing the book you want to read the sequels to that book because your attention has been hooked and you want to know how, when, and were it takes you. Television is the same way but more visual. Besides television is a multibillion dollar company made by the viewers and just for the viewers. In conclusion I have written to you about the â€Å"Evolution† of our past and present society as it may be related to the military, our everyday lives over time, or whether it’s Television. In any case as long the world spins then any/everything inside is subject to change and as this world change there will always be debates about that change. Some say and believe that Television makes people act out with what they see on the screen into reality. I am not one of those believers because television has only been around for 74 years so what/who was the blame for all of the violence and corruption before television was introduced? I do however believe that no Should be allowed to or allow their children to watch TV all day, As I stated earlier its main purpose is meant for entertainment.

Advertising Infiniti Essay

Moreover, consumers were simply confused by the advertising and it even became a runt of Jokes by Jay Leno and David Letterman. It is obvious that it is necessary to analyze the mistakes that were made by Nissan. It should be said that for a success of any product that is advertised it is vitally important to take into consideration four key elements, four levels of consumer’s involvement. The first level is Extended Problem Solving. This level occurs when a consumer is inexperienced in a particular consumption setting or buying situation yet finding its setting to be interesting and highly involving. It is a deliberate decision-making process that includes the explicit need recognition, careful internal and external search a thorough evaluation of alternatives, and a lengthy and involved post-purchased evaluation. In the case of Infiniti Nissan was obviously only on its way to invade the market of the US. Naturally it could not have enough information about the real needs of American consumers. Moreover, the company could simply underestimate its main competitors, including Toyota’s Lexus, which operated within the same segment of the market. The company lso needed to gain the recognition of the American consumers that was not an easy task. The next level is Limited Problem Solving, which implies a low experience and decision making process. The information search is usually limited to the first brand that the consumer encounters in that particular product category. At this level of involvement, the consumer is simply seeking adequate solutions to mundane, everyday problems. An example of this may be a purchase of Pampers shortly after the new mother receives a complementary package of them when she leaves the hospital. It also could be the result of receiving a trial offer or a discount coupon. Probably Nissan Infiniti’s campaign was Just hold in the wrong time since the need was not so significant as it actually should be for a successful introduction of a new automobile in the market. Not less important is the level of Habit or Variety Seeking. Traditionally a habit purchase occurs when the decision is uninvolving and a consumer simply purchases the same brand from the product category over and over again. Habitual purchases are one of the most common types of the decision-making ode, but it is necessary to remember that habits may be disrupted. Actually it is exactly what Nissan has to be done for, as I has already been mentioned at the beginning of the 1980s Japanese companies’ share was about a quarter of the general American market, consequently Nissan’s share was even less significant. In such a condition American consumers would rather buy a traditional American car than a Japanese one. However Nissan also had a chance because Variety Seeking occurs when a consumer has a tendency to switch brands to avoid the boredom and routine of habitual buying. But despite this fact the consumers still choose from their original consideration set of alternatives. Finally, Brand Loyalty is extremely important particularly in the contemporary business. In this level, there is high involvement and a very rich prior experience history that Nissan obviously lacked at that time. However, once gained it will be very effective especially in the advertising campaigns since it is based on highly favorable attitudes toward the brand, a conscious commitment on the part of the consumer to find this brand each time the consumer urchases from this category, and it provides high emotional benefits for the consumer. Thus, taking into consideration all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that Extended Problem Solving, Habit or Variety Seeking, Limited Problems and Brand Loyalty are extremely important for the market success of any advertising campaign and any product. However, the advertising of Nissan Infiniti discussed in terms of this paper turned to be ineffective since not all of the modes mentioned above could be objectively realized in that time in the market of the US by this company.

Origin of the Cold War Essay

For more than four decades, world politics revolved around the Cold War. The foreign policy of both the United States and Soviet Union was dominated by the Cold War with far reaching social, political, economic and military consequences. The domestic politics and foreign policy of other nations around the world was also shaped by the Cold War. Very few countries escaped its influence. Since the distinctive features of the Cold War era was shaped in the years that immediately followed the Second World War, an analysis of its origin is important in understanding international history in the second half of the twentieth century. There are various conflicting interpretations of the origin of the Cold War. These interpretations are often based in deep philosophical and ideological differences. A great majority of these interpretations were themselves structured by the ongoing Cold War. The end of the Cold War together with the release of important information over the past years has provided an opportunity to reassess its origins. The earlier controversies concerning the responsibility of the Cold War can now be transcended in an attempt to understand what happened and why. New questions concerning the origins of the Cold War can now be asked. In this paper, I will focus on the international system and the events in the United States as recounted by Kissinger. Kissinger analyzes geopolitics and the perception of threat, ideology and social reconstruction, and strategy and technology. He examines how the American perceptions of national security interests were influenced by global distribution of power and deeply ingrained ideological predispositions. He also demonstrates how the need for hegemony helped shape the political conditions of other nations. There are two dominant views concerning the outbreak of the Cold War. The first is the view that the Soviet Union was mainly responsible for the outbreak. This view pictures the Soviet Union as persistently expansionist and being motivated ideologically. According to this perception, the United States authority wanted to get along with the Soviets. However, they realized that accommodation was not possible since the Soviet authorities quested for world domination. The second view is that the policies of the United States were also expansionist and therefore contributed to the beginning of the Cold War. The idea points towards the long history of American expansionism and argues that United States policies were shaped by ideological beliefs and economic interests to a large extent. It is this second idea that I wish to explore in the writing of Kissinger. The American foreign policy until the early into the twentieth century was characterized by isolationist tendency. According to Kissinger (29), the rapidly expanding power of the United States and the gradual collapse of international system that was previously centered in Europe projected the United States into world affairs. There was wide recognition by the United States administrations during this era that America had an important role to play in world affairs. The international balance of power could not be conceived by American leaders without the role of the United States. There was a deep philosophy that underlay this idea; America had an obligation to spread its principles throughout the world (Kissinger 30). The rise of new powers had been vehemently fought by European powers. The United States was however confident that they could resist any challenge. The American foreign policy was crafted on the conviction that the constant wars that were being fought in Europe were consequences of Europe’s cynical methods of statecraft (Kissinger 32). Ingrained in the American thought was the idea that peace depended on the promotion of democratic institutions. America saw it her responsibility to spread this idea. A great majority of American leaders were convinced that the United States had a special responsibility to spread its values in order to foster world peace. American foreign policy was radically transformed by Roosevelt who strongly believed that America was a great power. He also believed that in a world regulated by power, the natural order of things was reflected in the concept of spheres of influence (Kissinger 40). He was committed to engaging America to reestablish the equilibrium. He saw Germany and Russia as posing a threat to United States dominance in Europe and Asia respectively. He particularly saw Russia as holding in her hands the fate of the coming years. It is during this era that the United States begun seeing Russia as a possible threat to her interests. Weakening of Russia thus became a major issue. The United States saw itself as solely responsible for the security of the entire mankind. This perception foreshadowed its containment policy that was later developed after the Second World War. These sentiments obviously rubbed any nation that desired dominance the wrong way, invariably resulting ion conflict. With the Soviet Union having its own philosophy, the result would not have been anything apart from the Cold War. Work Cited Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy. Simon and Schuster.

How do religion and culture intersect in the realm of ethics Essay

How do religion and culture intersect in the realm of ethics - Essay Example Religion is more stern and inflexible than culture in the realm of ethics. Religious teachings are established and not prone to change over the passage of time. Most religions are based on the philosophy that their teachings are everlasting and cater for the needs of all societies till the end of the world. The difference between religious beliefs and ethics based on religion is that the former describes the beliefs of an individual whereas the latter proposes a framework of ethics based on the religious rationale (Huntington). Culture, on the other hand, is a more flexible and modifiable factor with the passage of time under the influence of different internal and external factors affecting a nation. Since ethical policies are based on the interplay of religion and culture in a nation, practices that might be condemned by religion find their way into a society from time to time because of the flexibility carried by the culture. While a modernistic society considers many religious te achings and principles outdated and inapplicable, culture is modified to cater for the needs of the advanced society. The role of both religion and culture in the development is prominent in history (Hill). Religion and culture intersect in the realm of ethics in a complicated manner. â€Å"[T]here are three spaces that provide the arenas of performance†¦we identify first a space where power and politics are performed, a second space where ethics are performed, and a third space where aesthetics are performed creatively and in response to the first two† (Hecht and Biondo xvi). A common element between all three of these spaces is that each is a social space that provides room for performance. The pattern of intersection of religion and culture cannot be generalized for all nations as there are a host of factors that make this intersection different from one nation to another. â€Å"Virtually everybody who writes about the topic portrays religion as

Cross Cultural Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cross Cultural Managment - Essay Example Globalization has led to progressive diversification where the organizations are filled with diverse workforce belonging to different culture and countries (Dong and Liu 1352-1706). The impact of the cultural diversity is unclear and not unidirectional. The impact of diversified cultural workforce on the team productivity can be rewarding only if the organizational culture and climate is positive and congenial. Culture is an important element which acts as an external source of deep influence on the employee behavior. The impact of culture on an individual creates a change within the organization itself. Members of the organization are coping with uncertainty and ambiguity collectively and individually based on the strategies and attitudes that have a deep influence on the culture. Culture is a collective programming of mind which distinguishes one category of people from another. The type of cultural values and importance given to these values varies from one culture to another and is deeply influenced by the historical, current socio political and ecological context. The cultural values play an important role in shaping the organizational customs and practices that in turn help in shaping the organizational culture. ... For example, the management in Volvo imparts training workshops to the employees regarding their technical skills and soft skills which are also known as â€Å"People Skills†. This workshop lays emphasis on enhancing the non technical skills, which can help in the achievement of the objectives in unification. Presently, the multinational corporations are spreading their business units across the globe for the expansion of activities and achieving economies of scale. The cultural gaps and distance between the host and home country have a significant impact on the selection process, training, development and performance management systems. Companies find the cross cultural networks to be rewarding and equally challenging. The cross cultural management is found to be equally challenging because of the potential rising conflicts which pose as barriers for the development of strategies. Moreover, multinational corporations hire employees from a diverse workforce who all wish to ach ieve the organizational goals in unification. With employees belonging to another culture training is imparted to them with a unique training curriculum that covers all the aspects required for achievement of the organizational objectives. The cross cultural management usually depends upon variables like the ethnicity and culture variations among the employees and thus a systematic approach is required for categorization of various organizational groups, teams and individual levels. Cross cultural management focuses on the difference between the diverse groups and signifies a nineteenth century anthropological perspective of the culture (Fontaine 125-135). Knowledge management approach which lays emphasis on the fact that knowledge is the most valuable asset and methods on how the management can

Introduction to business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Introduction to business - Essay Example The US retail industry is about $4.13 trillion. Discussion Competition in the Home Improvement Market – both Lowe’s and Home Depot are in effect after the same segment of customers. These are the people who undertake renovations, repairs or major upgrades on their homes. Three likely sources of revenue growth for a retail chain are the following: opening new stores, increase sales revenue per store and expand item offerings. The current recession has ruled out implementing any of these three options and so it is quite understandable that the competition gets tougher with the same set and number of customers. The difficult financial conditions has likewise slowed the demand for items being offered at both stores although they price their products practically the same. More importantly, demand for D-I-Y (do it yourself) home products are waning due to the recession. People are concerned with the values of their home during difficult times and will naturally tend to postpo ne discretionary spending (Quinn, 2009, p. 1). Home renovations, repairs and expansion are generally optional expenses and can be postponed when necessary.

Strategies Embraced by Williams-Sonoma Company Case Study - 31

Strategies Embraced by Williams-Sonoma Company - Case Study Example The current policies embraced by Williams-Sonoma are increasingly becoming outdated. Till now, these strategies have been successful in increasing the business growth level within the company. Competition keeps growing day by day, and new companies are launched daily within the retail market industry. According to information from the case study, Williams-Sonoma has many market competitors who specialize in similar products(Rouse, 2010). Different companies are also adopting different strategies to distribute their products due to the adoption of new technological advancements. So, it is obligatory for Williams-Sonoma to adopt new strategies if they want to sustain their position in the retail market. If the company decides to maintain its current strategies, business competitors are likely to triumph over them by adopting the latest technologies, and strategies. Competing companies need an adequate competitive advantage in order to outperform each other. Without such strategies, performance may decline due to the various challenges experienced in an extremely competitive business. A company that updates its database regularly to accommodate after sale services attract potential buyers. For this reason, it is necessary for Williams-Sonoma to develop, and implement innovations if they expect to maintain their current market position and attain higher levels of business growth. The strategies used by Williams-Sonoma are very efficient, and I would adopt them if I were the CEO. By implementing these strategies, I would grow and enhance the success of the business. But, I would focus more attention towards expanding the international market rather than the US market alone. At the moment, Williams-Sonoma underestimates the potential of other markets in enhancing their business success. I believe the idea of expanding the market scope would benefit the company. I would also encourage more use of the modern telecommunication systems, and the Internet to broaden the market scope to other parts of the world.     

Paraphrasing Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Diversity Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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General Aviation - Marketing Role Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

General Aviation - Marketing Role Models - Essay Example The onus of the growth and maturity of the aviation industry lies on four significant individuals – Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, Lloyd Stearman and Russ Meyer. Clyde was the pioneer in designing and building monoplanes while Stearman concentrated and manufactured biplanes. Stearman is responsible for the Boring Aircraft manufacturing Company that still serves the nation and the world today. Cessna and Beech had only rudimentary education up to fifth grade while Stearman and Meyer received formal education. Meyer, apart from being a pilot, was a good administrator and leader and is responsible to revive the light aircraft industry. An inner urge and quest for designing led Cessna, Beech and Stearman to create, design and build airplanes. The fact that this was possible without formal education demonstrates the technical acumen that existed in all of them. Beech and Stearman have been enshrined in the Aviation Hall of Fame for their invaluable contribution to the aviation industr y. All of them had a very humble beginning and could rise in life due to their dedication and creative abilities with which they were endowed. In the last 50 years the airlines industry of US has experienced reasonably profitable to devastatingly depressed periods. The US was the first major market to deregulate the industry in 1978 and it has experienced more turbulence than any other airline or region (Wikipedia). Deregulation led to higher competition and drop in airfares. This can be a major constraint for established carriers which tend to have a higher cost base compared to the new entrants. The global aviation industry is expected to grow at Compound Annual Growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% in the period between 2004 and 2024 (Zinnov LLC, 2007). Air travel is correlated to wealth and has increased over the years with the increase in the GNI. The markets in the US and Europe are growing at a slower pace that the rest of the world. This is demonstrated through a fall in their global share

Aircraft on Ground Essay Example for Free

Aircraft on Ground Essay In the case of Bennett Solutions, if the support assembly does not fit, do we need to build the tree into a recursive model of considering buying another new part from Miami supplier or buying another from ARC, etc.   can we just end that branch of the tree taking into account the cost of returning the product and the reduced refund price? A: There is no set answer, so make whatever assumption you think is reasonable, state it clearly, and proceed with it. Q: Is the cost of rebooking per passenger another decision tree? What we are trying to figure out is the % of load (occupied seats) and % of passengers looking to rebook same day etc. that are to be used as fixed for calculations or as uncertainities. A: Try to make as few assumptions as possible. As a general guideline, when the case gives you enough data (e. g. , historical numbers, estimates, etc), such that you can compute a number directly, try to do that, instead of introducing new elements in the decision tree. Q: Is it possible to fly an empty plane from Santiago to Miami in order to avoid a cancelled Miami – Santiago flight? A: Carefully read the notes at the end of the case one of them should stipulate something about this. Q: How long does it take to make the actual repair to the system once the parts arrive in Santiago? A: Make an assumption that you consider easonable, state it clearly, and proceed from there Q: Consider the sentence: â€Å"However, since this is a current initiative, there is only a 35% to 50% probability that support assemblies of different fleets will fit perfectly and hence are interchangeable. There is no way to know in advance, this has to be checked on the aircraft when the component is installed†. Does the above apply only t o the part supplied by Bennett or it applies to the other suppliers? A: It is safe to assume that it only applies to Bennett Cargo Sales as it refers only to the support assembly.

Accomplished Senior Level Accountant Resume Essay Example for Free

Accomplished Senior Level Accountant Resume Essay SENIOR ACCOUNTANT / AUDITOR Accomplished Senior Level Accountant with exceptional analytical skills and in-depth knowledge of internal controls concepts.   Expertise in conducting operational and financial audits and identifies and implements business process improvements.   Effectively writes recommendations to strengthen internal controls resulting in improved operational efficiencies.   Excellent communication skills. Fluent in English Chinese   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   CORE KNOWLEDGE AREAS à ¼Ã‚   Internal Controls à ¼Ã‚   Superb Organizational /Analysis Skills à ¼Ã‚   Staff Development Training à ¼Ã‚   Policies / Procedures à ¼Ã‚   Operational / Financial Audits à ¼Ã‚   Team Leadership RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE, Chicago, IL  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2001-Present Auditor-in-Charge (2006-Present) Staff Auditor (2001-2006) As Auditor-in-Charge, conducts audits through formal walkthroughs of accounting processes, internal control evaluation and testing, risk assessments high level analytical review, business organization and strategy analysis, and consideration of fraud. Develops audit procedures. Developed and maintains the audit budget, tracking any deviation and reporting it to the Supervisor. Prepares audit summary reports with documented audit findings and recommendations. Facilitate information requests from audit team members to accounting personnel ensuring a smooth workflow process. Mentors new hires on career development through on-the-job training. In the capacity of Staff Auditor, conducted financial audits of large insurance companies such as Allstate Insurance Company, Zurich Life Insurance Company and Country Insurance Company. Successfully audited over 30 various companies and performed substantive audit procedures to test the validity of financial information. Documented audit procedures and testing conclusions. Analyzed/validated financial data regarding material assets, net worth, liabilities, income and expenses. Verified large amounts of asset and liability account balances in excess of $1 billion. Provided corrective actions for companies to avoid fines and license suspensions. ADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE CENTER FOR ECONOMIC PROGRESS, (City/State)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2003-Present Voluntary Tax Preparer Prepared federal and state income tax returns using TaxWise for hundreds of low income families. COMPUTER SKILLS Microsoft Word  ¨ Excel    ¨Ã‚   ACL   Ã‚ ¨ TeamMate Audit Management System EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-CHAMPAIGN, Champaign, Illinois Bachelor of Science, Accounting, 2001 CERTIFICATIONS Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), 2005 Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI), 2004 Certified Financial Examiner (CFE), 2004 Certified Public Accountant (CPA), 2003

Market Analysis And Market Entry Strategies For Brazil

Market Analysis And Market Entry Strategies For Brazil Accompanied by the globalisation the necessity and need for every company to rival on a global level in order to prevail arises. Hence, more and more companies pursue an expansion strategy out of reasons such as product diversification, lower costs, economies of scales and country incentives (Shook, 2008). Therefore this report will concentrate on the expansion of the sandwich chain Pret a Manger with a special focus on their market entry into the Brazilian market. Beneath Russia, India and China, Brazil is one of the BRIC countries and has on the one hand a highly developing economic growth and on the other hand a huge customer potential for the sandwich chain as Brazil has a population of approximately 185 million (Embassy of Brazil, 2010). The English sandwich chain was founded in 1986 by the college friends Sinclair and Julian and is headquartered in London, England. With its 225 shops, which are amongst some shops in the U.S. and in Hong Kong mostly located within the UK, Pret has a turnover of approximately 200 million pounds per year and employs around 4000 people. Their USP is the offering of fresh made food, avoiding preservatives and additives, which sets the company apart from the normal fast food chains (Pret, 2010a). According to their USP the company collects and distributes the food that hasnt been sold on that day to charity organisations every evening. Moreover the company directs its attention to sustainability concerning food purchasing, packaging, carbon emission, energy, waste and recycling (Pret, 2010c). When planning to expand globally a company needs to develop a global marketing strategy. Therefore this report will deal with the analysis of the Brazilian market on the one hand, including tools such as BERI Index, PESTLE analysis, Porters 5 Forces and MIS to be able to constitute the attractiveness of the market and to spot opportunities and threats that may arise when entering this market (Aaker/McLoughlin, 2010). On the other hand this report will concentrate on a possible market entry strategy for the companies products and services which will enable the company to achieve their objectives and to be successful within the Brazilian market. Market Analysis 2.1. BERI Index The Business Environment Risk Intelligent Index is an index to assess and forecast the political, financial and economic situation of a country for international lenders. The single factors are scaled from zero to four, with zero constituting unacceptable conditions to four constituting superior conditions, and are weighted to their valued importance. Looking at the BERI Index of Brazil it can be said that the country, with 61, 5 points, can be classified as an immature economy with investment potential (Hollensen, 2007, p.251). With an overall score of 10, economic growth is the highest ranked factor within the BERI Index, as Brazil is a newly industrialized country and has a therefore a huge growth potential. The lowest ranked factor is local management and partner because of among others the doubtfulness of corruption (Economist, 2010).  [1]   2.2. PESTLE Analysis The factors of the external macro environment can be analysed with a PESTLE analysis. This framework includes the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors, which are country specific and are mostly factors a company cannot control. Changes in the external environment can either depict threats or opportunities for a company. Therefore a company that wants to enter a new market must conduct a PESTLE Analysis to be aware of the external circumstances (Nejati et al., 2008). For Pret a Manger, planning to expand their sandwich chain to the Brazilian market this report will examine the most important success-factors, which are in the context of this company the social, political and economical factors. The three major changes that can be exposed in this context are: Strong economic growth (BRIC) (Euromonitor, 2009a) Emergence of wealthier income classes (Datamonitor, 2009) Orientation towards healthier lifestyles (Euromonitor, 2009a) The detailed PESTLE analysis can be inspected in Appendix D. 2.3. Porters 5 Forces Porters 5 Forces is a framework that helps every company to better understand the circumstances in which a firm operates, by analysing the five forces that are influencing each industry, ranking them from 1 to 5. The benefit of this framework is that when having analysed the environment of the aimed industry and being aware of the industry structure a company can gain competitive advantage when positioning itself according to that structure (Grimm et al., 2006). Looking at the Brazilian foodservice industry the first point to consider is the competitive rivalry within this industry. According to the competitive rivalry Brazil can be rated as strong (4). This is due to the fact that Brazil has a highly competitive market as there is a strong culture of eating out. Moreover the fast food sector is continuously growing and well-known fast food chains such as Mc Donalds are spreading all over the country and challenge local providers (Euromonitor, 2009a). The threat of new entrants can also be ranked as strong (4), as many companies are attracted to the Brazilian market due to the rapidly growing economy. Beyond that entry and exit costs are low, which makes the market attractive for potential foodservice companies. These days many foreign foodservice chains are entering the Brazilian market which makes the threat of new entrants strong because the middle class continuously rises and therefore increases the customer base for these companies as w ell. Overall customers dont tend to stick to a single chain. Home cooking, leisure activities and food retail are substitutes for the foodservice industry. But the threat of substitutes can be ranked as moderate (3) as Brazilians like to eat out (Euromonitor, 2009a). Regarding the buyer power it can be said that switching costs for buyers are low (2) but an individual consumer has only little bargaining power concerning price-negotiation. The supplier power can be seen as moderate (3) as suppliers have more bargaining power than consumers. Besides farmers and food manufacturers staff can also be seen as a supplier. As long as labour costs are high in the foodservice industry, which is known as a low-margin industry, staff has bargaining power too. 2.4. Hofstede According to Geert Hofstede (2010a) culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster. Therefore every company must specifically look at the cultural differences that may occur, when entering a new market. Hence, looking at the cultural differences between the UK and Brazil is essential for Pret a Manger to be able to react accordingly. Those differences are depicted in Table 2. There are significant differences between the Brazilian and the UK culture. Collectivism beats individualism in Brazil and the power distance and the uncertainty avoidance index show that Brazilians prefer rules. These are significant cultural differences and Pret a Manger has to monitor all its steps in Brazil to be able to adjust problems that might occur due to these differences immediately. 2.5. Segmentation To be able to offer custom-tailored products and services each company, which doesnt want to pursue a mass market strategy, has to define market segments to be able to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their marketing endeavours. When a company is able to specifically align their products and services to the customers needs it is more likely to record cost savings as there is only minimal marketing wastage and the involvement of the customer is likely to increase which will in the end be a boon to the company (Conrady et al., 2008). Demographics, psychographics and behaviour are the three areas of the segmentation process. Looking at the demographics Prets average customers are between 25 and 45 years, are business women/men with middle to high income level. On the psychographic side Prets consumer segment has a lifestyle that could be mentioned as yuppie as consumers are active, busy and fashionable. Furthermore, looking at the behaviour of the consumers, it can be said t hat there is a tendency to fast and convenience food due to a lack of time. In Prets targeted segment brand loyalty is not high as there are various opportunities for consumers to buy food. As the segments of UK and Brazil are identical, this would match Levitts standardisation approach. But as there are slightly different preferences in Brazil Pret has to make local adjustments to fulfil the customers needs. Therefore Pret has to follow a polycentric approach. 2.6. Marketing Information System A marketing information system (MIS) is a helpful tool to collect and analyse customer information to support the marketing planning, by assessing market research data (Armstrong, 2003). Therefore Pret establishes a branch of its marketing research office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. To gather all the required information the 12 C-Framework can be used and its most important points to develop a profile of the Brazilian market (Doole/Lowe, 2008). For example Pret needs to know more about the consumer behaviour and when and how they prefer to eat sandwiches. Concerning the consumption the company has to consider how many sandwiches they can sell per day per store. Moreover the commitment needs to be assessed respective how the consumers feel about the product and whether they appreciate the freshness and sustainability of the offered products. Another interesting point are the choices to evaluate in how far the local taste has to be integrated within the menu. The capacity to pay is another e vident point as every nationality is different regarding the capacity and willingness to pay. Therefore the Big-Mac-Index could be a good figure to measure this and to establish prices in foreign currencies, but Pret needs to think about whether this index would be useful for them or whether it wouldnt be better to research a sandwich index. All those questions have to be answered by Prets research office. Market Entry 3.1. Objectives The targets given by Prets management concerning the market entry to Brazil are To develop a strong position in Brazil To establish a consistent brand globally in the long term To gain 10% market share in the first year To increase sales by 3% year on year for the next five years To secure long term profitability To stay in a budget of  £250 million Business objectives are essential for every company and a key for business success. Their aim is to set up targets on which every single person can orientate itself, to conduce as a measure of success and failure of the company and an overall guideline (Stockton, 1998). 3.2. Entry Strategy Pret a Mangers entry strategy for Brazil is going to consist of starting 200 wholly-owned subsidiaries. With this concept Pret is able to navigate and control the whole process and is able to adapt their strategy if things dont work out the way they should. Looking at the store concept Pret will on the one hand establish their common store concept Local Pret, where there is an outside area, a lounge, a dining area and a refrigerated self-service counter to provide a second home for their customers (Pret, 2010d). On the other hand Pret invented a new store concept called Kiosk Pret especially for the Brazilian market, where the food is sold through a window directly to the customer and will be set up in busy areas, where the people have time constraints. This idea arose out of market research, where they found that this concept is quite popular and successful in the Brazilian market (Maria Brazil, 2010). Concerning the location Prets Shops will be set up mainly in the city centres, shopping centres, in tourist areas near attractions, in business areas and in airports and stations. As you can see in figure 2 for their first market entry to Brazil Pret has targeted to open up stores in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Victoria as those cities have a huge population-density (altogether around 55 million) and are the main attraction for tourists. 3.3. Food and Internal Structure According to the food supply Pret decided to do local sourcing in Brazil to guarantee the freshness of the offered products for their customers. Therefore the company has to make contracts with local bread, milk and other suppliers. To guarantee the freshness of the offered products Pret establishes two distribution centres, one in Sao Paulo and one in Rio to be able to deliver the food just in time. Furthermore Pret will establish a quality control management which is responsible for the operational such as the presentation of food, service and food quality. As Brazilians like to eat sandwiches Prets bread range will comprise baguettes, sandwiches and hamburger rolls. Because Brazilians prefer to eat sandwiches in the morning and in the evening, Pret includes one speciality Feijoada Completa in their product range which is to be offered at noon. This speciality is a stew of beans with beef and pork meats which is a typical Brazilian dish. Concerning cultural differences it can be said that Brazilians dont like to touch their food by hand (Maria Brazil, 2010). Therefore Pret invented a napkin wrap, so that the food is covered and ready to eat for them without having the risk that they wouldnt buy it. The UK packaging, which is cardboard packaging, will be maintained in Brazil as there arent any cultural differences concerning this. Despite the fact that Brazilians are aware of the overall obesity rate and are searching for healthier options (Euromonitor, 2009a) one of the most famous burgers in Brazil is the X-Everything, which has 1300 calories and contains several ingredients such as chicken, sausage, ham, bacon, cheese and so on (Ribeiro, 2010). As this is not a healthy option Pret is likely to succeed with its niche positioning, offering a product range that represents a better and healthier alternative to other fast food chains. With regard to the internal structure for Brazil Pret will acquire and train the stuff continuously as they have chosen to only enter the market with wholly-owned subsidiaries. Moreover Pret will hire one UK estate manager, who will be responsible for 10 shops in general. To comply with the law and to have good working conditions, which also contribute to a good company image, Pret will establish a two-shift system. The opening times for the city centre will be from 8 am to 6 pm and shops within shopping centres will be opened from 10 am until 11 pm. 3.4. Branding There are four steps of building a strong brand that are contained within the customer-based brand equity model. This branding ladder has an ordering, which means all the steps are interdependent. It helps to define/describe the brand and helps to assist the overall brand building process. To achieve those 4 steps the company has to establish brand building blocks. The most valuable block is the resonance as this implies that the customer has a great loyalty to that brand (Keller et al., 2008). Those for steps are depicted in figure 3.  [2]   If the company wants to be successful and to be able to reach as many customers as possible they should meld the left hand side of the pyramid, which contains product related associations, and the right hand side of the pyramid, which contains non product related emotional associations (Keller, 2001). The CBBE Pyramid of Pret is depicted in Figure 5. The Brand identity is about the creation of perceptual salience, which should ensure that the consumer is aware of the companies offered products. It is important that the customer, when wanting to buy a sandwich, associates Pret with the selling of sandwiches. Prets brand identity is that they can be identified as a sandwich provider. To create a brand meaning the company must develop an image that stresses how the brand should be perceived from their target group. This derives either from the performance or the image. The customer associations arise either from self experience or advertising. Whereas the brand performance is geared towards communicating and providing a product that meets and satisfies customer needs, the brand image is more about how people should experience the brand in an abstract way. The brand meaning of Pret is that they are all about freshness, health and sustainability. Moreover they deliver good quality, mee t convenience needs and have a dependable service (Pret, 2010b). If the brand is perceived as unique it supports in the next step a great brand response. As the word implies brand response is all about how consumers feel about and respond to the brand which can either happen due to rational judgements or feelings. Consumers judgements originate after assessing all perceived performance and imagery points like the quality, credibility and superiority of the brand. The brand feeling is about what the customer feels, when he thinks of the brand which can amongst others be warmth, fun, excitement or security. Therefore the brand response, when the brand meaning is perceived correctly, should be positive in that kind of way that the customer realizes that Pret is a healthier alternative to other fast-food providers because it is seen as unique and credible. If Pret gets this brand response they are able to build a loyal brand relationship with their customers, because they have only a few direct competitors with a similar branding and are able to const antly increase their brand resonance (Keller, 2001). 3.5. Marketing To create a favoured brand image Pret has to plan actions within their marketing strategy that are necessary to achieve their marketing goals. The marketing plan for Brazil is adjusted to local preferences. Therefore Pret signed a contract with Robinho, a famous football player, who will be the endorsement for their city-light campaign underlining the healthy concept. This campaign starts half a year before Prets opening to raise peoples interest in the brand and the banners will be placed at top locations. One week before opening Pret will print a full-page ad in the local newspapers to make people aware of the companys upcoming opening. To maximize event exposure advertisements take place on the peak hour commute to and from work two weeks prior to store opening. Prets event sponsoring will comprise beach soccer, as Robinho is a football player and beach soccer is the most famous sport in Brazil. Concerning the prize and taste promotion Pret will provide free nibbles on the opening day as well as special prices to attract potential customers. Moreover Pret is establishing a one-to-one marketing concept to be able to inform the people about new variations of products directly regarding to their preferences. Branding and Positioning 4.1. Branding Despite the product, which is a tangible asset of a company, a brand is much more than that as it compasses the companys values and when established successfully would even exist in the customers minds when a disaster would destroy all tangible assets. In todays competitive landscape in which the products are homogenous, brands are an important factor to differentiate the company from its competitors and to gain competitive advantage by achieving customer loyalty (Armstrong et al., 2009). For consumers brands are quiet helpful as they help them to: identify the source of product, devolve the responsibility to the company when the product doesnt work, reduce the perceived risk as the brand guarantees a special quality reduce time efforts as consumer is able to immediately find its brand in the store function as a symbolic device (Parameswaran, 2008) The key to success for every company is therefore not only to communicate their brand values to affect the perceptions of the customers but to over-satisfy their expectations to be able to compete in todays highly competitive market (Nilson, 2000). How important the establishment of a powerful brand is can be clarified with the example of a blind-test, where people where asked to make a comparison between Coke and Pepsi. Whereas in the blind test the majority of people preferred Pepsi (51%) rather than Coke (44%)  [3]  the open test revealed that with 65% Coke was more popular than Pepsi with only 23%  [4]  (Chernatony et al., 2002). This once more underpins the importance of building a strong brand. The advantages for companies that have a strong brand are that they have a risk reduction because they have a huge loyal customer base and therefore their future sales and revenues are ensured (Kapferer, 2008). As delineated in chapter 3.4. branding is about how the company communicates their brand to their customers whereas brand equity is the value that is being ascribed to a brand from a customers point of view. For Pret a Manger wanting to open up stores in Brazil it is important to decide whether they want to build a global brand with or without adaptation. According to Levitt (1983), who is a proponent of the standardization approach, a straight extension strategy by which the same promotion and products are offered globally is the best way to generate economies of scale. Contrary Aaker (2000) stresses that those global brands that incorporate different cultural needs are perceived as successful, whilst managing to retain a similar brand identity and advertising strategy across all countries. For Pret a Manger the establishment of a unique global brand is essential to be successful in the long run as the company wants to further internationalise its business. Nevertheless the company needs to be aware of the differences in consumer behaviour according tastes, perceptions, aesthetic preferences to be able to adjust to different cultural needs in every country to gain market share. As mentioned in chapter 3.3. Brazilians are aware of their high obesity rate and are searching for healthier options. Therefore entering the market with a concept of healthy food options is a good choice as Brazilians are already aware of this issue. Brazilians are proud of there culture simultaneously they are open for foreign companies entering their country as those are connected with better quality for most people living in BRIC countries. Nevertheless the influence of culture in the food sector is quite high as they are reflected in local needs and tastes. Therefore Pret adapts their food to the local needs as mentioned in chapter 3.3. and uses Robinho in their advertising campaign to elicit national pride. To successfully extend their brand equity on a global scope Pret builds on a human concern that is omnipresent nowadays: sustainability and healthiness, which helps them to reach consumers regardless of their cultural background and gives them the additional value of being perceived as a global brand. Due to this Pret is able to be approved at local level, while beyond that having the advantages of economies of scale (Hollis, 2008). Positioning Rise and Trouts (2001, p.2) definition of product positioning emphasizes Positioning is not what you do to the product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect. The quintessence of this definition is that the ultimate battleground of marketing is the prospects mind. When customers want to purchase a special product or service they tend to assess the differences between the objects of comparison. Hence, they create a mental picture of the relevant objects of comparison through the allocation of features. This signifies that the single objects are positioned by the prospects mentally (Kotler and Bliemel, 2001). Therefore it is important for every company to understand the costumers mind to position its brand in the right mode to come first into mind when consumer are thinking about a special product. This is especially important in a time, where information overload is omnipresent and consumers are selective to either take or ignore presented information (Trout, 1996). According to Trout (1996) the principles of brand positioning are: Establish a position in the targeted costumers minds Provide a simple and consistent message, which conveys the companies benefits Differentiate a company from other companies Focus the companies efforts; do not provide all things to all people. (Lovelock et al., 2002) Prets USP is the offering of fresh made food, avoiding preservatives and additives, which sets the company apart from the normal fast food chains and therefore differentiates it with the help of their products (Pret, 2010a). Moreover Prets customers dont have to queue for their products as they are freshly prepared on that day, which isnt common for brands like Subway and Co.; this strengthens their rapid customer service respective service quality and makes them unique (Sanai, 2001). Gaining competitive advantage can either be achieved by selling products at a lower price or by increasing the benefit to customers in order to charge higher prices. The important factor of differentiating a company through the offering of higher value is that a company has to provide higher value to be perceived as trustworthy (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Pret pursues latter strategy as their benefit is the offering of healthy and fresh made food; in communicating and putting across the benefit of their new concept, which none of their competitors are offering to that extent, Pret will be able to gain the first mover advantage and charge a premium price (Johnson et al., 2008). The positioning map is a tool to visualise the average perception of the target audiences of your company against competitive brands while comparing USPs and position is what the management wants the company to be in the future. If the perceived positioning doesnt match the companies desired position it has to communicate this message with the help of the marketing mix (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). For Pret a Manger the positioning map is useful as it helps them to reveal their current positioning and its potential in contrast to rivals. Figure 6 exemplifies the perceptual map for the Brazilian fast food market. When there are many products on the map perceived as equal some companies have to face the problem of being a me-to product, which can lead to the fact that they will never be in the top of customers minds in that category. Therefore it is important to define the category, where you are positioning yourself according to customer needs (for Pret: fresh and healthy food). For Pret a Manger in Brazil it is important to pursue a distinct positioning, to become more competitive in the overall fast food sector. The positioning as a healthy option addresses a special target group and will exclude others that arent interested in that topic. Moreover a clear healthy positioning can lead to a repositioning of competitors, as they could be perceived as unhealthy (Nilson, 2000). Looking at the competitors in Brazilian food sector it can be revealed, that there is no single chain with an overall focus on healthy and fresh made sandwiches, except minor local stores. The overall trend in Brazil is the investment in healthier food options and the provision of fast food as the increase in disposable income and the rising amount of working women leads to time constraints and the need for healthy food because of the obesity issue. Therefore brands such as McDonalds are adapting their product range and offer salads and wraps. The main competitors of Pret are: McDonalds, Habibs, Bob, Giraffa and Subway (Euromonitor, 2009b). Looking at the perceptual map it can be said that every fast food chain in Brazil has the attempt to offer fresher products therefore they are perceived as mostly equal in the mind of the customers and for some it will be difficult to come into customers mind in the first place. Pret has a unique selling proposition as they provide fast and fresh products and can therefore charge a premium price as they are offering a perceived added value. To be able to maintain that position Pret has to adjust all their marketing activities to retain it. Standardization or Adaptation The discussion over standardization vs. adaptation of a companies marketing strategy in international markets originated in the 1980s through an article of Levitt (Kapferer, 2008). According to Levitt (1983) successful companies pursue a global standardization approach throughout their entire marketing mix rather than customizing it in different countries to be able to offer low prices due to economies of scale whilst being advanced, functional and reliable. Global companies have, according to Levitt, a better economical performance than those trying to serve several markets by adjusting their marketing mix. He stresses that consumers culture steadily converges across markets nowadays and names technology for one of the main reasons, which leads from his point of view to the fact that the whole marketplace is pitilessly homogenized and has common features. In his article he predicts the downfall of multinational firms as global companies, pursuing a standardization approach, that enter the same market will have several advantages against latter. However, contrary perceptions are represented by other authors. Aaker (2000) and Kapferer et al. (2004) consider that there shouldnt be a clear cut between those two views suggesting that there should rather be a mixture of both; creating an international brand that incorporates different cultural needs whilst standardizing those parts of the marketing mix that doesnt necessarily need to be adjusted. This underpins the ubiquitous saying think global, act local, which means that a company can be perceived as a global brand with all its advantages, although acting global and local at the same time to react to similarities and differences of their targeted markets which can additionally generate competitive advantage (Kapferer, 2008).Pret a Manger wants to further internationalize its business, but nonetheless they are adjusting their marketing mix where perceived as necessary. Therefore the company follows a polycentric approach and must particularly decide about how to tackle each of the seven marketing mix components (Kotler, 2001). For Pret adjustments have to be made especially concerning product, promotion and physical evidence whereas the other components are standardized to achieve economies of scale. As mentioned in chapter 3.3. Brazilians only prefer to eat sandwiches in the morning and in the evening; therefore Pret serves a local speciality at noon. Moreover Pret adapts their packaging because of the cultural fact that Brazilians dont want to touch their food by hand as they would otherwise have to face the problem that they cant sell their products. Concerning the promotion Pret pursues a global promotion strategy, but adjusts to different preferences. As mentioned in chapter 3.5. Robinho is used as an endorser and