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Monday, September 30, 2019

Edgar Allan Poe and Momentary Satisfaction Revenge

Revenge; Justified or Momentary Satisfaction Revenge is such a common thread in today’s society. It is evident in television, movies, literature, politics, and even among friends at school. Everyone wants revenge. Revenge is a common tendency of human nature, but revenge is never justified. Many people live their lives with the philosophy of â€Å"an eye for an eye†, but as Mahatma Gandhi said â€Å"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. † When you think of all the little things people do to â€Å"get back† at those who hurt them in some way, you begin to see a pattern of destruction, even if it is on a small scale.The point here is that revenge very rarely serves its true purpose, which is a sense of self-satisfaction. Seeking revenge ends up making you look like the bad guy and usually backfires. Humans have an urge to get even with one another for what the other has done. Often time’s karma is a better judge of people than t hemselves. The quote from Robert F. Kennedy that states â€Å"Don’t get mad, get even. † is wrong; as revenge is just a case of self- satisfaction. In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allen Poe, in paragraph 29 it states â€Å"Once more let me implore you to return.No? Then I must positively leave you. But I must first render you all the little attentions in my power. † Montresor is mocking Fortunato and then leaves him, he then states (last paragraph) â€Å"My heart grew sick- on account of the dampness of the catacombs. † I believe that he is saying he regrets doing what he did, and that revenge only satisfies ones need for a moment. Revenge is short lived, and has no long term use in this life. It is simply a temptation beating on our door of reality.No matter what level of hurt one does to another; killing a loved one or simply stealing your pencil at school, it is never justified to do something back. In â€Å"A Poison Tree† by W illiam Blake, someone does another wrong; He tries to get even by poisoning him. â€Å"I was angry with my friend, I told my wrath, my wrath did end, I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. † His foe makes him angry so, to get back at him he poisons him with an apple. â€Å"And into my garden stole, when the night had veiled the pole; in the morning glad I see my foe outstretched beneath the tree. He got even with him by killing him; this is taking it to the extremes. There is always another way; â€Å"She got even in a way that was almost cruel. She forgave them. † – From Ralph McGill (about Eleanor Roosevelt). This is saying that instead of revenge do the opposite, forgive. Maybe they want one to do something back to them, but don’t give them the satisfaction of seeing one’s self try to get even. They are not worth it. Forgiveness is not revenge but the willingness of one’s self to move forward with their lives, and not live in the past of what has been done to them.Two wrongs don’t make a right. When someone does another wrong and one’s self does something wrong back it will never make one fully happy. In the Mentalist when Red John kills Patrick Jane’s wife and kid, he joins the C. B. I. team to one day seek revenge on Red John. When he finally captures him, he says he doesn’t feel much better. Revenge is never justified, no matter what. It is a human’s self- satisfaction that drives them to get back but, in the end no one wins; everyone suffers.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

SWOT Analysis of Nestle Australia Ltd Essay

Executive Summary This SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threat) report examines those four areas of a new Nestle product in the market. This product has a new and unique mixture that has never been in the local market shelves ever before. Although this report is mainly about the new product, it also looks at the history of Nestle and goes into depth about the SWOT of the company. Introduction and background: This area provides a brief overview of the company’s products that has already been in the market, its current market, and relevant history of the breakfast products of Nestle. SWOT table: A one page table that state the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of this product. Findings: A one page explanation of the points listed in the SWOT table, and ranking it from the most important to the least. Recommendations: A two page description of the new product, and justification of the choice made by choosing this product using at least one of the four analysis points. Introduction Nestle is the world’s leading food company. Nestle was found in 1866 by Henri Nestle and became one of the biggest food and beverage company. Nestle started at providing babies food with high quality. However, in recent years, Nestle has focused on nutrition, health and wellbeing. Since establishment until now, Nestle has been through 6 stages: 1866 – 1918: Food products for babies and Powder milk; 1918 – 1944: Chocolate, Coffee and Fresh milk; 1944 – 1975: Fast food Maggi; 1975 – 1981: Fast food products; 1981 – 1996: Yogurt and Butter; 1966 – Present: Ice cream. Nestle develops its company by the way of acquisition; they acquire other international companies to expand their market. However, it also faces the risk of controlling their business with a large market from different locations. Many companies enter into the food industry which has increased the number of competitors in this market. Nestle has focused on finding and  developing new products that concentrate on health and how to maintain customer’s health. The main competitors of Nestle are Unilever, PepsiCo Inc., Kraft Foods Group Inc., and Groupe Danone S.A. Through five years, the profit of Nestle Australia was decrease because of the competition of other companies; in 2012 it profit was 248,505 million. Table 1: Financial of Nestle in the last 5 years This report will recognize some strengths, weakness, opportunity and threat for Nestle. The below section has taken a brief overview of SWOT analysis. In the discussion section, the key of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and weaknesses are analyzed in more particular. Finally, the suggestion for the company is made. SWOT Analysis Strength Weakness 1. World’s largest beverage and food company ($7 billion in revenue). 2. Affordable product price 3. Wide range of product catalogue 4. Research & Development capabilities (food and nutrition research) 5. Distribution channels and geographic presence 6. Competency in mergers and acquisitions 1. Inability to provide consistent quality in food products 2. Employees’ safety failure 3. Customer fears to try the unique mixture product of nestle 4. High Spending on advertising 5. Weak implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility Opportunities Threat 1. Brand image (advertising and promoting targeting children) 2. Increasing demand for healthier food products 3. Establishing new joint ventures 4. Uses many type of marketing to promote their product 1. Competition 2. Substitute goods 3. Food contamination 4. Rising of raw material price 5. Trend towards healthy eating Discussion Strengths As Nestlà © is a world renowned brand it has certain key core competencies. One would be the unmatched product and brand portfolio. The business offers one of the widest portfolios of food and brewery products in its sector. It also operates 29 brands that earn more than $1 billion in annual revenues. With more than 8,000 products it is hard for any other corporate to compete against Nestlà ©. Second would be the company’s ability to grow with research and development. Nestlà © invested more than $2 billion in research and development in 2011. It’s introducing new and redesigned products every year, strengthening firm’s competitive advantage. Third would be the distribution channels and geographic presence. Nestlà © runs in more than 100 countries and has extensive distribution channel all over the world, which supports its operations globally. Fourth is the core competency in mergers and acquisitions. Over the years Nestlà © has been forming successful partnerships and acquiring other companies in order to grow and maintain its leadership in the market. Lastly the brand reputation valued at $7 billion. Nestlà © is known almost everywhere and has a reputable brand for its products that are used by millions every day. Weaknesses Nestlà © has its weaknesses however it is very minimal in comparison to other companies. One would be its Inability to provide consistent quality in food products. Nestlà © has been recalling many products from trade due to food contamination or poor quality supplies. This does not only hurt firm’s sales but its image as well as the business is unable to control quality of the products. Another would be its weak implementation of corporate social responsibility. The company has announced and is involved in many programs that aim to make company more eco-friendly and improving the working  conditions of its suppliers. Still, Nestlà © receives a lot criticism over the effectiveness of its programs. Opportunities Every individual company is seeking to maximise their opportunities, However, when taken into consideration few key areas can be taken into account. First is the increasing demand for healthier food products. The trend of buying and consuming only healthy food products is a major shift in consumer tastes and opens up an immense market for companies. Currently, Nestlà © tries to introduce more healthy food products in response to the trend. Another is acquiring start-ups specializing in producing well-being products. Many new start-ups are forming and introducing new products for well-being or revolutionizing the ways those products are made. Start-ups are cheap and can easily be acquired. Nestlà © is focusing on providing more well-being products and this is a great opportunity to expand its portfolio. Another good opportunity for Nestlà © would be establishing new joint ventures. Nestle is already involved in many successful partnerships with major world companies like The Coca-C ola Company and Android. Threats Majority of the companies in businesses face threats on daily basis however, it the actions that need to be taken in order to minimise future threats. One major factor is Food contamination. Although it is Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s responsibility to run thorough quality checks of its products, the company had been reportedly providing contaminated food or other products to the market. Such actions hurt company’s reputation and result in losses. Second would be the trend towards healthy eating. Nestlà © is a major supplier of chocolate and chocolate drinks that have high level of calories and due to changing customer habits, will experience decline in demand. As the Growth of private labels is rapidly increasing, this may have a long term effect on Nestlà ©. The growing number of supermarkets and other retailers are introducing their own label products that cost less and can easily compete with Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s product portfolio. Lastly, rising raw food prices which generates a ma ssive impact for all businesses. With an overall growth of world economy and population, the demand for raw food will rise. The result of that will be higher material costs and squeezed margin for Nestlà ©. Recommendations The Entourage’s new idea is a novel, unique and inspired product whose immense popularity will see it flying off store shelves and is surely going to be a new step forward for the Nestle Company. The product in question is a new type of cereal, which may seem dull and boring at first glance, but the appeal of the product lies more in its enhanced practicality. The product is a range of new cereal flavours consisting of wheat flakes, dried fruit and flavouring (chocolate, vanilla etc.). The wheat flakes will be in the shape of triangles, to achieve a brand image and for consumers to relate a simple/everyday object with our cereal, so that they are constantly reminded of it. The cereal is sold inside bottles/cans. When consumers buy the product, they will simply need to pour milk into the container and the result is an instant cereal fix, whether at home, at work, on the bus or anywhere else. The bottle/can also come with a resealable lid, which can be opened and closed at will to avoid spilling the cereal. Other cereal products force the consumer to sit and eat, despite the fact that they may be running late and other on the go products are liquefied sugar that merely provides a mild energy boost, whereas our product combines the best of both worlds. Not only does the consumer get a filling, wholesome and tasty breakfast, but they also receive these benefits without sacrificing time, an important resource in the morning. Strategy Profiles: Competition (Threat)/Brand Recognition Worldwide (Strength) – A day to day problem for firms is the constant competition from other businesses, whether minor or major. When attempting to launch a product and/or maintain its life on store shelves, there will always be demand for a competitor’s product. However, with smart advertising and a big name like Nestle, we can work to ensure that our product is what people are constantly talking about. Products are high in sugar and fat (Weakness)/Further research into nutrition (Opportunity) – Our product may not be the most fattening item on store shelves, but a high sugar content isn’t usually the best image for a product. But with research into health and nutrition, the product can  change. By constantly tinkering with and changing the recipe, we will be able to achieve a product that is not only nutritious, but retains that delicious flavour that the product is famous for. Customer fears to try the product (Weakness)/Affordable product price (Strength) – Consumers will always prefer to buy products that they are familiar with, instead of trying new items and because of this, it can be very difficult to introduce a new product into the market. While it can be difficult to persuade the consumer, making a price that is not only fair, but less than your competitors, can have an impact in how your product is perceived. Having a cheaper price may not be a substantial selling point, but it would succeed in gaining new customers and little bonuses like these can add up to be a major benefit. References Navi, G 2009, Nestle, Scribd, viewed 18th September 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/21544545/Introduction-Nestle-Was-Founded-in-1866-by-Henri-Nestle-And Nestle 2013, Nutrition, Health & Wellness – New Product Development at Nestlà ©, Business Case Studies, viewed 18 September 2013, http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/nestle/nutrition-health-wellness-new-product-development-at-nestle/introduction.html#axzz2f1LLXlr9 Nestle Group Limited 2011, The World’s leading Health, Wellness and Nutrition Company: Annual Report 2011, Nestle Group Limited, viewed 18 September 2013, Nestle 2013, About Us, Nestle, viewed 18 September 2013, Interbrand 2013, Nestle, viewed 18 September 2013, retrieved from Interbrand database Overview of the Nestlà © Oceania region 2013, Nestle, viewed 13 September 2013,

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Paragliding: Gliding and Foot-launched Glider Aircraft

Paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a hollow fabric wing whose shape is formed by its suspension lines, the pressure of air entering in the front of the wing and the forces of the air flowing over the outside. Despite not using an engine, paraglider flights can last many hours and cover many hundreds of kilometres, though flights of 1-2 hours and covering some tens of kilometres are more the norm. By skilful exploitation of sources of lift the pilot may gain height, often climbing to a few thousand metres over the surrounding countryside. Paragliders are unique among soaring aircraft in being easily portable. The complete equipment packs into a rucksack and can be carried easily on the pilot's back[2], in a car, or on public transport. In comparison with other air sports this substantially simplifies travel to a suitable take off spot, the selection of a landing place and return travel. Paragliding is related to the following activities: Hang gliding is a close cousin, and hang glider and paraglider launches are often found in proximity. [3] Despite the considerable difference in equipment the two activities offer similar pleasures and some pilots are involved in both sports. †¢ Powered paragliding is the flying of paragliders with a small engine attached. †¢ Speed riding or speed flying is the separate sport of flying paragliders of reduced size. These wings have in creased speed, though they are not normally capable of soaring flight. The sport involves taking off on skis or on foot and swooping rapidly down in close proximity to the slope, even periodically touching it if skis are used. †¢ Paragliding can be of local importance as a commercial activity. [4][5] Paid accompanied tandem flights are available in many mountainous regions, both in the winter and in the summer. In addition there are many schools offering courses,[6] and guides who lead groups of more experienced pilots exploring an area. Finally there are the manufacturers and the associated repair and after sales services.

Friday, September 27, 2019

JURNAL 4 + 5 ( Marketing subject ) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

JURNAL 4 + 5 ( Marketing subject ) - Assignment Example The new 2010 GLK is positioned as an affordable and reliable SUV in the economic situation that everyone faces. The demographics of the city offer the best audience for the SUV as the populations’ age, income are the qualities that the Mercedes-Benz 2010 GLK positions to target. The Denver Post is the most read newspaper in Denver. By placing the advertisement in Denver Post, the company wishes to target all the young as well as adult females and males who wish to drive affordable cars in style. The 2010 GLK is being advertised not by the Mercedes-Benz showrooms but by a retail/used cars importer called Murray Motor Imports. The advertisement is black and white and uses simple bold writing style giving much detail of the vehicle as possible. The black and white advertisement is usually perceived by the readers as dull and boring. The writing style of the advertisement uses one font with different font sizes which is plain not very attractive. The advertisement has one 2010 GLK image with a bold tagline. The advertisement is flat with no vibrant features and no scenario that could best represent the SUV. No logo of the Mercedes-Benz company or the Murray Motor Imports has been used except for the name of the latter company. The advertisement is basically placed to introduce the new SUV at the lowest rates that the company has to offer in competition with other retail car outlets in the area. The objective of the advertisement is to attract the potential customers to the showroom so that they can come and have a look at the new SUV. In order to catch the attention of target audience, Murray Motor Imports is offering various promotional offers such as a free test drive. In addition to this, the company is offering an attractive lease rate to lure in customers. Another offer used by the company to attract the customers is a lucky draw for a shopping spree. All these marketing offers are aimed to the target audience of 2010 GLK

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Illegal immigrants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Illegal immigrants - Essay Example Those who favor amnesty for illegal aliens, specifically those crossing the southern border do not seem to realize that a crime has been committed and not, as they might have you believe, one without a victim. The massive numbers of illegal aliens pouring across mainly the southern border has and continues to cause substantial economic, social and physical harms to legal citizens. These harms occur predominantly to those who are among the most vulnerable segments of the population, minorities, children and the poor. Simply enforcing the laws presently on the books and deporting illegal aliens is an economic necessity that would also result in decreased crime rates. Illegal immigrants receive more from public monies than they contribute which lowers the standard of living for legal citizens. Illegal immigrants contribute greatly to the overall population growth and health care, education and employment are the most impacted. Salaries are driven down by illegal immigrants willing to work for much less while their children, illegal and legal, overcrowd the schools. It’s the U.S. taxpayer who is sent the bill for their health care services as well. In addition, the large influx of illegal aliens burdens the already inadequate number of units classified as affordable housing and other welfare resources such as energy, water and land usage (â€Å"Illegal Immigration†, 2003). If Congress were to put the country’s interests ahead of its own, it would pass an illegal immigration bill which grants no amnesty. Congress should also pass legislation amending the Immigration and Nationality Act eradicating the idea that children born of illegal aliens are automatically citizens. That privilege should be reserved for children of legal immigrants. Congress should also criminalize illegal entry into the United States which would force government administrators and health workers to report these people to the

Motivation Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Motivation Assignment - Essay Example Autocratic Decisions by the leader Leader proposes decisions , takes feedback and then decides Tam proposes decision , final authority with leader Join decision by team as equals Full delegation of decision to team. Shared Leadership and Police Police in US gravitated towards a military style command and control structure in the early 20th century. This was done in response to widespread corruption and political interference. Police applied the principles of Fredrick Taylor and Max Weber and this management philosophy of control from the top exists even today.US administrators are suspicious of the calls to give autonomy to police as they are happy with the current autocratic system and believe the police work already involves a high degree of discretion. Recent forays have been made into participative leadership by introducing concepts such as community policing but the bureaucratic structure is still highly hierarchical. Shared Leadership and Organizational Commitment The problem w ith a command and control structure is that no decision is made at the lowest level. The officer on the street does not see reducing crime as his duty. No one has ever asked him his view on that. He sees that as the responsibility of those high ups that have considerable power. A research conducted in broken arrow ,Okhlama by the BAPD confirms that bat officers felt much more responsible for maintaining law and order when they were asked feedback on important decisions. (Wuestewald, January 2006 vol 73) The ability of being able to participate in important decisions are seen as a sign of trust by the police officers and very few would be willing to break this trust. Shared leadership makes everyone from the beat officer to the police chief believe that he is responsible for the city and the changes it will bring can be dramatic. Shared Leadership and Productivity Once the lower level officers are made part of the decision making authority; they will feel more proud and will have a h igher level of job satisfaction than they achieve simply by following orders. This would invariably lead to the â€Å"happy chicken syndrome† which is simply the fact that satisfied workers produce better quality of work. (S.Kim, 2002 , 62(2)) Shard Leadership and Labor Relations Police Unions are a common phenomenon throughout USA. While the amount of unions in civilian sector has been decreasing; the unions in police forces are increasing. Although they are not prevalent at the national level but they have a huge amount of influence at the local levels. These unions are seen to have popped up as a result of perceived tensions between the beat officers and the management. Relations with the management will improve once beat officers are made part of the decision making authority (R. Eisenberger, 1990). They will then be able to feel the pulls and pressures that senior officers face. The senior officers will also be aware of the conditions in which beat officers work as they are involved in decision making together and will lead to better relations between the two. Shard Leadership and Community Policing Community policing is regarded is being regarded as one of the initiatives of shared policing. However community policing in the entire country has been mixed with highly bureaucratic police structure. This makes the beat officer responsible to the community he serves in as well as his responsibility toward his senior officer’

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Evaluating the Shareholders Wealth Consequences in Defeating Hostile Essay

Evaluating the Shareholders Wealth Consequences in Defeating Hostile Takeovers of UK Companies - Essay Example Changes in the structure and organisation of a company's operations may be reflected in performance data, but these data provide little indication of the nature and extent of the structural changes. Changes in the functions performed within the company, the product mix, the availability of finance, input sources, industrial relations and many more qualitative aspects of the company's operations may also have significance for the long-run development of the acquired company which would not be reflected in relatively short-run performance data (Ashcroft & Love, 1993, p. 39). An example of a company's effort to substantiate changes through a hostile takeover is that of Olivetti. This Italian industrial giant was long known as a typewriter and office machine company, which almost failed in the 1980s. With the entry of several US competitors in the late 1980s, Olivetti found itself in hot water as it is being toppled down by IBM, Dell, Toshiba, and Compaq. The solution was not obvious, though one business that Olivetti entered in the 1980s, telecommunications, has turned out to be the one in which the company is trying to bet its future. With the bold bid for Telecom Italia in 1998, Olivetti launched one of the first major hostile takeover bids in Europe. After successfully overcoming the strong opposition of Telecom Italia's board and an attempt to recruit Deutsche Telekom as a white knight, Olivetti did take control of the telecommunications company. Now it remains to be seen if Olivetti really can remake itself as a leading telecommunications company mo ving into the twenty-first century (Raghavan and Naik, 1999). In occasions of hostile takeovers, the final decision of whether to allow it rests with the stockholders. In an earlier time, they were largely individuals whose purpose in investing was to earn dividends and hope the stock would appreciate in value so they could sell it at a gain for their retirement. Such "little investors" in our era have been replaced by giant investment funds managed by shrewd professionals with sophisticated computer programs to guide their decisions. They work for mutual funds, pension funds, and other large-volume investors with billions of dollars that they must "keep working" for the benefit of their shareholders or members (Loughran & Vigh, 1997). As there are already strong takeover defences presently available to corporations, shareholders do not have claim to decide whether or not proposed takeover offers are in the best interests of the company. Unfortunately, managerial decision-making may become conflicted for any number of reasons when the company becomes a target for takeover. The burden of proof to show there's no conflict of interest is clearly on the shoulders of the management of the target company. Fact is that any expenditure to "defend" the company from a hostile takeover need to be ultimately justified by enhanced shareholder value. Apparently, during takeovers, the management represents the company, regardless of whether or not it would be more beneficial if shareholders accepted a takeover offer and reinvested the offer value (Neis, 1997). It could also happen that management could overestimate its own ability to create value for shareholders and mistakenly turn down superior offers. Another dilemma that dese rves more careful review is that management owning a substantial number of

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Xia Qinggao Hsieh Ch'ing Kao Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Xia Qinggao Hsieh Ch'ing Kao - Essay Example He was very aware of English naval tradition, and sounded admiring of the rescue processes involved in helping those in need on the high seas, and the possibility of punishment for failing to carry out this duty. The tone, while factual, hinted that in China, similar rules for duty to others applied. He perceived that the English were great maritime traders, and by his own travels, we assume that China too was involved in this trade. That is confirmed by the writer's geographical knowledge (not always accurate) and the flags he observed flying from ships at sea; he must have been part of that trading tradition. His comments regarding smallpox quarantine in Portugal, and its purpose in disease prevention, are stated in a tone that allows us to infer that this would happen too in Chinese ports. With regard to the products and manufactured goods for all the countries mentioned, his awareness was based on knowledge, and such goods were more than likely available in China. He sounded impressed by the "fine system of waterworks" in London, and how easily families could access clean water, with a fair method of payment described. Such a facility might not have been freely available to all in China, judging by his tone and interest. He mentioned good routes by land and water in Portugal, good land routes in the Scandinavian countries, and the steamboat in America impressed him. Because he was so knowledgeable about transportation, we can assume that good mechanisms existed in China, though it was unlikely that they had steam driven boats, as his description was rather inaccurate. In comparing climate, he mentioned only Portugal as being colder than "Fukien and Kwangtung", though England and Sweden would have been even colder. This tells us that parts of China were very hot. From his comment on "dwelling houses of more than one story" we can surmise that this was not the norm in China, where traditionally, one-story family dwellings were set around a courtyard with one main entrance gate. The detailed descriptions of clothing, and how it determined social class, suggested that it was very different in style from Chinese clothing, while drawing attention to the differences between what was worn by the rich and poor, similar to such class divisions in China. The European clothes were "tight fitting" at the top, so Chinese clothes must be less so. His comment on the English "Men and women all wear white ordinarily; for mourning, however, black is used." and this links to the idea of white being the mourning color in China. On pointing out that in Portugal, both genders wore leather shoes, he established that this was not the case in China. The loose skirts were different to Chinese female dress, we can surmise by his interest, but the custom of rich young noblewomen learning to sing and dance from an early age seemed to be a familiar practice, by his tone, and was part of Chinese culture. When describing Portugal's royal family structure and succession issues, "the king does not take a new reign title, but follows the

Monday, September 23, 2019

Principles of Marketing Bachelor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Principles of Marketing Bachelor - Essay Example (Porter, 1985) This can be defined as what must be sacrificed or given up by one party in an exchange inorder to obtain another item from the other party. Price means a variety of things to a number of people. The first view is the consumers view. He does not just consider price in monetary terms i.e. what he must pay to get a good or service, but he also considers the time he has to spend to fully utilise the product. This implies that all the trouble he has to undergo before he can derive utility from the product is considered as a price. While the seller considers price in a positive sense in that it is a reflection of the amount of revenue he is getting. It is also seen as a prerequisite to profit. It is also an important marketing aid for organisations. This is because marketers can use their prices as a tool to advertise or promote their wares. There are a number of factors that need to be considered by the marketer when making pricing decisions. This is because it is not just the final consumer who will make contact with his product. Taking an example of a book sold online - the publisher must consider wholesalers, retailers and even resellers because these groups of people will substantially affect his final income. (Hunger, 2003) The main idea behind any price decision is to strike a balance between satisfying the customer's needs while at the same time making profit for the organisation. It should be remembered that price is proportional to innovation. This is because creativity adds value and thus allows the company to raise its price. Besides this fact, a marketer should also incorporate a company's objectives - what does the company want to gain from sale of a product or service. Allowances and discounts need to be integrated too be cause they cause a substantial decrease in sale of the product. If a product is new to the market, it must have a lower price to lure consumers. This is what is called tactful introductory pricing. In addition, a marketer needs to consider geographical factors when setting his price. The product may have to travel long distances from its place of manufacture. Lastly, prices should be flexible at all times. It must reflect both internal and external market forces and these are very dynamic factors. Place -distribution channels Distribution channels include all the people between the consumer and the supplier that are involved in the exchange of services or products. The activities integrated in distribution range from storage, ordering, shipping, promotion, displaying, feedback and selling. In this channelling process there are usually two broad categories i.e. firms specialised in channels and resellers. Resellers are those groups that take over ownership of products from the marketer and sell these to others. Resellers may come in form of a network or may simply be on their own. Examples of resellers include retailers, wholesalers and industrial distributors. Speciality firms provide help with the sale of an item but do not necessarily buy the item. Some of them may be brokers or agents who bring sellers and buyers in concert after a certain charge. Other speciality firms are distribution service firms who help in storage, transportation or other activities that involve

Sunday, September 22, 2019

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four Essay Example for Free

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four Essay George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian novel which presents an exagerated version of a totalitarian regime which not only controlled everything but which also could not be removed by any means. Orwell’s novel drew attention, back in 1949 when the novel was published, upon how this world would look like if a totalitarian regime would truly take over. My aim for this essay is to analyze Orwell’s novel with respect to the marxist elements present in the novel and also to illustrate their impact upon the protagonist’s feelings. Marxism and especially Stalinism are present in Orwell’s novel through certain elements: countinuous surveillance, control of the mind, the cult of personality and a supposed â€Å"equality† between the Party’s members. Isaac Asimov, in his essay Review of 1984, considers Orwell as a writer with not much of an imagination, accusing him of not developing in the novel the actual communist actions which were happening in reality. â€Å"Orwell imagines Great Britain to have gone through a revolution similar to the Russian Revolution and to have gone through all the stages that Soviet development did. He can think of almost no variations on the theme. I believe, though, that Orwell was an extraordinary visionary who pictured a society chained in nothing but governmental controll, a society which cannot be defeated. A communist concept presented in the novel is that of the powerless individual and of the high disregard the Party had for individualism. Everybody must form a group with everybody – this is the recipe for power, according to any communism regime. In 1984, history is continuously rewritten and in this way, the population’s memories are restricted only to what appears in the remaining articles after rewriting; it can be seen as another way of mind control. Winston himself discovers that most of what the Party states is lies and towards the end of the novel, when Oceania suddenly becomes enemies with Eastasia, the country with which it had been allies all along, everybody is forced to conceive that they have â€Å"always been at war with Eastasia. Ramesh K. writes in his essay Socio-Cultural Matrix in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four that â€Å"history is constantly rewritten to suit the current goals of the Party. Only the destruction of human memory will make it possible. Hence the Ministry of Truth (Minitru) modifies history perpetually to the tune of the ideals of the Party†. As a result of the rewriting of history is the loss of memories. Nobody remembers how life looked like â€Å"before† Big Brother, and yet nobody seems to find it as disturbing as Winston does. He barely remembers his family, and he suspects that most of his memories are only a product of his imagination. He has problems recalling maternal love; he sometimes feels guilty for his parents’ disappearance and he constantly regrets his childhood behavior. When regarding history, the only existing proof or better said, evidence, of such distant civilizations, ones before Big Brother, is written in censored books, created by the Party itself, with carefully selected details which attempt to illustrate how life is much better in the year of 1984, with the Ingsoc regime, then before the totalitarian era. Truth is continuously distorted and it can be regarded as close to extinction, since nobody has a correct notion of what is or is not true, anymore. Memories are vague and the ones vivid are imposed, influenced by the Party. The loss of memories the whole society experiences may also be a result of the continuous flow of new information which constantly contradicts the old one and which, in its turn, is recreated over and over again. The process of rewriting history is described in 1984: â€Å"This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance† (Orwell, Part 1, Chapter 4, p. 1). The cult of personality has a huge influence on Orwell’s dystopia, as on any other totalitarian society. Big Brother has been associated by the critics with Stalin, while his political enemy, another alleged founder of the Party, Emmanuel Goldstein, was seen as the correspondent of Trotsky, Stalin’s enemy in the power struggle from the 1920s. Like Trotsky, Goldstein was deported and excluded from the Party. According to Isaac Asimov, Orwell’s â€Å"enemy was Stalin, and at the time that 1984 was published, Stalin ad ruled the Soviet Union in a ribbreaking bear hug for twenty-five years, had survived a terrible war in which his nation suffered enormous losses and yet was now stronger than ever. To Orwell, it must have seemed that neither time nor fortune could budge Stalin, but that he would live on forever with ever increasing strength. And that was how Orwell pictured Big Brother†. Big Brother is regarded as immortal, the is no evidence of his actual existence, and even O’Brien hints to the fact that Big Brother is nothing more than the embodiment of the Party. In the fictional book written by Goldstein he states that â€Å"Nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the telescreen. We may be reasonably sure that he will never die, and there is already considerable uncertainty as to when he was born. Big Brother is the guise in which the Party chooses to exhibit itself to the world† (Orwell, Part 2, Chapter 9, p. 262). Big Brother was everywhere: â€Å"On coins, on stamps, on the covers of books, on banners, on posters, and on the wrappings of a cigarette packet everywhere. Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed—no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull† (Orwell, Part 1, Chapter 2, p. 34). In such a strict society, Winston attempts rebelling against the Party and also falling in love. Once he meets Julia, his double life takes form and he finds himself in a continuous seek for freedom. The relationship between Winston and Julia is, of course, sentenced to permanent influences on behalf of the Party. They attempt to rebell against it but their rebellion is nothing but a narrowed one, with no actual influence upon the Party. In a world where everything, with no exception, has been adapted to completely new rules, where history is continuously modified and the truth is contorsed over and over again, not even love or friendship remain the same. Winston and Julia are supposed to be in love and moreover, they are supposed to be not only friends, but allies in their fight against the system, but in 1984, in this parallel version of totalitarianism Orwell created, friendship and love would always be darkened by the other’s real identity. An example for how love is reduced can be found in the episode when Julia attempts to dress up for Winston, when renting the room above the antiquities shop, a room which does not have a telescreen. She hardly manages to become feminin by using a very bad smelling perfume – which brings about awful memories to Winston – and by wearing ugly – and yet different from the Party’s uniform – clothes. It seems like no one has the ability of being romantic any longer, and even more important, no one has the means of being so. In 1984, no possible love relationship can be imagined and the idea of making love is something strictly forbidden, because making love – and this is something the Party knows very well – makes people happy, and when people are happy, they no longer care for every bad thing that happens in their every day life in the context of a totalitarian society. Julia explained to Winston the Party’s conception: â€Å"When you make love you’re using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don’t give a damn for anything. They can’t bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour. If you’re happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and the Three-Year Plans and the Two Minutes Hate and all the rest of their bloody rot? † (Orwell, Part 2, Chapter 3, p. 167). In the eyes of the Party, there’s no such thing as love or friendship, and even the existing feelings can only be pointed towards Big Brother, the totalitarian leader who can only be seen on the posters all over the city, which show Big Brother’s portrait and a terrifying slogan: â€Å"Big Brother is watching you†. According to Isaac Asimov â€Å"the great Orwellian contribution to future technology is that the television set is two-way, and that the people who are forced to hear and see the television screen can themselves be heard and seen at all times and are under constant supervision even while sleeping or in the bathroom. Hence, the meaning of the phrase Big Brother is watching you. † Love, as already discussed, is distorted, reduced to physical needs (not even physical pleasure). But, as it is easy to notice, throughout the novel, love remains the Party’s greatest enemy against which they are already fighting through manipulating the children – yet only achieving the destruction of parental love. I consider that children betraying their parents are a symbol and nonetheless, an illustration of what Orwell may have imagined about future generations who will do everything for the Party’s sake – even betray their own mothers and fathers. In my opinion, children when regarded as a symbol, are supposed to â€Å"bring the change into the world†. In 1984 they are the reversed, the opposite version of this concept: children will not change anything, from their point of view, the totalitarian society must and will remain as it is, with few corrections here and there in the history books, when actions and facts begin to contradict with others. â€Å"Nearly all children nowadays were horrible [ ] they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it. ]All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals. It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children† (Orwell, Chapter 2, p. 31). As a conclusion, 1984 emphasizes not only on the impact of a totalitarian regime upon the society, but also on its impact upon the individual’s soul, feelings and thoughts. Winston and Julia’s rebellion may be described as an abstract one, because they do not really achieve anything. Oliver Substance, in his essay The Tendency of Man: Nineteen Eighty-Four, states that â€Å"to truly be a rebel, all of ones actions need to be rebellious, not just the ones involving the basic human urges. Rebels need plans, or else they end up the same way as every other would-be rebel: in Room 101. † The impact upon the reader has no limit, since the novel leaves so much space for interpretation and continuation. Finally, I would like to end my essay with the following quote from the novel: â€Å"If you can FEEL that staying human is worth while, even when it can’t have any result whatever, you’ve beaten them† (Orwell, Part 2, Chapter 7, p. 210).

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Valchromat Pros and Cons

Valchromat Pros and Cons This is our report on our exploration of a manufactured board known as Valchromat. Valchromat is a unique and high quality wood fibre board that is coloured throughout. There is another product similar to it called Fibracolour but this does not match up to the many qualities of Valchromat which we will explore later. We have chosen this topic for several reasons. It is interesting and unheard of to many people while it also relates to two of our learning outcomes in that it is a versatile material that can be used in furniture construction and that it can be used as an architectural woodworking component. A brief description of Valchromat It comes in 8 colours and 7 different thicknesses. Valchromat is made from forest waste, residue from timber mills and recycled pine.http://www.valchromatsa.com/pics/product/10.jpghttp://www.valchromatsa.com/pics/product/1.jpghttp://www.valchromatsa.com/pics/product/8.jpghttp://www.valchromatsa.com/pics/product/6.jpghttp://www.valchromatsa.com/pics/product/4.jpghttp://www.valchromatsa.com/pics/product/16.jpghttp://www.valchromatsa.com/pics/product/12.jpg Its manufacturing process is extremely environmentally friendly. Its production site has zero carbon Emissions. It is manufactured using organic dyes and a specially formed binding resin that ensure exceptional physical and mechanical characteristics while keeping a natural appearance. It is also approved by the British Standards association for safe use in the manufacture of childrens toys.http://www.valchromatsa.com/pics/product/14.jpg It sounds like the perfect manufactured board but can it really be that good? Brief History Of Valchromat Valchromat was created in the research department of valbopan in Portugal as they wanted to improve and develop new and existing wood related products. There was a gap in the market that called for a product combining colour and the features that could already be found in manufactured boards. It was first introduced in Paris in 1998 at the Aprofal fair where it won the technological innovation prise and the display prise. It then hit the market in 1999 through distribution channels in France Switzerland and Belgium. Over the past 30 years MDF has never been completely accepted by specialists as an adequate product for different finishes and decorative processes. Valchromat has broken this taboo. Valchromat is apparently 30 % stronger and more stable than MDF board and can be completely moisture resistant with the right finish. It also increases the lifespan of tools due to a lubricant agent in its composition. But if Valchromat contains all these qualities, then surely most other manufactured boards will also? Manufacturing of Valchromat The wood pigments and glues are carefully selected. The wood is peeled from the bark and torn into small chips. Then the chips are run through a powerful magnet to remove 99% of metals. They are then washed to remove 80 90% of sand which according to the manufactures will reduce the wear and tear on tools. The chips are then sorted into similar sizes and steam cooked. This makes the chips soft and eaier to isolate the fibres. The organic pigments and glue are then added to the fibres. When this mixture has dried the valchromat is pressed in a large press forming large sized sheets. It is then cut to size and assessed in quality control. Properties of Valchromat The Advantages and Disadvantages Valchromat has many advantages above standard MDF. These include strength, wear and tear, machining, environmental and health aspects, variety and finish choices. Strength: During processing special resins are added to the wood fibres bonding them together causing Valchromat to be 30% stronger than ordinary MDF. Due to the strength of Valchromat it can be used in areas of construction requiring high strength material such as, counter tops, table tops, ceilings and walls. Standard MDF would be unsuitable in some cases of these areas of construction as bowing over a large span can be an issue. Wear and tear: Unlike standard MDF, Valchromat is soaked all the way through with organic colour die allowing scratches difficult to detect. Sanding and re-lacquering is all that is required to bring Valchromat panels back to their finished state. Machining: Contained in the special wood fibre bonding resin used in Valchromat is an organic base chemical called melamine. This chemical has lubricated properties which allow the blades of cutting tools to glide through the wood free from friction. It has been verified that blades of cutting tools used for cutting only Valchromat have a life span of four times longer than blades used for cutting standard MDF. Environmental and health aspects: Valchromat is an environmental friendly non-toxic substance made from recycled pine wood and mill waste. Valchromat panels are manufactured using waste wood such as branches and chips from softwood forests. In using waste wood Valchromat helps to sustain forests and minimize carbon emissions given off from felling machinery. Also the carcinogenic odorless chemical gas known as formaldehyde which is found in the wood fibre bonding resin used in standard MDF is absent in Valchromat where a special organic non- toxic wood fibre bonding resin is used allowing Valchomat safe to be used in the manufacture of kids toys. Valchromat also use the same colour dye used in fabric. This dye is organic and non-toxic. Finishing choices All finishes such as lacquer, wax, oil, fire retardant and glossy will give an immense finish when applied to Valchromat. Valchromat is set to take the place of MDF as the standard manufactured panel board used in furniture construction due to its superior strength, moisture resistance and adaptability. Valchromat can take just about any finish required unlike MDF and it surpasses most standard required for furniture construction. http://www.iscsupply.com/id172.html Standards ValchromatÂÂ ® is classified E1 (very low formaldehyde) and has been approved by the British Standards Association for the safe use in the manufacture of childrens toys. http://www.valchromatsa.com/product/index.html Valchromat holds many certificates aswell as their own extremely high standards SGS Certificate Factory production Control certificate Conformity Declaration Certificate Uses of Valchromat Valchromat is leading the field in manufactured boards. It is mostly used in high end furniture construction at the moment but is sure to work its way down to the small workshop because of its superiority to other manufactured boards. Valchromat is used by the leading designers and manufacturers in the furniture industry. Its adaptability means it is used for different furniture projects from table tops, kitchens, Bathrooms, shelving, wall cladding and other things. Valchromat has won numerous awards and has been on show in many prestiges exhibitions. Tent London will host a dramatic pop up cafe bar pavilion designed by award-winning London design studio, Vonsung. From 23-26 September 2010, visitors to Tent London will have the opportunity to experience Vonsungs striking pop-up cafe bar. Commissioned by Tent London the pavilion will provide a unique dining and bar space for the duration of the event. A fast build, the primary structure will be constructed from materials loaned from Vonsungs existing project sites. The cladding material, which will encase the floor and ceiling, is Bolon, a world leader in woven vinyl material. The walls will be ValchromatÂÂ ®, an innovative, award-winning engineered coloured wood, used by architects, designers and decorators. The whole structure will be illuminated by both skylight and dramatic indoor lighting, forming shadows and silhouettes, it will create a compelling feature within Tent Londons design event. http://tentlondon.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html Interlam is one of the leading manufacturers of carved wooden panels and one of its main materials is Valchromat alongside other materials. INTERLAMÂÂ ® was established in 1985 as an Italian High pressure laminate distributor.ÂÂ   Over the past 23 years we have grown to become a leading manufacturer of sculpted wall panels and expanded our line of architectural components.ÂÂ   INTERLAMÂÂ ® is a designer and manufacturer of high-end SCULPTED WALL PANELS,ÂÂ  CARVED WALL PANELS, DECORATIVE WALL PANELS, ORNAMENTAL WALL PANELS and components based in the United States and exporting to all corners of the globe. The cornerstone of our business is creating and supplying products to the AD community that add significant value to their individual projects. Water resistant, Ecological and Strong; just some of the words used to describe Valchromat from Interlam. Valchromat uses Special resins that are added to the wood fibre during processing which bonds the fibre together. This causes Valchromat to be 30% stronger than standard MDF. Add to that the fact that Valchromat can be used as. Walls, cabinets, seating, tables, ceilings, counters, and general millwork as well as counter tops, table tops, store fronts, and high moisture areas. http://www.interlam-design.com/Products.cfm The TazCorporation is a another major user of Valchromat in furniture manufacture for both local and international markets Valchromat was created to address the need to overcome the limitation of the existing wood fibre materials in the marketplace. For a few decades, MDF has never really been accepted by specialists as an adequate product for different finishes and decorative purposes. Valchromat has broken this convention by introducing a new aesthetic concept of its own while complying with the chemical and mechanical specifications of the MDF. In addition, Valchromat has been awarded for its significant technical innovation ever since its introduction in the Approfal Fair, Paris in 1998. The material has since undergone different industrial tests before its full-fledge distribution in Europe in 1999. Future Possibilities At the moment the future of Valchromat looks very healthy. With new designs available with every advancement in technology. It is already used in Kitchens, Bathrooms, and many other household rooms and offices and is making serious inroads in the childrens toys industry. Whatever route furniture construction takes in the next few years Valchromat is bound to be a part of it for a long time When it comes to choosing the best kind of fibreboard there are many options from LMF, MDF, HDF and now valchromat.http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQ_K-zGBck77HtTSqEp_vF27qWscAnGc_PWYB80vx1wTD0RWrhRQ The most frequently used fibreboard from knowledge would be MDF (medium density fibre). Its method of manufacture is simple, softwood wood fibres glued under heat and pressure. It has a lot of advantages over solid wood as very little shrinkage and expansion occurs. It is available in large sheets 84 and 95, its Dense, flat, stiff, free of knots, grain not distinguished and very easily machined such as cutting, drilling, filed etc. It can be finished with a variety of solutions such as water based paints, oils, varnishes, lacquers or it can even be laminated. Paint Oil Varnish Lacquer Laminate Along with the advantages of MDF there are also disadvantages, because MDF contains a large amount of glue, this cause blunting to tooling very quickly. Probably the main disadvantage would be the health risks caused by the dust produced from MDF, this is because the fibres are bonded together with formaldehyde resins. Formaldehyde is a toxic chemical and is continuously being released from MDF unless sealed, which can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and mucous membrane. It can also cause irritation to the skin and is cancerous. A new product on the market now is valchromat. It is based on the same principles as MDF but in many ways it is much better. Valchromat unlike MDF is moisture resistant and is recommended to be used in areas with high moisture and humidity, where as MDF will tend to swell and expand when in contact with moisture. The wood fibres come from forest waste and there is no formaldehyde added to the product which makes this product non-toxic and more environmentally friendly unlike its rival MDF. Valchromat is available in a variety of colours due to organic dyes being infused into the wood fibres, these dyes penetrate the wood fibres so that the colours are uniform throughout the board. The dye is also resistant to fading when exposed to UV rays from artificial light. These dyes are non toxic, and they are similar to dyes used in fabrics. Special resins are used to bond the fibres together which along with the organic dyes, make valchromat 30% stronger than standard MDF. Because valchromat comes in coloured panels it is ready for production without the need to be painted, finishes maybe added to deepen the colour of the panel such as lacquer, varnish etc. HDF (high density fibreboard) is another form of fibreboard and in many ways it is much better than MDF. It is manufactured using similar principles as MDF, wood fibres glued together under heat and pressure except, HDF is made from exploded wood fibres and is put under much more pressure than MDF produce a higher quality board. Is HDF a better solution than valchromat? In terms of strength and density . . . . . . . . . . . .Yes, as HDF is 75% denser than MDF (depending on manufacturer), where as valchromat is only 30% denser than MDF. In terms of resistance to moisture and environmental impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No, HDF incorporates the same moisture problems and dangers as MDF, moisture causes the panel to swell and expand, and danger through formaldehyde which can cause health problem such as cancer. Conclusion From doing this report we have definitely met the two learning outcomes stated in the introduction. Valchromat is without a doubt a versatile woodworking material and can be used for many architectural components. We also feel that valchromat , even though it is so versatile, it still would not be our choice for certain jobs like making jigs and other practical items. We have already decided to use it ourselves in some project at some stage in our woodworking careers.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Foreign Exchange Risk Management In Multinational Corporations Finance Essay

Foreign Exchange Risk Management In Multinational Corporations Finance Essay Corporations (MNCs) Introduction: Globalisation has had economic, cultural, technological and political effects. Over the last few decades the increase in globalisation has led to rapid growth in several industries around the world and it has also had a strong influence on the flexibility of firms. Hundreds of new MNCs have emerged globally due to the liberalisation of trade and capital markets. MNCs are not limited to the big firms with huge investments like Coca Cola, Nike and Shell, due to advances in technology and liberal markets many small firms operate internationally to maximise their profits. This growth has highlighted the various risks faced by MNCs operating in different countries. One such risk is the financial risk involved with the foreign currency exchange markets. Most of the time MNCs deal in more than one national currency and hence the changes in the foreign exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the firms profits. This paper discusses the various foreign exchange risks faced by multinationa ls around the globe and the necessary steps taken to manage these risks. A study on the Malaysian MNCs has also been covered in the paper. Foreign Exchange Risks: Foreign Exchange risks also known as exposures can be termed as an agreed, projected or contingent cash flow whose scale is not certain at the moment. The magnitude depends on the value of the changes in the foreign exchange rates which in turn depends on various variables such as the interest rate parity, purchasing power parity, speculations and government policies on exchange rates. According to G.Shoup (1998), a company has exposure if there is a currency mismatch in some aspect of the business such that a shift in foreign exchange rates, nominal or real, affect its performance either positively or negatively. These exposures may be classified into three different categories: Translation exposure Transaction exposure Economic exposure Translation Exposure; this is the net asset/liability exposure in the home currency of the MNC. In other words, it is the profit gained or loss incurred in translating foreign currency financial statements of foreign subsidiaries of the MNC into a single currency which it uses in its final reports (Yazid Muda, 2006). In essence, translation risk can be defined as the effect of exchange rates on the figures shown on the parent companys consolidated balance sheet. Although this exposure does not affect the shareholders equity, it does influence the investors due to the changing values of the assets or liabilities. (Shoup, 1998) Transaction Exposure; it is a risk associated with a transaction that has already been contracted. It is as a result of unexpected changes in foreign exchange rates affecting future cash flows which the MNC has already committed itself to. Usually MNCs enter an international contractual obligation, the payment or receipt of which is expected on a future date, hence any change in the foreign exchange rate during that period will expose the MNC to transaction risks. Transaction risks can be easily identified and thus get more attention from the financial managers. (Eiteman, Stonehill, Moffett, 2007) Economic Exposure; this is the most complex risk as it not only involves the known cash flows but also future unknown cash flows, hence also termed as a hidden risk. It is a comprehensive measure of a companys foreign exchange exposure and therefore sometimes termed as a combination of translation and transaction exposure. Identifying economic risks involves measuring the change in the present value of the company resulting from any changes in the future operating cash flows of the firm caused either by adverse or desirable change in the exchange rate. (Eiteman, Stonehill, Moffett, 2007). As Dhanani (2000) noted, economic risk can be viewed as the consequence of long-term exchange rate fluctuations on a firms predicted cash flows and as the cash flows linked to the risk are not certain to materialize, the risk is hard to identify. Economic exposure to a MNC may last for a long duration making it difficult to be quantified and hence limiting the use of possible management techniques. (Shoup, 1998) Foreign Exchange Risk Management Foreign exchange risk management is a process which involves identifying areas in the operations of the MNC which may be subject to foreign exchange exposure, studying and analysing the exposure and finally selecting the most appropriate technique to eliminate the affects of these exposures to the final performance of the company. (Shoup, 1998) Risks involving short term transactions can be dealt with using financial instruments but long term risks often require changes in the operations of the company. As in the case of translation exposure the MNC can have an equal amount of exposed foreign currency assets and liabilities. By doing so the company will be able to offset any gain or loss it may have due to changes in the exchange rates of that currency, also known as balance sheet hedging. (Eiteman, Stonehill, Moffett, 2007) In dealing with economic exposures efficiently, a MNC may have to diversify either its finance or its operations. It can diversify its operations by either moving to locations where the cost of production is low, or having a flexible supplier policy, or changing the target market for its products and the types of products it deals in. As it can be illustrated from the 1994 example of Toyota, when a strong Yen made Japanese exports to US more expensive, it decided to shift its production from Japan to US, where it achieved comparatively lower costs of production, enabling it to compete in the US car market. (Eun Resnick, 2007) The management of transaction exposures may either involve hedging using special techniques or applying pro-active policies. The pro-active policies commonly used include (Eiteman, Stonehill, Moffett, 2007): Matching currency cash flow Risk sharing agreements Back to back loans Currency swaps Lead and Lag payments Use of re-invoicing centres Hedging is the act of protecting a pre-existing position in the spot market by trading in derivative securities; that is guarding of existing assets from future losses. According to Eiteman et al (2007), hedging is the taking of a position, acquiring a cash flow, an asset or a contract that will rise or fall in value and hence offset a fall or rise in value of an existing position. Several studies on this issue have emphasized that MNCs have a higher probability of facing exchange rate volatility in their operations as they expand their involvement throughout the world. Therefore, the extensive use of various hedging techniques by most companies has been widely recognized to ensure the companys overall interests, cash flows and equity are safeguarded. Some of the most commonly used hedging techniques include: Forward market hedge Money market hedge Options market hedge Forward market hedge; this is the case where the MNC in the forward contract has a legal obligation to buy or sell a given amount of foreign currency at a specific future date which is known as the contract maturity date at a price agreed upon at present. (Nitzche Cuthbertson, 2001) Money market hedge; under this hedging technique, the transaction exposure can be hedged by lending and borrowing in the local and foreign markets. For instance a MNC may borrow in a foreign currency to hedge the amount it expects to receive in that currency at a later date and similarly it could lend to hedge payables in a foreign currency. By doing so, the MNC will be matching its assets and liabilities in the same currency. (Eun Resnick, 2007) Options market hedge; this is a technique used by a MNC which gives it the right but not the obligation to buy or sell a specific amount of foreign currency at a specific price, by or on a specific date. Although not a widely used tool, it can be useful when a MNC is uncertain about the future receipt or payments of foreign currency. (Nitzche Cuthbertson, 2001) Hedging helps in reducing the risks involved in international transactions and also improves planning capability. By hedging a MNC can ensure its cash flow does not fall below a necessary minimum, particularly in cases where there is a tendency of a company to run out of cash for necessary investments (Eiteman, Stonehill, Moffett, 2007). A very good example would be that of Merck, a pharmaceutical company. Kearney and Lewent (1993) identified that Merck was one of the pioneers to have used hedging to ensure that its key investment plans could always be financed, which in their case was the research and development aspect of their business. Mathur (1982) came to the conclusion that, to decrease the negative outcomes caused by fluctuations of foreign exchange rate on earnings and cash flows, most companies employ a hedging program. He also noted that a formal foreign exchange management policy is more common among larger firms. According to Bartov et al (1996), if MNCs do not institut e a hedging program, they are more likely to be exposed to risks which may result in substantial losses. Despite its advantages, hedging does not increase the companys expected cash flows, on the other hand it uses up the company resources in the process (Eiteman, Stonehill, Moffett, 2007). According to G.Shoup (1998), unless there are clear defined objectives, safeguards in place and clear communication at every level of management, a hedging program may turn into a disaster. As the chairman of Zenith Electronic Corporations, Jerry K Pearlman once said, It is a, damned if you do and damned if you dont situation. (Shoup, 1998, p15.) In 1984, Lufthansa a German airline company placed a major purchase order for airlines from an American firm. The financial managers at Lufthansa had forecasted a stronger dollar in the days to come and therefore locked up the German Duetsche mark against the American dollar. Due to an unfavourable effect, a weak dollar, in one year Lufthansa lost around US$150 million and half of the financial managers team lost their jobs (Shoup, 1998). In another instance, two years later in 1986, the chairman of Porche found himself unemployed as he had engineered the company into a dependence on the US market for 61% of its revenue without hedging against a downturn in US$, as a result forcing Porche to suffer major financial losses. (Shoup, 1998) According to a study by Marshall (2000), the trend in the objectives of managing foreign exchange risks was quite similar between the UK and US multinationals who gave significant importance to certainty of cash flow as well as minimising fluctuations in earnings. On the other hand, a higher number of Asian multinationals managed these risks to minimise fluctuations in their earnings. The trend observed is summarised in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Foreign exchange risk management in UK, USA and Asia Pacific multinational companies by Andrew P Marshall, Journal of Multinational Financial Management, 2000. Belk and Glaum (1990) undertook a study which involved investigating several UK MNCs. The study revealed that although majority of the companies considered translation exposure to be important, not all were prepared to hedge this risk actively. On the other hand transaction exposure was given most importance in the management of foreign exchange risks. The level of hedging the transaction exposure varied between the companies investigated, some hedged totally while others did so partially. The study also seemed to show that the size if the MNC influenced its involvement in foreign exchange risk management, the larger the company the higher the propensity. In another study carried out by Makar and Huffmann (1997), it was found that there is a linear relationship between the amount of foreign exchange derivatives employed and the degree of foreign currency exposure in US MNCs. Foreign Exchange Risk Management in Malaysian Multinational Corporations (MNCs) During the financial crisis of 1997, most Malaysian MNCs suffered foreign exchange losses due to currency fluctuations, thus leading to the increased involvement of Malaysian MNCs in foreign exchange risk management (Yazid Muda, 2006). It can be seen that before the financial crisis fewer MNCs considered hedging their foreign exchange risks to be vital, as the General Manager of the Malaysian Monetary Exchange Bhd indicated that local MNCs were very passive and reactive in managing their financial risks (New Strait Times, 30 May 1998: 11). A similar statement was given by the then Minister for International Trade and Industry, Rafidah Aziz, which implied that MNCs should manage their foreign exchange risks well (New Strait Times, 3 July 1998). A very good example of the losses suffered would be that by Malaysian Airline System (MAS), MAS lost around M$400 million in the first half of 1998 because of its foreign debt of about M$3.16 billion. Yazid and Muda (2006) studied 90 out of th e then 113 MNCs listed under the Bursa Malaysia. The main objectives cited by MNCs in this study relating to the foreign exchange risk management were to minimise the following; Losses on operational cash flow Cash flow fluctuations Losses on consolidated balance sheet Losses on shareholders equity Business uncertainty Foreign exchange risk to a comfortable level According to Yazid and Muda (2006), Malaysian MNCs became very proactive in managing their foreign exchange risks during the financial crisis and once the crisis was over, the priority attributed to foreign exchange risk management decreased slightly but not to the point it was before the crisis. This has been illustrated as a summarised result of the survey shown in table 1. Objectives Before During Current Minimise Losses on operational cash flow 3.59 4.62 4.09 Minimise Cash flow fluctuations 3.29 4.41 3.88 Minimise Losses on consolidated balance sheet 3.26 3.91 3.82 Minimise Losses on shareholders equity 3.24 3.56 3.50 Minimise Business uncertainty 3.21 3.50 3.41 Minimise Foreign exchange risk to a comfortable level 2.91 3.53 3.29 Table 1 (Yazid and Muda, 2006) Note: The results are based on five-point progressive Likert scale (1 is the least important; 5 is the most important) Large MNCs in Malaysia are more likely to get involved in foreign exchange risk management compared to smaller firms or firms with relatively lesser operations outside Malaysia. This trend seems to be consistent with other MNCs around the globe (Yazid et al, 2008). Majority of the Malaysian MNCs centralise their foreign exchange risk management and it can be said that foreign exchange risk management in Malaysia is still at its infant stage in comparison to other MNCs in the west. Their management practices are very informal and no proper documented policies can be found in regard to foreign exchange risks. Although the use of hedging tools is on a steady rise amongst the Malaysian MNCs, the objectives behind their involvement remain uncertain (Yazid and Muda, 2006). The past decade has seen rapid growth of a new segment in the global finance industry, the Islamic finance sector. To qualify for Islamic foreign exchange hedging, transactions must involve tangible assets. Malaysia, which is pre-dominantly an islamic country has highlighted the need of hedging tools which are compliant with Islam. Hence CIMB, a leading Malaysian bank among others, have introduced an Islamic foreign exchange hedging instrument, which would assist their clients to manage their risks. (Reuters, 2008) Astro, which is a leading services provider in the Asian entertainment indutry is based in Malaysia. Being a MNC, foreign transactions are dealt in different foreign currencies other than the Malaysian Ringgit. Consequently, there is an exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. Astro uses foreign currency derivatives such as forward contracts and interest rate swap contracts to hedge currency exchange risks. Forward contracts are commonly used to limit exposure to currency fluctuations on foreign currency receivables and payables as well as on cash flows generated from anticipated transactions denominated in foreign currencies. In 2007 Astro made a loss of RM 137,000 due to foreign exchange fluctuations and henceforth decided to emphasize the use of hedging techniques. This can be proven by Astros estimated principal amounts of outstanding forward contracts which as at 31st January 2009 was RM188,083,636, whereas at the same time a year before it was at RM 5,109,000. The emphasis o n risk management resulted in a substantial gain of RM 7,680,000 for Astro in the year ended 2008. In addition, as Ringgit Malaysia is Astros functional currency; all the financial statements have to be consolidated into this currency. Hence Astro is exposed to translation risk due to the fluctuating exchange rates. According to Table 2.0, the significance of the foreign currency risk management is noticeable as Astro experienced a huge gain in 2008 relative to the loss they suffered in 2007. Table 2.0: ASTRO; Result of Foreign Exchange Risk Management Cash Flow due to Operating Activities 2008 RM000 2007 RM 000 Net Effect of Currency Translation on Cash and Cash Equivalents 4854 (1529) Gain on Realisation of Foreign Forward Contracts 7680 (137) However, hedging of foreign exchange does not always yield a positive result, as illustrated in the case of AirAsia, one of the leading budget airlines in Asia. AirAsia like many international airlines used a technique refered to as fuel hedging, this allows the airline to purchase fuel at a price fixed at an earlier date despite an increase in the fuel price. During the fuel crisis of 2007-2008 when prices rose to over US$150/barrel, AirAsia made a significant loss as it had hedged for fuel prices not to exceed US$90/barrel and as a result AirAsia recorded its first ever full year loss of RM471.7 million for the year ended 31st December 2008, despite achieving a growth of 36.6% in revenue. This led to the removal of all hedges on fuel prices and AirAisa declared itself as completely unghedged. Although AirAsia intends to re-introduce fuel hedging in 2011, for now it deals in spot prices for its fuel. (Leong, 2009) (Ooi, 2008) Conclusion Multinationals are exposed to various kinds of risks, which includes the foreign exchange risk. This risk which is as a result of exchange rate volatility is said to have a pervasive impact on the profitability and certainty of a MNC. Globally, multinationals face translation, transaction and economic risks due to the frenzied system of floating exchange rates. To avoid the adverse effects of these risks, multinationals often take measures which although do not entirely eliminate the losses; they do enable the firms to minimize the losses. Hedging is very common risk management tool used by multinationals and has often resulted in positive results when used after a correct analysis of the exposure is made. Despite its advantages, not all multinationals around the globe decide to manage their risks in this way. The objectives behind foreign exchange risk management and the techniques used to manage are seen to differ across regions. In the case of Malaysian multinationals, foreign exchange risk management is deemed to be at a lower level relative to their counterparts globally. Until recently, majority of the Malaysian multinationals were not actively managing these risks. The Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s had a significant effect on their stance and the level of foreign exchange risk management amongst Malaysian multinationals has since increased considerably.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Free King Lear Essays: Comic Relief :: King Lear essays

Comic Relief in King Lear Combining the antics of a circus with the pomp of a royal court is a difficult task indeed. William Shakespeare's genius came from how closely he intertwined the two seemingly mutually exclusive realms to appeal to all socioeconomic groups in his audience. In King Lear, Edgar's appearance as Tom of Bedlam, Lear's insanity, and Lear's Fool provide the comic relief which slices the dramatic tension. Among these, Lear's Fool provides the closest intercourse of the two realms of royalty and tomfoolery while still maintaining their separation. Fools, as I understand them, were kept by kings as entertainment devices prior to the advent of television. Lear's Fool, how-ever, transcends the role as entertainer to assume the role of both Ann Landers and Jim Davis. Particularly intriguing to me are his witticisms and humorous tidbits which interweave foreshadowing, practical advice, humor, and characterization into a succinct, meterical saying. The Fool begins by offering his jester's cap to Kent, saying that if Kent is to follow Lear, he had better have a coxcomb, insinuating the folly of following Lear. He goes on to say that "if I gave my daughters all my property," I'd have to keep a coxcomb. The Fool is quick to juxtapose his comment against his statement that he does not have a "monopoly" on foolishness. The Fool further points out the presence of a "wise man and a fool" without saying who is who, and he criticizes Lear for "going the fools among," implying that Lear is usurping the Fool's position as one prone to lapses of judgment and sheer stupidity. He tacitly insinuates through his actions and statements that he is among the company of fools, which provides the hint of foreshadowing the audience needs to know that Lear is losing his wits. The Fool also uses argument by analogy several times. He first relates Lear to a hedge sparrow which feeds cuckoo babies, which then bit the sparrow's head off. The Fool also relates empty egg shells to Lear and his crown. Shakespeare's unique touch comes in the double meaning of the egg shells. The Fool says that Lear is left with two empty egg shells for a crown, but he also implies that Lear's head is like an empty egg, related most clearly in the comparison of the color of Lear's head to the color of an egg. Free King Lear Essays: Comic Relief :: King Lear essays Comic Relief in King Lear Combining the antics of a circus with the pomp of a royal court is a difficult task indeed. William Shakespeare's genius came from how closely he intertwined the two seemingly mutually exclusive realms to appeal to all socioeconomic groups in his audience. In King Lear, Edgar's appearance as Tom of Bedlam, Lear's insanity, and Lear's Fool provide the comic relief which slices the dramatic tension. Among these, Lear's Fool provides the closest intercourse of the two realms of royalty and tomfoolery while still maintaining their separation. Fools, as I understand them, were kept by kings as entertainment devices prior to the advent of television. Lear's Fool, how-ever, transcends the role as entertainer to assume the role of both Ann Landers and Jim Davis. Particularly intriguing to me are his witticisms and humorous tidbits which interweave foreshadowing, practical advice, humor, and characterization into a succinct, meterical saying. The Fool begins by offering his jester's cap to Kent, saying that if Kent is to follow Lear, he had better have a coxcomb, insinuating the folly of following Lear. He goes on to say that "if I gave my daughters all my property," I'd have to keep a coxcomb. The Fool is quick to juxtapose his comment against his statement that he does not have a "monopoly" on foolishness. The Fool further points out the presence of a "wise man and a fool" without saying who is who, and he criticizes Lear for "going the fools among," implying that Lear is usurping the Fool's position as one prone to lapses of judgment and sheer stupidity. He tacitly insinuates through his actions and statements that he is among the company of fools, which provides the hint of foreshadowing the audience needs to know that Lear is losing his wits. The Fool also uses argument by analogy several times. He first relates Lear to a hedge sparrow which feeds cuckoo babies, which then bit the sparrow's head off. The Fool also relates empty egg shells to Lear and his crown. Shakespeare's unique touch comes in the double meaning of the egg shells. The Fool says that Lear is left with two empty egg shells for a crown, but he also implies that Lear's head is like an empty egg, related most clearly in the comparison of the color of Lear's head to the color of an egg.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Global Warming Essays -- Environment Global Warming Climate Change

Global Warming Climate change is neither new nor unusual. Throughout the history of the earth, the average surface temperature, climate and greenhouse gas concentrations have changed, sometimes gradually other times quite sharply. During the past 10,000 years the earth has been in an interglacial period with a fairly stable climate, surface temperature, and greenhouse gas concentration1. The problem that has arisen in recent times is when scientists analyze the past 150 years, especially the last 50. Scientists have found an increased greenhouse gas concentration, making the 20th century the hottest in the last 10,000 years. Although the earth has undergone periodic changes known as global cooling and global warming, today’s global warming is unique, due to human influences. The greenhouse effect is essentially gasses in the atmosphere trapping heat, rather like a car window does in the summer. The major heat trapping gasses found in the atmosphere are; CO2 and water vapor- which are found in large quantity, 03(ozone), ch4(methane), and N2O(nitrous oxide)-which are better heat trappers but found in smaller quantity, CFC’s and PFC’s- which are very potent and destroy ozone. The rapid elevation of these gasses in the past fifty years have been the cause for concern of scientists calling it a global warming problem. Global warming is a natural process as well as a human assisted process. Solar flares and sunspots along with natural elevation of greenhouse gasses due to volcanic activety are the natural causes for global warming. Dr. Judy Lean, a leading astrophysicist, looked at global warming trends from 1860 to the present day. Her research has found from 1860 to 1970, global warming was largely due to natural sources. But from 1970 to the present natural sources accounted for only one-third the increase while human influence accounted for the remaining two-thirds of the increased greenhouse effect. The increase in greenhouse gasses from human sources comes from a variety of things. Elevated Co2 levels, which have been increasing at a rate of 0.5% per year, largely come from the burning of fossil fuels(70-75%), especially coal. Deforestation and plant burning account for the remainder. Increased Methane and Nitrous oxide in the atmosphere are mostly due to agriculture; rice patties, cattle, termites and decomposition of dead... ...ns in order to stop the increase. In order to slow the increase, the efficient use of fossil fuels must be adapted. Natural gas gives off very little co2 and methane if burned properly. Deforestation must also be stopped in order to give natural co2 scrubbers, plants, a chance to aid in the process. Governmental programs have also been implemented. A carbon tax has been considered along with the passing of the 1990 Clean Air Act, aimed at lowering emissions and cleaning air pollution. On a world wide scale, the Kyoto Accord in 1997, in which 159 nations agreed to work together to decrease Co2 emissions by 5.5% by 2012. The United States agreed, since it accounts for 25% of the worlds total emissions by 1990 figures, to cut its emissions by 7%. Global warming is still a major issue in world and U.S. politics. Conservatives argue for more market-orientated solutions, resulting in the imposition of taxes, resulting in higher prices for environment polluting goods. Liberals on the other hand advocate stiffer industry regulation and more direct controls. Any action taken, whatever the ideology, can only help to solve an increasing problem but at what cost to the consumer?

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Outline Three Problems to Plato’s Theory of the Forms Essay

Aristotle thought that Plato’s theory of forms with its two separate realms failed to explain what it was meant to. That is, it failed to explain how there could be permanence and order in this world and how we could have objective knowledge of this world. By separating the realm of forms so radically from the material realm, Plato made it impossible to explain how the realm of forms made objectivity and permanence possible in the material realm. The objectivity and permanence of the realm of forms does not help to explain the material world because the connection between the two worlds is so hard to understand. The theory of forms, therefore, is an unnecessary proposal. There is no need to split the world up into two separate realms in order to explain objectivity and permanence in our experience. Aristotle elaborated this general criticism into two more particular objections: First, according to Plato material objects participate in or imitate the forms. It is in virtue of this relation to the realm of forms that material objects are knowable and have order. Yet, Aristotle argues it is nearly impossible to explain what exactly this participation or imitation is. The properties that the forms have are all incompatible with material objects. How, for example, can a red object be said to participate in or copy the form of redness? Is the form of redness red itself? How can there be red without anything that is red? It seems that the metaphor of imitation or participation seems to break down in these cases because of the special properties that Plato ascribes to the forms. The only link between the realm of forms and the material world, then, breaks down. The forms cannot explain anything in the material world. The second argument was first given by Plato himself in his later dialogues. It is related to the first objection, but is a more technical way of getting at the main problem with the theory of forms. Plato explains the resemblance between any two material objects in terms of their joint participation in a common form. A red book and a red flower, for example, resemble each other in virtue of being copies of the form of redness. Since they are copies of this form, they also resemble the form. But this resemblance between the red object and the form of redness must also be explained in terms of another form. What form does a red object and the form of redness both copy to account for their similarity? One can see that this will lead to an infinite regress. Whenever someone proposes another form that two similar things copy, you can always ask them to explain the similarity between the form and the objects. This will always require another form. The notion of imitation or copying used in the theory of forms, then, runs into logical difficulties. The theory of forms really explains nothing about the similarity of objects; another form is always needed beyond the one proposed. Thus to explain the similarity between a man and the form of man, one needs a third form of man, and this always requires another form. The explanation of the original similarity is never given; it is only put off to the next level. Wittgenstein also criticised Plato’s theory with his language games. He argued that for meaning in language it must define the concepts. Concepts therefore do not gain meaning from the objects to which they refer but from the way we use them in language. This is governed by a series of formal and informal rules that control the games. Wittgenstein observed from games that it is impossible to offer a simple explanation of the word game because not all the uses of it include the same concepts. The games have a family resemblance but no defining set feature. The use of the word game gains its meaning from the way in which it is used. Therefore those who understand how to use it will understand what it means. This is a problem for Plato because he has already told us that the Forms are simple, yet Wittgenstein suggests that some concepts are so complex that there cannot be a simple blueprint or pattern that ties them all together.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Anlysing of Tv Commercial

The Selected TV Commercial We have selected a television advertisment of bKash, a Brack bank company, for our given assignment. bKash is a service providing company newly launched in Bangladesh which mission is to provide financial services allowing people of Bangladesh to safely send and receive money via mobile devices that are convenient, affordable and reliable. The TV commercial in details: Here on the add Sokhina is the main actress who is a garments worker and uses bKash regularly to send money home to her family.She narrates how bKash has made her life so much easier, and how it is transforming the lives of everyone around her too. How the other people are being benefitted by bKash according to this advertisement are describing below. Her neighbor Milon is a driver who used to receive his salary in cash. Milon is happy because bKash is a better means to keep his money safe as he does not have a bank account. He does not need to cash out the whole amount at a time. Ronnie is t he son of the Chairman of Sokhina’s village who is a university student and lives on campus away from home.He needs to pay his tuition fee urgently and calls his father to send him the money through bKash. He also assured his father not to be worried to lose the money as only he knows the pin code to make the money cash. Soo it is secure even the cell phone is lost. Again her madam Nina buys some groceries from a nearby superstore and happily pays with bKash at the store. Nina likes paying with bKash as it is simple, convenient and she no longer needs to carry cash. According to the TV commercial at present sending or receiving money using bKash is only possible under Grameen Phone and Robi network throughout the country.WEB link: http://www. bkash. com/video/something-everyone If facing any problem please visit http://www. facebook. com/Zelius. Miraz? fref=ts TARGET MARKET ANLYSIS Consumer markets can be segmented on the following customer characteristics. * Geographic * Dem ographic * Psychographic Geographic Target Market: If we consider about the geographical target market for bKash on the basis of the advertisement then it would be the whole Bangladesh where the network of GP and Robi is available as it talks about sending and receiving money from one end to another.Demographic Target Market: Age: People of ages 18 to 50. On the add we have seen that Ronnie, a university student, needs to use bKash for the payment of his tuition fees again on the other hand Sokhina sends money to her parents through bKash. So all of them are the target market of bkash. Gender: Both male and female. Income: People who earn money and do not both are the target market of bkash as it is providing one type of banking service. Occupation: Service Holder, Driver, Students, Housewife, Farmers, Businessman etc. ccording to the advertisement only. Psychographic Target Market: Social Class: Lower, middle and upper. Attitude and beliefs: Security conscious. Behavioral Target Ma rket: Benefits sought: Sokhina the garment worker describes about the benefits of bKash. User status: Potential and regular. OBJECTIVE OF THE ADVERTISEMENT The main objective of the advertisement is to attract the people of all sectors especially including garments workers, other lower earning people, students and housewives to use the financial service of bKash. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Population Problems: A Worldwide Dilemma Essay

Population, specifically in terms of size, is considerably more of an issue today than it has ever been. In fact, some of the most significant problems worldwide are being attributed to the continuous rise of the human global population as mainly contributed by less economically established nations (Sociology Online). However, there is significantly more to these problems regarding population than commonly perceived. In fact, there are already several population problems that have brought about significant detrimental effects to several nations throughout the world, hence evidently causing alarm at a global scale. On of the most identifiable population problem is of course international migration (Sociology Online). From the standpoint of the common individual, migration might seem harmless as it only pertains to the transfer of people from country to country in terms of those who seek a different environment in which to live in. However, considering an immense growth in population, especially from impoverished countries, the migration of individuals from such countries towards countries which are more economically stable may result in various detrimental effects including diminished resources, social barriers, and further increase in population growth (Sociology Online). Given this, there have been methods in which migration may be controlled. In the United States for example, not everyone is allowed to migrate as there are set criteria in choosing the individuals to be allowed to stay in the country (Sociology Online). Another significant population problem is actually very much related to the first one, the continuous reduction of available resources. This problem is rather expected as the more individuals are born, the more people are in need of food. Since, food production cannot always be on par with the demand, problems will obviously arise. In fact, in extreme cases, famine may even break out as a result of the prolonged lack of available food in numerous locations, which evidently causes not only simple cases of malnutrition but in fact can cause numerous deaths for a particular locality (Sociology Online). The methods in which this is addressed is understandably not only through better rate of production of goods but also through a better consideration in terms of how much is consumed. Unlike the other two issues discussed, the third one to be mentioned is more on politics and international relations rather than simply the direct physical effects of the overgrowth of populations. The advanced countries have often showed concern regarding the increasing populations of the less developed countries, and have often expressed their eagerness in coercing the governments of these countries to promote or impose methods of population control (Sociology Online). Even though such suggestions are frowned upon in certain countries, some have in fact initiated population control methods regardless of the suggestions. In fact, the government imposed policies on having children in China have had various positive effects especially in terms of economic status (Sociology Online). As discussed, population problems today are generally associated with immense population growth, and it is evident that most global impacts are from this source. However, it must also be considered that the opposite of overpopulation is also potentially a source of negative implications (Sociology Online). Therefore, in order to truly limit or eliminate population problems, from apparent ones to more specific cases, a focus must be placed upon determining and maintaining an optimal population for each and every country worldwide. Work Cited Sociology Online. â€Å"Population Patterns and Trends. † Sociology Online Chapters and Texts. n. d. 20 May 2009