Monday, September 30, 2019

Pakistan and India over Kashmir Essay

Conflicts between Pakistan and India over Kashmir as well as China over Tibet have been around for decades. Although these conflicts are religion based, this is no longer the case since they currently fight over land control (Stokes, 2010). Whereas India and Pakistan is ever fighting to be in control of Kashmir, this case is the same when it comes to China’s conflict for Tibet. Although Tibet is part of China, it considers itself a nation since it has always been bound by religion, culture as well as linguistics and genetic ties (Stokes, 2010). The study aims to address the religion conflicts existing between China over Tibet as well as India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Pakistan and India over Kashmir According to Hajni (2008), Pakistan was founded after the end of the British rule when the Indian Muslims developed the desire to own an Islamic state. Indian Muslims were the Minority religion and this made them feel insecure. Since they were the minority religion, the Indian Muslims were afraid of losing political representation in addition to maintaining their freedom as well as cultural norms. According to Hajni (2008), regarding the criteria for deciding which of the two dominions a state should join; he quotes Lord Mountbatten who said, â€Å"†¦geographic situation and communal interests and so forth will be factors to be considered†¦Ã¢â‚¬  At the time of partitioning, Jammu and Kashmir was predominantly Muslim. However, Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh who supported the annexation of Kashmir by India ruled the state. According to James and Ozdamar (2005), when the British divided the two states, Kashmir was given the option of joining either one. However, through Maharajah Singh, the current leader of that time, Kashmir opted to become independent. Pakistan and India were not happy with this decision since they started forcing Kashmir to join them. It is due to these debates that later resulted to the outbreak of conflicts between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Pakistani Muslims initiated insurgent type operations to undermine an annexation by India, which further compelled the Hindu leader to align with India to secure military support to counter the Muslims. According to Hajni (2008), India started by laying claim on Kashmir due to the instrument of accession that was signed by Maharaja in 1947. It is because of this move that prompted Pakistan to follow suit. Just like India, Pakistan also laid claimed to own Kashmir since most of its population were Muslims. This gradually escalated into disputes over Jammu and Kashmir, which is still rife to date. The disputes were quite severe since they escalated into wars in a move to acquire the disputed state. Although religion was the main source of conflict between the three nations, it was primarily triggered by the urge for territorial control. China over Tibet Apart from India and Pakistan, another famous religion conflict is that of China and Tibet. Tibet has been practicing Buddhism for decades to the extent that it currently defines the Tibetan’s way of life (Sperling, 2004). It was because of these cultures that the Tibetans declined to submit themselves to the Chinese rule. China has always strived to control Tibet but the Tibetans have always opposed this attempt. Since 1951, the republic of China through the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has tried to acquire Tibet by attempting to destroy their national as well as cultural identities (Macalester College, 2007). For instance, the nation tried to acquire Tibet by attempting to lure Tibet’s religious elite into voluntarily agreeing to embrace socialism. According to the Tibetans, this has always been referred to as cultural genocide (Stokes, 2010). Although China had assured Tibet that their Buddhism religion and culture would not be affected by the inauguration, Tibet was not confortable fusing with the Chinese Buddhist Association (CBA). According to the Tibetans, fusing with the CBA posed a threat for the Tibetan’s religion as well as culture. According to Sperling (2004), China is ever attempting to forcefully acquire Tibet. The reason why China is ever wishing to acquire Tibet is that it believes Tibet is located within China’s territory. Since almost all Tibetans practice Buddhism while the Han Chinese does not, the republic of China is ever attempting to ruin this religious culture in a move to ease the acquisition process. However, Tibetans always fight back in order to prevent China from ruining their culture and religion. Through Dalai Lama, Tibet was stable to the extent that even after numerous conflicts, China has never succeeded in acquiring it. It was through Dalai Lama that Tibet was able to fuse religion with politics. By intertwining Politics and religion, Tibet was able to create a solid foundation that made it difficult for the republic of china to acquire (Sperling, 2004). This technique was quite beneficial to the Tibetans since it motivated them into pursuing independence and self-autonomy. To date, the conflict between Tibet and China still exists despite numerous diplomatic interventions. Although Dalai Lama was quite influential in Tibet, he fled to India when he currently resides. Analysis In order to form the foundation of their adherent’s lives, both the Hindu and Buddhist religions ensured that they encouraged one another to fully embrace their religion. For instance, through this motivation, all Tibetans embraced Buddhism. Whereas the conflict between India and Pakistan resulted from the inability of the two nations to align Hindus with India and Muslims with Pakistan, the case was almost similar to that of China and Tibet. The conflict between china and Tibet began because China did not want Tibetans to practice their cultures and religions in a territory they claim was theirs. Additionally, the conflict was also triggered by the fact that Dalai Lama had planned to make Tibet an independent nation (Macalester College, 2007). Conclusion For a long time, India and Pakistan have been engrossed in conflicts. Although these conflicts started on grounds of religion differences, they rapidly escalated to territorial conflicts whereby both nations began fighting over Kashmir, a region located between India and Pakistan. Apart from India and Pakistan, China and Tibet have also been engrossed in conflicts, which have lasted for decades. Just like that of India and Pakistan, this conflict also revolved around religion but gradually grew into territorial conflict. China was not comfortable with Tibet’s Buddhism religion, hence, attempted all measures to disrupt it but Tibet was not ready to allow this to happen. Dalai Lama, a prominent leader in Tibet, was planning to declare Tibet an Independent nation. This idea was never taken lightly by China and it is because of this that the conflict intensified, thus, Dalai Lama was forced to run to seek refuge in India where he resides to date. References Hajni, M. (2008). The Kashmir Conflict: A Kashmiri Perspective. Retrieved on 12 October 2014 from www.operationspaix.net/DATA/DOCUMENT/5413~v~The_Kashmir_Conflict___A_Kashmiri_Perspective.pdf James, C. & Ozdamar, O. (2005). Religion as a Factor in Ethnic Conflict: Kashmir and Indian Foreign Policy. Terrorism and Political Violence, 17:447-467. Retrieved on 12 November 2014 from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCcQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fozgur.bilkent.edu.tr%2Fdownload%2F05Religion%2520as%2520a%2520Factor%2520in%2520Ethnic%2520Conflict%2520Kashmir.pdf&ei=7u1jVNrQFIbWasKGgcgK&usg=AFQjCNFvomYpl_QzYphrOggL6s3Ms5ZCZg&sig2=ZM9lKPLKG5LZde_OAlB7vA&bvm=bv.79189006,d.d2s Macalester College. (2007). History of Tibet-China Conflict. Retrieved on 12 November 2014 from https://sites.google.com/a/macalester.edu/refugees/tibetan/history-of-tibet-china-conflict Sperling, E. (2004). The Tibet-China Conflict: History and Polemics. Retrieved on 12 November 2014 from www.eastwestcenter.org/sites/default/files/private/PS007.pdf Stokes, D. (2010). Conflict over Tibet: Core Causes and Possible Solutions. Retrieved on 12 November 2014 from http://www.beyondintractability.org/casestudy/stokes-tibet Source document

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay

Ralph Waldo Emerson was born into a pre-determined life. His father was a minister, so he was already set to become a minister. However, Emerson didn’t believe in organized religion. This was the reason that he became a transcendentalist and wrote his essay â€Å"Self Reliance†. In 1817, Emerson attended Harvard College where he first began to formulate his ideas that were portrayed in his most famous essay. In his essay, Emerson uses two main strategies to persuade his readers. These strategies were anecdotal stories and reasons supported by evidence. Throughout his essay, Emerson uses anecdotes as his main strategy for persuasion. For example, he tells an anecdote about when he was a child. When he was a child, he expressed his true beliefs to a close adult. When asked how he knows that his beliefs aren’t from the devil, Emerson responds by saying, â€Å"They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil. † In this response he is saying even if his beliefs are from the Devil, it doesn’t matter. This is what he believes in and nothing can change that. This idea was Emerson’s main virtue that he lived by and wanted others to live by: trust thyself. Emerson’s anecdotes prove to be a very effective way to persuade his readers to believe in his ideas. The anecdotes in this essay are so effective because the reader is able to connect with him, and place themselves in his shoes. The anecdotes are also effective because they are a portal into Emerson’s life. Instead of just listing facts and statistics, Emerson chooses to tell stories about his life. This allows his readers to connect with him on a personal level and the readers develop a stronger emotional connection with Emerson. Another strategy that Emerson uses is reasons supported by evidence. This strategy is also effective because it gives the reader a reason why they should trust themselves, and then supports the reason with evidence to show why the reason is true. For example, he says that if people don’t trust themselves, then they will feel guilty and ashamed. This is the reason Emerson gives of why people need to trust themselves, and then he supports the reason with evidence by saying that it is a waste of time to want what thers want and â€Å"envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide†. He also says that to be truly happy, a man must accept himself for better and for worse. This evidence supports the reason that people should be happy with themselves the way they are. Emerson’s strategy of reasons supported by evidence is very effective because it gives the reader concrete evidence. The evidence supports the reason, and the reason supports the overall claim. The reasons and evidence are logical appeals which appeal to the reader’s good sense; this also makes the strategy effective. It is hard to argue when Emerson gives many concrete reasons to support his claim and then backs it up with even more evidence. Although Emerson’s essay â€Å"Self Reliance† has many good strategies and qualities, it also has some weaknesses. The essay is aimed at a small audience, educated white males. If he were to open the essay up to a broader audience, he would be able to spread his idea more effectively. For example if women were also targeted in the essay, then Emerson’s ideas would be spread to almost twice as many people. Another weakness in the essay is the overall claim. He says that people should trust themselves. This claim has no qualifiers; therefore Emerson is saying that people should trust themselves, always. This is not always true. Yet another weakness in the essay is that Emerson uses mostly anecdotal evidence. Although the anecdotes prove to be effective, the evidence inside of them is not all that concrete. The claims he makes in these anecdotes are not as strong as they could be if he had more of a variety of strategies to support his claims. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay â€Å"Self Reliance† tells its readers to trust themselves. He says that every heart vibrates to this iron string. Emerson uses many strategies in his essay; however the two main strategies are anecdotes and reasons supported by evidence. Both of these strategies prove to be very effective on the reader. The anecdotes allow the reader to connect with Emerson, and have strong emotional appeals on the reader. While the reasons supported by evidence apply the reader’s logic and give concrete examples that support his claim. â€Å"Self-Reliance† is a well written essay that persuades its readers to listen and trust themselves.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The novel, The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, which was based on the Salem Witch Trials existing in the late 1600s. In the play, Abigail and several other young women accuse innocent citizens of Salem for the action of witchcraft. During the trials, many individuals were unfairly persecuted; such as John Proctor. This event in history may be associated with the Red Scare, in which individuals were tried for their questionable influences of communism in the United States.When Miller compares the character of John Proctor to himself, the reader is able to relate the similar experiences that both men faced. The Crucible demonstrates the struggle against corruption involving the court, which lead to the death of many innocent individuals in Salem. The Crucible generates an allegory for Arthur Miller’s struggles with McCarthyism because of his similar experience relating to John Proctor’s battle against the Salem Witch Trials, and the relation between the act ions of the court in both situations.Arthur Miller uses several writing methods in order to convey The Crucible as an allegory for his struggles with McCarthyism. Miller demonstrates how the Crucible represents an allegory for his conflict with McCarthyism by relating his experiences with the plot of the novel. Miller relates the novel to his struggles by stating, â€Å"Should the accused confess, his honesty could only be proved by naming former confederates.† (Are You Now†¦ 34) Miller is explaining how the court operated, in terms of coming to their conclusions. He is showing the similarity between his experience with the trials involving the Red Scare, and the trials in Salem.The witchcraft trials were very much alike the communism suspicions in the United States, in which many individuals were falsely accused for crimes they had not committed. The court’s duty was to draw names of other participants of the so-called â€Å"crimes†. Miller indicates the s imilarity in Judge Danforth’s statement to McCarthyism in the quote, â€Å"Mr. Proctor. When the devil came to you did you see Rebecca Nurse in his company?† (Crucible 129) This displays how the court believed your testimony, only if you were to mention other members.Miller uses the technique of connecting the two experiences together by incorporating the approaches in which the court took to obtain valuable information. The court’s actions demonstrate how unjust they were in coming to conclusions. Another way that Miller creates an allegory for his  struggles with McCarthyism in the novel is when Hale tells Abigail, â€Å"You must have no fear to tell us who they are, do you understand? We will protect you.† (Crucible 43) This technique pressures Abigail into falsely accusing others for acts they had not committed, although she is turning the blame away from herself.Miller relates this technique to his experience with the court in which they attempted to make him feel protected, if he would reveal his knowledge. This proves that the court did whatever they could to extract information from the suspects. The novel proves to represent an allegory for Miller’s struggles with the court, and the suspicion that the jury had among the suspects. He relates the Salem Witch trials to the Red Scare by stating, â€Å"In both places, to keep social unity intact, the authority of leaders had to be hardened and words of skepticism toward them constricted† (Are You Now†¦ 32).Arthur Miller is clarifying the fact that as the trials continued, the more strict and severe the court became. This often caused for false accusations against innocent citizens. As the trials developed, the courts were able to establish their own conclusions stemmed from the proceedings. Miller explains how John Proctor rebelled against the court’s unjust actions of jumping to conclusions before gaining enough logical reasoning. He claims that Proc tor, â€Å" [had] become the most forthright voice against the madness around him† (Why I Wrote†¦ 26).He relates his experience with the court to the Proctor’s relation with the Witch Trials because they both had stood their ground against the authority. Miller continues on to state, â€Å"I sensed that I had at last found something of myself in it,† (Why I Wrote†¦ 26) Miller is able to finalize his relationship with Proctor by professing how the character in the novel was an inspirational figure. Overall, this strategy of relating himself to the character of John Proctor proved to be effective in the representation of Miller’s fight against McCarthyism.The Crucible constructs an allegory for Arthur Miller’s struggles with McCarthyism because of his similar experience relating to John Proctor’s battle against the Salem Witch Trials, and the relation between the actions of the court in both situations. Arthur Miller is able to devel op an allegory from the play to his experience with several strategies. He relates the actions of the court to the way in which the court treated him. He then uses the similarity between the role Proctor played in the play, to the role he had in his struggles during the Red  Scare. In conclusion, Miller used many effective tactics to create a compelling allegory of his struggles against McCarthyism in the novel, The Crucible.

Friday, September 27, 2019

SUBWAY Restaurants in Middle east Research Paper

SUBWAY Restaurants in Middle east - Research Paper Example This ensures that an organization captures a significant consumer population thus enhancing and increasing sales and increases profit levels. Additionally, retaining a large profit margin is important in the global market. An organization should ensure that it generates enough funds to support an organization’s operations (Fujimoto & Shiozawa 37). In the global market, an organization requires enough funds to fund factors like advertising and marketing. For instance, marketing in the international market is an expensive venture which needs a steady flow of income at great margins (Fujimoto & Shiozawa 32). If the income level is poorly managed funding marketing projects would fail which would reduce an organization’s exposure to the consumer market. This would automatically reduce the income levels and may lead to the exit from the global market. Fujimoto & Shiozawa point out that stability; relevance and effective management are the three factors an organization in the global market needs to have in order to gain from the vast global market (66). For instance, Subway restaurant has a lot of competitors in the Middle East. For this reason, the organization should ensure the local consumers appreciate and recognize their international entity. However, it is an obvious assumption that international restaurant ventures in the Middle East have a great consumer attention level which creates a fair level of competition in the international organizations in the venture. Fujimoto & Shiozawa however, argue that an organization can easily manage their consumer appraisal level by generating a target over a certain period of time (55). This would make it simpler to manage and generate strategies to enhance stability of the organization in the global market. The industry analysis Intensity of rivalry With the numerous technological advancements in the Middle East, the location has attracted numerous investors and international market. This has increased the lev el of competition in the market and increased caution by organizations venturing in the market. In terms of restaurants and hoteliers the level of competition is much greater (Fujimoto & Shiozawa 43). The Middle East has become a top hub for tourists. This attracts the investments of many stakeholders in the hotel industry. Regardless of the many organizations, the industry generates large profit returns (Fujimoto & Shiozawa 44). This eases the intensity of the rivalry since the quantity of consumers is enough to support most of the hotel ventures. In the case of subway restaurants, the organization is limited in terms of offers given to the consumers. Additionally, this limits their exposure. Many organizations in the Middle East offer the same services with an aim of acquiring the same profit returns as the Subway restaurant. Substitute The Middle East provides a great number of substitutes in the hotel industry which makes it an important factor to consider effective competitive strategies. Top restaurant ventures across the globe such as McDonalds, Dorman’s, Costa Coffee and the local organizations create a large variety of substitutes in the market. Additionally, the consumers in this particular market hold each of the organizations with same sensitivity and significance. This likely puts every organization in t

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The Mexican revolution of the 1910s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Mexican revolution of the 1910s - Essay Example Though much of The Mexican revolution of the 1910’s speaks about bringing down the President Porfirio Diaz from his power; the main idea behind it was to bring justice to the people who were longing for it and ensure proper distribution of wealth through a fight against the foreign imperialists. Though the youth tried to get into politics and begin a fresh phase of rule that would change lives of people to a better standard, they were not given this opportunity. The imperialism that prevailed in the people with power left people in silence though, they had an opinion to express and a wish to elect their leader. But the youth of Mexico however made it to the throne. They acquired the power after a long struggle from the hands of the imperialists and brought their people what they wanted, freedom. The people living in the borders of the Mexico and the United states have seen the worst phase of this revolution. The Mexican people resisted the control the U.S over these places and fought against them. This revolution saw blood of both the Nations. People even migrated from Mexico borders to keep away from this violence. This image shows a family trying to migrate from Mexico border that had seen violence in many forms. Initially it was the rule of the President Porfirio Diaz which weakened their minds and to add to their misery the imperialism by the U.S people left them to going away to safer places. Many of them migrated to California and some people to Los Angeles hoping the war would end in a few months but it didn’t and actually lasted a for years. "We were running away from the rebellion. . . . We came to the United States to wait out the conclusion of the Revolution. We thought it would be over in a few months."(Mexicans and Mexican-Americans). However the boundaries between the two nations (Mexico and The U.S) had been a controversy since ages and this has been the issue for the Mexican revolution of the 1910’s as well. Even today the b oundary separation has its conflicts going on. Though attempts were made to pacify people on the boundaries of the Nations, they proved futile with the discrepancies the people had among the ownership of the lands. The period 1910-1920 has seen the worst phase with wars in many places. The Mexicans attacked the Anglos and their stores and railroads. The picture above shows the Mexican troops marching in Juarez, Mexico during the Mexican revolution in the 1910’s. This Mexican revolution of the 1910’s however would leave an impression on anybody who carefully studies and understands the history and the story behind the imperialistic foreigner’s strategy. I, feel that though there have been complaints about the then President of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz, and his selfish rule that had concentrated wealth and power in the hands of a few, which rendered people of Mexico helpless and other issues pertaining to the rule of their government and confiscating lands from peasa nts, there had always been a bigger issue, the imperialistic foreigners who took away the power of people and controlled their lands. This issue certainly appealed to everybody who knew the history of the Mexican Revolution because the other problems the Mexicans had with their government and the peasants could be solved among them at some point in time and they were categorically domestic issues which needed just the attention of some people of the Nation. But the

Creation stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Creation stories - Essay Example He, therefore, separated light from the darkness naming the former day and the latter night. On the second day, God established the firmament through command and it became. He made it separate the waters from the waters and called the firmament Heaven (Giberson, 2012). On the same day, he collected the waters under the heaven into one place thereby creating the dry land and calling it earth, and the gathered waters as the sea. Moreover, God brought into existence the grass, trees, and other plant forms. In the third day, God created the sun, the moon, and stars to bring light on earth in the day and at night respectively. On the fourth day, God created water creatures such as whales, fish, and air creatures such as fowls. On the fifth day, God established every living creature on earth except human beings. These included cattle, creeping creatures, and beasts of the earth among others. Being pleased with his work, he blessed the creatures and made them multiply to fill the earth (Giberson, 2012). God completed his creation work on the sixth day by creating man in his own image. Therefore, God created man both male and female and thereafter blessed them and told them to multiply and feel the earth. Moreover, man was given power to rule and manage all creatures and use some of them as food (Giberson, 2012). On the seventh day, God rested on completing his creation work. Therefore, he blessed and sanctified the day since it was his day of rest from all the activities of creation. In the second part of creation, Genesis 2:4- 24, God who is referred by personal name as Yahweh, creates the first man in his image by using dust, breathes life into him thereafter becoming a living being (Giberson, 2012). God names his Adam and places him in the Garden of Eden to manage it. Thus, it is the man that God performs the life-giving act and not his earlier creations. Moreover, the man gives name to animals and even to Eve, whom he calls a woman since she comes from one

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Psychology- theorist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Psychology- theorist - Essay Example Through the above theories, human behavior will be properly analyzed and illustrated using one character trait that I posses. Human behavior is explained to be the characteristic conscious or subconscious activities that people adopt (Watkins, 1998). For example, I am characteristically judgmental when people do me wrong. I tend to assume that people are totally responsible for their actions and mistakes. This has been a tough issue between me and my acquaintances because I always assume the role of the judge when problems arise even in cases of accidents. The curiosity to understand why I am judgmental prompted me to try and understand the theories that might provide possible solutions to my investigation. The theories include the Freud, Jung, Adler, Erikson, Allport, Cattell & Eysenk, Skinner, Bandura and Mischel, Kelly, Rogers and Maslow, and May  theories (Willingham, 2006). The theories utilize human behavior to analyze the possible and common precursors to the phenomenon. The following paper is an essay describing the various theories, their assumptions and considerations which will try and explain the reasons why human beings adopt certain behaviors while still trying to unravel the reason why I am judgmental. Throughout the past centuries, humans have been credited with different life tendencies and habits which are often considered natural. As described by Watkins (1998, p 92), ‘a person is easily identified by his behavioral trends and habits which are unique’. The reasons why people are different has been investigated and explained in depth in a number of theories. To tackle the issue adequately, certain explanations and theories will be utilized. For starters, the Freud theory that explores the three human factors that surround the human personality. In his theory, Freud had utilized three levels of awareness, namely the conscious, subconscious and the precautious (Claire, 2007). He explains that the conscious includes only our current

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Challenges in Education of Gifted Children in Australia Essay

Challenges in Education of Gifted Children in Australia - Essay Example But such rigid systems have been found to be counterproductive as far as gifted children are concerned, placing them on a different level as compared to the average child, which results in isolation and/or social problems that affect their grades and produce underachievers. On the other hand, the creation of specialized education for a select few poses the threat of elitism and the eschewing of the social function of schools in favor of competitive education.[1]. While some educators contend that special education is â€Å"a healthy psychological experience† that nurtures talent, others feel that children run the risk of â€Å"narrowing their focus† too soon[1]. In fact, the very concepts of what exactly constitutes â€Å"talent†, â€Å"creativity† and â€Å"giftedness† itself are at issue among educators, adding fuel to the hothouse debate about educational policies and the role of teachers in the classroom, in ensuring that children’s educa tional needs are met in the best possible way. Bragett(1997) proposes that giftedness is the innate ability that remains unchanging over time; but the maturation and development of the innate gifted nature are influenced by the development concept model, which moots that giftedness will be conditioned by the environment. The factors affecting the development process are child-rearing techniques, nature of peers and other influences, the kind of school and teachers, profession and job training and inherent motivation and self-esteem. Tassel (2001) characterizes giftedness as above-average intellect in terms of inherent aptitude, while talent is the demonstration of that giftedness in the form of above average achievement in performance. While giftedness is inherent and requires catalysts such as (a) inner strengths of the individual, i.e, motivation and (b) environmental factors such as parental  involvement in order to develop the ability, talent is developed through the process of learning, training, and practice.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Bertrand Russells criticism of direct realism Essay

Bertrand Russells criticism of direct realism - Essay Example To begin with, it may be important to highlight several important aspects of the view which was developed by Bertrand Russell. Thus, he questions whether there is some kind of knowledge that everyone would agree on. He concludes that the knowledge about the objects that exist in reality can be such knowledge as two people who walk into the same room would see in the similar manner. However, that is exactly the kind of approach that he wants to criticism, suggesting that the knowledge that he was of the ordinary objects (he particularly focuses on the example of the table) is, in fact, relative. Russell points out that the perception of a physical object is largely conditioned by the state of the observer; for example the color of the table will change based on the angle of view. The same can be said about texture shape and so on. Keeping in mind that all these states exist simultaneously, he argues that it is not logical to talk about the â€Å"real† color or shape of the tabl e.The philosopher in question then moves to the issue of norm in terms of determining properties of the object. Having established that the color can be bright (under direct sunlight), moderate (under artificial light) and invisible (if perceived in the darkness), Russell notes that most people would agree that the â€Å"real† color is the one found in the second case. However, in his view this leads to â€Å"favoritism† that can hardly be justified since it is grounded on such vague assumptions as â€Å"normal spectator †¦ an ordinary point of view †¦ usual conditions of light†.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Locke vs Rousseau Essay Example for Free

Locke vs Rousseau Essay John Locke argued that a legitimate government would be validated through the consent of the people it governed and protected, specifically the protection of a citizens natural rights of life, liberty, and estate. He also believed that citizens had the right of rebellion in the event that a government was acting against the rights and interests of its citizens, ultimately allowing those governed to replace the government with another in the interests of the people. Locke believed that the state of nature was that of happiness due to reason and tolerance. He argued that all people are equal and had no right to harm anothers life, liberty, or possessions. The state was formed by social contract because in the state of nature each was his own judge. Jean-Jacques Rousseaus beliefs influenced the creation of the socialist theory, which stressed the notion of government control. Concerning the state of nature, Rousseau argued that human nature ultimately settles in to a brutish condition without law or morality. He believed that the human race adopted governing institutions and institutions of law to simply avoid perishing, arguing that in man is prone to competition in his natural state. By joining together in a social contract, individuals have the opportunity to preserve themselves and remain free. In terms of their views on the state of human nature, Locke clearly believes that humans are naturally content with one another due to tolerance of fellow man. Rousseau believed that the natural state of man was far more aggressive, and the social contract of man existed merely for survival.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Western European Brewing Industry Business Essay

The Western European Brewing Industry Business Essay Brewing industry like any other industry has their global and local force that impacts its performance towards its goals. Also there are environmental factors that may lead to its success and at the same time to its failures. These factors if not well analysed or considered may affect both the investors, employees and the customers or consumers. PESTEL analysis gives opportunity to awareness of influences that can develop success or failures to particular strategies. Together with PESTEL, business external and internal environment is to be analysed. Michael porters five forces analysis gives a wide understanding of all competitive dynamics and enables managers to deal with internal and external environment for the best success of its industry. Western Europen brewing industry as other global brewing industry have its success and failure factors that need to be analysed using PESTEL being political, economic, social, technology, environment and legal issues and competitive advantage on strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) has to be established and defined on how they do affect the industry in western European. PESTELs framework analysis having six categories of political factors, economic factors, social, technological, environment and legal factors have been analysed and suggested for use by the European brewing industry. Political factors: Most of European government have banned for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Drinking on duty also been banned. This have an impact of decrease consumption of beer in functions like get together , weddings, restaurants, bars and pubs where participants is to go home driving. Government campaign against the use of alcohol also caused adverse effect within the industry. These factors resulted in the switch to a growth in the off trade market. Sales switched from mostly being sold in pubs, bars and restaurants to most sold in supermarkets and the like of stationed sales. Government involvement into the antisocial behaviour as a result from alcohol consumption was an added reduction agent to beer consumption. Generally, from the government involvement in binge drinking, drunken driving, beer sales in western Europe were effectively driven down. Economic factors: Due to the falling in the profit margin in this industry, brewing companies were forced to go for acquisition and alliances or trademark and patent leasing to other regions like Asia, America and other part of the world where there was permissible viable market. Unemployment and low economic growth rate was an added impact on the brewing industry. Western European brewing industries faced a downfall in demand of beer or alcohol in general as a response to government against binge drinking and avoids drink and drive. A person concentrates on the basic needs and essential requirement. Supermarket benefited from increased sales of alcohol as a response to government campaign against alcohol consumption and ban on dont drink and drive and also the binge drinking. The Western Europe markets, the rising of cost of raw material and cost of production did result to the rise in price of brewing industry products, and also gained a huge packaging cost amount to almost half of non-labour costs. The decreases in beer consumption led to innovative and start production of non-alcohol brewing industry products which resulted to the rising of its sales of premium brands products which were high priced. Social factors: As a result of government campaign on health effect resulting from binge drinking and use of alcohol. The social perception of beer being for a certain group of age and the awareness that stopping consumption of beer can lead to weight control, fitness added weight on reduction of its consumption. The dont drink and drive benefited the family as the majority decided to drink while home hence spending most of off work time with the families. This promoted the off trade sales in supermarkets and stores. Technological factors: The improvement in the working environment like updated machine which reduced the use of human resources, the change in the packaging, resizing the quantity, deployment of economies of scale improved the production cost and then generating more profit and also facilitating exportation abroad. Innovative technology into the maturation and also the preservation which took at the extension of the former shelve life of industry products motivated to the stabilising and motivation to the move to new way of consumption and hence rising into the sales. Environment factors: Ecological changes and nature aspects such as weather, climate or seasons influences production and consumption of alcohol. Increase awareness on calamities affects the companys operations and its product they produce. The growth into the market has been identified into premium beer products and has resulted into the increasing quality and prices in the industry. Legal factors: Through certain set law on employment such as working hours, occupational health and safety requirements, consumption law and demographic set criteria directly influences the company cost and demand for the beer products. Demographic discrimatory law on beer consumption lead to low beer consumption. Five forces factors: Five forces analysis is an analysis framework tool for industry analysis and business strategy introduced by Michael E. Porter of Harvard business school in 1979 with consideration of industry economic activities as may be determined by the five factors on its competitiveness intensity and its attractiveness. With the application of SWOT being strength underlying the characteristics of the function business, or project team that give it an advantage over others, Weaknesses referring to characteristics that place the team at a disadvantage relative to others, opportunities as an external chances to improve performance in the environment and threats covering external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project. It considers internal strengths and weakness that one organisation has as it may be compared to other organisation within the industry and the opportunities and threats that this organisation may enjoy or face within the industry and goes further on explaining what has to be done either by maintaining the strengths or overcome the weakness and also looks at how it may utilises the available opportunities and again how to combat the threats may be identified. It deals with the defining of the organisation objectives and identifying factors that may favour or factors that can affect the achievement of these objectives. The five forces are bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of customers, threats of new entrants, threat of substitute products and competition rivalry within industry. Threat of new competition. For any business that is perceived that its markets yield remarkable returns will attract new firms. The new entrants into the industry will decrease the enjoyed profit for old firms in the industry. Strategies by the old firms only can result to new firms be blocked by incumbents, otherwise the enjoyed profit margin rate will tend towards zero resulting to perfect competition. The industry with most attractive segment is those with high entry barriers against low exit barriers this will lead to few new entrants and large number of non performing firms exiting. Standards of economies of production, brand equity, switching cost or sunk cost, capital requirement, customer loyalty to established brands, absolute cost and industry profit may be indicators to new firms into the industry. The increased western European brewing industry competition as was been driven by global competition, the introduction of premium brand products from both within and global have contracted the market and profitability Threat of substitute products or services Availability of substitute products and introduction of premium and non-alcohol products that can be used instead of the product a firm is offering gives customers alternative choices for their preference. This may be a result from factors such as buyer propensity to substitute, by price comparisons or performance, consumers income determinants, perception as towards product differentiation, range of substitutions and substitute performance to utility. Information-based products as a result of advertisements and promotions. Product standard and its quality and mode of packaging and distribution. Bargaining power of customers (buyers) The bargaining power of customers as described as the market of outputs which is a result of demand of product and the need to RD and that of the ability of customers to put the firm under pressure, which also affects the customers sensitivity to price changes. The customers attractive pattern to the firms concentration ratios, expected and enjoyed channels of distribution, leverage in bargaining towards fixed costs, comparison between the switching costs of the buyer to that of the firm. Buyers expected information, price sensitivity, uniqueness and consultation pattern are determinants to how customer can influence the industry. The availability of wide range of varieties of local and global substitute products and the introduction of non-alcoholic and premium branded products offers customer free will of choice and hence pushes the firms to intensive innovation and promotion to maintain position in the market. This have been witnessed in the western European brewing industry. Bargaining power of suppliers The market of inputs. Suppliers of raw materials, components, labour, and services being important resources is taken as a source of power over the firm, the fewer the substitute the more the supplier ability to decide or be willingly decide to go into business with their preferred contract terms . Suppliers may refuse to work with the firm, or, e.g., charge excessively high prices for unique resources. Factors such as supplier switching costs relative to firm switching costs, degree of differentiation of inputs, impact of inputs on cost or differentiation, presence of substitute inputs, strength of distribution channel, Supplier concentration to firm concentration ratio, Employee solidarity, supplier competition ability to forward vertically integrate and cut out the buyer. Scarce on the packaging material and the production resources motivate the suppliers to enjoy the free role to determine the price in the market. All those factors has mostly affected the western European brewin g industry. Intensity of competitive rivalry The intensity of competitive rivalry is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry. Sustainable competitive advantage through innovation, competition between online and offline companies, level of advertising expense, powerful competitive strategy, flexibility through customization, volume and variety. The western European brewing industry have seen the active competition in both the packaging, quality, and information to the consumers as a response to the introduction to premium brands, non-alcoholic drinks and energy drinks as in the market. In conclusion, the western European brewing industry has gone through an intensive and dynamic environment to which it have been seen both politically, economically, socially, technically, environmentally and legally. The switching from one type of market features to the next need an effective strategic plans and an effective analysis to the strength and weakness and effective use of opportunities while developing and effective tool to combat threats that may face the industry. Innovation of favourable advantages as may be compared to competitors and the good understanding of target market gives an advantage over the others. For the three breweries outlined above (or breweries of your choice) explain: How this trend will impact differently on this different companies; and The relative and strengths and weakness of each company As it has been declared from the case study, Anheuser-Busch InBev (Beligium), Greene king (United Kingdom) and Tsingtao (china) is the worlds largest brewing companies, obviously had been differently impacted within the industry. And the effect differs from the way a companys strategy and its competitive advantage it enjoys in the market. Anheuser-Busch InBev had its concentration in the corporate reputation acquired from its mergers, acquisitions and market image strategy of opting to be the best beer company in the world. Its image in Latin America with the soft drinks markets and the acquisition of the leading brewer in 2008 made it indisputably the world leader. It has added advantage from its leading brand products globally such as Becks, Budweiser and Stella Artois. However, it has shown weakness in competing in countries where there is a leading breweries company as what happened in china where it was forced to let go of local subsidiaries and a brewing plant operation in 2009. Strategically it is enjoying its global image and brand and its strengths in making itself the worlds best by building strong global brand and increase efficiency from central coordination of purchasing and also using the media and information technology. By optimisation its inherited network and sharing of best practice across the netwo rk. Greene king although it has a traditional reputation in UK, the trend indicates the decline on its share of profits as a result to being dominant in the uk market and the reduced consumption of beer in pubs, restaurants and on trade market will affect it a lot. But the acquisition to other brand and then closing them led to having the major portion of the domestic market and little efforts to global competition. Its focus to quality maintaining and brand consistency has assured existence and stability. Tsingatao -China, although it enjoy its local market, its strength is on brand management and export strategies. It focus on growth and diversification to acquire bigger share market globally. Anheuser-Busch InBev (Beligium) is enjoying strength in scale of economies, technical capacity, market entries, product development and standing strong brand. It have weakness in controlling its local market and and wide operations. Greene king has strength in experience, technique capacity and efficient production. Tsingatao -China, strong in local market competition, cost saving in production and opportunity utilisation while its weakness is in growth strategic definition and brand positioning.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Consumer Knowledge About Nutritional Information Marketing Essay

Consumer Knowledge About Nutritional Information Marketing Essay The research is based on the impact of nutritional labeling on consumer buying behavior. the purpose of the study is to identify the factors that influence consumers to consider nutritional labeling while making a purchase from them or for their house hold. Moreover it also determines that printed nutritional value on packaged food products is essential for the consumer buying decision. This study made the researchers clear about the knowledge a consumer have about a nutritional content of package food products and also the nutrients a consumer look for their healthy diet through detailed published articles, journals and blogs related to food label. Many articles were referred for understanding of the reasons which play an important role in consumer buying behavior. This research is based on quantitative data; secondary data is referred for the understanding of the topic. The data is collected through questionnaires from 200 respondents of different age, gender, income and education level living in different areas of Karachi mainly from Defence/Clifton, KDA/Bahadarabad/PECHS, North Nazimabad/Nazimabad/F.B. Area, Gulshan e Iqbal/Gulistan e Jauhar/Malir and Saddar. The findings which are analyzed through this research are that there are various factors that influence consumers to read nutritional labeling while making a purchase. By these findings the researchers are able to develop a framework representing the socio economic classifications (SEC) that have an impact on consumer buying behavior. result_________________________ Introduction: Background: Labeling is defined as printed information or written text on the container of the product or it can be define as a subset of packaging (Prathiraja Ariyawardana, 2003). In food industry, labeling might just include the name of a brand, name of a product or logo but mostly it includes variety of information about a product like nutritional information, manufacturing date, expiration date, method of usage, contacts etc along with brand name, product name and logo. A label is one of the points of contact between producer and purchaser and is also a part of producer marketing plan (Prathiraja Ariyawardana, 2003). Labeling make consumers aware about any unique characteristic of the food, its nutritional properties, the way to use and how to preserve, all of these are of the upmost importance when buying, since the consumer has the opportunity to make purchasing decision (Senesi, Nayga, Gà ³mez, Palau, Ordoà ±ez, 2006). The items that consumers are most likely to read are price, prepa ration, manipulation and preservation of products. Another study revealed the items most read comprise calories, fats, sugar and fiber contents (Godwin, Henderson, Thompson, 2006). Information on a food label was found to affect a customer purchase behavior significantly. Nutritional information might make easy label use by increasing its benefits and by increasing the effectiveness of their use, thereby reducing the cost of using them. Nutritional information plays a significant role in providing relevant information to consumer through which the purchasing behavior varies (Prathiraja Ariyawardane, 2003). The level of awareness required to make the purchase decisions are compared across different socio-economic groups. Many investigators have also found that the interest in reading the food labels increases with age up to the mid-fifties, and thereafter it declines (Sushil Kumar Jabir Ali, 2011). The food printed label includes different information but it is found that nutritio nal value is one of the most important information for customers. Research Problem: The purpose of the study is to identify factors on the nutritional food label in influencing purchase decision in accordance with the socio-economic classification (SEC) of the consumers, while secondary objective of the research is to identify the characteristics of consumers and the extent of knowledge concerning nutritional value (senesi et al, 2006). Moreover this research helps to find the relation between printed nutrition value on packaged food product and consumer buying behavior. Consumers will choose better food products if they understand and use the food labels (senesi et al, 2006). The study explores the complex relationship of nutrition knowledge and consumer buying decision (Drichoutis, Lazaridis and Nayga,2006). The study can help to determine that printed nutritional value on packaged food products is essential for the customer buying decision or not. In the context to nutritional labeling, many customer switch towards other products after reading printed nutrition v alue such as fat, calories etc. The study also identifies those nutrition values which have a negative effect on consumer buying behavior. Problem Statement: The impact of printed nutritional labeling on consumer buying behavior. Objective of the study: To analyze the impact of printed nutritional labeling on consumer buying behavior. Sub Objectives: To examine the impact of printed nutritional labeling according to the gender of respondents. To identify how different age group respond to products with nutritional labeling. To analyze how educational level affect the consumers response to nutritional level. To study the impact of households income towards buying products with nutritional labeling. Scope: This research will be a study of Karachi, Pakistan. We will get the forms filled by middle and upper middle class visiting the malls and various supermarkets. We will ask them whether their buying preferences changed after reading the nutrition fact. Justification: By the research we will get to know how nutritional information printed on packaged food will benefit each stake holders: The biggest advantage for consumers will be confidence and ownership as the product is tested under certain standards. They will feel that the product is healthy for them. Consumers will get the advantage of time saving as they dont have to search and find out whether the product is safe or not. It will be beneficial for consumers who are health conscious and individuals who are on special diet recommended by doctors. Consumers can use health claims, which appear on the front of food packages, to recognize foods with positive nutritional qualities related to risk factors. Printed nutritional labeling will serve as a great way of promotion for the manufacture as it will provide their product an image of a safe and healthy brand. The producer will have its own unique product identity. The producer will get the competitive advantage as they will retain the loyal customer, lose fewer customers and attract more new customers. Assumptions: Our assumption is that all the economic indicators will remain same as well as the pattern of buying behavior. This assumption is made so that we can have result that is based on complete objectivity. We are also assuming that the nutrition information printed on the label of the packaged food is correct and by concerned authority. There is no kind of miss interpretation and proper application of government policy is kept in view by the producers while printing of the nutritional labeling.   In this research we are also assuming that consumers are aware of printed nutritional labeling found at the back of the every food item. Limitations: Our study will only consider the impact of gender, income, age, and life style index (LSI) and education level towards consumer buying behavior of nutritional products with printed nutritional labels on them. We are only focusing on those food products that have printed labeling on them. Structure of Report The research is divided into five main chapters which are Introduction, Literature review, Research Methodology, Data Findings and Analysis, Conclusion and Recommendations. Chapter 1 of this research relates to introduction and background of the study, research problem and objectives, justification of the research and a brief study of the search methodology that is used. Chapter 2 is about the previous studies conducted on nutritional labeling and consumer behavior. It also discusses the socio-economic factors which influence consumer buying behavior towards reading nutritional labeling on packaged food products in Karachi. Chapter 3 focuses on the research methodology, research design, sampling techniques, data analysis method, research design, as well as limitations to this research. In Chapter 4, the focus is on the research findings, Chapter 5 on analysis of the data that has been collected from respondents through questionnaires. Chapter 6 is Conclusion and recommendations that have been derived from this research are in Chapter 7. Literature Review: Printed nutrition labels are proposed to be used to help people make healthier choices, and consumers recognize them as a tool to improve health. Consumers can get relevant nutritional information with the help of nutritional labeling. It is found in researches that the consumer purchase behavior is affected by the nutritional labeling. The presence of nutritional information may influence the consumers to switch from unhealthy food products towards healthy food products (Anderson Zarkin, 1992). The interest on the consumers is to purchase and intake of improved nutritional foods which thus depends on the quantity and quality of information provided through a number of sources that also includes nutritional labeling. A printed label not only carries a brand name but also a source of important information (Caswell Padberg, 1999). CONSUMER KNOWLEDGE ABOUT NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION: Due to globalization, consumers are becoming more aware about nutritional information because there is an increase in the food information available to them through sources such as food nutritional labeling, electronic and print media.Advertising involvement is another marketing concept that helps to identify consumer interest in processing making information. The impact of advertising creates a perception in the minds of consumers regarding the product and increases the awareness and reinforces the consumer to purchase a certain brand that has high advertisement involvement (KapoorKulshrestha, 2008). As the consumers have become more demanding now days therefore the producers have understand the psychology of consumers and guide them with practical knowledge to cater the market and serve the people. Consumers can end up making better food choices if they value and make use of the nutritional labeling. The government is also playing an essential part by imposing restrictions on the consumption of some products. Therefore, they are regulating product labeling especially on food processing where it is manufactured. This has a positive effect on consumers behavior as they can get to know the amount of nutrients content present in a food. (Senesi et al, 2006). NUTRITIONAL LABELLING: The nutritional labels have become increasingly important, particularly as products move from the status of basic commodities to highly processed, value-added products significance of a well-balanced diet. Nutrition information on groceries items allows consumers to consume a range of healthy foods, maintain optimum weight and choose a diet with low fat/ cholesterol. Select a diet with abundance of vegetables, fruits, and grain products, and restrain from sugars, salt/sodium that are considered unhealthy. Consumers can use health claims, which appear on the front of food packages, to recognize foods with positive nutritional qualities related to risk factors and wellness. These are the claims about the relationship between a nutrient or a food and the risk of an illness or health-related condition (JeddiZaeim, 2010). A label might carry only the brand name or a great deal of nutritional information (Kotler, 2001). A label is the most important point of contact between the manufacturer and the buyer and it is consider as an important part of marketing as well. It is not only consider a piece of paper stuck on the package but also an expression on which consumer important decisions are based. A label should clearly and simply state the name of the product, the nutrition facts (nutritional label), the net weight, the name and address of the producer, and the brand name. The label printed on the packaged food is mostly viewed before purchasing the product which portrays that the label has an impact on the buying behavior of individuals. Consumers inclination to a food item is directly affected by self-control and temptation. (Hassan et al., 2010), (Campos et al., 2011). The printed food labels act as an indicating tool by which food companies assure that their potential consumers are satisfied regarding to their sound quality control practices. However, there are many issues and questions related to food labeling till date, one such question has been raised around the globe which is how far the consumer is aware of printed food labeling and can they understand the provided relevant information on the package. Consumers who are more health conscious have a habit of reading the label. They prefer to purchase an item that fulfills their daily nutritional value even if the brand is of higher price than the other brands available in market. This behavior can also be applied on consumers who have medical problems such as diabetes or cholesterol. This shows that certain category of consumers is willing to pay a higher price for nutrients beneficial for them (Magistris et al., 2010). Nutritional label benefits the consumers to analyze the factors of packaged food which allow them to have a healthier diet choice. According to the mechanism of the body they can balance the amount food to consume that will help them to stay fit in long run (Drichoutis et al., 2008). The consumers in Middle East give preference to the label at the time of first purchase. A study was carried out which showed that when consumers purchase the product for the first time they read the nutrients present in the food and on latter purchase of the same food brand they check the date till which they can use the product and the date of manufacture (Washi, 2012). Consumers also take into consideration of the health claims relation to nutrition such as vitamin, protein, sugar free and etc. people believe them to be true and help them to make the decision quicker. If certain health claim is present in front they grasp the product and further read the nutrient label to know that what other good nutrients are present in it. Consumers prefer that short and easy words are used so that they can understand them easily. Moreover if the claims are approved by FDA it gives an added advantage and surety that an agency is keeping a check on companies (Williams, 2005). The consumers with the help of labeling gets to know and understand the products characteristics, nutritional properties, preservation and instructions to facilitate the consumers to make a sound decision at the time of purchase, hence it carries a great significance (Senesi et al, 2006). By identifying the factors that have an effect on the peoples use of dietary labeling, the manufacturers can do the profiling of the consumers that do or do not exercise nutritional food labeling. It can result in improving public health, manipulating the proper labeling and increasing the productivity of the company (Senesi et al, 2006). Similarly the people who have much time to spend on grocery shopping are found to be more label users (Drichoustis 2006). It can also be seen that consumers who are more anxious about their health and nutrition give more time to read the printed nutritional labels. Similarly, consumers who are on a special diet or organic buyers or even those that have any kind of disease are preferred to search for on-pack printed nutrition information (Drichoustis 2006). Type of household also holds effect on reading of printed nutritional labels, as in a case where smaller households or households with young children are more involved in nutrition information sea rch behaviors. People with a healthier profile and eating habits prefer to see glance at the printed nutritional labeling for a more appropriate knowledge of the product. Moreover printed nutritional labeling is not directly linked with price and is preferred by people following a special diet plan or with health related issues like high BP, sugar, heart diseases or any kind of food allergies (Magistris et al., 2010). Printed nutritional labeling empowers consumers to have their own view at the components of the products which enables them to have a healthier diet choice in a way which they can intake in their busy life style now a days. (Drichoutis et al., 2008). The effects of printing nutritional labeling can be even greater on the buying behavior of consumer and they can be more educated if labeling is combined with an information campaign. It has been found in the research that purchasing behavior of consumers is effected by the nutritional information present on the label because this information influence their perception about the products and thus change their decision ultimately (Drichoustis 2006). It seems like Nutritional information on the back of the package creates favorable judgments about a product. For example, when a consumer reads the nutrients content on the back of the packaged food product which are beneficial for their health they will compare that particular product with other products and will be more likely to purchase that product. Other researchers have argued that provision of health related or printed nutritional labeling information does not always lead to healthier consumption of diet. Most empirical research, however, suggests that providing printed nutritional labeling information can significantly change dietary patterns in a consumers lifestyle of eating (Drichoustis 2006). Printing of Nutritional labels is also associated with giving consumers an edge to improve their diets by intake of high vitamin C, low cholesterol, and low percentage of calories from fat as they are now able to know what exactly they are consuming. Printed nutrition labeling on packaged foods are very clear sources of nutrition information for the consumers. They are observed as a highly trustworthy source of information and many consumers use it as their guidance in order to make purchase decisions easy. (Campos et al., 2011). It is often seen that there are consumers who considers printed nutritional labeling on the products during their shopping experiences and are happy to pay even a premium on the products having printed nutritional labeling on them. (Loureiro et al., 2006). Printed nutrition labeling information lowers down the usage of products which contain harmful ingredients and increases the consumption of products containing healthy ingredients. (Drichoutis et al., 2006). Purpose of printed nutritional labeling is to educate consumers to shift to healthier food choices, and force the competitors to add more printed nutritional value in their product and to competition on nutritional quality; printed nutritional labeling represents a helpful tool making consumers make informed decisions about their diet and lifestyle. (Daud et al., 2011). Nutritional labeling enables the consumers to have a view at the components of the products which enables them to have a healthier diet choice in which they can improve their intake of the require nutritious and proteins (Drichoutis et al., 2008). Nutrition labels on pre-packaged foods are very clear sources of nutrition information. They are perceived as a highly trustworthy source of information and many consumers use their guidance in order to make purchase decisions (Campos et al., 2011). The results show that there are consumers who considers nutritional labeling on the products during their shopping experiences and are happy to pay even a premium on the products having nutritional labeling on them (Loureiro et al., 2006). Nutrition labeling information decreases the use of products containing harmful components and improves the consumption of the products containing healthy components (Drichoutis et al., 2006). Customers do consider nutritional labeling when making a purchasing decision. Especially the old age people or individuals who are sick or with a special diet recommended having at least tertiary education read nutritional labeling. Moreover households with less than four members were willing to pay more for the nutritional labels (Prathiraja et al., 2003). As a whole nutritional labeling has a huge impact on consumer purchase behavior. There is some evidence that nutrition labeling makes consumers to switch products on the name of healthy and unhealthy diet plans. The preference for nutrient intake usually depends on the demand and supply of the product. From the demand perspective, consumers interest in purchase of healthy diets directly depends on consumers intakes. Consumers ability to make a decision regarding healthy diets usually depends on the information available through different sources (PrathirajaAriyawardana, 2008). If the products does not contain label the consumer may be unaware of its nutritional contents. Consumers usually form their own belief regarding the nutritional value of the product on the basis of information that they get from different sources, However this perception usually lead to either over or under value of the nutritional labeling of the product. Choosing food usually contains a trade of between taste and health contents of a particular product have negative impact on health because individuals usually perceived that decreasing the consumption of the food can lead to improve health conditions (PrathirajaAriyawardana, 2008). The results give a clear signal that printed labels is not linked with gender and age though its consumption relates with the income levels, education and occupation of the consumers. Most lifestyle products such as breakfast cereals, readymade dressings etc. that would mostly be used by people who have relatively higher levels of income and education would pay more attention to various kinds of label information (Sushil Kumar Jabir Ali, 2011). In the context of emerging economies, very little is known regarding consumers expectations and their response to printed food label information (Wang et al., 2008). Pakistans emerging economy is witnessing exceptional boom in the organized retail growth. Its consumers are in the process of changing their consumption/buying behavior especially with respect to food items. Consumption of processed and packaged food items has grown tremendously in the recent past. There is an increase in the demand for healthy food products and with this kind of change in lifestyle and consumption pattern, the quality of food and its safety standards are becoming essential from public policy perspective. ROLE OF FDA (FOOD AND DRUG ASSOCIATION) IN NUTRIONAL LABELLING: Labeling is a part of packaging. Label can be defined as an attachment to the product but according to the Food and Drug Association (FDA), a label is the chief point of contact between the manufacturer and the purchaser. It is described as a crucial part of the manufacturers marketing plan. FDA further explains that the label should carry the name, brand name and the net weight of the product with nutrition facts along with some details of the manufacturer. These food labels increases in complexity as the food products moves from basic commodities to highly process. It therefore keeps a check of the quantity of sugar, fiber, protein that is consumed and allows the purchasers to make an informed decision of the product. (FDA,1998). food_label.jpg With the guidance of dietary health experts, consumers can utilize the nutritional labeling to make better choices and to maintain a well-balanced diet. According to FDA (1998), consumers can enjoy a variety of foods; have a hale and hearty diet with low cholesterol/fats. Take a diet with different fruits or grains and can moderate the usage of salt and/or sodium if nutrition information is practiced. Hence, it carries a relationship between the nutrients and the threat of a disease. If the packaged food products are not labeled, customers may not be aware of their nutrient content. If the consumers form their own belief about nutrient content based on advertising or their own knowledge about food, it can result in underestimation or overestimation of the food content in untagged food products (Anderson and Zarkin, 1992). Especially for prepared food products, nutritional labeling is required more often (Godwin, Henderson, Thompson, 2006). Recently Food and Drug Association (FDA) conducted a research for anticipated changes in the plan and for the usage of the current labels. Therefore, with the sample size of 160 consumers to know if they use the labeling and if so, which part of it is more useful? Almost 21% consumers said that they always examine the tagging while the majority of them told that they often use the label before purchasing the item for consumption. Component of the label most frequently read is of fats, calorie, sugar and fiber contents. The list of ingredients with the health statements were read less. Respondents using high calorie food items like chips, sodas, bakery products etc. said that that do not make use of calorie part while two thirds of them said that they use the labeling rather than relying on their food knowledge and they do understand the importance of labeling. So it can be understood that majority of the respondents use and understand the significant of nutritional labeling and perceived themselves as knowledgeable consumers but a large survey has to be conducted to find the complete awareness and the consumers indulgent. (Godwin, Henderson, Thompson, 2006). A consideration to the food tagging can influence a change in purchasing pattern that can result in improving health. (McLean 2001). FDA with its efforts of providing food information on packaged food items educates the consumers and helps them in the purchasing decision (Satia, GalankoNeuhouser, 2001). CONSUMER AWARENESS ABOUT PACKAGED FOOD PRODUCT: A study was conducted in Islamabad to identify the response of consumer buying behavior in terms of packaging and nutritional labeling. The result showed that Pakistani marketing is getting aware of the nutritional facts of a packaged product. Further, it illustrates that Consumers read the content when they buy packaged food of a particular brand. If repetition is carried out then only manufacture date and expiry date is taken into consideration. The study also found out that a lot of people only check the dates to determine the nutrients. Also, people are still unaware that how much each nutrient is desired by their body and the concept of daily consumption/per meal consumption in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle (Zaidi, 2012). Another study was conducted in our neighboring country, India on Assessing Awareness and Usage Level of Indian Consumer and Influences on Food Buying Behavior. The research show that consumer seek extended information on labels. The result showed satisfactory level of awareness about information available on labels displayed on packaged food and people just skim through the nutrient facts before purchasing the product. In the market consumers also give high value to ingredients and nutrients. Whereas the brand and taste of product is the factor that is consider more as compare to the nutritional value. if these two are liked and the nutrients present are harmful for their health even then product will be purchased (kumar, 2008). Another study conducted in Europe on consumer response to nutrition information on food labels shows that people are aware of the importance of nutrition information on packaged foods. Consumers are aware that in order to maintain a healthy life nutritional food must be taken, therefore they try to make use of the information present on the label as much as they can. However the preference among the consumer differs while purchasing the packaged food such as likeable taste and etc. Secondly consumers prefer to have a simple and easy to understand nutrition information printed on the package. Complicated information and usage of too many jargons leads to confusion and consume their time. They like if noticeable printing to highlight the information as it will catch the eye at once and will also grab the attention of the consumers who are not in the habit of reading the label. Another point that was identified in the study was related to the format of the label and the technical terms including numbers, calculations and even percentages make it difficult for the consumer to decide among the products (Grunert, 2006). Therefore it is extremely beneficial if we find out the likeable ways that grabs the attention of the consumer. The ways would differ depending upon the nature of the product. The psychology of a consumer would be kept in mind while providing the information so that it becomes noticeable and every time when she/he purchases the product reads the label. (Kremers et al. 2006). A research carried out on whether consumers look at nutrition labeling showed it depends on the demographics factors that which nutrients ( sugar, fat, calories) are preferred by the consumers and how much are they interested in reading the nutritional label (Drichoutis et al. 2006). A research paper highlighted that nutrition label on the packaged food can guide consumers to maintain and improve their diet plan and make choices among the food. The effect of nutritional information has a positive impact in switching from one product to another due to beneficial nutrients present in the food. On the other hand nutritional label also have a negative impact on the manufacturer as consumers would avoid the food products that have high content of sugar and fats present it (Nayga, 2006). Consumer search for product information is an active process that involves reading nutritional labeling and then comparing them with other products information and after evaluation of each products information a consumer makes a right decision for purchase. The main cost for a consumer in searching information through label use is the time he/she spends on reading labels; the benefits of this will be healthier food choices. Consumers that are health conscious or have poor health condition through this will be able to search for a more nutritious diet and a healthy life, thus reducing all the risk of an unhealthy diet. Consumers may be aware about the importance of nutritional labeling but time can be an obstacle for the people who have to accomplish plenty of tasks. The purchase decision of employed consumers regarding the quality of product can be low, the reason being less time to spare on labeling than the unemployed consumers who have the time to make an appropriate decision regarding the quality of food products they will purchase (Kim, Nayga Capps, 2001). People make use of the label for various purposes but consumers should be encouraged to use the label more often and create awareness on how to apply this information more efficiently and conveniently (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition 2004). Therefore, policy makers should identify different ways on how to motivate people to change the behavior of reading nutritional labeling before purchase of the packaged product. According to the Lancaster Product Characteristics theory in 1966, the consumers are a

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Legalization of Medicinal Marijuana :: pot should be legal

During the Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations, eight people in the United States were allowed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes under the Compassionate Investigative New Drug program. However, since the Clinton administration no new applications have been accepted. Therefore, other patients who need marijuana to alleviate the nausea and loss of appetite associated with the AIDS viruses and cancer chemotherapy, as well as to treat glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic pain, and other ailments must continue to suffer without the use of marijuana. Is this fair? What could the reasoning behind this needless suffering possibly be? I thought that one of the purposes of government was to promote the well-being of its individuals. Is that not why our country spends billions of dollars towards advancements in medicine every year? So, why aren’t there any FDA approved studies testing the actual effectiveness of marijuana in progress? If it is proved that marijuana does indeed help ease the pain and suffering of these poor people, then why not allow it to be prescribed to help them. It is illegal to consume any prescription drug not prescribed to you. Which makes all prescription drugs illegal, how is this different from marijuana? Sure it may be addicting, but so can caffeine pills. Sure it may be harmful if someone misuses it, but so can Ritalin. I just do not understand how prescribing a drug to help someone could be harmful. The least the government could do is research the subject a little more. Instead, they seem to be doing the opposite. In 1994, The Assistant Secretary for Health postponed the final meeting that would have decided whether the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would require government-grown marijuana to be used in the first medicinal marijuana research project in over a decade. The government seems to have no problems arresting sick people for using marijuana, telling them that there has not been enough research to verify its medical benefits. However, they are doing nothing to assist in the studies. A small non-profit organization called MAPS has been working for two years to raise money, develop study protocols, and obtaining the Food and Drug Administrations approval for the study of marijuana. Only one thing holds them back. They have no legal way of obtaining marijuana, and the government will not give it to them. If a medical missionary in the Rain Forest proclaimed that she had found a new miracle drug to help ease the pain of many sufferers, you can guarantee that a government approved study would be launched almost instantaneously.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Essay --

Every job has its ups and downs, but it just happened to be that we, as human beings, tend to drag our work problems with us to our personal life. Knowing how to separate work from personal life is hard, especially in today’s society considering the technology we have today. This research made me aware of the stress and everyday interactions that probation officers endure and I must admit, is more stressful than I thought. I have always imagined a probation officer’s job much more facile not having such a huge caseload, but like they say, ignorance is bliss. In the following essay, I will be discussing the findings about the stress of a probation officer. This first study did not mention exactly how many officers were used in this study but it stated that 39 to 55 percent have experienced work related violence or threats. (ncjrs.gov). Most of the work related stress did not come from the offenders but from the agency itself. There are three major types of stress in the probation world, high caseloads, paper work and lastly but not least deadlines. And as many jobs have it, about 87 percent blame their supervisor for one of the causes of stress. They said the lack of advancement of the job, and recognizing well job done. (ncjrs.gov). As we can see already, each and one of these stress actors is tied to another. Now the question to ask is how these strong and willing full individual deal and cope with their stress. Some said they took extra sick days just for themselves and other by going to church, venting with family, friends or co workers and others by exercising. (ncjrs.gov) There has been some suggestion to create stress relief programs. Few of the reasons to create relief stress programs is so probation officer will call out s... ...alifying ones.( White, Gasperin, Nystrom, Ambrose, Esarey). Their reason was because of the salary of the job and format. They continue saying that one must be mature, tolerance, open minded, patience and self confidence. .( White, Gasperin, Nystrom, Ambrose, Esarey). This brings up a good point. Wanting to be a community correction officer must be a job one loves and have passion for it because the pay and burnouts that come along with it are not the greatest. One most really consider all the option, pros, and cons of the job before take it. Being a probation officer is like working in the back of a movie scene. Also that one must seen the offender beyond their offense. .( White, Gasperin, Nystrom, Ambrose, Esarey). Trying to see the offender by their offense takes a lot of humbleness. It’s hard to see pass someone who molested a child or murder and innocent child

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Summary Creating Shared Value

Creating Shared Value Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer; Harvard Business Review Summary The article â€Å"Creating Shared Valueâ€Å", written by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer and published in the â€Å"Harvard Business Reviewâ€Å" in January 2011 deals with the idea of innovating the purpose of a corporation and their relationship to the government and social environment in order to identify unknown customer needs and expand the total pool of economic and social value.In the introduction the authors explain that the problem of the contemporary, narrowed capitalistic conception is the reduced trust that people have in business, which is seen as the reason for all kinds of environmental, societal and economic problems. In this neoclassical view, social responsibility is seen by businesses as a constraint in economic success which arises costs; conducting business as usual was seen as spending enough social benefit. Many companies tried to increase their profits by means o f restructuring and personnel reductions; at the same time, communities only perceived little benefit.But according to Kramer and Porter, the competitiveness of a company and the wealth of a community is closely interrelated. On the one hand, Firms need a strong social environment to have enough demand and to be able to benefit from public assets, on the other hand communities gain workplaces by having strong businesses. Firms set corporate responsibility programs only to improve their image and as cheap as possible, not because they regarded it as a productivity driver.Further more, they define themselves as â€Å"globalâ€Å" and often do not have a home base which the authors declare as â€Å"something profoundly importantâ€Å" in strategy theory in order to create value. Companies neglected the interrelation between a distinctive value creation and societal needs and focused more on the industry. For this reason the government had to arise laws restricting the success and c ompetitiveness of the companies, disregarding that nowadays firms in the global economy can easily move elsewhere.Porter and Kramer criticize the business models of most of the companies which focus on short-term profit maximization in contrast to long-term optimization, partially because the market forces them to do that, and did not pay attention to the most important customer needs and broader influences. It seemed that society and economy for a long time worked against each other. In the same time they request the companies to take the initiative in bringing business and society back together by focusing more on societal issues.This idea is not about charity but about understanding the markets and competition. The authors call this model the â€Å"principle of creating shared valueâ€Å". Increasing the shared value in this context is a self-interested concept to set policies and practices advancing the competitiveness of a company by means of enhancing the connection between economic as well as social conditions in their home community with the final goal to increase the total economic as well as societal value.A necessary condition for managers is to develop new skills and knowledge about social affairs, but the government also has to adapt in a way that gives companies the opportunity to act profitable under these circumstances. The authors go a step further and describe the three distinct ways every company has to create societal as well as economic value. They also interact in a way that improving in one of them means rising opportunities in the other. The first issue is reconceiving products and markets.It means that companies have to find out current unmet societal needs their products embody and try to fulfill them because innovations are nowadays the best business opportunities both in advanced and developing economies. An important point is that demand in this case is not static but very dynamic so that those opportunities arise frequently. Fir ms can reposition themselves quite often in order to absorb the grown potential. Especially in disadvantaged communities the demand is so high that firms can profit substantially by selling a large quantity to low prices; but sometimes new or redesigned roducts made for developing communities can also have applications to traditional markets. As a second way to create shared value the authors mention redefining and reexaminating productivity in the value chain which is largely influenced by societal issues. Misuse in those issues and externalities are costly both to the environment and the business. Firms can use synergies between economic and societal issues to raise satisfaction and create shared value.Previously, a change in environmental performance was avoided because it arose too many short-time expenses, but nowadays it is clear that it can even increase product quality and aviod costs. This new thinking is also enabled by renewals in technology and may unlock new, unexplored economic value. In a following step, Porter and Kramer mention parts of the value chain where changes can be made and were already observed, for example the reexamination of energy use or logistics, especially shipping routes. Besides, heightened environmental awareness ensures new methods of resource use and advantages all parts of the value chain.In the procurement area the traditional thinking of commoditization and price competition by only purchasing from small businesses in low wages countries changes into accessing to inputs and taking part in product production to ensure product quality and customer satisfaction. New distribution methods are developed to create shared value and lower environmental costs, e. g. iTunes or Kindle. Instead of holding down wage levels and diminishing health costs, many companies have learned that increasing the satisfaction and the welfare of their workers have a more positive impact on their results then called savings.Because of high transport ation and energy costs, a firm's location gains more and more in importance and now all steps of the value chain tend to be closer together. The third way to create shared value, after Kramer and Porter, is enabling the local cluster development. A cluster, a geographic concentration of businesses and institutions, is seen as a necessary condition to maintain productivity and competitiveness because no company can be self-contained. So business is dependent on their environment, e. g. consisting of nfrastructure and supporting companies, and has to work on it. A lack of framework conditions arise internal costs, such as costs of logistics or the possible pool of workers, and has to be identified and mended by the company. Another key condition is the formation of open and transparent markets. As mentioned before, the company's success is closely interrelated to their community; consequently a functioning cluster in their home base and further investments on it have multiplier effect s such as increasing demand and job creation.Their theory recognizes that societal needs define markets. Besides, social harms creating internal costs for firms can be prevented through increasing in technology and operations management. As a result, firms can even act more productive and expand their market environment. An important note is that the main goal is not to increase personal value but the total economic and social value, so this is not an issue about restructuring but developing shared value. While this article focuses more on the perspective of the companies, it also affects government and civil society.Considering all the facts creating shared value is a meaningful concept to influence simultaneously societal and economic progress in order to raise total benefits. But not all profits are equal. The authors claim profits involving a social purpose because to their opinion these profits endure; they call it â€Å"right kind of profitâ€Å". As result, Kramer and Porte r expect the next wave of global growth. The opportunities to create shared value are given, but perceiving the chance is up to the companies themselves and can be part of nearly every decision.

Monday, September 16, 2019

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray By Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel written by Irish writer, Oscar Wilde. The main character, rich and beautiful Dorian Gray, owns his portrait, which instead of him becomes older and where are traces of sin and mistakes. While Gray becomes uncontrollable and ruthless, his appearance stays youthful and flawless. At the end, in his despair, Gray destroys the picture and himself. The novel gives us a very good lesson – we can do whatever we want, but time is more powerful than us, which means that one day, everybody of us will have to say goodbye to this world.The novel begins with discussion about beauty. Basil Hallward (the artist) and his friend Lord Henry have different thoughts about it. Basil is sensitive artist who is painting the portrait of a young man of the immense beauty. They also talked about life in general, where Lord mentioned that beauty is the only thing that matters and Basil thinks that only stupid and ugly people live the best. Basil accidentally mentioned Dorian Gray, the name of his male muse. He was completely inspirated of him. Gray was an innocente, shy and moral boy who came from rich family.He represented an ideal of male beauty. When Lord met him, he made a strong influence on him that dramatically changed his life. He was a strong hedonist, full of ideas. His philosophical thoughts made strong influences on Dorian that in one moment completely changed his life. After the painting was finished, Basic gave it to Dorian and he fell in love with it. He wished that never grows old. As the story goes on, something unexpected happened. The painting started to change, it was becoming uglier and uglier.Dorian was growing older, but only on the painting. It means that from the day he got that painting, he started living double life. He decided not to tell anybody about his secret. Everything started when he came back home from the cinema. He had a conflict with his fiancee, about eighteen yea rs old Sybil who was an actress in a low budget theatre. She realized that all the time she was living in a lie and decided to play poorly on her last show. Dorian became dissapointed and also embarassed in front of Basil and Henry.Her only knowledge of love was love of theatre. Unfortunately, Dorian decided to break up with her. His decision broke her heart and she commited suicide. As the time went on, Dorian still stayed a young man and did not change. The saddest moment of the story is when he killed Basil. His conscience started to chase him, and he grabbed the same knife to kill him and destroy his painting. At the end of the story, Dorian killed himself. The servants hardly recognized him. All sins he did during his life, were moved from the painting to his dead body.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Public and social issues Essay

Slowly there was huge controversy regarding the manner in which domain names were allocated and provided registration by the NSI. There was a huge increase in the trademark disputes especially in the . com TLD domain. The IANA had no concern for legal issues over the domain name allocations. Hence, many nations including the US had concern over the allocation of domain names over the internet . In 1997, the management of several generic TLD’s were handed over to the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC). The organisation helped in framing 7 new generic TLD’s and ensuring greater amount of healthy competition in the second level domain names . The NSI and the IANA were together concerned with the development of a set of rules and regulations for the assignment of domain names. They developed a corporation that would have jurisdiction for the assignment of domain names throughout the world. This organisation (ICANN) also helped in the development of rules and regulations for the internet domain names. The US DOC also played a major role in the development of the ICANN. The final version of the bylaws by the ICANN was released on October 2, 1998, and released by the DOC. On November 1998, the ICANN and the DOC decidedly to jointly design rules, regulations, mechanisms and methods to ensure Domain name functions. The DOC and other organisations were interested in bringing about better competition and ensuring stability. The role of the US government was slowly being transferred to the ICANN. The NSI also changed its name to Verisign. It was concerned with developing a shared registration system and provides services under the generic TLD’s such as . com, . net, etc. Verisign has to sell certain number of registers in order to have authority of the . com register in 2001. However, some of the registries of Verisign and ICANN still are shared from May 2001. Verisign would operate various registries such as the . org registry till 2002, the . net registry till 2005, the . com registry till 2007. The ICANN has allocated the . org registry from 2002 to 2008 to Public Internet Registry and Verisign for the . net registry from 2005 to 2011 . The domain name has turned out to be a huge business model for several companies. The ads-per-click policy, which would ensure that advertisements placed in the domain name would make more money than the domain itself, would ensure that the domain is continued. On the other hand, if the cost of the domain is more than the advertisements, then the domain is ceased for the next year. There is also a five-day grace period (following registration), which ensures that anybody who has registered a wrong domain can go back and correct his/her mistake. Today, domain names are created and dropped at a very fast rate, and hence, people are in huge confusions. This is happening at a very fast rate, even faster than the rate trademarks are picked up and dropped. To ensure certain amount of control at the rate at which the domain names are picked up and dropped, the ICANN is monitoring several registries. It has given certain number of its registries to companies that can sell out domain name. Such companies are known as ‘registrars’, and they would usually be working on the . com and . net TLD. However, the ICANN has introduced a 5 day window period, which would allow the registering body to make changes or take back the domain name registration within a period of 5 days. The ICANN can also recommend the owner to make modify or even remove certain domain names registered during the window period. This would ensure that any illegal activities or potentially abuse over the internet can be prevented. At the same time, healthy competition can be encouraged over the internet . Since January 003, there has been a shift in the management of the . org TLD from Verisign to the Public Internet Registry, which is an organisation created in 2002 keeping the public internet in mind . During the mid-1990’s, the US government decided to shift several infrastructure and governance that the US government and the military had over the internet over to private bodies. The government felt that the main reason for implementing such policies were because the industry themselves can specialise in creating effective policies and ensure development and advancement through regulations and policies framed over internet. The US government also tried to install several institutional controls means to ensure that the private bodies that had certain governance over the internet. Several organisations such as the ICANN and the IAHC also felt that the international involvement was very important in developing a domain name policy.