Marc Anthony s Performance Of God Bless America - 1117 Words

At the 2013 MLB All Star game Marco Antonio Muà ±iz, who goes by the artistic name of Marc Anthony, sang God Bless America for the audience. The live performance found its way to YouTube and became accessible to those who were not there to watch the performance live or through television. This made it easier for the performance to receive more negative, racist, and discriminatory responses through social mediums, particularly twitter, and eventually became a controversial topic among news sources and media. In this essay, I will analyze responses to Marc Anthony’s performance of God Bless America published on Twitter and define what it truly means to be American. This incident was one of many incidents in the United States that incited controversy over whether or not a famous figure’s actions were truly American. Another incident involved Cuban-born baseball player Yoenis Cà ©spedes, when he spoke in Spanish during an interview after being handed the Derby trophy, as reported by the Huffington Post. In both cases, baseball fans took to twitter to express their anger, betrayal, and disgust over Muà ±iz and Cà ©spedes’ actions, which they deemed to be â€Å"un-American†. In order to understand the importance of the comments made on social made, we need to understand the intended message of the artifact. This artifact is the YouTube video, which is also the main medium for the message. Other media that will be addressed in this essay is twitter, Buzzfeed, and other common social media,

The True Inner Nature Of Simon - 2116 Words

Thought out the millennia, magic, sorcery, and the use of certain board games have drawn unsuspecting confessing born again believers into the lively hood as Simon the magician; a believer that lives under the false premises of being truly born again. This may seem a harsh judgement however, listen to what Peter tells the church to do in 1 Peter 4:17 (King James Version) For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? Simon so caught up in the outpouring of God’s spirit upon those that truly accepted Him that the true inner nature of Simon was revealed to Peter. The Lord states that whatever men speak or say in the dark shall be†¦show more content†¦Therefore, a person cannot mock God in words or be separated from the world without the Lambs blood applied on their lives period. Which is provided by Jesus death and resurrection paying the price for all sin. Yet, it must be of a personal and individual request from the sinner to receive this gift truly out of a repentant heart and sealing of the Holy Spirit.(Romans 10:9-10, Eph. 1:13) Simon heavily embodied with the excitement of the people who followed him and labeled him as god considered the same approach when witnessing the miracles of Peter and John. Simon for years was able to pull the wool over the Samaritans eyes allowing them to create him into something he was not. Acts 8:9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: KJV Simon was in fact so successful that the people of Samira erected a statue in his godly honor, boasting his ego further. James Inglis states it this way: â€Å"... he did not ask for that which was common to believers, but for a superior privilege, to which it seems incredible that he should have aspired had he not received that which other believers had received. † Simon’s focus was how to obtain and make a living by using the gift of the Holy Spirit, rather than serving God. Bob Deffenbugh states: â€Å"Simon the magician was believed by some of the ancients to have

Economic system free essay sample

?An economic system in which economic decisions are made by the state or government rather than by the interaction between consumers and businesses. Unlike a market economy in which production decisions are made by private citizens and business owners, a centrally planned economy seeks to control what is produced and how resources are distributed and used. The production of goods and services is undertaken by state-owned enterprises. Centrally planned economies assume that the market does not work in the best interest of the people, and that in order for social and national objectives to be met a central authority needs to make decisions. The state can set prices for goods and determine how much is produced, and can focus labor and resources on industries and projects without having to wait for private investment capital. Most modern economies are a mixture of centrally planned economies and market economies, with governments controlling some aspects of the economy and the private sector controlling others. www. investopedia. com/terms/c/centrally-planned-economy. asp? Introduction of Planned economy A market economy is the opposite of a command or centrally planned economy. In a command system, the government determines what goods are sold, how much of them, and what they will cost. This single actor is replaced by many in a market system, where the price of a good is determined by both the supply and demand for it (wikinvest. com 2012). And in the following we will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of planned economy. 1. 2. 2 Advantages of Planned economy 1. 2. 2. 1 Elimination of inflation and price fluctuations In command economies, the central government stipulates what and how much of most products will be produced. By setting prices and wages the central government can also dictate how much of the production is allotted to each household. In short, the central government controls production and income in command economies (Musgrave, Harding, Kacapyr Harding 2001, p. 37). And because of this functional feature of command economies, the price could not be determined depending on how much would be produced and how much people’s demand is, as a result, price would be stable and as a matter of fact in most planned economies, prices are set by the policy makers. Hence, one major advantage of adopting the planned economy is that it largely eliminate the appearance of inflation and price fluctuations which are usually challenges to the capitalist free market economies. 1. 2. 2. 2 A powerful central government 1. 2. 3 Disadvantages of Planned economy 1. 2. 3. 1 Lack of employee motivation and responsibility According to Max Weber (1978, p. 110), a planned economy oriented to want satisfaction must, in proportion as it is radically carried through, weaken the incentive to labour so far as the risk of lack of support is involved. Because it would, at least so far as there is a rational system of provision for wants, be impossible to allow a worker’s dependents to suffer the full consequences of his lack of efficiency in production. This lack of labor or employee motivation and responsibility could be found in China before its famous economy reform in the 1980s. At that time, distribution of goods are depending on the labor hours and individuals were not responsible for the consequences of their works. Therefore, the labor efficiency was much lower in China. And also, as a result, technology innovations were rare because they were not motivated to do so as there would be no obvious rewards for such good performance. http://www. chinaabout. net/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-market-economy-command-or-planned-economy-and-mixed-economy/ An economic system that includes a mixture of capitalism and socialism. This type of economic system includes a combination of private economic freedom and centralized economic planning and government regulation. There are many countries around the world that are either capitalist or socialist, with countries ranging from the United States to Cuba being referred to as mixed economies. A capitalist system is based on private ownership, labor, personal profit and investments. In contrast, a socialist economy is controlled and regulated publicly, usually through mechanisms like government bodies and planning councils. www. investopedia. com/terms/m/mixed-economic-system. as Advantages of Mixed Economy Since mixed economy involves both government and private enterprises it has the advantage of taking the benefits of capitalist nature of private companies and socialist nature of government. There is less inequality of income because intent of government is to have a balanced economic growth of an economy. Mixed economy allows individuals to run their business and make profits but at the same time it places some responsibility on these companies by inducing them to contribute towards the welfare of society. Disadvantages of Mixed Economy Since welfare of society is important in a mixed economy it leads to lower than optimum use of the resources because government mobilize the resources towards the production of those goods and services which are beneficial for the society as a whole rather than producing those goods and services which in economic terms are more beneficial for an economy. Under mixed economy private enterprises have to face lot of difficulty because of various government loopholes like favouritism and bureaucratic nature which is prevalent in mixed economy. As one can see that mixed economy like socialist and capitalist economies has both advantages and disadvantages and therefore it will be always debatable whether a country should follow mixed economy structure or not. http://www. letslearnfinance. com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-mixed-economy. html http://www. chinaabout. net/features-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-command-economy/ http://english. caijing. com. cn/2009-09-30/110269580. html

Microsofts Legal Troubles Essays - AOL, Netscape, Microsoft

Microsoft's Legal Troubles Recently, Microsoft started having legal problems. It was one legal battle after another. It was taking too much time away from what Microsoft does best. Personally, I think it was starting to get to be ridiculous. The problems first started shortly after Microsoft released the Windows 98 Operating System. To help the look of Windows 98, Microsoft Internet Explorer was integrated with the operating system to become a major component to Windows 98. Because of this, the default Internet browser was Internet Explorer. Some users did not like this. Netscape Communications Corporation (also known as Netscape), made a big fuss about this issue. They claimed that Windows 98 users were being forced to use Internet Explorer, and it took away from the users that want to use Netscape. After months in court, Microsoft and Netscape finally came to a settlement. The next problem that Microsoft had, is they were being accused by the United States government, of having a monopoly on the PC market. This was because all new personal computers had the Microsoft Windows Operating System on it. This was difficult for users that wanted to be able to tweak the Operating System to their own liking. They were being forced to buy Microsoft-related products even if they didn't want to. This was true as long as they did not want a Macintosh computer. This issue was sparked by the case between Microsoft and Netscape. The government charged Microsoft of illegally bundling Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows 98 together. The problem then continued further in court. In January 2000, Bill Gates decided to step down as the President and CEO of Microsoft, and appointed Steve Ballmer, who is a long team member of Bill Gates those positions. Bill Gates, then creates a new position for himself, this new role is Chairman and Chief Software Architect. This decision was made by Bill, so that he can dedicate all of his time to helping drive the next generation Windows Internet platform and services. Meanwhile, back in court, the battle continues with the government. The government ruled Microsoft of illegally bundling the software and was ordered to break up into two companies. Microsoft has been appealing this since it was ruled. Microsoft is strongly trying not to be broken up, due the consequences that they fear might happen if they are broken up. They are trying to stay one strong company, and their interest is in the consumer and in everything that Microsoft can do to help the computer age. In conclusion, today, this issue is still going on in court. In my own opinion, I think that the government should leave Microsoft alone, because they are taking this process too far. I want Microsoft to be left as is, in one company. It could spell disaster for computer technology if they are broken up into two companies. We just have to wait a little longer to see what the government is going to do about this. Bibliography MICROSOFT.COM Computers and Internet Essays

Free Essays on Falling Through the Cracks

Falling Through the Cracks: Children of Divorce Regardless of age, race, sex or religion, divorce has devastating, often long-term, consequences. The immediate effects of divorce, such as hurt, anger and confusion, are evident in both children and adults. The longer-term effects are not so easy to pin point. Adults are usually able to articulate their emotions and verbalize their distress, anger, pain and confusion to help themselves through this period of transition in their lives. As well, adults have the means and ability to seek outside professional assistance independently. Children on the other hand, are not as likely to have the ability to identify the source or kind of turmoil they are experiencing. Therefore, it is difficult for us, as adults, to be fully aware of the consequences of divorce on our children. It is estimated that nearly one half of children born today will spend time in a single parent household. Although some of these children are born into single parent families, many more are the product of divorce, and are made to endure the conflict and emotional upset that divorce brings about. At this time, when children require stability and emotional support, the pressures of growing up are often compounded by the stress of divorce and family breakdown. When divorce involves children many questions must be answered. Questions such as: With whom will the children live? How often will the non-custodial parent have access, and under what circumstances? Although simple to ask, these questions are never easy to answer, and children frequently become pawns in a game of revenge. Today, mothers make up the majority of parents who are awarded custody, with fathers making up only 13%. However, this was not always the case. Prior to the 19th century, fathers, under English common law followed in North America , received automatic custody of their children when the marriage dissolved. During the 19th century gradual... Free Essays on Falling Through the Cracks Free Essays on Falling Through the Cracks Falling Through the Cracks: Children of Divorce Regardless of age, race, sex or religion, divorce has devastating, often long-term, consequences. The immediate effects of divorce, such as hurt, anger and confusion, are evident in both children and adults. The longer-term effects are not so easy to pin point. Adults are usually able to articulate their emotions and verbalize their distress, anger, pain and confusion to help themselves through this period of transition in their lives. As well, adults have the means and ability to seek outside professional assistance independently. Children on the other hand, are not as likely to have the ability to identify the source or kind of turmoil they are experiencing. Therefore, it is difficult for us, as adults, to be fully aware of the consequences of divorce on our children. It is estimated that nearly one half of children born today will spend time in a single parent household. Although some of these children are born into single parent families, many more are the product of divorce, and are made to endure the conflict and emotional upset that divorce brings about. At this time, when children require stability and emotional support, the pressures of growing up are often compounded by the stress of divorce and family breakdown. When divorce involves children many questions must be answered. Questions such as: With whom will the children live? How often will the non-custodial parent have access, and under what circumstances? Although simple to ask, these questions are never easy to answer, and children frequently become pawns in a game of revenge. Today, mothers make up the majority of parents who are awarded custody, with fathers making up only 13%. However, this was not always the case. Prior to the 19th century, fathers, under English common law followed in North America , received automatic custody of their children when the marriage dissolved. During the 19th century gradual...

5 Ways to Handle Rejection Like a Pro

5 Ways to Handle Rejection Like a Pro Rejection stinks and it happens to everyone. Everyone. We’ve all gone on first dates that didn’t turn into second dates. We’ve all missed out on the publication, the big promotion, the invite to our second-grade schoolmate’s selective birthday party. Instead of wallowing in self pity, here are five ways to make lemonade and reframe your rejection next time you get whacked with one. 1. Buckle down and  rethink your strategyEither it’s a numbers game and you just have to wade through the pile of â€Å"no’s† to get to the eventual â€Å"yes,† or there are things you could be doing better. Every few rejections, take a time out to reconsider your focus and your game plan, then make the necessary adjustments. This will make you feel like you’re doing something constructive even when the good news seems to be just beyond reach and out of your control.2. If the door is closed, find the windowOr the silver lining. Or the upside of the downside. Basically, try and tell yourself that this rejection only leaves you open for a better opportunity you might have missed. In other words, let go of this one and go for one better!3. Learn from itTake each rejection as a challenge to goad you to do better and be better. No matter what, you’ll grow (and succeed) faster, regardless of how many rejections you receive. You’ll probably still get rejections; everybody always does. But if you learn something and let each one spur you on, you’ll be way ahead of the game.4. Zen it outSay to yourself that this just wasn’t meant to be. Maybe the timing was off, or you were looking in the slightly wrong direction. Tell yourself everything happens for a reason, try to be at peace with that, and prepare yourself to seize the next opportunity with clear eyes and open arms.5. Realize it’s not all about youSometimes we’re rejected not because we’re not good enough. Sometimes we’ re too good. Or the reason for our being rejected has nothing to do with us at all. Maybe  you remind the hiring manager of a kid who bullied him on the playground 20 years ago. Or maybe someone was having a really bad day when she  interviewed you. Or, for company politics reasons, they had to overlook your stellar qualifications in favor of some other factor. You never know. Sometimes it’s best to sit back and not take things quite so personally. Remember, the right â€Å"yes† is just around the corner.

AT&T Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

AT&T - Essay Example The core assumption behind this movement of net income is the increasing expected costs and expenses of the company of the forth-coming periods. A little variation is the assets of the company is forecasted and the levels of assets are not expected to increase or decrease significantly. The company plans to reduce the levels of its equity in the future periods with minor deductions. AT&T tries to improve the paid dividends by increasing the value slightly every year, these movements show that the organization is planning and persuading an organic growth for the future periods. The cash flow generation is likely to drop down every year due to increased expected expenses. Due to increased expenses, the profit margins of the company will be affected and expected to fall in the future periods. The retention ratio also signifies the affect of gradual declinations of retained profits over the years and is dropping down following the same trend of Earnings of the company. The asset turnover is expected to increase due to increasing sale and reducing assets, the ratio is expected to improve continuously every year. The financial gearings of the company are assumed to remain stable with little variation that will make the company more predictable to the investors by consistency in the in the operational and financial sustainability of the organization. (Helfert,

Agitation in long term care setting Research Paper

Agitation in long term care setting - Research Paper Example Agitation is one of the most critical issues in the long term care nursing homes across the world. Residents of such homes, due to a number of reasons, experience changes in their behavioral patterns involving agitation, distress and aggressiveness The second reason revolves around the resident nurse; dealing with agitated patients involves surviving verbal and sometimes physical abuse from the patients, which impacts negatively on nurse motivation and productivity (Zeller et al. 2009). According to the Nursing Times (2011), majority of nurses are not well prepared/trained to handle agitation. The overall impact is a threat to the quality of healthcare, hence underpinning the importance of the issue of agitation in the resident care setting. Background According to Zwicker and Fletcher (2009), agitated behavior in conditions such as dementia represents feelings and needs that are difficult to adequately verbalize. In frequent occasions, agitation is a result of an inability to commun icate needs by the long term care patient in an unpleasant environment or due to physical discomfort (Rabinowitz et al., 2005). Statistics indicate that agitation is a serious problem, with above 50% of patients in a community dwelling and above 70% of residents in nursing homes experiencing the condition. The most common manifestations of agitated behavior include physical agitation such as pacing, nervousness and repetitive movements, and verbal agitation such as complaining, using abusive language and screaming (Zwicker and Fletcher, 2009). ... Whereas this may cause discomfort in healthy individuals, the situation is worse among residents in nursing homes due to their underlying conditions, making it difficult for them to communicate. Hunger is another leading cause of agitation, with Erockson and Grove (2008) observing that Alzheimer’s patients may experience weight loss even with proper nutrition. Such patients may have abnormally high activity levels. Another important cause of agitation is the fear and disorientation among the residents in the long term care settings. For instance, dementia patients are often afraid while Alzheimer’s patients cannot recall the staff, facility, other patients and even themselves (DETP, 2001; Zieber et al., 2005). Medical causes of agitation also exist as most mental health patients may experience abrupt onset of delirium. Such cases may be due to infections such as urinary tract infections, pneumonia and colcystitis among others (Gerdner, Buckwalter and Hall, 2005). The ex ternal environment also plays a crucial part in triggering agitation in the long term care setting. Here, the nurse takes a central position in influencing triggers of agitation either positively or negatively. Changes in medication, creating an impersonal environment and certain aspects of care cause the patients to be agitated. Failure to adequately deal with the internal determinants of agitation also contributes to the condition (Erickson and Grove, 2008). Effects on Nurses Nurses in the long term care settings not only have to manage the causes and impacts of agitation on the patients, but also impacts on themselves. First, such patients can fall under the

Brief discussion of Western Civilization Essay Example for Free

Brief discussion of Western Civilization Essay A civilization is usually marked by a growth that can change the ways of the people in a specific time frame and the period after that. The said growth is perfectly exemplified in the western civilization. The Western culture is greatly affected by the highlights of the history. It is influenced by some ideas from the East. The Mesopotamians and Egyptians took part in the encounter of the Greeks and the Persian Empire. Hebrews formed the belief in a single god which is known as the Hebrew monotheism. Still, during the Classical Age of Greece, the Greeks nurtured the social, political and religions aspects of the West. Philosophers like Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and Herodotus were among the few who formed the cornerstones of Greek literacy. Athens followed a democratic civilization while the state of Sparta was a disciplined one. The period was predated by the Hellenistic period in which Greeks and Macedonians built kingdoms after conquering the Persian Empire. During this era, women played roles in politics. The rise of science, culture and arts came into existence. By 8th Century B. C, Rome was brought about by Latin-speaking people. Octavian aided in transforming a government system of a republican institution. The Roman Empire grew became known as one of the largest in the world. Languages in Rome in the present time like French, Spanish, Latin and Portuguese were strongly based on Latin. The Roans concocted a rich culture in law, language and engineering as well. After 200 years, it came to a decline and paved way to the period of Early Middle Ages. The era gave birth to the widespread Religion of Christianity through the works of Paul of Tarsus. Germanic kingdoms also became apparent in the part of Western Europe. The Carolingian Empire was ruled by Charlemagne, a brood of a Germanic tribe who accepted Christianity. Traditions from the classical age, the Germanic tribes and Christianity merged to give identity to the new civilization of Europe. This was threatened by Vikings and Muslims. Fortunately, the civilization was kept intact. By the dawn of the 9th and 10th century, agricultural production was heightened. Trade was also established along with changes in the technology during the High Middle Ages. Cities and banks were also present. When the 14th Century came, the West was plagued by the Black Death. It caused the fall of trade and instigated the difference of the upper and lower classes. A war which ran for a hundred years between the English and the French rattled the political status of Europe. Papacy was also affected in Rome when conflicts between popes occurred. All these are reflected in the arts during the period. Soon after, the Renaissance period which is dubbed as the time for reconstruction created new ways for the West. It was made evident that the Catholic Church is a very important institution. The Western civilization faced rises and falls caused by wars, invaders and other factors. All the events contributed on what the West has in the present civilization today. References: A Review of Western Civilization. Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://www. wadsworth. com/history_d/templates/student_resources/0534600085_spielvogel/VolumeIIto1550. html

A Strategic Analysis of Walgreens and the Retail Drugstore Industry Es

Introduction Knowing the importance of a strategic vision, every company undertakes a complete analysis periodically. In order to create a strategic plan the parties involved must know every aspect of the industry and the company at hand. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the retail drugstore industry and then focus on Walgreens, the industry leader in terms of sales. As part of the in-depth analysis of Walgreens, its major competitors will also be described and analyzed. The retail drugstore industry consists of all those stores that contain a pharmacy and sell prescription drugs. It also includes businesses that sell prescription drugs online and through the mail. Most retail drugstores also offer other consumer goods and services to augment the low margin earned on prescription sales. To be considered a member of the retail drugstore industry requires sales of prescription pharmaceuticals to the end consumer. Many convenience, food and discount stores sell over-the-c ounter medicines, but these stores would not be considered retail drugstores because they do not also sell prescription medicines. Relevant Environment Competition: The relevant environment, which consists or interactions between the task environment and task environment, has been changing over the past 25 years. As competition has increased among grocery, discount and mass merchandising chains, blurring of channels has occurred. This is due to stores selling an increasing variety of goods to try to broaden their customer base and provide â€Å"one-stop† shopping. Many of these stores have added pharmacies as a source of convenience for their customers, and to increase store traffic, usually positioning the pharmacy in the back of the store. In response to this pressure, both independent and chain drugstores have greatly increased the variety of their retail product offerings. The sale of cosmetics, along with health and beauty aids, has become an important profit generator for retail drugstores. Many are now also positioning themselves to compete with convenience stores by offering snack food items, beverages, and st aple items. The move to stand-alone stores located on major roads with ample, close-in parking has been an important factor contributing to convenience. Customers: As indicated by the type of competition seen in the retail drugstore ... ...Top Performing Companies.† March 24,1998. www.riteaid.com. â€Å"Rite Aid Reports 6.6 Percent Same-Store Sales Increase For May.† June 7,2000. www.walgreens.com/about/history/default.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist2.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist3.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist4.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist5.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist6.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist7.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/press/facts/fact2.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Company Overview. www.walgreens.com/about/press/othernews/040400.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Walgreens Joins Katie Couric in National Campaign. www.walgreens.com/about/press/othernews/051100b.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Walgreens Joins Katie Couric in National Campaign. A Strategic Analysis of Walgreens and the Retail Drugstore Industry Es Introduction Knowing the importance of a strategic vision, every company undertakes a complete analysis periodically. In order to create a strategic plan the parties involved must know every aspect of the industry and the company at hand. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the retail drugstore industry and then focus on Walgreens, the industry leader in terms of sales. As part of the in-depth analysis of Walgreens, its major competitors will also be described and analyzed. The retail drugstore industry consists of all those stores that contain a pharmacy and sell prescription drugs. It also includes businesses that sell prescription drugs online and through the mail. Most retail drugstores also offer other consumer goods and services to augment the low margin earned on prescription sales. To be considered a member of the retail drugstore industry requires sales of prescription pharmaceuticals to the end consumer. Many convenience, food and discount stores sell over-the-c ounter medicines, but these stores would not be considered retail drugstores because they do not also sell prescription medicines. Relevant Environment Competition: The relevant environment, which consists or interactions between the task environment and task environment, has been changing over the past 25 years. As competition has increased among grocery, discount and mass merchandising chains, blurring of channels has occurred. This is due to stores selling an increasing variety of goods to try to broaden their customer base and provide â€Å"one-stop† shopping. Many of these stores have added pharmacies as a source of convenience for their customers, and to increase store traffic, usually positioning the pharmacy in the back of the store. In response to this pressure, both independent and chain drugstores have greatly increased the variety of their retail product offerings. The sale of cosmetics, along with health and beauty aids, has become an important profit generator for retail drugstores. Many are now also positioning themselves to compete with convenience stores by offering snack food items, beverages, and st aple items. The move to stand-alone stores located on major roads with ample, close-in parking has been an important factor contributing to convenience. Customers: As indicated by the type of competition seen in the retail drugstore ... ...Top Performing Companies.† March 24,1998. www.riteaid.com. â€Å"Rite Aid Reports 6.6 Percent Same-Store Sales Increase For May.† June 7,2000. www.walgreens.com/about/history/default.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist2.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist3.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist4.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist5.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist6.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist7.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/press/facts/fact2.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Company Overview. www.walgreens.com/about/press/othernews/040400.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Walgreens Joins Katie Couric in National Campaign. www.walgreens.com/about/press/othernews/051100b.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Walgreens Joins Katie Couric in National Campaign.

Health Care System in Turmoil Essay

Is the health care system today really in Turmoil? What are some of the major problems that healthcare is experiencing? What is the impact of each of the chosen problems on not just consumers but also the community? What are some of the benefits and risks of national health insurance? The health care system has been in a bad position for a while now. Not only is the healthcare system in a bad position, but after the Affordable Care Act has taken affect there still several million citizens without health care coverage. This paper will be addressing these important questions about our Health care system. The current health care system as we know it is in trouble. Health care is still an issue and millions of Americans are still not insured and cannot afford to be. It is understandable that the United States has a lot more technology and cures that other countries do not, but the fact that our health care is double the price of other countries is mind boggling. The health care reform was supposed to be the answer to all the problems with our health care system and though it was extremely helpful, the system still doesn’t provide universal care for all of its citizens which is a huge problem. â€Å"For decades, health care policy leaders have focused on two huge problems in American health care finance. The first was the coverage problem—that the fraction of Americans with inadequate or no health insurance was substantial and growing. The second was the cost problem—that total health spending was high and rising, although quality was uneven† (Rivlin, A., 201 3). These two problems remain an issue for our health care system. Myers (2013) states that coverage alone is not enough. Instead focusing on things like having providers that are acceptable, also the care received should be effective. There can be plenty of providers that are available, but how beneficial are they if they are not providing quality care to patients. Quality and Value need to be a goal for the Health care system. Some necessary changes were made because of Affordable Care Act. This was just the beginning and more steps need to be taken in order to rectify our health care system. Renovation of the delivery of health care is necessary to make better connections in the chain. Coverage will be a great first step, following access to high- quality health care, and improving patient outcomes and population help. Coverage has a positive impact when it comes to the community but as far as the consumer it has a negative impact. Cost of Care is the second problem that is causing our Health care system to go in Turmoil. Affording Health care has always been one of the main issues with Health Care in the United States. The Affordable Care Act was signed by President Obama in 2010 and was taken into effect in 2014. It has provided millions of people with insurance who didn’t have it before but still leaves millions of citizens without. Having insurance is a tax, if it is not purchased a fine will be added to the 2014 tax return. So somehow everybody will be paying out of pocket cost for health care. The cost have reduced in some areas and have increased in others. The cost has a positive impact on millions of citizens â€Å"the community† who now have health insurance. Like mentioned previously there are still millions of citizens that can’t afford to have insurance so it has a negative impact on a portion of consumers. National Health insurance pose several risks. â€Å"At least three broad problems characterize U.S. health care and insurance: (1) high and rapidly growing costs, (2) large numbers of nonelderly people without insurance, and (3) enormous projected Medicare deficits and continued Medicaid cost growth. The health care reform debate and reform proposals have focused largely on expanding the number of people with health insurance† (Harrington, S., 2010). Instead of focusing on how many people we can get sign up for health care, we need to be looking into these important factors, because they are just as significant. Cost being one of the biggest issues, but also the  alarming number of non-elderly people without health insurance. Sometimes diseases could be caught early on if middle aged and younger adults had affordable health care to get checked out. Additionally Medicare deficits and continued Medicaid rising costs. There needs to be more focus on these issues in order to beg in to get the health care system where it needs to be. On the other hand, National Health insurance has several benefits, some of which have already began to take place. Mandating companies to provide insurance for their employees is a great example. According to Panning (2014) some of the benefits include financing, cost reduction, payment reform, quality and process improvement, and prevention and wellness. Financing referring to healthier and younger will subsidize part of the care of the less health and elderly patients. Cost reduction is pretty self-explanatory, decreasing the cost and evening out the rate of growth. Payment reform in the new Affordable Care Act will pay for outcomes and value achieved opposed to being rewarded for doing more. Quality and process improvement will include a quality indicator quantity and reporting as well as comparative efficiency research. Lastly Prevention and Wellness, investing and providing incentives for preventive medicine and wellness. Our health care system is unstable for several reasons. The Affordable Care Act was designed to provide not just insurance to everyone but affordable insurance. It has made a significant impact, but still has things that need to be worked out. National Health Insurance has risk and benefits, benefits outweighing the risks. One of the great benefits discussed previously was the mandating of employers having to offer their full-time employees health care coverage. Within the next ten years the Affordable Care Act is supposed to make a huge impact and save trillions of dollars. Hopefully this reform is the solution to our health care system’s problems and that one day everyone will have health insurance and doesn’t get in financial debt paying trying to pay for it. References: Harrington, S. E. (2010). The Health Insurance Reform Debate. Journal Of Risk And Insurance, 77(1), 5-38. Myers, C. R. (2013). Coverage is Not Enough: We Need a Transformation of the Delivery of Health Care!. Tennessee Nurse, 76(1), 1-14. Panning, R. (2014). Healthcare Reform 101. Clinical Laboratory Science, 27(2), 107-111. Rivlin, A. M. (2013). Health Reform: What Next?. Public Administration Review, 73S15-S20. doi:10.1111/puar.12091

Hca Case Study

I. Introduction The business-level strategy is acombined and synchronized collection of the obligations and actions that are used by the firms to attain a competitive advantage. The firms try to consume core abilities in certain product markets. Under this strategy, the firms stipulate their choices on that how they plan to strive in individual product markets. It’s important that every firm should improve a business-level strategy to generate the differences between its own place and its competitors’ places.The bond between the customers and business-level strategies is very important because the customers are main cause of the strategy’s success. The bond that a firm develops with its customers creates the value and profitability. There are five business-level strategies that a firm shouldor can practice to create and support its chosen strategic position against competitors. These include the variation, the cost leadership, the focused cost leadership, focused differentiation, and the unified cost leadership/differentiation. In chapter 6, it argues these five strategies and side by side with the risks that are associated with each other.In chapter 6 they also argue corporate level strategies. The corporate-level strategy has emphases on the actions that a firm takes to attain a competitive advantage by choosing from and handling a collection of different businesses competing in different product markets. These strategies help the firms in choosing on new strategic positions that are likely to increase the value. The product diversification is avital type of the corporate-level strategy. The diversifications also can differfrom the low levels to the high levels. Well normally, the diversification strategy is used to raise the firm’s value by improving its whole performance.It is essential that the managers should attentive to their firm’s internal organization and to its external environment when making decisions regarding t he most advantageous level of the diversification. In chapter 7 there is discussion of mergers, takeover, and acquisitions. A merger is formed when the two firms mix their businesses with each other. An acquisition is a strategy that involves when one firm purchasing the bulk or all interest into another firm with the aims of making it into a subsidiary company within its own group.A takeover is a type of acquisition where the acquired firm does not ask for the capturing firm’s proposal. Acquisitions are used for thenumerous reasons, which contain increasing in the market power and conquering the entry obstacles to new markets. Sometimes a firm must restructure its self in order to change its pool of businesses or financial procedure. This can be done through the downsizingor leveraged buyouts. A firm’s major goal for restructuring is to improvement or successful in strategic control. II. SWOT Analysis A. External environment The U. S. healthcare industry is one of the biggest industries in U. S. The U. S. ospital industry is split with thevarious ownership and noticeably different revenue sources with a small number of the main firms. The HCA was operating in a conservative industry where their aremany challenges and financial constraints. One of the major aspects that affected HCA is the increased quantity of the uninsured Americans citizen. The Columbia/HCA’s goal was to emphasis on the providing beds for insured patients to have the profits up. As the number of uninsured Americans citizen increased, it made it harder to keep the beds at full capacity. The increases in health care costs also played a role in the HCA’s actions.The Tenant and Triad Hospitals are recognizedas the big competitors for HCA. The HCA’s business strategy also puts them in competition in the urban areas mainly against autonomous non-profit hospitals. Many do not have the equal financial performance aims and this helped HCA to be the market leader. B . Strengths and Weaknesses The HCA’s strengths involvedarethe leading position in the hospital market, thespacious and infinite service offerings. The HCA developed such a strategy that dedicated on a main group of market-leading hospitals by utilizing its own financial resources, medical related, and management proficiency personnel.At current, the HCA still utilizes this whole operating strategy. The HCA controlledits advanced business practice. After selling its non-hospital business and the other facilities that did not resemble with its strategy, HCA is still persistent to focus on the providing of high quality healthcare. The company also has some weaknesses including its negative past and spoiled public image that included charges of the fraud, which headed to the federal government investigations. Over the years, the organization’s strengths have mostly remained same, except the fact that HCA does not provide the spacious amount of required services.The HCA mad e a clever choice to focus on only giving the hospital services in order to increase its quality and not to be putteringthemselves in other industries. The HCA still is known for its previous corruption, but still remains the prominent firm in the hospital industry. C. The Case of HCA 1. The HCA’s core capabilities consist of the greater patient care and its functioning strategy it that has been using for many years. It’s other core capabilitiesare includesthe financial resources, medical background, and the management proficiency.These competencies build the value for the company by specializing in the removal of excess capacity and the gratitude of the economies of scale. The HCA’s organizational resources add the unique value for the firm. In 1968, the HCA was founded and they operated under aunited cost leadership/differentiation business-level strategy. There was achance in the hospital industry to create the low cost services with differentiated qualities, and this is what HCA desired to implement in their system. The HCA was able to adapt quickly to the new technologies and fast changes that arose in the external environment of the HCA.The company focused on two resources of competitive advantages-cost and the differentiation in various aspects. The HCA establisheda strong network with physicians and with other healthcare practices under this strategy (HCA, 2011). 2. The HCA’s arepurchase of many small rural hospitals and the opposing investor-owned health care companies created a positive return on the firm’s invested capital in market. The HCA acquired these health care facilities in the faith of revolving them into the most profitable hospitals and control the industry for that specific region of state.There were problems of the recruiting in small rural hospitals, but HCA’s investments in the equipment and facility renovation have signified improved the firm’s ability to gain the support from small ru ral physicians. The external factors, such as the great unemployment in the certain or various locations and in the farming communities affected the purchasing of said facilities. The acquired hospitals constantly had the small staff in contrast with their competitors. However, the HCA focused on modification of the bed size. The acquired hospitals also had a good amount of oard-certified experts in comparison with their competitors. The HCA focused on main renovations and developments for the acquired hospitals for the creation of financial economies. 3. The HCA used both horizontal and vertical integration for the cultivation of mergers and acquisitions. The Columbian &HCA had such an acquisition strategy in place and the purchasing facilities and in building new facilities that prohibited its offers to purchase. In the firm’s own integration strategy, the company simply acquiredthe physician practices where HCA were not steadfastin its investments.The company fixed admissi on goals for the acquiring of physicians. The company then owned the coarsely 2,700 medical practices, and these acquisitions then began purchases by nonprofit competitors. 4. The HCA did not aspect too much integration because of its management proficiency. The company established a working strategy to obtain its goal and to succeed in gaining market authority. However, the management appeared to be too focus on the acquisitions and obtaining total power, which landed the company in such trouble that, consisted of a federal investigation for fraud.The company had lost focus on the point of quality of service. The firm also had become too huge due to acquisitions. Before the downfall of the Columbia/HCA, it had 2,700 medical practices, many of which were the non-hospital practices (Goldsmith, 1998). The HCA soon understood that the focusing on size was not really a good strategy for the success path. Overall, the HCA was between the 60% of failures in the merger/acquisition strategy . The merger with Columbia and the hostility to go into the several acquisitions was one of the reasons of HCA’s downfall. III. My Impressions of the CaseThe HCA had a great operating standard of the concentrating on patient care, but they lost focus by pushy to control the health care industry. Their business-level strategy primarily started off well but some are developed into one that only attentive on profitability of success of the company. The company soon lost sight of the main goal of satisfying the customer to achievethe value for the company. The HCA focused on the developing acquisitions and mergers to gain more profitability and variation in market. This caused the company to enlarge beyond its ethical operating means.It took the benefit of integration systems in order to take over the industry. This case revealed how a firm can negatively and positively usesthe acquisitions, mergers, and leverage buyouts. Overall, this case was one of a decent case to transmit to Chapters 4, 6, and 7 of the text. References Hitt, M. , R. Hoskisson, D. Ireland. (2012). Strategic management: Competitiveness & globalization. (10E ed. ) Mason, OH: South-Western,Cengage Learning. Montague Brown, Ph. D. (April 1, 1992). Physicians and Management in Health Care. Jones and Bartlett Learning. April 1, 1992.Jeff Goldsmith. (1998). Perspective: Columbia/HCA: A Failure Of Leadership. Health Affairs, 17, no. 2 (1998):27-29. Retrieved November 21 2012 from: http://content. healthaffairs. org/content/17/2/27. full. pdf HCA Holdings, Inc. (2011). Our History. Retrieved November 21 2012 from: http://hcahealthcare. com/about/our-history. dot McCosh, Jonathan G. (2003). A Strategic Analysis of the Hospital Industry and HCA Incorporated. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship. Retrieved November 21 2012 from: http://www. highbeam. com/doc/1P3-1178660521. html

Scrooge essays

Scrooge essays Ignorance In the famous story A Christmas Carol, the Ghost said to Scrooge ""These are your children Ignorance and Want." as he opened his robe to reveal two small unfortunate poverty stricken children. By this, the ghost meant that because of the cruelty of the world and irresponsibility, these innocent children must suffer. These children suffered because of careless people like Scrooge. The ghost meant unfortunate children like these are the responsibility of everyone. Their names were ignorance and want because they were a result of ignorant people and people who only wanted for themselves. In today's world many children also live in poverty. However there are many more organizations to help them and their families and to prevent them having to live on the streets. Such an example of an organization would be welfare. Welfare helps people by giving supplying food stamps and money to the less fortunate. Another caring organization would be the Salvation Army who gives food and clothing to people who need it. It is our responsibility to care for the needy by sponsoring a child for Christmas and donating money and clothing to the Salvation Army. Even though there are many "Scrooges" in our world we can still take on the responsibility of caring for those who need it. We may not need help now but the future is never certain. If you are kind to others, they will remember and be kind to you when you really need it. ...

The irrealis were can say hello to the Dodo

The irrealis were can say hello to the Dodo The irrealis were can say hello to the Dodo The irrealis were can say hello to the Dodo By Maeve Maddox Reader Mariana Blaser recently brought up the question of the subjunctive use of were. She gave the following examples: If she were younger, she would have enjoyed that trip. I wish I were stronger. or He wished he were stronger. Â   Somehow the second sentence feels odd to me. Using the verb flexed in the plural form with wish should also be used with he, she and (eventually) it? Before I could respond, she found her own answer in an article by Jan Freeman in the Boston Globe. I’m happy to say I anticipated this verdict in my post on subjunctive were: To a large extent, English speakers don’t pay much attention to the subjunctive. The upshot of the Globe article is that although sites like this one still offer guidelines for its use, the subjunctive use of were is is a non-issue. According to Geoffrey Pullum, co-author of the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language and a linguist at Edinburgh University, we can substitute was for subjunctive were in any context. Fade away: The slow retirement of a tricky subjunctive Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Wether, Weather, WhetherItalicizing Foreign WordsDouble Possessive

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

Benchmark - Research Paper Example The company began in the early 80s with only a single line specializing in office systems. Currently, the company has tremendously grown to offer a wide variety of different decking systems and freestanding systems and panel based altos and optos architectural demountable wall products (Teknion, 2011). The company through this strategic expansion managed to improve its marketing segment drastically and expanding its production lines to meet demands of the new markets in furniture products. For example, the company has handled numerous projects in different countries. These include the Barnes Jewish Hospital, Agilent technologies in Israel among other numerous global projects that the company has successfully implemented. This global expansion helped the company in expanding its production lines, improving its design work to meet the current customer demand in a highly competitive market, and coming up with designs and technologies that are in accordance with the advocacy of the day. An example is the embracing of green technologies that are environmentally friendly. As the company expanded to international markets, there were more demands in different markets to have products in accordance with certain environmental specifications, motivating the company to initiate massive design and innovative works to correspond to such market demands. Therefore, from producing a single line of furniture for the domestic market, international expansion helped Teknion in providing much advanced office furniture and other high end furniture to clients in different market segments. Teknion’s expansion to international market did not comprise its domestic market share, but instead the domestic market became much stronger as new international designs previously not made for the domestic market were available to the domestic customers, offering them a large variety of designs with international tastes. The company was in fact named among the top 50 best managed Private Comp anies, with its presence not only growing domestically, but also regionally (Anonymous, 2010). International expansion led to an enhanced image of the company and its products; the company was more involved in international tendering processes, such as in interior and exterior design of the Bow, a 58 story tower near the Bow River in Calgary (Anonymous, 2010). It is such manifested prowess in interior design and furnishes that has enabled the company to control not only the domestic, but also the regional market; meaning its international expansion was a real benefit to the company. Teknion is faced with several risks in its international market operations. Sargent (2011) explains some of these risks as increase competition. The company is faced with stiff competition from much larger multinationals especially from U.S, North America, and other regions. The stiff competition requires strategic operations in realigning with the market demands to offer much superior and competitive pr oducts at a price that will offer much more value addition to customers. The company through design and innovations in office furniture work has been able to compete effectively and capture its sizeable market segment in the international market. In order to ensure a competitive edge in the market, the company has collaborated with renowned construction industry leaders such as Mathews Southwest developments, Ledcor Group of Companies, Gensler among others, making the company’

Bullying in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Bullying in America - Essay Example Generally, bullying is carried out by males which accounts for 80%. Although, there are not many studies about bullying in workplaces, their occurrence is apparent and the effects are damaging as well. Because of its prevalence, the government had discourage bullying in any form however there are no laws to deal against people who cause psychological and emotional violence in workplaces and in schools. Bullying should be stopped because it has many psychological, emotional, and social consequences on the person being bullied. Body Bullying occurs as a result of attitude and behavior problems. The personalities of people who bully have innate domineering and aggressive behavior which is believed to be connected with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). People afflicted with this disorder demonstrate impulsive behavior. They announce answers to the teacher’s question before it is completed, may interrupt, intrude and have difficulty in waiting for their turn. Others wh o carry out bullying do it with the belief of having fun without giving propensity of the consequences it may bring to the victim. This is because students who bully lack the foresight of their own actions and empathy to the feelings of their victims. Bullies are more concern of satisfying their needs of attention even to the extent of displaying an immature behavior. The occurrence of bullying activities among students could be inside the school premise or outside the school campus. Some forms of bullying are done inside the school bus or on the way home. This could be done during class hours inside the classroom or it could be carried out in the hallway. An example of bullying includes unnecessary touching of body parts followed with teasing and laughing. Another example is knocking another student down on the floor. Non physical contact involves staring, eye rolling, spreading malicious rumors, whispering to someone while in front of the person, and many other forms. Bullying res ults in psychological damages in several ways. It teaches the person being bullied to think that he/she is undesirable. The person’s self concept is negatively affected in which he/she will come to believe that she is less than desirable and incapable of doing things. The victim inculcates in his mind that his environment is dangerous but is powerless to defend himself. As a result, bullying tends to be repeated many times in which the person further learns helplessness giving more authoritative disposition of those who bully. This would be the beginning of losing interest in school. In cases where the student continues to attend school, his grades are likely to be affected since he may have poor concentration. His mind might be on plotting how to outsmart his bully classmates or how to get rid of them totally. Another effect of damaged self esteem to the bullied victim includes hopelessness and depression. The victim may have a hard time adjusting during difficult circumstan ces. This might explain an unanticipated finding that bullying is linked to suicidal thoughts of victims. This was revealed in the study of Hinduja (2010) where he found out that adolescents with traditional bullying

The Power of Knowledge in Douglasss Learning to Read and Write Essay

The Power of Knowledge in Douglasss Learning to Read and Write - Essay Example That knowledge is power is already a clichà ©, but it is most essential for the disempowered sectors of society because they can use what they learned to improve their conditions in life. Douglass becomes miserable because of having full awareness of his wretched conditions. As a slave, he is not a human being. He has no freedoms and rights. His master controls his life, even the lives of his children. Therefore, he is more like a beast with no identity and future than an individual with a deeper purpose in life. Before realizing what his learning is for, Douglass sinks to anxiety because reading exposed him to the ills of the institution of slavery. Fortunately, he learns about the abolitionist movement, and he focuses his energy on running away and becoming free. Furthermore, Douglass understands that knowledge will help him in his quest for freedom. Literacy will be his ticket to freedom, as well as his means for success as a free man. His plan of learning how to read and write f irst, before running away, shows that he is an intelligent person, who knows long-term planning. Indeed, if he remains illiterate, he can easily be manipulated by others who know how to read and write. Douglass uses his knowledge of the fruits of literacy in producing long-term plans, which proves the supporters of slavery that blacks are not an inferior race. Their weaknesses, if present, are not inherent to them, but are products of the conditioning of slavery, so that they will stay ignorant and lacking in initiative for self-development. Douglass breaks away from the stereotype of the passive slave because of his knowledge that as a human being, he has rights and freedoms. He must and should be free, so he does all he can to prepare for the fateful day of his emancipation. Douglass demonstrates ingenuity and a firm resolution in reaching his dreams, because knowledge is not sufficient to be free. He is determined to learn literacy, but he has to be extra careful. He is resourcef ul enough to pay bread to street children who taught him how to read. By bragging to other children that he knows how to write, he also learned writing skills. At the same time, Douglass is observant of his surroundings. He studies letters from ships, which shows his determination to maximize his resources, however limited they are. Moreover, the copybooks of his young master proved to be invaluable. He practices how to write, while his masters are away. Douglass clearly does not know how to give up. He knows the painful punishment, perhaps even death, which awaits him; if his owners learned that he was studying how to write. But he no longer minds his short-term need for safety, when he has the larger long-term goal of freedom. The human being in him naturally wants to be free, and slavery cannot stop him forever. He builds his knowledge and establishes contacts and resources, which will one day help him to be free. In his mind, Douglass has a singular mission: to be free and to be a human being with dignity once more. Education and slavery do not mix, as Douglass learns from his masters, because slavery is disempowering, while education

The Hair Care Category From The Consumers Marketing Essay

The Hair Care Category From The Consumers Marketing Essay What the consumer expects from the hair care category is firstly a shampoo that is suitable for their hair type and provides them with the results they want after using a shampoo such as cleansing of hair and scalp, keeping hair soft and smooth and strong. The consumer expects that the shampoo will make her hair thick, shiny and free from damage. Secondly, the consumer expects that the shampoo she has chosen should be accompanied by a supplementary product i.e. conditioner which will cater to her need of making her hair soft and moisturized. Lastly, the consumer has started to expect additional products in terms of mousse, gels, serums, leave-ons etc. that will cater to her individualized needs and problems. They will help her to change the texture and type of her hair temporarily for example makes her hair straight with a straightening serum when she has frizzy hair. The consumer expects that all her hair needs are satisfied conveniently and effectively through these off the shelf items instead of having to waste her time using tedious home remedies such as egg and yogurt on her hair. Another point to mention here is that men have started to expect products that are made especially for them. Hair Care Category in Pakistan: The hair care category in Pakistan consists of all available solutions for hair care including shampoos, conditioners, leave-ons, oils, colorants and styling available in retail, wholesale and salon channels. The Business we are in: UPL hair care category at the moment consists of shampoos and conditioners in beauty, herbal and anti-dandruff segments and also plans to provide styling products in the future. The Business we want to be in: The hair care category at this moment is providing generic solutions for hair care and the company needs to move towards providing more specialized solutions for all the different hair types and needs. The consumer is evolving and wants more hi-tech ingredients and technologies rather than just natural ingredients. There is more emphasis on beauty and fashion and the consumer wants hair care companies to give them solutions tailor made for their hair type and hair problems for example frizzy hair, straight hair, damaged hair, curly hair, limp hair etc and these solutions to be provided in the form of not only shampoos but more evolved product types such as serums, sprays, gels and masks. UPL also wants to build the male grooming segment through AD brand Clear. Regions: UPL currently provides its products nationally including urban, suburban, rural and deep rural. They reach consumers through their deep distribution which has penetrated even in deep rural through provision of specialized skus like sachets. Customers users: Anyone who washes their hair is part of UPL target market. Therefore women, men, children of all ages are the ones UPL wants to provide solutions to. Users can be further divided into heavy, medium and light users and the strategy used is based on what category they fall into. Channels Used: Hair care category will provide the products to the above consumers through General Trade stores, Family Grocers, Modern Trade Channels, International Trade and OOH which includes salons so as to be available to reach consumers wherever they are. We will not make ourselves available in low contributing channels such as pan kiosks. What business we will not go in: UPL Hair care will not go in the businesses of loose oils, hair colorants and soap for hair wash because we will provide all solutions to our consumers through our current and future products. For example we will provide the benefit of mustard oil by incorporating mustard oil extract in our shampoo or provide the cleansing properties of soap through clarifying shampoos. How Competition defines their scope: The competition for UPL hair care includes direct and indirect competitors i.e. anyone who provides hair wash and care solutions. This would therefore include soap (both toilet and laundry) and loose oil providers. Our direct competition includes PG (HS and Pantene) and Forvil (Bio Amla). PG has the same scope as ours in terms of customers/users and regions, but they look at the market differently by dividing it cleanly into the three categories and ensuring that there is no overlap between the three. Bio Amla on the other hand has a rural specific focus and channelize their resources on herbal segment. They focus on their rich heritage and providing solutions that will be handed down from generation to generation. So: How do we create customers? UPL can create customers firstly by creating awareness about the different problems that can plague consumers hair. Once they are aware of this, then UPL will provide them will solutions for their specific needs by giving them an entire system for their hair i.e. shampoo, conditioner and styling product. It will also create new customers in terms of men who currently use soap or borrow the beauty shampoo from the lady in the house, by providing them a shampoo made just for them. Hair Care 1 Ά As per the above charts, UPL is only present in the shampoo and conditioner categories. There are a few players that have just started to emerge in the styling segment such as LOreal, Garnier and Toni Guy. Before they make a mark, and the consumers associate them as the experts on styling, UPL should introduce their own styling range as well. As far as the distribution structure goes, the focus is mainly on GT/MT with cosmetic channel and salons not being concentrated upon. The potential of these two channels is therefore not being utilized. Both of these channels contributions should be increased with particular focus as to how to develop them, especially salons which is a channel to which you can sell to for their own use and to sell from, to people who visit these salons. Market Size: Volume (Tons) Segment 2006 2007 2008 2009 CAGR % Beauty 6,244 7,204 7,457 8,609 11% Herbal 5,941 6,466 7,843 8,811 14% Anti Dandruff 2,923 3,392 3,968 4,477 15% Conditioners 6,411 6,677 6,853 7,053 3% Styling 149 154 166 166 4% Colorants 782 815 849 865 3% Ά In 2008, the Herbal category overtook the Beauty Category in volume. This can be attributed to the price increases (7%) taken by players in the beauty category, turning consumers to the herbal shampoos which were at a discount to beauty shampoos. 2007 saw the introduction of a new player in the AD category i.e. Clear shampoo which has propelled growth in the AD segment since. Conditioner category growth may look small, but this is primarily because of decline in loose oils and natural ingredients as consumers switch towards branded products. The rinse-off branded conditioner market on the other hand is actually growing at 6%. Styling products usually consist of those that come in through the grey channel and are not actively being marketed therefore hardly any growth. Even the colorants market has not seen any new entrants until now and therefore the slow growth. Market Size Value (Rs Mn.) Segment 2006 2007 2008 2009 CAGR % Beauty 3,368 4,004 4,302 6,335 23% Herbal 1,605 2,020 2,593 3,335 28% Anti Dandruff 1,643 2,056 2,452 3,748 32% Conditioners 9,527 9,036 8,655 8,467 -4% Styling 103 112 112 124 6% Colorants 1,008 1,026 1,019 1,038 1% Ά The herbal category, even though it has overtaken the beauty category in volume, has not been able to do so in value due to the high price per ml of shampoos in beauty category. However, due to the price increases in Herbal category, the value there has also increased specially in 2009. The AD category has seen the highest growth in value especially in 2009 due to massive price increases taken by HS (20%) The conditioner market is declining due to the decline in loose oils and natural ingredients market; however the rinse off conditioner market is still growing. The styling and colorants market contribute less than 10% of overall hair care market due to its low tonnage. Assumptions for Growth for Each Segment Shampoos: The shampoo market will continue to grow due to consumption building activities in the rural segment. There are still massive amounts of soap being used for hair wash and when it is replaced with shampoo, market will grow further. Within the shampoo category, AD category will see the highest growth due to the further investment behind brand Clear as a shampoo especially for men, followed by Herbal which will be taken as the frontrunner to develop the rural market. The usership of toilet soap for hair wash in rural is 30% and laundry soap is 50%. It will be herbal categorys (Lifebuoy shampoos) job to convert these soap users to shampoo with the natural and herbal proposition, because according to research 46% rural consumers use soap due to the perception that soap cleans hair more thoroughly and that shampoo damages hair. Only 12% say that they cannot afford shampoo. However, if any sensitivity to price exists, it will be overcome by the fact that less dosage of shampoo is needed to replace soap and hence the shampoo bottle will last as much as or more as soap does. The way forward will be to educate them about benefits of shampoo vs. soap and get them to use Lifebuoy shampoo and the next step will be to move them onto beauty shampoo i.e. Sunsilk which is more profitable. Those in rural who are already using shampoo, for them the job will be to move onto Sunsilk from whatever else they are using. Therefore both beauty and herbal categories have a role to play in rural. Conditioners: As the market is evolving, two changes are taking place. Firstly, consumers are moving towards branded products and that is going to see the decline of loose oils and natural ingredients (reetha, amla shikakai etc.) usage. Secondly, consumers are starting to become aware of their own specialized needs and want products to be suited to their individual preferences. Therefore second generation hair care products such as rinse off conditioners will be more in demand. This will further be fueled by international and local media. Styling: With respect to the above, consumers will also start moving towards more evolved products for hair care to cater to their individualized needs and preferences. Also with the entrance of new players such as LOreal, Garnier and Toni and Guy, there will be more awareness about these needs and the market will start to get increasingly developed. There will also be high development in trade and channel by these new entrants fuelling the growth even further. Colorants: Until now this market has been dominated by old players such as Wella, Polycolor, Schwarzkopf, Kalakola etc. But with the recent entry of LOreal and Garnier, investment in colorants market by these players will see development in this area. Market Size Estimation (Volume Tons) Segment 2010 2011 2012 2013 CAGR % Beauty 9,349 10,270 11,018 12,125 12% Herbal 9,607 10,927 11,913 13,938 15% Anti Dandruff 5,115 5,886 6,656 7,600 14% Conditioners 7,383 7,855 8,207 8,736 6% Styling 207 249 290 330 17% Colorants 881 898 915 961 3% Ά The conditioner might look like its showing dismal growth, but what is of interest is the rinse off conditioner category which is actually going to grow at 9% due to heavy investment. The growth number is being dragged down due to negative growth in loose oils and natural ingredients by -5% and -9% respectively. The branded oils category is to grow by 2%. The AD market will show high growth due to investment in a whole new brand i.e. Clear in the new market for male grooming. Herbal however will still be in the lead as regards absolute volume as it should cater to the soap conversion job in the rural segment. Beauty segment will grow due to new entrants in the segment and increase in consumption in rural. Market Size Estimation (Value Rs Mn.) Segment 2010 2011 2012 2013 CAGR % Beauty 7547 9272 11181 15037 26% Herbal 3430 4204 4901 5822 19% Anti Dandruff 4661 5946 7402 9374 26% Conditioners 8,609 8911 9222 9365 3% Styling 156 187 218 248 17% Colorants 1,058 1,078 1,098 1,263 6% Ά Any increases in the herbal segment value will be due to volume increases and not price increases. On the other hand, the increase in market value of beauty and AD segment will continue due to higher price per ml along with increases in volume. The styling category will be a profitable category as it will be sold at a premium to the other formats available. So even small increases in volume will yield higher returns. Once again looking at the total conditioner growth number would be misleading. To break it up, the area of interest which is rinse off conditioners will actually grow at 16% due to its high price per ml and increase in volume simultaneously whereas the loose oil and natural ingredients market is declining at -5% each. Competition Growth Matrix Competition Growth Matrix Conclusion UPL has a comfortable lead in the beauty segment but it needs to maintain this lead in view of growing competition. The AD and Herbal categories of UPL are lagging behind PG and Forvil respectively. Since the AD category is expected to show healthy growth of 12% in the future, UPL needs to maintain at least the market growth rate for its AD brand. Herbal must be invested in specifically in rural areas to convert soap users. Styling is a niche yet profitable market segment that is expected to grow at a whopping 17% in the future. Opportunities lie for UPL here in development in this category and gaining and market lead. Conditioning (rinse off) will also be growing at 9%. UPL has already started focusing on this category before any other company and should direct further investment this way to take advantage of the growth. Through analysis it is evident that Forvil (Bio Amla) is also a formidable competitor in the market where as Unilevers strategies are based on competition from PG. In future Bio Amla should be given equal importance in competitive as well as brand strategy formulation. Product Life Cycle Product Life Cycle Segments Introduction Growth Maturity Beauty X   Pantene X Sunsilk X Herbal X   LifeBuoy X Bio Amla X Anti Dandruff   X Head Shoulders X Clear X Conditioners Rinse Off   X Sunsilk X Pantene X Loose Oil X Natural Ingredients Branded Oils X Styling X   LOreal X Toni and Guy   X Colorants   X Garnier X Kala Kola X Ά The shampoo category is in growth stage, fueled by the rural segment. Penetration and consumption in this segment will keep on increasing as awareness increases through media proliferation. Improvement in distribution will further fuel this trend. Rinse off conditioners are in the introduction stage. Even though they have been on shelf for awhile, they have just started to be pushed by the companies in terms of communication, and that also one brand until now i.e. Sunsilk. Since rinse off conditioners are only being pushed in urban, rural for the time being will be using loose oils for conditioning purposes. Natural ingredients are on the decline however as consumers are getting these in the shampoos themselves and also do not have the time anymore that it takes anymore to use them. Styling segment is in introduction stage and therefore it can be an opportunity for UPL or any other company to gain a first mover advantage there. There has been no new news in colorants segment until now with the introduction of LOreal and Garnier in the market. The advent of these two brands will have an impact on overall category and cause awareness about this segment, leading to growth in off-take of colorants. Distribution Structure Ά For all the 3 segments of shampoos, over the next few years , contribution of GT will decrease with most of the consumer traffic moving towards MT and therefore the companies also shifting their volumes towards MT. For Beauty category Salon channel will also gain importance. Rinse-off conditioners are limited to being sold at MT at this point in time as they are targeted towards higher LSMs. In the future as they start to be used by lower LSMs, their contribution in GT will increase. The biggest jump in contribution of Styling products is in Salon channel. This is where consumers will receive education about the use of styling products and will also be a point of urge purchase. This channel will serve as the foundation for development of this segment, and will lead to increase in contribution of GT as consumers make their repeat purchases from there. Distribution Shares and Companys Position The outlet coverage reflects that of Urban only. The numbers for rural by channel were not available to us, however we did find out that they were much lower. (Outlet coverage in total rural is approximately 60%) Therefore, if the job is to convert soap users in rural, then the outlet coverage must also be increased. Although urban outlet coverage is healthy, UPL is lacking behind in turnover share as compared to PG probably due to higher NPS/ton of PG brands. The turnover share we have taken is in terms of value, and if we compare volume turnover then UPLs is higher. In terms of outlet coverage, UPL is at par or more than both PG and Forvil in all cities except Islamabad. Hence special attention must be paid to this region n the distribution plan. Top 6 External Trends Ά UPL is taking advantage of growth in rural segment with a companywide project to promote its brands in rural. They want to gain a first mover advantage there which will be possible if PG and Forvil dont act. All companies have taken prices increases to be able to hold their margins. Growth of MT and the increase in demand for bulk products have led UPL, PG and Forvil to introduce large size bottles (400ml and 700ml) specifically for this channel. UPL being the first one to focus on conditioners is taking advantage of the trend to provide specialized products for the consumers. PG although it has a range of styling and conditioning products is not actively promoting them. Both UPL and PG are turning towards digital mediums such as the internet and cell phones for advertising. Furthermore, there is an increased use of activations and sales promotions to catch the attention of the increasingly fragmented audience. Growth of small unknown brands in rural with Re. 1 sachets is threatening the higher priced sachets of UPL, PG and Forvil. PG has increased their sachet prices further and are not focusing on them as sku. UPL is trying to counter this by giving a better product at a slightly higher price (Rs. 2 and Rs. 3). Summary: External Analysis UPL hair care category at the moment consists of shampoos and conditioners in beauty, herbal and anti-dandruff segments and also plans to provide styling products in the future. Segments identified in the Hair care market are Shampoos (Beauty, Herbal, and AD), Conditioners (Rinse-Off, Branded Oils, Loose Oils, and Natural Ingredients), Styling and Colorants. In 2008, the Herbal category overtook the Beauty Category in volume. This can be attributed to the price increases (7%) taken by players in the beauty category, turning consumers to the herbal shampoos which were at a discount to beauty shampoos. 2007 saw the introduction of a new player in the AD category i.e. Clear shampoo which has propelled growth in the AD segment since. The AD category has seen the highest growth in value especially in 2009 due to massive price increases taken by HS (20%). The conditioner market is declining due to the decline in loose oils and natural ingredients market; however the rinse off conditioner market is still growing. The shampoo market will continue to grow due to consumption building activities in the rural segment. There are still massive amounts of soap being used for hair wash and when it is replaced with shampoo, market will grow further. Furthermore, the next four years will be more about development of rinse off conditioning and styling. Consumers are starting to become aware of their own specialized needs and want products to be suited to their individual preferences. Therefore second generation hair care products such as rinse off conditioners will be more in demand. Styling is a niche yet profitable market segment that is expected to grow at a whopping 17% in the future. Opportunities lie for UPL here in development in this category and gaining and market lead. Through analysis it is evident that Forvil (Bio Amla) is also a formidable competitor in the market where as Unilevers strategies are based on competition from PG. In future Bio Amla should be given equal importance in competitive as well as brand strategy formulation. For all the 3 segments of shampoos, over the next few years , contribution of GT will decrease with most of the consumer traffic moving towards MT and therefore the companies also shifting their volumes towards MT. For Beauty category Salon channel will also gain importance. UPL is taking advantage of growth in rural segment with a companywide project to promote its brands in rural. They want to gain a first mover advantage there which will be possible if PG and Forvil dont act. Performance Analysis: Lagging Indicators Lagging Indicators 2007 2008 Sales +++ + Total TO Vol +++ + Val ++ ++ Growth Vol +++ + Val +++ ++ Market Share Vol + + Val + + Profit ++ + ROI +++ + GP Margin + Cost + + Sales: Sales in 2008 did not grow by much due to price increases taken across brands in order to make up for inflationary pressures. In 2009, volume growth was driven by activities in rural and by the price advantage that UPL had due to massive price increases taken by PG. They key takeout therefore is to let PG be at a premium to us and secondly keep on developing rural to get volume growth. Growth: The value growth increased in 2008 because of price increases whereas the volume declined but this was reversed in 2009 for reason of ease in pressure in prices. Market Share: Shares grew by a constant rate across the years. Again, any increases came from rural, gaining from top two competitors i.e. Forvil and PG especially in 2009. GP%: Gross margins were pressured due to increase in raw material, overhead, and supply chain. They were maintained by taking price increases and through optimization of formulations. Performance Analysis: Leading Indicators Innovation: The number of product innovation both in terms of re-launches and new variants/SKUs to cater to different consumers needs. In the past 3 years there has been one new brand introduction that is Clear, two brand re-launches and one new variant launch. Investment in Human Capital: The continuous training of all the employees to make them fully knowledgeable in the area of their performance. This is done by creating employee skill profiles where training needs are identified and future performance standards and objectives are set. Localization: Switching from foreign supplier of packaging to local ones to decrease cost, lead time and increase flexibility. Information Technology: The use of Information Technology for quick collaboration with the regional counterparts, suppliers and within different departments of the organization. Integration of ERP, SAP and linking with region and global center. CSR: Integrating CSR activities into brand portfolio to demonstrate responsible business behavior. This will help to enhance brand equity and image and gain community trust. Use of Innovative Media: The use of innovative mediums of communication not used by anyone else in this category, for example leveraging the power of social media, PR and search engine optimization to target specific audiences at point of time and point of purchase. Further analysis on leading indicators is on the following page. SWOT Analysis Strengths: UPL has brands specifically to cater to each segment of the shampoo market and these brands have established brand images. UPL hair care portfolio have a range of offering for all types of socio economic classes First Mover advantage with the launch of Sunsilk conditioners Range of variants catering to a different consumer needs Versus any layer in the competition UPL holds a very strong distribution network which helps in deep penetration and lowering operation cost. An AD brand that provides solutions both for Men and Women. Ability to use UPL clout in advertising media industry Opportunities: Leveraging of UPL distribution might to make inroads into rural Make the most of hair fall need through 3 brands variants Own conditioners segment by investing in distribution channels and communication Use innovative mediums to have a targeted focus LBS to benefit from premium shampoo bottle user in both urban and rural down trading to mid tier brand Can use Clear to generate growth for male grooming products To increase share in AD segment through AD specific brand Clear Weaknesses: Lifebuoy shampoo has a outdated image in the market due to LB soap Sunsilk is only a generic beauty shampoo and needs to stand for something more Clear has not been able to create too large of a dent in its main competitor HS Threats: Low tier and mushroom brands pushing the product in trade channel Garnier and LOreal entering the market targeting both the upper class and the middle class through their brand portfolio Inflationary pressures may force the consumers to switch to other available options thus resulting in a lower share for all the premium brands. PG may start local production of shampoos which will result in a decrease in their prices Counterfeit goods are adversely affecting the sales of branded goods and as counterfeit trade increase the company stands to lose all its brand equity and exclusivity. Besides, it may also result in customer dissatisfaction, which could be detrimental to the companys image. Confrontation Matrices Because Sunsilk has been the first to actively try and establish the conditioners category, they have a high chance of owning this segment both in terms of distribution as well as communication as both customers and consumers will see Sunsilk as the authority on rinse-off conditioners. All 3 brands have numerous variants and therefore will be able to cater to hair fall needs of all income segments. Hair fall is the latest need to be catered to by all the shampoo brands. Strong distribution network of UPL can help it to make inroads in rural segment faster and more effectively than other brands. The male grooming segment is one that is un-catered to at the moment and Clear with its range just for men can fill this gap. UPL will have an easier time integrating innovative advertising mediums such as PR and social media in its current advertising mix due to the clout it enjoys in advertising industry. Because Clear still hasnt been able to pose too much of a threat to number 1 AD player HS, it will not be able to increase UPL share in AD segment. The brand needs to start doing much better before it can grab share from HS and become an AD brand of equal measure. Inflation should not hit UPL too hard because users can downgrade within the UPL portfolio from Clear and Sunsilk to Lifebuoy Shampoo and similarly from competitor premium brands like HS and Pantene. Furthermore, because UPL has such a portfolio that caters to all segments, it will be able to resist price decreases if PG were to start local production and resist entry of LOreal and Garnier. UPLs strong distribution network may also help it to resist growth of mushroom br

German Expressionism Essay -- Essays Papers

German Expressionism German Expressionism is a kind of art that is supposed to make you feel something. When you look at a painting such as â€Å"The Scream† by Edvard Munch (1863-1944), you ask yourself what kind of emotions does this painting give you. A group of early 20th century German artists used the term â€Å"expressionism† to desribe the way they produced art. The title later turned into â€Å"German Expressionism†. This art movement was prominent during 1905-1925. In German it is known as â€Å"Die Brucke† and â€Å"Der Blaue Reiter†. Unlike Impressionism, its goals were not to reproduce the impression by the surrounding world, but to express the artists feelings on the surrounding world. Expressionism comes from the route word â€Å"expression† which means to make known or reveal or show. The text b...

Impact of Globalization on Culture

Impact of Globalization on Culture People around the globe are more connected to each other today than ever before in the history of mankind. Information and money flow more quickly than ever. Goods and services produced in one part of the world are increasingly available in all parts of the world. International travel is more frequent. International communication is commonplace. We live in an intensely interdependent world in which all the earth's peoples with their immense differences of culture and historical experience are compressed together in instant communication. We face today a world of almost infinite promise which is also a world of terminal danger. This phenomenon has been titled ‘Globalization. ‘ Indian culture which in effect means Hindu culture, Hindu religion, Hindu society, Hindu civilization, Hindu way of life are under the lethal threat of the ruthless forces of Globalization today. What went by the name of Colonialism in classical history textbooks produced in the days of British Raj has been replaced today by the synonym of Globalization. The unbridled expansion of western culture has continued at an accelerated rate along with the denigration and decline of Hindu culture, civilization, religion, art, literature and customs. This new Colonialism has taken on several new faces or rather put on new masks. It cleverly masquerades itself through labels and slogans like democracy, humanitarian rights, gender equality, internationalism, free trade and humanitarianism. In the name of modernization and Globalization it pretends to be uplifting peoples whom it is really exploiting. This is not very different in either kind or intent from old Western Colonialism ‘ British Imperialism in the Indian context ‘ which vaunted itself as the benign bringer of Civilization and culture to the uncivilized world. It was given the glorious title of ‘White Man's Burden'. What has been its impact on culture in India? Every educated Indian seems to believe that nothing in Hindu India, past or present, is to be approved unless recognized and recommended by an appropriate authority in the West. There is an all-pervading presence of a positive, if not worshipful, attitude towards everything in western society and culture, past as well as present in the name of progress, reason and science. Nothing from the West is to be rejected unless it has first been weighed and found wanting by a Western evaluation. Swamy Vivekananda foresaw the dangers of Globalization as early as in 1893 when he spoke at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago. To quote his soul-stirring words: ‘Shall India die? Then, from the world all spirituality will be extinct, all sweet-souled sympathy for religion will be extinct, all ideality will be extinct ; and in its place will reign the duality of lust and luxury as the male and female deities, with money as its priest, fraud, force, and competition its ceremonies, and human soul its sacrifice. Such a thing can never be'. Precisely such a terrible thing is taking place in India today on account of the inexorable and immutable process of Globalization.

Becoming a Business Accountant Essay

Business Accountant help to ensure that the country’s firms are run efficiently, its taxes are paid on time and its public records stay accurate. Accountants offer a wide variety of business and accounting services. Some of these services are: public, management and government accounting. Their main tasks are preparing, analyzing, and verifying financial documents in order to provide information to clients. Many accountants are required to have a lot of skill and knowledge. Most accountant work in an office, however those that are self-employed may be able to do part of their work at home. Accountants who are employed by public accounting firms and government agencies sometime have to travel often to perform audit at branches of their firm, clients’ places of business, or government facilities. Usually accountants work about a 40-hour week, but most work longer especially if they are self-employed and have many clients. Most accountant position requires at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related field. Beginning accounting positions in the Federal Government requires 4 years of college including 24 semester hour in accounting or an equal amount of education and experience. Also practical knowledge of computers and their applications in accounting is a good thing to have for job seekers in accounting field. People who want a career in accounting should have a skill in mathematics and be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures quickly. They must be able to communicate the results of their work to clients.