Critical Review of Cook,  V. (1999). Going Beyond the Native Speaker in Language Teaching

Critical Review #1 Review: Cook,  V. (1999). Going beyond the native speaker in language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 33(2), 185. In his article, Cook argues that the emphasis or dependence of native speaker model(NSM) in language teaching is not necessary. It is time to adopt non-native models both for language learning and teaching, and he provides some possible teaching methods. Firstly, Cook defines the native speaker and L2 users.Then he discusses the slight but salient differences between monolingual native speakers and multilingual native speakers in terms of â€Å"multicompetence† so that there is no stable NSM. He also argues NSM is implicit and L2 users are actually using L2 differently instead of deficiently from monolingual bias perspective, which means native-speaker level is not a must, even impractical, to most of L2 users because they do not need to proclaim their identity through the L2 and only few L2 users have achieved native-speaker proficiency.After this series of arguments, Cook proposes some practical suggestions of successful L2 user as models and applying L1 for teaching methods. Cook concludes that more emphasis should be added on the skillful L2 users and on using L1, and teaching language is not to imitate native speakers but to help learners so that L2 learners are successful in terms of multicompetent. In general this article is refreshing, especially 14 years ago. I absolutely agree with Cook that successful L2 learners are â€Å"successful multicompetent speakers, not failed native speakers† (p. 04). In non-English-speaking countries like China where English is neither an official language nor a lingua franca, a simple English native speaker, without teaching experiences or educational professional background, can be admired as a language specialist or an English authority only because he speaks so-called â€Å"pure English†. It is the time, 14 years later after this article has been published, to establish a positive image of nonnative-speaker teachers for the sake of both themselves and their students and for the fanatics of NSM to wake up.While in other places where English is adopted as a lingua franca, the reduction of NSM is more meaningful in the way of being equal, due to the speakers’ various lingual preferences and cultural backgrounds. Actually, nine years before this article, Rampton (1990) had called on the professionals to label native speakers as language experts in order to shift â€Å"the emphasis from ‘who you are’ to ‘what you know’† (p. 99). So in this sense, Cook affords L2 users agency on learning to use L2 instead of to transform their identity into native speakers. However, uncertainties still remain.First, although the author offers the definition of L2 users and even distinguished it from L2 learners, he does not make it specific what kind of languages one uses can be considered L2s in his statement. For example, languag es learned at what age or for what reason can be one’s L2? Or can one who learns L2 as an adult in order to stay alive in English-speaking countries be the same as one who simply uses L2 to serve foreigners in his own country? Second, the author observes that â€Å"students may feel overwhelmed by native-speaker teachers who have achieved a perfection that is out of the students’ reach. † (p. 00) I think the author slightly overstates the students’ fear of native speakers. The author himself admits that some L2 users could pass for native speakers, so why should all L2 learners be taken as not extraordinary in the first place? Also, the NS teachers do not only symbolize fluent target-language speakers, but also a bridge that connects two different cultures, which is cherished by students as well. Furthermore, according to Derrida (1998), language itself is essentially â€Å"oppressive†, thus both native speaker and L2 users are oppressed by languag e and nonnative-speaker teachers could also be overwhelming to the students.Third, since research supports the idea that teachers tend to teach the way they learn (Stitt-Gohdes, 2001), the nonnative-speaker teachers can be a distinguished example of successful L2 user, because such teachers are not only â€Å"fallible† as Cook states or â€Å"presents a more achievable model† (p. 200) but also they can share or deliver their knowledge, experience and strategies of becoming a successful L2 user. Fourth, the author mentions â€Å"successful L2 users† several times but does not give a definition or standard of it.Thus it makes me confused because is a successful L2 user one who is infinitely close to the native speakers? 733 words Reference Derrida, J. (1998). Monolingualism of the other: or, the prosthesis of origins. Standford, CA: Stanford University Press. Rampton,  M. (1990). Displacing the â€Å"native speaker†: Expertise, affiliation, and inheritanc e. ELT Journal, 44(2), 97-101. Stitt-Gohdes,  W. (2001). Business education students' preferred learning styles and their teachers' preferred instructional styles: Do they match? Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, 43(3), 137-151.

Coeducational vs Single Sex Schools Essay

I think it would be nice to attend an all-girls school. I am for this for many different reasons. Of course, there would be a lot less drama with the girls, and they would concentrate more on their schoolwork instead of their appearance. Their grades would be much better, because they would study more and ask questions about the assignments. An all-girls school is a great idea for teenage girls in high school, because since there would be no boys around, the girls wouldn’t be vying for their attention. Without all of the boys, the girls wouldn’t worry about many things, besides their schoolwork and their grade. They wouldn’t wear make-up or cute clothes, because they would have nobody to impress. I’m going to admit it, there are only two reasons why girls have drama or fight, either somebody is running their mouth, or it’s over a guy. On https://privateschool.about.com/u/ua/choosingschools2/singlesex.htm, there is a comment from a girl with the username, Girl Power. In her comment she makes really good points about why an all-girls school is better than coeducational. Although all of the comments were inspirational and helpful in making my decision, her comment was the one that helped me make my final decisions that I have written in this paper. All-girls schools help young women learn to be independent, and not fight about stupid things, like boys. In all-girls schools, just like coeducational schools, there are different groups of people. Some of the groups are similar to the groups at coeducational schools, such as preps, jocks, nerds, miscellaneous, etc. All-girls schools would have a lot less drama than coeducational schools, because the girls would have no reason to start drama. Alright, this whole next paragraph is my opinion; you don’t have to agree with me. Girls pay a lot more attention to their schoolwork then to boys in all-girls schools, because there are no boys around to pay attention to. Most girls just can’t help it, they are natural flirts. My friends and I are that way, so I’m not being mean. It’s completely natural to flirt, some girls may take it too far, but that’s their problem. If I was at an all-girls school, I am almost positive my grades would be better than they are now, except for math. Math is my weakness. If all the boys left midway for a week, and nothing was left but the girls, the school average would increase dramatically, because the girls would pay attention more, and make better grades. Girls are too worried about their appearance or too caught up in flirting with the boys to pay attention in class, therefore, they will fail. It’s normal for girls to crave the attention from the boys. Most of the time it reflects in the way girls act. Sometimes I don’t understand why girls have boyfriends, because they will flirt anyways, it’s the natural thing. I got off topic there for a second, let’s get back on track. The girls wouldn’t have to look â€Å"perfect† at an all-girls school. They wouldn’t have to wear any make-up; they would just have natural beauty. They wouldn’t be competing for attention from the boys, because there would be absolutely no boys. Well, after doing a lot of research and taking a lot of notes, an all-girls school is the way to go. Less drama, better grades, and you don’t have to be perfect. Okay, I’m going to go beg my mommy to let me go to an all-girls school. It’s the best decision in my opinion.

Comparison: State Income Tax, Oregon vs. Florida

Income Tax, Oregon vs Florida, Comparison and Analysis Income tax, as defined by thefreedictionary. com, is â€Å"A charge imposed by government on the annual gains of a person, corporation, or other taxable unit derived through work, business pursuits, investments, property dealings, and other sources determined in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code or state law. † In layman's terms, Income tax is money taken out of someone's pay and given to the government, state, federal, or in some cases both.Some special exceptions apply, but in the states being covered in this essay, being Florida and Oregon, those exceptions will not bother us as of right now, although we will look at them later as a point of comparison. Today we are asking ourselves why Florida has no income tax, but Oregon does. We will look over some things such as basic tax laws, other tax laws and regulations in the state regarding similar matters. We will also mozy on over to some population and citizen fac ts and trends, and relate them to why the government in each state has set up taxes the way they have.In the end we will come to a conclusion on why states do what they do, and whether that is a good thing or not. Let’s first delve into the origins of income tax and the origination in the United States. One of the first income taxes was passed in late 18th century Britain. It was a very small tax at . 08% of income for those making ? 60 and up and it moved up to 10% for anyone lucky enough to make a living of over ? 200. This was the inspiration for the tax proposal during the War of 1812 to provide the government with extra income. The war ended less than a year after the tax was proposed so it was never appointed.During the Civil War, another tax was proposed and implemented, in 1961, being 3% of incomes over 800 dollars. Later, in 1894 another tax law overcame it and was made to 2% on incomes over 4,000 dollars, meaning less than one out of ten households even paid the tax . Now let’s just say it, of course the majority of the working class dislikes income tax, or any sort of tax for that matter, especially income though, because you pick up your paycheck and right there you almost always look and see, deduction, deduction, etc. Let’s take that first part into consideration though, working class.Working class as defined by thefreedictionary. com is â€Å"The socioeconomic class consisting of people who work for wages, especially low wages, including unskilled and semiskilled laborers and their families. † This is generally referred to if you were to turn into political debates or discussions, on how things will affect the working class, and how the candidates will want to please the working class, blue collar Americans. Generally working class Americans work at basic or low level jobs, i. e. ones you wouldn’t need to take college or any paid training to do.Some examples would be Cashier, Warehouse worker, Criminal Henchmanà ¢â‚¬ ¦ okay maybe not that last one. Anyways, if you happen to be one of these people and found your current residence in the beautiful state of Oregon, you may find a not so beautiful state level income tax on each paycheck, coming out at 9. 0%, given you are making somewhere in-between 7,750 and 125,000 dollars per year. 9 Cents to the dollar of your earned wages goes to the state government, not to mention a federal rate of 10-28% depending where you fall on that same scale.Although that is a large percentage, we are looking solely at state income tax. Corporations have also had an income tax since 1955. Florida, comparably, has a slightly smaller number, being 0% state income tax, although federal is the same across the board. Although Florida does has corporate income tax, being 5%, instituted in 1971. Florida also had a ‘intangible property tax’ but that has been revoked since 2007. Immediately when you are presented with this information, you will think: â€Å"W hat is different about Oregon and Florida, and will affect decision making about state income tax? First off, let me congratulate you on your ability to think the exact same way my essay coheres to. Secondly, what is an answer? Population! Income tax is only collected on officially recorded income, so what does that have to do with individuals? Whether they work or not. Florida has a population with higher-than-average retirement rate. About 17. 3% of Florida’s 18+ million residents are retired, which is 65 years or older, which is generally considered to be the age one quits ‘working’ or employment. This is compared to Oregon with only 13. 9% of its 3. million citizens being retired. Along with that, the average age of a Floridian is around 2 and a half years older (38. 7) than that of an Oregonian (36. 3). These states, presented in percentages, may seem insignificant in difference, but presented with raw numbers, they seem much more intimidating. Florida, at 1 7. 3% or 18 million is estimated at being filled with 3. 11 million retirees. That’s nearly the population of Oregon. Let’s be glad not everyone in oregon is 65 or older, although it’d be quite a good investment opportunity for retirement centers.Anyways, with nearly 2 in 10 people being retired, and therefore not bringing in income, Florida is already sounding like one smart cookie of a state. Let’s further it buy bringing up some other facts. Florida has an unemployment rate of 11. 5%, or around 2. 1 million people. Between the unemployed and retirees, Florida has over 5. 2 million of its 18 million not bringing in any wages, and therefore not giving the state any income tax. Although Florida has more retired people, the average wage of an Oregonian, being 35,500 dollars, is lower than Florida, at 39,000 dollars.Over 2. 5 million people in Florida are also on food stamps, which is a state funded program that allows unfortunate people and families to pur chase food to prepare. This is another good sign Florida isn’t instating an income tax because the taxes collected would surely be directly sent back through programs such as these. This brings forward another point, Florida has a sales tax, or a tax which is imposed on purchasable and rentable goods and physical property, as well as special services.Medications requiring a prescription are also not taxed. Tax is only made on retail sales, for example if you bought something at a store, then sold it to a neighbor, you would not collect sales tax and send it to the government. If you were however, to purchase an item, then sell it back to a retailer, they would sell it and charge sales tax for a second time. Pawn shops and Used car dealerships are great examples a multiple taxed item. The general rate is 6%. As with many states, Florida also has Sales Tax Holidays.What this means is during certain times of the year, particular items are priced with discounted tax or no tax at all, although the latter is more rare. Such holidays and items would include things similar to school supplies in the days before school starts. With so many people on food stamps, it would be smart to have a sales tax when food stamps are used to purchase food, because usually basic foods such as milk, bread and other groceries aren’t taxed or are taxed less because they are considered ‘necessities’ compared to prepared food such as McDonalds or food repared at a restaurant. If they had sales tax, not to mention they were being paid for by food stamps, the government would be ‘recycling’ money, or basically handing it to the person, which they would then spend and be taxed on, and that is ineffective compared to just taxing goods where people would spend their own income and the government would collect on that rather. This is different than say Oregon, who has no sales tax, except in special cases, such as Ashland which charges 5% prepared food tax . This works for Oregon because they have a instituted income tax, and no sales tax.This way, as long as you make wages, Oregon doesn’t care how you spend them, because they have already collected your money! Collective tax revenue forwards these arguments. All forms of taxes resulted in a gross revenue of 5. 76% of a person's income from Oregon. Florida had 5. 03%. Although Florida is lower, given the fact that the population is much larger, much more money was made. Again referencing the income of a Floridian being around 3,500 more dollars, with the added fact of a larger population group, the money could be considered evened out. 5. 03% of a Floridians income would amount to about 1,960 dollars, where Oregon's 5. 6% amounts to 2,072 Dollars. So while being different by . 7%, which is a big difference when you’re talking about the millions of people and even more money, the total difference only being around 100 dollars total tax revenue per capita is pretty signifi cant considering the stats we’ve been shown. With this, we briefly observe labor laws. Until 2004, Florida had no minimum wage law. This means it would have been very hard to implement an income tax. Also could be considered unjust, given the fact that the government could decide how much you must pay of your earned wages whilst not making mandatory to earn a minimum wage of any sort.Once the law was established, however, it was also done so with a notice that it would be adjusted annually based on inflation. Potentially we could see an income tax initiated in the Sunshine State, but it is unlikely with the current working taxes as they are. Next we can look at a bit of history with the states and taxes. Oregon instituted its first tax in 1844, being a property tax. In 1929, Oregon implemented an income tax, for two main reasons, to spread taxes more equally over residents, and to give some relief to those paying heavy property taxes. On average, Oregon receives over 70% of i ts tax revenue from income tax.Property tax is still around, and makes about the same amount of money as income tax, but around half of it is given to school systems and public education. Corporate income tax often makes small fractions of what regular does, being in the low hundred millions, compared to a couple billion in income tax. Florida, on the other hand, does not have income tax, rather sales tax as we have talked about. In 1949, Florida implemented its first sales tax. It had a base rate of 3%. This lasted until 1968, when it was bumped up to 4%. This rate remained until 1982, when it was increased again to 5%.And as of February first, 1988, the tax base rate has been 6% of total sale. Farm equipment, however, has held another rate, being 2% from 1963-68, and then being put up to 3% from 1968 to 2001, when it was decreased to 2. 5%, but four years later in 2005 it was decreased to 0% and stands that way today. Florida also has different tax rates based on counties surcharg e tax, for things such as living costs, tourists development, and local administration costs. These differ in time ranges, rates, and longevity. So, is it necessarily a good or bad thing for these different states to have separate tax systems and rates in place?Well the answer is, there is no real answer. Different systems work for different people and places, and surely there are always optimizations that could be made, but in reality there is not and will likely never be a ‘perfect’ tax system. Money needs to come from somewhere and taxes are a way to do it, but like I said earlier most people don’t enjoy seeing a tax rise, even though it could rationally be deemed necessary. Oregon works with its income tax because it was implemented to counter high property taxes, and sales tax was never made because these two tax systems were already in existence and serving the state well.Income tax again brings in over 70% or the annual tax revenue for the state of Oregon. Florida finds different success given a different population spread giving them more advantages earning taxes from everyone who spends money compared to everyone who earns money. Given the fact that Florida is often a hot spot for tourists or even international travelers, sales tax proves effective because it earns money from people even just visiting from other states, whereas the extra products sold would result in no additional income otherwise.This makes sense for Florida compared to Oregon, because Oregon would not really considered a tourism state that states like Florida or California may be seen as. Also we take into consideration professional sports teams. Oregon has the Portland Trailblazers, NBA, the Portland Timbers, MLS, and that’s about it. Florida however have a multitude of teams, being the NFL trio of Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the NBA teams consisting of the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, the MLB with Miami Marlins an d Tampa Bay Rays, and lastly NHL Hockey teams being Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.Given the fact Florida has 9 major league sports teams, you can imagine the sales in tickets, hotels, restaurants, merchandise, and other sports related events. One game sporting 20,000+ attendees depending on the venue can generate millions overnight in the economy in and around the sporting venue. Granted both Portland teams can do the same but even assuming each franchise can bring in that type of money, Florida is up 9-to-2 and has a sales tax that can apply to many, many things being purchased around game time.In conclusion, although you cannot say which state is necessarily ‘better’ in regard to taxes and tax systems, you can easily see that each state has the system it best sees fit to support the government and economy. â€Å"Department of Revenue: Newsroom History & Statistics about Oregon Taxes. † Department of Revenue: Newsroom History & Statistics about Or egon Taxes. Web. 08 June 2012. . â€Å"Florida Department of Revenue. † Welcome to the Web Site. Web. 08 June 2012. . History of State and Local Taxes. † Revenuelaw. state. fl. us. Fl. gov. Web. 7 June 2012. . â€Å"Florida Department of Revenue. † FL Dept Rev. 02 Jan. 2007. Web. 05 June 2012. Sapia, Jason, and Joseph Henchman. â€Å"Local Income Taxes: City- and County-Level Income and Wage Taxes Continue to Wane. † Tax Foundation. Taxfoundation. org, 31 Aug. 2011. Web. 05 June 2012. â€Å"Income Tax. † TheFreeDictionary. com. Web. 07 June 2012. â€Å"State Individual Income Tax Rates, 2000-2012. † Tax Foundation. Web. 07 June 2012. . â€Å"2012 State Tax Rates & Exemptions. † Oregon Income Tax Rates and Tax Brackets, 2011-2012. Web. 07 June 2012. .

Vision and Rewriting the Vision Statement Research Paper

Vision and Rewriting the Vision Statement - Research Paper Example An advantage of this vision statement is that it clearly defines the objectives of this institution, which are to enable students to achieve a career in the marine industry and help its students learn how to study. The second vision statement is from PennState College of Education â€Å"to be a world leader in the integration of teaching and learning, advancement of knowledge base through research and scholarship, and leadership in service and outreach† (PSCE, 2012). This vision statement is inspirational. It also clearly states the objectives of the learning institution in its goal to promote learning among its students. The third vision statement is from City College of San Francisco â€Å"providing an affordable and unparalleled learning experience in a supportive and caring environment that lead student successfully complete their goals† (CCSF, 2012). Just like the second vision statement, this one is also inspirational and clearly defines the objective of the insti tution, which is to enhance a learning environment to promote learning. A shared vision encompasses goals of various departments. Shared vision created by learning organization should be short but detailed. The partnering learning institutions face a challenge in making the vision short and detailed. The reason for this is that the shared vision statement must state future goals of each of the departments involved. The other challenge when creating shared vision comes from conflicting future goals and objectives of different departments of learning institutions. This makes it difficult to state all of them in one vision statement. The challenge of precision and content can be overcome by using the general future goals of the departments in the learning institution. Frequently, these general goals are either similar or closely related and thus, merging them into a single statement becomes easier. The vision statement I rewrite in this part is â€Å"providing an affordable and unparalleled learning

Has neoliberalism impacted men and women differently Essay

Has neoliberalism impacted men and women differently - Essay Example The emergence of neoliberalism and the globalization however, also brought forward the different social and political inequalities. The changing social order which took place as a result of the neoliberalism is believed to have taken the women out of the family equation and has placed her in the midst of crisis. What is so important with the neoliberalism is that it pushes the regulation of a society out of the hands of government and places it in the hands of market with the belief that the social equality and justice will be restored. Due to the market driven social, political and economic policies, the overall labor force has became more mobile and women are now being considered as the vital part of the overall labor force of any country. The question of whether this shift towards the neoliberalism has affected men and women equally or in different manner therefore is a valid question which this paper will attempt to explore. A quicker look at the definition of neoliberalism shall be a starting point to discuss the issue of how the neoliberalism has actually affected men and women. ... Though the notion of poor gets poorer and rich gets richer has been highlighted what is also significant to note that the above definition has highlighted the issue of economic policies which are relatively free from the influence of State. Neoliberalism in this regard therefore is a completely new philosophy outlining the lesser role of State and therefore greater power to be given to the market forces. Thus the ultimate goal of neoliberalism is to expand and intensify the markets to such level that every transaction takes place based on the market forces. The ultimate objective of neoliberalism therefore is to envisage a world where every aspect of life is governed by the markets. One of the aims of the neoliberalism therefore are to convert most of the social acts and relations according to the market transactions thus allowing competition to take place between each being. Economic rationality therefore is considered as the driving philosophy behind the regulation of a perfect soc iety. This also means that the overall social relations, gender specific roles as well as the position of man and woman radically altered as a result of this shift towards the more market oriented society based on the notion of economic rationality. Since economic competition served as the guiding principle therefore the maximization of the neoliberalism’s ideology. It is in this wake the sex or gender specific roles have reversed also due to the increasing emphasis on the competition and market driven social relations. The basic ideology of liberalism is based on the liberty and freedom and thus this very fact outline the disappearance of the social relations which might result into any kind of handicap between the social relations and compromise the liberty

Violence In American Popular Culture Research Paper - 1

Violence In American Popular Culture - Research Paper Example Like many federal acts, PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) is more incumbent upon the shareholders to enforce than it is for government watch groups to enforce. In this way, the ultimate responsibility falls upon the leadership of the individual prison as a means of ensuring the prison rape is reported, minimized, and sought to be eliminated. As a function of performing this study, the authors noted that one of the shortcomings that prior research had failed to address was the role that prison wardens played in the reduction of incidence of prison rape; as such the need for the study itself to be undertaken was necessitated (Moster et al 67)). Unfortunately, the study found that there was little difference between the incidence and reporting levels of prison rape both pre and post PREA. This lack of change with regards to the level of prison rape that was measured and reported upon was surmised by the researchers to be fundamentally linked to the funding levels that prisons received. As a function of the limited sources of funding, prisons and prison wardens by extension have traditionally sought out other more important issues to be tackled. However, the issue of prison rape, as the authors argue, is perhaps the most important issue besides rehabilitation that any given prison or prison system can or should deal with. Due to the fact that prison rape is not only psychologically traumatic but the fact that it spreads diseases such as hepatitis, HIV, and a litany of others, the health and institution integrity of the system as a whole is put in jeopardy by such an oversight (Moster et al 69) With regards to the key information that has been studied thus far this semester with relation to the above topic, it is the belief of this author that the relationship that the ultimate shareholder, the prison warden, bears with relation to this issue is the one that most closely

Master dissertation proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Master dissertation proposal - Essay Example According to Henry Sweet, the real intrinsic difficulty in learning English as a foreign language lies in having to master its vocabulary. (p. 66) Indeed, the value of vocabulary for foreign learners of English is out of all proportion to its size, because, once it is mastered, it would inevitably lead to flexibility and acceptable standards in the productive use of English. Specifically, learning the English vocabulary is difficult for Arabs due to several reasons. First, there is no positive transfer between Arab and English vocabularies. There are only few English words borrowed from Arabic and that a small range of mainly English technical words such as radar, helicopter and television have found their away in Arabic vocabulary. In addition to this, wrote Swan and Smith, Arabic speakers have very few aids to reading and listening comprehension by virtue of their first language, and they should not be expected to acquire English at anything like the same pace as European learners. Here lies the significance of CALL. According to Keith Cameron, one interesting clue in vocabulary acquisition is that initially learners store vocabulary on the basis of sound, and only later on the basis of meaning. (p. 9) This is just one of the dimensions in vocabulary acquisition that CALL could address. For instance, the long period of time required to learn new words can be remarkably shortened with CALL’s capability of providing multiple exposure in varied contexts. This is particularly important because it gives the learner the opportunity to use his or her normal vocabulary learning faculties such as guessing, inducing, experimenting, checking, refining hypothesis, among others. (Cameron, p. 9) The above arguments in regard to the potential of CALL in improving vocabulary acquisition are the main subject of this research. This paper seeks to identify the positive effects as well as the disadvantages of the vocabulary learning strategies that feature CALL. The

What is stress Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is stress - Assignment Example The amount of learning is realistic for the timeframe specified, and it is a logical way to achieve my goal. According to Everly & Lating, (2013) relaxation is a health benefit that aids in stress reduction and treatment of anxiety disorders. Achievable: Cognitive-behavior skill is proven to reduce stress successfully. This will be achieved with the following resources: Course materials, books on positive thinking, and will power. The key to positive thinking so as to avoid any stress is by recognizing the thought distortions and asking yourself what thoughts you are having when you feel distressed (Boyes, 2013) Achievable: Learning on how to save lives is essential as life is sacred. As a student taking a course in health sciences; learning first aid is paramount in prevention of fatalities. Not knowing how to conduct first aid is a stressor to most health science students; especially when faced with a life threatening situation (International Maritime Organization,

Market Segmentation and Product Positioning Article

Market Segmentation and Product Positioning - Article Example Market segmentation by Epson the tech company manufacturing these glasses has been clearly been highlighted by the article because it touches on the glasses offering more comfort to a workplace or office setting as opposed to just entertainment as mentioned by the author of the article that one cannot walk in them comfortably down the street. The market segment being targeted here appears to be the average career individual with PowerPoint presentations, visual reports summations and whatnot. The glasses appear to be made to appeal to the group made of career enthusiasts who want to look more professional by using the smart glass mover BT-200 achieve that desired effect while in the working environment. The Working class consists of the middle class and high class envisioning the target market segment. â€Å"Samsung readies phone for your wrist† is an article by Min-Jeong Lee and Yun-Hee Kim captured on Wall Street Journal that talks about the tech giant Samsung planning to unveil a smartwatch that does not need to be tethered to a phone referred to as the wrist communicator which has developed as an innovation of the initial smartwatch concept (Lee & Kim). The article elaborates the product positioning concept because of the fact that Samsung is introducing the concept and benefit of their smart wrist watch that is yet to be launched into the world market. The company boasts of already having the leading role in smartwatch presence already in the market as opposed to its competitors like Apple Inc. that are yet to make a debut in the same tech sector. The article builds on the fact that the watch will give a different experience to the intended market because it has new exciting features than its predecessors like Galaxy Gear. The mere fact that the watch will be able to ha ve a SIM card is enough to juggle the public minds to want to associate with the product before it is launched into the market and if possible make pre-orders.  Ã‚  

Classical Era Essay Example for Free

Classical Era Essay The introduction level of classical civilization in the book World civilizations: The Global experience the author mainly emphasizes on people-society interactions as the main characteristics distinguishing this era. Most of the information discussed by the author on this chapter encompasses cultural, social, economic and political aspects of history (Stearns, 1999). The author considers cultural and social aspects the key factors that contributed to classical civilization. According to Stearns the classical world civilization era was mainly characterized by the integration of regions consisting of people from diverse groups. Thus according to the author classical civilization was a result of political cultural systems overarching (Stearns, 1999). In describing the world civilization during the classical era the author in addition explores historical issues such as intellectual issues and class. From the authors perspectives human agency and inequality during this era played a key role in classical civilization. In this paper other than identifying the characteristics discussed by Stearns that he considers the distinguishing characteristics, I will also develop a personal stand on whether I agree or disagree with his characterization. The author analyses world civilization during the classical era using themes from great civilization of India, the Mediterranean and China regions. According to the author some of the characteristics that can be associated with world civilization during this era include decline of religious power in politics, decline and fall of classical empires, the developed of new world’s religions and increased global connections (Stearns, 1999). This according to the author resulted to emergence of a new phase of world’s history. Expansion and integration the main themes that are associated to classical civilization were as a result of territorial expansion. In addition, according to the author during this period there were some government’s efforts to integrate the people of different regions which resulted to the formation of new territories (Stearns, 1999). In his discussions on Classical civilization Stearns (1999), argues that integration which later contributed to the global civilization during this period was as a result of two factors; promotion of social unity and development of new strategies for governing the new territories. While classical era is mainly considered to have had a huge impact in the Mediterranean, China and India regions, there were also other minor developments in other regions of the world which shared similar characteristics during the classical era. In Northern Europe as a result of need to increase food security new territories were developed which extended to Northern Asia (Stearns, 1999). Thus the theme of integration was evident in other regions as well. In some regions poor governance and need for liberation according to the author promoted integration with states that were already undergoing civilization. The author uses Japan as an example that in order to improve their political structure they had to develop contacts with China resulting to integration. The author uses other examples to show that world civilization shared a common historical course which during the classical period was as a result of social cohesion and integration. According to the author during classical era nomads and other primate societies were only agents of contacts (Stearns, 1999). The author considers these social groups to have slowed the civilization process during this period especially because they posed threat to trade, religion, technology advancement and other factors were considered to promote integration. According to the author in order for the societies he considered to have played role in classical civilization to succeed, they had to battle with nomad and other societies he considers to have created hostile environment for civilization. His argument however contradicts those of other authors who consider these social groups to have promoted classical civilization process mainly by helping to promote trade. While some of there practices inhibited free integration the social groups mainly promoted political integration. In addition, these social groups contributed in the development of cultural characteristics which is considered part of classical civilization heritage in most parts of the world. These cultural characteristics are still part of modern culture several decades after the end of classical period. Other characteristics that the author considers to represent the classical era include sexual value characteristics (Stearns, 1999). Some of civilization characteristics such as sexual beauty and behaviors such as homosexuality have their origin during the classical era. Stearns argues that these civilization characteristics developed as need for social expansion and integration. For instance, as a result of integration new rules were developed on fidelity mainly to lower the dangers of excess sexual exposure. However, the regulation resulted to the development of Confucianism on sexual matters especially toward homosexuality. In addition, as a result of civilization sexuality topics became open discussion a civilization characteristic that is evident up to date. Despite the fact that the distinguishing characteristics that the author uses to describe civilization in classical period are relevant, I do not agree that these were the only characteristics that could be used to describe this era. In his writing the author has used a restrictive perspective which is only able to cover certain societies that were deemed as civilized during this period. His mode of argument limits the possibility of one being able to compare these characteristics using any other society other than the ones he has analyzed-China, India and societies in the Mediterranean region (Lockard, 1995). Thus these characteristics of this era raise more questions on whether the author already had his own perspective of the kind human nature which existed during this period and thus used it to develop these characteristics. The author tends to overlook differences that are attributed to classical civilization such as a result of governance traditions, religion, artistic structure and even everyday life. Arguing that classical civilization was mainly as a result of similarity in the global perspective on governance, religion and technology advancement is incorrect. The author should have provided a different perspective of describing the characteristics that can be used to describe this period especially aspects contributed by societies outside the Eurocentric conception of classical civilization. There are social identities outside the ones described above which also contributed greatly in the classical civilization process. For instance, the nomads played an important role in the development of trade networks which later promoted the civilization integration process. The author mainly uses some of the factors that resulted to society integration thus according to him integration to only depicted a stage of primitiveness in some societies. Rather than viewing some forms of integration such as hunting, gathering and nomads which played a key role during this era’s civilization as means of production he describes it to have marginalized the civilization process during this are. I don’t to agree with his argument because based on other authors production during this historical time had a big impact in the process of civilization. Unlike the author who seemed to marginalize some forms of production such as hunting, nomadism which he considers to have interfered with other aspects that contributed to civilization such as political and economy, I believe these aspects had a big role to play especially in civilization in the production era (Lockard, 1995). The characteristics that author used to describe classical civilization can only be considered to be based on racial aspects. His mode of describing civilization during the classical era tends to overlook contemporary social identities which contributed to classical civilization. The author in order to be able to integrate the two main characteristic for this period into all social groupings should have used the aspect that describes how various groups contributed to civilization during this period as a result of integration and need of expansion. The aspect of having fixed aspects on which social identities resulted to civilization during this era lowers the strength and the positive impact interaction of various societies had in the civilization process. However, most authors argue that the nomads had a key role to play in classical civilization mainly because they catalyzed the invention of new military tactics and materials associated with this era such as the Gunpowder which was developed in China to counter nomad’s threat. The author considered sexuality as another unique characteristic that was used to characterize this era. According to Stearns (1999) during the classical era gender integration played a key role in promoting civilization. Most of the integration by different societies resulted due to intermarriage especially during developed of trading systems. It is during this period that religious institutions such as the Indian system started spreading to other parts of the continent. As a result, most religions started striving to develop a signature identity that would divine them. These religious institutional characteristics are also considered to distinguish the civilization process during the classical era (Lockard, 1995). The author associates some of the society’s characteristics associated with this era to have resulted from integration of sexual values by various social groups. As a result they were a new approach on gender that was established during classical civilization. Some of these approaches which the author considers to characterize civilization during this era include development of an artistic sexual beauty expression, and development of certain sexual behaviors such as homosexuality. Conclusion During the classical era the author of World civilization: Global experience describes integration and expansions as the main distinguishing characteristics for this period. According to the author the need to improve the political structure, economy, technology and even every day life in India, China and the Mediterranean region greatly impacted the civilization process. The author considers some of the social aspects such as development of new sexuality behaviors that are associated with this era to have originated from the actions of people in these regions. Despite the fact I agree with the author on the distinguishing characteristics of this era, I disagree with his arguments mainly because he tends to overlook other social identities such as nomads who played an equal important role in promoting classical civilization especially by acting as the agents of promoting social integration. In addition, their every day activities contributed in the expansion of the social structure resulting in formation of new territories (Lockard, 1995). The author should have also included how some of the contributions by these groups which he considers primitive social identities resulted to classical civilizations. Including other social identities in his discussion would have erased the notion that he had already developed a particular concept about human nature during this period. In addition, the author should have described in details the classical empires collapse which can be considered another characteristic for classical era. References Lockard, C. (1995). Integrating Southeast Asia into a framework of world History: The period before 1500. Vol. 29. Society of History education press. Stearns, P. N. (1999). World Civilizations: The Global Experience Vol. 1. MA: Addison Wesley Longman press.

Risks and Consequences of Non-Compliance

Risks and Consequences of Non-Compliance Our group have been presented with the data set: Road Collision Casualties in Camden. This data is published by the London Borough of Camden which is licensed under the Open Government Licence. All data on road collisions are provided by TfL (Transport for London), who present the data in three parts on an annual basis. The data set contains information on the casualties where some information has also been added from attendants. The attendants and vehicles are recorded as separate data sets and are available on an open platform, as a result they can be joined together by the use of a reference column. If joined together the data will show accidents where multiple casualties, attendants and vehicles were present. In the reference there will be several records for the same incident. It is suggested that data analysis should be undertaken which uses three years of data in order to avoid any anomalies. The statistics in the data set displays personal injuries which have taken place on public roads which were reported to the police. The police note down the information using a STATS19 form and this is how the data is recorded. While it is not possible to predict every potential legal issue that the application may face, both during development stage and in use, utilising the Road Collision Casualties in Camden data set, the most common pitfalls can easily be avoided. Implementing a proactive legal compliance strategy, during the early part of the development process, will help to minimise the legal risk and strengthen the protection of application itself. Introduction Risks and consequences of non-compliance Failure to design the software in accordance with the various legislative and industry constraints, may result in a product that will attract, in the worst case scenario, legal action and/or make the product difficult to sell. Also, it may be incompatible with other software or data formats. Research into the various standards, industry codes and relevant legal obligations will allow the design to progress with clarity regarding these requirements. Standards, codes legislation The particular items that are relevant to this project are as follows: -The British Computer Society Code of Practice -The Open Government Licence for Public Sector Information Data Protection Act 1998 It is considered that this Act is not applicable for the data accessed by the software, as it contains no personal information. However, it is likely to be applicable to data being held regarding the users of the application in terms of their logging into the system and the history of their use of the data, so we have to be in compliance with Data Protection Act 1998(DPA). Because we will be storing and handling personal information, small errors and inaccuracies can lead to severe data protection breaches and give rise to serious consequences. Compliance with data protection legislation is not just a matter of good practice, it is a legal requirement and, as the penalties for nonfulfillment are extremely serious, especially nowadays in an environment of increasing focus upon data protection, it goes without saying that for this application that we are creating, we need to take great care to protect personal information. The Data Protection Act 1998 is enforced by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), which has considerable powers when it finds an organisation to be in breach of the data protection principles in the way data is handled. The Information Commissioner has historically shown he is ready and willing to take action, and in extreme circumstances, to bring criminal proceedings with respect to mishandling of personal information. The consequences and penalties which may follow breach of data protection obligations are varied, and in most cases very serious. The ICOs action can include:   Ã‚   Monetary penalty notices; (For serious breaches of the DPA the fines could reach up to  £500,000). Criminal Prosecutions; (Deliberately breaching the DPA can lead to possible prison sentences). Undertakings; (Organisations have to commit to a particular course of action to improve their compliance and avoid further action from the ICO). Enforcement notices; ( Organisations in breach of one or more of the DPA principles are required to take specific steps in order to comply with the law). Audit; (The ICO has the authority to audit government departments without consent to check organisations are complying). Disability Discrimination Act 1995 This would apply in terms of the presentation of the user interface with reference to, for example, colour contrast and legibility. Add compliance with the DDA to the project requirements. Analyse the range of user types and identify any persons likely to fall under the DDA that would use the system. Look at the human interfaces that the system will employ and ensure that all projected users can utilise the application. Demonstrate that the application has been designed to meet these needs in terms of, for example, character/font/ size/colour/contrast or in terms of any audible or spoken interfaces. Display Screen Regulations 1992 The user interface should not compromise an employers ability to comply with this legislation. For example, repetitive strain injuries or eye strain. There is also a Human Factors consideration here in terms of optimising user performance by maintaining concentration, thereby reducing errors. This is unlikely to have a direct impact on the designer/supplier of the software but may have a reputational impact if the product is problematic in the workplace. Intellectual property Before we started our project it was essential for us as a group to have a firm grasp of intellectual property rights and how they apply to the software industry, as protecting our software application would make it easier to take legal action against anyone who steals or copies it. Computer software law is distinguished from most other intellectual creations protected by intellectual property law in that different aspects of the software is eligible for protection by patent, copyright and trade secret laws. Each type of protection has advantages and disadvantages under the current laws. Historically its been quite hard to get software application approved for patent from UK Intellectual Property Office. This means that UK software developers have been left to rely on copyright to protect their work. This was something we had to take into consideration because copyright only offers protection against being copied. However, the Patents are an absolute right against unauthorised use of the patent holders invention, and can protect the underlying/original ideas and processes of our application. So with a patent, it does not matter whether a competitor has copied the program or developed an identical program or indeed a different program which uses the same ideas or process steps on their own, it still breaches the patent and us as patent holders can claim damages and/or an injunction to enforce their rights. In the case of our application, copyright law would protect the source and object code, as well as certain unique original elements of the user interface. While the patent can protect the novel ideas embodied in our application which copyright cannot. However, as I already mentioned, historically its been shown it is quite tough to get software application approved for patent and there is no guarantee that the UK Intellectual Property Office will grant a patent for our software invention. Moreover, the costs for obtaining a software patent are significantly higher, so we as a company have to weigh our options and go with the best possible. Furthermore, the terms of use for the application itself are provided by us who designed the application, but also it should be noted that the data being accessed by the application is also subject to conditions of use by the data owner. This data is published by the London Borough of Camden which is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These conditions should also be provided to the end user and embodied in suppliers terms of use. The Licensor grants us a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use the Information subject to the conditions like: acknowledge the source of the Information in your product or application by including or linking to any attribution statement specified by the Information Provider(s) and, where possible, provide a link to this licence This means we are obligated by the Open Government Licence to provide a link for our end user or let the end user know that applications contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence. This is one of the most important conditions of this licence and if our company fails to comply with them the rights granted to us under this licence, or any similar licence granted by the Licensor, will end automatically. It is also important to note that this is version 3.0 of the Open Government Licence. The Controller of this licence may change the licence itself from time to time and issue new versions of it. And if that happens the terms of that licence will continue to apply from the previous version (current version which is 3.0). Software licensing A software license is a document that provides legally required guidelines for the usage and sharing of software. A software licensing agreement will protect our copyright and IP rights by placing restrictions on the end user in relation to how the software can be used. The software licence will allow the end users to have one or more copies of our software, without violating copyrights. When we publish our end product it is critical that we licence our software very carefully to retain the IP rights and to ensure we are able to generate revenue from our work. A software licence usually comes in one of three major forms: Proprietary licence Free licence Open software licence User requirements Consultation with the user of the software and the client, for whom the work is being undertaken, will enable a full and clear understanding of their expectations to be captured in the form of a User Requirements Specification. In particular, the types of users, how the data will be accessed and used should be sought from client and fully understood. This, combined with any legislative, industry or standards requirements, will form the overall Project Requirements Specification. Specification/requirements Taking all of the above a definitive set of Project and Technical requirements can be developed. These will enable the project to proceed from a clear and common understanding. All Stakeholders should sign the requirements and any subsequent changes should be avoided, but if necessary, undertaken in a controlled process. This is important in controlling cost, programme and avoiding differing expectations. Verification It is important to continually check back against the requirements as the design develops. This can be done in the form of a requirements matrix and recording evidence (links to docs/specs) that each requirement is being met.

A Clothing Retail Store In Andhra Pradesh

A Clothing Retail Store In Andhra Pradesh Introduction It is situated in southern coast of India and its capital is Hyderabad. Telugu is the official language and kuchipudi is the state dance of Andhra Pradesh Name of the store:- SHINNING STAR STORE Description of clothing retail store Cloth retailing is one of the top retailers in India because fashion has become very much popular among youngsters and even middle age. In India western culture is followed nowadays and our country is following their style like anything. Becoming the owner of clothing retail store is not that easy it requires lot of planning and hard work. In this venture we should know the ins and outs of the fashion retail business. The hours of operation will be Monday to Saturday 10 a.m to 8 p.m . The competitors are shoppers stop , Westside , palem leathers , pantaloons , Bombay store , Max , etc. Environmental scanning of Andhra Pradesh I am opening a clothing retail store in Andhra Pradesh and the city that i have selected is Hyderabad .Andhra Pradesh. The retail industry in Hyderabad is on the rise. The reason for choosing this city is that its 6th metropolis in India , development ,advancement of the infrastructure , due to its size and population. The clothing retail store will be free from any political and social barrier as I am opening according to government policies and society. Retail store identity- The brand name is KELVIN and logo Types of retailers My store is a speciality store majority of western and rest is Indian wears . Its for family shopping Company ownership My store is organised as a sole proprietorship me and my manager handle all his administrative and managerial duties of the clothing retail store Vision of the retail store- To sell products according to customers and satisfy their needs to build long term relationship and to stay in the market for long run. To be best clothing retailer among other retail store. Mission of the retail store- To satisfy customers in terms of services and provide them best quality clothes according to their tastes and preferences at cheaper rate than competitors and assortments of all sizes and styles. We believe in providing excellent and superior services and making shopping a relaxed and pleasurable experience. Objectives The primary objective is to provide one-stop-shopping for all the members of a family To create shopping environment To make shopping convenient. To attain a position in urban areas of Hyderabad To build long term relationship with customers To gain profit To ensure that our customers get the best value, quality and satisfaction from using the services given by my store Goals · To become a profitable business Gain profits to provide them fresh stock Selling clothes according to new fashion Goodwill in the market Establishing for a long run To create customer and seller relationship To maximise customers Business plan- Without business plan we cant move forward in opening a retail store. too It involves both time and money budget. We need to frame out our business policies like working hours ,rules and regulations, inventory and need to work out on our advertising and marketing plan as well as employee details ,expansion plans, use of profit, investment and partnership policies. 2. Selling products of the retail store- Our products will range from basics to stylish wear.Womens clothes ,childrens wear ,mens wear ,casual and sports wear . Services- Free delivery E-retailing Credit card payment Online transaction Guide Parking facilities Help desk Proper assortment Discount offers Convenient billing procedures Occasional offers One stop shop 3.Marketing plan All goods will be purchased according to the customer tastes and preferences and all sizes of men , women and children. Pricing strategy We base the product lines that we carry on their reputation and quality as western and Indian wear apparel. Most of our lines come with a suggested retail price that we will follow. We will provide discounts and special offers seasonally and occasionally. The most important thing is that we will provide them products at cheaper rate than competitors. Promotion strategy It is done by advertising providing free samples posters and banners online advertising pamphlets brand ambassador radio , etc. Positioning- We will offer name brand western and Indian wear in a larger assortment of styles and sizes that arent always readily available in the mass. To give customers excellent experience through our stores and provide them whole product line and services. Barriers Competition Input cost Inflation Less productive labour Increase in taxes Economies of scale SWOT Analysis Strength- Demographic factors Shopping Convenience Availability of resources Organized Retail Weaknesses- New retail store Taxation hurdle Developing supply chain Oppurtunities Location Market Growth E-Retailing Lifestyle and convenient retailing Threats- Competition from shoppers stop,pantaloons, Inflation Market analysis of the retail store There are four factors which are taken into consideration when market analysis is done for the clothing retail store:- target market- I am opening the store in Hyderabad city in suburban and urban areas. As the popularity increases we expect to see an assortment of curiosity seekers, and local residents as well as the seasonal purchases. And for those who find difficulty while purchasing western and Indian clothes at one place. customers- they will be of high and middle income group competitors shoppers stop , Westside , Bombay store , pantaloons , palem leathers , etc. Fashion- seasonal or the occasional and the latest trends prevails in that city. Market share- Our intension will be to gain 80% market share by focusing on positioning , location , other brands ,promotions, etc. Organisational structure- Owner Store manager Cashier Salesmen 4.Operational plan- Location I am opening this retail store in Hyderabad There are major factors on which location depends your ability to pay for it ,land cost the visibility of that location to the target segment you plan to focus on. No. of other clothing retail store in that area Lifestyle of that particular area Demographic factors like age ,sex ,etc. Competition in that area The place is 1000 square feet and has been taken on lease for two years. Key supplier- Supply chain management is very necessary because of inventory management so that we will earn maximum if there will be no shortage of stock anytime. The clothes will be imported from Delhi and Mumbai. Store layout- We follow the pattern of free form layout as it provides relaxing environment and facilitates shopping and browsing. Products are placed in a systematic manner. The store will be double storeyed on ground floor kids section, 1st floor for womens section and 2nd floor for mens section. Well provide convenient shopping to our customers Credit policy- Being a retail environment we will not be selling on credit well accept cash , checks , and all major credit cards because through there is reduction in bad debts. Merchandise Management System: The order received from a vendor are kept in warehouse and inventory is raised when there is shortage of stock . Therefore there is need to keep a record of total orders received and sale. There is a need to manage the merchandise so as to keep minimum level of stock which should be there all the time in store. To run retail store well we have to look upon our inventory time to time. We should give both the quality and compatibility to customers. Store management- Its very important for the retail store to manage their store. Employees will be encouraged to work in their creative , physical and intellectual boundaries. Duties will be delegated according to strengths and weakness . All decisions are made in-line with the company objectives and employees tasks are delegated based upon their level of expertise , creativity ,etc. Medical benefits are also given to employees . All Entire workforce of the clothing retail store. Owner 1 store manager 3 cashiers 6 salesperson Security guard Delivery vans, bikes and boys Merchandise will be purchased according to companys mission and customer focus of outfitting all sizes including womens plus sizes , mens big and tall and for kids of 1 day to 16 yrs. I would use the round track for displaying the clothes in the retail store. Human resource management- In clothing retail store we need both skilled and unskilled labour and follow the policy of customer relationship management. I would follow these steps in my clothing retail store:- Retail market financial Retail site location Customer relationship management (CRM) Information Distribution system. 5. Financial plan Requirement There is a need of 5 crores to open clothing retail store . We have planned to open a retail store that is in Hyderabad. Supplement financing is also required to work on site preparation , inventory , and operational expenses. The loan amount appears in the long term Use of fund Funds will be used to pay renovation , construction ,sales counter ,painting, carpeting , lighting, dà ©cor display fixtures .We will also purchase inventory , cash register and computer equipments and also an inventory management system and rest will be the operating cost. In future well reinvest residual profits into company expansion and personnel. Projected cash flow Our business will collect immediate payments from the customer. So it will much likely to the income statement. Our cash flow statement clearly demonstrates our ability to cover all the bills. Projected balance sheet Clothing retail store will launch in Hyderabad with an equity of 2 crores and 1crore in loans. Credit amount and suppliers term for inventory will appear in the balance sheet as a short term liabilities. All the other details will also be shown in the balance sheet. Customers on Average/day Expected Growth on sale Sale/Day Sale /Month Sale Yearly 140*100 on Average 14000 420000 5040000 Second Year 25% 17500 525000 6300000 Third year 25% 21875 656250 7875000 Expected Break Even Point/store Break even analysis has been completed on the basis of average costs/prices.The following chart shows what we need to sell per month to break even, according to these assumptions: Expected Break Even Point/store Break Even Analysis PV Ratio= Contribution *100 Particulars Amount Sales Sales 5040000 Variable cost 3252000 35% Contribution 1788000 BEP Points= Fixed Cost/PV Ratio Fixed Cost 1357500 3826510 Net Profit 430500 Future expectations If we will achieve and exceed our sales and profitability goals we will increase the product line and expand our line of brands with those that have been repeatedly requested by our customers. Keys to success of the retail store Targeting customer Assortments of all sizes to fit the customers Advertising and promotion in targeted areas Latest trends in the market Valuable customer service

McMurphy as Christ in Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest :: One Flew Over Cuckoos Nest

McMurphy as Christ in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest In "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," McMurphy is successfully perceived as a heroic Christ figure. Kesey uses foreshadowing and images, the fishing trip, actions and feelings of other characters to develop this character. Foreshadowing clues and images are used to contribute to McMurphy as a figure of Christ. In the beginning of the novel McMurphy is baptized with a shower before entering the ward. The reader is also introduced to Ellis, a character who spends the entire novel in a cross position "nailed against the wall, arms out," (page 20). Another clue to McMurphy's developing character is presented during the electroshock therapy. McMurphy willingly lies down on a cross shaped table, ending up in the same position Ellis foreshadowed. McMurphy also asks for his crown of thorns. Before the therapy a schizophrenic patient approaches him and says "I wash my hands of the whole deal", as Pontius Pilate said to Jesus before sentencing him to death. Jesus was also friends with a prostitute named Mary, just like McMurphy was friends with prostitutes. The development of McMurphy as a Christ figure deepends, when he leads the patients on a fishing trip. McMurphy takes the "twelve of us [patients] towards the ocean," (page 203) just like Jesus' 12 disciples, to test and strengthen their faith in him and empower them. Fish have also been an important religious Christian symbol, as the fishing trip is an important symbol of the novel. When the trip is over, the Chief describes the sense of change that most of the patients had and even claims that they "weren't the same bunch of weak-knees from a nuthouse anymore." (Page 215). This really shows the way McMurphy is starting to guide and lead the patients, just as Jesus lead his disciples. Finally the actions and feelings of the other characters successfully shows the development of McMurphy as a Christ figure and hero. Clearly smiliarities can be drawn between McMurphy and Jesus' healing. Jesus, made blind men see and mute men speak. McMurphy is the one who prompted the Chief to speak for the first time in years, when he says "Thank-you." (Page 184) and eventually, McMurphy "heals" Chief of his `deafness' and `dumbness'.

London After the Fire Essay -- British History, Annus Mirabilis

Depending on how you view life will influence how you feel about the city you live in. People who live an honest life and see the glass half full will be more hopeful about tragedies. People who do not live an honest life and see the glass half empty will be more disparaging during tragedies. An optimist will also look at tragedy as a time of rebuilding where a pessimist will look at the same tragedy as life as we know it over. In this essay I will describe the view of London from Dyden's Annus Mirabilis and Pepys' Diary, I will discuss what each excerpt have in common and what differs with regards to the representation of the Great Fire of 1666, I will display each author's attitude toward the city, the nation and its people and finally showcase which writer is more optimistic of the city's future. By the very first line in Annus Mirabilis you can see that the author viewed the city before the fire as a great city that has made a turn for the worst "Yet London, empress of the northern clime, By an high fate thou greatly didst expire" (2085, 1-2). Dryden felt the city had claimed too much fame and possibly too much sin. This poem is remnant of the story from the bible of Sodom and Gomorrah because those cities were destined to be destroyed by God for the people of the cities sinful nature. Dryden must have believed London needed to suffer the same fate, but instead of being completely destroyed and gone forever London is not entirely burned and is rebuilt better than it was before "Great as the world's, which at the death of time Must fall, and rise a nobler frame by fire" (2085, 3-4). Looking into how Pepys feels about London it is a bit more difficult to decipher because he is writing... ...d this will keep him from having the sky come crashing down if everything does not turn out as he believes it will. In this essay, I have described the view of London from Dyden's Annus Mirabilis and Pepys' Diary. I have also discussed what each excerpt has in common and what differs with regards to the representation of the Great Fire of 1666. I have depicted each author's attitude toward the city, the nation and its people and finally showcased Dryden as the more optimistic writer with regards to the city's future. Remembering to look at the positive side of things when there is a tragedy is sometimes what makes us resilient enough to rise out of the ashes and rebuild. Every place on earth experiences tragedy and it is not the tragedy that defines people, but it is the actions they take afterwards that stakes claim in who they really are. London After the Fire Essay -- British History, Annus Mirabilis Depending on how you view life will influence how you feel about the city you live in. People who live an honest life and see the glass half full will be more hopeful about tragedies. People who do not live an honest life and see the glass half empty will be more disparaging during tragedies. An optimist will also look at tragedy as a time of rebuilding where a pessimist will look at the same tragedy as life as we know it over. In this essay I will describe the view of London from Dyden's Annus Mirabilis and Pepys' Diary, I will discuss what each excerpt have in common and what differs with regards to the representation of the Great Fire of 1666, I will display each author's attitude toward the city, the nation and its people and finally showcase which writer is more optimistic of the city's future. By the very first line in Annus Mirabilis you can see that the author viewed the city before the fire as a great city that has made a turn for the worst "Yet London, empress of the northern clime, By an high fate thou greatly didst expire" (2085, 1-2). Dryden felt the city had claimed too much fame and possibly too much sin. This poem is remnant of the story from the bible of Sodom and Gomorrah because those cities were destined to be destroyed by God for the people of the cities sinful nature. Dryden must have believed London needed to suffer the same fate, but instead of being completely destroyed and gone forever London is not entirely burned and is rebuilt better than it was before "Great as the world's, which at the death of time Must fall, and rise a nobler frame by fire" (2085, 3-4). Looking into how Pepys feels about London it is a bit more difficult to decipher because he is writing... ...d this will keep him from having the sky come crashing down if everything does not turn out as he believes it will. In this essay, I have described the view of London from Dyden's Annus Mirabilis and Pepys' Diary. I have also discussed what each excerpt has in common and what differs with regards to the representation of the Great Fire of 1666. I have depicted each author's attitude toward the city, the nation and its people and finally showcased Dryden as the more optimistic writer with regards to the city's future. Remembering to look at the positive side of things when there is a tragedy is sometimes what makes us resilient enough to rise out of the ashes and rebuild. Every place on earth experiences tragedy and it is not the tragedy that defines people, but it is the actions they take afterwards that stakes claim in who they really are.

Quakers Case Essay

This research paper will argue that the evangelicals were embraced mostly by blacks not only because it’s the nearest imitation of their African nature rituals but because they have given support to the abolition of slavery in the United States. Quakers were known to be the most vocal concerning their opposition to slavery; there were also other denominations that did not favor slavery. George Fox, founder of the Quaker group â€Å"Society of Friends†, preached against slavery in the late 16oo’s, but never really took action against it. Even though Fox, a major Quaker leader, was opposed to slavery, other Quaker leaders owned slaves. This was because they interpreted the doctrines of their religion to exclude slaves. The institution of slavery became a divided issue among Quakers in the Society. Benjamin Lay, for example, was against slavery. Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians were very vocal concerning their dissatisfaction with slavery. (1) However, the main concern was that large amounts of the population were not being exposed to God. They had to resolve whether the larger concern was to end slavery and thus allow many â€Å"unchristian† people to go to hell after death, or to evangelize the slaves while letting the issue of slavery slide under the carpet. Subsequently, Methodists and Baptists also became the two denominations to achieve the earliest successes in proselytizing slaves (Lane 184). The first third of the nineteenth century was a significant time for antislavery. Haitian slaves had risen up and freed themselves from French rule in 1803. In England, decades of antislavery agitation led Parliament to abolish slavery in the British Empire by 1834 In the United States, sectional friction related to slavery began in earnest with the Missouri crisis of 1820. Nor were black voices silent. Free African American ministers sermonized against slavery’s cruelties. Periodic fears of slave violence came to a head in 1822 with the discovery of Denmark Vesey’s planned slave uprising (2). As the conflict over slavery heated up, and as news of the Vesey conspiracy broke in 1822, and word spread about the rebellion of Nat Turner in 1831, a great fear enveloped whites (5).   All these factors caused a few whites to begin to renew the spiritual struggle against slavery. The Reverend George Bourne, an Englishman who headed a Presbyterian congregation in Virginia, refused communion to slaveholders and excoriated slaveholding ministers. Way back 1784 Methodists were so bold as to say that they â€Å"promised to excommunicate all Methodists not freeing their slaves within two years† (5). Opposing racism is definitely amongst the strongest reasons for the abolition of slavery. This argument seems quite feasible, considering the fact that only Negroes were slaves. That is to say, skin color was the most deciding factor in whether somebody was a slave or a slaveholder (1). Catherine Meeks, professor of African American studies at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, says, â€Å"It was the white control of the worship [on slave-holding plantations], the inability to accept blacks as equals, and the negation of black personhood that led to the separation of the black church from the white church and to the emergence of a black religious community.† (4) Independent black churches—most of them Baptist or Methodist—†were not separating themselves from whites because they held a different doctrinal view of Christianity,† notes James H. Cone of Union Theological Seminary. â€Å"Without exception, blacks used the same articles of faith and polity for their churches as the white denominations from which they separated. Separation, for blacks, meant that, they were rejecting racism that was based on the assumption that God created blacks inferior to whites.† (5) Even though white Protestant denominations in the 1840s split over the issue of slavery, the congregations of northern Protestants remained just as closed to blacks who moved north. Given the increasing racial proscription in the mid-1800’s, (9) Many Black preachers developed a significant following across the South among both whites and blacks. John Jasper of Virginia was one such man. Slaves would defer funeral ceremonies for as long as necessary to bring him to the plantation for the service. And Jasper was equally popular among whites. During the Civil War, Jasper won a warm response from the Confederate wounded to whom he preached and offered solace (9). A long history of antislavery and political activity among Northern black Protestants had convinced them that they could play a major role in the adjustment of the four million freed slaves to American life. In a massive missionary effort, Northern black leaders such as Daniel A. Payne and Theophilus Gould Steward established missions to their Southern counterparts, resulting in the dynamic growth of independent black churches in the Southern states between 1865 and 1900 (10). Predominantly white denominations, such as the Presbyterian, Congregational, and Episcopal churches, also sponsored missions, opened schools for freed slaves, and aided the general welfare of Southern blacks, but the majority of African-Americans chose to join the independent black denominations founded in the Northern states during the antebellum era. Within a decade the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) churches claimed Southern membership in the hundreds of thousands, far outstripping that of any other organizations. They were quickly joined in 1870 by a new Southern-based denomination, the Colored (now â€Å"Christian†) Methodist Episcopal Church, founded by indigenous Southern black leaders (11). The relentless evangelist figures were catalysts of the constitutional abolision of the slaves. They fought for the freedom through the exposure to God’s theoretical equality. Emancipation from slavery in 1863 posed distinctive religious challenges for African Americans in the South. When the Civil War finally brought freedom to previously enslaved peoples, the task of organizing religious communities was only one element of the larger need to create new lives–to reunite families, to find jobs, and to figure out what it would mean to live in the United States as citizens rather than property. Melville J. Herskovits has advanced the thesis that the success of Baptists in attracting blacks was rooted in the appeal of immersion which suggests a connection in the slaves’ mind with the river spirits in West African religions. Others have attacked this position including, the black scholar E. Franklin Frazier who argues that enslavement largely destroyed the social basis of religion among blacks, and that the appeal of Baptists to blacks concerns the emotional content of their worship. Stanley Elkins (whose views were heavily influenced by what took place in the concentration camps of World War II Europe), has argued–like Frazier–that slavery was so demeaning that blacks (like the Jews in the camps) were eventually stripped of every shred of dignity and humanity, including their faith. John Blassingame, on the other hand, has provided a significant body of evidence that blacks hung on to their religion as a form of resistance (11). African-American religion dealt with life as blacks lived it. It was about pain and sorrow, sin and shortcoming, pardon and joy, praise and thanksgiving, grace and hope. This version of Evangelicalism provided a wonderful benefit; it was able to accomplish great things in their lives that were frequently shouted about. This transition coincided with the period of intense religious revivalism known as â€Å"awakenings.† In the Southern states beginning in the 1770s, increasing numbers of slaves converted to evangelical religions such as the Methodist and Baptist faiths. Many clergy within these denominations actively promoted the idea that all Christians were equal in the sight of God, a message that provided hope and sustenance to the slaves (12). Slave Spirituals became the creative group expression of these aspirations. The Ring Shout was the most distinctive expression of religious worship in the praise service, with African-derived dancing and body movement emphasized. The invisible religion of the slave quarters also included conjure, a system of spiritual influence that combined herbal medicine with magic and sometimes gave surprising authority to slave practitioners who believed they could affect whites as well as blacks (6). They also encouraged worship in ways that many Africans found to be similar, or at least adaptable, to African worship patterns, with enthusiastic singing, clapping, dancing, and even spirit-possession. It was here that the spirituals, with their double meanings of religious salvation and freedom from slavery, developed and flourished; and here, too, that black preachers, those who believed that God had called them to speak his Word, polished their â€Å"chanted sermons,† or rhythmic, intoned style of extemporaneous preaching. The closest replication of their religious belief was the evangelicals’ approach. African Americans, often termed as ‘blacks’, was so closely intertwined with their total life experience that the starting point in understanding the meaning of that religious life must be the total life experience. For them, before they were forced to become unwilling participants in one of the most oppressive systems of slavery that the world had witnessed, the ancestors of the African Americans in Africa were very much a religious people. In their native land the totality of their lives was informed by what in western Europe was defined as â€Å"religion,† but what, to them meant as a basic and integral part of life (Jones 1991).Thus, they brought that â€Å"religion† with them. Blacks responded to the evangelical message, though, for different reasons than those advanced by slave owner-sanctioned preachers. The potential for spiritual equality, and even the hope for earthly liberty, could be taken from evangelicalism, and that was a powerful appeal to slaves. (8) Evangelicalism’s informal, spirit-driven style of worship could evoke remembrances of the religious ecstasies of African dance religions, another reason to embrace the faith. Nowhere else in southern society did African Americans find the status that they could achieve as in churches. Some African Americans worshipped in separate black churches, but black Baptists and Methodists had shaped evolving Evangelicalism in general since the earliest revivals. Most slave worship was in biracial churches. Evangelicalism took root among African-Americans. Large numbers underwent conversion, baptism, instruction, worship, and lived the life of Christian even in face of oppression. Although, the development of their own religious institutions would await Emancipation and the war’s end, there were many thousands of Negro Baptists and Methodists by 1850. Emancipation brought many tangible rewards. Among the most obvious was a significant increase in personal freedom that came with no longer being someone else’s property: whatever hardships they faced, free blacks could not be forcibly sold away from their loved ones. But emancipation did not bring full equality, and many of the most striking gains of Reconstruction — including the substantial political power that African Americans were briefly able to exercise — were soon lost. In the decades after Reconstruction African Americans experienced continued poverty and exploitation and a rising tide of violence at the hands of whites determined to re-impose black subordination. They also experienced new forms of discrimination, spearheaded by a variety of state laws that instituted rigid racial segregation in virtually all areas of life and that (in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments) effectively disfranchised black voters. The struggle to overcome the bitter legacy of slavery would be long and arduous. Many abolitionists belonged to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ). AMEZ became a platform for preaching against slavery. â€Å"The ministry was by far the most common occupation of the black leaders in the abolitionist movement† (Sorin 101). AMEZ enabled people like Denmark Vesey to plan revolts. Pennington traveled as far as Europe to preach against slavery. He wrote, â€Å"If the New Testament sanctions slavery, it authorizes the enslavement of whites as well as us† (Voices of Triumph 127). Ward was born into a slave family that escaped in 1820. He lived in upstate New York and was an agent for the American Anti-slavery Society. Ward actively protested the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. He was also an assistant to fugitive slaves (Voices of Triumph 145) (9). Over one hundred and thirty years after Nat Turner was hanged, black theology emerged as a formal discipline. Beginning with the â€Å"black power† movement in 1966, black clergy in many major denominations began to reassess the relationship of the Christian church to the black community. Black caucuses developed in the Catholic, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches. The central thrust of these new groups was to redefine the meaning and role of the church and religion in the lives of black people. Out of this reexamination has come what some have called a ‘Black Theology’. (10) The secret meetings of â€Å"praise† of the former slaves was later institutionalized and these assemblies gave rise to independent churches. The first religious institution primarily controlled and administered by blacks was established at Silver Bluff, South Carolina in the 1770s.The Free African Society of Philadelphia, established in 1778 by two former slaves, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones was an example of one of the earliest formal organizational activity- more frequent among the free blacks in the urban North (Woodson 1922). Most of such groups were quasi-religious bodies and churches frequently came into existence from the membership of these societies. The Free African Society of Philadelphia, that newly created independent body, was the mother of two African Amertican churches- St. Thomas African Episcopal Church (later named the St. Thomas Protestant Episcopal Church) established in 1794, and the Bethel African Church (later becoming an independent organization known as the African Methodist Episcopal Church), which was the first black congregation in the Philadelphia Methodist Conference. In 1894 black Baptists formed the National Baptist Convention, an organization that is currently the largest black religious organization in the United States. There may be several reasons that evangelist were able to convert slaves, some would argue that this may be attributed to the verity that the slaves saw religion as the nearest observable fact to freedom. Still, it is quite notable that the evangelist were able to gather members not only because the African- Americans see their way of teaching as the nearest to their old rituals but also because of the evangelists’ unerring efforts to abolish slavery in the United States.

Marketing Microwave Ovens to a New Market Segment Essay

Executive Summary White Appliances is an international company that specializes in manufacturing and marketing appliances globally. The company is well known for their line of microwaves. Whereas most of their products are manufactured in the U.S and while most of the appliances are exported to the U.S and the European market, White Appliances also markets several high-end models in India where they face some issues in trying to penetrate the market. Moreover, the demand for microwave ovens has gradually increased in the past couple of years. Subsequently White Appliances had to come to a conclusion that in addition to the market of their high-end models, they must introduce new microwave ovens at all price levels in order to target the total amount of households in India. By evaluating the problems such as the culture differences between the west and the east or whether it is the consumer’s limited knowledge towards the household appliance, we determined the different strategies and alternativ es to tackle such issues. Statement of the Problem The case study focuses on the challenges of the Indian kitchen appliances  market for microwaves. Before the liberalization of the Indian economy, only a few local companies were the major players in the kitchen appliances market. But, after opening the market for foreign competitors also global players like e.g. Samsung or LG push into the market. The kitchen appliances market seems to be very promising as extensive growth in the next years is predicted. Nevertheless this emerging market in India focuses several challenges. At first the Indian market for microwaves is very different from the American market where the market share holding companies are very successful. There are several cultural specifies to consider. The Indian food for example differs a lot from the American. While Indian food has a high significance for the people, is pretty complex and time consuming to cook; the Americans emphasize an easy and simple way of cooking. Indians prefer cooking with fresh ingredients, a great variety of spices and herbs and have their own list of cooking techniques and equipments that are needed for the recipe. Contrary, the Americans prefer their food grilled or direct rather than steamed cooked over dry heat. But, there are not only crosscultural differences concerning the food, there are also differences between the geographic areas of India itself as the Indian cuisine varies between the Southern and Northern part of the country. 3 Further, there are significant variations in the cultural characteristics. Indian people mostly live in big families with close alliances. In contrast, in the American society live a lot of single people. As really individualistic culture, the families’ ties were not that tight as in India. One of the biggest challenges, that need to be faced, is the missing knowledge of the consumers. Mostly Indian people do not know how to use the microwave properly. Most of the (potential) consumers do not expect that all of the Indian dishes can even be prepared in the microwave, not only heated up. So they miss the big advantages like timesaving at cooking, that nobody has to keep an eye on the food constantly while all vitamins and nutrients retain in the food and furthermore the simplification of cleaning afterwards. Another problem that goes hand in hand with the missing knowledge of the consumers is the price discussion of the microwaves. For  the traditional poor Indian middle class, the very expensive first introduced microwave models were unattractive. Additionally the models were not adequate for the Indian market as the big Indian vessels did not fit in. Even though most manufacturers reacted by designing the microwaves according to the special Indian needs and a price cut, the sales volume did not increase notably. This leads to the chicken – egg question for the company- the prices will not come down easily until volumes up, while volume depends on prices. Additionally, the kitchen appliances market is nowadays predominated by some brands what makes it more complicate for new companies to get more market share. On the other hand, there still is a lot of potential to penetrate this relatively new market. Especially the recent development like rising living standards and wages and also the fact that household applications like washing machines are no luxury good any more, eases a market entry and increase of market share. Better access to consumer awareness and the big advantages that microwave cooking could bring to consumers also strengthens the possibilities of a White Appliances. 4 Situation Analysis To be successful in entering the Indian kitchen application market White Appliances need to identify controllable and uncontrollable elements of the markets. This can best be shown in a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-and-Threats-Analysis (SWOT). Strength – Weaknesses Microwaves are easy to use and – High price for the customers understandable for almost everybody – Microwaves aren’t common in India Convenient and efficient way of ! The presence of microwaves at cooking – Indian markets is rather weak – Time Saving – Longtime use of appliances – – Chicken-egg problem (price vs.  High technology- ideally for the  volume)  technically affine Indian people – Wide product range from high-end to basic models with different categories Opportunities – Threats New, diverse target groups in India – Trends in society (Health  available (men in the kitchen in  general, bachelors, students, young  in food industry, doubts of  women etc.) – consciousness, slow movement trend microwave radiation) New form of lifestyles and rising – Different cultural background than in living standards High interest in innovations and Indian society versus individualistic technology of Indian people could be – other markets (e.g. collectivistic Americans) used stronger by White Appliances – – Different eating habits (Western vs. Indian food, fresh vs. convenient sales in the future – Proposed bright future for microwave food, different eating habits) Only little market penetration by – Consumer’s knowledge about the use competitors – of microwaves is little, difficult to Proposed increase of retail stores convince them – Environment of competition tightens as the market is promising 5 Objectives and Goals To make the market entry in the Indian market successfully, it is important to set objectives and intermediate objectives. A goal is to find a suitable strategy to enter the market with longterm success. White appliance would like to establish itself on the market and to prevail against the major competitor. They want to increase their market share to profit from the proposed market development. It’s important that they communicate their services and predict on the market. The people need getting to know quickly and effectively the microwaves from the White appliance. To increase the awareness and the sale of microwave oven and especially of the microwaves from white appliance it is necessary to promote the knowledge of microwave cooking in India. People need to know how to use a microwave with all its functions. White appliance should have special product offerings to make the buying of a microwave more attractive. They have to offer different price ranges of the product and it can be useful to corporate with experienced partner for distribution. Strategy and Evaluations For entering a new market, a lot of decisions have to be made and a consistent strategy has to be implemented. In the following, a recommended strategy for the White Appliances Company will be introduced by focusing on product, price, distribution and communication, the marketing core elements  of all products. (1) Product In response to entering a new market and being confronted with new cultural and social behavior and habits, the adaption of the product to the Indian culture and cuisine is essential. To meet the exact needs of the new market, the investment in Research & Development as well as in product innovation is a significant first step in developing a successful and sustainable marketing strategy. Especially value added features like user-friendly one-touch program buttons, an energy saver mode or a microwave size that suits to Indian families and cooking habits need to be reconsidered in the product innovation process. Therefore every microwave model for the Indian market comes with high volume space, as this is essential to the Indian family sizes. Based on this, different microwave models will be implemented, which inhabit their special functions and features fitted to different target groups. The product range of White Appliances should include at the beginning two different models, one b asic model in a lower price range to reach a high market penetration and second a 6  comfort model, for a target group, searching for a more comfortable way of cooking with microwaves. The basic model aims to reach the advancing lower-middle class, which can be seen as the most prosperous target group. The microwave comes with a basic interface to set power and time. A manual guide will be provided to inform the customer how to make the best out of the different setting options. This microwave type will be manufactured in Asia, whereas low production and import costs can be reached, to establish a low product price. The comfort model comes with different program-buttons in addition, which eases handling and leads to a more comfortable cooking experience. This model targets the status-oriented middle-class, which aims to have a functional but comfortable cooking experience. The comfort model will be produced in the U.S., as the target group will be more qualityconscious too. If these two microwave types are established successfully in the market, a high-price combimodel will be launched in a long-term strategy. It can already be seen, that combination-oven (convection and microwave) gain more and more importance, especially in a  higher-middle class, but as the production is way more costly, it is connected with a higher risk as ROI has to be gained through high product prices. As higher the consumer’s investment, as more factors will be considered, whereas already existing brand awareness in the market would be supportive, what speaks as well for a product launch in a second phase. Regardless of whether the customer decides to buy a basic, comfort, or premium microwave model, the introduction of an excellent after-sales-service could be helpful in creating an USP (unique selling proposition) for White Appliances and to stand out from their competitors in the market. The implementation of a service-hotline, a customer-care website providing information according to the handling of the product and answering frequently asked questions as well as video-tutorials via YouTube, the offer ing of a repair service or warranties are just some examples that could be considered in creating an excellent customer service. (2) Price The two respectively three different models will be established within their own price segment. The basic model will be sold in a cheap price range round about Rs. 5000. The cheap price has to be absorbed by a high volume. This is a risky step as a high sales rate is premise, but it is the only way to solve the chicken-egg-problem of low prices can only be reached through high volume. Further it gains a high penetration in the market and can raise brand awareness fast. The comfort model will be sold for round about Rs. 10.000. This establishes our brand, as a microwave seller for affordable models, but quality and more 7  functional features will speak for the higher price. Besides, the offering of a coupled two years warrantee could increase the consumer’s attraction to this model. The premium model, which will be launched in the second phase, will be rolled-out to the market with a price of Rs. 15.000. To cut costs of production, a long-term goal could be to promote the basic microwave innovation in local manufacturing and only to continue importing the premium models. To support sales, a combination package with microwave glass-bowls and cooking equipment could be offered, in an each similar price range, which will be especially interesting to microwave starters. It can be assumed that a high percentage of the main target group buys a microwave for  the first time. (3) Distribution The distribution will be best and easiest implemented through existing kitchen equipment retailers. This gives the opportunities to sell the own product in combination with special kitchen promotion packages and fits to the existing consumer purchase habits. (4) Communication The communication strategy can be divided into two parts. The first part aims to raise knowledge about microwaves and its functionality in general, whereas the second part pushes brand and product awareness of the White Appliance company. Consumers buy products not because of the product itself, but of its potential to solve an existing need. As Indian people are mainly new to the product microwave and its functions, most consumers won’t be aware about the need to possess a microwave in their daily life. Therefore one part of the communication strategy aims to raise general product awareness via social media and TVshow cooperation. For TV-show cooperation, existing, successful cooking shows could be used to present microwaves and their functionality for daily cooking. Of course the TV-studio would be equipped with microwaves from White Appliance, but in the communication the product usefulness is primer. In parts of social media marketing, a Facebook fan-page is imaginable, where microwave recipes and tips will be promoted. The social media site, shall be named more focused on its purpose and should not be included in the company’s fan-page. Rather a â€Å"powered by† addition should make up the connection to the company. This naming makes sure, that it is findable for those, who want to know more about microwaves and its usefulness, further the site-name is promising for its purpose. 8 Besides an increased awareness about microwave and its functionality in general, the popularity of the own brand has to be pushed. This can be done sustainably via the following communication channels: †¢ TV-Commercial †¢ Promotion tour (microwave party in style of Tupperware parties, food tasting on the street, in supermarkets etc.) †¢ Point-of-Sale specials as e.g. free microwave cook books, when buying an oven †¢ Offer special services to the client (video-tutorials on YouTube; FAQ on website; hotline) As well the communication via an own App would be reasonable, but as the development of an app is pretty costly, a launch is recommended in the second phase, when the investment can be defrayed by the gained sales. As every strategy has its advantages and disadvantages, those will be presented in the following, to show the strengths of the strategy, but as well where weaknesses have to be eyed. (1) Product To enter the market with a basic model to reach the promising low-middle class target group seems pretty prosperous. Further he more comfort-oriented middle-class will be reached with a second model, so that the market entering strategy is based on a brought target group and the brand awareness will be raised by a penetration strategy. The risk of that strategy lies therein, that competitors might plan the same and the market will be overflowed by pricy microwaves. (2) Price As the production for the basic model takes place in the region, this leads to low production and logistic costs. In combination with a high volume, the  market can be entered with a low price to reach the low-middle class. Although this sounds pretty promising, the strategy is not without any risk, as the success is depending on the sales volume, which has to be very high. (3) Distribution The distribution via existing retailers leads to lower investments and the company doesn’t need to care about the legal environment. Further an already existing and proofed distribution system is used. Nevertheless the distribution via retailers means a certain loss of control, as 9  those retailers have their own demands. The offer of a trade discount to all retail partners for the first year could be helpful to diminish this risk and to create an initial demand. (4) Communication The communication strategy does not only focus on the product itself but rather on the general benefit of the usage of the product, which is the start of a sustainable product communication where the brand communication can be build on. But the penetration of the different channels as introduced means a big investment to the company. Recommendations and Contingencies For a sustainable and successful market approach, the whole strategy must be implemented in once, because all parts – product, price, distribution, and communication – depend on each other. Further it is important, that sufficient attention will be given to every single part of the strategy. When it was sensible, an implementation in two phases – short-term and long-term – is suggested, to decrease risk and base higher investments on the by then hopefully already existing success and high sales. The marketing strategy needs to be implemented carefully, avoiding to offend the socialcultural behavior and habits of the Indian community. Therefore the strategy has to be controlled and reconsidered all time while implementing, to detect further weaknesses and optimization potential. Only by paying attention to market behavior and key figures, the success of the running strategy can be proofed and in case adjusted.