Foundation for the Study of Religion Essay

a). Discuss some of the issues raised in Meta-Ethics. (17 marks) b). How convincing is the view that, when talking of morality, we are talking about facts? (33 marks) (Total 50 marks) Notes: –> Remember, in an exam, you have 30 minutes to choose, plan, and write any essay. –> At AS Level, exam questions are twofold [i.e., there will be an (a) section and a (b) section]. –> Do not forget to answer both sections of a question! –> Usually, the marks appear beside each section of a question. –> In each question, section (a) holds 17 marks, and section (b) holds 33 marks. A total of 50 marks per question. –> Write your responses to questions appropriately – its no good having a detailed (a) section and a brief (b)! –> This model essay is structured so that it is realistic in its time expectations. –> If you have revised thoroughly, and know your stuff, you should be writing this sort of exam essay. –> Remember, do not waffle. An examiner will not assess 65% waffle and 35% real content in an exam essay! –> Keep your essay responses thorough, yet concise – again, you have very little time to respond to questions! –> Finally, it remains for me to wish you very good luck, happy last minute revision, and a most successful first exam! a. Discuss some of the issues raised in Meta-Ethics. Ethics is the study of how people behave, and how they should behave. It is based on ideas of what is morally ‘good’. But, in order to understand ethics, a definition of ‘good’ needs to be determined. Here, one sees that such ideas will vary from person to person and from culture to culture. Likewise, such ideas explain why there is such a variety of moral systems in use today and a marked difference in the level of commitment to a personal moral code. Ethics and ethical language, the study of which ‘Meta-Ethics’ is part, can be split into three distinct branches: descriptive, normative and meta-ethical. On the one hand, descriptive ethics describes the way we live and the moral choices we happen to make. On the other, normative ethics employs the kind of language which is more openly moral and presents a clearer idea about what is held to be right or wrong; so, a statement such as â€Å"It is always wrong to tell a lie† is a normative statement. Contrastingly to both, meta-ethics is the study of the meaning of ethics itself, gauging the meaning of ethical language, and taking into consideration the authority of moral claims and the effects of personal preference. Bearing this in mind, it is possible to note that meta-ethical theory poses questions such as ‘Can we define which action is ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘right’, or ‘wrong’?’ and again, ‘Is it possible to give a definition to ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘right’, or ‘wrong’ in themselves?’ Admittedly, all four of these words are related from a moral point of view. But, if we could measure ‘good’ completely and accurately, then we would be able to measure everything else against it. Yet, philosophically, it is impossible to define ‘good’ so completely. For instance, if one were asked to define ‘yellow’, one is able to say what yellow is like (such as â€Å"Yellow is like a banana’s jacket†); but, one unable to say completely and accurately what ‘yellowness’ is. Thus, in the same way, one is able to say what ‘good ’ is like, yet one is unable to say what ‘good’ is. Naturally, it could be argued that ‘good’ actions add to the well-being of all concerned; but, again, ‘good’ actions depend very much on individual preference and one’s individual idea of ‘good’. The puzzle, then, of how to define ‘good’ has intrigued philosophers for thousands of years. Indeed, the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, defined ‘good’ as being how far something fulfilled its purpose in life: for example, a ‘good’ building is one which looks pleasing aesthetically, provides comfort and shelters from the elements. Similarly, a ‘good’ person is one who fulfils well the role into which he or she has been placed. To illustrate this point further, a ‘good’ slave works well as a slave; and, again, a ‘good’ ruler rules the community effectively, maximising everyone’s happiness. This approach has its origins in the Greek word ‘telos’ meaning ‘purpose’ and is therefore referred to as the ‘teleological’ approach to ethics, a purpose-based criterion for gauging what is ‘good’. A differing method is the ‘deontological’ approach to ethics, which has its origins in the Greek word ‘deon’ meaning ‘duty’. Unlike the teleological approach, this one is a duty-based criterion for gauging what is ‘good’: something is ‘good’ if it fulfils it duty. For instance, Immanuel Kant, bearing in mind the absolute rule of morality ‘Do not steal’, claimed that one should never steal under any circumstances because it is always wrong in itself. For example, if you came across something that had been abandoned by someone who could not possibly have any use for it, even if you needed it and it would hurt no one to take it, it is still stealing and, therefore, wrong in itself. Thus, to do ‘good’, one always must do one’s duty. Meta-ethics, then, attempts to go a long way in explaining the essence of ‘good’ and ‘good’ action, combining alike viewpoints yet, likewise, displaying very different perspectives of the real meaning of ‘good’. b. How convincing is the view that, when talking of morality, we are talking about facts? But, when attempting to define ‘good’, and certainly when considering ethics as a whole, is it actually possible to say that moral systems deal with ‘facts’? Some ethicists would claim not. GE Moore, for example, in his book Principia Ethica (1902) claimed that ‘good’ is impossible to define because it entirely depends on the moral codes a person brings to a particular situation. This would suggest that, owing to the wide range and variety of personal preference in ethical systems, it is impossible to talk of facts when dealing with morality. Moore, though, did suggest that ‘good’ was an entity in itself and that it was something which human beings intuitively sought. Indeed, human beings do a thing that is ‘good’ in order to achieve some long-term goal. However, he stated that in doing so, people commit what he coined the ‘Naturalistic Fallacy’. Namely, that in finding oneself in a particular moral dilemma people assume it is natural and logical to shift immediately from dilemma to solution, treating moral conclusions as if they were absolute. For instance, imagine a 15 year old girl having her drink spiked by a much older man who then makes her pregnant. Indeed, the girl did not want a sexual relationship with the man and was horrified when she realised what had happened, particularly because she was a devout Christian with high moral standards. Many people would say that the girl ought to be offered medical treatment such as the morning-after pill or an abortion. Here, using the principle known in moral philosophy as ‘Hume’s Law’, Moore would claim that people have committed the ‘Naturalistic Fallacy’ because they have moved from an ‘is’ statement to an ‘ought’ statement. In other words, they move from a description of how things actually are, to how they ought to be. Put in a simpler form, (A) A teenage girl is pregnant against her wishes; (B) She ought to be offered an abortion. ‘A’ is the ‘is’ statement, ‘B’ is the ‘ought’ statement; yet, to move from one to the other, Moore claimed that an intermediate (or, midway) proposition is needed. This could be as follows: ‘A woman should only carry a child to full term when she has chosen to be pregnant.’ This is known as a ‘value proposition’ and it is this element of the equation that gives the conclusion (B) its moral force. But exactly why does Moore refer to this straight shift from an ‘is’ to an ‘ought’ a misleading notion? It is because (B) is simply a blind, naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve opinion without any value whatsoever. The intermediate proposition gives it moral value and force because it establishes that the pregnant girl is neither a ‘woman’ nor one who has ‘chosen to be pregnant’. Thus, it states that she is a teenage girl who is pregnant against her wishes and, because of the intermediate proposition of women only carrying a child to full term when she has chosen to be pregnant, the girl’s situation goes against the moral code. Naturally, using a different moral value in the intermediate stage would produce a different outcome, which suggests that, when talking of morality and moral codes, we are not always talking about facts. Like Moore, whose claims reject the idea of morality being factually-based, RM Hare developed a theory for ethical language called ‘Prescriptivism’, in which he claimed that in prescribing a particular course of action for others, people ought to ask ‘Am I prepared to prescribe that somebody else should do it to me if the roles were reversed?’. (Interestingly, this idea is parallel with the golden rule of Christianity that appears in Matthew 7:12 – ‘Do unto others as you would have done unto you.†) Although this gives the impression that all people should be treated equally, it does not suggest that morality is factually-based because such moral rules can be accepted or rejected. Moral statements, then, according to Hare, are more than mere signs of the personal preference of the speaker; for him, they prescribe a course of action. But, just as he claimed moral rules are hugely important in influencing lives, he also added that one cannot say moral rules are true or false. Thus, it is untrue that – when talking of morality – we are talking about facts. In morality, then, there is a difference in how language is used. In everyday communication, language can be used in either ‘cognitive’ or ‘non-cognitive’ ways. Used cognitively, language states fact and reasoning and is non-moral; in other words, it has no moral values attached. However, used non-cognitively in a moral setting, language aims to express attitudes, exercising an influence over people. In morality, this influence is to persuade people of the moral rightness or wrongness of an action. Indeed, CL Stevenson, a philosopher closely associated with ‘Emotivism’ – a system of morality based on feeling – claimed that, when used non-cognitively, the word ‘good’ is very persuasive because it has a moral tag which tries to draw the listener into taking a moral stance. It pulls on the emotions. Certainly, Stevenson suggested one’s moral code is an emotional response – one simply ‘feels’ something is good or bad. Again, then, it is impossible to say that when we talk of morality, we talk of facts because, as ‘Emotivism’ shows, individual feelings differ and, therefore, individual moral codes influenced by ‘feelings’ similarly are going to differ. Thus, in conclusion, it is unconvincing to say that, when we are talking of morality, we are talking about facts: Moore, would agree because his ‘value propositions’ in moral dilemmas can easily be altered to produce a different outcome and, therefore, a different moral force; Hare claimed one cannot say moral rules are true or false, therefore failing to deliver morality to the territory of ‘fact’; and, finally, Stevenson claims that individual moral codes are influenced by individual ‘feelings’ about the rightness or wrongness of an action, thus rendering factually-based morality a nonsense owing to the rich diversity of individual emotion. Indeed, the highly influential philosopher, AJ Ayer would agree with such an avowal because he suggested all moral statements are ‘meaningless’ statements. For example, how could one prove that it is wrong to cheat? He insisted that such statements as ‘Is it wrong to cheat’ are totally without meaning or provable sense because, logically and empirically, they cannot be shown to be true. All one can do is show that lots of people believe it is wrong to cheat. All they can do is express a personal dislike of cheats, cheating, and its consequences; they can express how they consider it to be unfair. That is, they can express how it does not coincide with what they believe to be fair and right – but that is all. Moral statements, then, are reduced in this way to personal preferences and are not concerned with ‘fact’.

Should Batman Kill the Joker

Should Batman Kill the Joker? Summary In the very beginning, this article raises the question by asking the reader whether Batman should kill the joker or not and also uses it as the title to draw readers’ attention. Based on the question/topic, the author, Mark White, further discuss different arguments by providing three different schools and perspectives from the Batman’s quandary. First of all, from â€Å"utilitarianism† aspect, Joker is probably deserved to be killed because his death may save more people lives.Secondly/Moreover, on the issue of â€Å"deontology† and the action of â€Å"murder†, the death of Joker might be preferable or even desirable or acceptable as it seems that Joker should accept the punishment by law or official rather than â€Å"vigilante justice†. This is because Joker is created and considered as an â€Å"evil† character in the movie/story; yet, he is still a human being who should receive the basic human right and dignity as well as respect.However/last but not the least, the character â€Å"Batman† instead of â€Å"Joker† is the main discussion from the aspect of â€Å"virtue ethics† in the final perspectives. The question is: if Batman kills the Joker, is there any guarantee that all problems can be solved out in Gotham City? Also, it is against one of Batman’s personal principles—to take/have â€Å"his enemies’ lives†.According to above three ethical perspectives, White, the author, not only offers the clear arguments, but also explains the reasons whether Joker should be killed or not from Batman’s point of view and from social cultural perspectives. Added to that, the author then applies Batman’s philosophy to other pop culture and phenomena in the end of article, to help readers to look different issues and topics from different viewpoints and aspects, as well as different roles/characters or personalities. Should Batman Kill the Joker Should Batman Kill the Joker? Summary In the very beginning, this article raises the question by asking the reader whether Batman should kill the joker or not and also uses it as the title to draw readers’ attention. Based on the question/topic, the author, Mark White, further discuss different arguments by providing three different schools and perspectives from the Batman’s quandary. First of all, from â€Å"utilitarianism† aspect, Joker is probably deserved to be killed because his death may save more people lives.Secondly/Moreover, on the issue of â€Å"deontology† and the action of â€Å"murder†, the death of Joker might be preferable or even desirable or acceptable as it seems that Joker should accept the punishment by law or official rather than â€Å"vigilante justice†. This is because Joker is created and considered as an â€Å"evil† character in the movie/story; yet, he is still a human being who should receive the basic human right and dignity as well as respect.However/last but not the least, the character â€Å"Batman† instead of â€Å"Joker† is the main discussion from the aspect of â€Å"virtue ethics† in the final perspectives. The question is: if Batman kills the Joker, is there any guarantee that all problems can be solved out in Gotham City? Also, it is against one of Batman’s personal principles—to take/have â€Å"his enemies’ lives†.According to above three ethical perspectives, White, the author, not only offers the clear arguments, but also explains the reasons whether Joker should be killed or not from Batman’s point of view and from social cultural perspectives. Added to that, the author then applies Batman’s philosophy to other pop culture and phenomena in the end of article, to help readers to look different issues and topics from different viewpoints and aspects, as well as different roles/characters or personalities.

Mercedes Benz Swot, Segmentation, 4p’s

Assessment Sheet INTERVIEWEE NAME:___________________________________ DATE:__________ APPEARANCE |Poor |Fair |Average |Good |Superior | |Dress | | | | | | |Body Language | | | | | | |Eye Contact | | | | | | | | |CHARACTERISTICS |Poor |Fair |Average |Good |Superior | |Language â€Å"introduction† | | | | | | |General –What do you know about the iti OR why you | | | | | | |want to join the iti? | | | | | | |Assertive â€Å"Can you explain an occasion when you have | | | | | | |had to motivate and boost the morale of your | | | | | | |colleagues†. | | | | | | |Achievement-oriented â€Å"Describe a time when you made a | | | | | | |suggestion to improve the work in your organization. | | | | | | |Stress Management â€Å"How do you feel about working | | | | | | |nights and weekends? † | | | | | | |Strategic Thinking â€Å"if you have 2 demotivated Students| | | | | | |in your class what will you do to motivate them ? † | | | | | | |Outgoing â€Å"Wh en do you give-up? † | | | | | | |Open â€Å"why do you want to be soft-skills instructor? | | | | | | |General | | | | | | |â€Å"Tell me about a time when you were working alone and | | | | | | |needed to motivate yourself. What were the | | | | | | |circumstances, and how did you do it? † | | | | | | |Leadership â€Å"would you prefer to lead or to follow? _ | | | | | | |â€Å"if you have an idea, How do you get others to accept | | | | | | |your ideas? †Ã‚  _†what do the traits that should be found| | | | | | |in the leader? â€Å" | | | | | | |â€Å"Tell me about a time when you were working alone and | | | | | | |needed to motivate yourself. What were the | | | | | | |circumstances, and how did you do it? | | | | | | |Vision â€Å"what do you see your self after 5 years† â€Å" do | | | | | | |you see that soft skills will help you achieving your | | | | | | |goal? † | | | | | | |Ability to learn â€Å"Do you take initiative to lear n | | | | | | |something new, or you wait till you are ordered to do | | | | | | |so? | | | | | | | | |GOALS/PERCEPTION OF SELF |Poor |Fair |Average |Good |Superior | |Realistic appraisal of self | | | | | | |Reason for interest in field | | | | | | | | |OVERALL |Poor |Fair |Average |Good |Superior | |EVALUATION | | | | | | |ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: |

Archival Research Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Archival Research Paper - Assignment Example Under the folder of â€Å"Summery of Outline of Key Events,† the archive outlines 1939 as the year when Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. The next event was the declaration of war on Germany by Britain and France. Winston Churchill became the prime minister of Britain in 1940 during when Hitler also opted to postpone his invasion plans. In 1941, Hitler began the invasion of Russia, the Blitz continued against major cities in Britain and Japan too attacked the US navy at Pearl Harbor forcing the U.S. to enter into war. The wars continued in 1942 and 1943 with U.S. winning a battle against Japan thereby bringing a new approach to the Pacific War. The wars raged on in 1944 only to end in 1945 after the American soldiers dropped a catastrophic atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the folder of â€Å"the gathering storm,† the archive discusses Churchill’s opposition stance against appeasing Hitler in the preliminary years of the war by putting it straight that he would only write history. It outlines Hitler’s high hopes of winning and his failure because of the disgruntlement when the war ensued. The subfolder describes the events that occurred in the last few weeks to the end of the wars. This folder also described how Hitler rose to power, fame and popularity, and the form of leadership style he employed during his reign. Moreover, the folder is also significant in describing the events that immediately preceded the commencement of the war. Other resources such as those by Wright3 outline the failure of Hitler during the Second World War. Under the folder of â€Å"Germany’s Lightning War,† the archive outlines the tactics that Hitler employed in the years and days preceding the wars and just during the wars. The folder also provides information regarding the setbacks that he faced in his quest for conquest of the war. The folder, â€Å"Britain Stands Alone†, on its part explains how

International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Business - Assignment Example The agreements of WTO are lengthy and complex because the deal with legal issues covering a range of activities. WTO is known as the multilateral trading system (World Trade Organisation, 2011). Globalization Globalization is referred as unification of world into one entity. It captures the changes that take place in the world economy (Indabawa & Mpofu, 2006, p.136). Globalisation is also referred to as the growing interdependence of the countries resulting from finance, trade, people and ideas. Advantages and disadvantage of globalization Advantages Global outsourcing is the global phenomena. Countries like US send its employees overseas which helps it compete in the global environment. The rate of production increases when countries produces goods and services in areas which they have a comparative advantage. With the help of Global integration, poverty has been reduced. As the developing countries gets new employment and exports to. Research and development jobs are better done wh en the work are outsourced because work is completed at an early time as the scientist and engineers work 24/7. The domestic companies are forced to produce better quality of goods so that they do not face competition from the foreign markets. Taxes are usually lower for countries like Malaysia and Singapore, and the financial incentives are quite high in such countries. Disadvantages Many of the people have lost the jobs especially in America due to imports and as the production shifts abroad. Many of the employees got laid off. Most of the jobs that were sent overseas from US were the employees who lost their jobs permanently. Most of the workers still fear losing job, especially companies which are under competitive pressure. Many companies have reduced the wages in order to stay ahead in the global economy. The companies had also reduced health and retirements benefits and also eliminated few pension plans. Globalization of industries, finance, and trade is accomplished by globa lisation of terrorism and crime (Dubrin, 2011, p.57). International Business   International business is described as business activity that crosses the national boundaries. The entities can be private or government or in certain cases it can be both. International business is categorized into four types. Foreign trades, portfolio investment, trade in service and direct investment. In foreign trades, export and import takes place. Goods are physically moved between countries. Export consists of merchandise that leaves a country whereas imports are those which are bought into the country. Exporting and importing comprises the largest fundamental of international business. Countries also trade in services such as banking, insurance, hotels, travels and transportation. Portfolio investments are referred to as financial investments made in foreign countries. The investor purchase debt or equity with the expectation of getting a financial return on the investment made. Direct investmen ts are differentiated on the grounds of control. A firm can own a foreign subsidiary entirely or even partially, such as joint

The Context of Legislative Decision Making Essay - 1

The Context of Legislative Decision Making - Essay Example In a democratic set up, unless the majority members do not accept the passing, it would not be able to be carried and therefore, the motion would be negated. Therefore, it is the elected representative of the people, who, as members of the Parliament, are having the discretionary powers to accept or deny the motion. They are effective because only the legislation which have the unanimity of approval would be passed. However, although the approvals are required, it is often possible for interest groups to lobby for vested interests, and they may use their power of influence to gain benefits. The main difficulties that may be faced in studying party politics in the state legislatures is due to frequent switching done by the legislators, which makes it difficult to gauge the political situations. When legislators switch parties due to misunderstandings or misconduct, it may have impact on the proceedings of the legislature and this is one of the main difficulties in studying the state legislations. The interest groups or professional lobbyists act to influence the legislative process when they need to secure passing of Bill by influencing public officials through information dissemination and also to influence or mould the minds of the public officials for reaching decisions though debating. The strategic effect of the effectiveness of lobbying is when the professional lobbyist is able to secure the passing of the legislative bill through successful lobbying. Lobbying in Brussels was developed in the late 1970’s the event that ignited the lobby aspects was the direct election in the European Parliament in 1979. The business circles felt that they needed persons who could supply them with information about political activities. The passing of the Single European Act 1986 created avenues by which decision in councils could be enhanced through the use of lobbying through the councils, the commissions and

Discuss ideologies using a marxist approach Essay

Discuss ideologies using a marxist approach - Essay Example This is because the economy and its indices play very important roles in determining who we are. Modern socialism is, in its content, primarily the product of the perception on the one hand of the class antagonisms existing in modem society between possessors and non-possessors, wage workers and bourgeois; and, on the other hand, of the anarchy ruling in production. In its theoretical form, however, it originally appears as a further and ostensibly more logical extension of the principles established by the great French philosophers of the eighteenth century. Like every new theory, it had at first to link itself to the intellectual material which lay ready at hand, however deep its roots lay in economic facts. Engels 185 Marxism principally has to with the modes of production in any society. Marxism recognizes that there are two main social classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The division can be further divided into petit-bourgeoisie and the lumpen-proletariat. The mode of production which Marxists advocate is socialism. Socialism is a system of production in which everyone in the society is equal; in this society, every form of inequality as a result of ownership and control of the mode of production by individuals is not welcome. Unlike what obtains in a capitalist state, the majority will no longer toil only for the non-working upper class to reap the fruit of their labor. However, Marxists believe that the transformation from capitalism will not happen all of a sudden. The change will go through some evolutionary and revolutionary stage. The change which the people desire would only come when they arrive at that point where they determine that they want it bad enough to ask for it—this is the time the proletariat have been pushed to the wall. Marxists believe that capitalism will not exist forever because before it, there were some other modes of production like feudalism and slavery. When the proletariats have taken the reins of power from their oppressors, then socialism will emerge. Socialism is the stage where the masses have been able to remove class stratification. Yet, socialism is itself not perfect until the mode of production become communist. The bottom-line is that no matter what the ideology is, the Marxist approach is against it if it promotes social inequality. In trying to come out as conquerors in the battle waged against capitalism and other holders of ideologies that are incoherent with what Marxism stands for, Marxists are well aware of the fact that one of the first places key to their victory is the minds of the oppressed. In daily living, our consciousness plays a very integral role. Every human being makes use of their consciousness in everything they do. Capitalism has succeeded, through bourgeois ideology, in capturing the operations of the consciousness of many people such that they themselves are now the ones that have given themselves to the dictates of capitalism. All these happen because anything that happens under capitalism is built under the construct of ideology. It is the belief of capitalists that profit must be made at all cost. So, they explore all they can; every machine, every human power. The situation in many capitalist enterprises is such that the laborer is far less important than the machine. Capitalism

Our Secret by Susan Griffin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Our Secret by Susan Griffin - Essay Example This helps her to conduct a research in order to find the connections between childhood and human fate. As for me, it is a really important topic because I also feel the influence of parental upbringing during all my life. Practically every day I notice some characteristic in myself that actually belong to my parents. So, the research conducted by Susan Griffin is relevant to the contemporary life and should be applied by educators in order to achieve better results. Each word and phrase in Our Secret and its unusual structure help the writer to prove that people reflect the things they see during their childhood. When Griffin describes one of the characters of the book, she inserts the sentences that seem to have nothing in common with Laura. The text itself starts with a rather strange passage that makes the readers think that it is some article for scientific journal. It is the following phrase: â€Å"the nucleus of the cell derives its name from the Latin nux, meaning nut. Like the stone in the cherry, it is found in the center of the cell, and like this stone, keeps its precious kernel in a shell† (Bartholomae 340). However, a bit later the reader may see that this type of scientific insertions is an integral part of Our Secret. The analysis of scientific data helps Griffin to learn more about the characters and their fate; it becomes the major method of her research that helps to look at life and people from a new perspective. Even the first phrase written by Susan Griffin has deep sense. It helps to demonstrate that human life depends greatly upon parents and the way they educate. Heinrich’s life is the most vivid example of this. In fact, he had no childhood. His father made him older much earlier. So, the boy became an adult when he was only ten years old and had to follow the lifestyle indicated by his father. This seed had a huge impact upon Heinrich during all his life. The things started by father’s upbringing were finished by military service. From very childhood he is taught to establish friendly relations only for benefit and with those who are worth this. When Heinrich enters a new school, his father prepares the list of his would-be classmates. Thus, â€Å"he writes the child’s father’s name, what his father does for a living, and his social position. Heinrich must be careful to choose whom he befriends† (Bartholomae 367). There is one more character in Our Secret who suffered unhappy childhood. It is Leo. This person came under his older brother’s influence and became a killer in some time. This happened because of improper attitude towards his brother. He seemed to be an ideal person for Leo; that is why the latter did everything possible in order to look like him. However, all his attempts became fatal for Leo. It can be easily proved with the help of the following quotation: â€Å"While he was in the campus, he began to worship the uniformed members of the SS and the SA, just as he had loved his brother† (Bartholomae 345). In fact, Leo became one more victim of the wrong seed sowed into a person during the childhood period. To my mind, Griffin does not only describe the lives of several characters in her story. She tries to conduct a research in order to find out the reasons for people’s behavior and miserable life. According to her point of view a lot of things are closely connected with one’s childhood, parental influence, DNA and all the seeds that were put into the person. It is the main reason why the writer uses numerous â€Å"scientific† insertions in her story. They seem to be her own considerations of every character and situation described in the text. They are very important and useful for

Drug Patch Design Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drug Patch Design - Research Paper Example The patch I shall design would work for at least 60hours at a stretch and would work on all types of skin. Here I shall examine the rates of design patch on fast skin and slow skin to help me come up with an efficient design for all. The parameters that I shall be controlling and altering are membrane thickness L, diffusivity D, and the concentration of Scopolamine in the reservoir Cp. The second layer acts as the reservoir in which the drug is added in a predetermined concentration. It is from this layer that the drug would diffuse into the layer layers and ultimately into he skin. The final layer which would stay in touch with the skin of the wearer would be membranous and permeable such the drug can easily diffuse out of the patch and into the skin. When the patch is put on, the drug slowly diffuses out of its layer into the next layer and travels right down to the skin layer and diffuses through it. It crosses the body barriers and enters the blood stream continuously thereby ensuring that the astronauts would not suffer from motion sickness as long as they wear a working patch. I plotted the graph of concentration versus time in the body to understand which concentration lasted longer in the body since my aim was at least 60 hours.From these plots I selected the best effective concentration. All this was studied for maximum diffusivity (D2) and fast skin (l2). The main purpose is to design a perfect patch which can be worn by all astronauts and which would work efficiently for a long stretch of time. If the time it is required to work for is less than or exceeds its requirement the patch would not be usable. On the other hand another rimportanat factor would be the concentration since a slightly higher concentration may have negative side effects on the astronauts. The several layered patch would last for a long time thereby supplying the drug to astronauts in order to curb motion sickness passed simulation tests and could now be used

Duke Ellington Essay Example for Free

Duke Ellington Essay One of the greatest jazz bandleaders, arrangers, recording artist, and composers of all time is none other than Duke Ellington. Born on April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C., Ellington was destined for musical talent. His family was musically talented; both of his parents could play piano even though neither could read music. Ellington did not grow up in a poor family; and he had educational advantages that many black musicians in his time didn’t have. He received the nickname â€Å"Duke† from a fellow classmate, because of his elegant way of dressing and his regal behavior. While in school elementary school, he received piano lessons, and by the time he reached high school, he was already performing locally. He was also a fairly good painter and won a scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. But his art career was overshadowed by his love for music. Music won his heart, so art wasn’t in the picture. At the age of 17, he wrote his first song, â€Å"The Soda Fountain Rag†, which was his debut. In 1919, Ellington’s son Mercer was born. With encouragement from Fats Waller, Duke moved to New York with his newly formed group, The Washingtonians. He later formed the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which by 1930 had grown to include 12 musicians. During these early years in New York, Ellington developed skills that he would carry throughout his entire career. He evolved from band member to leader and performed in a variety of clubs. His writing and arranging skills also evolved and became more defined. These new skills would be his unique compositional style. Some of Ellington’s new influences were stride piano players like Willie â€Å"The Lion† Smith and James P. Johnson and ragtime piano players. One of the best career moves made by Ellington was his booking at The Cotton Club in Harlem, New York. His band was established house performers there from 1927 to 1932. Ellington’s influence on the jazz community was definite from that point on. Radio broadcasts from the club made Ellington famous across America and also gave him the financial security to assemble a top notch band that he could write music specifically for. Musicians tended to stay with the band for long periods of time. For example, saxophone player Harry Carney would remain with Duke nonstop from 1927 to Ellingtons death in 1974. In 1928 clarinetist Barney Bigard left King Oliver and joined the band. Ellington and Bigard would later co-write one of the orchestras signature pieces Mood Indigo in 1930. In 1929 Bubber Miley, was fired from the band because of his alcoholism and replaced with Cootie Williams. Ellington also appeared in his first film Black and Tan later that year. The Duke Ellington Orchestra left the Cotton Club in 1931 (although he would return on an occasional basis throughout the rest of the Thirties) and toured the U.S. and Europe. During Duke Ellington’s tenure at the Cotton Club, he had gone from an aspiring New York bandleader to a leading figure in the world of jazz. He had become well known far beyond New York. Along with the Cotton Club reviews, he had made many records, radio broadcasts, special performances, and even film appearances. He officially had a national following, and he needed to create new music that would address both his national and international audiences. Ellington was set to accomplish new things in the world of jazz. Ellington’s band was ahead of their time style wise, and they could really swing. Ellingtons first great achievements came in the three-minute song form, and he later wrote music for all kinds of settings: the ballroom, the comedy stage, the nightclub, the movie house, the theater, the concert hall, and the cathedral. Ellington’s different music styles became more pronounced and recognizable.His first style was his jungle style, which included much growling on the instruments. This style was built around the raucous playing of Bubber Miley, Cootie Williams, and Tricky Sam Nanton. The song East St. Louis Toodle-Oo is a good example of this style of playing. The floor shows were elaborately designed around the music the band played. His next style was his mood style, is known for his exquisitely beautiful ballads played by saxophonist Johnny Hodges. Some of his most known mood style selections are â€Å"Solitude†, â€Å"Prelude to a Kiss†, and â€Å"Lotus B lossom†. Another style is his concerto style, in which he featured Cootie Williams, Jimmy Hamilton, and Barney Bigard. By the early 1940s, Ellington experimented with extended composition and his orchestra toured the US and Europe extensively. In 1943, Ellington inaugurated a series of annual concerts at Carnegie Hall with the premiere of Black, Brown, and Beige. He continued to expand the scope of his compositions and activities as a bandleader throughout his life. His foreign tours became increasingly frequent and successful; his travel experiences served as the inspiration for his many works about people, places and trains. He wrote nearly two thousand compositions before his death in 1974. His fourth style was his standard style, where he approached his arrangements in the same manner as the other big bands. He also had a dance style that kind of coincided with his jungle style. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the Ellington Orchestra was able to make the change from the Hot Jazz of the 1920s to the Swing music of the 1930s. The song It Dont Mean a Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing) even came to define the era. This ability to adapt and grow with the times kept the Ellington Orchestra a major force in Jazz up until Dukes death in the 1970s. Throughout the Forties and Fifties Ellingtons fame and influence continued to grow. The band continued to produce Jazz standards like Take the A Train, Perdido, The C Jam Blues and Satin Doll. In the 1960s Duke wrote several religious pieces, and composed The Far East Suite. He also collaborated with a very diverse group of musicians whose styles spanned the history of Jazz. He played in a trio with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, sat in with both the Louis Armstrong All-Stars and the John Coltrane Quartet, and he had a double big-band date with Count Basie. Duke Ellington influenced millions of people both around the world and at home. He gave American music its own sound for the first time. In his fifty year career, he played over 20,000 performances in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East as well as Asia. The extent of Ellingtons innovations helped to redefine the various forms in which he worked. Duke Ellington was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. He was later awarded several other prizes, along with 13 Grammys, the Pulitzer Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, and the Legion of Honor by France in 1973, the highest civilian honors in each country. Simply put, Ellington transcends boundaries and fills the world with a treasure trove of music that renews itself through every generation of fans and music-lovers. His legacy continues to live on and will endure for generations to come. His son Mercer Ellington took over his band after his death, and his grandson Paul Ellington is over the Ellington Estate now. The Ellington Fund helps to fund the Ellington School of Arts where students are inspired to achieve their highest musical capabilities. Duke Ellington is truly a classic indeed. CITED PAGE www.dukeellington.com\ellington www.pbs.org www.redhotjazz.com\duke.html www.schirmer.com The Biographical Dictionary of African Americans

Every Child Matters: Green Paper

Every Child Matters: Green Paper In 2003 the Government released the original Every Child Matters: Green paper, it was a response to the Joint Chief Inspectors report on the findings of Lord Lamings (Victoria Climbies death) public enquiry. It highlighted many failings from services to communicate and intervene. It set out proposals on how to address the issues of concern that had been identified and suggested measures that were needed to improve and reform childcare The Green Paper identified four areas of action: Support for parents and carers Effective protection and early intervention Accountability and poor integration Reform of the workforce The aim was to not only protect children but also to enable children to improve and fulfil their lives. The Green Paper built upon the foundations of Sure Start, aiming to eradicate child poverty and raising school standards. The success of the Green Paper led to the paper being transformed in to Every Child Matters: The Next Steps. Alongside this and with the support of the Houses of Parliament, the 1998 Childrens Act was reformed and adapted into The Childrens Act 2004. This Act aimed to encourage. It also aimed to ensure that LAs (Local Authorities) were given more flexibility when implementing their provision. One result of this act was the development of Local Safeguarding Childrens Boards. These boards aimed to co-ordinate between all LAs in a local area in order to safeguard children. The Act also resulted in the formation of the Every Child Matters Framework Every Child Matters: Change for Children, became a national framework. The title Every Child Matters was used to amalgamate all of the documents, that aimed to organise and deliver services that ensured every child and young person became an active member of society. There was also the aim of preventions as opposed to just dealing with the consequences. For this to work the framework suggested multi-agency collaboration from all those working with children and young people. Through this collaboration of services it would hopefully allow children and young people to achieve the five outcomes of the The Children Act 2004 (Section 10). Section 10 requires public services to ensure all children and young people are: Protected from neglect and harm Have the right to education, training and recreation Physical and mental health and emotional well-being Contributing to society Achieve social and economic well-being These are summarised as enabling children or young people to: Stay Safe, Be Healthy, Make a Positive Contribution, Enjoy and Achieve, and Achieve Economic Well-Being. These five outcomes are referenced to throughout Every Child Matters. To ensure all children and young people progress against these outcomes, policies and practices needed to be developed and implemented. The framework also focused on trying to ensure every child had provision regardless of their background or circumstances, and to enable children and young people to have a greater say about the issues and problems that affect them collectively and as individuals. This was evident in 2005, when the first Childrens Commissioner for England was elected; this gave a voice for children. This was one action aimed to prevent problems rather than dealing with consequences. As well as this the framework was seen as an inescapable moral imperative that it intended to assist a radical reform of services In 2007 The Childrens Plan was published, this aimed to build upon the Every Child Matters framework. The Childrens Plan: Building Brighter Future was a ten year plan that aimed to centralise children and young people, and increasing the focus on parental roles and the wider communities. The Plan focused on the Childrens Trusts, and believed that this was central to delivering quality, and set high expectations of them to deliver. The Childrens Trusts had similar aims to those of the Local Safeguarding Children Boards, they both aimed to collaborate. The Trusts take the child centred approach and use an integrated strategy of joint planning and commissioning, and pooled budgets. This inter agency co-operation aims to be sustainable by using a shared language and similar processes. Working in this manner means that the trust will hopefully be able to deliver a service that is very child centred, and has no restrictions from professional boundaries or any other existing agencies. Other frameworks, initiatives, acts and policies that have been a result of, or linked to, the Every Child Matters policy include Working Together to Safeguard Children (2006) and The Equality Act (2006). My Local Authority has made many changes and developed many policies. The LA has developed a policy on e-safety, explaining the risks and what can be done to stay safe. They have also developed an Assessment and Response to Children System (ARCS). This explains the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and how it aims to assess The LA are also currently undertaking a consultation of the Thurrocks Draft Children and Young Peoples Plan 2010-2013 (CYPP). This is the revised plan is signed up to by many organisations that provide key services for children and young people in Thurrock (including the Council, the NHS, the Police, schools and colleges and the voluntary sector). It sets out the priorities for the Childrens Trust, based on the analysis of the needs of children and young people, and what has been learnt through various consultations and interactions with children, young people, their parents, carers and professionals. These plans have to be prepared by every area in the country and the Department of Children Schools and Families (DFSF) provide guidance to help them do this. These plans will form the main planning document of all Childrens Trust agencies, and partner agencies, meaning that whatever is done with children and young people in Thurrock it will contribute to achieving the collective ambiti ons everybody has for them. Thurrock Children Young Peoples Plan 2007-10, developed many policies such as Each Child, Every Young Person, All Agencies Our Plan 2007 2010. This identified the priorities that were needed and the goals to be set in order for all children and young people in Thurrock to be able to achieve the five outcomes of ECM. It aimed to improve services in Thurrock over the past three years. The plan was delivered through the Children and Young Peoples Strategic Partnership (CYPSP), which aims to meet the need of children and young people in Thurrock. It sets out 12 goals that they aimed to achieve to be able to meet the ultimate five goals of ECM. In January of this year A Review of School Improvement was also conducted by Peter Wylie for Thurrock Council. It was a review of how effective school improvement services in Thurrock were, and it went on to propose options for the future whilst keeping in mind the local and national policy priorities. One such policy: Your child, your schools, our future: building a 21st century schools system aims to create a school system. It is a system that aims to respond to changes in economy and society and enable every child to enjoy growing up, and develop their potential and talent. It also gives them the broad skills they will need for the future. There are many guidelines, policies and legislation in place to ensure children are protected and achieve wellbeing, and each covers various areas and ensures multiagency collaboration. As a trainee teacher and a qualified teacher I will need to be aware of these because they underpin everything that I do. Within school and within my teaching and planning, the five key principles of the ECM framework must be at the forefront of my mind, they need to be at the heart of every aspect of the school, including. Within Every Child Matters, at the heart of the curriculum it states that ECM requires teachers to be committed and passionate, and offer. It also states that teaching should include activities that are beyond the school, that involve parents and relate to real life experience. It also suggests. The curriculum is designed with ECM at the centre; the design features address all 5 aspects, such as ensuring children are given the opportunity to learn in many subjects, and in a variety of settings and environments. ECM is at the centre when considering and ensuring opportunities for events such as productions and sports days, and when considering the schools routines. Also when considering any extended hours, offering opportunities before, during and after school, and links with health and social agencies. Young peoples lives are centred around school, and they clearly have an important part to play in supporting children to achieve the five aspects of ECM. Schools need to take into account the needs of all learners when planning. I will now consider how each aspect is/can be promoted in the curriculum. Schools can promote being healthy and staying safe by having a positive school ethos, which promotes inclusion. It should also follow many policies and procedures, to ensure children stay safe. When working as a Trainee Teacher and a qualified teacher I will need to be aware of all the policies that the school follows and ensure I am kept up to date with these. For example: safeguarding and health and safety policies. Some procedures for this might be: questioning any adults in the school without a name badge; and safety hinges on doors. I will also need to ensure I promote inclusion by methods such as personalisation. The school in which I am training tries very hard to ensure that children stay healthy. They have gained the Healthy School Award and have recently been given The Sports Unlimited Award. The school now offers a range of after school and lunchtime clubs, and provides healthy snacks for Foundation Stage and KS1 children. The school also brings in coaches to take P.E. lessons, to motivate learners and teach them the sport that they are experts in. Drinking water is provided throughout the day and each child has their own water bottle for them to drink from when in lessons. The school also actively promotes walking or cycling to school, and conducts cycling proficiency for pupils. Over the past year lunchtimes have become more structured with MDA and LSAs taking structured activities. Another good initiative that the school has adopted is the use of peer buddying and mentoring, with each adult in the school mentoring at least one child that is in need. The school also provides opportunit ies for learners to grow vegetables. As well as having regular assemblies taken by police officers and visits from health workers. The school makes many links between the community with visits to sing at old peoples homes and links with reading schemes through the library. When I am planning and teaching I will need to ensure that I use circle time to explore health and personal issues as well as encourage debate and peer decisions. I could also provide a quiet area within my classroom where children are able to take time out. Opportunities should be given to promote and encourage and to learn to be healthy in many subjects. I will need to be aware of this and apply them in my teaching. A few examples include: allowing for leaners to be empowered through making their own decisions, encouraging diversity, respecting difference and teaching them about their own identity, and using mathematics to investigate data on diet and health. History could also be used to explore community history and individual identity. Schools have the responsibility to ensure children are able to enjoy and achieve whilst staying safe when they are at school, through a wide range of policies and procedures. For example rules for how to use equipment safely, safeguarding, carrying out risk assessments, and bullying policies. However the staying safe element of ECM goes much further than the school and it is about. The school in which I am training provides many opportunities to ensure children are able to stay safe. They provide day and residential trips and set rules around the school based upon the schools Core values. With the increase in the use of the internet, the LA have also developed a policy for E-safety. The school provides mentoring and home work clubs to ensure the learners dont fall behind with work and also provide pupils with the opportunities to discuss any issues they may have. The school also has a council that acts as the student voice and gets learners more involved in the school. The school also encourages confidence for children to speak out, and uses role play, performances and presentations to promote this. The school uses visits from outside professionals, such as community police officers, and before any school trips, a safety check has to be conducted. There are also many opportunities to promote staying safe in the subjects that are being taught in my school. For example art, and design and technology could be used to promote safe practice and managing risks that may occur. ICT could be used to develop safety, such as questioning information and how to sit correctly at computer, i.e. .posture. When Teaching I need to be aware of how I can incorporate staying safe in my planning and in my classroom. I would also need to use the schools Core Values to assist safety and set class rules with the children. I will also need to take some responsibility in ensuring the school is safe, because it is everybodys responsibility not just the head teachers or senior managers. I could use stories in my class to deal with behaviours such as bullying and challenging stereotypes, resolving conflict and consequences. Schools need to ensure every child is making a positive contribution by ensuring the environment is created to encourage all to participate. They also give learners a voice, and vary in teaching strategies. The school where I am training has a school council that provides the children with a voice to speak out. In the Every Child Matters, at the heart of the curriculum booklet it states that if the children are aware that they have the opportunity to enrich the lives of others and support and care for them, and ultimately change things for the better, then they are much more likely to be more sociable beyond the school gates. The school I will be training at provides opportunities across the curriculum to ensure children give a positive contribution. The school council gives the opportunity to make decisions such as what equipment shall be built in the playground. It is important that children are able to make choices that have a true impact. Learners are also given various responsibilities around the school such as being responsible for the library, putting books away or giving them out, watering and looking after the garden, and collecting the register. They also encourage learners to participate in clubs and projects around the school. The school offers various clubs and everybody participates in the Christmas plays, as well as using buddying and mentoring schemes. They make links with the community through projects such as Christmas singing and also use such projects to raise money for charities. I will need to be aware of these points to ensure that I incorporate them into my classroom, for example by giving children responsibilities. I will also need to be aware of the ways the children can offer a positive contribution in certain subjects, such as promoting group work in English, including listening, speaking and responding to others, or encouraging children to contribute to a performance in music. When I am teaching I will need to ensure I enable and provide children with an opportunity to speak out and tell me the support they need, and provide an environment which is created for all to be able to participate in. I could use various methods to promote positive contribution such as using talk partners, incentives and mentors. Enjoying and Achieving is promoted in schools by lessons always taking account for different learning styles and abilities, thus ensuring that learners enjoy their learning. To ensure they enjoy and achieve, I may need to refer a child that may need more specialist help, research any needs they may have, differentiate and personalise my lessons, and celebrate achievements. If children are enjoying learning and have good supportive relationships, they are more likely to achieve. Every child has a talent, and it is the responsibility of the school to uncover these talents and ensure that all young people view themselves as a success and can live a fulfilling life. This means that the curriculum needs to be full of challenges and surprises. Children need to be able to build upon their own aptitudes as well as being able to enjoy what they are learning, and should be given opportunities to take on responsibility, whilst always considering each childs individual needs. The school that I am training at offers the pupils many opportunities to achieve and enjoy across the curriculum. The school gives each year group a topic every term, this allows children to see links between subjects, and provides them with opportunities to deeply explore issues. The school provides many trips from adventurous activities to historical sites, and provides opportunities for children to participate in the community through activities and projects. The school also provides many opportunities for children to demonstrate their skills through concerts, plays, and sports, and uses an achievement wall to praise children that achieve and/or participate, as well as having ac hievement assemblies once a week. In the achievement assemblies many awards are given: sporting awards; awards for effort; knowledge and reading; or anything else that is considered an achievement. The school also provides catch-up lessons and additional support through lunchtime and afterschool. I need to ensure that I see the school as a learning community and that I see myself as a lead learner. I will need to ensure that I provide opportunities for children to explore deeply and widely. When I am planning I will try and ensure to incorporate the childrens interest into lessons, and I will also need to ensure I arrange trips to help them to enjoy and achieve. I will need to try and use experts and organisations when teaching, and reach out and use parents where possible. I will also need to fully participate throughout the school to ensure I assist in allowing children to enjoy and achieve. There are many opportunities in lessons where I can plan to ensure children enjoy and achieve. In PSHE I could provide practical learning activities that relate to real life. I could also use real life situations in mathematics or use investigation games and strategies. I will need to be able to incorporate and ensure the children enjoying and achieving is at the heart of my teaching and planning. I must understand that it isnt about just teaching the lesson; it is about them understanding, enjoying and learning from the lesson. Economic wellbeing is about contextualising learning by relating it to the real world, and learners see the value of their learning. It also helps learners to create a. This means that children can achieve a great sense of satisfaction from being responsible for their own future. The school where I will be training uses many opportunities in the curriculum to help children to achieve economic wellbeing. The school provides learning opportunities for children to fundraise, in school or in an outside school setting. The school also encourages children to take on jobs in school such as taking responsibility for the school library or collecting the register. The school also provides leadership opportunities for pupils, such as becoming mentors or part of the school council. The school also actively promotes and embraces cultural difference and diversity. I could help children to achieve economic wellbeing by making them responsible for their dinner money and make it their responsibility to work out any change. I must ensure I encourage children to take on responsibilities in the school and in the class. There are many opportunities for learners to achieve economic wellbeing in subjects. For example I could use English to develop communication skills, and expressing views and ideas effectively. Learners could also develop their skills in obtaining information, analysing it, and evaluating it in science. P.E. could be used to teach children to work both as an individual and as part of team. When considering my personal development, my priority is to learn how to plan correctly, ensuring I use various learning environments and take into account the different childrens contexts. I will need to sit down with my School Based Trainer and maybe the classs last teacher, and consider each childs context. I will then be able to use this to personalise and differentiate planning. It will also inform me of the childrens interests, this will help me to plan for their interests and ensure they enjoy the lessons. ECM has greatly affected education and the way teachers teach. It has impacted many areas from, planning, safety, and dealing with behaviour. It has played a major part in radically reforming many children and young peoples services and lives. It is important however to not only praise the policy but also to criticise the policy in order for it to be developed and improved. This can be seen in the development from the Green Paper. At every stage the original policy aims were evaluated and then reset. For ECM to fully achieve its aims it is important that there needs to be multi-disciplinary work, and that teams and colleagues need to continuously reflect and evaluate. The overall effect of Every Child Matters and been massive, and Im sure that the results will continue to be seen for many years to come. Why Doesnt the UK Have a Constitution? Why Doesnt the UK Have a Constitution? Does the UK need a Republican Constitution? ANSWER There is a long and a short answer to this question. The short answer is â€Å"No†. The long answer is â€Å"Definitely not.† This may seem a flippant response, but this commentator predicts that it is precisely the kind of reaction that this question would engender in the majority of United Kingdom lawyers, commentators and politicians. Moreover, justification of this negative response is likely to be equally pithy: If it ’aint broke, don’t fix it. The United Kingdom is a stable, peaceful and wealthy constitutional monarchy. It is very far indeed from â€Å"broke†. Human rights are protected, the power of the state and its agencies are subject to the rule of law, corruption is relatively minimal and our legal system, welfare state and national health service are envied the world over. Democracy functions well, or at least relatively well in comparison with examples overseas. The Queen is generally respected and in many quarters cherished as a national figurehead. UK armed forces police the world and we have a seat at the highest global tables exercising far more influence over world affairs than our size and population merit. There is little in the way of civil strife or serious unrest no state of emergency or sense of impending doom. Our system, with all its typically British foibles and idiosyncrasies, undeniably works, and has done for the greater part of one thousand years.[1] It may seem like a prosaic claim but it is a blunt fact that almost no other country in the world can lay claim to a history the like of which graces these islands. The question as to whether the United Kingdom needs a Republican constitution is therefore unarguably flawed. Of course it doesn’t need a Republican constitution. The Status Quo The United Kingdom operates as a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral (two house) parliament comprised of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Supreme executive power is technically invested in the Crown, but in practice this power is discharged in the name of the Crown by ministers of state led by the Prime Minister. The House of Lords acts as essentially as a consulting chamber and while it can delay the enactment of legislation even the fact that it is comprised of appointed rather than elected members has proved advantageous, because it leaves the authority of the House of Commons unchallenged. The system works and there is no sign of imminent frailty or jeopardy to the status quo. There is no formal separation of powers between the executive and the legislature and while the Sovereign in Parliament stands as the supreme legislative authority, ministers carry out the agenda and work of the government. In the House of Lords, Law Lords sit as judges in the Appellate Committee and they also play a full part in the legislative work of the House. All that said it must be conceded that the United Kingdom does not actually possess a formal constitution at all.[2] The United Kingdom is one of a tiny minority of countries that lack a single comprehensive document laying down the legal system of the state, the roles and functions of the apparatus of government and the procedural rules by which it should operate. It is submitted that such documents have proved useful in other countries as the ultimate statement of a nation’s supreme law with the sovereign legal authority to empower a nominated constitutional court to rule acts of the legislature illegal if they are found to contravene the rights entailed within. However, that revelation aside, it does not appear to matter that the United Kingdom lacks a single constitutional document. Our constitutional basis is found in piecemeal form shot through our entire system of government. Aspects of the United Kingdom’s constitutional system can be found in a multiplicity of rules that establish and govern the very practice of governance. It is a time-honoured system founded on a combination of Acts of Parliament conventions, judicial decisions and political practice. Perhaps it could not work in every state, but it appears to work here. A New Republican Horizon? Need it be said, a Republican Constitution would demand the abolition of the monarchy or more realistically a dramatic reduction in the power of the monarchy and a transfer of authority to, for example a Presidential executive. None of the mainstream political parties subscribe to such an ambition and one must descend to the third tier of political activity before the issue attracts even a modicum of fringe support. This commentator could identify only one Republican pressure group with a significant presence on the Internet, and even this group professes to have no political ambitions of its own.[3] This suggests that the issue of a new Republican Constitution for the United Kingdom, while titillating for students of politics and law, is simply not on the agenda. One could easily infer that the reason it is not on the agenda is that there is no perception of current need or even of current advantage, inherent in such a move. This view, which is as stated is held by the overwhelming majority of political actors and commentators, speaks for itself. It is a view that may well change over time as future events are unpredictable, and the succession to the throne of Charles may weaken the prestige of the Crown. However, with the popular Prince William waiting in the wings that may only be a temporary blip in the history of the British monarchy. Concluding Comments It is submitted that there can be only one reasonable response to this question and that is, as stated in the introduction to this paper â€Å"No†. The fault lies in the question itself and in particular with the use of the word need. The United Kingdom has developed into one of the most successful countries in the world. This commentator can see no imperative demanding immediate constitutional reform.[4] It would have made for a more interesting intellectual exercise if the question had asked if the United Kingdom would benefit from a Republican constitution? Does it need a Republican constitution? From the perspective of 2006, the answer is manifestly and unequivocally No. Indeed, this commentator would go further: it is argued that the United Kingdom seems to operate quite satisfactorily without any formal constitution at all. BIBLIOGRAPHY Brazier, R., Constitutional Reform: Re-Shaping the British Political System. (1998) Oxford University Press Dicey, A.V., Introduction to the study of the law of the constitution. (1959) London, Macmillan Republic: The Campaign for an Elected Head of State: http://www.republic.org.uk/faqs.htm Oliver, D., Constitutional Reform in the UK, (2003) Oxford University Press Footnotes [1] For comment see: Brazier, R., Constitutional Reform: Re-Shaping the British Political System. (1998) Oxford University Press. [2] For insightful comment see: Dicey, A.V., Introduction to the study of the law of the constitution. (1959) London, Macmillan. [3] See: http://www.republic.org.uk/faqs.htm. [4] Contrast the views of: Oliver, D., Constitutional Reform in the UK, (2003) Oxford University Press.

An Evaluation Of Xmax

An Evaluation Of Xmax Introducing the basics of xMax, this paper explains the working of xMax .It also deals with the application of xMax in different fields of wireless technology. It also discusses about the advantages of xMax over other wireless technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. xMax developed by xG Technology, Inc. is a proposed radio frequency (RF) modulation and encoding technology that will use individual or integer sinusoidal waves to convey information. While supposedly applicable to wired mediums such as copper and coaxial lines, the technology will apparently be introduced first as a wireless communications technology, whereby its developers claim that it is capable of extending the range and reducing the transmit power compared to conventional approaches, including cellular technologies and fixed wireless approaches such as WiMAX. Every aspect of the technology is designed for the highest possible efficiency and quality of service. Why xMax? xMax is designed to prioritize voice by delivering dedicated timeslots and bandwidth to every user. This approach guarantees a minimal and fixed latency for every call, which is an essential factor for any high Quality of Service (QoS) mobile VoIP system. This is in contrast to technologies like Wi-Fi and WiMAX, both of which are contention-based best effort delivery systems that are limited by scalability constraints. Working of xMax: xMax uses a transmitter similar to those used in cordless phone base stations and which operate in an unlicensed and very crowded frequency spectrum in the 900MHz band and is capable of sending a 3.7Mbit/s data signal to a radius of 18 miles, while utilizing only an omnidirectional antenna powered by a 50mW transmitter! xMax goes beyond what were considered physical limits of existing Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Wi-Bro and radio technology, it leaves 3- and 4G in the dust, and may further prove to be also much less costly to deploy. According to the written specs distributed to the press at the demonstration xG Technology is capable of realizing performance improvements over similar transmission technologies by literally orders of magnitude 10x, 20x, 30x, 100x. xMax uses a narrow channel allocation of dedicated spectrum to coordinate reception of its non-interfering, xG Flash Signal. By using xG Flash Signaling to convey wideband data below the noise floor, xMax allows for efficient spectrum reuse by numerous users in a manner that solves the spectrum crunch. Because xG Flash Signaling accomplishes this with far less out of band energy than traditional modulation systems such as CDMA and GSM, xMax helps to clean-up the spectrum for more efficient use than is currently realized. xMax is essentially a new way of modulating data which allows enormous improvements in data rates capacity both across wireless and landline communication infrastructures. xMax does not utilize compression techniques to achieve its extraordinary results as it employs two very popular communication approaches to make an extremely more efficient use of the radio spectrum available. xMax uses a modulation technique designed to allow more data to be transmitted on a single sine wave than is required with typical modulation technologies. So instead of using more than 100,000 sine waves to transmit one bit of data, xMax uses a ratio closer to 1:1. This technique would therefore be more efficient and keep energy levels very low, which would mean devices that receive the signals wouldnt consume much power. What xMax in fact does is to intelligently blend the unique characteristics of narrow-band carrier systems with those of the non-interfering components utilized in low-power wide-band transmission systems. The end result is an exponential increase in data-rate capacity and a very significant decrease in power transmission requirements. Because of all this you can imagine how vast could be the implications of the arrival of such a disruptive transmission and data distribution technology, which would not only put rapidly out of market existing ADSL and cable operations, but it would also create immediate opportunities for broadband-based content and services to be widely distributed for a fraction of the money that it would cost today xMax would in fact enable wide and easy adoption of high-bandwidth services such as video-based real-time collaboration, high definition television (HDTV), video-on-demand, IPTV, to name some of the most popular ones. Due to its technological characteristics xMax technology can be interleaved within existing cable RF channels and can operate over existing network physical infrastructure which would clearly allow existing operators to start offering new xMax-based services without ever needing to interrupt existing services. Because of this xMax appears a strategic alternative to seriously followed by telecom that still heavily rely on landline infrastructures. In terms of specifics facts, xMax is reported to be so reliable and with such a higher level of quality that signal capacity improvements could allow cable operators to deliver over one thousand channels of broadband-like services.In the DSL universe xMax is supposed to deliver much higher data-rates while increasing the effective reach to about 21 Km from the central transmission base. Rather than an FM radio station broadcasting only radio programs or cable providers only broadcasting television, xMax would take advantage of the unused portion of the signal to also transmit data. This recycling or repurposing of spectrum is key to the new technology, according to its inventor, Joseph Bobier. xMaxs unique signal profile is a perfect fit for low frequency channels that have previously been unsuitable for wireless broadband, said Bobier. Because the sub-gigahertz spectrum has been chopped into multiple narrowband segments, it largely has been ignored by most wireless companies seeking roomier space for broadband transmissions. xMax separates the data and a signal synchronizing receiver and sender into two narrowband channels. Due to the low power level needed, the signals do not interfere with other spectrum users, says Whitely. In order to pick up the very weak signal, a filter must be added to an off-the-shelf antenna, allowing the broadband data to be heard. xG xMax digital and RF boards xMax products : xMax user devices include mobile phones and, in the future, modems and other communications products. The xMax TX60 Handset is xGs first mass-production mobile phone. It is a versatile, full-featured handset that has been designed to provide exceptional QoS (quality of service), with both domestic and international service options. The handset product family supports calls and data over the xMax network, as well as over the public internet using standard home, office, and hotspot WiFi connections. The TX60 supports the proprietary, high-performance xMax air-interface. This feature-rich, IP-based handset has been designed to be future-proof , with new capabilities made available through software upgrades. This includes the ability to upgrade the xMax radio to 3G based on its Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology. Engineering design for xMax handsets has been provided by Cambridge Consultants UK, Ltd., one of the foremost wireless innovators in the world. Advantages of xMax: xMax technology offers advantages for numerous types of prospective domestic and international carriers. These organizations include incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC), competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC), original equipment manufacturers (OEM), mobile operators, cable companies and other content providers, and infrastructure mobile virtual network enablers (MVNE). xMax, is a 900MHz wireless technology and uses less than 1 Watt of power. What makes xMax unique is its sharing of crowded radio spectrum, such as the frequencies used by cable television or Wi-Fi. The consumption of power in xMax is less when compared to other wireless technology devices. xMax offers consumers the prospect of lower phone bills because: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ xMax transmits over unlicensed spectrum-the same as baby monitors and cordless phones. Major national cellular carriers paid billions of dollars for licensed spectrum that they recoup from customers. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ xMax was built as a totally Internet-based digital system from top to bottom-an extremely cost efficient communication approach. Roger Branton, COO for xG Technology said that xMax is essentially a new long-distance UWB (ultra-wideband)-like wireless technology, and was quick to make the distinction between xGs xMax and UWB technology. He says, xMax is not UWB. The first xMax products slated for release later this year will utilize the ISM 900MHz unlicensed band, which is only 26MHz wide. UWB utilizes something like 500MHz in the high gigahertz frequencies. xG claims that xMax supports more efficient communication over wireless or wired links than other technologies. About this efficiency, Bobier said that, We believe efficiency boils down to how many bits you can move over a given amount of spectrum per watt. If you can move more bits of information with less power, you pollute the spectrum less, thereby making it possible for more users to access the spectrum. xMax operates at low, sub-gigahertz frequencies and can be used for communication without the common line-of-sight issues that happen at higher frequencies. Bobier says if you can use these frequencies and still be broadband, you compare with fixed wireless technologies doing things in the microwave area. WiMax, which has been described as Wi-Fi on steroids, has a range of up to 30 miles and can deliver broadband at a theoretical maximum of 75mbps. But today, power consumption is so high on WiMax receivers that they cannot be used in consumer products such as laptops, let alone on handheld devices such as cell phones. Uses of xMax in future technologies: According to Whitely, the technology will benefit rural ISPs due to the lower number of base stations required. xMax, because it has 20 times the range of Bluetooth, could challenge that technology Other possibilities are enterprise WLANs and metropolitan networks. Use of xMax to reduce the power consumptions in wireless technologies to a greater extent. Some current performance claims Antenna: One omnidirectional transmitter located on TV broadcast tower at a height of 850 feet. Range: 20 miles, covering the cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, including inside buildings. Data rate: At least 10 Mbit/s throughout the coverage area. Spectrum used: A 6 kHz carrier on dedicated spectrum and 10 MHz of information-bearing spread spectrum in the unlicensed 900 MHz band. Interference: None, despite the presence of a TV transmitter on the same tower. Power: A maximum of 50 W for the carrier and less than 0.15 W for the information-bearing channels Conclusion: Thus, xMax is emerging wireless technology which has many applications at present and possible more applications in future saving a lot of power in day to day activities Thus , xMax is emerging wireless tech

William F. Mays Rising to the Occasion of Our Death Essay examples --

There are three key audiences of the text for William F. May's â€Å"Rising to the Occasion of Our Death.† The first audience, in this case, would be legislative organizations or lawmakers who have researched and studied similar cases regarding euthanasia. Since May was as an ethics professor at Southern Methodist University, his tone is decidedly intellectual. An uneducated individual would find it more difficult to read his essay; for example, in declarations such as â€Å"Advocates of active euthanasia appeal to the principle of patient autonomy,† May's syntax and tone is formal, informative, and utilizes heavy technical jargon (May 662). In other words, it is authoritative, and enables the audience to view him as a credible source due to his syntactical confidence. Other organizations, lobbyists, or lawmakers who are researching evidence on euthanasia would certainly benefit from reading his expert opinion on the matter. Moreover, his desire to develop a â€Å"ju dicious, regulated policy† is a certain acknowledgement that he is attempting to legally call for regulations on euthanasia (May 662). The second audience that May is appealing to are conservative Christians, who are distinctively pro-life. As his article was originally published in well-circulated The Christian Century magazine, addressing this audience exposes members of May's audience who are unfamiliar with euthanasia to its technicalities by debating morality. His tone is similar to that of a sermon; instead of utilizing scientific facts or statistics, May chooses to exclude a logos appeal in favor of an ethos objective. He preaches on moral values about life and death, mentioning that â€Å"the best death is not always the sudden death† (May 662). According to May, preparation... ...ploying strong technical terms and establishing an extrinsic ethos, and exercising sub-arguments that would only benefit numerous groups of people, May strongly achieves his strategy of argument through ethos in terms of rhetorical persuasion. Works Cited Agatucci, Cara. "Cora Agatucci's Toulmin-Style Analysis of May's Argument." WR 122 Course Home Page. N.p., 06 Jan. 2010. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. May, William F. "Rising to the Occasion of our Death." The Christian Century Jul 11 1990: 662. ProQuest. Web. 31 Mar. 2014 "Opinion 2.21 – Euthanasia." Opinion 2.21 – Euthanasia. American Medical Association, June 1996. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Perelman, Chaà ¯m, and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca. Facts, Values, and Hierarchies, The New Rhetoric. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF. The Stases and Other Rhetorical Concepts from Introduction to Academic Writing. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF.

Entrepreneur Observation Report Essay -- essays research papers

This report outlines a very small business of my brother’s. It describes his business, target market, financial plans, and marketing plans. I have tried to keep a neutral opinion about his opinions as much as possible. I have tried to keep my inputs and thoughts in the conclusion only. The whole idea of my brother, insert name here, owning a business started in early March of 1998 when one of the neighbors jokingly suggested he should raise chickens and sell them to people. A few days later he realized it could be easily done, and with a profit. From mid-March to September, he and I raised, and easily sold 600+ chickens, we only wished we could have raised more. When March of 1999 rolled around we were contemplating how many chickens to buy, when the person we bought the chickens from told us about the possibilities of rabbits. Because rabbits are a yearlong project, and we knew I would be leaving in the fall, it became his decision and ultimately his project. He started out with 20 baby doe (females), 3 baby bucks (males), and a small-borrowed hutch (cage) with all 23 rabbits jammed in tight. His investment in rabbits, although considerable, was still to be outdone by the ones in hutches and feed. He essentially spent all profits from chickens the year before and then some. His project now consists of 20 mature doe, 3 mature bucks, and approximately 60 babies. He has taken over a section of a large barn and turned it into a 30+ hutch rabbitry system with a circulating automatic watering system., and recently acquired a large weaning cage. I asked him how he felt when he was getting started and he said he didn’t like spending all that money but he knew he would get it all back someday. I then asked him if he was afraid of competition, or of there not being a big enough market. He said he knew of nobody else selling rabbit meat in the area on any scale, and that because rabbit meat is practically thee healthiest meat, he couldn’t see any problems in the market. He then said that if personal selling fails he can sell them through his "chicken provider" on a per pound basis. One thing I have always known about my brother and his rabbit business is that he is very confident in its success and that even though he knows there will be small problems he is very sure of overall success. When I asked him who he sees as his typical customer he said that... ...re rabbits to have babies within a couple days and must check them constantly to make sure every think is ok. He plays the role of technician when he builds cages, and maintains cleanliness. I don’t think this business could ever become a franchise although it could become a very large company with thousands of rabbits, and several employees. If it were to become a franchise I think it would best be managed by the franchisees. I think this would eliminate any hierarchy or bureaucracy involved in most franchises. Of course there would be a main office to coordinate advertising and to offer help to franchisees with questions or problems. I don’t have too many suggestions except to attempt all of the plans he has thought of. I also think that he needs to make a profit before he starts expanding any more. Once he gets into the cycle of raising and selling the rabbits he can then begin to expand, but not before then. This is really a business that has a lot of potential, and had a lot of things going for it. It is proof to me that the only successful entrepreneur is the guy that gets the idea and does it, not the guy that just thinks it would be a good idea for someone else to do. Entrepreneur Observation Report Essay -- essays research papers This report outlines a very small business of my brother’s. It describes his business, target market, financial plans, and marketing plans. I have tried to keep a neutral opinion about his opinions as much as possible. I have tried to keep my inputs and thoughts in the conclusion only. The whole idea of my brother, insert name here, owning a business started in early March of 1998 when one of the neighbors jokingly suggested he should raise chickens and sell them to people. A few days later he realized it could be easily done, and with a profit. From mid-March to September, he and I raised, and easily sold 600+ chickens, we only wished we could have raised more. When March of 1999 rolled around we were contemplating how many chickens to buy, when the person we bought the chickens from told us about the possibilities of rabbits. Because rabbits are a yearlong project, and we knew I would be leaving in the fall, it became his decision and ultimately his project. He started out with 20 baby doe (females), 3 baby bucks (males), and a small-borrowed hutch (cage) with all 23 rabbits jammed in tight. His investment in rabbits, although considerable, was still to be outdone by the ones in hutches and feed. He essentially spent all profits from chickens the year before and then some. His project now consists of 20 mature doe, 3 mature bucks, and approximately 60 babies. He has taken over a section of a large barn and turned it into a 30+ hutch rabbitry system with a circulating automatic watering system., and recently acquired a large weaning cage. I asked him how he felt when he was getting started and he said he didn’t like spending all that money but he knew he would get it all back someday. I then asked him if he was afraid of competition, or of there not being a big enough market. He said he knew of nobody else selling rabbit meat in the area on any scale, and that because rabbit meat is practically thee healthiest meat, he couldn’t see any problems in the market. He then said that if personal selling fails he can sell them through his "chicken provider" on a per pound basis. One thing I have always known about my brother and his rabbit business is that he is very confident in its success and that even though he knows there will be small problems he is very sure of overall success. When I asked him who he sees as his typical customer he said that... ...re rabbits to have babies within a couple days and must check them constantly to make sure every think is ok. He plays the role of technician when he builds cages, and maintains cleanliness. I don’t think this business could ever become a franchise although it could become a very large company with thousands of rabbits, and several employees. If it were to become a franchise I think it would best be managed by the franchisees. I think this would eliminate any hierarchy or bureaucracy involved in most franchises. Of course there would be a main office to coordinate advertising and to offer help to franchisees with questions or problems. I don’t have too many suggestions except to attempt all of the plans he has thought of. I also think that he needs to make a profit before he starts expanding any more. Once he gets into the cycle of raising and selling the rabbits he can then begin to expand, but not before then. This is really a business that has a lot of potential, and had a lot of things going for it. It is proof to me that the only successful entrepreneur is the guy that gets the idea and does it, not the guy that just thinks it would be a good idea for someone else to do.

Kellogg’s Marketing Essay

Introduction: U.S based Kellogg’s is a world leader and the most successful cereal manufacturer in the world. Kellogg’s entered India in 1994 and it took them a good 15 years for stability in the Indian markets facing initial problems and trying to change the Indian consumer’s mentality about the morning breakfast http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/company/history/howitallbegan.aspx About the assignment: (Refer Appendix 1) Growth strategy by Kellogg’s in India: Kellogg’s were successful to create a need for the product which was never a necessity for an Indian household. We will now discuss how the company managed to establish themselves with a dominant market share in the Indian market. 1.) Ansoff Matrix Ansoff Matrix was introduced to address the corporate strategy of the future. It delivers the perspective of growth options on the horizontal level and introduces the possibility of diversification. (Kotler, Berger & Bickhoff, 2010) http://www.ansoffmatrix.com/ Market Development: Market Development is capturing new markets with your existing products or services. (Lester, 2009) In a new market or to a new consumer, it will be a quiet a task to have them to believe in your product on launching (Meldrum, M & McDonald, M., 2007) especially, when a country is so fond of their traditional recipes. With the help of extensive market research Kellogg’s found out that there was no breakfast cereal trend in the Indian market. Hence they launched their flagship product ‘Cornflakes’. This was always going to be tricky as Indians love their hot breakfast. Kellogg’s had a challenge to turn the mindsets of the Indian consumers who traditionally were used to having hot breakfast in the morning. Ready-to-eat breakfast or food was nonexistent. Kellogg’s via their advertising campaign did also educate the Indian consumers about the calorie and nutritional contents, etc. Company also struggled with their introductory pricings as their competitor ‘Mohan Meakin’ sold at a reasonable price. Although, Kellogg’s had a safe and attractive packaging but was considered as high. We assume that the market for Kellogg’s in the U.S and U.K was saturated and hence they decided to enter India. (Haig, 2003) Product Development: Companies develop new products or upgraded products for an existing market. It also includes thinking on how the new products can satisfy customer needs and outperform the rivals. http://www.ansoffmatrix.com/product-development.html http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/portakabin/achieving-growth-through-product-development/ansoffs-matrix.html Following the corn flakes the company launched chocolate covered flakes, named as Chocos and to go with it flavours such as coconut and mango. The product which saw the company sales rise up by 17% was the ‘Iron Shakti’ which contained iron and was designed to address the iron deficiency in the Indian kids as most of the population ass had no proper breakfast apart from milk, tea & biscuits, etc. Iron Shakti was their first major success which helped them capitalise eventually. Kellogg’s tried its hand in producing biscuits which apparently didn’t work due to a very tough competition it faced from Parle-G and Britannia biscuits. Kellogg’s other product ‘Cheez-It’, launched in 2002 and was withdrawn in 2003 didn’t garner any attention either. (Refer to Appendix 2) (Excerpts from the case study, page 5) http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2003/03/18/stories/2003031801420600.htm Market Penetration: It’s well known growth strategy where the company concentrates on selling existing products into existing markets. (O’Shaughnessy, 1995) Kellogg’s with their intelligent research team did find out that the cereals were actually consumed by the entire family and also for health/diet conscious women so they launched a different variant of the cornflake known as ‘Special K’ under weight management. With this product (Special K), Kellogg’s challenged the consumers to lose 2.5 kgs in just two weeks. To encourage the household adults to consume, they produced adverts with adults featuring in it. (Excerpts from the case study 6 & 7) Market penetration increases or helps maintain the market share of the current products with advertising, sales promotions and personal selling. The Special K and the Iron Shakti just did that for Kellogg’s; they kept educating their consumers via adverts, campaigns and attractive and informative packaging which later paid off with good market share on these products. http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix.htm Product/Market Diversification: A process which defines the activities of firms to enter new product market combinations. It is of primary interest to the researchers. (Klier, 2008) To improve the market capitalisation of the company, Kellogg’s introduced ‘Cheese-It’ a baked cheese snack crackers in the snacks category. It was launched in 3 flavours to suit the Indian tastes. And along with the snacks, the company introduced biscuits, as Kellogg’s Choco Biscuits. The move to launch snacks and biscuits backfired and resulted in withdrawal of the products in a very short time. The Indian biscuits industry has been dominated by Parle-G and Britannia for a very long time now. It was an up heel task for the Kellogg’s but they were confident as people started to recognise Kellogg’s as a good quality brand. With the launching of the snacks and the biscuits Kellogg’s wanted to reach out to the masses and redefine them as a convenience food market. Kellogg’s made a major announcement that they are ready to acquire salty snack maker ‘Pringles’ from Proctor & Gamble. This deal marks the entry of Kellogg’s into salty snacks, an important add-on to their portfolio with convenience foods and the successful breakfast cereals. (Excerpts from case study, page 7) http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/with-pringles-buy-kelloggs-haslarger-canvas-in-india/464942/ http://www.just-food.com/news/kelloggs-exits-biscuits-business_id68045.aspx 2.) Kellogg’s India in regards with the 4P’s of Marketing: According to Borden, 1964, the marketing mix included product planning, pricing, branding, distribution channels, personal selling, advertising, promotions, packaging display, servicing, physical handling, fact finding & analysis. All the above factors were later grouped into 4 categories now known as 4P’s of Marketing. http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/ http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=4+p%27s+of+marketing&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=643&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=MyJEUI-Mui5D0M:&imgrefurl=http://candidkatie.com/2009/10/13/the-4-ps-of-marketing-part-1/&docid=W7aCYZrJmVXbSM&imgurl=http://candidkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/4-ps-300Ãâ€"218.jpg&w=300&h=218&ei=Rf-9T4X_EsXk8QP4lfUp&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=571&vpy=178&dur=224&hovh=152&hovw=209&tx=73&ty=46&sig=116673603394737623265&page=2&tbnh=139&tbnw=191&start=20&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:20,i:162 Product: As a tangible product, it was important for the product to be appealing for its content and its price too. Kellogg’s launched their flagship product to start with, Cornflakes which was a success in the western market. Cornflakes which initially failed, were later back in the market with some modifications then called as ‘indianization’. The flakes were a bit thick and were sweetened to suit the Indian palette. The increase in the awareness of the products via advertising resulted into the expansion in the market and health benefit of the products was the main reason for the fast driving sales. The ‘Iron Shakti’ gave the Kellogg’s taste of success with 17% rise in the sales, was designed to cater the iron deficiency in the growing kids. In order to redefine themselves as a convenience company and to pace their growth Kellogg’s introduced Cheez-It and Kellogg’s biscuits; unfortunately it did not share a liking amongst the Indian con sumers and was later scrapped from production. Kellogg’s then only decided to concentrate on cereals and its development. (Excerpts from the case study, page 5 & 6) Price: Pricing is an important marketing mix tool for both creating and capturing customer value. (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). Initially, Kellogg’s only focused on the quality of the product, features and benefit to the Indian consumers. India is a country with majority of population as middle class; the Indian public has been always price sensitive. Kellogg’s launched ‘KPak’, a very reasonably priced product at only INR 10 in 2007, a variant of the Chocos, an ideal option to chips and other junk foods. In 2010, Kellogg’s rolled our retail packs of different sizes & prices to cater the need of variety of consumers. After the launch with effective advertising, the company saw rise in the sales but that was just the curiosity of the Indian consumer to buy a new product. Baring in mind that the competitor Mohan Meakin reasonably priced their cereals and the situation (initial failure of Cornflakes), Kellogg’s priced their future products reasonably Place: The products were only available in the metro cities when it was initially launched in 1994. Then as a premium product it was only placed in the supermarkets and due its pricing clientele expected was the higher middle class or elite. Eventually, when the product became popular and after the launch of KPak which was priced at INR 10, Kellogg’s tried to reach out to the Tier 1 & Tier 2 towns in the country. (Excerpts from case study, page 8) Promotion: Kellogg’s were quiet effective on the promotional front. They always had attractive adverts on the telly usually featuring kids and the adverts featuring at the prime time soaps. As mentioned earlier, Kellogg’s had a Bollywood celebrity to endorse their products for adults. A celebrity is like an eye-kandy who attains the attention of the consumers which helps in creating awareness about the brand. In regards with personal selling, newspapers adverts were given and special weekend adverts were posted in weekend newspapers or in the kids section of the newspapers to attract the attention of the kids. Kellogg’s did a special promotion whilst sponsoring Spiderman 2 movie; they rolled out specially packed limited edition ‘spider web’ cereals and gave away relevant toys. The promotion was only available for 2 weeks and extensive advertising was done. Along with the pack, the buyer can also avail 20% discounts on the upcoming Spiderman 2 DVD. http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2004/07/14/stories/2004071401260900.htm http://www.4psbusinessandmarketing.com/24022011/storyd.asp?sid=4411&pageno=1 http://searchandhra.com/cinema/karishma-kapoor-brand-ambassador-for-kelloggs-chocos Porters Generic Strategies: Michael Porter has identified the four strategies to achieve a competitive advantage: 1.) Cost leadership 2.) Differentiation 3.) Focus Strategy – i) Differentiation ii) Cost. The Differentiation strategy is more relevant for the Kellogg’s, in accordance with case study. A Differentiation strategy calls for the development of a product or services that are both unique and are valued by the customers. A Differentiation strategy is also the one in which a product offering is different from that of one or more competitors. (Aaker, 2001) http://tutor2u.net/business/presentations/strategy/genericstrategies/default.html Kellogg’s started in India with their flagship product ‘Cornflakes’ with 3 variants. Unlike their competitor, Kellogg’s cornflakes were premium priced with an attractive packaging. With cornflakes initially failing due to sogginess after adding milk and less sweet flakes, Kellogg’s was quick to do amendments to suit to the local taste buds. Kellogg’s with their effective advertising campaign and communication via packaging spread awareness about the product and its benefits. Kellogg’s always believed in advertising and promotions, as it’s the most important medium to reach the target market and spreading brand awareness in India and endorsing the product with a celebrity is adding value to its which the Kellogg’s rival never did. http://www.4psbusinessandmarketing.com/24022011/storyd.asp?sid=4411&pageno=1 Major Challenges faced by Kellogg’s Even if Kellogg’s was a world leader in breakfast cereals with reports of profits in the western countries they did struggle for a while on their arrival in India. Kellogg’s were smart enough to apply proper strategies to tackle the issues they had. I have analysed their issues with some theories below: 1.) SWOT Analysis The use of SWOT Analysis allows organizations to maximize their strengths, minimize their weakness, take advantage of their opportunities and overcome their weaknesses. (Fine, 2009) Strength: Kellogg’s main strength was the product. Although they misread the market at first in regards with the product and price, they were quick to make changes and jump back. They had the advantage of first foreign cereal company to serve in the raw market India. Over the years, the best thing that Kellogg’s did was they carried extensive market research. They read the market accurately and offered quality products on a regular basis at a reasonable price. The other major factor was they were selling variety of healthy products whilst creating awareness about the products amongst the consumers. (Refer to Appendix 3) P.E.S.T.L.E (Refer to Appendix 4) With the help of the Porters 5 forces we can evaluate the 5 major challenges faced by Kellogg’s in India. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=porter%27s+5+forces+definition&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=WmX3SuQUrNjk4M:&imgrefurl=http://www.businessmate.org/Article.php%3FArtikelId%3D9&docid=w0bo10yR_EOaQM&imgurl=http://www.businessmate.org/userupload/Michael_Porter_Five_Forces.png&w=450&h=400&ei=xE6_T9W2E82W0QWy-_nRCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=275&vpy=269&dur=44&hovh=212&hovw=238&tx=126&ty=173&sig=116673603394737623265&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=156&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0,i:86 With evaluation of the opportunities and threats through the SWOT analysis, The porters five forces model will give us an overview of the challenges Kellogg would face. The five major forces lead to assessment of the overall competitive dynamics of an Industry. ( Colley 2007 ) 1. Threat of new entrants: There are a lot of Domestic Companies from India like Hindustan Liver Ltd, Dabur India Ltd which may diversify and enter the Cornflakes Market which will threaten Kellogg’s position as they have an expertise in the food processing business . Also, with the Supermarket trend starting in India, there is a prospective entry of their own brands which are more reasonably priced on the market .This will make it necessary for Kellogg to come up with products with traditional Indian flavours to be able to gain competitive advantage over the domestic competitors like adding saffron or cinnamon flavour to their products. 2. Threat of substitute products or services Kellogg is a product in which many variations are not possible. The Indian breakfast items list from a wide range of foods with different tastes and flavours. The introduction of ready to eat breakfast items from Manufacturers like Haldirams and Gits pose a huge threat to Kellogg . The Company is recommended to diversify their product portfolio. 3. Bargaining power of Buyers The bargaining of power of an Indian consumer is very high due to a wide range of available products in the market. In case of slight fluctuations on the price, the customers may opt for other products in the market which are more reasonably priced as the buyer is price sensitive .This makes it ideal for Kellogg to price their product in accordance to the competition. 4. Bargaining power of Suppliers The company imports most of the raw materials required for manufacturing. If it purchases these materials via domestic suppliers, it would prove to be cost efficient, save time and also save the exercise duty taxes. 5. Intensity of rivalry among competitors With introduction of wheat flakes, extra muesli as its high fibre breakfast cereals, Kellogg is also in process of creating alternatives with different flavours in order to compete with its Rivals such as ITC , PepsiCo and Nestle . In 2006 the largest snack company in the country , Frito Lay , a division of PepsiCo India Holdings , had also , had also entered the breakfast cereal market . Conclusion The assignment has given me an opportunity to understand the marketing implications of a product launched in a foreign nation with a diverse culture and also the challenges faced in order to have an established competitive advantage on foreign soil. It gives an insight of how marketing can help reach out new markets and also create new markets for products which were never a necessity .Also the use of various marketing concepts like Porters five forces and Ansoff matrix have helped in a critical evaluation of current marketing situation and various forces that affect the performance of Kellogg . Bibliography: Books: Philip Kotler, Roland Berger & Nils Bickhoff, The Quintessence of strategic marketing, 2010, page 210 David Aaker, Strategic Market Management, 6th edition, page 159 Andrew Lester, Growth Management: Two hats are better than one, 2009, page 52 John O’Shaughnessy, Competitive Marketing: A Strategic Approach, 4th edition, 2008, page 175 Daniel O. 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