Focus Point Holdings Berhad Essay

FOCUS POINT HOLDINGS BERHAD Introduction This case analyzes the effect of Focus Point Holdings Berhad financial strategy on the firm’s operating activities and financial performance. Focus Point Holdings Berhad is an investment holding company that engages in the operation of professional eye care centers in Malaysia. The company is also involved in the trading of eyewear and eye care products; management of franchised professional eye care centers; provision of medical eye care services; provision of food and beverages services; trading of hearing aid solutions and related accessories; and retail of optical and related products. It operates 175 professional eye care centers under the Focus Point, Focus Point Optical City, Opulence, eyefont, ExcelView, Solariz, and Focus Point Signature brand names, each serving a different market segment. This Malaysian home grown optical store was established in 1989 as Focus Vision Care Center. In 1993, it became a private limited company and in 2010, a public entity. Financial Strategy  With the understanding that the fundamental success of a strategy depends on a realistic internal view of its core competencies and sustainable competitive advantages, the company translated its vision and mission statements to pursue its economic objectives. Vision: To become a leading brand in Asia through our focus approach in vision care Mission: To provide consumers with the best vision care and eyewear services as well as to uphold the highest standards in reliability, quality and profesionalism The company arrived at two major decisions, that is, to go public and to franchise the store. 1 Going Public The company’s decision to go for listing on August 23, 2010 is a financial strategy that raised RM16.07 million of which 8.94 million was channeled into expansion plans and upgrading and refurbishment of the existing eyecare centers. The company pursued the market penetration growth strategy, aimed at increasing market share for existing products or services in existing markets. The focus of growth was on expansion of new outlets, upgrading and refurbishment of existing outlets and expansion of branded eyewear products. Franchising  Franchising enabled the company to improve on its economies of scale due to its size, brand name and experience. At the same time, it provided the company with the key advantage of incremental income with minimal capital expenditure in the setting up of new outlets. Revenue contributed by the franchising model mainly comprises of sales of eyewear and eye care products to their franchises and royalty fees which are based on 5% of gross turnover of the respective franchisee’s outlets, and franchise fees payable by franchisees which amount to RM30,000 for a period of 5 years. The franchise agreements signed between the group and their franchisees are valid for a period of 5 years, with an option to renew for another five years with the same franchise fees of RM30,000 payable over the extended 5 year period. To enhance the success of this strategy, a Memorandum of Collaboration was signed between the company’s management and Permodalan Nasional Berhad to facilitate financing for Bumiputera franchisees. The company also collaborated with Maybank on a similar loan scheme for non-Bumiputera franchisees. 2 Internationalization In the same year as its initial public offering, Focus Point Holdings Berhad began to pursue its overseas expansion by opening its first franchise overseas outlet in Brunei. The company’s internationalization effort accelerated the openings of franchises in other south-east asian countries such as Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. The first-mover advantage gave the company the edge, especially in highly-populated countries like Vietnam and Cambodia where consumer spending power was increasing in tandem with their growing economies. On the other hand, Singapore’s economy provided an opportunity for the company to venture into high-end market for professional eye-care services. Effect Of Strategy On Operating Activities By going public, the company was able to collaborate with and convince financial institutions and agencies to provide franchising loans to interested franchisees. Access to financing and the strong presence in the nation resulted in an increase in the number of outlets from the pre IPO total of 130 outlets to 136 outlets in 2011. In 2012, the group has 170 outlets in of which 85 are wholly owned outlets and 85 are franchised outlets. The company cordial relationship with local and international principals and the close working relationship with departmental stores had also allowed the group to secure good premises and maintain Focus Point’s leading position in the market. The overseas franchise business is growing with Brunei alone operating 6 franchised outlets. The money raised from IPO that is used for expansion plan and upgrading outlets has helped in efforts to foster greater customer relations. This is vital for long term business sustainability as data indicated an increasing target population. With the median age of the population increasing, it is expected that the number of population with eye disorder will also 3 increase. The global vision care market is expected to grow by 4.4% over the period of 2010 – 2017. Effect Of Strategy On Financial Performance The IPO exercise, financing facilities for franchisees and internationalization have contributed to a higher revenue and better overall financial performance as shown: 4 PBT – Profit before tax PAT – Profit after tax The above financial highlights showed that the financial performance of Focus Point Holdings Berhad is stronger after going public and taking on aggresive marketing activities to generate increased business volumes. However, the group’s venture into the food & beverage (F&B) segment in the last quarter of 2012 has affected the group’s profit, earnings and 5 dividends per share. The investment in the fast growing F&B segment is expected to enhance the group’s revenue stream and profitability in a longer term. Company’s Performance Versus Industry  The overall level of competition among operators in the professional eye care industry in Malaysia is high as there are many players competing in the industry. As in many retail businesses, there is a low barrier to entry into the operation of professional eye care centres. However, there is lack of industry peers to benchmark as there are no other competitors that are directly comparable to Focus Point Holdings Berhad. Many of the competitors are smaller outlets, independently owned and run by the owners. The nearest competitor locally is England Optical Group with similar growth strategy – store expansion, franchising and internationalization. England Optical Group operates 131 outlets, 120 in Malaysia, 10 in China and 1 in Cambodia. With reportedly 10% market share of the local optical industry, Focus Point Holdings Berhad is currently the market leader in the industry. Market share among competitors are widely dispersed with each holding a smaller percentage of the market. Conclusion A financial strategy analysis helps department heads review external and internal elements affecting a company and how such elements impact short-term and long-term activities. There are never any guarantees for business success, but creating financial strategies gives any business direction and guidance. For Focus Point Holdings Berhad, to ensure sustainability, the group increased the source of income to include food and beverage, in addition to income from eyewear and eye care and franchising. Overall the company is on the  6  right track, focusing on innovation and product development, market expansion especially in untapped regional markets and maintaining a good public image. 7 References Bender, R. , & Ward, K. (2003). Corporate financial strategy (2nd ed.). |Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann Focus Point Annual Report 2010 Focus Point Annual Report 2011 Focus Point Annual Report 2012 Irene, Y. (2010). Focus point targets local and overseas market expansion after listing, Kuala Lumpur: The Star.com.my Lee, A. (2010). Focus point braces for future challenges. Kuala Lumpur: The Star.com.my Lee, KS. (2010). Focus point plans forays into South-East Asia. Kuala Lumpur: The Star.co.my News: Focus Point to expand via franchising. (2003). Retrieved from Malaysian Franchise Association: http://www.mfa.org.my/?franchise-news:focus-point-to-expand-viafranchising:2C00C881V1

Sport Obermeyer

*Sport Obermeyer:* Case Analysis Pratyusha Lakshmi Puranam Executive Summary: Obermeyer offers a broad line of fashion ski apparel, including parkas, vests, ski suits, shells, ski pants, sweaters, turtlenecks, and accessories. Parkas are considered the most critical design component of a collection; the other garments were fashioned to match the parkas’ style and color. Their products were offered in five different genders: men’s, women’s, boys’, girls’, and preschoolers’. The company segments each â€Å"gender† market according to price, type of skier, and how â€Å"fashion-forward† the market was. Within each â€Å"gender†, numerous styles are offered, each in several colors and a range of sizes. In the current situation, Obermeyer is facing two major issues: inability to meet the demand of retailers during peak sales and a confusion of where to produce the garments – Hong Kong or China. The best way to mitigate the inability to meet the demand of retailers during peaks sales would be to forecast the demands with either past data or with the help of a forecasting committee. It would be idea for Obermeyer to forecast future demand with the help of a forecasting committee. To come over the confusion of which city to continue production in, Obermeyer should choose to continue short term production in Hong Kong but the Long Term production should be in China. Sport Obermeyer has the following main problems: Inability to meet the exact demand of the retailers of the latest fashion which is actually a result of poor forecasting of the jackets: Sport Obermeyer depends on the Las Vegas show to determine what fashions were going to dominate the season coming up and then produce the best fashions. This was a problem because the gap between the show and the production of final product and making it available to the retailer takes time and meanwhile anything can happen. Thus a rigid and accurate forecast must be made based on data as well as experience. They are in a dilemma of which location to continue their production in – Hong Kong or China: Raymond Tse had built the new factory in China where the cost was less but the quality had to be compromised. Moreover, the labor had to be trained and a higher minimum order was required. These issues were addressed by the Hong Kong facility where quality of product was good, the labor could multitask, a lower minimum order size was required and the time of production was low. But the overall cost was high. Recommendations: In order to overcome the forecasting issue, effective forecasting methods like forecasting with the committee should be adopted. The calculations can be based on the newsvendor problem and will help to forecast the optimum requirement of products. To overcome the dilemma of where to produce, the production initially continue in Honk Kong andshould be eventually moved to China. Later, Hong Kong should be used when the minimum order size does not suit that in China. Supporting Analysis: Sport Obermeyer has the issue of lack of stock during peak sales of certain types of parkas. This is very similar to the New Vendor problem. The newsvendor problem is a classic in management science partly because selecting an optimal inventory level in the face of uncertain demand is an important problem but also because the solution is so elegant and intuitive: the inventory should be selected so that the probability that the vendor stocks out should be set equal to the ratio of the item’s unit cost to its unit price. Precisely, the Newsvendor Framework is: One chance to decide on the stocking quantity for the product you’re selling Demand for the product is uncertain Known marginal profit for each unit sold and known marginal loss for the ones that are bought and not sold Goal: Maximize expected profit Numerically, P(x)Marginal Profit – (1 – P(x))Marginal Loss = 0 i. e. P(x) = Marginal Loss/(Marginal Profit + Marginal Loss) Obermeyer’s situation is more complicated than the Newsvendor problem because it is highly dependent on what color, style in the most popular at the moment. Moreover, the higher lead time and constraints of minimum number of orders defined by factories worsen the situation. Risk associated Production: Sport Obermeyer should produce the designs and styles that have the least standard deviation because they are least risky. For these products, the demand uncertainty is very less and thus there is a very low chance of incurring a huge loss. A loss, if any, will not be taxing for Obermeyer and will be in a very low level. Moreover, the trade show results from Las Vegas are not required to produce these parkas. Thus their production can be started immediately. On the other hand, Obermeyer would want to wait till the trade show is complete before starting the production of the parks with a high standard deviation because it has a higher risk. Any loss incurred sue to this segment will be huge and taxing. Demand forecast: The following table shows the demand forecast by the forecasting committee. According to basic principles of statistics, in a sample there is a 68% probability of success i. e available demand in the range (Mean + or – Standard Deviation) and 97% probability of available demand in the range (Mean + or – 2*Standard Deviation). The uncertainty in these two cases is the chance of being outside the range. For example there is a 32% uncertainty of availability that if the demand is below 823 or above 1211 in the Gail model. Similarly it follows for the rest of the data. With the Newsvendor problem, the Demand Forecast would be: Here, P(x) = Marginal Loss/ (Marginal Profit + Marginal Loss) Z has been taken from the frequency distribution tables. Produce = Average +Z*Standard Deviation First Production Quantities: tyles for which expected demand is more than twice the minimum order quantity styles for which expected demand is less than the minimum order quantity all other styles From the above data we have the least forecasted order as 639 which are higher than 600, which is the minimum order quantity for Hong Kong. If the demand is more than double of what has been forecasted there is no issue at all and any factory (Hong Kong or China) can be chosen. If the demand is less what we have forecasted it again depen ds on how much lesser than the minimum order size it is. As we have seen all the forecasted demands are greater than 600 and therefore there will not be much of an issue. A typical scenario is when the demand is in between the minimum order and the double the minimum order. For such a situation we will have to further analyze. We cannot blindly order the minimum both times not can we split the demand into half. In such a situation we have to choose a combination of both factories. *Effect of reducing minimum order quantities on profits*: If there is reduction in the minimum order quantities, then it would be profitable only in case of Hong Kong. There may not be a big difference in profitability if China lowers its minimum order quantity. The reason being, if the company selects China for its order, it is probable that the order is of bulk quantity. Hence, the minimum would not matter for bulk orders. As discussed earlier, it is a good idea to choose Hong Kong for quick and small orders. Hence, if Hong Kong lowers its minimum order quantity, then the number of orders with low quantities will increase for Hong Kong – because, Hong Kong produces the product in half the time as China. Hence, minimum order quantities are directly related to quick orders, which implies, if there is a reduction in minimum order quantity in Hong Kong, then it is profitable than the minimum order quantity reduction in China. Thus when we have to choose a location based on the aspect of reducing the minimum order quantities, we must go ahead with Hong Kong as it is more profitable than reducing minimum order size in China. *Increasing the capacity to react to observed demand*: The second order happens immediately after the Las Vegas show. Hence, to improve the capacity to react for the demand, more number of resources need to work for gathering and capturing the market ASAP during the trade show. This would marginally affect the order date, by increasing the time for Obersport to deliver to sport Obermeyer. But, at that moment, every moment is highly crucial. Once, Obersport is asked to deliver on a prior date, the retailers have the chance to start selling the products at an earlier date. From a profitability point of view, it may not affect a major percentage of profit. But, gaining every penny is the motto of a business. Hence, the capacity to observed demand if increased might result in improved profits. Thus Obermeyer should hire extra resources for this job. Improving Performance: Effectively and efficiently forecasting the demand will be the key factor in improving the performance of Obermeyer another important point would be to reduce the lead time. These two aspects will ensure that when retailers are in the peak sales period and request for replenishment of stock, Obermeyer is in a position to do the needful. Reducing lead time is the easiest to control and will help a lot in improving the performance. Moreover, Obermeyer can also restrict its suppliers (fabric etc) to one to two suppliers. Finally, Obermeyer should define the functionality of Obersport. Obersport should be restricted to can be in charge of sewing and cutting the clothes. Shipping and handling can be taken care by another smaller company so that it will be more efficient and timesaving. Sourcing in China versus Hong Kong Although the time taken for production in china is higher compared to Hong Kong, Sport Obermeyer should give the larger proportion of orders to china, to save labor costs. There are orders which need lesser quantity in lesser time. The urgent orders from retailers can be diverted to HK to save time and business. Hence, as decided previously by the company, over 50% of the orders can be given to China. Bibliography: http://www. hbs. edu/research/facpubs/workingpapers/papers2/0102/02-024. pdf http://www2. isye. gatech. edu/~sman/courses/2030/Newsvendor. pdf http://www. slideshare. net/glenferry/sport-obermeyer? src=related_normal&rel=708013 Sport Obermeyer *Sport Obermeyer:* Case Analysis Pratyusha Lakshmi Puranam Executive Summary: Obermeyer offers a broad line of fashion ski apparel, including parkas, vests, ski suits, shells, ski pants, sweaters, turtlenecks, and accessories. Parkas are considered the most critical design component of a collection; the other garments were fashioned to match the parkas’ style and color. Their products were offered in five different genders: men’s, women’s, boys’, girls’, and preschoolers’. The company segments each â€Å"gender† market according to price, type of skier, and how â€Å"fashion-forward† the market was. Within each â€Å"gender†, numerous styles are offered, each in several colors and a range of sizes. In the current situation, Obermeyer is facing two major issues: inability to meet the demand of retailers during peak sales and a confusion of where to produce the garments – Hong Kong or China. The best way to mitigate the inability to meet the demand of retailers during peaks sales would be to forecast the demands with either past data or with the help of a forecasting committee. It would be idea for Obermeyer to forecast future demand with the help of a forecasting committee. To come over the confusion of which city to continue production in, Obermeyer should choose to continue short term production in Hong Kong but the Long Term production should be in China. Sport Obermeyer has the following main problems: Inability to meet the exact demand of the retailers of the latest fashion which is actually a result of poor forecasting of the jackets: Sport Obermeyer depends on the Las Vegas show to determine what fashions were going to dominate the season coming up and then produce the best fashions. This was a problem because the gap between the show and the production of final product and making it available to the retailer takes time and meanwhile anything can happen. Thus a rigid and accurate forecast must be made based on data as well as experience. They are in a dilemma of which location to continue their production in – Hong Kong or China: Raymond Tse had built the new factory in China where the cost was less but the quality had to be compromised. Moreover, the labor had to be trained and a higher minimum order was required. These issues were addressed by the Hong Kong facility where quality of product was good, the labor could multitask, a lower minimum order size was required and the time of production was low. But the overall cost was high. Recommendations: In order to overcome the forecasting issue, effective forecasting methods like forecasting with the committee should be adopted. The calculations can be based on the newsvendor problem and will help to forecast the optimum requirement of products. To overcome the dilemma of where to produce, the production initially continue in Honk Kong andshould be eventually moved to China. Later, Hong Kong should be used when the minimum order size does not suit that in China. Supporting Analysis: Sport Obermeyer has the issue of lack of stock during peak sales of certain types of parkas. This is very similar to the New Vendor problem. The newsvendor problem is a classic in management science partly because selecting an optimal inventory level in the face of uncertain demand is an important problem but also because the solution is so elegant and intuitive: the inventory should be selected so that the probability that the vendor stocks out should be set equal to the ratio of the item’s unit cost to its unit price. Precisely, the Newsvendor Framework is: One chance to decide on the stocking quantity for the product you’re selling Demand for the product is uncertain Known marginal profit for each unit sold and known marginal loss for the ones that are bought and not sold Goal: Maximize expected profit Numerically, P(x)Marginal Profit – (1 – P(x))Marginal Loss = 0 i. e. P(x) = Marginal Loss/(Marginal Profit + Marginal Loss) Obermeyer’s situation is more complicated than the Newsvendor problem because it is highly dependent on what color, style in the most popular at the moment. Moreover, the higher lead time and constraints of minimum number of orders defined by factories worsen the situation. Risk associated Production: Sport Obermeyer should produce the designs and styles that have the least standard deviation because they are least risky. For these products, the demand uncertainty is very less and thus there is a very low chance of incurring a huge loss. A loss, if any, will not be taxing for Obermeyer and will be in a very low level. Moreover, the trade show results from Las Vegas are not required to produce these parkas. Thus their production can be started immediately. On the other hand, Obermeyer would want to wait till the trade show is complete before starting the production of the parks with a high standard deviation because it has a higher risk. Any loss incurred sue to this segment will be huge and taxing. Demand forecast: The following table shows the demand forecast by the forecasting committee. According to basic principles of statistics, in a sample there is a 68% probability of success i. e available demand in the range (Mean + or – Standard Deviation) and 97% probability of available demand in the range (Mean + or – 2*Standard Deviation). The uncertainty in these two cases is the chance of being outside the range. For example there is a 32% uncertainty of availability that if the demand is below 823 or above 1211 in the Gail model. Similarly it follows for the rest of the data. With the Newsvendor problem, the Demand Forecast would be: Here, P(x) = Marginal Loss/ (Marginal Profit + Marginal Loss) Z has been taken from the frequency distribution tables. Produce = Average +Z*Standard Deviation First Production Quantities: tyles for which expected demand is more than twice the minimum order quantity styles for which expected demand is less than the minimum order quantity all other styles From the above data we have the least forecasted order as 639 which are higher than 600, which is the minimum order quantity for Hong Kong. If the demand is more than double of what has been forecasted there is no issue at all and any factory (Hong Kong or China) can be chosen. If the demand is less what we have forecasted it again depen ds on how much lesser than the minimum order size it is. As we have seen all the forecasted demands are greater than 600 and therefore there will not be much of an issue. A typical scenario is when the demand is in between the minimum order and the double the minimum order. For such a situation we will have to further analyze. We cannot blindly order the minimum both times not can we split the demand into half. In such a situation we have to choose a combination of both factories. *Effect of reducing minimum order quantities on profits*: If there is reduction in the minimum order quantities, then it would be profitable only in case of Hong Kong. There may not be a big difference in profitability if China lowers its minimum order quantity. The reason being, if the company selects China for its order, it is probable that the order is of bulk quantity. Hence, the minimum would not matter for bulk orders. As discussed earlier, it is a good idea to choose Hong Kong for quick and small orders. Hence, if Hong Kong lowers its minimum order quantity, then the number of orders with low quantities will increase for Hong Kong – because, Hong Kong produces the product in half the time as China. Hence, minimum order quantities are directly related to quick orders, which implies, if there is a reduction in minimum order quantity in Hong Kong, then it is profitable than the minimum order quantity reduction in China. Thus when we have to choose a location based on the aspect of reducing the minimum order quantities, we must go ahead with Hong Kong as it is more profitable than reducing minimum order size in China. *Increasing the capacity to react to observed demand*: The second order happens immediately after the Las Vegas show. Hence, to improve the capacity to react for the demand, more number of resources need to work for gathering and capturing the market ASAP during the trade show. This would marginally affect the order date, by increasing the time for Obersport to deliver to sport Obermeyer. But, at that moment, every moment is highly crucial. Once, Obersport is asked to deliver on a prior date, the retailers have the chance to start selling the products at an earlier date. From a profitability point of view, it may not affect a major percentage of profit. But, gaining every penny is the motto of a business. Hence, the capacity to observed demand if increased might result in improved profits. Thus Obermeyer should hire extra resources for this job. Improving Performance: Effectively and efficiently forecasting the demand will be the key factor in improving the performance of Obermeyer another important point would be to reduce the lead time. These two aspects will ensure that when retailers are in the peak sales period and request for replenishment of stock, Obermeyer is in a position to do the needful. Reducing lead time is the easiest to control and will help a lot in improving the performance. Moreover, Obermeyer can also restrict its suppliers (fabric etc) to one to two suppliers. Finally, Obermeyer should define the functionality of Obersport. Obersport should be restricted to can be in charge of sewing and cutting the clothes. Shipping and handling can be taken care by another smaller company so that it will be more efficient and timesaving. Sourcing in China versus Hong Kong Although the time taken for production in china is higher compared to Hong Kong, Sport Obermeyer should give the larger proportion of orders to china, to save labor costs. There are orders which need lesser quantity in lesser time. The urgent orders from retailers can be diverted to HK to save time and business. Hence, as decided previously by the company, over 50% of the orders can be given to China. Bibliography: http://www. hbs. edu/research/facpubs/workingpapers/papers2/0102/02-024. pdf http://www2. isye. gatech. edu/~sman/courses/2030/Newsvendor. pdf http://www. slideshare. net/glenferry/sport-obermeyer? src=related_normal&rel=708013

Alexander the Great Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Alexander the Great - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that prior to conquering the entire known world, Alexander made sure that his seized all the power in Macedonia and Greece. So, having performed that, this great general led his army to Asia Minor, then Palestine and eventually Egypt. One should keep in mind that at that time Egypt was under the rule of Persians; that is why it was them who fought against Alexander, not the Egyptians. The latter, in fact, did not show any resistance to him, greeting him as a liberator rather than an oppressor. Indeed, there were several battles that Alexander won before entering Egypt. Thus, after the battle of Issus, attacking Tyre and conquering Gaza, his military supremacy was evident. In Egypt he did not introduce any significant change; quite the opposite, he claimed that he was the son of Zeus and Ammon and agreed to be treated as a divine ruler, according to the Egyptian traditions.As the discussion stresses  Persian Empire was the strongest power in the region in question. It emerged much before Alexander and was generally regarded as the dominant player. However, it could not match the military power of the Macedonian general. Battle after battle the Persian king Darius fled the battlefield, leaving his soldiers alone.  It is quite obvious that after Alexander was able to conquer the capital, the military men did not support Darius who was constantly running away from his opponent and killed him.

Foreign direct investment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Foreign direct investment - Research Paper Example The topic â€Å"The impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth in less developed countries† seems to be interesting and relevant. Through this topic, the study seeks to find whether these inflows of foreign capital can be sustained within the less developed economies. Whether the transnational players in the international economy could contribute to the modernization of the economies of developing countries is also the point of concern in this study.Development Economics is a topic that studies the economics of the developing nations. It has made exceptional use of economic hypothesis, econometric methods, sociology, anthropology, political science, ecology and demography and has mushroomed into one of the liveliest parts of study in all the social sciences. It is reasonable to say that the model of economic growth initiated by Robert Solow in 1956 has had an elementary impact on development economics. An addition to the capital stock will have a larger effect on p er-capita income. It implies that by means of controlling parameters (for example, savings rates and population growth rates), poorer nations will tend to develop faster and hence will come up to reach the levels of comfort enjoyed by their affluent counterparts (Ray, 2007).Leonard (2006) talks about the effect of FDI on wages and labor values in developing nations. Whilst wages for skilled labor often arguments due to higher FDI, the disparity between skilled and unskilled labor income has broadened (Leonard, 2006,).

Journalism, Mass Media and Communication PowerPoint Presentation

Journalism, Mass Media and Communication - PowerPoint Presentation Example Similarly to how significant reputation is to the royal family, it is a prerequisite for every company to guard their reputation considering that this is an extremely valuable asset to the company. Apparently, on the night of her deadly crash, her chauffeur was drunk, while Princess Diana was not putting on a seat belt; on the other hand, Princess Diana, together with her beau, Dodi Al Fayed, were attempting to escape from paparazzi. It is clear that both Diana and Al Fayed sought fame in a way that none of the royal family members did. Nonetheless, the heyday of Princess Diana as a global star seemed to symbolize Princess Diana’s superiority compared to the rest of the royal family. Her lack of self control, together with her helplessness in the appearance of her own desires, which signified her humanity (Adrian & Deborah 2002, p.6). The Establishment that wrangled with Princess Diana no longer even rules England and Wales; according to this organization, their expectation wa s Princess Diana to live in a loveless marriage with Prince Charles, while at the same time bearing the humiliation brought about by his unfaithfulness. With his position, Prince Charles was not only known for his infidelity, but als for his lack of morals, something that the royal family attempted to cover up through all means. However, when Princess Diana filed for divorce, all these dirty secrets came to light. This was a problem to the royalists who have a valid reason to be worried; the constitutional problem in prospect that if Prince Charles marries his long time lover Camilla Parker Bowles, this step sets off alarm bells. This is because, the heir to the throne, who is also the Church of England's leader, happens to be a self-confessed adulterer, who is living unmarried together with another man's ex-wife. On the other hand, if the Queen, together with her advisers make an attempt of blocking the marriage, then the House of Windsor is capable of demonstrating how out of step it is regarding the rest of society. Following the death of Princess Diana, their self-control, as well as refusal to portray emotion in public appeared to be less than human, instead of the summit of human behavior. This led to the natives laughing and poking fun, with the tradition of the stiff upper lip appearing to be risible; resulting to the queen’s accent getting mocked all over the country. Certainly, this is just a change of masks; the Prime Minister Tony Blair, emoting concerning the â€Å"People’s Princess,† turned out to be no more sincere compared to the queen feigning that she had not been wounded by the whole thing. However, beneath that change of mask rests the much deeper, as well as quite irreversible, change of the country from Rome to Italy (Adrian & Deborah 2002, p.24). When Prince William decided to marry Kate, the royal family had to accept his decision for fear of a repeat of what transpired between Princess Diana and her husband. Prince ss Diana had to enter into an early marriage with an old man, i.e. Prince Charles, something that later on resulted in enormous problems since she could not tolerate living in a loveless marriage. However, in the case of the Dutch and Dutchess of England, they are both young and they also love each other; therefore, there is a high possibility that

The brand strategies which Toyota May Adopt to improve tarnished brand Essay - 1

The brand strategies which Toyota May Adopt to improve tarnished brand image - Essay Example In the end the individuals were asked about their opinions and views regarding Toyota’s recall process and the reasons associated with this critical situation. According to them their perceived quality of Toyota as a brand has decreased and they are unhappy to pay the same amount of money which Toyota is actually asking because they should be aware that their brand quality has been tarnished and needs improvement. Most of the security concerned individuals stated that they will altogether stop buying Toyota’s products as they are outsourcing most of their automobile manufacturing. Hence it is evident that the higher management must put more effort in building up to quality and service to reposition their tarnished image in the minds of their customers. 69 Chapter 5 70 Recommendations 70 Conclusion 75 Appendix 90 Introduction The modern age of business can be defined as age of competition. The competition within an industry is gradually increasing with the expansion of b usiness as many new players are entering into the market. There are several reasons behind this intensifying competition. Firstly, globalisation is one of the primary reasons for expansion of trade and business that lead to increase competition. Many business organisations have found greater opportunities in overseas market, and free trade policies and agreements between multiple countries facilitated their market expansion programs. The domestic markets have turned into global markets that heightened competition rivalry among existing domestic and new multinational enterprises. Since last two decades, the society has been experiencing a rapid technological improvement. The technological advancements have led to change the structure of entire trade and business. The management tasks and operational process are now backed with technology like e-commerce and e-business. A better grip of technological advancement helps a business organisation to gain an upper hand position. Finally, en hancing economic condition of consumers and increasing their disposable income have strengthened their purchasing power. This has also changed their consumer buying behaviours and they have developed their specific brand preferences (Vashisht, 2005, p.68). In the modern and competitive business world, business organisations always try to position itself in market for avoiding unnecessary competitions. In this process they aim to achieve strong competitive advantages and core competencies that enable them to gain upper hand position in the market. There are multiple ways to achieve competitive advantages; however, brand development is the most preferred way for creating high business value (John R. Schermerhorn, Jr, 2010). The American Marketing Association (AMA) describes a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers. About. com Marketing Guide further explains that the objective of branding is not just to project yourself as being better than your

Recruitment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Recruitment - Essay Example The methods by which candidates are picked, how they should apply, and the selection techniques to be adopted are considered. In prescriptive literature, formal recruitment methods include press advertisement, job centers and other relevant agencies (Nankervis & Compton 2009). Formal recruitment requires planning and strategy (Harris 2003). As a result, it takes time. A single event of recruitment is likely to have effect in small businesses than in big corporations. According to Atkinson, small firms have a hard time getting the caliber of the staff they need. Formal recruitment needs professional conduct if it is to achieve the intended results (Vaiman 2008). There are arguments that the long process of formal recruitment and selection does not necessarily lead to excellent results. However, the process of formal selection is predictable and easy to manage. Word of mouth advertisement is limited to the sphere of the employees. Formal selection reflects the ability of the structure on an organization. Not much organization can facilitate formal selection and recruitment in a sustainable way (Harris 2003). The leadership of an organization is seen through its ability to vet and get the most qualified workers. Formal selection and recruitment is both merit s and demerits (Roberts 1997). Formal recruitment and selection tends to give an equal chance to a group of talented and willing workers Orange Solutions are a technological company. It is located in many countries around the world. The multinational company has earned a reputation is offering quality technological solutions and has the latest infrastructure in internetworking and wireless technologies. The company has a vacancy in the following position and wishes to invite aspiring applicants to fill it. A job description lists the standards and qualification that must be met. A job description is a documentation used for

Individual and society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Individual and society - Essay Example Psychosocial explanations have emerged in an attempt to explain the different holdings on sex and gender values. This essay will discuss the new unifying religion in the society in relation to the different explanations used to describe the interpersonal and societal relations. The essay will also discuss on the love personality of Victoria Beckham and Hillary Clinton together with my view of their involvement into romantic affairs. The essay will also incorporate the societal expression of romantic love and the different perceptions in the modern society compared with the traditional expressions. Other groups that have emerged to express on gender issues include human sexuality researchers, religious liberals, and secularists. Others have described romantic love and desire to be a different religion and have dominated in areas like America. They believe that it is one religion that brings total fulfillment and is covered in music, movies, and writings too (Brown, 2006: 183). The modernized societies give individuals the freedom to choose on their involvement into romantic affairs at the individual desire to do so. This is unlike in the traditional societies where individual choice of partners was not given the opportunity and rather the elderly in the society did match making. According to the American’s love religion, they have even set aside a high holy day of the romantic faith in February and they call it Valentine’s day. This religion recognizes that shortcomings and disappointments are inevitable since the standards set by individuals are too hard for humans to meet (Beck & Gernsheim-Beck, 1999: 76). This religion recognizes the individual desires to give pleasure at the expense of other sources of joy like sports, play, friendship, careers, and travelling, which give pleasures from different dimensions. The religion holds that, lack of romantic love results to isolation and malnutrition of emotions. There exists detrimental effects of

Paper on the Glass Castle, for communications class Essay - 1

Paper on the Glass Castle, for communications class - Essay Example An individual may talk compellingly but then that individual will surely not have the success in making the variation in the course of his/her communication/interpersonal because of the opinion getting firm. Just like Daniel Dunn has specifically discussed in his book named Communication, that interpersonal communication frequently be unsuccessful among the persons because of the errors. As she presented her real-life understanding and different experiences that she had with her family. Comparable illustration has been brought into being in the book by the author where she has undergo an end to the communication with her family and parents for the reason that they never tried to understood her meanings of issues she had (Walls 136). Danielle Dunn pointed out in his research that at times an individual or a group of people carry their opinion established in a dense manner that affects the communication space. In Glass Castle the author remarks that at times she still even felt vulnera ble and weak in explaining her ideas to her parents regardless of their improved point of education. This was purely because of the opinion which made their interpersonal communication unsuccessful. In accumulation, non-verbal communication leaves an intense shock on the receiver. In the case of Wall’s family one can say that this was not as much expected to take place because of the less interest of parents towards their children being alcoholic (Walls 147). The writer took the advantage and used the autobiographical rule/style to achieve the interest of readers. After reading a conversion of the story, I observed that the attitude of the writer is a bit simple, obvious and less touching which means that it completely depends up on the reader to make his/her mind concerning the happening of the occurrence which Walls family had experienced. The major reason of the writer to pick

Example of a Reflective Writing Essay Example for Free

Example of a Reflective Writing Essay An example of good reflective writing – integration of theory with personal experience; justification and explanation of person experience using relevant theory as support; provides insight into the author’s observations of the theory; appropriate use of language; analysis of theory within the context of own experience. Organisational change and development theory suggests that models are a good way of providing change practitioners with strategies to plan, implement and move through various stages of change (Waddell, Cummings Worley, 2007). While it is arguable that models are useful in providing guidelines for change practitioners, I feel that they are not necessarily an accurate representation of how change is actually experienced in organisations. I have worked in an organisation that has been through repeated change throughout the duration of my employment. My experience of change has been somewhat different from how it is reflected in change models. For example, as an employee I have not been involved in the initial planning stages of change, nor have I been involved in diagnosis at an individual level, therefore I am unclear as to what happens during these stages. From an individual perspective, it feels as though change is planned and implemented in my organisation at the senior levels of management without adequate input or information to and from staff. Further, from my perspective, change is not experienced in a smooth manner as suggested by change models. I have experienced change that has not appeared to move beyond the unfreezing stages (Lewin, 1947), and I have also experienced change that has regressed at different stages rather than move forward. If I were to work with employees as a change practitioner, I would highlight the realities of change so that employees are aware that there are multiple experiences in addition to ‘the prominent way of viewing this process’ (McShane Travaglione, 2007, p.502) within academic references. An example of poor reflective writing – colloquial/non-academic writing style; opinion-based without justification or explanation; lack of engagement with theory; links to references not made; generalisation of opinion. In my job I have been though a lot of change and there is no way that what the change models say is right. My experiences of change have all been bad and there is no way that anybody could have had a good experience of change. I don’t think change models are useful as they pretend that change is an easy process which is different from my opinion that no change is easy. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that managers don’t manage change properly as I have never seen the stages of any models within my organisation. This might be because my manager is a poor communicator which is what all the staff think. In my opinion, change models shouldn’t be taught to students as they can only teach students to think about change in the wrong way which doesn’t help employees who have to go through it.

Observational and Motor Learning Development

Observational and Motor Learning Development Human development is astonishing from embryo, to infant, to kid, and so on till the fullu grown-up person. There are a number of things that kids require to learn and developmental objectives that require to be achieved. The rationale of this paper is to examine learning of motor-skill in a three to four year old child, its connection with observational learning, and strategy to assist a three to four year old child with delayed fine motor skills. Consecutively to completely recognize the issue an examination of milestones of fine motor skills is needed. Milestones of Fine Motor Skills Infants and kids as they develop build up 2 kinds of motor skills: fine and gross. The fine motor skills are individual’s skills that entail movements of small scale e.g. holding a toy(David Grissmer). Gross motor skills are perceived as individual’s skills that engage movements of large scale e.g. the moving of the limbs up and down (David Grissmer). The described ages in this case are three and four years. Three year old Kids must have the capability to: wear their own shoes, solve easy riddles, play with another kid in an activity group (David Grissmer). Four year old Kids must have the capability to: dress by themselves, exhibit a hand preference, emulate a square, open and close buttons of dresses, and consoles buddies in misery (David Grissmer). Kids are supposed to incident milestones of developmental in addition. Milestones of Child Development Children Developmental milestones attain more than merely the range at which they control objects (fine /gross motor skills). Kids attain milestones during learning, playing, speaking, behaving, and moving â€Å"(CHATS , R. (N.D.) ). Once more the spotlight for milestones of developmental will be three and four year’s old kids. A three year old in expressions of milestones of emotional and social must obtain rolls in games, recognize the notion of theirs, and might get disturb with foremost regular changes (CHATS , R. (N.D.). ). Communication and Language engages recognizing and naming the majority of things, being able to recognize and names of friends, and being able to converse with them (CHATS , R. (N.D.). ). In expressions of cognitive movement: can runs easily, playing with toys that have buttons, levers etc, being able to turn pages of book, , and walking up and down on stairs (CHATS , R. (N.D.). ). A four year old in expressions of emotional and social milestones must collaborate with other kids, and recognize the distinction amid imagination and reality (CHATS , R. (N.D.). ). Communication and Language engages speaking their first and last name, telling stories, and (CHATS , R. (N.D.). ). In expressions of cognitive and movement: names some colors together with a few numbers, uses scissors, initiates to recognize time, and being able to catch a thrown ball the majority the time (CHATS , R. (N.D.). ). Piaget and Fine Motor Skills The brain is a vital component of the fine motor skills process of learning. There are 4 segments of the brain that add to this process of learning: premotor cortex, supplementary motor cortex, dorsolateral frontal cortex, and posterior parietal cortex. The premotor cortex is connected with perceptual motor integration by recognizing spatial target discovering a new relationship amid environmental and selfish space (DP,Butters,N.(1995)). The dorsolateral frontal cortex is connected with the strategic course by choosing the objective for the movement and the majority suitable surroundings for that movement (DP,Butters,N.(1995)). The supplementary motor cortex is connected with succession: arranges spatial targets in the accurate sequence and replicates the succession with the similar movement (DP,Butters,N.(1995)). Finally, is the spinal interneuron connected with active which interprets targets og egocentric spatial into patterns of muscle and creates novel relationships amid the target and the patterns of muscle (DP,Butters,N.(1995)). An additional means that fine motor skills can be learned is through the theory of social learning or art of imitating. Theory of Social learning is deemed learning by observation since the viewer habitually a kid is observing a further child, an adolescent, or also an adult. The actions that are exhibited by the observed person have the prospective to be imitated by the observer if and merely if definite criterion is in place. The criterion is concentration, maintenance, imitation, and motivation (Patricia H. Miller). Consequences as well bear burden in this area of learning by observation. The observer will simply replicate the behavior studied if the advantages of that actions overshadow a likely outcomes or reprimands that are connected with that actions (Patricia H. Miller). In expressions of studying fine motor skills a kid who can recognize the series of theory of social learning can automatically start to imitate those about them. The period of the copying behavior is difficult to determine. A kid that observes their parent using a mobile phone will imitate that behavior. The similar goes for eating and dressing. As magnificent as developing of fine motor skills are, there are a few kids who are delayed in incidence this particular time. Strategies for Delay in fine Motor Skill Kids whose development of Motor Skill is delayed there are more than a few diverse strategies that can be utilized consecutively to fix this predicament. Primarily generate daily activities that need the kid to use handheld toys and things (CDC,). Next, make use of songs with finger play to build up fine motor skills (). Thirdly, let the kid to seize and sense objects (CDC). Squeezing objects would be in actuality be helpful. Fourth, provide the kid manipulatives to play for instance blocks or clay (CDC). Conclusion Milestones are extremely significant to welfare and efficient growth on the course to adulthood. Fine motor skills are incorporated in that listing of milestones development. For instance when kid is able to pick up a ball and throw it to others. There are as well additional milestones to be taken into deliberation for instance developmental for kids. Social learning prepared its access with the association of fine motor skills learning with observational learning. The kid merely requires being continued drawn by the actions of the person by observation and then impersonating the behavior observed. There are instances when the milestones are not being able to attain and as a result a delay of motor skills is created. The key spotlight for the person is to use fine motor skills to complete definite actions for instance using manipulative. References Chats , R. (n.d.). Developmental milestones. Retrieved from http://www.childhealth- explanation.com/milestones.html http://www.cdc.gov/NCBDDD/actearly/milestones/index.html CDC: Developmental Screening, â€Å"Facts About Developmental Disabilities,† Important Milestones. David Grissmer, et al. Fine Motor Skills And Early Comprehension Of The World: Two New School Readiness Indicators. Developmental Psychology 46.5 (2010): 1008-1017. PsycARTICLES. Miller, Patricia H. (2011). Theories of developmental psychology. New York: Worth Publishers. Salmon DP, Butters, N. (1995). Neurobiology of skill and habit learning Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 5, 18

Gloria Naylors Mama Day Essay -- Gloria Naylor Mama Day Literature Es

Gloria Naylor's Mama Day Gloria Naylor's Mama Day takes place in two distinct environments, each characterized by the beliefs and ideologies of the people who inhabit the seemingly different worlds. The island of Willow Springs, comprised solely by the descendants of slaves, is set apart from the rest of the United States and is neither part of South Carolina nor Georgia. As such, its inhabitants are exempt from the laws of either state and are free to govern themselves as they see fit. Only a worn-out bridge built in 1920 connects the inhabitants to the mainland, but the people of Willow Springs are entirely self-sufficient. They believe in the ways of their African ancestors and respect the heritage of Sapphira Wade, the original "Mother" who convinced her master to deed the island to his slaves. They live in the present yet believe in the power of supernatural forces and herbal or root medicine. Mama Day, whose imposing presence in Willow Springs is felt by all of the inhabitants, best understands that he r world is founded upon the power of belief. Belief in that which may seem to defy all rational or logical sense. In New York, however, Cocoa finds herself amongst a group of people who seem distant and interested in only themselves. Stemming from many different backgrounds, the people of New York are always in a rush and "moving, moving, moving ---and to where?" (19). No one knows for sure. Just like the subways, racism in New York moved underground, and Cocoa experiences it as she desperately searches for a job. After having lived in New York for seven years, Cocoa still has not found a suitable mate. Only when she meets George does she start believing again in the goodness and sincerity possessed by some. George is t... ... that Ruby is the source of Cocoa's illness, and admits to Dr. Buzzard that he only believes in himself (292). When he finally visits the other place, he is appalled by Mama Day's "mumbo jumbo" but after seeing Cocoa's condition worsen, he eventually submits to her plan. His inability, however, to understand that a pair of empty hands are all that Mama Day needs costs him his life. George's inability to believe in that which he could not understand leads to his demise. Unfortunately, as Naylor reminds us, "Rational America" insists that everything should have a rational basis. As products of this rational society, we never accept things at face value because we constantly dig deeper in hopes of completely understanding that which may be eluding us. Sometimes, however, it is best to cast aside reason and accept things for what they are and what they represent.

Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness Essay -- Literary Analysis

The idea of intertextuality can be seen heavily in Apocalypse Now as it based on the story and ideals within Heart of Darkness. The characters of Apocalypse Now are direct references to characters in the novella, and through their actions and ideals, serve nearly the same role. The first parallel we see between characters is that of Willard and Marlow. In the opening scene of the movie, Willard is complaining about wanting a mission and getting back into the war, stating â€Å"Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle. When I was home after my first tour, it was worse. I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said "yes" to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle. I'm here a week now, waiting for a mission, getting softer; every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger. Each time I looked around, the walls moved in a little tighter.† (Apocalypse Now) Willard is being driven mad by his need to be involved in the war, to the point where it is affecting his home life. Simply being in his room waiting for a mission is making him become paranoid to an unhealthy ext ent in which he feels the need to become intoxicated and self destructive to cope. This obsession correlates with Marlow’s own obsession with work in Heart of Darkness. Like Willard, Marlow’s sanity also relies on his work. The first major break in his mental state we see is when he is unable to do work due to his steamer being damaged and not having the parts to repair it. Upon hearing the news that rivets necessary to repairing the steamer are on the way, the normal stoic Marlow bursts ... ...e you. And suddenly he'll grab you, and he'll throw you in a corner, and he'll say "Do you know that 'if' is the middle word in life?’If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you'..." – I mean, I'm no, I can't – I'm a little man, I'm a little man, he's, he's a great man† This speech is extremely similar to that of the one Marlow is greeted with, which shows how Apocalypse Now uses nearly the exact same device as Heart of Darkness to show Kurtz’s effect on people. Works Cited Apocalypse Now. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Pro. Francis Ford Coppola. American Zoetrope, August 15, 1979. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Bantem Dell 2004 Comparing Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now." 123HelpMe.com. 16 Dec 2010 .

Use of International Law to Protect Human Rights Essay -- Enforcing In

1. Introduction Treaties are the highest source of international law besides jus cogens norms that have binding effect on the parties that ratify them.2 International human rights treaties rely on the â€Å"name and shame† mechanisms to pressure states to improve practices.3 However with â€Å"toothless† international human rights norms, moral coercion is not always effective. An empirical study conducted by Professor Oona Hathaway assessing the effect of human rights treaty ratification on human rights compliance, maintains in its findings that ratification of human rights treaties has little effect on state practices.4 States do not feel pressured to comply and change their practices, rather, signing treaties is â€Å"more likely to offset the pressure rather than augment it.†5 So, is it time to abandon human rights treaties and remit protection of human right to domestic institutions. Hathaway posits elsewhere that despite this treaties â€Å"remain an indispen sable tool for the promotion of human rights.†6 Instead of getting rid of the treaty system, it is necessary to enhance the monitoring and enforcements mechanism to strengthen the human rights regime to ensure compliance.7 This article evaluates the extent to which international law serves as a useful tool for protection of human rights. 2. Development of Human Rights Protection States ratify human right treaties to enter into agreements and commit each other to respect, protect and fulfill human rights obligations. However, the adherence to human rights treaties is not ensured by the same principle of reciprocity instead to ensure compliance, collective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms were introduced.8 International organizations and treaty ... ... Berkeley Journal of International Law 256 44 Ann Janette Rosga and Margaret L. Satterthwaite, ‘The Trust in Indicators: Measuring Human Rights’ (2009) 27 Berkeley Journal of International Law 253, 257 45 Oona Hathaway, ‘Do Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference?’ (2003) 112 Yale Law Journal 1935, 2025 46 Allan Rosas, ‘States Sovereignty and Human Rights: towards a Global Constitutional Project’ in David Beetham, Politics and Human Rights (OUP 19995), 62 47 Justin Conlon, ‘Sovereignty vs. human rights or sovereignty and human rights?’ (2004) 46 Race and Class 75, 48 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted 10 December 1948 UNGA Res 217 A(III) (UDHR), Art 1 49 Robert McCorquodale, ‘A Future for Human Rights Law’ in Mashood A Baderin and Manisuli Ssenyonjo, International Human Rights Law: Six Decades after the UDHR and Beyond (Ashgate 2010), 544

Hair Coloring

Hair coloring Definition of hair coloring: Hair coloring is the practice of changing the color of hair. The main reason for this practice are cosmetic, e. g. to cover gray hair, to change to a color regarded as more fashionable or desirable, and to restore the original hair color after it has been discolored by hairdressing processes or sun bleaching. Hair dying, which is an ancient art, involves treatment of the hair with various chemical compounds. Today, hair coloring is immensely popular, with over 75 percent of American women dyeing their hairHistoryHistory: The dyeing of hair is an ancient art. In ancient times, the dyes were obtained from plants. [ Some of the most well known are henna (Lawsonia inermis), indigo, Cassia obovata, senna, turmeric and amla. Others include katam, black walnut hulls, red ochre and leeks. [16] In the 1661 book Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art & Nature, various methods of coloring hair black, gold, green, red, yellow, and white are explained. The development of synthetic dyes for hair is traced to the 1860s discovery of the reactivity of PPD with air.Hair dyeing is now a multibillion dollar industry that involves the use of both plant-derived and synthetic dyes Types of hair coloring: Permanent hair color: A popular way to achieve permanent hair coloring is through the use of oxidation dyes. The ingredients of these products include 1,4-diaminobenzene (historically) or 2,5-diaminotoluene (currently), a coupling agent, and an oxidant. The process is typically performed under basic conditions. The mechanism of oxidation dyes involves three steps: 1) Oxidation of 1,4-diaminobenzene derivative to the quinone state. ) Reaction of this diimine with a coupler (more detail below). 3) Oxidation of the resulting compound to give the final dye Semi-permanent hair dye: Semi-permanent hair color has smaller molecules than temporary dyes. These dyes only partially penetrate the hair shaft. For this reason, the color will survive repeated washing, typically 4–5 shampoos or a few weeks. Semi-permanents contain no, or very low levels of developer, peroxide or ammonia, and are therefore safer for damaged or fragile hair.However, semi-permanents may still contain the toxic compound p-phenylenediamine or other such ingredients. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that in rats and mice chronically exposed to PPD in their diet, it simply depressed body weights, and no other clinical signs of toxicity were observed in several studies. [5] The final color of each strand of hair will depend on its original color and porosity, so there will be subtle variations in shade across the whole head. This gives a more natural result than the solid, all over color of a permanent color.However, it also means that gray or white hairs will not appear as the same shade as the rest of the hair. If there are only a few grey/white hairs, the effect will usually be enough for them to blend in, but as the gray spreads, the re will come a point where it will not be disguised as well. In this case, the move to permanent color can sometimes be delayed by using the semi-permanent as a base and adding highlights. Semi-permanent color cannot lighten the hair Demi-permanent hair color: Demi-permanent hair color is permanent hair color that contains an alkaline agent other than ammonia (e. g. ethanolamine, sodium carbonate) and, while always employed with a developer, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in that developer may be lower than used with a permanent hair color. Since the alkaline agents employed in demi-permanent colors are less effective in removing the natural pigment of hair than ammonia these products provide no lightening of hair's color during dying. As the result, they cannot color hair to a lighter shade than it was before dyeing and are less damaging to hair than their permanent counterpart. Demi-permanents are much more effective at covering gray hair than semi-permanents, but less so than permanents.Demi-permanents have several advantages as compared with permanent color. Because there is essentially no lifting (i. e. , removal) of natural hair color, the final color is less uniform/homogeneous than a permanent and therefore more natural looking; they are gentler on hair and therefore safer, especially for damaged hair; and they wash out over time (typically 20 to 28 shampoos), so root regrowth is less noticeable and if a change of color is desired, it is easier to achieve. Demi-permanent hair colors are, in essence, permanent color and the darker shades in particular may persist longer than indicated on the packetTemporary hair color: Temporary hair color is available in various forms including rinses, shampoos, gels, sprays, and foams. Temporary hair color is typically brighter and more vibrant than semi-permanent and permanent hair color. It is most often used to color hair for special occasions such as costume parties and Halloween. The pigment molecules in temporary hair color are large and cannot penetrate the cuticle layer. The color particles remain adsorbed (closely adherent) to the hair shaft and are easily removed with a single shampooing.Temporary hair color can persist on hair that is excessively dry or damaged in a way that allows for migration of the pigment to the interior of the hair shaft Alternative hair colorants: A minority of hair coloring products are designed to create hair colors not typically found in nature. The available colors are diverse, including green and fuchsia. These dyes are typically sold in punk-themed stores (such as comic book and music stores), with brand names like â€Å"Beyond The Zone†, â€Å"Splat†, ‘Fudge Paintbox' ‘Crazy Colors' â€Å"Clairol Jazzing†, â€Å"Manic Panic†, â€Å"Special Effects†, Punky Colour†, â€Å"Stargazer†, â€Å"La Riche Directions†. A permanent alternative in some colors (such as bold red and dark, inky purples and blues) are available from big haircare brands. Some alternative color shades are blacklight reactive, to show up under nightclub lighting. The chemical formula of alternative color dyes typically contain only tint and have no developer. This means that they will only create the bright color of the packet if they are applied to light blond hair. People with darker hair (medium brown to black) will need to use a bleaching kit prior to tint application.Some people with fair hair may benefit from prior bleaching as well. Gold, yellow and orange undertones in hair that has not been lightened enough can adversely affect results, especially with pinks, blues and greens. Although alternative colors are semi-permanent in the cases of some colors, such as blue and purple, it could take several months to fully wash the color from bleached or pre-lightened hair Adverse effects of hair coloring: Hair coloring involves the use of chemicals capable of removing, replacing and/or coverin g up pigments naturally found inside the hair shaft.Use of these chemicals can result in a range of adverse effects, including temporary skin irritation and allergy, hair breakage, skin discoloration and unexpected hair color results. Side effects of various products result in loss of hair and in extreme cases balding If consumed by the body by means of inhalation or digestion certain hair dye brands have shown evidence of causing constipation and other dangerous disruptions within human organs. Additionally, there is ongoing discussion regarding more serious health consequences of hair color usage, including lead poisoning.Skin irritation and allergy In certain individuals, the use of hair coloring can result in allergic reaction and/or skin irritation. Symptoms of these reactions can include redness, sores, itching, burning sensation and discomfort. [6] Symptoms will sometimes not be apparent immediately following the application and processing of the tint, but can also arise afte r hours or even a day later. To help prevent or limit allergic reactions, the majority of hair color products recommend that the client conduct a patch test before using the product.This involves mixing a small quantity of tint preparation and applying it directly to the skin for a period of 48 hours. If irritation develops, manufacturers recommend that the client not use the product. Hair breakage Hair that has been damaged by excessive exposure to chemicals is considered over-processed. This results in dry, rough and fragile hair. In extreme cases, the hair can be so damaged that it breaks off entirely. This is especially true for Afro-Caribbean hair, especially if used in combination with relaxers.Treatments are available but the only real solution is to stop the use of chemicals until new hair grows and the damaged hair is cut off. Skin discoloration Skin and fingernails are made of the same type of keratinized protein as hair. That means that drips, slips and extra hair tint ar ound the hairline can result in patches of discolored skin. This is more common with darker hair colors and persons with dry absorbent skin. This discoloration will disappear as the skin naturally renews itself and the top layer of skin is removed (typically takes a few days or at most a week).A good way to prevent dye discoloration is to put a thin layer of Vaseline or any oil-based preparation around the hairline. It is recommended that latex or nitrile gloves be worn to protect the hand Plant-based dyes Henna is an orange dye commonly used as a deposit-only hair color whose active component, lawsone, binds to keratin. It is therefore considered semi-permanent to permanent, depending on a person's hair type. Most people will achieve a permanent color from henna, especially after the second dye. With repeated use the orange color builds up into red and then auburn.While â€Å"natural† henna is generally a red color, variations exist. These variations usually contain ingredie nts from other plants and even synthetic dyes. Indigo is natural dye from a plant (Indigofera tinctoria, suffructicosa, or arrecta) that can be added to henna or layered on top of it to create brown to black colors in the hair. On the color wheel, henna is orange, and indigo is blue, so as complementaries, the two colors work together to create brown tones. Like henna, indigo may fade after one application, but it becomes permanent on the hair with repeated use.Using a plant-based color such as henna can cause problems later when trying to do a perm or permanent hair color. Pure imported body art quality henna is claimed not to cause such problems, but most store-bought henna is mixed with additives which can lead to unpredictable results if the hair is later colored. Although it may not be visible on darker hair, the staining from henna will remain for several months and this may only be realized when dyeing is attempted and an unpleasant, permanent orange color results

Case Anaylsis Motivation

Jason Haro 10/10/2012 Management of Organizations Case Analysis: Motivation In order to have an effective performance from a group a people, effective leadership must be used along with good teamwork to have an efficient running company. After analyzing the case of Joe Chaney, it is clear that there has been a fault in leadership along with lack of motivation. In order to fix the situation with Mr. Chaney, a meeting should be established with him to discuss his performance.The first question to start out with is to make sure that Joe realizes there has been a problem with his performance at work. Chances are he will realize there is a problem, since his conversation about complaining about his job was overheard. Once it is established that there is a problem with performance, the next task is to figure out if the problem stems from inadequate subordinate ability or motivation. In the case of Joe Chaney, there is a problem with both ability and motivationThe inadequate subordinate abi lity comes from inadequate resources to do the job leading to a resource problem. Mr. Chaney was hired with mediocre recommendations from his previous employer because help was needed desperately. The firm seems to be understaffed to handle the rise in workload from the local construction boom. The absence of formal performance reviews and career counseling due to time constraints along with losing Friday social hours and making weekends mandatory is a huge demotivating factor for employees, not just Mr. Chaney.The relationship curve between level of conflict and level of performance shows that having too much conflict for extended periods of time leads to low levels of performance. More staff should be hired to ease the workload. Incentive problems are also an issue with Mr. Chaney. Mr. Chaney’s statement of â€Å"no one around here respects my opinion. I’m just a lowly draftsman†¦ because I don’t have the degree, they ignore my input, and I’m stuc k doing the grunt work† shows that there is an issue of Mr. Chaney feeling unappreciated so he has stopped caring about his work.Effective leaders should be empathetic towards his employees. Understanding that he has a wife and children shows that he has concerns for providing for his family. Between working and being a family man, he may not have an opportunity to obtain his degree to have a better title and paying wage. Restarting career counseling and performance reviews would help solve these problems. Credit should be given to Mr. Chaney as his performance, until recently, has been surprisingly well and produced high quality work.

Corporate Strategy Analysis Discussion Summary Essay

â€Å"Corporate strategy identifies the set of businesses, markets, or industries in which the organization competes and the distribution of resources among those businesses† (Bateman & Snell, 2011). There are four basic alternatives for corporate strategy. These strategies include concentration, vertical integration, concentric diversification and conglomerate diversification. Every company has their type of corporate strategy that they follow to include Coca-Cola, Xerox, Southwest Airlines, and VF. In 2004 Coca-Colas CEO Neville Isdell agrees to come out of retirement and becomes cokes new chief executive. Coca-Cola’s worse drop in sales at 24% resulted in the return of Neville Isdell (Foust, 2014). With the return of Neville, Coca-Cola agreed to use a corporate strategy of their own (vertical integration) when they bought Glaceau’s vitamin water. Coca-Cola also came out with their coffee cola (Coke Blak) and their green tea (Envigo). The decision to purchase vitamin water was vital to the increase of Coca-Cola’s sales and bring them back into competition with PepsiCo. Coca-Cola is using an aggressive strategy to expand globally with their carbonated and non-carbonated drinks. To this day Coca-Cola is still expanding with their products such as Fuze and Gold Peak tea. Anne Mulcahy began the transformation of Xerox by following a concentrated strategy by focusing on a single industry. She pursed concentrated strategy by first reducing Xerox nearly $18 billion in debt. She accomplished this by cutting billions of dollars through slashing of jobs and selling off divisions. Anne Mulcahy then evaluated alternatives by pouring resources into a consulting division; this made the company more accessible for potential clients and customers. She developed a new business strategic plan, although a risky choice helped the organization seize new opportunities or thwart challenges. She also closed the desk top printers division and moved away from expensive consumer  printers with functions nobody wanted. Xerox took new technology and moved into colored digital printing and started developing high end color commercial printers. Xerox made this decision because the profit margin of color pages was five times that of black and white copies. Xerox used the strategy of concentric diversification by moving into a new business that was related to the company’s core business. Xerox then purchased office Services Company and Image Services for 1.5 billion dollars to demonstrate its new marketable high end color digital printers and copier services. References Bateman,T.S., & Snell, S.A. (2011). Management:Leading & collaborating in a competitive world (9th ed.). New York,NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Foust, D. (2014). Gone Flat. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2004-12-19/gone-flat

Globalization and Religion in Latin America Essay

Dr. Marian Cusimano Love’s argument on globalization is very clear and straight forward as she pointed out the other side of globalization, which according to her creates institutional crises â€Å"as existing states and regimes are having difficulties in coping with the challenges globalization brings† (p. 2). She contends that this difficulty creates and exacerbates institutional gap. The institutional gap according to the author is that while globalization is at fast pace, institutional responses is slow. The problems move faster than the solutions to it and this cannot be managed by any government alone even by the strongest state in the world. However the author’s emphasis falls on the institutional gap that exists between the rich and poor countries. Here, the author rightly pointed out the wide discrepancy of the rich and poor countries in the sharing of the benefits of globalization. The author argues that only the rich countries led by the United States enjoy the benefits of globalization as the world economy is ruled by Multinational Corporation, which only cares about profits while the states seek wealth and development. Thus, the author pointed out that whether globalization is driven by multinational companies or by powerful states,† many observers decry the ethical basis of globalization is driven by an ethic of crass materialism and consumption, or western cultural imperialism† (p. 4) As the ethical issue widens, the author emphasized that today more than half of the world’s population are not getting any benefits of globalization, and human development is unfulfilled, sacred creation is destroyed, and human life is lost. This emphasis clearly implies a strong course of action in favor of the poor people or poor states that cannot advance or protect their interest in the global economy. The author noted that this problem is looming and worsening as the world’s poorest population is growing which will further enhance the gap between the rich and the poor. The author’s discussion of the unequal sharing of the benefits of globalization calls for a unified response from rich countries on the growing ethical concerns between the rich and poor countries, because, after all poor people are also sacred creation. But as the author turned to religion to search for answer to the growing institutional and ethical crises brought about by globalization, it appears that this is not possible as the corporations and states are not only engines but are both engine and beneficiaries of globalization. In turning to religion, the author presented an entirely different view from that of the states or corporation. The author noted that corporations view people as a source of profit while the state sees people as a subject to be governed or taxpayers. Religion sees people not as an instrument or a servant or useful object, but a spiritual being created by God, therefore he must be independent. He has the right to share in the blessings, which is the product of economic development. The author argues, â€Å"Religious organization has long been playing an active role in globalization† (p. 5), and can be a mediating institution in the institutional and ethical gap between the rich and the poor. I believed that the author is right in saying that religious organization â€Å"may have some advantages in responding to these institutional gaps, to help manage the problem of globalization† (p. 6). Indeed, many religious international organizations are doing exactly these things. The author cited that there is already a course of action taken in coordination with the Roman Catholic bishops of Latin America and the Canadian Bishops Conference, which is a seminar on debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries. This is important course of action because it proves that religious institution can indeed fulfill the task of bridging the gap between the rich and the poor. The Latin American Catholic bishops were coordinated for the conference for the reason perhaps that many of the world’s poorer country is located in Latin America. It is where most of these ethical problems relating to benefit of globalization are generally experienced. In bridging the gap by the Catholic Church, the author pointed out that the US bishops and the United States Catholic Church â€Å"may not be well equipped to bridge the gaps created by global problems† (P. 8) as US Catholic bishops are not quick to make decisions, and â€Å"many developing countries believed that globalization benefits the US at their expense† (p 8). I think these reasons are valid, as it has been mentioned in this paper that the US along with other rich countries and multinational corporations are the ones who get most of the globalization benefits. But Catholic Church is a global institution with highly organized yet centralized leadership, which would be ideal in mediating or bridging the gap created by the problem of globalization. The Latin American Catholic Church can perfectly facilitates this bridging as the economy of most Latin American nation belongs to the third world economies. They maybe fully know the whole agenda of bridging the gaps between the poor and the rich economies of the world. The author noted that the Catholic Church has over 2000 years’ experience as a global institution, which made the Catholic Church deserving of the task. Furthermore the author pointed out that â€Å"globalization brings institutional gaps, but the Catholic Church has rich, extensive networks and institutions, from schools and hospitals to parishes and social development agencies, which are not only service oriented but in it for the long haul† (p.8). Religion bridges the institutional gap of rich and poor by presenting alternative visions of globalization, which is seeing people not as market, nor instrument but people of God that participate in the benefits of globalization. Work Cited Love, Maryann Cusimano. Bridging the Gap: Globalization and Religion, and the Institutions of the U. S. Catholic Church. USA: American Academy of Religions Conference, November 20, 2001.

Philosophy - Introduction to Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philosophy - Introduction to Ethics - Essay Example her in prison for six years, the system hopes that it will teach a future generation that just because you commit a crime and then become a fugitive for twenty-three years, you still do not escape justice. This is a utilitarian view. On the other hand, the retributivist view is the one I favor. Susan Ann Power did not need to be locked up to prevent her from committing future crimes. She had become a law abiding citizen for twenty-three years. This still did not change the crimes she had helped commit. Most state and federal laws, certainly the ones where Powers and her accomplices committed their crimes, state accomplices are just as guilty as the actual participants. Under these laws, Powers and Saxe could have received life sentences for the death of the Boston police officer. The least that Powers could serve was six years for the participation in a man’s murder. While she was on the run, having a sun, getting married, and being a good citizen, this officer’s family was suffering from his death. Everyone who participated in this crime needed to pay for the price of this man’s life, not just the one who shot him. Susan Ann Power received a balanced sentence of eight to twelve years. She proved that she would not continue in criminal activity. Power proved that she could become a law abiding citizen. Although she deserved to pay for her crime, her up standing life should have been taken into account as well. People labeled Bentham’s theory of the good life as â€Å"the pig philosophy†, because Bentham’s felt there were only two true mediums; pleasure and pain. He felt that the good is whatever brings the greatest happiness. Although at first his theory was good is whatever brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people, he soon saw how the two parts contradicted each other. After that, Bentham only went with the greatest happiness theory. Bentham’s theory was considered â€Å"the pig philosophy†, because what can give

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge - Term Paper Example A striking aspect of the story is the non-linear plot structure employed by the author. The story is divided into four compact parts. Chronologically they are arranged in this fashion – 2,1,3,4 – which means the background information about Farquhars allegiance to the confederate cause is placed next to the event of his hanging by Union soldiers. The last two parts are chronologically in the right places, and it is in the crisp and concise fourth part that we learn that the whole of preceding narrative were the final hallucinatory thoughts of Peyton Farquhar. The material for the thesis is contained in the third part which was only a matter of few minutes but takes up a large chunk of the narrative. This is deliberate on part of the author, for he is trying to show to the reader that there is so much life contained in each passing second. The author is also hinting that we mostly dont enjoy our lives to the fullest, probably because our attention is being diverted from really important things in life like family and children and toward superficial things like status, wealth accumulation, etc. (Powers, 1982, p.280) By showing to the readers that so much drama could be contained in a brief period of time, Bierce is suggesting that there is a great scope for happiness and enjoyment during human lifetime which we dont realize in the normal course. The high-adrenaline condition created by the thought of approaching mortality had taken Peytons imagination to a surreal zone. In this state of mind, the small hopeful signs of his escape from death looks magnified and magnificent. His powers of perception and the intake of sensory stimuli were taken to new heights. For example, â€Å"He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the

BestBuy - Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BestBuy - - Case Study Example Best Buy Company has made it a priority to center their marketing and trade operations by better recognizing and identifying the consumer approach dynamics to electronic retail purchasers. Consumer behavior are those acts of individual consumers that directly involve obtaining and using economic goods and services including decision that are determined in this acts. It can also be identified as the behavior that the consumers exhibit in planning, purchasing, and using goods as well as services. The knowledge of consumer behavior implemented by Best Buy Company has helped it in securing consumers a process known as consumer royalty. To attain this, the company started by making consumer profiles. The company then trained its employees to focus on specific customers, rather than product and modify them to the needs of the customers. This understanding of the consumer behavior helped the company. The implementation of this model helped the company get a better feedback in what the consumers really needed. The company started to target their products to the consumers by analyzing how their purchase decisions are made. Through â€Å"customer centricity,† the company is able to identify different customers, and groups of people depending on their desires, roles, and lifestyles. This enabled the company to focus on the consumers’ needs. Through the knowledge of consumer behavior, the company understood the customer as the most important asset of the company. They therefore drove forward to ensure their consumers obtained optimal satisfaction with the products that they developed. This move created a great impact in Best Buy Company to make it the largest electronics retailor. One of the advantages that â€Å"customer centricity† brought about to the Best Buy Company is that it brought knowledge to the company of the decisions and their needs. This helped improve best buys

The Boston Tea Party Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

The Boston Tea Party - Article Example According to the article "The Boston Tea Party", the tea party culminated into the movement that resisted the tea act which had gained grounds in the entire British America. The tea act had been previously passed the British parliament in 1773 with the sole objective of helping the much troubled British Indian company survive the calamity of surplus tea that was taken to the warehouse in London (Tilly 22). Closely related to this was the plan to undercut on the cost of the tea that found their way into the British colonies situated in North America. The intention was to convince the colonists to accept the purchase of tea belonging to the company and which duties were paid, in this way, the parliament right to taxation on the tea was to be endorsed (Tilly 26). The act also permitted the company to access with tea North America region and the right to export duty-free tea emanating from Britain. The severity of the parliament’s act was noted by the colonists in the entire region that consisted of thirteen colonies and was not pleased by the move. Just like it happened in the to the Stamp act of 1765, the provision of the act was equally rejected (Tilly 27). A coalition of furious merchants as well as the artisan initiated the opposition to the act and was determined to resist the distribution and delivery procedures of the tea as stipulated by the parliamentary act. Following this opposition, the company’s legitimate consignees were subjected to continuous harassment and this was coupled the resistance of the tea not to be landed.

Read, summarize, and analyze news items about insects, spiders, or Essay

Read, summarize, and analyze news items about insects, spiders, or mites - Essay Example Environmental scientists are making every effort to find out the possible causes and save the dying honey bees. A similar article â€Å"Honeybee virus: Varroa mite spreads lethal disease† published by Victoria Gill in the BBC Nature highlights one of the important factors responsible for wiping out the honey bee populations (Gill 2012). Honey bees are an important part of our ecosystem and contribute in a significant manner to the environment that is beneficial to the human beings. Honey bees play their role primarily as pollinators and are helpful to the thriving agriculture. As pollinators, they are responsible for over 130 different fruits and vegetable crops that we eat (Kulwicki 2012). Hence, without the honey bees the important process of pollination will be majorly affected, causing the crop industry to encounter a huge collapse. Not just the agriculture, the decline of the honey bees’ population also affects the economy conspicuously. The cost of many crops has increased because of the decreasing honey bees. â€Å"This basic supply and demand tilt has already impacted the over $15 billion dollar industry† (Kulwicki 2012). Therefore, the decline in the significant pollinators i.e. honey bees not only the agriculture produce per year will be affected but the economic impact will also be very upsetting. The author of the article has reported about a scientific team studying about the honey bees’ death in Hawaii. The scientists have been studying the death of honeybees caused by a viral disease and have come to a conclusion after their research and investigative study that the Varroa mite is the vector for the deathly virus. According to the scientists, the Varroa mite is the parasitic mite that spreads the lethal virus strain among the honey bees, resulting in a disease called deforming wing virus (Gill 2012). This was an important breakthrough in the research of the causative factors of honeybee death. The Varroa mite specifica lly incubates the fatal form of the disease and directly injects it into the blood of the honey bees resulting in their death (Gill 2012). Dr. Stephen Martin, the head of the scientists’ team, studied the honey bees in Hawaii where the Varroa mite was transferred from the Californian state approximately five years back. The interesting and helping aspect was that, some honeybees’ colonies in the Hawaiian Islands were still untouched from the fatal effects of the Varroa virus. Hence, the team was provided with a natural laboratory environment within the Hawaiian Islands where they had both the infected and non-infected honey bees. The team monitored both groups of the honey bee colonies for two years to observe the effects of the virus and type of viruses that were responsible for the death (Gill 2012). The outcomes exhibited the relationship between the Varroa mite and the deadly strains of the virus infecting the honey bees. It was evident after the detailed monitorin g that the fatal strain of the virus was chosen by the mites as the other strains of the same virus were not harmful in any way to the honey bees. According to Dr. Martin, an infected-honey bee contains a vast number of viruses within itself and the honey bee and viruses both are adapted to each other’s presence and no harmful outcome appears. However, the Varroa-infected honey bee

Week-3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week-3 - Essay Example Our company aims at improving the appearance of the business enterprises and houses of our customers. For instance, decoration of our customers’ homes through use of flowers is an efficient manner of conserving the environment, as well as improving the appearance of the homes and business premises of our clients. The main purpose of this company is profit maximization by insisting on the use of environment conservation methods of decorating homes (Tisdell, 19). In order to fulfill its purpose, the company has the following policies; 1. Hiring expert who have wide experience on decorating homes and premises by use of methods that are environment friendly. Recruitment shall be on a competitive basis, and the most qualified shall receive the job. 5. Encouraging innovation, in regards to waste products that are recyclable and can be used for decorative purposes. This is by providing incentives to our employees, and initiating a culture of innovation in our company. The company supplies energy saving bulbs, solar panels, and biological decorative products such as flowers, and seedlings of trees. Energy saving bulbs has an effect of creating a beautiful atmosphere in homes, without reducing efficiency depicted in traditional bulbs. By supplying solar panels to homes, and business enterprises, the organization targets the consumption of energy without polluting the environment. Solar panels can produce electric current, whose purposes are to light homes, and business premises. The company also supplies flowers which are used to decorate homes, providing a feeling of natural beauty (Tisdell, 21). The company is unique in the market because it emphasizes on the conservation of the environment as a key strategy in achieving customer satisfaction. On this basis, the company does not just view the current environment in which it operates at; it also concerns itself with the future

Hero Myth - Achilles Essay Example for Free

Hero Myth Achilles Essay The concept of the hero is as old as myth itself. Throughout history both concepts have evolved together. Myths tell tales of the adventures of man, frequently the son of a god or goddess and a human, who is endowed with great promise and destined to perform great feats. Often these feats involve acts of rescue, war or protection. This heroic myth is rooted in the ideal of familial romance. Particularly during adolescence it sustains and expresses the identification of the ego with idealized imagery. The hero myths have been used for centuries to educate and train youths as parts of institutions and groups. One example of a hero is Achilles, made famous through Homer’s epic Illiad. While we may not look at myths today in the same ways as our ancient forebears, the hero myth is still alive and well in our culture today. Achilles was the hero of the Trojan war as related by Homer in the Illiad. He was the mightiest of the Trojan warriors. He began life as a demigod, the son of Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons and a mortal, and Thetis who was a Nereid. The Myrmidons were legendary warriors, very skilled and brave. Nereids are sea nymphs being the daughters of Nereus and Doris. Thetis was very concerned that her son was a mortal. Therefore she attempted to make him immortal. There are two stories of how she wet about this. The lesser-known story is that she burned him in a fire nightly and then healed his wounds with a magical ambrosia. The more well-known story is that she held him tightly by the heel and submersed him in the river Styx. This made his entire body invulnerable except for the spot on his heel where she held him while he was in the river. During Achilles’ boyhood, a seer named Calchas prophesied that Troy would not fall without help from Achilles. Knowing that he would die if he went to Troy, Thetis sent Achilles to the court of Lycomedes in Scyros. He was hidden there in the guise of a young girl. While at the court he had a romance with Deidameia who was the daughter of Lycomedes. The result was a son who was named Pyrrhus. The disguise finally came to an end when Odysseus exposed Achilles by placing arms and armor amongst a display of female garments and picked Achilles out when he was the only â€Å"female† to be interested in the war equipment. Achilles then willingly joined Odysseus on the journey to Troy. He led a host of his father’s Myrmidon troops in addition to his utor Phoenix and his friend Patroclus. Once in Troy, Achilles quickly gained the reputation as an undefeatable warrior. One of his most notable feats was the capture of 23 Trojan towns. One of these was Lyrnessos where he took a war prize in the form of a woman named Briseis. The central action of the Illiad was sparked when Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks, was forced to give up his war-prize woman, Chryseis, by an oracle of Apollo. As compensation for the loss of Chryseis, Agamemnon took Briseis from Achilles. Thus enraged, Achilles refused to continue fighting for the Greeks. With Achilles’ withdrawal from the action, the war started to go badly for the Greeks and they offered large reparations to try to lure back their greatest warrior. Achilles continued to refuse to rejoin the war, however, he did agree to allow his close friend Patroclus to don his arms and armor and fight in his place. The next day Hector, a Trojan hero, mistook Patroclus for Achilles and killed Patroclus. Achilles was engulfed with rage at Hector and consumed by grief for his friend’s death. Thetis went to Hephaestus and obtained fabulous new armor for Achilles. Achilles recommenced fighting and killed Hector. Not satisfied with Hector’s death, Achilles used his chariot to drag the body before the walls of Troy and refused the corpse funeral rites. Hector’s father Priam, the king of Troy, went secretly to the Greek camp to beg the return of the body. Finally, Achilles relented and allowed Priam to take Hector’s remains. After Hector’s death time started to run out for Achilles. He continued to fight heroically and killed many Trojans as well as their allies. Eventually, Paris, who was another of Priam’s sons, enlisted the aid of Apollo and wounded Achilles in his weak spot – the heel – with an arrow. This caused Achilles death. The enduring legend from the story of Achilles has to do with the concept of the Achilles’ heel. An Achilles’ heel has come to mean that despite overall strength, there is a mortal weakness that can lead to one’s downfall. While the original myth refers to a physical weakness, in modern times it has come to reference other types of character flaws or qualities that can cause ruination. The concept of the hero has changed somewhat in our modern culture. Instead of daring people who buck trends and traditions in order to help their families, nations or cultures, today we tend to revere people like sports figures and actors. While we have the occasional government or political leader such as Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela, most of what you hear about is who is making the most money due to their sports or acting ability. The concept of the sports figure hero can have some validity as these figures do occasionally overcome great odds and perform daring feats on the modern â€Å"battlefield†, i. e. , the sports arena. However, this is nothing compared to the feats of the ancient heros. Hero myths are powerful stories from ancient times. So powerful are they that they cross cultures and ages, continuing to influence us today. Achilles was one of the great heros of ancient times as the mightiest warrior of the Trojan war. While who we classify as a hero has changed in our modern societies, we still look to the concept today. We teach young people about heros as a method to inspire them. We look to our heros as adults to give us guidance and to give us something to guide our hopes and dreams. While modern heros may not be of Achilles’ status, they remain an integral part of our cultures.