A Visit to Toys’ R Us

| A Visit to Toys’ R US| How Toys are Affecting Gender Roles in Growing Children| | Ji-Young Kim| | 2012-05-21| | Today’s toy store is the Mecca for children. Although many traditional toy stores have died out due to the advent of electronic toys, big stores like Toys’ R US have survived by flexibly by absorbing its new adversaries. Now, they sell a very wide arrange of toys, from orthodox toys like dolls and action figures to toys that followed technology’s evolution, like electronic book readers and of course, video games.However, while toys have evolved, it became clear from my observation that the buyer’s attitudes about what toys are appropriate for each sex has not changed much. Also, although many previous masculine themed toys have become gender-neutral, still many more gender-biased toys carry messages of what boys and girls are expected to grow up. Still, I could see signs of improvement overall, and believe that as long as there is room f or improvement, gender bias amongst children will gradually disappear.As I coursed through the aisles, I noticed that the store divided itself into several parts: boys, girls, electronic games, and gender neutral. I found it amusing that the section for the girl’s toys was in the very back of the store. I assumed that this would result in girls getting a taste of the boy’s toys, but not vice versa. It would be profitable for the toy store to place the girl’s section in the front, because ignored products are often placed in the most valued spots (e. g. shelves that meets eyelevel), but I guessed that the toy store assumed that it would hear complaints from the parents if they decided to place toys that way.The front of the store, excluding the girl’s section, was divided into half by gender-neutral toys and toys for boys. Interestingly, the section for boys and gender-neutral sections were not marked ‘boys’ but only the types of the toys (e. g. action figures), but the section for girls was clearly marked as ‘girls’. Firstly what I see was the gender-neutral area contained mainly storybooks, board games, Lego, sports and musical instruments. I noticed that many toys that were traditionally considered masculine, like drums and skateboards, were now in the gender-neutral area.However, some toys we consider traditionally gender-neutral like sports equipments, had no pink colored items (lacrosse sticks), while some other equipments, like tennis rackets, which were placed right next to the lacrosse sticks, came out in both pink and blue. I assumed that there was no market for pink lacrosse sticks, or it wasn’t significant enough to fit into a toy store. Board games almost always showed ageism and reinforced sex stereotypes on their cover when depicting men or women. It is also worth noting that toys that are completely free of gender bias are based on themes completely unrelated to social activities (e. . rubber dinosaur models). One interesting board game for small children, named Battle of the Sexes by Imagination, was about testing the opposite sex about the interests of the player’s sex (e. g. The number of football players in a team). Outwardly, this seems like an excellent game which allows you to get to know what the opposite sex is like, but is in fact reinforcing ideas about the norms of the opposite sex into children. The gender-neutral section also included the well-known Lego series.Although I call this a gender-neutral toy, it is only so because it has a small amount of pink-colored sets containing pieces that are mostly women. Despite the Lego series’ seemingly gender-neutral concept of building blocks, most of the toys are themed around mostly masculine activities. Many, if not most, depict warfare, a theme based on violence, which is mostly considered masculine. Adventure themed Lego toys have no women characters involved; it always depicted men who are digging up a desolate landscape and fighting mummies with, of course, pistols and swords.Maybe, as shown in a video â€Å"Different but Equal†, boys will have a better initial ability to construct Lego blocks creatively due to their superior space recognition skills, but they will be able to further reinforce their abilities by playing with the blocks frequently, and ultimately resulting in reinforcing the idea that this ability is male-oriented. However, as recent studies show, women have just as much potential to do as well as men do on those areas. Sadly, parents who have daughters may be ignorant of these facts and may be intent on getting their daughters’ dolls rather than block toys.Still, the fact that there are Lego toys aimed for girls can mean things have improved such as Lego Friends, for only a decade ago it was even hard to find women figures in Lego products. It may be that some parents are shifting their paradigms and starting to get children what they wish for. The electronics corner was filled with toys that included characters symbolizing the peak of masculinity. For instance, the famous Super Mario series from Nintendo that has lasted for more than 30 years as a bestseller series, almost always depicts Mario, the main hero of the series, rescuing Princess Peach, the traditional helpless princess from danger.Mario has mustaches and grows in size and power when he consumes mushrooms, symbolizing the masculine features of a man, while Princess Peach wears pink frilly dresses, is always helpless and carries an umbrella, not to mention wearing makeup and jewelry. I believe that the video game company is unwilling to discard this facet of the game, because it has sold well for more than 30 years by creating games that live up to gender stereotypes.In rare cases the main character was a heroine, the female is either wearing a robotic outfit that covers the entire body and has a gun in the place of her hand (Metroid, Nintendo) or dres sed up in formal dresses (The Island Princess, Nintendo). It was clear that the former was meant for boys and the latter for girls. Most video games for boys were about destroying or somehow vanquishing the opponent, reinforcing the idea of ‘control’ and ‘power’, and ultimately in aggressive behavior.The section with toys for boys was filled with items that emphasize masculinity, especially action figures. Figures of men (especially superheroes and professional wrestlers with bulging muscles and tattoos) show boys from an early age how an ‘ideal’ man should look like. These toys will very likely lead to respect of power from a very early age, and will affect their speech style and ultimately reinforce differences in gender roles. Other than action figures, other notable toys were racecars and other automobiles, especially fighter planes.These toys would most probably give boys the idea of what would be ‘cool’ or what a ‘cool job’ looks like. These jobs have a thing in common: they are all risk-taking, and therefore toys are teaching boys to be risk-takers from an early point of their lives, as described in the video â€Å"Different but Equal†, although we have outlived the stone age. On the other hand, the girls’ toy section was the polar opposite: the whole area was an oversized dollhouse covered from start to end with pink. Merchandises included basic make-up, small frilly dresses for children and of course, dolls.All dolls were very slim and tall, and mostly had makeup on their faces, showing contrast to the tattooed and muscular action figures. These dolls will help keep future women in line by building an image of an ideal woman within a girl’s head, from a very early age. One interesting feature was that while there were Caucasian and African American dolls, there were none depicting Asians, perhaps because Asians have a longing for whiter skin, and prefer Caucasian ove r Asian dolls. It explicitly shows the place of Asians in American society: a race that aspires to become Caucasians, both in and outwardly.That clearly affects Asian girls, or Asian mothers, as there seems to be no market for Asian dolls, and thus reinforces the ‘traditional female sex behaviors’ white girls are often encouraged to follow (Lips, 203). On the day of May 19th, 2012, I got a chance to interview Berj, one of the managers of the store. He had short black hair, dark shiny eyes, and was wearing a uniform of white pants and a shirt with the ‘ToysRUS’ logo stitched into it. Every time before he started to speak, he cleaned his throat with a weird sound. Our short ten-minute interview began in a small manager’s room at the corner of the store.The interview with Berj revealed that the directions for the positioning of the toys came from higher up, specifically from a manual distributed from the main company. This showed that the positioning of toys were carefully planned to make the most profit possible, and was considered a major factor in profit-making. Such systematic planning showed that the company was much more willing to cope and follow the current set system of sexual assignment, rather than challenge it. I could not fault them much; companies are profit-driven, and it is only natural and easier to follow the ules rather than challenge them. In the toy store I could see a whole generation repeating the footsteps of its former. Parents will buy for their children what they think is right and appropriate, and will enforce those regulations on them if necessary. And so, children who grow up accustomed to those restrictions and bonds will naturally repeat the former generation. Most, if not all boys will play with action figures depicting machismo men, and most girls will always prefer dolls over toys. It was like seeing a never-ending cycle; in Buddhist terms, samsara. Fortunately though, I could see signs of hope.B y the works of countless feminists beforehand, we can see children’s movies like Mulan, where the heroine actually takes his father’s place in war, or skateboards created for girls. Although these examples aren’t completely free of gender bias in that Mulan is still a slim and beautiful girl and those skateboards come in pink, I believe that girls (and boys) who grow up experiencing these new changes will become adults who won’t enforce their views as strongly as their parents did, and maybe someday Americans will be able to overcome this typical bias as we can never imagine.It won’t be anytime soon, but someday they will. Reference â€Å"The Human Sexes (Part One) – Different But Equal. †Ã‚  The Human Sexes (Part One) – Different But Equal. Web. 20 May 2012. . Hillary Lips, â€Å"Gender role socialization: Lessons in femininity. † Pp. 197-216 in Jo Freeman (ed. ),  Women: A Feminist Perspective. Mountain View, CA: May field, 1989.

India Shining Essay

It has been projected that by the year 2020, 62% of India’s population will be between the age group of 15 and 59 years. This is what is known as India’s demographic dividend. This means that while the average age of citizens in other countries is on the rise, a majority of India’s population will be in the employable age group. The question that arises here and one that has been on the minds of many Indians is; does the demographic dividend contain in it a ticking time bomb or will we be able to use this as an opportunity to realize our dream of India Shining? There has been a lot of talk about the opportunity divide in India. This Opportunity Divide is that by the year 2022, 800 million people will be in the working age group but out of these only 200 million will be graduates while the remaining will be in the unskilled group. According to research done by NSDC, between the year 2008 and 2022, 347 million jobs will be created across 22 different high growth sectors in India. For example, the jobs available in the construction industry will be about 33 million, in the auto industry about 35 million, in infrastructure 103 million and in retail about 14 million jobs will be available. The interesting fact here is that India will have both the jobs as well as a matching demographic of population that will have the potential to carry out these jobs. The question is will we be able to train so many people? The Indian government has set a target of training 500 million people by the year 2022, but is this target achievable? The target definitely is a daunting number. As an Indian I do hope that this dream is realized and am proud to be working for an organization that has done some exemplary work in this field. Pratham Institute has trained over 70,000 people through its various vocational training programs and is in the process of training more. I hope that people who come across this blog also find a way to contribute towards India’s future. Maybe then we’ll have the answer to the question raised by the title of this blog.

Oopp Lab Work

Create a class account that maintains AC_no, name, and balance. Perform deposit, withdrawal and statement print operations. (statement print must print all the transactions that has taken place so for – use structures inside the class to maintain the details about Create a class that holds the details of the mobile phone like brand, mime, no of Simi cards, hone numbers etc. . Allow user to login with their mobile no. Use a function that sends a message from that mobile. Maintain the details of the message as a static member inside the send message function and display each time all the messages sent from that mobile, (b) 4. Create a class ID_card that maintains the details In an ID card. Perform insert, update, delete and display operation through functions that takes input through reference parameter. (c) Create a C++ program that takes employee details like ID, first name, last name, age and address.Create a class for student {name, course, regular/part-time, address}. Use f riend function to check that a student with same name and address can't be a regular student as well as an employee. (c) 6. Synthesize a C++ program that has two classes (one for employee and one for student), have a separate class for address (with door no. Street name, city, state) and reuse address both for employee and student. Perform insert, delete and display operations by taking choice of person (employee or student) from the user. Allow user to have more than one address also.Create an class that stores details about the computer (Assembled/branded, RAM, HAD, processor speed, price etc. ,). Use constructors to initialize the object and a destructor that deducts the count of object each time the object is passed to destroy function. Also use copy constructor to create a system with the configuration same as that's of an existing system. (b) 8. Create a savings_account class that maintains the details of customers like name, phone number. Cancan. Balance. Ensure that the vari ables are protected with proper specifies such that only the user's personal details can be modified directly.Perform deposit, withdrawal, statement print, and pin change operations by checking for minimum balance and other conditions. Create a new account for the same user by copying the basic details of the user using a copy constructor. (c) † 9. Create a class which maintains information like surname, password, age, mailed, phone number, accepted friends list, etc†¦ Declare a friend function Inside the class. Create 3 users such that the first user is friend with 2 and 3 (update friend list of user 1 with user names of 2 and 3). If the users logs in, he should see the personal Information

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Research Methods for Business Students Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

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See Below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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The Crucible Literary Essay Essay Example for Free

The Crucible Literary Essay Essay Abigail commits many sins and manipulates many people so she can prevent herself from getting in trouble. It all began when she committed adultery. According to the Old Testament, lust is one of the seven deadly sins. Abigail’s lust for John Proctor provokes her to commit adultery with John who is married to Elizabeth. Even though John Proctor isn’t free of blame, Abigail has more responsibility for the affair. After John Proctor realizes that it is wrong to have an affair behind Elizabeth’s back, he tells Abigail â€Å" Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched. † (Miller, 23) But Abigail says: â€Å"You loved me John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you loved me yet. † (Miller, 24) She tries to convince John to be with her even though she knows it is wrong. She thinks John will be with her if his wife is gone and tries to curse Elizabeth when she is in the woods dancing with Tituba and other girls. Then she tries to manipulate other girls to help her get what she wants. Abigail is very manipulative. After being accused of witchcraft when she was caught dancing in the forest, she manipulates other girls to do as she says to avoid getting in trouble. At the beginning of Act I, Abigail says to the girls: Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. Miller, 20) This shows that Abigail is threatening the girls to listen to her and do as she says so Abigail can stay out of trouble. When Abigail knows that she is able to easily influence the girls, she abuses her power by making false accusations. Abigail starts to make false accusations when she is at Parris’s house after seeing Tituba confess and get saved by God. She knows confessing and accusing other people of associating with the Devil wi ll allow her to be saved too. At the end of Act I, Abigail says:† I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil†¦ I saw Goody Booth with the Devil! (Miller, 48) Afterwards, Abigail starts to gain more power because people believe she has the ability to see who has associated with the Devil. Abigail abuses her power to accuse even more innocent people. One day, Elizabeth Proctor finds out that Abigail accused her of practicing witchcraft. She says to John: â€Å"It is her dearest hope, John, I know it. There be a thousand names; why does she call mine? She thinks to take my place, John. † (Miller, 61) This shows that Abigail is accusing Elizabeth because she is spiteful that Elizabeth is married to John. Many other people are accused and eventually, those who are accused but do not confess are put to death. The power and influence Abigail has over the people of Salem has resulted in the death and misery of many people. Her false accusations made the court suspicious of the accused victims. Those who didn’t want to lie to the judges, such as John Proctor and Martha Corey are hung. However, â€Å"twenty years after the last execution, the government awarded compensation to the victims still living, and to the families of the dead. This means all of the people who were executed or convicted were punished wrongfully. Abigail is indirectly responsible for the death of many citizens of Salem. If she hasn’t practiced witchcraft or accused people, the witchcraft hysteria in Salem wouldn’t have started. Abigail is a hypocrite who falsely accuses others of practicing witchcraft while committing countless sins herself. Her influence over the people of Salem has caused the death of many innocent people. Ultimately, she is the villain of â€Å"The Crucible†.

General Psychology Of Sex And Gender Psychology Essay

General Psychology Of Sex And Gender Psychology Essay The topics I have chosen for consideration of psychological research are language, and sex and gender. The approaches taken will be analysed the topic in general terms and not to focus on one particular aspect at detailed levels. It points to the lack of a conclusive answer which is caused by Psychology as a discipline being relatively young and still in early stages with a lack of adequately strong theories that might assist to connect otherwise contrasting perspectives co existing. The report concludes that different perspectives within psychology can coexist at times, though conflict is frequent throughout. Sex and Gender The Psychology of sex and gender is one the most topical, important and engaging subjects that psychology, it illustrates many of the difficult issues that psychological explanations must address, including the political implications of different perspectives and the challenging of integrating explanations. It has been a controversial topic since the inception of psychology as a discipline and it powerful illustrates some of the diverse approaches with the field. A deliberation of how psychology approaches the analysis of sex and gender discloses four psychological perspectives, these are: Biological sex differences: Explaining the differences between male and female and biological correlates of behaviour. Investigations ere conducted through scientific processes Evolutionary psychology: Explaining the differences in the behaviour between the sexes in terms of behavioural selection for reproductive fitness. Test are conducted empirically Social constructionist theory: Gender differences between the sexes through the study of discourse in various historical, cultural and social contexts and so is hermeneutic. Psychoanalytic psychology: Development and meaning of sexual differences. Studies are largely done through clinical observation. Direct impressions of the four perspectives are objects of knowledge of each of the perspectives are all valid and useful in general psychology of sex and gender,. They pose somewhat different questions, have different objects of knowledge and use different notions of evidences. These perspectives may be complementary, conflicting however the scope for co-existence is not transparent. Given that the perspectives do not share common objects of knowledge, however is there can be an underlying hope for complementary theories in which together they all contribute to a broad understanding. Sex refer to the biological basis of differences between the sexes, where as gender refers to social constructed categories pertaining to these differences. Assigning a sex to humans can sometimes be a complex process, biological characteristics such as genetics and hormonal used to designate male or female, can be unreliable in small proportions of case, due to genetic abnormalities, such as, Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) and Klinefelterss Syndrome ((XXY) (OU, p137) The biological and evolutionary perspectives certainly seem complementary at theoretic level in which both consider biological sex as the fonudation for gender and view conflicts between sexes as biological characteristics that have been cycled through during evolution. Evolutionary psychologists argue that sexual selections and the different optimal reproductive styles of our male female ancestors have results in some differences in the behavioural predispositions of the two sexes. These are seen to particularly apparent in the area of sexual behaviours and attitudes. Buss (1992), found while both sexes reported experiencing jealousy at the though of their partner being involved with another person, there were differences in the focus of their concerned. OU,p145) In humans, unlike in other animals, clear differences in brain structures that correlate with differences in adult behaviour patterns have proven difficult to demonstrate. Nonetheless, imaging studies show some sex differences in brain functioning of Western adults. This is probably due, at least in part, to the brains plasticity.(Giedd et al, 1999) )p140). While some sex differences are clearly established at birth for most individuals, bodies and brained may become gendered over lifetime of use. A explanations would appear to be consistent with research findings from cross-cultural differences in male and females sexual behaviours, which Allen and Gorski, 1990 study has backed (OU, p139) Nevertheless, biological psychology sets out to explain differences with in male and female psychology in terms of chosen physiological features, e.g. dimorphism in brain structures ( Hofman and Swaab, 1991,OU p.139). Additionally the evolutionary psychologists would primarily contend in favour of selected behavioural features such as differences between sexual attitudes between the sexes ( Clark and Hatfield, 1989, OU p.146). Thus, in that respect a conflict is apprent at the level of analysis, hence it is ironic that evolutionary psychology must dependently coinside with biological psychology since, given the intelligible complusions on its capacity to carryout the types of empirical reserach that might could be hoped for (Herrnstein-Smith, 2000,, OU p.141), it is dependent on a particulr amount of certification from the biological perspective, amongst others (OU, 2007, pp.184). From a social constructionist point of view, they regard sex and gender as features that are declared only through discourse and action. These are repercussion, of the individuals behaviour and experience within a cultural, social and historical context. The depth of the conflict is illustrated by a comparison of evolutionary studies that stress cross-cultural stability in particular sexual preferences ( Buss and Schmitt, 1993, OU, p.148, ) and social constructionist ideas such as Sandra Bem, who developed the idea of the cultural lens of musicality and femininity. This lens is a way of perceiving the world that makes behaviour and experiences gendered, this is called the Gender Schema Theory (1994, Holloway et al, 2007, OU p.153). According to the social constructionist perspectives, biological sex is not central to explaining what it is to be a man or a women, rather it is a signpost to which a whole set of us socially constructed gender differences are attached. In this account, social constructionist created discourse about masculinity and femininity are used by individual to create their own gendered subject positions. Whereas the biological and evolutionary perspectives correspond that biological sex consists at the center of explaining gender, the social constructionist perspective categorically rejects that notion, primarly for political reasons. In relation to Sex and Gender, political differences are often exposed when conflicting accounts of differences occur. Gender and sexuality came to be seen, through Freuds work, as having far-reaching implications for the development of it self. It largely correlates the social constructionist, in conditions of its interpretive or hermeneutic methodology. Therefore both the social constructionist and psychoanalytic perspectives dispute with the biological and evolutionary persptetives at the methodological level of understanding. Contrastingly however the psychoanalysis perspective acknowledges that both biological and cultural contributions to its hypothesis make up, though it is not without its share of difference however. Within the perspective, a important critical developments in the psychoanalytic theory sex and gender includes Freuds notion for the symbolic significance of the penis( and penis envy) quickly came under scrutiny from feminist psychologists to scientific practices, through Freud failure to consider the significant of womens genitals. (OU, Horney, 1926, , 2007, p.164). Language and Meaning There are three main perspectives used to examine the complex area of language, these are: Theory Methods Themes. These perspectives focus on different aspects of language including evolutionary developments of languages, the processing of languages and the construction of meaning through interaction. From the study of language and meaning, an evenly conniving combination of possible co-existence, complementory and conflicting aspects can be found when comparing the three principal perspectives. The evolutionary perspective sets out to explore language to understand how are related structurally and historically, how they are used differently by various social and cultural groups and how languages is used to communicate and create meaning. Language is the main medium for communication between humans beings and where we express, explore and pursue those goals that mean most to us . It can be concvied to view the three perspectives as at to the lowest degree co-existent. Their objectives of knowledge are different and one could anticipate their cumulative intentions to contribute to some sort of merged theroy Nevertheless, the possible conflict between the cognitive and social constructionist perspectives is disclosed in how they consider meaning as the object of knowledge. For the congntive view it is something whihc is manufactured internally by the individual before transmission, and subsequently rebuilt by the whoever present viewing. For the social view it is negotiated as a consequence of discourse between individuals, in which meaning emerges as the result of a complex exchange of intentions, interpretations and power-relations. Therefore, there is cause for discrepancy, as to what meaning is and where it comes from (Sperber and Wilson 1986, OU, p100). It therefore approprant to rationalise a claim of conflict since the types of meaning adopted by the two perspectives are themselves contratsting. A major social constructionist disagreement with a formulist cognitive perspective is that cognitive processes cannot be transparently reported. The argument is one that cognitive psychologist have long noted. Talking about early research into the cognitive modelling of language Boden (1977, pp.113ff, et passim) notes that a persons comprhendion of language in a given instance is dependent, not merely from their knowledge of the einviroment surrounding them, but importantly on their understanding of their relationship with who they communicate with. Within the evolutionary perspective there is also a argument as to whether language evolved as an adaptation advantage and was the foundation for other cognitive abilities. Pinker (1994) believes that languages may have evolved through natural selection, perhaps in conjunction with other cognitive abilities, OU, p83) or as a reaction of selection for an ability to form our Metarepresentation (Sperber, 2000, p.86). These are contradictory and conflicting views.. The major differences between psychological methods based on natural science principles and those based those on hermeneutic principles means that preservatives based on these methods may have difficulty achieving more than uneasy coexistence. Psychologists do not always abide on such significant basic principle. The questions they posture can often be hard to extract without abridging the prognostic ability of whatever solution, in comparion to physics or chemisty which can be measured through of year thousands of years evidence, psychology on the other hand as a recognisable discipline has been prenst of litte over a hundread years. A inevitable conclusion is that psychology is characterised by perspectives that are present at more then one level on conflict, co-existenct or complementtory aspects, No perspective on its own can tell the whole story. The perspectives and levels of analysis and explanations cannot just be combined without an account of how they interact.

Rural Cinema Marketing Management Report

Rural Cinema Marketing Management Report This report is based on an organisational scenario which addresses and offer solution to the task. As a Marketing Consultant who works for Cine-Marketing Limited I have provided some observations and suggestions to the current situation on this report which requires knowledge, research and investigation the market for the Plaza cinema. The Plaza is the cinema which located in rural area of Elderwood in UK. Barry Champion is the current owner of the cinema. Before Barry purchase the cinema was owned with someone else. When Barry Champion purchase that cinema it was in bad condition so as the Market Consultant decided to advice Barry Champion to use possible target marketing in terms of advance his Future Plaza cinema. Plaza Cinema Business In order for any business to be successful, one to needs very much to invest or put a lot of effort in marketing. Through Marketing, one can understand the market of his/her business so that business can run smooth due to good sales. So, any good marketing plan will lead to a good business. For Barry Champion to be successful in his business, he needs to set very strategic marketing implication. Implications are ideas or suggestions that Barry needs to his Cinema business to be successful. The following represents the marketing implications Barry Champion should consider in opening and developing his newly acquired cinema business. Target Marketing Barry should stay alert to trends which might impact his business market. For instance the environment of parking area was sucking, so he should be carefully with such trends which might cause some effects to his business. Also Barry should collect details about their competitors. Once manages to do these will help him on his new business successful. Perhaps it will help him to know what their competitors luck so that for him can increase the services. Barry should read the market research on what their consumer wants. And which groups suppose to deal with, the one s who are working or children. Product Development Quite often businesses in this particular industry want to develop a brand personality. Here Barry should create a difference services or product which will match with this cinema business, it can be a restaurant. So that before customer starts to watch movie they can go and buy some few drinks, instead of coming with their own foods from home. Moreover offer a cheaper entrance fees. Due to small amount of entrance it will attract more customers coming and watch the movie. Barry should also update his services. He must improvement the services like enlarge parking area and other minor innovation which will establish the product. Introduce new things every time and also he can change the theatre to look more attractive. Increase of the patrons seats and renovate the foyer. PLACE Here Barry champion can renovate his cinema product. He can renovate the cinema hall the building the parking areas. Also to create the auditoriums in good way and arranging of the chairs. SALES PROMOTION Barry should use this method to promote his new business, because for any activity undertaken by an organization to promote an increase in sales, usage or trial of a product or service may include an advertising campaign, a free-sample campaign, offering free gifts or trading stamps. There are two basic promotion strategies which Barry Champion should consider in a new cinema, PUSH and PULL Strategies. The PUSH STRATEGY Barry can apply this method to maximize the use of all available channels of distribution to for his business. This generally require tightfisted discounts to achieve the objective of giving the channels incentive to promote the offering, thus can reduce his needs for advertising. The PULL STRATEGY Support the purchase frequently requires direct interface with the end user of the offering. So Barry once use of these channels of distribution is minimizing during the first stages of promotion and a major commitment to advertising is required. The plaza cinema adverts will definitely increase. Methods of sales promotion There are many customer sales promotional techniques available for a new cinema promoted. Price discount Evaluate his fee structure; Barry can look on different cinema the way payment is done. He also introduce credit card to attract more customers who do like to carry money. Barry must also lookout against the possible negative outcome of discounting on a brands reputation. Coupons For cinema, coupons are another very flexible way of offering a discount in a new Plaza cinema. The key purpose with a coupon is to maximize the downfall rate of tickets; this is the proportion of customers actually using the coupon. Use of coupon promotions is, therefore, often best for new products or perhaps to encourage sales of obtainable products that are slowing down. ADVERTISING Perhaps Here Barry champion need to do some research on which the advertisement he will based on product or service. Thus, an advertising plan for one product Services might be very different than that for another product or services. Clearly in this new business we can use different ways of advertising in order to create awareness within the society. Barry can do his advertisement during the peak seasons. This is the best time to capture more customers. He can also promote his business jointly with other professional. So that he Bringing a product (or service) to the attention of potential and current customers Barry can use the media. The commercial breaks are shown in breaks of about two minutes which occur in roughly minutes or more. So we can use this break effectively to advertise the new cinema. Here we can reach different type of people. Newspaper and magazine, can also be advertise especially for elders. Most of them are the one who interested in reading newspaper and magazine. Barry can create a Posters or magazine for more attraction. Use this method because the cinema is in rural so it will be much better to advertise more the cinema in those posters. This poster is designed to be posted in some public area for the purpose of eye catching and also to pass the information. He can use magazine to attract older customer. Because this customer preferred reading magazine. Billboards provide support and also attraction towards the customer. Barry should put some billboards more in different place especially towns, because there so many activities in that place. Hence will help to advertise the new cinemas in Elderwood, it is much easier to use such tool as new movies are out every now and then. Can also put some movies which will be shown in cinema. MEDIA RELATION Plaza cinema should be advanced in media relation like radios, television, and magazine. Barry updates his media list often so that once press releases are sent to the right media and outlets. He can also write a column in local business paper so that can create awareness toward consumer Also he can create an annual award and publicity it. This will help him to capture more customers, because everyone wants to be the winner. Moreover Barry Champion can create his own talk show so that he appears on Television different time. Here can create own TVs program then show it to local cable stations. PRICING Barry should consider the pricing strategy. A pricing strategy is mostly influenced by your requirement for net income and your objectives for long term market control. There are two basic strategies which Barry should consider in his new plaza cinema. SKIMMING PRICING Plaza cinema is new business in a new environment so this strategy will probably work. Barry can start with high prices high, as a new cinema can use this approach. Perhaps, people are not aware of the cinema business in this environment. So its easy to attract more people. He can also introduce some new movies like Avatar; this will attract customers more attend without considering the price. PRICING PENETRATION Barry can apply this for his cinema Business. It is most often used businesses wishing to enter a new market or build on a relatively small market share here Barry can set the prices very low. For a new Elder wood cinema this strategy is very suitable. The strategy works on the expectation that customers will switch to the new brand because of the lower price. TASK 2 Purchasing Behavior some purchasing situations are characterized by low involvement but significant brand difference. Consumer often has ability of brand switching; the consumer will try to look on different cinema and try to compare the Quality of place, the offering price and coupons. Before he or she make a decision to purchase. Decision making unit is a group of employees, family members, consumers or members of any type of organization responsible for finalizing their major decisions, usually involving a purchase. So once Barry understands this Decision making unit it will be easy for him to gather and obtain the information concerning his cinema business. Barry needs to able to deeply analyze the decision making process of his current customers and those who used to attend his newly acquired business and improve it to his best ability so that he can be consistent with it. Its good for Barry champion to understand this Decision making Unit involved in the purchase. In a generic sense, there are typically six roles within any buying center that will affect purchasing decision making for customers in a positive way. They are:- INITIATORS: is the person who first suggested or request of the idea to purchase the particular product or services. INFLUENCERS: Are the people who influence buying decision. They often help define design and also provide information or they try to affect the outcome decision with their opinions. DECIDERS: the people who decide on product requirement or on suppliers. BUYERS: are the people who have formal authority to select the supplier and arrange the purchase terms. END USER: those who will use the product or services being purchased. Decision Making Process is the procedure by which consumers collect and analyze information and make choices among alternatives goods, services, people, places and ideas. THE DIAGRAM EXPLAINING THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS The Making decision processes consist of five basic stages: problem awareness, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post purchase evolution. The model implies that consumer pass through all stages in every purchase. However, in more routine purchases, consumers often skip or reverse some of the stages. The buying process starts with needs recognition. At this stage, the buyer recognizes a problem or need. For instance buyer needs to watch movie, he or she first needs to know what kind of movie he/she want to watch. So he or she needs to observe the type of the movie she or he wants to watch. Then after a consumer decides a shortage desire is worth consideration, information is gathered. Information search requires listing alternatives that will solves the problem. If the need is strong and there is a product or service that meets the need close to hand, then a purchase decision is likely to be made there and then. If not, then the process of information search begins. A customer can obtain information from several sources: Personal sources, family, friends, and neighbors here a word of mouth is necessary. Clearly he/she goes to ask about the plaza cinema and what type of movie she wants to watch. Public: mass media like magazine, radio, television, consumer organization if is available and so forth. Most of the time consumer receive information from public source but in this case is quite different consumer get information from personal source. The usefulness and influence of these sources of information will vary by product and by customer. Research suggests that customers value and respect personal sources more than commercial sources or the word of mouth. The challenge for the marketing team is to identify which information sources are most influential in their target markets. Evaluation stage: one alternative from the choices. This is easy when one alternative is clearly superior to the others. The consumer decides to go to plaza cinema thats it. But he or she will come across all characteristics of a plaza cinema services, and start to evaluate it with good quality, and low price which plaza cinema has all the quality. Often the stage is not that simple, and consumer must be carefully in evaluation of alternatives before making a decision. The consumer must consider some features before he or she make decision. Such features are quality of the cinema, price, safety here will look on the security of the plaza cinema and the status of the place. Another stage is Purchase; here the customer is ready for the purchasing. Payment is paid either cash or credit. The consumer will make payment once he or she satisfied with the cinema. In this case of cinema plaza Low involvement purchases is more considered. This case the consumer does not need to look for more information about the cinema as if he or she going to buy a house. The only thing she/he needs is to go buying ticket and watch movie. This process has very simple evaluation. Purchase evaluation The final stage after making a purchase, the consumer frequently is involved with the post-purchase evaluation of the decision. It is common for customers to experience concerns after making a purchase decision which lead to another purchase. In this cinema after the consumer attend the cinema plaza once he or she and satisfied usually the result is to join a member club of plaza cinema. Importance of Barry Champion to understand Decision Making Process and Decision Making Unit It helps him in considering the whole buying process; once Barry Champion understand all the stage of decision making unit and process it will be easy for him to make decision once he needs to buy the technique equipment of his cinema. No mistakes would appear because he already knows all the stages of making decision. It will help to understand the relative influence for each patron in decision making process, and able to create features that are preferred by these participants. Moreover he will be able to create advertisement strategy headed for his customers. Once the customers are aware of the Cinema it will be easy for them to attend. It will help him in making strategies of his new Plaza cinema. That means Barry will be able to understand what his patrons really want in his cinema, so that he can provide to them. It will help him in making decision in possible consequences. When such an analysis is done well, it can provide important insights and understanding. So this clearly shows that once Barry Champion undergoes this decision making process well even his business will develop. Barry Champion by understanding these decision processes it will help him to exctract information such patrons behavior or consumer influences for example (subculture, culture and Social roles class. Furthermore it will help him to be able to take out data on the emotional process that affect purchaser behavior or his potential patrons such as stimulus, perception and so forth. Ways which Barry champion should consider in obtain information Focus Group Here Barry can take a group of 8 to 30 people based on the demographic and meet in arranged room. He brought them together to discuss on the areas which Barry need to search. This way of gather information it cost some little amount to pay the participants who attend the meeting. He can also obtain information through talking with people. It can be used to collect information that is not openly obtainable. Barry might include meetings with patrons and suppliers. This information often has doubtful strength because it is highly personal and might not be delegate of the people. Feedback forms, here at the end of the of the show patrons they can feel out the forms concerning the cinema. So by doing so Barry Champion would got the actually report concern the cinema Plaza. Survey, he can see what happening elsewhere, Barry he can also go and visit other cinema so that he can receive the information of the other places how they conduct their business. Also he can use the information by renovate the cinema plaza. For example on how the auditorium and parking area they will be posses. TASK 3 Todays business environment is very competitive, this increase the need for companies to analyze their environment so that to be competitive and survive. SWOT Analysis provides a model for analyzing the competitive attractiveness or profitability of the industry. Gold screen should do this analysis so that to identify its key competition in the cinema Industry in Malaysia. Golden Screen Cinema industry in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia is the main competitor for Plaza cinema in Elderwood. So once Barry identifies who are the competitors for his business. It will be easy for him to deal with the organization. And Barry Champion should consider understand the Competitive Forces. Michael Porter has identified five forces that determine the forces of the competitor in a market. The following are the forces of competitive. STRENGTH One of the best strength of Gold Screen Cinema is the technique to catch the attention of patron to use credit card is when they started to apply a credit card. Other than this is the given reduction of those customers who purchase more tickets him or she can get a discount which is Plaza cinema do not have this strategy. In addition, it has got a Strong brand name company whereby the competitors are afraid of the services provided inside the industry. A new innovated product or services become a good strength to the organization as Golden Screen Cinema; it has all the quality the customer wants. Also a good location Golden Screen Cinema business leads to force of the company. Possibly when the cinema is far away from the patron, no customer would like to go because usually patron do not like to travel for long time just for watching moving.. But when the location is good and easy for every customer to reach on time is a key success for the business. Good reputation among customers leads to strength of the business. Once the customer spread the words about good services provided in the Golden Screen Cinema. Many populaces would like to be there the cinema and watch the movie which is strength of the business and also will bring more profits to this Golden Screen cinema. For Example Tuesday rates special WEAKNESSES: The absence of acertain strength can be a weakness. For example The Golden Screen Cinema main weakness is lack of market expertise will bring the market down and for the Plaza cinema the Auditorium is in bad condition so it needs to be decorated; also the seats were too few Location of the business, Golden Screen cinema must consider this weakness. Other people are unlikely to travel a long distance just for watching movie. So the good location leads to consumers to attend the cinema frequently. Plaza cinema environment is in a bad condition, there are no enough parking areas also any toilets. Hence plaza cinema patrons are only likely to pay a premium price for a movie when blockbuster movies are released. A lack of hit movies could make it difficult to sell tickets. OPPORTUNITIES Quickly adapt of new technologies like latest digital visual and audio equipment which increase entertainment and customer are free to buy tickets online, this will increase the revenue of the Golden Screen cinema Cinema worker must charge multiskilled and stretchy employees like young and informal workers who settled to work daily, twelve-monthly and work order. Loosing of regulations, once rules and regulation are not tight easy to make profit for the cinema. And the Malaysian rules are quiet well. So this is the good opportunity for Golden Screen cinema. THREATS It is too parked during Wednesday and Thursday in Golden Screen cinemas like a marketplace, it is very hard to buy a ticket if you arrive at the place late. In Plaza cinema the technical equipment of plaza cinema has been regularly repaired. Price it is rouse expensive especially on Thursday, because they know on Saturday a lot of people prefer going to cinema. Hence, can leads people to move to the other cinema near them. Perhaps the price strategy with competitor must be different but o rouse the price. Once the competitor has a new innovative product or services this leads to customer to prefer to go to the other cinema rather than attend to Golden Screen cinema. TASK 4 MARKET PLAN Executive Summary Barry Champion has recently negotiations have been undertaken to purchase the rural cinema, the Plaza in Elderwood. Barry Champion Bought the cinema from the private person, the cinema failed to make a profit for the past five years. It has been having trouble competing since Golden Screen cinema .The purpose of this business plan is to seek support of introduce new business and transform it into a modern cinema. This transformation will involve the renovation of one of the screens, decoration in a classy, movie theme style and parking area. Plaza cinema will give customers the opportunity to watch blockbuster movies from the comfort of luxurious, reclining lounge chairs while enjoying food and drinks brought directly to them Business Summary The business objectives are to develop one of the current cinemas which have capacity for 350 seats and with the both downstairs stalls area and gallery upstairs. Once the necessary renovations have been completed, the owners will need to obtain the necessary licensing permissions, hire staff and market the concept. Current Situation and Background At present The Plaza cinema is a small cinema industry maximum with two parts downstairs and gallery and patrons numbers has been down. The cinema has had a relatively steady customer base, but the recent opening of plaza cinema meant that patron numbers have been down. Even before the opening of the new Plaza cinema, the cinema had already been suffering a recession for the past of five years. These have included a pre- semi derelict property, education college. While these issues have affected the cinema in a negative way, these are also the issues on which the prospective owners believe they can take advantage of. Future Industry Developments The increase in other entertainment options, for instance computer games, pubs, enlarge cinemas restaurant. And also to make sure the parking areas are renovated in good way, buildings of toilets and However, the stabilization of the market at the top end does not as yet seem to have filtered down to the smaller cinemas and as such, many continue having trouble turning a profit. It is the owners belief that the current market is ideal for the development of a new concept which gives movie patrons an entirely unique cinema experience. COMPETITION Plaza cinema is forming his own market although there are few companies that do make cinema business also. After Plaza cinema suffering from making the profit in his own environment, now this Gold Screen cinema become direct competitor by introduce the same product offering. SWOT Analysis WEAKNES The main weaknesses of the Plaza cinema are, the car parking has been discouraged and the technical of the plaza cinema had been up-to-date severally times and also the projector and sound system has been installed one year ago. They allowed childrens to bring their sweets from home into auditorium. THREAT There is possibility of customer to desert the plaza cinema and look for a modern cinema. OPPORTUNITY Barry Champion is very experienced man in this cinema industry so can use his knowledge to drive his plaza cinema and against Golden screen class as his competitors. Market Analysis The possible ways in which the market cinema can be defined are: cinema complex, cinemas all ways of watching films including cinemas, DVDs and pay-television; and all ways of using discretionary spend including films, going to pubs, clubs or other ways of spending time and money in or out of the home. As explained above, it is the prospective landlord view that cinemas can no longer focus on the narrow definition of the market. Some guidance can be taken from the Golden Screen cinemas which offer patrons an experience. Often these cinemas are attached to shopping centers and as such going to the cinema is simply part of a persons shopping day. Golden Screen, like the shopping centers to which they are appended, rely on the principle that if something is large and loud, no one will dare to think that it is anything but the best and it must be said that they do this well. Teenagers are particularly impressed by this logic. Market Segmentation Cinema consumers generally fall within the 15-24 year age group with over 54% of people surveyed in this age group having attended the cinema most of the free time and they like to watch movies like Ice age, Madagascar, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Avatar. These decline in the 25-34 year old age group to 35% and normally the movie they like to watch are Jack the Giant killer, Julie and Julia, Twilight, Death in the Funeral, and further within the 40-45 age group to 14%. They go to cinema once in awhile. These facts imitate, maybe the fact that older cinema patrons who do not enjoy the nature of Gold Screen cinema have limited options with respect to indulging in a cinema experience. Furthermore, along with work and family commitments, older cinema customers have less free time available to them and more options with respect to how to spend that time. Market Research The purpose of the market research undertaken was to determine whether the Plaza cinema concept has been successful elsewhere, to estimate whether or not Elderwood is the best location for a cinema and to establish a price point for plaza cinema tickets, food and drinks. The marketplace research permitted the potential owners to establish that, the two parts concept has proven successful. While it was not achievable to obtain fiscal records, the potential owners were able to decide that the concept has been around for several years and they were able to test it for themselves. Marketing mix Plaza cinema marketing mix is compromised of the following approaches Advertising and Promotion The advertising would be highly targeted to local and outside. It is assumed that, people are unlikely to travel a long way to attend a cinema especially if they have a local one close by. As such, the goal is to advertise on local customers and to ensure that they remained regulars. So Barry should consider using advertisement like posters, Billboards, magazine and radio and TVs commercial break. Also can use promotion strategies like coupons, all these will promote the cinema plaza in a grand way. Pricing strategy Recently in plaza cinema the tickets were so cheap. So for Barry to penetrate the new market can uses the pricing strategies like are skimming and penetration pricing. He can start with Penetration pricing strategy because he wants to capture the market, so he can use low price foe entrance. Additional after the establishment of the Plaza cinema now can use the skimming pricing penetration, here can decide to rouse the price because the industry will be already renovated. Also will spotlight on arranging the ticket, at the cinema plaza is currently $4 during the day and  £6 in the evening for an adult. So he can introduce $5 for day movies and $8 for weekend movies. GOALS OF PLAZA CINEMA Prioritize the task of designing the Plaza cinema, into two auditoriums and in a modern way and work effectively. In this design the cinemas it will consist of an increase of patrons seats and make the cinema more luxurious. Building the foyer and maintain the parking areas in good environment. Also Barry can build the shops, instead of patrons carry their food they can buy the drinks and foods in the cinema place. To make sure the quality of the cinema is good. The quality of the plaza cinema need to be more maintained so that increases the profit of the company. Increase the profit of the Plaza cinema. Here to make sure that the advertisement and promotion are conducting effectively so that to pull those people to attend more the plaza cinema. And by doing, so it will increase the profit of the company. Focus on team work. Plaza cinema need to increase the employees so that they work hard and in a team. When his employees are more focus on the job to done this will help Barry Champion to reach his goals in easier way.

American Hegemony in the Twenty-First Century: Consensus and Legitimac

American Hegemony in the Twenty-First Century: Consensus and Legitimacy Abstract: Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been the world’s only unquestioned superpower. How the United States evaluates its position as global hegemon has important consequences for American foreign policy, particularly with regards to the potential for future policy constraints. Thus, this paper seeks to consider the question: How durable is American hegemony? The paper first defines the state of American hegemony and then considers the primary challengers: Europe, Russia, China, Japan and imperial overstretch. It will conclude that in the long-term, East Asian geopolitical instability poses the greatest threat to American hegemony, but that in the short-term, the hegemony will prove to be quite durable as long as the United States can counteract the phenomenon of imperial overstretch. In order to diffuse both internal and international threats to hegemony, American leaders should work to pursue national interests within a framework of consensus an d legitimacy as much as possible. American Hegemony in the Twenty-First Century: Preserving the Status Quo by Fostering Consensus I. Introduction: Why Hegemony Matters The Soviet Union’s collapse at the end of the Cold War left the United States without its major global rival. Now alone at the top, the United States’ strategic imperatives have shifted remarkably. The shift has been significant enough to prompt fundamental questions about the international order and whether this new â€Å"unipolar moment† will last. Indeed, since 1989, political scientists have clamored to define the United States’ status relative to the rest of the world. Indispensable nation? Sole super... ...002. Mastanduno, Michael and Ethan B. Kaplan. â€Å"Realism and State Strategies after the Cold War.† Unipolar Politics: Realism and State Strategies after the Cold War. Eds. Ethan B. Kapstein and Michael Mastanduno. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. 1-27. Nye, Jr., Joseph S. The Paradox of American Power: Why the World’s Only Superpower Can’t Go It Alone. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Rielly, Dr. John. â€Å"The Future of American Hegemony,† Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 29 November 2004. Sicherman, Harvey. â€Å"A Cautionary Tale: The U.S. and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.† In Eagle Rules? Foreign Policy and American Primacy in the Twenty-First Century. Ed. Robert J. Lieber. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002. 152-172. Wohlforth, William C. â€Å"The Stability of a Unipolar World.† International Security, 24.1 (Summer 1999), pp. 5-41.

Hamlet is Too Smart for Himself :: English Literature Essays

Why Hamlet is Too Smart for Himself Hamlet only kills Claudius when he has also murdered the queen, Laertes, and has also poisoned himself. It takes a threat of death to do what his own dead father orders him to do. A largely held opinion is that he is to emotional to do it, but it is when his emotions all come together that he murders Polonius. Another opinion is that he to full of morals to kill, but how then can he alter a note and literally sentence two old friends who were just following orders too death. It is also believed that he is too cowardly to go through with it, but if a man is bold enough to face a ghost, confront a queen and kill an eavesdropper, than what should stop him from avenging his father and ridding Denmark of the disease that infests it's royal line. The answer is simple, he is to smart to get around to doing it. Hamlet's is a mind to be reckoned with. He thinks things out rather than just act on impulse. No matter what the situation, there is always something that stands in his way that a more impulsive, emotional man might overlook or just ignore. By thinking things over he gives Claudius time to figure out what he knows. If he had acted faster things may have turned out differently for our intellectual prince. The Brain can be a slow, bungling thing that is constantly tripping over it's own feet whereas a body controlled by emotion knows no limits. A complex mind will often add more and more factors and problems into the situation than is necessary. For example, why feign madness? What purpose does this really serve? All it did was isolate him from those that he loved. Rather than directly confront the king, Hamlet embarks upon a wild, complex scheme to discredit and trap Claudius. Wouldn't it have helped things out a lot more to forgo the charade and just be good old Hamlet. That way nobody would have suspected anything and Hamlet would have had lots more emotional support from those that meant the most to him. Don't get me wrong though. Some of Hamlet's plans almost worked out. The play for example. Claudius was so filled with rage that he was reduced to a stuttering imbecile and was ready to slaughter the actors right out in front of everybody.

Colgate Palmolive-Precision Toothbrush Case

COLGATE – PALMOLIVE COMPANY: THE PRECISION TOOTHBRUSH I-SYNOPSIS In 1992, Colgate-Palmolive (CP) was the global leader in household and personal care products like toothbrushes and toothpastes. In 1991, its sales topped at $6 billion and profits at $2. 76 billion and it cornered 43% of the world’s toothpaste market and 16% of the world’s toothbrush market. It was also the leader in retail toothbrush sales in the United States. Prior to the 1990s, consumers were satisfied with toothbrushes that were aesthetically pleasing. But the 1990s saw that baby boomers were becoming increasingly concerned with their oral health, specifically their gums. This led to a rise in the sales of therapeutic toothbrushes. The toothbrush industry experienced a massive influx of worthy competitors and this led to the formation of a niche, super-premium market. In order to gain an edge each competitor worked on developing new toothbrush technology, forming alliances with dental professionals, expanding advertising budgets and offering promotions that would grab consumer attention. In August 1992, Colgate – Palmolive was poised to launch a new toothbrush in the United States, tentatively named Colgate Precision in the super-premium market. Precision, was proven to be very effective in removing plaque – 35% more effective than existing brands – and in preventing gum disease. This advantage has been attributed to the innovative design, high-tech research using CAD and infrared scanning, consumer research and extensive product testing. CP’s Oral Care had been developing this technologically superior toothbrush for over three years. But the market was highly competitive with new products already in the fray. CP had to market Colgate Precision as per existing market strategies that include proposed strategies involving product, price, place, and promotion. The issues and Challenges, Analysis and Recommendations of the case are enumerated in the succeeding paragraphs. II-SSUES AND CHALLENGES In 1991, CPs sales topped at $6 billion and profits at $2. 76 billion and it cornered 43% of the world’s toothpaste market and 16% of the world’s toothbrush market. In the United States, the world’s largest market, Colgate-Palmolive held the number one spot in toothbrush sales with a market share of 23%. Its international sales accounted for 64% of total sales and profits account for 67% of the total profits from international operations. The impending release of Colgate-Palmolive’s new toothbrush, Precision, may affect sales of its existing toothbrush lines. This may lead to a â€Å"cannibalization† of the Colgate Plus and Colgate Classic’s market of up by 35% to 60%. of the expected Colgate Precision sales. Since the existing toothbrush lines are the â€Å"cash cows† of the company’s oral care division, a dismal performance by the new Colgate-Palmolive Precision might drain the â€Å"cash cows† of its their resources market share altogether. Colgate-Palmolive’s media expenditure layout is very small compared to its rivals. It spent only $7 million dollars on marketing Colgate-Palmolive Plus. Since media exposure fuels consumer demand for a new product, this is one area where Colgate-Palmolive needs to have its expenditures equivalent to that of its rivals. Colgate-Palmolive’s media expenditure layout is very small compared to its rivals. CP could be positioned as a niche product to be targeted at consumers concerned about gum disease as such; it could command the 15% premium over Oral-B and would be expected to capture 3% of the US tooth brush market by the end of first year following its launch. Alternatively Precision could be positioned as a mainstream brush with the broader appeal of being the most effective brush available on the market. It was estimated that as a mainstream product, Precision could capture 10% of the market by the end of the first year. CP already had another toothbrush in the mainstream toothbrush, but didn’t have any in the super premium niche position. Other decisions that will follow the positioning decision would be price, distribution channels, advertising and promotion planning. If it is positioned as mainstream right away then not only will it cannibalize Colgate Plus, which is one tier below the super-premium category, but will have leave CP without a product in the super premium category which is the largest customer segment and Oral-B is virtually unrivalled in that space. Challenges Because of the recent market saturation, the various producers of oral health care products have rushed to offer promotional incentives including two-for-one, buy-one-get-one-free and mail-in refund coupon deals. With the increase of in-store advertising, toothbrushes and toothpastes have been found to sell 170% better when located in close proximity. The most worrisome threats to CP are from the company itself. If CP were to release the Precision brush into the mainstream market as the â€Å"Colgate Precision,† not only would it knock the children’s Plus brush off of the shelves, it would also cannibalize its flagship Plus model. III-ANALYSIS In the year 1993, budget was increased to cater for overall toothbrush ads and promotion budget by $19. 2m (80%over estimated $24m). $32. 5m was devoted to precision, $10. m to Colgate plus. The advertisements focused on prevention of gum disease, toothbrush effectiveness so as to develop superiority claim for Precision. Customers picked their brushes based on features, comfort, personal recommendation and health and hygiene. As a consequence they were willing to pay premium for products addressing these concerns.. 82% of toothbrush purcha ses were unplanned. 46% of adults were therapeutic brushers. 85% brushed daily. 85% used professional brush and 54% flossed regularly. Their major brands were Oral B Angle, Oral B Regular and Colgate Plus. In 1992 CP had a principal toothbrush brand Market share of 26% and was followed by Oral B and Johnson & Johnson with market shares of 23% and 22% respectively. CP had the highest market share of 26% in Food stores and 39% in Mass merchandisers but had a dismal 17% market share in drug stores where Oral B had a highest market share of 31%. Thus CP needed to increase its focus in the drugstore channel. Colgate precision was priced at $2. 02 in the niche category and $1. 76 as a mainstream product. The manufacture cost per unit of Colgate precision was $0. 66 in the niche category and $0. 4 as a mainstream product. Industry Analysis Not only can the industry be broken down by price models (super-premium, professional, and value), it can broken down a second time into niche and mainstream offerings. Consumers of this industry can be sorted into three categories: therapeutic, cosmetic, and uninvolved. Competitive Analysis One promising conclusion that can be drawn from the competitive an alysis is that every company has been caught off guard by the change in consumer behavior, emergence of new technology, and introduction of new players entering the playing field. For example, in 1988, Johnson & Johnson introduced â€Å"new brush technology† only to phase it out by 1992. In order to get an edge, competitors, Johnson & Johnson, Oral-B, Procter & Gamble, and Smithkline Beecham (latter two are new competitors), are offering promotions in the form of coupons, mail-in refunds, and bundles. Environmental Analysis With 43% of the global toothpaste market and 16% of the global toothbrush market, CP has defined itself a leader of household and personal care products worldwide, and positioned itself as the number one retailer of toothbrush products in the United States. Because of its good standing relationship with retail stores, it is able to position its products on the middle shelf, right between its competitors, Reach and Oral-B. Although industry players are manufacturing products to improve oral health, it has been difficult to educated consumers of the importance of preventing gum disease (which is a common motivator to improve dental care habits). One major advantage that the competitor, Oral-B is, it is recommended by dental professionals. IV-RECOMMENDATIONS Opportunities In consumer tests, majority of consumers are willing to experiment with new brands/models, CP could make being new, different, and effective the major tenants of its marketing messaging; along with including messaging concerning their incredible ability to fight gum disease, it should have a rock solid campaign. Price Precision should be positioned as niche category in the price category $2. 29

Confucius and Plato

Confucius and Plato Editor Ken Wolf, at the beginning of the essay Confucius and Plato: A Few Really Good People, poses the question: â€Å"What is the best way to create a strong society? † (Wolf 25) It was surprising to a novice student of philosophy how similar the ideas of the ancient Chinese sage Confucius and famous Greek philosopher Plato were. Although, Confucius and Plato both made major contributions to the development of society, they showed both similarities and differences in these three subjects: ruling class, education, and faith in humanity.Confucius and Plato both believed virtue and intelligence were key components to creating a strong society. Confucius thought anyone who has been educated had the capability to develop into a ruler. Whereas Plato assumed anyone could be educated, but only a few, those in the ruling class had the ability to reason and thus were qualified to rule. In addition, Plato gave credence to the idea of being born into the ruling class , that the quality to reason was an inherited quality. Confucius and Plato were both strong believers that order was another main factor in a strong society.Although they both had laws to maintain the order, Plato had less faith in people in general to behave in a civilized manner. Both Confucius and Plato were in favor of education and were teachers themselves. Confucius’s followers were the ones who wrote the Analects, which talked about how civilization depends on â€Å"humanity† and â€Å"propriety†. Plato actually wrote The Republic which talked about his ideal â€Å"philosopher-king†. Plato established the Academy, which taught principles of ethics and government, for 900 years. Confucius attempted to teach the ruler to become a better person, but failed.The concepts put forth by Confucius and Plato begin to differ more when faith in humanity comes into play. Confucius and Plato both wanted to think there was good in everyone, but Confucius believed more in a â€Å"†¦society in which human relationships—especially those within the family—were more important than laws. † (Wolf 27) Plato concluded that the people needed to be controlled for there to be order. That control was maintained through the law. They both sought out peace and harmony, although Confucius focused more on the behavior of individuals and Plato was interested in universal truth even though it probably would not be accepted,.Plato felt that if a person tried to bring enlightenment to the masses â€Å"†¦they would probably try to kill to him for telling such tall tales, disrupting their lives and challenging their accustomed beliefs. † (Wolf 31) Even today, most people would agree with Confucius and Plato about the importance of educating people in the development of a strong society. The idea of relationships as the basis of society may be summed up in: â€Å"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This Golden Rule seems to be as important to Western society as it was to Chinese society. However, the idea of a better quality of citizen that is better suited to lead society smacks of elitism and would definitely not be accepted in modern democracies. However, that does not mean that the elite educated class from Harvard and Yale has not been overrepresented in American leadership. So perhaps we have a ruling elite, but not as overt as Plato would like. A final thought from the essay would be: a harmonious and orderly existence is important to all societies.

Character Sketches Essay

George was a bank clerk (who ‘goes to sleep at a bank from ten to four each day, except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two ‘) and was living in a back room of the same house. The landlady suggested that, to save money, the two might share a room. They ‘chummed ‘ together for some years – both shared a love of the theatre -and a life-long friendship was formed. George, who remained a bachelor, rose to become manager of Barclays Bank in the Strand and outlived. Character sketch of Harris – Harris is a vain fellow who pretends to be extremely hard working but usually pushes off the burden on other people. he is outspoken and does not hesitate to tell his friends what he thinks about them even if it may not be pleasant. for example he outwardly tells george that his new blazer is utterly revolting and that he must not wear it around them (harris and j). when harris takes on a job he makes a huge fuss out of it like the narator;s uncle podger. it may not be anything majorly important but if harris is going to do it †¦. the world would know about it. he also thinks very highly of himself and his voice though his friends do not want him to even attempt singing. he is extremely fascinated by tombs and graveyards much to j ‘s dislike. he is also quite short tempered and it is best to let him rant off his anger rather than try and talk to him about it.he wouldn ‘t mind a drink at any time of the day and enjoys the company of his friends . Character sketch of Jerome – Jerome is the narrator of the book. He is a young, single middle-class man living in London, much like the author himself at the time of the publication of the book, and the initial J is possibly meant to suggest that he stands in for Jerome. J is fond of history and literature and spends much of his time daydreaming about the days when knights roamed the countryside of England. This daydreaming sometimes gets him into trouble when he does not pay suitable attention to what he is doing. J, like his two friends on the boat trip, is a little vain and conceited, but he realizes it and pokes gentle fun at himself, his friends, and the habits of others like them through his anecdotes, where he and his friends are often the butt of ego-skewering jokes. J has always been fond of boats, but prefers the old fashioned†¦ Character sketch of Montmorency – Montmorency is the dog that accompanied the three men in their river trip. Monymorency looked like an angel sent to Earth in the form of a small Fox Terrier. He had a gentle noble expression which brought tears to the eyes of elderly folk. When Monmorency first arrived , the author thought that he would not live long. But , he soon changed his opinion about Montmorency when his true nature was exposed. The author had to pay for chickens Montmorency had killed and had to drag him out of umpty street fights. Once Montmorency killed the neighbours cat and on one occassion he had kept a man stuck in his own toolshed for about two hours. The author ‘s gardener made money by betting on Montmorency ‘s rat-killing skills. He liked to roam around and fight with dogs of a similar disreputable nature. Therefore, he enjoyed places like inns and pubs.

Distracted Driving Essay

Distracted Driving is a selfish and very dangerous way to drive. Over 3,000 people each year are killed due to either driving distracted or being hit by someone who is distracted. There are many types of distracted driving and all are equally as dangerous. Examples of distracted driving include texting, eating, talking to a passenger, adjusting a radio or iPod, and anything involving your phone or a gps. Any kind of distracted driving is a bad idea and can end in serious injuries or fatalities. Distracted driving has numerous definitions. Whether it be eating, drowsy driving, using your phone, talking to a friend, or being distracted by something on the side of the road, they are all very dangerous and can end with someone using their life. Many people believe that they may be a good driver even when being distracted by other things but it is usually not the case. Even if you get away with driving distracted, it wont always be that way, and you never know when your luck will run out. As good as you may be at multitasking while driving it is never a good idea. If the thing is that important you should pull to the side of the road or wait until you get to your destination to do what you need to do. Texting and driving is one of the highest causes of crashes and fatalities. One of the groups that is most at risk is teens 16-20. This age group is not only new and inexperienced drivers but they are also very distracted by cell phones and music. When you are texting and driving the minimal amount of time that your attention is taken by your phone is 5 seconds. This not only puts you in danger but it also puts others on the road in a lot of danger as well. As important as receiving or sending a text may be, it can wait long enough to keep your life, and others, safe. If it is too tempting for you to use your phone or iPod while you are driving there are many ways you can combat this urge. All you need to do is throw your phone in the backseat or in the glove compartment and your urge is gone. You can also put your phone on silent or turn it off if the vibration or sounds of receiving texts distracts you. Any of these quick alternatives is a great idea to save your life as well as others on the road with you. Talking to a passenger or on your phone is a dangerous distraction as well. If you are on your phone, you may think that your attention is on the road but your attention is drawn away and focused on your call. Even if you use a hands-free device you still have a large amount of your attention drawn away. Talking to a  passenger in your car can be more dangerous because they are able to distract you and interact with you more. This can be helpful if they are alerting you of obstacles but if they are being distractive it can be a large distraction. If they are posing a bigger distraction than a help then you should let them know that you are distracting you from the road. Although it may offend or anger them, it can pay off in the long run. Another minor way of being of distracted is things in your eyesight. Someone running alongside the road, something happening ahead of you or to the side, and anything that will take your attention is a distraction. Things like this can seem minor but they can impair your attention. Although you don’t want to tune these things out of your attention, because they can cause accidents, you need to not only be aware of these things but not let them distract you to a point where you cant notice what is going on around you. There are 3 main types of distracted driving; cognitive, visual and manual. Cognitive distractions are when you mind isn’t focused on driving. These can include talking to someone in your car and just daydreaming. Even listening to music can take your mind off driving and distract you. This may seem like a minor distraction but it can be very large. A visual distraction is anything that involves the driver taking his or her eyes off the road. This is common in all age groups; adults will check their kid’s seatbelts and almost everyone will use a GPS, iPod, phone or dvd player. All of these things that involve you taking your eyes off the road are considered a visual distraction. The last type of distraction is manual. A manual distraction is when you take one or both hands off the wheel for any reason at anytime while driving. A manual distraction can include eating or drinking, adjusting a GPS or iPod, reaching for something, or even adjusting your seat. One of the reasons that texting ids one of the most dangerous thing you can do while driving is because it involves all 3 types of distracted driving. There are many ways that you can avoid using any of these types of distracted driving. The first way to avoid these three is to turn off your phone, even if you are expecting an important call. Another tip is to get a hands-free device if you really need to. This is not a great idea to use because it is just as dangerous as using the phone itself. Also, if you are driving with kids and/or pets make sure they  are strapped in and secured so that they don’t pose a distraction while they are driving. If you need to eat or drink, finish it before you start driving, or wait until after. The last is, if you use a gps, program it before you start driving. All of these reasons are great examples to stop driving distracted. Driving while distracted is elfish and cost you, and others their lives. It’s a simple choice, just wait to start or finish your task. http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com/texting-and-driving-stats/ http://www.esurance.com/safety/3-types-of-distracted-driving