The Legal Issue Of Cyberbullying Essay - 1520 Words

This assignment will firstly provide an explanation regarding the two legal issues, then discuss why they are legal issue, In addition, this assignment will provide a comparison of established legislation in New Zealand and foreign jurisdictions; namely the United Kingdom and Australia in managing the legal issues. Furthermore, this assignment will illustrate my opinions on how the legal issues could be managed or avoided. The first legal issue is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying or alternatively termed electronic bullying is a legal issue as that is defined as using electronic means of communication as a medium to carry out continuous acts of bullying towards a victim. This definition is supported by this quote â€Å"an aggressive, intentional act carried out by a group or individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself.† (Hinduja and Patchin, 2009). Electronical device acts as a medium for users to achieve certain benefits, however, certain users of the electronic devices have used the devices as a medium to inflict psychological abuse onto others. Cyberbullying is a legal issue. There are assumption that cyberbullying is traditional bullying. The key differences of cyberbullying in comparison to traditional bullying are timing and presence of the bully. Traditional bullying can be said to often be face to face and pre planned. In contrast, a cyberbully can be shadowed or anonymous, the bully if notShow MoreRelatedCyberbullying And Its Effects On Our Society938 Words   |  4 PagesDigital Time Cyberbullying is the use of electronic devices with the intent of inflicting harm on another. Cyberbullying has steadily increased with new technology. Many international organizations and campaigns have emerged to defend the victims of this crime. An anti-bullying organization came about by youth in Canada to address the issues surrounding bullying in our society. This advocates for bullying awareness online, insisting that not enough government attention has been given to the issue of cyberbullyingRead MoreResearch Project : Facebook Cyber Issues899 Words   |  4 PagesProject: Facebook Cyber Issues The critical issues of privacy, freedom of speech, cyberbullying, and defamation are highlighted through the case study of Facebook by Reynolds (2014), where Denise Finkel sued Facebook, her former classmates, and their parents for posting defamatory statements within a private Facebook group. A thorough analysis of the entire defamation case and the parties that were impacted has been provided in this portfolio project. Moreover, the legal aspects of the case areRead MoreCyberbullying Is A Serious Cause For Concern1557 Words   |  7 PagesCyberbullying is â€Å"when the Internet, cell phones, or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person† (NCPC, 2016). With millions of young people, particularly teenagers, frequenting the Internet to do class work and socialize, cyberbullying, or online bullying, has become a serious cause for concern. First, with the advent of technology being integrated into public schools, some y oung people are creating online identities and anonymously postingRead MoreEssay On Teen Suicide1332 Words   |  6 Pagesdangers and consequences social media can cause and makes it a dangerous place for some of them. The companies that provide these social media websites sometimes do not have the features necessary to employ a safe network for people at risk of cyberbullying. On top of teens not knowing the dangers of social media and there being a lack of protection coming from the companies there needs to be stricter and more enforced laws coming from law enforcement. People who threaten and harass people in realRead MoreCyberbullying : A Cyberbullying Suicide Victim1468 Words   |  6 PagesBritney Mazzoncini: A Cyberbullying Suicide Victim â€Å"She was beautiful, so well-behaved, you couldn’t have asked for a better granddaughter.† That’s a quote from Britney’s grandparent’s days after the 16-year-old committed suicide in Scotland in July this year. The motivation? Cyberbullying! She suffered intolerable angst from an abusive Facebook â€Å"friend.† The police are still looking for the perpetrator. She is certainly not alone. The number of suicides by young people who feel depressed, scaredRead MoreHurt, Pain, Physical And Mental Distraught Are Just A Few1597 Words   |  7 Pagesfew words that victims of cyberbullying will describe how they felt. 52% of students in America are being cyberbullied, which is half of the American students. This can lead to loss of self-esteem, feelings of shame and anxiety, difficulty in learning, emotional and physical harm, and suicide. Cyberbullying is a huge problem in our society today. Cyberbullying is taking advantage of our free speech, but there are many solutions to stop it in our society. Cyberbullying is using technology to harassRead MoreThe Issue of Cyberbullying1694 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Should cyberbullying be considered a crime? What are the punishments for cyberbullying? What kinds of behaviors are categorized as cyberbullying? This paper reviews those issues and provides supporting literature. Thesis: Cyberbullying has become far more than a nuisance and a distraction in public schools and hence strict rules should be enacted to deter cyberbullying. When a state legislature passes a criminal law in order to dissuade students from cyberbullying and it passes throughRead MoreSocial Media and Cyberbullying Essay1275 Words   |  6 Pagesalso contributed and exacerbated bullying in our schools. This new form of bullying, often referred to as cyberbullying, has created an around-the-clock atmosphere where bullying can occur even when school is not in session. Many professionals have sought to address the negative aspects of social media and have worked to develop a solution to bring cyberbullying to an end. Besides cyberbullying, there are many other negative outcomes for American youth in the use of social media websites like FacebookRead MoreShould Students Who Engage in Cyberbullying, Even Off Campus Face Sanctions at School?991 Words   |  4 PagesStudents Who Engage in Cyberbullying, Even Off Campus Face Sanctions at School? ENGL 103 Writing and Rhetoric Leighsah Ruiz Brandman University Everyone, at some point in their life has been exposed to or; witnessed some type of bullying. Since this type of behavior is traditionally witnessed, victims has a means of accusing the other student. Technology is undeniably apart of everyday life, especially in that of today’s youth. Cyberbullying has become a nationwideRead MoreEssay On Cyberbullying969 Words   |  4 Pages Cyberbullying is growing and becoming one of the leading causes of teen suicide. Cyberbullying occurs when a person posts or messages someone in a negative way online. It can include threats, harassment, and even smearing someone’s name by spreading lies. The web’s anonymity provides the perfect cover for bullies to harass classmates or even mere strangers. Cyberbullying is usually not a hit and run, bullies target one teen and insult or spread rumors about them, not realizing that if caught, they

Sleep Paralysis And Mental Disorders - 913 Words

Less than 8 percent of the general population suffers from sleep paralysis, adding up to be approximately 25,898,400 people. Sleep Paralysis is when an individual is becomes fully conscious while falling asleep, experiencing the temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep. Even though sleep paralysis sounds unnatural it is not classified as a psychological disorder, but as a phenomenon. While it might sound terrifying adding to the fact hallucinations are typically involved, it is surprisingly harmless to an individual s mind and body. In some cases it even terrifies people to an extent, that makes them believe they are being haunted or have been cursed by a demon. However, in most scenarios this is not the case. It has been regarded that sleep paralysis is a symptom to psychological disorders such as narcolepsy. Furthermore, in recent studies psychologists, and scientists have not taken the time to do further study on sleep paralysis itself. Even when it is such a nor mal occurrence in the world of science today. Moreover, to find further research on the topic, judging whether this content should be further studied. Prior to my research on sleep paralysis, I had believed that the only symptom regarding the phenomenon was that the individual was unable to move their body. I immediately connected this right away to cases involving â€Å"witnesses of the paranormal†. Moreover, I came to the conclusion that sleep paralysis was a disorder that affected a meagerShow MoreRelatedInformative Essay About Sleep Paralysis934 Words   |  4 Pagesworld of Sleep Paralysis Many people suffer from sleep paralysis, yet don’t know what this disorder is and the effects it has on people. People who have had suffered from this disorder don’t know when to expect it or even see it coming. In this essay, I’m going to talk about what sleep paralysis is, what the causes are, the symptoms and risks, the prevention of sleep paralysis, and a real life story of someone and what they experienced through this disorder. To start off, sleep paralysis is knownRead MoreNightmares Becoming Reality : Sleep Paralysis850 Words   |  4 Pagesprimarily what sleep paralysis is. People who have experienced sleep paralysis have said that it s a terrifying event to go through. Very few people actually experience this and the majority of the people that do have some kind of health issue that is related with sleeping. Sleep paralysis is when a person is awake and fully aware of their surroundings but theirs brain and body are still asleep so they cannot move or steak and are completely paralyzed. Also, during sleep paralysis people start hallucinatingRead MoreSleep Disorders : Sleep Apnea And Narcolepsy Essay1224 Words   |  5 PagesSleep†¦ How much is too little? How much is too much? Does it matter when one sleeps? Without the crucial state of rest for both the mind and the body, known as sleep, human beings would be unable to perform everyday skills essential to thriving, such eating, critical thinki ng, and performing tasks effectively. If one’s sleeping patterns are disturbed on a regular basis, then that person quite possibly might have a sleep disorder. The topic of sleep disorders is complex and extensive due to theRead MoreMental Illnesses Were Not As Formalized As They Are Now986 Words   |  4 PagesDiagnosing mental illnesses were not as formalized as they are now. Now we can reference the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also called DSM, for information on hundreds of mental disorders that are currently acknowledged today. There is still a lot of research being done to find out why certain people are afflicted with certain disorders. Some ideas are that the illness is passed along genetically; it is also considered that a personal event or trauma could spark a reactionRead MoreNocturnal Visits From Menacing And Evil Creatures1150 Words   |  5 Pagesneurological, psychological, and cultural aspects of this phenomenon, known as sleep p aralysis. Sleep paralysis is a very scary experience, but due to science and medical explanations, the U.S. has concluded it to be a natural and harmless bodily reaction from waking up during the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) (â€Å"Sleep Paralysis Symptoms, Treatment, and Causes†).Even though there are scientific explanations of sleep paralysis, many in Japanese society still believe that it is generated by poltergeist influencesRead MoreWhat is Biological Rhythm? Essay1477 Words   |  6 PagesBritannica, 2014). An example could be of the relative position of the Earth to the Sun and to the Moon with the effects of the changes like day changing to night. There are daily rhythms to many of our physiological functions and activities....our sleep, body temperature, alertness, neurotransmitter levels, etc (Chudler, 2014). Biological Rhythms adjust the most important functions in an organism. There are three types of biological rhythm, Infradian rhythm, Ultradian rhythm and Circadi an rhythm.Read MoreThe Theory, The Energy Conservation Theory1419 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction: what is sleep: Sleeping is something that most creatures of the animal kingdom have in common. A period of time where the body seemingly ceases to function. The average human is supposed to sleep 7-8 hours a day, and although this varies from species to species, the core function stays the same.The dictionary definition of sleep is â€Å"the natural state of rest during which your eyes are closed and you become unconscious†.(Sleep, n.d.) Although it seems like nothing is happening whenRead MoreNight Terrors Case Study2296 Words   |  10 PagesParanormal Experience Hannah is a 30-year-old divorced, mother of one. Hannah describes herself as a practicing Muslim with strong spiritual/religious beliefs. Hannah has no history of mental illness. Hannah reported for a few consecutive nights she had been unable to sleep due to some stressful situations she was facing. She would either have difficulty falling asleep or difficult remaining asleep. On this particular night she did not go to bed until approximately 4:00 A.M. Hannah woke up not longRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Experiencing Chronic Pain1303 Words   |  6 Pagesusual. If person tends to wake up in between the sleep in the night this means that they will remember the dream once they wake up other then for those who do not wake up during the night they are going to most likely forget their dreams in the morning when they awake. Oscroft added, â€Å" few sleepless nights or nights with very little sleep would also result in a night full of vivid dreams† (Kaur). Therefore the very few hours the sleeper gets to sleep during the night they are most likely to have veryRead MoreDescription Of The Disorder. What If You Were Physically1455 Words   |  6 PagesD escription of the Disorder What if you were physically paralyzed, conscious, and unable to communicate? You would feel locked-in, trapped in your body, constantly searching for a way to communicate with the outside world. Locked-in Syndrome is a rare condition in which a patient is unable to produce any form of movement or verbal communication. An individual with Locked-in Syndrome (LIS) is affected by tetraplegia, which is the partial or complete paralysis of the limbs in the human body (Villines

Effects of Having Long Term Separation from Parents Free Essays

Questionnaire on the effects of long term separation from parents among college students Part I. Personal information of the respondents Instruction: Put a check (v) on the blank for your answer. A. We will write a custom essay sample on Effects of Having Long Term Separation from Parents or any similar topic only for you Order Now Age ____ 15 ____ 16 ____ 17 ____ 18 Other (please specify) ______ B. Gender ____ Male ____ Female C. Who works abroad ____ Father ____ Mother ____ Both D. Whom do they live with ____ Father ____ Mother ____ Grandfather ____ Grandmother Other (please specify) ______ E. Number of years being separated ____ 3 ____ 4 ____ 5 ___ 6 and above f. age when parents left (please specify)___ Part II. Effect of long term separation from parents among Instructions: Read the following sentences and use the way of weighing your answers given below. Put a check (v) on the numbered columns on the right that correspond your answer. 4 – Strongly Agree2 – Disagree 3- Agree1- Strongly Disagree Corresponding Factors| 4| 3| 2| 1| Psychological| Individual Perceptions on Parents Working Abroad| 1. My parent/s work abroad to give me a better future| | | | | 2. My parent/s work abroad to fulfill their dreams| | | | | 3. My parents gave me material things just to cover their absence| | | | | 4. My parent/s gives everything that I ask for| | | | | 5. I lived my life normally without my parent/s | | | | | Feelings Towards Long Term Separation from Parents| 1. I feel the love and concern of my parent/s even they are not with me| | | | | 2. I missed my parent/s| | | | | 3. I hate my parent/s for living me| | | | | 4. I have difficulty on sharing my emotions and feelings to my parent/ s | | | | | 5. I feel secure with my present guardian| | | | | Mental| 1. I always attend my classes| | | | | 2. I always do my homework| | | | | 3. I always have good grades in academics| | | | | 4. I cheat during examinations| | | | | 5. I got involved in cutting classes| | | | | 6. My guardian help me in my studies| | | | | 7. I made my own decisions| | | | | Social| 1. I spent more time at home| | | | | 2. I have good communication with my parents through internet and phone calls| | | | | 3. I have lots of friends| | | | | 4. I sleep over with my friends most of the time| | | | | 5. I hang out with others most of the time| | | | | 6. I don’t attend family gathering | | | | | 7. I am a loner | | | | | 8. I am a member of a gang/ fraternity| | | | | III. Effect of the different factors in long term separation from parents among college students Instructions: Read the following sentences and use the way of weighing your answers given below. Put a check (v) on the numbered columns on the right that correspond your answer. 4 – Strongly Agree2 – Disagree 3- Agree1- Strongly Disagree Corresponding Factors| 4| 3| 2| 1| Lifestyle| 1. I am an alcoholic| | | | | 2. I am a smoker| | | | | 3. I got involved in taking prohibited drugs| | | | | 4. I got involved in premarital sex| | | | | 5. I ate at home most of the time| | | | | 6. I don’t eat meals regularly| | | | | Behavior| 1. I obey my present guardian| | | | | 2. I obey my parent/s even they are not with me| | | | | 3. I am independent| | | | | . I take the responsibilities in taking care of my siblings| | | | | 5. I always have enemy| | | | | 6. I got involved in bullying someone| | | | | 7. I argued with my siblings most of the time| | | | | Peer pressure| 1. I feel secure when I am with my friends| | | | | 2. My friends influenced me in smoking| | | | | 3. My friends influenced me in drinking| | | | | 4. I watched and read pornographic materials with my friends| | | | | 5. My friends share their sex experiences| | | | | 6. My friends helps me in my studies| | | | | How to cite Effects of Having Long Term Separation from Parents, Essay examples Effects of Having Long Term Separation from Parents Free Essays Questionnaire on the effects of long term separation from parents among college students Part I. Personal information of the respondents Instruction: Put a check (v) on the blank for your answer. A. We will write a custom essay sample on Effects of Having Long Term Separation from Parents or any similar topic only for you Order Now Age ____ 15 ____ 16 ____ 17 ____ 18 Other (please specify) ______ B. Gender ____ Male ____ Female C. Who works abroad ____ Father ____ Mother ____ Both D. Whom do they live with ____ Father ____ Mother ____ Grandfather ____ Grandmother Other (please specify) ______ E. Number of years being separated ____ 3 ____ 4 ____ 5 ___ 6 and above f. age when parents left (please specify)___ Part II. Effect of long term separation from parents among Instructions: Read the following sentences and use the way of weighing your answers given below. Put a check (v) on the numbered columns on the right that correspond your answer. 4 – Strongly Agree2 – Disagree 3- Agree1- Strongly Disagree Corresponding Factors| 4| 3| 2| 1| Psychological| Individual Perceptions on Parents Working Abroad| 1. My parent/s work abroad to give me a better future| | | | | 2. My parent/s work abroad to fulfill their dreams| | | | | 3. My parents gave me material things just to cover their absence| | | | | 4. My parent/s gives everything that I ask for| | | | | 5. I lived my life normally without my parent/s | | | | | Feelings Towards Long Term Separation from Parents| 1. I feel the love and concern of my parent/s even they are not with me| | | | | 2. I missed my parent/s| | | | | 3. I hate my parent/s for living me| | | | | 4. I have difficulty on sharing my emotions and feelings to my parent/ s | | | | | 5. I feel secure with my present guardian| | | | | Mental| 1. I always attend my classes| | | | | 2. I always do my homework| | | | | 3. I always have good grades in academics| | | | | 4. I cheat during examinations| | | | | 5. I got involved in cutting classes| | | | | 6. My guardian help me in my studies| | | | | 7. I made my own decisions| | | | | Social| 1. I spent more time at home| | | | | 2. I have good communication with my parents through internet and phone calls| | | | | 3. I have lots of friends| | | | | 4. I sleep over with my friends most of the time| | | | | 5. I hang out with others most of the time| | | | | 6. I don’t attend family gathering | | | | | 7. I am a loner | | | | | 8. I am a member of a gang/ fraternity| | | | | III. Effect of the different factors in long term separation from parents among college students Instructions: Read the following sentences and use the way of weighing your answers given below. Put a check (v) on the numbered columns on the right that correspond your answer. 4 – Strongly Agree2 – Disagree 3- Agree1- Strongly Disagree Corresponding Factors| 4| 3| 2| 1| Lifestyle| 1. I am an alcoholic| | | | | 2. I am a smoker| | | | | 3. I got involved in taking prohibited drugs| | | | | 4. I got involved in premarital sex| | | | | 5. I ate at home most of the time| | | | | 6. I don’t eat meals regularly| | | | | Behavior| 1. I obey my present guardian| | | | | 2. I obey my parent/s even they are not with me| | | | | 3. I am independent| | | | | . I take the responsibilities in taking care of my siblings| | | | | 5. I always have enemy| | | | | 6. I got involved in bullying someone| | | | | 7. I argued with my siblings most of the time| | | | | Peer pressure| 1. I feel secure when I am with my friends| | | | | 2. My friends influenced me in smoking| | | | | 3. My friends influenced me in drinking| | | | | 4. I watched and read pornographic materials with my friends| | | | | 5. My friends share their sex experiences| | | | | 6. My friends helps me in my studies| | | | | How to cite Effects of Having Long Term Separation from Parents, Papers

Attitude creative writing Essay Example For Students

Attitude creative writing Essay I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight. I have responsibilities to fulfill today. I am important. My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have. Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free. Today I can feel sad that I dont have more money or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchases wisely and guide me away from waste. Today I can grumble about my health or I can rejoice that I am alive. Today I can lament over all that my parents didnt give me when I was growing up or I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born. Today I can cry because roses have thorns or I can celebrate that thorns have roses. Today I can mourn my lack of friends or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships. Today I can whine because I have to go to work or I can shout for joy because I have a job to do. Today I can complain because I have to go to school or eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new tidbits of knowledge. Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework or I can feel honored because God has provided shelter for my mind, body and soul. Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped. And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping. What today will be like is up to me. I get to choose what kind of day I will have! Have a great dayunless you have other plans.

Overcrowding In Our Jails and Prisons Today Essays - Criminal Law

Overcrowding In Our Jails and Prisons Today Cyceli Desargent Constitutional Law 10-31-12 I plan on discussing overcrowding in our jails and prisons today. We'll look at the two classes of criminal prisoners kept in our jails and prisons. In addition, I will examine the wide-ranging concepts that affect the numbers of criminal inmates in our jails and prisons. The United States incarcerates substantially more people than any other nation in the world. Actually, the Pew Center on the States reported in 2008 that one in every 100 adults in the U.S. now occupies our prison system. (http://www.pewstates.org/) Since we have been making an effort to ?imprison our way? out of crime for quite some time, federal and state prisons and county jails have become subjected to crisis levels of overpopulation. At the same time, operating funds have been rigorously restricted, as has financing to manufacture new facilities. Over the next couple of years, I expect the conditions will get even worse. At the core of the jail overcrowding problem is the mixture of increasing crime rates with an expanding countrywide population. Investigation points to the fact that when the national economy falloff, crime rates and the frequency of alcohol-related misconduct also increases. Coming from a criminal justice perspective, alcohol lawbreakers are overpowering our orderliness and causing cumbersome court dockets, troublesome caseloads, and filled to capacity jails and prisons. Statistics collected from courts shows that alcohol plays a substantial part as an influencing factor in the crimes that put a large number of people behind bars. Using imprisonment as a punishment for alcohol offenders is not only costly, but is insignificantly successful because it doesn?t help them concentrate on their core problem which is alcohol addiction. A lot of offenders ride out the time they were sentenced to but once they get out they return to their old surroundings with the same situations that caused them to drink in the first place. I believe a large portion of offender?s recidivate if their dependence problem has not been treated and settled. County jail and state prison overcrowding is a disturbing truth, and the courts of our state deal with it on a regular basis. Overcrowding may or may not affect the verdicts judges will make because it will vary from case to case and from one judge to another, but it definitely is a factor. There are many prisoners in local jails who have zilch to do with criminal court. I think judges should focus on those inmates who are in jail because of criminal charges. There are two types of inmates in our jails and prisons. 1. Those that have been charged with crimes and are awaiting trial. 2. Those that have been convicted of crimes and are serving out what they were sentenced to. There are numerous reasons/factors that affect the size of jail inhabitants. These basic concepts are fundamental principles of constitutional law. First and foremost, an offender accused of a crime is assumed to be not guilty of that crime, regardless of what anyone may think about his/her guilt until the he/she i s proven to be guilty. The second is the constitutional authority that while a defendant is waiting for his/her trial for that crime, the defendant is permitted judicious chance to be free pending trial. A judge then determines if the defendant qualifies for a bond. If so the defendant must pay the amount of money or put up property with the court in order to be released. The second category is those defendants who are serving sentences for their crimes. Offenders are given active jail time (behind bars) or some alternative to jail. The judge determines which of these two general categories of sentences to impose. A judge typically contemplates the primary goals of sentencing which are retribution, deterrence and rehabilitation. Retribution is also thought of as a Just Deserts. The defendant deserves to suffer this penance for what he/she did. Deterrence has two elements. 1. Specific deterrence, which makes that specific offender from perpetrating future crimes. 2. General deterrence shows a standard to others. The theory is that people will know what sentence was imposed with another defendant and will expectantly choose not to commit crimes. Rehabilitation comprises a wide

Expository Essay on A Farewell to Arms Essays - Free Essays

Expository Essay on A Farewell to Arms Essays - Free Essays Expository Essay on A Farewell to Arms subject = Modern American Lit title = Expository Essay on A Farewell to Arms In Ernest Hemmingway's A Farewell to Arms, the protagonist, Frederic Henry is both dysfunctional and tragic. Throughout the story Henry lives up to this description of shear tragedy and dysfunction. The main elements that aid in making him both tragic and dysfunctional are: the fact that the love he and Catherine shared at the end of the book was doomed, this love was only "role-playing" to him at first, and he went AWOL on the Italian army. The first detail that contributes to making Henry a dysfunctional character is that he uses role-playing as a way of escaping the realization of the human mortality which is unveiled by the war. This role-playing begins on Henry and Catherine's third encounter. After this meeting the two become increasingly comfortable with their roles. It is as if their whole relationship is a "game". Neither one of them mistakes role-playing for a truly intimate relationship, but both recognize that it can be a useful device for satisfying certain emotional needs. This role-playing is a very dysfunctional characteristic of Frederic Henry. The second point that makes Henry a dysfunctional character is that he deserted the Italian army. Not only was this illegal but it could have cost him his life. Henry, although an American, had made a commitment to the Italian army, to protect and serve Italy. This characteristic alone is enough to make one dysfunctional, as it does to Henry. In addition to being a dysfunctional character, Henry is also a tragic character. The love that Henry gains for Catherine is pure tragedy. Although the relationship that Frederic and Catherine had started out to be only role-playing it turned into something much more, it became true love. This love was more than could be explained in words. Their love during an ugly war was not to be recreated or modeled even as much as through a baby conceived by their love. The baby could not be born alive because their love was beautiful yet doomed so that nothing could come out of it. "In a world where the abstracts of glory, honor, and sacrifice meant little to Frederic, his physical association with Catherine was the only thing he had and it was taken away from him long before she died."1 In conclusion, these three main items aid in making Henry a dysfunctional and tragic character. Henry had fled his duty as a soldier, giving up on the country he had confided in. Henry was engaged in a relationship which started as a mere game, grew into love and ultimately ended in the tragic death of his precious wife and child. Frederic Henry is a tragic and dysfunctional character in a tragic and dysfunctional story.

Investment and Financial Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Investment and Financial Planning - Essay Example Probably the most important data to a growth investor is the company's earnings per share. Earnings are bottom-line profits the company earns, after all expenses and taxes. When earnings are divided by the number of shares, you get earnings per share. Microsoft stocks was first sold to the public in 1985, and in that year it had just a penny of earnings per share. But by 1989, earnings had increased four times, to four cents a share. From then on, Microsoft earnings went on a steady climb, reaching $1.71 per share in 2000. What happened then A recession combined with a technology sector collapse caused the era of straight-up growth to end. Is Microsoft still considered a growth stock Yes, by most it is. The stock market still values Microsoft based on an expectation that growth will resume, although not at the pace of the company's early years. Most growth companies pay little or no dividends. Until recently, Microsoft paid none. So, earnings measure the money the company can reinvest back into its own growth. Earnings per share are reported quarterly, and they are the best measure of success for growth investors. A steady pattern of quarter-to-quarter earnings growth should create strong upward movement in share prices over time. But the opposite is also true. When a growth company slows its earnings growth rate, the share price can take a big tumble because investors lose faith in future growth. Growth stocks tend to be more volatile than the market as a whole, because they are in high demand when earnings keep growing and can fall out of favor when earnings falter. The sectors that are most widely followed by growth investors include technology, pharmaceutical and retailing. Value Investing Value investing is the other side of the stock market coin. Value investors believe almost the opposite of growth investors. Instead of looking for growing companies that are the stock market's darlings, they look for out-of-favor companies selling at attractive values. These values are most often defined by below average price/earnings ratio and below average price/book ratio. The slide shows both types of data for Eastman Kodak, a company that is widely known and followed. But for various reasons, Eastman Kodak has fallen out of favor with investors. Why do you think that might be so (VOLUNTEERS) Price/earnings ratio is calculated by dividing the current

Europa Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Europa Report - Essay Example The Europa report film faces a lot of disastrous technical failures the lead to lack of communication between them and the earth mission control. Despite the series of very dangerous crises, the Europa crew continue with the mission of reaching Europa where they encounter a lot of scientific mysteries. On this mission, several scientific aspects were used which had different accuracies (National Research Council & Space Studies Board, 28). One of the scientific aspects used included the Radio Science Subsystem. A radio science subsystem is a subsystem that is placed on board of a spacecraft (Carroll & Michael, 76) .The RSS is placed on board for purposes of radio science. The radio Science Subsystem mainly uses signals to determine a medium like that of planetary atmosphere. The spacecraft transmit very high stable signals to the ground stations, receives signals from the ground stations or even both. The transmitted signals parameters are known to the receiver and so the propagation medium or the relative motion of the spacecraft is attributed to these parameters (National Research Council & Space Studies Board, 59). The Radio Science Subsystem was used in the Europa to determine the degree two-time dependent gravity field, to recover K2 amplitude at the Europa’s orbital frequency to 0.003 absolute accuracy, and the phase to 1 degree. The RSS functions include determination of the gas clouds that include the atmosphere and the aura of plasma which surrounds the sun also referred to as the corona. The RSS also characterize gravitational field which explains that there is a body that extends into space around itself. RSS estimates masses of celestial satellites and sizes of particle fields and also the density of ion fields (Carroll & Michael, 99). A magnetometer (MAG) is an instrument that measures vector magnetic field where the information is used to determine the boundaries that are between various plasma regions. The MAG also

Western civilization. Ideas of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle Essay

Western civilization. Ideas of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle - Essay Example Athens in olden times was an intellectual and artistic centre of the Greek world. The advanced thinkers came in and rejected the traditional explanations of the world of nature. The Greek thinkers started suspecting rational order to the universe.In such an atmosphere came the traveling teacher the Sophist. They were men whose responsibility was to train and educate the sons of Athens [1]. Amongst the ranks of Sophist came Socrates (c.469-399 B.C.), the most notable and wisest Athens ever survived. His most prized student was Plato (c.427-347 B.C.), who came from a wealthy and powerful family and devoted himself to teachings of philosophy under Socrates at a young age of twenty. Amongst Plato's prized student was Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) born in small Greek colony in Thrace and whose father served grandfather of Alexander the Great. He was interested in details of natural life. [2]Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher. He is the founder of Western philosophy, and has contributio ns in the field of ethics, epistemology and logic. His ideas and approaches strongly provide a foundation for the western philosophy. His most important contribution is his dialectic method of inquiry which is known as Socratic Method used in examination of concepts of good and justice. He is known as the father of politics, philosophy, ethics and moral philosophy. He taught his students to be concerned with their families, careers and political responsibilities and also with the welfare of their souls. He believed in immortality of the soul, and that virtue could be taught. Socrates argued that the moral excellence was a matter of divine legacy and not the 1) Steven Kreis, the history guide, Lecture 6: The Greek thoughts: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, 2000. http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture8b.html 2) Dr. C. George Boeree, the ancient Greeks part2: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, copyright 2000, 2009. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/athenians.html Parental nurture. His few believe were that no one desires evil, no one does wrong willingly or knowingly, all virtue is knowledge and virtue is sufficient for knowledge. This believes are characterized as Socratic paradoxes. He is himself referred as saying, "I know that I know nothing" [3]; he believed that wrongdoing was a consequence of ignorance. He connected the art of love with the love of wisdom i.e. philosophy. Socrates believed that the best way for the people to live was to focus on self development rather than material wealth. He stressed that virtue was the most valuable of all possessions [4]. Plato was Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues and the founder of Academy in Athens. He laid the foundations of natural philosophy, science and western philosophy. He taught philosophy, logic, rhetoric and mathematics. He often discussed the father-son relationship and the impact it had on son's life. Plato discovered that mankind is born with knowledge and it is present in human mind at birth. He argued that in daily lives we collect information from our experiences and gave great importance to the physical, mental and spiritual development of an individual. Plato introduced the idea that the mistakes were due to not engaging properly within justice, beauty and equality (he called them "forms"). In metaphysics Plato predicted a systematic rational treatment of the forms and their interrelation. In ethics and moral psychology he developed the view that the good life requires not just a certain kind of knowledge but also training to healthy emo tional responses and harmony between the three parts of the soul; reason, spirit and appetite. [5] Aristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and the teacher of Alexander the Great. His 3) Benjamin Jowett, The republic by Plato, book 1, 23rd September 2009. 4) Sarah Kofman, Socrates: Fictions of a Philosopher ,1998, ISBN 0-8014-3551-

The Violence In Movies

The Violence In Movies Do violent movies cause people to be violent? Violence is a very delicate topic and it raises the attention of producers, because they are affecting lives around the world, the movie producers see this as an opportunity to bump up their ratings by making violence more popular. Aiming to keep profits high, they target young adults through advertisements and keeping them informed with previews about what movies are coming up next. Research has shown different aspects of violence in creation by media sources, news, publishers, and even books written specifically based on the effects of violent behavior in movies affecting peoples lives. There are diverse ways in which to consider the rating for violent movies, and different laws are passed in every country regarding the age that people are able to watch a specific violent movie. At a young age children are more vulnerable to practicing what is filmed on the big screen. Arguments are seen in the public eye, as a way to stop the creation of violent movies and create or recreate stories which are suitable for the public eye to view without endangering their way of living in a normal society. This subject also answers to what is the cause for gun violence, drugs, gangs, attempted murders, and a large variety of vicious attacks in society. It is known that the mind acts as a triggering device which takes actions based on what images or information it has received. Negative information or images are processed through and give out a harmful response to the collector or to the people around him. Harmful, downbeat or depressing movies can change a characters view on things or can change their personality. It might bring back depressing moments in someones living or make them feel insecure about things in life, making them choose wrong options, doing drugs, mistreating their family, breaking laws etc. These are some examples of how people react to a violent movie, by identifying the argument based on reality. FACTS On Children and Teenagers. According to research that is dated not only in present, but also in long passed years, violent movies tend to affect mostly children and young adults. Watching violent movies does not only affect the youngsters behavior and tendencies to violence, but it also causes lower grades in classrooms. In the article Adolescents who watch violent films get poorer grades in the classroom written by Richard Gray Science Correspondent for Telegraph.co.uk, Dr. James Sargent, a pediatrician at Dartmouth Medical Center and the scientist who led an investigation concerning effects of violent movies on children, says: These are young adolescents who really should not be watching this type of adult material. Watching a lot of violent material seems to crank up their rebelliousness. Violent movies disrupt sleep and leave children not so eager for hard work and concentration in classrooms, which automatically leads to a considerable drop in grades and accumulation and assimil ation of knowledge. The same research also proved that students with excellent scholastic results dropped from 50% to 25% in grades. Other studies, though few of them, have compared various types of TV violence in United States, Japan, and Spain. Japanese television illustrates fewer physical of fatal injuries that the U.S. or Spain. Another study has shown that increasing violent expression of teenagers is directly linked to the violence on TV and movies in other countries. A child who is exposed to raging shows at ages 6 or 8 predicted aggression 2 years later among many boys and girls in the United States, Finland, Poland, and Israel. A new question rises: Why and how do children have access to headstrong programs? Who should be considered guilty for it? On Psychcentral.com, in an article entitled Movie Violence Can Overwhelm Children, by Rick Nauert PHD Senior News Editor, Keilah Worth, the leader of the study says: In Britain, no adolescent would be admitted to these movies unless they were 18. The R rating in this country is clearly not preventing our young people from seeing them . . . We know so much about the harmful effects of exposure to violent media content, but how much exposure children actually get has been largely ignored. Now, were learning more about the large numbers of kids seeing this material and who they are . . . We should re-think the current movie rating system, which has been in place for 40 years, and was designed when kids could only see movies in theaters. Ratings need to be more prominent on all movies, whether they are seen in theaters or purchased in the store, and we need clearer messages to parents. Pediatricians and child advocates should instruct parents to strictly abide by the movie-age guidelines and to closely monitor movie viewing. Is the rating system responsible for it? Is it the governments fault for not setting stricter laws? Or the parents are guilty for a not so strict supervision of their children? This question is yet to be answered. On one hand, the government is responsible for what is aired on TV and for the ratings in theaters. Movies rated-R, such as Scary Movie, which show a high number of extremely violent acts, should not be at hand for young adolescents. Although it is contraindicated for a person aged between 10 14 years to be able to attend such shows, according to Extension.iastate.edu, an average of 12.5 percent of an estimated 22 million children age 10-14 watched at least one movie that is rated-R, but has a higher level of brutality. Scary Movie was watched by an estimated 10 million children (48% of 10-14 year olds). As a fact, cartoons are 5 times more violent than most TV programs. On the other hand, the technology today is so easy to use, anyone can do it. Illegal downloads take pla ce everywhere, so it would be easy for a youngster to get anything digital. Everything is as close as the push of a button. Although punishments for piracy are severe, children are irresponsible and easily impressed by others who do it. Internet downloads fall under the jurisdiction of the parents. Strict supervision of the child when using a computer is absolutely necessary, until the child reaches a proper age for him to know what is good and what is wrong for himself. Culture, religion, and the way a child was educated in the family are also important, but in a lesser manner. Why do children do it? Why are they so desperate about watching violent movies? Some think that this is a ritual, some king of passage from a child to a teenager or from a teenager to an adult. Others believe that it is pure rebellion against parents and society, which is caused by violent movies (this explanation tends to be circular so some doubt its validity). In any case, what we know is that we must not encourage and we should prevent (if possible) children from watching high-ranked in violence movies, letting them lead a normal childhood and develop themselves as beautiful, well-rounded individuals. There are several problems that have draw questions upon themselves. For example: at what age should be children allowed to start watching violent movies, rating brutality in movies, which movie would be suitable for what age or the existence of good violence,. The term good violence appeared in 1960s, when TV channels broadcasted racist violence against African Americans. Some peop le believe that this is not violence, because it was released under the title of news. Others believe that no matter why is out there, is still violence. The topic is still argued by the two sides, and it would probably be debated a long time from now. But there has been reached a compromise concerning film ratings: YMaterial is suitable for all audiences, no violence; Y7Material is suitable for older children, may contain fantasy violence; GMaterial is suitable for general audiences, very little or no violence; PG Parental guidance is suggested, may contain some violence; 14 Parents are strongly cautioned, could contain moderate amounts of violence; MA Mature audiences only, contains material not suitable for children; In addition to this rating system, all of the television shows have sub-ratings. The sub-ratings include V for violence, S for sexual situations, L for explicit language, FV for fantasy violence, and D for suggestive dialog. These ratings help parents limit what their children watch. (suite101.com pg2) How parents can help. There are many and different ways which a parent can use to get to his child, and control, in one way or another, what the kid is watching without letting it seem like a total control, which most teens and young children hate. Some examples would be: media-free bedrooms for the children, common TV areas and family TV time, lack of free and unsupervised Internet access, suggesting a change of channel when the scenes become violent, discussions concerning the subject et cetera. A parent can also use Internet to research movies and their ratings so they will know what to let their young ones watch and what not. A different approach may be needed for different persons but the key is perseverance. As a parent, you should not give up when your daughter or your son finds new ways to watch whatever they want without you knowing. There is always a solution for these problems. On adults. Any differences based on sex or race? The effects that violent movies have on adults are not as researched as those on children and teenagers, probably because as the time passes by and a person already formed his or hers personality, it is hard to change that personality through an exposition of violent moving pictures. Recent studies have shown that the impact on adults does not differ from one person to another based on race or cultural provenience, proving equality and offering a good starting point for any race, but also removing myths that said some cultures are more violent than others. On the other hand, there is, or better said, was a difference between genres. Since women began being treated as being equal to men, aggressive behavior had increased in female society. In recent years, violent female characters appeared in movies, and it became more acceptable for a women to act freely and violent. However, compulsion will increase in both genres as long as brutal m odels are shown and promoted by the media. Even though this kind of movies affect adults too, it is hard to deny ones access to them. For example, a patient in a mental institute is suing United States because of the desire to view movies that contain violence, suicide and nudity. The patient, Larry Filliung, has strangled his girlfriend and was found not guilty by reason of insanity is requesting a change in rules, because the institute controls which movies can be viewed in groups and which not. Filliungs lawyer, Mark J. Heyrman, says that people like his client will one day be released and that sheltering him from controversial topics does not help him reintegrate into society. CRITICS AND CRITICISM Movie critics have a compared a multitude of movies to real life incidents, or better said tragic events. By drawing parallels between those two, critics have reached the conclusion that many terrorist attacks have their roots and draw their ideas from violent American movies, such as Independence Day or The Siege.

Essay --

When asked to evaluate the contribution to marketing made by an influential scholar, I decided to choose Phillip Kotler. Phillip Kotler was born on the 27th of May 1931 in Chicago. He was a character who strived during his educational times as he contains a Masters degree from the University of Chicago as well as a PhD from MIT both in the field of Economics. He is known as not just a famous Marketer but a renown author who has published over 55 books such as â€Å"Principles of Marketingâ€Å" â€Å" A Framework for Marketing Managementâ€Å" and â€Å"Marketing 3.0â€Å". The main reason I chose to study Kotler was that over his lifetime he was widely known for his efforts made to the modern marketing era. Of these acknowledgements made I would like to focus in on what I think are his three main contributes to marketing. Firstly, he was given the title as the â€Å"Father of modern marketing† which was seen in the eyes of the nearly all who study marketing. This title was given to him due to his outstanding knowledge and simplest ways to describe and focus in on the future fundamentals of marketing. Secondly, He one of the worlds’s leading authors on marketing placing 4th as an influential character behind the likes of Bill Gates and Peter Drucker. Finally, Kotler is said to be the founders behind the widely known 4 P’s, he is "the world's foremost expert on the strategic practice of marketing" (by Management Centre Europe). Professor Kotler is the expert marketer who discovered the 4 Ps of Marketing. This discovery is one of the most influentia... ...her one of his books â€Å"Marketing Management† is one his widely used graduate level textbook. Many students studying marketing refer to this book, he developed ideas and concepts in marketing including atmospherics (the store's layout, noise level, temperature, lighting), demarketing (reverse marketing in which a company discourages product demand in areas where they cannot realize a desired profit), megamarketing (type of marketing activity required when it is necessary to manage elements of the firm's external environment), and synchromarketing (activity intended to shift the pattern of demand to that it equates more suitably with the ideal pattern of supply). Kotler believes that marketing theory needs to go beyond price theory and incorporate the dynamics of innovation, distribution and promotion systems into analyzing, explaining and predicting economic outcomes.

War Is One Of The Biggest Atrocities That Man Must Commit

After looking through the slideshow for this portion of the class I felt a mixture of sadness and hope, disgust and inspiration, confusion and clarity. These images bounce back and forth from a crying child to one who has had access to medical attention, a naked child screaming in terror in the streets to an image of the same woman as an adult, happy and healthy. War is one of the biggest atrocities that man must commit but at the same time people are never as beautiful or as courageous as when they are in the midst of crisis.Take the picture of the Young Beggar’s in Saigon for example. This picture is bittersweet. It is extremely sad but also really beautiful. The infant in the box makes me want to weep but I am comforted by the fact that these two young people are holding hands. They have each other. If nothing else these two have that little human contact that will make their situation bearable. Other examples of this include the shoeshine boys who have congregated together to form a young Saigon gang. Is this an ideal picture, no, but it is real.These children may have to grow up quickly but they have each other and they are living the only childhood they will ever know. But then there are photos of the young victims of war, bombing victims and women trying to smuggle her children out of the war zone. These are not pretty pictures but again they illustrate the beauty of the human spirit. Could I appreciate life if I had never seen with my own eyes the sadness of a life taken too soon? Could anyone ever know real strength and courage if they had never felt the tinges of fear?There were other pictures that were slightly confusing, such as the photo of the US Marine giving the young girl a cigarette. At first I thought, â€Å"Why would he give such a young child a cigarette? † But then I realized it was because that was all this soldier had to give. I am sure that being an American, used to children having the right to grow up healthy and safe, m akes it difficult to see children growing up in the midst of a war zone. It makes one want to â€Å"rescue† each other. And again that is admirable. Look at the girls face in that photo. She is radiant. She is the lightness in an otherwise bleak world.In response, I really don’t know who the â€Å"good† guys are and who the â€Å"bad† guys are in these photos. And truly I don’t know that it matters. I was truck by the strength and beauty that was represented here. Look at the faces in these pictures and you see strength, perseverance, tradition and even love. For example, look at the woman in the photo A Vietnamese Woman, the trials and tribulations of life are etched all over her face. Ultimately these photos represent the good and the bad, the yin and yang of humanity. For some strange reason man does not appreciate life until life is taken away.And unfortunately the world is a better place after we have had to clean up the rubble of war and huma n greed. Somehow in the midst of destruction we find the strength to help each other, pick up where we left off. Yet, when all is well in the world we get greedy and seek to destroy. These images are timeless. Despite our disgust at seeing a young child tortured we, as a race, will continue to commit these crimes. Maybe as a species man has self destructive tendencies. Maybe we can only appreciate the beauty of life when we see the ugliness in death.

Strategic Analysis (SWOT, Porter, PESTEL) of Barclays Group PLC The WritePass Journal

Strategic Analysis (SWOT, Porter, PESTEL) of Barclays Group PLC 1. Introduction Strategic Analysis (SWOT, Porter, PESTEL) of Barclays Group PLC 1. Introduction1.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Background1.2  Ã‚   Purpose and Objectives2.  Ã‚   Analysis of the Market Environment2.1  Ã‚   External Analysis2.1.1   Macro-environment2.1.1.1 Cultural and Social2.1.1.2   Political and Legal2.1.1.3   Economic2.1.1.4  Ã‚   Technological2.1.3   Competition Analysis  2.2   Internal Analysis2.2.1  Ã‚   Performance2.2.2  Ã‚   Management and Staff2.2.3  Ã‚   Infrastructure and Delivery3. SWOT Analysis3.1   Strengths:3.2   Weaknesses3.3  Ã‚   Opportunities3.4  Ã‚   Threats4.   Customer Analysis4.1   Markets4.2  Ã‚  Ã‚   Market Segmentation4.3   Market Targeting4.4   Market Positioning4.5   Branding5. Marketing Strategies5.1   Mission5.2   Marketing objectives5.3   Financial objectives5.2.1   Supply strategies 5.2.2   Demand Strategies5.2.3   Positioning strategies5.2.4   Competitors Strategies  5.3   Marketing Mix Strategies5.3.1   Product5.3.2   Price5.3.3   Place5.3.4   Promotion  Ã‚  Ã‚   5.3.5   Personnel and Services6. Channel analysis7. Implementation and Control8. Financial Forecast9. Contingency plans10. ConclusionReferencesRelated 1. Introduction 1.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Background Barclays group PLC is a big global financial provider operating in Europe, America, Australia, Asia, Middle East and Africa, which is engaged in retail banking, credit cards, corporate banking, investment banking, and wealth management. It made up Global Retail Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, Wealth Management, each of which has a number of business units. And the group centre, which comprises all Barclays essential support. With 300 years of historical existence, the group operates through its subsidiary Barclays Bank PLC, in over 50 countries and has 147,500 employees and a merger with Absa group in South Africa. The group practices integrated global banking model to serve its customers and clients as well as optimising risk adjusted returns for its shareholders. Thus, it moves, lends, invest and protects money for more than 38 million customers and clients worldwide. It is the third largest bank in the world in terms of assets and the one of the largest financial services provider in the world with a core tier one ratio of 11 per cent. It is the third largest bank in the United Kingdom (UK) based on market capitalization, with headquarters at 1 Churchill Place in London, England, having moved there in May 2005 from Lombard Street in London. 1.2  Ã‚   Purpose and Objectives The group purpose is to make available products as well as services to help the customers to achieve their financial goals that would in turn lead to economic growth. To attain this, the plan focused on the following objectives: A safer and more secure financial system. A banking industry that is equipped to support the needs of the global economy. The ability of the suppliers of financial capital to earn a positive return on their capital. Demonstrating its credentials as a good citizen To achieve these objectives, the plan entails analysis of the market environments of the bank and identified strategies designed to bring success. Then follow by the implantation and control mechanisms aimed at ensuring that the desired results are achieved.   www.barclays.com 2.  Ã‚   Analysis of the Market Environment 2.1  Ã‚   External Analysis This analysis focus on the macro-environment, the market and the competitors of Barclays, to identify its opportunities and threats. According to Porter (1985), PESTLC analysis ensures that the performance of the company is aligned positively with the powerful forces of change that are affecting business macro-environment. Hence, it groups environmental influences such as political, economic, social, technological, legal and cultural forces impact on the bank. The United Kingdom (UK) population which currently stands at approximately 70million, with a slide increase in immigration, independency and dependency ratios. A shift in population always affects economic growth, thus affect the bank. Increased in UK employment rate of 70.6 per cent, about 25.3million households, and a consistent downward strength of divorce and dissolution (of about 121,700 to 113,900), influences the bank’s performance. This increase brings about economic competitiveness and high circulation of money, thus fuelling the economic growth of the country. UK is a multicultural society which entails co-existence of different communities defined by their race, ethnicity or faith. So sociocultural environment is diverse and dynamic, which implies the bank need to stay in touch with the social and cultural shifts. The science, engineering and technological, and entrepreneurial cultures made UK economically successful, thus, impacting a positive change on the bank’s performance. http//www.statistics.gov.uk, www.ons.gov.uk, www.oup.com/uk 2.1.1   Macro-environment 2.1.1.1 Cultural and Social 2.1.1.2   Political and Legal Unstable regulatory environment in UK. Regulation to give political donation as part of their democracy support to the major South African parties.   Political stability in UK, Europe, United States, Asian (India) and southern part of Africa, influences the group’s growth. The new Basel rules on bank capital which requires all banks to hold top quality core tier one capital equal to 10 per cent of their assets, adjusted for risk. (19:09/ financial times/6th June 2011). The Project Merlin Agreement which states that UK’s biggest banks are committed to lending more money in 2011, especially to small businesses, to pay less in bonuses than they did last year and to be more transparent about their pay packages. (15:42, BBC Business News, 9 February 2011). Plan to increase bank levy to 2.5billions pounds this year-raising an extra of 800million pounds, will be a threat on Barclays bank PLC.(18:04,BBC Business News,8 February 2011). Direct and indirect taxes levied.   Ã‚  Recovery of national recessionary period and increased in employment rate. bbc.co.uk/news/business/13758784. 2.1.1.3   Economic Increase in UK gross domestic product by 0.5percent. Inflation is steadily held on Consumer Prices Index at (CPI) 4.5 per cent and Retail Prices Index (RPI) at 5.2 per cent in May 2011. UK retails sales fall to 1.4 per cent in May and interest rates have been kept at the record low of 0.5 per cent again this year, by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. UK unemployment fell 88,000 in the three months to April this year to 2.43 million, the biggest drop since the summer of 2000. The value of the average home in UK, rose by 0.1% from April to May 2011 to  £160,519, but prices were 4.2% lower than the same period a year ago. The European Central Bank signaled rise in Eurozone interest rate in July 2011, from 1.25 per cent. Inflation in the Eurozone is 2.7% while euro falls to 1.44880 dollars against the US dollar in the first quarter 2011.   High inflation in China and India in 2011 while Japan is in recession. Increase loan rates and consumer prices in Korea. Middle East and North Africa unrest affecting the Dubai-based Dnata, emirates aviation industry. Import costs in developing countries rising by up to 30 per cent as a result of high oil prices and shortfalls in production due to bad weather which have contributed to higher food prices. Jersey tax information exchange agreements with 17 of the G20 countries. bbc.co.uk/news/business-13758784, ft.com 2.1.1.4  Ã‚   Technological New telecommunication systems, including fibre optic telecommunication and Internet to facilitate mobile banking and online banking. Global launch of the next generation financial kiosks such as NCR SelfServ 4 which is a cashless kiosk, ideal for non-cash transactions such as appointment check-in and account services and SelfServ 8 features cash-deposit capability suitable for bill payments, equipped with touchscreen technology, the machines are loaded with NCR APTRA software applications that are PCI and EMV compliant. New technology such as Mix-and-Match software for 3D digital signage and kiosks SWIFT code to facilitate the international payment system in banks. ATMs are currently in operation at all the local commercial banks. Global increase in computer literacy and easy access to computer More half of the global population is computer literate and has access to internet services. http://selfserviceworld.com/research and bnet.com/library          2.1.3   Competition Analysis The group’s major competitors are HSBC bank, Bank of America, BBVA, BNP Paribas bank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, RBS, Lloyds TSB bank, Santander bank, NatWest bank, Socià ©tà © Gà ©nà ©rale and UniCredit. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HSBC Bank Strengths: HSBC bank is the first top bank in the world with the largest profit in the first quarter of 2011(4,153 billions dollars).   High trust and credibility in emerging markets such as China, thus, enjoys large economies of scale in its fast growing economy. A good online saving account offering competitive rates with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements, opened as little as with one dollar and money is FDIC insured to the maximum permitted by law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Weaknesses: HSBC decision to reduce its long- term return on equity target to 12-15 per cent from 15-20 per cent leaves its investors disgruntled.   Insufficient trained staffs, thus less customer-driven. Decreased in production and loyalty from its staffs due to redundancy programme. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Royal Bank of Scotland Strengths Owns leading franchises in domestic market. Highly centralised local branches in target markets as well as excellent customer services offered. Sufficient number of well placed ATMs in target markets. Weaknesses High loan losses affecting profitability and capitalization. Excess growth of loan over deposits impacting liquidity. Inefficient and ineffective operation management affecting margins. http://managementoday.co.uk/news, bbc.co.uk/news/business and http:/www.hsbc.com      2.2   Internal Analysis The internal analysis focused on the bank’s performance and its internal environmental factors such as its management, staff and infrastructures, in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses. 2.2.1  Ã‚   Performance From Barclays annual report 2011(www.barclays.co.uk), the Barclays group PLC has more solid positions on capital with 11 per cent core tier one ratio (10.8 per cent Q4 2010), and a liquidity pool of 161 billion pounds than they started last year. While group’s adjusted gross leverage is maintained at 20 times and impairment is down 39 per cent considerably, giving the group’s first quarter (Q1) 2011, a loan loss rate of 76bps (Q1 2010:112bps). See Appendix. Adjusted profit before tax of the group, excluding own credit and gains on acquisitions and disposals this year, up to 10 per cent to 2,004 millions pounds (8 per cent in 2010). Excluding own credit, return on equity increased to 10.1 per cent (9.3 per cent Q4 2010), return on tangible equity increased to 12.1 per cent (11.4 per cent Q4 2010), and return on risk weighted assets increased to 1.5 per cent from 1.4 per cent in Q4 of 2010. (See appendix). Increased in gross new lending to UK house holds and businesses amounted to 9.9 billions pounds indicates improvement on 2010 year ended amount of 43 billions pounds gross new lending plus 7.5 billions pounds of UK loans gotten from the acquisition of Standard Life Bank at the beginning of the year 2010. The Q1 2011 dividend of 1.0 pound per share, with earnings per share of 8.5 pounds. Over 2010, the group ranked in the top quartile Total Shareholder Returns (TSR) of its global competitors, this position is progressively maintained in the Q1 2011 implies good performance indicating good management by objectives this year. www.barclaysannualreport.com 2.2.2  Ã‚   Management and Staff The management is made up of thirteen highly skilled and qualified directors and has 147,500 staff and senior executives. Most of the staff are young and have the requisite capabilities, and are re-trainable for newer systems and technology. The remuneration Committee provides governance and strategic control of remuneration, human resource activities and senior management development. The Committee’s objective in relation to remuneration is to motivate its employees towards excellence in business and personal performance by offering incentives, attract and retain employees of ability and experience.   Staff is encouraged to part take in share option and share purchase schemes and have a substantial sum invested in Barclay’s shares.   Staff is kept informed of matters of concern to them in many ways, such as business unit news magazines, intranets, briefings and mobile phone SMS messaging. These communications facilitate the achievement of a common awareness among employees.   Staffs share their views and feedback on issues that matters to them. Periodic employee Opinion Surveys results reported to the Board, all employees and to its European Works Council, Africa Forum, its recognised union in the UK and other recognised unions worldwide. Road shows and employee forums also take place. In addition, regular and formal consultations with its recognised trade unions and work councils internationally. www.barclays.co.uk 2.2.3  Ã‚   Infrastructure and Delivery   The group is investing heavily in infrastructures in order to perfect its client services and better reach to its global customers and clients, explains why the group is facing high operating costs. www.barclays.co.uk 3. SWOT Analysis The SWOT Analysis identified the opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses of the bank, as follows:    3.1   Strengths: The world’s third largest bank in terms of assets, with a core tier one ratio of 11 per cent. Barclays Corporate has been named Lender of the Year at the 2011 Health Investor Award for the third time. The group has an effective data management and first bank to produce statements in colours. Barclays Egypt Award for business continuity despite the recent country’s civil unrest. The Awards for Excellence 2011 won by Barclays community investment programme in Katine, Uganda. The group’s brand is unique, historically built and promoted continuously through its good citizenship such as sponsorship of Premier League football. The group enjoys large economies of scales and spread of risks as a result of its global presence. Barclays Capital ranked number two overall in Risk magazine’s survey of institutional investor clients.   Double win for Barclays at UK Moneyfacts Awards Distinct technological innovations, for example, it introduced the first credit card ever used in the market in 1966, and mobile banking. Acquisition and incorporation of Egg’s credit card customers in to the Barclaycard portfolio. The group leadership team has very little customer-centric view, thus explains why they always have a lot of customer complaints especially from its UK retail banking that is poor customer services. Poor earnings performance in the first quarter fueled criticism about executive pay packages in Barclays capital, the investment banking unit where pretax profit fell 33 per cent in the first quarter 2011. Less attractive shares due to low earnings performance. The bank branches are not well centralized within the high streets of UK unlike RBS and NatWest banks which are everywhere in the streets. Online banking and telephone banking are complicated to access. High interest rates on loans and low interest rates on savings accounts.   Recent launch of the high street’s first two-year flexible bond giving savers a competitive   rate   and the flexibility to withdraw up to 30 per cent of the balance without incurring any charges. Telephone banking with Barclays Wealth international offers secure, personal and private services, being the fast and friendly way to deal with day-to-day banking request unlike other banks. Barclays Bank has a strong competitive advantage as it is among the top three banks in many African countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and Mauritius, thanks to its merger with Absa Group Ltd in South Africa. Emerging markets in Africa and Asia Pacific. Barclays Capital strengthens prime services management by recently appointing ten managing directors. Its strategy of full global diverse services provides the group a wide range of cross-selling opportunities. 3.2   Weaknesses 3.3  Ã‚   Opportunities 3.4  Ã‚   Threats The recent Merlin agreement that required the availability of appropriate capital and resources by the banks to support gross new lending of 190 billions pounds, should demand materialize. The recent strike threat at Highland airports could hit Barclays Scottish Open at Castle Stuart. Varied government legislations in its global markets. Recent consideration by the Independent Commission on Banking, to split retail and investment banking operations. High financial risk exposure due to its global operation nature.   Increasing competition and threats in the banking industry from other companies such as the new Japanese bank called Mizuho which is building in London to find new avenue for growth. www.barclays.co.uk, www.fm.co.za/articles, www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news, www.bbc.co.uk/news/business, www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/businessnews , www.e-customer-satisfaction.com/rev . 4.   Customer Analysis 4.1   Markets The bank has branches in the UK as well as operations throughout Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia and America. The market stakeholders consist of the governments, other public Sector bodies, corporate entities, insurance companies, professionals, public servants, pensioners, teachers, students and national residents in the above market segments. www.barclays.com       4.2  Ã‚  Ã‚   Market Segmentation Market segmentation is the splitting up of a market into different groups of customers with distinctly similar needs and product/service requirements. There is now widespread agreement that market segmentation form an important foundation for successful marketing strategies and activities. (Wind, 1978; Hooley and Saunders 1993).It implies it ensures that the elements of the marketing mix namely; price, distribution, products and promotion, are designed to meet particular needs of different customers. Barclays group divides its market into different geographic units such as nations, states, regions, cities or streets. For example Barclays bank PLC Zambia. The group also uses demographic segmentation to split its market in to groups on the basis of variables such as age, family size, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, generation, nationality, religion, and social class. This type of segmentation is easy to measure and enables the bank to identify the right product offer to meet the specific needs of customers and improve its customer perceived offerings. For example, improvements of student account offer such as no monthly fee, an interest-free overdraft facility up to 2,000 pounds from opening the account. www.barclays.com    4.3   Market Targeting Barclays bank PLC uses the differentiated targeting approach which recognizes that there are several market segments to target, each being attractive to the marketing organization. As such, to exploit markets, a marketing strategy is developed for each segment. For example, Barclays targeted the student market segment in UK, and its rationale for acquiring students was that there was an opportunity to establish a long-term relationship with students and, to target a new customer annually. The bank uses effective segmentation assessment criteria such as ensuring that its various market segments are measurable, substantial, accessible, differentiable and actionable, ensure a segment is useful for targeting. 4.4   Market Positioning Market positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market. (A.Ries and J.Trout, 2000). The main purpose of positioning is to build the bank’s brands in the minds of the customers in order to maximize potential benefit to the bank. Kotler (1997) argued that â€Å"Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image so that they occupy a meaningful and distinct competitive position in the target customers’ minds†. Therefore, positioning is all about how customers judge a product’s attribute relative to that of its competitors, and its ability to deliver against the promises made. The bank has applied a good positioning of its brands to target markets. For example, Barclays found that an incentive offering mobile broadband would have the most appeal to students, the bank partnered with orange to offer 25 percent discount on its mobile broadband schemes to those who signed up for a Barclays student account. It also established a working group to oversee the new student proposition such as no monthly fees, an interest-free overdraft, free debit cards, mobile phone banking and a net work of local branches. This is to build its brands in the minds of its target customers by effectively and efficiently meeting their needs. Orange and Barclaycard recently launch ‘Quick Tap’ – the UK’s first contactless mobile phone payments service, allowing consumers to make purchases on the high street using their mobile phone  · Customers can make purchases  £15 and under nationwide by simply tapping their Quick Tap mobile handset against a contactless reader at over 50,000 stores. Hence, the group has good positioning strategies.    4.5   Branding Branding is a means to distinguish the products or services of one company from those of another. (K. Moore and Reid, 2006). Therefore, a brand is a logo, name, symbol, design or image, or any combination of these, which is designed to identify the product or service. Its slogan â€Å"Take one small step† garnishes its branding. Barclays group does branding of its products/services with respect to its target customers needs. The group has different brands such as Barclaycard and its contactless mobile payment brand , online banking, offshore banking and investment, UK premier and personal banking, business banking, Barclays corporate, international banking services, Barclays capital and Barclays wealth.   www.barclays.com/product and services, www.oup.com/uk/orc , 5. Marketing Strategies 5.1   Mission The mission of the Barclays group is to make available products as well as services to help the customers to achieve their financial goals that would in turn lead to economic growth as well as increased employment. 5.2   Marketing objectives Customer and client driven, that is putting their needs first so as to develop a long term sustainable business. Aims to meet clients’ needs while establishing a business with different sources of revenue, business segments, customers and clients, and geographic exposure. Aims to serve clients across all their needs through a wide range of distribution channels. To effectively managed the risks taken by its clients.   Ensures financial discipline required to deliver returns is retained. Demonstrates the group’s wider value to society both globally and in every community it serves. 5.3   Financial objectives Operating within its capital resources Generating returns in excess of its cost of equity Sustaining growth in selected market and geographies. www.barclaysannualreport.com    5.2.1   Supply strategies Barclaycard and orange newly developed â€Å"Quick Tap† contactless mobile payment service which allows consumers to make purchases on the high street using their mobile phone for the very first time. Barclaycard is providing Orange customers with  £10 cash added to their account upon activation, and 10% cash back on all Quick Tap purchases made in the first three months. Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, recently announced the launch of the Algorithmic Inflation Momentum Switching (AIMS) index, designed to generate excess returns from the US inflation market. The reason being that market participants switch from nominal bonds to TIPS when concerned about inflation. Barclays Wealth international offers discounted international online payments to investment and mortgage advice from our specialist advisers. It provides you with immediate access to your money as well as control over your day-to-day spending wherever you are. www.barclays.com       5.2.2   Demand Strategies Target students and matured wealthy Nationals returning home or resident locally, including doctors, lawyers, managers, entrepreneurs and retired persons. Product differentiation so as to gain competitive advantages in the market. Frequent adjusted slogan to continuously build its brand image.       5.2.3   Positioning strategies The bank is currently perceived to have a poor customer services compared to its peer group that is their service offering and quality are not very much outstanding as portraits by its branding. So the bank’s aim is to also move to the top position for service offering and service quality through its innovative product developments and improved service quality so as to defend its strong brand image. Ensures effective data management is improved. 5.2.4   Competitors Strategies Improve the quality of customer services by training staff. Increasely promote ATMs, online banking, Barclaycards and telephone banking services that will provide greater convenience to customers. Offer unique innovative Barclays Wealth-management and Barclays Capital products/services that will attract the target markets.www.barclays.com   5.3   Marketing Mix Strategies 5.3.1   Product Barclays offers personal banking and credit card facilities through Barclaycard to customers. The products and services for personal customers include: bank accounts (from entry-level through to premier), a range of credit cards through Barclaycard, saving accounts, loans, insurance, online banking and mortgages through Woolwich. The also offers corporate and business banking, investment banking and Wealth management -which focuses on private and intermediary clients worldwide, providing international and private banking, investment management, fiduciary services, and brokerage. The group ensures these products and services are always available to satisfy customer needs. www.barclays.com    5.3.2   Price The group ensures the prices are affordable with respect to the target customers. For example, no monthly fees, interest –free overdraft and 25% discount on its mobile broadband schemes to those who signed up for a Barclays student account. Also a discounted international online payment to investment. www.barclays.com    5.3.3   Place The bank positions its product and services in such a way that they are be accessible at customers convenience such as Barclays replacement debit card delivered to customer’s home in two working days, availability of Quick Tap contactless reader at over 50,000stores. Mobile phone banking and increase in a network of local branches. ATMs at strategic locations throughout the country. Increase franchises. 5.3.4   Promotion Word-of-mouth campaign, literature in branches, TV advertisements, sponsorships, business magazines and news papers, and bill boards. Online advertising on website and direct mail to prospective students. Phone prospective customers or visit them at their residents or place of business to sell products and services to them Develop an advertising campaign programs targeting the selected groups of customers.   Ã‚  Ã‚   5.3.5   Personnel and Services Develop a performance appraisal system that will allow for feedback throughout the fiscal year which determines annual salary increments and the quarterly bonuses such as travelling allowances, reward for sales volumes in order to motivate staff. Recruit more people that possess the required skills for the tasks available and provide each of them with a job description setting out clearly the job expectations and goals, as well as the required job-related behaviors. Offer good training to both existing and current staff for the job required task. Improve on customers services by training both top management staff and subordinates to be customer-centric. www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/barclays , and www.barclays.com/products and services. 6. Channel analysis Barclays bank uses the following ways to reach its customers through its multichannel routes such as franchises and strategic alliances such as; Absa group.   Through telephones, ATMs, contactless payment cards and visa debit cards. The bank has about 1,900 branches in the UK as well as operations throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the US. Also plans to improve on the centralization of its branches within each target market. Increase the number of its local branches within the high streets of UK, such as Universities areas.   www.barclays.com 7. Implementation and Control Barclays group supports a marketing oriented culture to provide market perceived offering that meets customer’s expectations by placing a strong emphasis on its market research (SWOT and PESTLC analysis) to discover the data of   its market context, customer requirements, competitors activities, the most appropriate way to run their channel operations (distribution and marketing communications) The group has ten existing skillful directors and two current directors, all assigned to manage each of the products and services business units efficiently and effectively with the help of 147,500 employees through management by objective.   The budget holders who are top management will be given incentives, so as to hit and improve both their sales forecast and profit targets. The group headquarters management foster and encourage creativity and innovation through out the business while ensuring effective risks management and financial discipline is in control. www.barclays.com 8. Financial Forecast  · Target return on equity of 13 per cent by 2013  · Income growth between 4.3 and 6.4 billion pounds in 2013 relative to 2010. www.barclaysannualreport.com 9. Contingency plans   Invest more in multichannel platform such as; success performance in mobile banking and online investment platform. Effectively and efficiently focus on productivity and innovations Ensures customer sovereignty is in place by staying close to them and effectively managing their risks. 10. Conclusion I have taken a critical look in to the situation faced by Barclays group PLC such as its objectives, and goal (13 percent returns on equity by 2013 and income growth of) the group expected to achieved. While taken in to consideration its strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities sorted out by the use of SWOT and PESTLC analysis, as well as competitors’ analysis, and its marketing strategies on execution. I am emphasizing on top management and staffs, to stop doing market skimming and be more customer-centric when making decisions and executing strategies as well as carrying out effective and efficient implementation and control in order to reach desired target. References

Gore vs Bush on Education essays

Gore vs Bush on Education essays Vice-President Al Gore and Governor George W. Bush are both running for president, and they both have very strong views on education in the United States. Their positions on education are very different, but they both offer some good plans on reforming education. The main differences are seen in the topics of college, testing of students and the voucher program, teacher qualification, and character and discipline issues. Vice-President Gore and Governor Bush have different plans on how to boost early education and how to hold schools accountable for the success of students, but it is evident that they both feel that these issues need to be addressed firmly. Governor Bush feels that college students will succeed more easily with advanced science and mathematical knowledge. He says that he proposes a $1000 increase in individual Pell Grants to encourage high school students to take advanced college preparation courses in both subjects. Bush stated that, Theres no reason for us to be next to last in the world in math, and theres no reason for us to be last in physics. Gore too believes in the importance of college, but doesnt say math and science are the key elements to attending college. He notes that money is what keeps kids away from college. He proposes to make it easier for parents to save for their childrens college tuition with tax-free and inflation free savings, the National Tuition Savings program. Gore wants to make two years of college free with more student loans with lower costs, and expanding Pell Grants. Gore says he believes that in the knowledge- based economy of the 21st Century; everyone who is willing to work for it must have the chance to go to college. George W. Bush pretty much feels that existing teachers that are no longer qualified to teach effectively should simply be trained further, and he proposes to give the states money to do ...

Briefly set out a) the main theoretical perspectives underlying the Essay

Briefly set out a) the main theoretical perspectives underlying the remuneration of executive directors in major national or mul - Essay Example However, this silence is less relevant to their leadership qualities, and more a result of their resultant extra ordinarily high salaries. In addition, there has been a very significant difference in the remunerations of CEOs belonging to US companies, as compared to those belonging to companies in the UK. With respect to this observation, this paper studies the remuneration of executive directors, and delves into the issues and theories concerning their outrageous amounts, and the debates that arise from them. The debate on the remuneration that executives receive has been carried out for several years. A recent factor, which has heated this debate even further, is the current recession and its effects (The Economist, 2010). This stems from the fact that over 13 percent of the residents of the US are unemployed, while millions others struggle to hold on to their jobs as their salaries and wages are reduced from what they used to be (Robbins, Judge & Judge, pp. 278, 2008). Apart from this, Lehman Brothers experienced a downfall, and needed two bailout packages from the government to recover and prevent further such happenings. This occurrence has made the common person wary of the way the scarce resources are employed, and that they should be treated as scarce instead of being wasted. However, people who only see half the picture make majority of the complaints and criticisms that the system of high remunerations receives. They see how these directors receive huge salaries for what they do, but they do not consider or even know about the stressful and demanding jobs that these directors do which help them secure such large payments (The Economist, 2010). This is a critical element that is missing from their perspectives, which makes theirs an unfair, unbalanced perspective. These critics do not bother considering the perspective of the CEOs themselves, or the significance and value of their services (The Economist, 2010). This paper aims to prove that, for this reason, their perception is flawed, and that the CEOs do earn the money they receive, using research, and statistics. Theoretical Perspectives It is an observation (Robbins et al., pp. 23-39, 2008) that a huge number of experts have carried out research on the issue of remuneration of executive directors in the United Kingdom, as well as in the United Kingdom, especially during the last decade. Analysis has identified that extraordinary increment in the salaries of executive directors been one of the major reasons of such a huge number of researches carried out on the subject. In order to understand theoretical perspectives of executive directors’ remuneration, the paper will include agency and expectancy theories that will provide a comprehensive understanding. In particular, every company in the United Kingdom follows a standard remuneration package for its executive director that usually includes a basic salary, a yearly bonus along with long-term benefits. In this packag e, salary is the permanent component whereas the other components vary in different organisations. It is an observation that two factors play a critical role in determining variable components in remuneration of executive. Firstly, the calculation that relates variable components as functions of basic salary (Robbins et al., pp. 23-39, 2008). The second factor refers to the achievement of directors in terms of their target, thus, an average performance will lead towards to a lower bonus. Besides understanding

Car Advertising Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Car Advertising - Assignment Example Considering the car market in UK, till 1980, the general opinion of Audi was that it was a car built in Europe and customers were not certain of even the nation of building, the technical capacities and the car had no specific image. The car was not clearly positioned according to the Louis Harris Car Image Study. The position of the car changed to some extent and by 1987, the car slowly moved towards the group of prestige cars. This was due to the "Vorsprung durch Technik" Campaign of the 1980s. Though the car was of the same size as Ford and Vauxhall, it was positioned as a car above them in terms of image. Further improvement was achieved in 1995 when Audi took advantage of the marketing opportunities that were available to it and to an extent this was due to the new models that were introduced. These were called Audi A8 and the Audi A4 and both these cars were far better that the previous models that this brand had. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige ca r club) The models were liked by the press and the potential customers, and the particular brands have won a number of awards. This range of models was an improvement on the previous models that it had and those were called Audi 80 and Audi 100. Yet the brand had strong opponents in terms of brand names and prices. There were also new launches coming up from the competitors and the brand had not many advantages in terms of product itself. Thus, it was essential to establish the brand on certain parameters. The advantage of the brand getting into the prestige segment was that it would permit the brand to retain value after a few years of usage and this would encourage the users to buy the car. This can be seen in the case of Mercedes C class, Saab 900i, and Ford Mondeo 2.0 Si, where Mercedes retained 87.5 percent of the value, Saab retained 76 percent and Ford retained only 61 percent. Naturally, the car with the highest prestige would provide unseen advantages for its buyer and thus would f ind it easier to sell. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige car club) The general positioning in Britain seems to be with Porsche and Ferrari as members of the Super Prestige group, BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar being members of the prestige group; Volvo and Saab being members of the quality cars group; Ford, Vauxhall, Rover and Renault being members of the mainstream cars group and Kia and Proton being members of the budget cars group. The cars in the prestige and super prestige group are able to charge a higher price, while the sales are the highest for the mainstream cars. In terms of positioning, it was always the objective of Audi to be a member of the prestige cars group. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige car club) The logic for this is based on volume of production, desired profits and other matters. The consumers also view cars within different groups in a manner that keeps their image in line. The purchasing decision is then based on the cost of the cars and what the user can afford to pay. So far as prestige and super p restige cars are concerned, they charge a premium price and this has to be supported by their image. The positioning of a brand is

Case For or Against the War on Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case For or Against the War on Drugs - Essay Example This article will assess the gains and losses that this war has made with an aim of determining the relevance of this war. Case for the War on Drugs Despite many apparent setbacks, the war on drugs has made tremendous gains in its efforts geared towards making the world a safer place. There have been concerted efforts aimed at ending the rampant trade in drugs. These efforts have been made by all stake holders in the United States over the past 40 years since then serving President Richard Nixon launched the U.S Government’s war on drugs.1 Several progressive steps have been made targeted at countering the flourishing use and sale of drugs in the U.S. One such stride has been the advocacy for a paradigm shift in the war against drugs. As was expressed by President Obama in a digital town hall meeting, in 2011, there is a need to move from the old approach of the war on drugs to a new one. One way of accomplishing this has been looking at possible ways of shrinking the demand f or drugs among the users.2 This represents a shift from looking at this war as a primarily, criminal justice problem3. When looking at the war on drugs as a criminal justice problem, the emphasis of tackling it involves arrest, incarceration and interdiction4. While this has had good results, it has had the unfortunate disadvantage of unintentionally giving some of the offenders an opportunity to slip through the cracks. Currently there is a move towards looking at the war on drugs as a public health problem.5 This means that the government has acted as a guardian of the public’s interests6. This thus means that the government has managed to win the hearts of the people who advocate for social justice in the country. Another gain in the war on drugs was the Reagan’s administration’s efforts to take away the drugs from the consumers through efforts made to cut down the crop abroad. This effort can be seen in countries like Bolivia. In this country, the efforts to reduce the drug production saw the seizure of twenty seven tones of cocaine in 1986. This was an improvement from just one tone netted in 1981.7 On the whole, the war on drugs has gained a number of notable wins over the trade and production of drugs. There has been a decline in the production, trafficking, distribution and consumption of drugs all over the world. This has been driven largely by an increasingly tight global prohibition on drugs. This is a sign that nations have seen the need to unite together in order to fight this menace.8 There are other gains in the pursuit of the war on drugs. One of these gains has been among the youth. Institution of education and awareness campaigns has been initiated for the benefit of these youth. These awareness campaigns are meant to ensure that the youth are well aware of the risks of drugs, as well as driving them towards alternative methods of recreation thus keeping them out of harm’s way.9 At learning institutions and even in society, the youth are kept away from drugs through the imposition of very stiff penalties if found to be in possession of drugs. This is aimed at ensuring that the youth keep away from drugs. Any involvement on their pair, in the using of even the smallest quantities of drugs, can easily push them into the use of drugs. In the prisons, there are treatment centres for the prisoners who are recovering from both drug use and abuse10. As seen above, there have been efforts to deal with the drug trade’