Mismatch between Supply and Demand Essay

(a) Natural environment = they are actually doing things that will help our environment be healthy. We are human beings and these environments are our necessary needs and they are taking good care of these, so when something natural hazards happen in the future, people will start to realize that Yuhan-Kimberly took care of the environment for our own goods. ìš °Ã« ¦ ¬Ã¬ Ëœ ì‚ ¶Ãª ³ ¼ ì §Ë†Ã¬ â€ž íâ€" ¥Ã¬Æ' Ã¬â€¹Å"í‚ ¤Ã«Å â€Ãª ²Æ' (b) Economic = They are contributing some of their profits to the society. People will someday realize these contributions and therefore, will buy Yuhan-Kimberly’s products, which means their revenue will go up. Consumers these days are smart and thinking and we have to realize this fact. (c) Demographic = Yuhan-Kimberly has been planting trees and donating to many other countries other than Korea. This is not an easy thing. Although the purpose of planting trees in China and Mongolia was to help protect Korean citizens from being sick from the winds that blow from these regions but their action has actually helped Chinese and Mongolians as well. These two countries are big countries with lots of potential power. By keep contributing to these countries, Yuhan-Kimberly would be able to branch out their markets to more regions. Threats in their long-term marketing environment (a) Natural environment = The fact that main products of Yuhan-Kimberly is of using all the natural resources, they would need to consistently appeal that they are really thinking about their environment just like now, but there will also need to be something new to remind their customers about it. (b) Economic = All the other companies are trying to follow the model of being ‘green.’ That means there are no points of differentiation at this point from Yuhan-Kimberly and all the other corporations. Consumers are smart these days. They know and care about companies’ they buy products from. Because business play a pivotal role in job and wealth creation in society, CSR is a central management concern. It positions companies to both proactively manage risks and take advantage of opportunities, especially with respect to their corporate reputation and broad engagement of stakeholders. Globalization Guidelines from the governments and intergovernmental bodies (UN) Advances in communications technology- easier to track corporate activities and disseminate information about the corporation- people do not like companies who do bad things. Consumers and investors are showing increasing interest in supporting responsible business practices and are demanding more information on how companies are addressing risks and opportunities related to social and environmental issues. Increasing awareness from consumers / investors/ governments 4. (a) Invested lots of money to develop functionally superior and comfortable products- made it to fit Korean consumers (b) Used non celebrity – usually college students (mostly feminine products are used by college students – attack these ë §Ë†Ã¬ Å')  © they took considerations on how to make specialized products for Korean consumers (ì ² ´Ã­Ëœâ€¢/ needs) (d) has their own research and development center ïÆ'   they took consideration on their consumer’s culture (í•Å"ê µ ­Ã¬ â‚¬ ë §Ë†Ã« £ ¨Ã« °â€Ã«â€¹ ¥Ã¬  ´Ã«â€¹Ë†Ãª ¹  ê ¸ °Ã¬  â‚¬Ãª ·â‚¬Ãª °â‚¬ ì ¢â‚¬ ë â€ íâ€" Ã«   Ã­â€¢ ´Ã« â€ž ì˜ ¤Ã« ¬ ¼Ã«â€œ ¤Ã¬  ´ ìÆ'ˆë â€ž ë‹ ¦Ã¬ â€ž 수 있ìÅ" ¼Ã«â€¹Ë† ê ´Å"ì ° ®Ã¬ Å') /

Mcdonalds Coffee Case

The McDonald’s Coffee Case Back in 1992 when Stella Liebeck spilled McDonald’s coffee on herself, she never intended to sue. She simply asked for money to cover her medical charges and for the time her daughter was out of work caring for her. When she received an inadequate response from McDonald’s, that’s when she sought an attorney. This case has turned out to be one of the most misunderstood cases of our times. In Stella Liebeck’s defense, it can be said that McDonald’s should not have been serving coffee so hot.As mentioned in the article â€Å"McDonald’s policy at the time was to serve its coffee at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. † After hearing a statistic like that, it’s hard to believe that anyone would enjoy drinking something that hot. â€Å"180 degrees Fahrenheit is hot enough to cause severe third degree burns in less than a second. † That is exactly what the coffee ended up doing to Stella Liebeck. She ended up with burns all over her buttocks and thigh. In McDonald’s defense, they can use the principle of Caveat Emptor or Buyer Beware. McDonald’s can say that once they hand out their coffee they have no control over what happens to it.McDonald’s was not the one to actually spill the coffee on Stella Liebeck, she did it to herself. She knew that it was very hot, and she should have used more caution when opening up her coffee. Using the â€Å"Reasonable Person† principle, people are expecting the coffee that they buy to be very hot. A person would not deliberately pour hot coffee on themselves because that will hurt badly. In this case the â€Å"Reasonable Person† theory does not apply as much because she did not spill coffee on herself on purpose. The â€Å"Industry Standard† principle seems to have the greatest range of a course of action.Depending on the size of the corporation will dictate their course of action. For example, a global company like McDonald’s would be more able to pay money to a burn victim rather than an owner of a deli. To determine the results for this case, two precedents were used. Buyer beware prevailed in one case, and in the second case the court ruled that a warning should have been given to the victim. It is safe to say that in both of those cases and the McDonald’s case, if a warning had been issued then the result would have probably never happened.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 2

Elena burst out of the backseat of the Jaguar and ran a little way from the car before turning to see what had fallen on top of it. What had fallen was Matt. He was in the process of struggling to get up off his back. â€Å"Matt – oh, my God! Are you all right? Are you hurt?† Elena cried at the same time as Matt was shouting in tones of anguish: â€Å"Elena – oh, my God! Is the Jag all right? Is it hurt?† â€Å"Matt, are you crazy? Did you hit your head?† â€Å"Are there any scratches? Does the moonroof still work?† â€Å"No scratches. The moonroof is fine.† Elena had no idea if the moonroof worked, but she realized that Matt was raving, off his head. He was trying to get down without getting any mud on the Jag, but he was handicapped since his legs and feet were covered with mud. Getting off of the car without using his feet was proving difficult. Meanwhile, Elena was looking around. She herself had once fallen from the sky, yes, but she had been dead for six months first and had arrived naked, and Matt fulfilled neither requirement. She had a more prosaic explanation in mind. And there it was, lounging against a yellowwood tree and eyeing the scene with a very slight, wicked smile. Damon. He was compact; not as tall as Stefan, but with an indefinable aura of menace that more than made up for it. He was as immaculately dressed as always: black Armani jeans, black shirt, black leather jacket, and black boots, which all went with his carelessly windblown dark hair and his black eyes. Right now, he made Elena acutely aware that she was wearing a long white nightgown that she had brought with the idea that she could change her clothes underneath it if necessary while they were camping. The problem was that she usually did this just at dawn, and today writing in her diary had distracted her. And all at once the nightgown wasn't the correct attire for an early-morning fight with Damon. It wasn't sheer, being more akin to flannel than to nylon, but it was lacy, especially around the neck. Lace around a pretty neck to a vampire – as Damon had told her – was like a waving red cloak in front of a raging bull. Elena crossed her arms over her chest. She also tried to make sure that her aura was pulled in decorously. â€Å"You look like Wendy,† Damon said, and his smile was wicked, flashing, and definitely appreciative. He cocked his head to the side coaxingly. Elena refused to be coaxed. â€Å"Wendy who?† she said, and at just that moment remembered the last name of the young girl in Peter Pan, and winced inwardly. Elena had always been good at repartee of this kind. The problem was that Damon was better. â€Å"Why, Wendy†¦Darling,† Damon said, and his voice was a caress. Elena felt an inward shiver. Damon had promised not to Influence her – to use his telepathic powers to cloud or manipulate her mind. But sometimes it felt as if he got awfully close to the line. Yes, it was definitely Damon's fault, Elena thought. She didn't have any feelings for him that were – well, that were anything other than sisterly. But Damon never gave up, no matter how many times she rejected him. Behind Elena was a thump and squelch that undoubtedly meant Matt had finally gotten off the roof of the Jag. He jumped into the fray immediately. â€Å"Don't call Elena, Elena darling!† he shouted, continuing as he turned to Elena, â€Å"Wendy's probably the name of his latest little girlfriend. And – and – and do you know what he did? How he woke me up this morning?† Matt was quivering with indignation. â€Å"He picked you up and threw you on top of the car?† Elena hazarded. She talked over her shoulder to Matt because there was a faint morning breeze that tended to mold her nightgown to her body. She didn't want Damon behind her just now. â€Å"No! I mean, yes! No and yes! But – when he did, he didn't even bother to use his hands! He just went like this† – Matt waved an arm – â€Å"and first I got dropped into a mud hole and next thing I know I got dropped on the Jag. It could have broken the moonroof – or me! And now I'm all muddy,† Matt added, examining himself with disgust, as if it had only just occurred to him. Damon spoke up. â€Å"And why did I pick you up and put you down again? What were you actually doing at the time when I put some distance between us?† Matt flushed to the roots of his fair hair. His normally tranquil blue eyes were blazing. â€Å"I was holding a stick,† he said defiantly. â€Å"A stick. A stick like the kind you find along the roadside? That kind of stick?† â€Å"I did pick it up along the roadside, yes!† Still defiant. â€Å"But then something strange seems to have happened to it.† From nowhere that Elena could see, Damon suddenly produced a very long, and very sturdy-looking stake, with one end that had been whittled to an extremely sharp point. It had definitely been carved from hardwood: oak from the look of it. While Damon was examining his â€Å"stick† from all sides with a look of acute bafflement, Elena turned on a sputtering Matt. â€Å"Matt!† she said reproachfully. This was definitely a low point in the cold war between the two boys. â€Å"I just thought,† Matt went on stubbornly, â€Å"that it might be a good idea. Since I'm sleeping outdoors at night and a†¦another vampire might come along.† Elena had already turned again and was making appeasing noises at Damon when Matt burst out afresh. â€Å"Tell her how you actually woke me up!† he said explosively. Then, without giving Damon a chance to say anything, he continued, â€Å"I was just opening my eyes when he dropped this on me!† Matt squelched over to Elena, holding something up. Elena, truly at a loss, took it from him, turning it over. It seemed to be a pencil stub, but it was discolored dark reddish-brown. â€Å"He dropped that on me and said ‘scratch off two,'† Matt said. â€Å"He'd killed two people – and he was bragging about it!† Elena suddenly didn't want to be holding the pencil anymore. â€Å"Damon!† she said in a cry of real anguish, as she tried to make something out of his no-expression expression. â€Å"Damon – you didn't – not really – â€Å" â€Å"Don't beg him, Elena. The thing we've got to do – â€Å" â€Å"If anybody would let me get a word in,† Damon said, now sounding truly exasperated, â€Å"I might mention that before I could explain about the pencil someone attempted to stake me on the spot, even before getting out of his sleeping bag. And what I was going to say next was that they weren't people. They were vampires, thugs, hired muscle – but these were possessed by Shinichi's malach. And they were on our trail. They'd gotten as far as Warren, Kentucky, probably by asking questions about the car. We're definitely going to have to get rid of it.† â€Å"No!† Matt shouted defensively. â€Å"This car – this car means something to Stefan and Elena.† â€Å"This car means something to you,† Damon corrected. â€Å"And I might point out that I had to leave my Ferrari in a creek just so we could take you on this little expedition.† Elena held up her hand. She didn't want to hear any more. She did have feelings for the car. It was big and brilliantly red and flashy and buoyant – and it expressed how she and Stefan had been feeling on the day that he bought it for her, celebrating the start of their new life together. Just looking at it made her remember the day, and the weight of Stefan's arm around her shoulder and the way he'd looked down at her, when she'd looked up at him – his green eyes sparkling with mischief and the joy of getting her something she really wanted. To Elena's embarrassment and fury, she found that she was shaking slightly, and that her own eyes were full of tears. â€Å"You see,† Matt said, glaring at Damon. â€Å"Now you're making her cry.† â€Å"I am? I'm not the one who mentioned my dear departed younger brother,† Damon said urbanely. â€Å"Just stop it! Right now! Both of you,† Elena shouted, trying to find her composure. â€Å"And I don't want this pencil, if you don't mind,† she added, holding it at arm's length. When Damon took it, Elena wiped her hands on her nightgown, feeling vaguely light-headed. She shivered, thinking of the vampires on their trail. And then, suddenly, as she swayed, there was a warm, strong arm around her and Damon's voice beside her saying, â€Å"What she needs is some fresh air, and I'm going to give it to her.† Abruptly Elena was weightless and she was in Damon's arms and they were going higher. â€Å"Damon, could you please put me down?† â€Å"Right now, darling? It's quite a distance†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena continued to remonstrate with Damon, but she could tell that he had tuned her out. And the cool morning air was clearing her head a bit, although it also made her shake. She tried to stop the shivering, but couldn't help it. Damon glanced down at her and to her surprise, looking completely serious, began to make motions as if to take his jacket off. Elena hastily said, â€Å"No, no – you just drive – fly, I mean, and I'll hang on.† â€Å"And watch for low-going seagulls,† Damon said solemnly, but with a quirk at the side of his mouth. Elena had to turn her face away because she was in danger of laughing. â€Å"So, just when did you learn you could pick people up and drop them on cars?† she inquired. â€Å"Oh, just recently. It was like flying: a challenge. And you know I like challenges.† He was looking down at her with mischief in his eyes, those black on black eyes with such long lashes that they were wasted on a boy. Elena felt as light as if she were dandelion fluff, but also a little light-headed, almost tipsy. She was much warmer now, because – she realized – Damon had enfolded her in his aura, which was warm. Not just in temperature, either, but warm with a heady, almost drunken appreciation, as he took her in, her eyes and her face and her hair floating weightlessly in a cloud of gold around her shoulders. Elena couldn't help but blush, and she almost heard his thought, that blushing suited her very well, pale pink against her fair complexion. And just as blushing was an involuntary physical response to his warmth and appreciation, Elena felt an involuntary emotional response – of thankfulness for what he had done, of gratitude for his appreciation, and of unintentional appreciation of Damon himself. He had saved her life tonight, if she knew anything about vampires possessed by Shinichi's malach, vampires who were thugs to begin with. She couldn't even imagine what such creatures would do to her, and she didn't want to. She could only be glad that Damon had been clever enough and, yes, ruthless enough to take care of them before they got to her. And she would have to be blind and just plain stupid not to appreciate the fact that Damon was gorgeous. After having died twice, this fact did not affect her as it would most other girls, but it was still a fact, whether Damon was pensive or giving one of those rare genuine smiles that he seemed to have only for Elena. The problem with this was that Damon was a vampire and could therefore read her mind, especially with Elena being so close, their auras intermingling. And Damon appreciated Elena's appreciation, and it became a little cycle of feedback, all on its own. Before Elena could quite focus she was melting, her weightless body feeling heavier as it molded itself to Damon's arms. And the other problem was that Damon wasn't Influencing her; he was as caught up in the feedback as Elena was – more so, because he didn't have any barriers against it. Elena did, but they were blurring, dissolving. She couldn't think properly. Damon was gazing at her with wonder and a look she was all too used to seeing – but she couldn't remember where. Elena had lost the power to analyze. She was simply basking in the warm glow of being cherished, being held and loved and cared for with an intensity that shook her to the bone. And when Elena gave of herself, she gave completely. Almost without conscious effort, she arched her head back to expose her throat and closed her eyes. Damon gently positioned her head differently, supported it with one hand, and kissed her.

Discuss the meaning of the word of God as treated in the Old and New Essay

Discuss the meaning of the word of God as treated in the Old and New Testaments - Essay Example According to the traditional principles of Christian religion, the writings and the principles of their selection were controlled and inspired by the Holy Spirit, performing the words of the Lord to lead His followers to the truth. The Christian Church needed to know what books of the collection were divinely inspired. The Gospels, containing the information about Jesus, his doings and lessons, couldn’t be jugged as having less importance than the Old Testament. The Acts and Epistles comprising the teaching of the apostles are also regarded as created under His control. Thus, the teachings of the apostles were treated with the same respect as the ancient prophetic writings. The Church then broke with Judaism and rejected the authority if the Old Testament, but regarded it as the Word of God, taking Jesus and His disciples as example. The New Testament consists of twenty-seven writings, referred to eight authors. Six of them are believed to be apostles – Jude, James, Peter, Paul, John and Matthew, and the other two are their direct followers, Luke and Mark. If these books are regarded from the point of view of the literature and from the historical point of view, they would be observed as didactic books including Epistles, prophetical book, that is Apocalypse, and the books on the historical topic – Gospels and Acts.(2) The date of the origin of the Old Testament is referred to 2500-3500 years ago. It is assumed that it was made by the people with a culture and traditions quite different from the nowadays society. Inspite of the strong traditional links, which the Christian Church keeps within the ages, the Word of God, being read by a modern reader is judged differently compared to perception of the readers of the Medieval, and of course, of the authors, created the writing. Our interpretation and understanding of an ancient text

Toxoplasmosis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Toxoplasmosis - Term Paper Example It was found in a survey that approximately 1% of household cats had the organism present (Robbins et al 2005 & Levinson 2008). The infection spreads by means of intake of the cysts of the organism by human beings either through intake of meat that has not been cooked properly or via any other eatables that have been infected. Contact with the fecal matter of the cats which also contain the infected cysts can also result in infection. The other mode of transmission is via the placenta to the fetus during pregnancy or during invasive procedures which include transplantation of organs or during blood transfusions (Rao 2004, Brooks et al 2004 & Levinson 2008). In the human beings the infected cysts reach the small bowel and split over there. This leads to liberation of products which enter the gut wall where the macrophages become activated and engulf these foreign bodies. They multiply within the cells and form trophozoites which destroy the cells within which they are engulfed and then move towards acting on other cells. If the immune system is intact the cell mediated immunity restricts the trophozoites and the proztozoa then gains entry in the cells of the brain, muscle and other tissues and forming cysts which do not multiply at a very fast rate. This form of cysts within which the protozoa is replicating at a very slow pace is referred to as bradyzoite. There is danger of these cysts getting ruptured in people whose immunity is not intact and is compromised. These cysts also serve as diagnostic tools for concluding the presence of the organism in the body (Levinson 2008 & Brooks et al 2004). Toxoplasmosis does not present any severe manifestations or symptoms in people who have an intact immune system. It does not also spread from one person to another apart from the transmission via the placenta. The dissemination of the protozoa from the small bowel can be to other organs

Racial Profiling Goes Beyond Black and White by Polakow-Suransky, Essay

Racial Profiling Goes Beyond Black and White by Polakow-Suransky, (Pages.200-205) - Essay Example rican Americans, especially young males, are more likely than are whites to be involved in the commission of a crime.   Racial profiling is illegal but police are allowed to stop and search drivers if they have reason to believe that person may be in possession of drugs or weapons so therefore, this practice continues. Since September 11, 2001, law enforcement agencies around the country are practicing a new type of racial profiling which has the approval of most all citizens. It is referred to as ‘flying while Arab.’ â€Å"In the post-September 11 climate, ‘driving while black’ has become ‘flying while brown’† (204). Many cases have been reported where Arab, or ‘Arab looking’ Americans have been ordered to depart airplanes simply because their appearance was making some of the other passengers uneasy. Decisions regarding what person to hire, which people will be admitted and who will be detained by airport security as their suitcase is ransacked while they are trying to catch a plane is based upon characteristic generalities that are either observable or perceived. However, even when generalizations are statistically legitimate, they can be very erroneous in particular cases. For example, many black students are more prepared, scholastically speaking, to enter a university than many white students. Racial profiling is, by anyone’s definition, a rational method of discrimination. While most would have agreed prior to September 11, 2001 that racial discrimination is morally wrong and cannot be justified for any reason, those following the tragic events which killed more than 3000 Americans and the continued threat of terrorism has made this practice more palatable and even desirable. Had the terrorists that committed these acts not been of Arab descent, then the profiling of airplane passengers and the widespread fear of this particular ethnic group would not be a matter of discussion. Profiling Arabs is an easy sell to a country made up

Leaders of Contemporary Public Health Promotion Services Essay

Leaders of Contemporary Public Health Promotion Services - Essay Example The issue with obesity is already in the public consciousness. Yet, despite of the multitude of proposed solution on how to curb obesity, its incidence still continue to rise at an alarming rate. Clearly, the present approach proves to be ineffective because the epidemic still pervades and this poses a challenge to public health sector leadership in years ahead on how to effectively respond to this epidemic that poses serious health risk. Narcissism can be said as a silent epidemic because its symptoms are not obvious unlike obesity where we can readily see that a person is overweight. We can feel its ill effects such as overconfidence that leads to self-destruction but having difficulty on determining if such personality trait is already a disorder. Only until recently in a study made by Twenge and Campbell that they found out that the prevalence of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is already as pervasive as obesity. This is a unique epidemic among the younger and present generation because this is not pervasive among the older generation. People over the age of 65 had only three percent incidence of narcissm while it is 10 percent among people who are in their twenties (2009). What is more alarming with this epidemic is that it has not yet entered into the consciousness of the public mind and maybe even among health care practitioners. This poses as a greater problem because it is not recognized as an issue when it is already as pervasive as obesity. When NPD is not yet recognized as a problem, we would not know how to address the disorder that it will continue to affect unnoticed. This combined issues poses a challenge for the leaders and managers of the public health care sector over the next few years considering that they also have to address another type of epidemic that is as pervasive as obesity which is narcissism. Â  

Working Conditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Working Conditions - Essay Example According to Andre and Manuel - ' this  principle holds that the morally right course of action in any situation is the one that produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms for everyone affected' (Andre, 2010).  I absolutely agree in supporting the detailed recommendations  of  Human Rights Watch  enlisted below (Compa, 2005). New federal and state laws should reduce line speed in meat and poultry plants and establish new ergonomics standards to reduce repetitive stress injuries. Health and safety authorities should apply stronger enforcement measures. States should develop stronger worker compensation laws and enforcement mechanisms. Employers should not engage in aggressive, intimidating anti-organizing campaigns that take advantage of loopholes and weaknesses in the  U.S.  labor law system. Congress should enact legislation bringing  U.S.  labor law into compliance with international standards (e.g. to prohibit the permanent replacement of striking worke rs) and should also create stronger remedies for violations of workers’ rights. New laws and policies should ensure respect for the human rights of immigrant workers, whatever their legal status. Immigrants should have the same workplace protections as non-immigrants, including coverage under fair labor standards and other labor laws, and the same remedies when their rights are violated   A hog worker from  North Carolina  quotes â€Å"The line is so fast there is no time to sharpen the knife. The knife gets dull and you have to cut harder. That’s when you cut yourself.† If a worker really loses limb or life, who is there to lend a helping hand to his family to earn daily living. Ethically, the employers should open their eyes and weigh the resulting benefits and harms of policies that are  forced upon the workers in meat and poultry industry. The  Ã‚  Ã‚  increase in volume and speed of production  Ã‚  Ã‚  should be backed with quality training and sufficient safeguards making the work less hazardous.  Employers should choose the course of action that provides greatest benefits to the  workers who make up to 30,000 hard-cutting motions with sharp knives in a shift and often become victim of long-term occupational injuries and frequent lacerations. Investigations done by Human Rights Watch have shown that workers often do not  receive compensation for injuries at workplace because companies do not report injuries. The claims are delayed and denied; reprisals are  inflicted  on workers who file them. Workers are loved  as  long as  they are healthy and capable of working like a dog. But once they get hurt,  company will find a reason to fire them or put  them in a terrible job or change the shift so that worker quits.  Ã‚  Therefore, lot of people just work with the pain without reporting their injuries.  To overcome such situations, according to deontology, a right choice conforms to a moral norm. Such n orms are made simply to be obeyed by each moral agent in spite of maximizing such norm-keepings .For deontologists the Right has priority over the Good. If an action is not in accord with the Right, it may not be performed; no matter the Good that it might (Alexander 2008).  In an investigation conducted by Jamie Fellner, director of the U.S. Program at Human Rights Watch, the fact  revealed was that often Public agencies try to protect consumers from tainted meat but do very little to  Ã‚  protect their workers from  unhealthy and terrible conditions. It is also reported that aggressive and unlawful company try to derail workers’ organizing efforts. Employers threat workers who try to defend themselves

Eco-tourism in China and France Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Eco-tourism in China and France - Research Paper Example Tourism is a rapidly growing industry in most countries in the world, including both developing and developed countries (Eijgelaar, Peeters, & Piket, 2008; Euromonitor International, 2011). Tourism as a business has grown approximately ten percent per year since the end of World War Two. (Matias, Nijkamp, & Sarmento, 2009) Much of that business is in the form of domestic tourism, but international pleasure travel does capture a significant portion of that market (Lohmann, 2004). The needs of the international tourist differ from the needs of the domestic tourist. Monitoring and forecasting the international tourism demand independently of the domestic tourism demand is vital in proper demand management. The analysis of tourism demand is the measurement of this growth; forecasting this demand is vital in managing it and profiting from it. However, an analysis of the tourism industry across the entire world is too large and is outside the scope of this research; instead, the focus is on one example of a developing nation though with a thriving tourist industry, China, and one example of a developed nation also with a very well-established tourist industry, France. A type of tourism common to both of these nations is eco-tourism, and so eco-tourism will be used as the model to compare management strategies between the two nations. Characteristics and Modeling of Tourism Demand Tourism demand can be measured in a variety of ways. The most commonly used benchmark for tourism demand is the number of tourists arriving in the country or to the location Chan, Lim, & McAleer, 2005). Another method, which is generally used for economic models, is the income receipt from those tourists. A combination of these measurements is considered best to get a true picture of the demand for tourism infrastructure: if there is a situation where a large number of tourists are arriving, but their expenditure while traveling is low, it would be more sensible to focus on budget vacations than on five-star facilities, for example. The two issues at hand, the number of arrivals and the money being spent, are separate; good modeling will involve consideration of them both as individual problems and as a a combination. A wide variety of models exist for forecasting and analyzing the demand of tourism and new techniques are constantly being introduced. No single modeling technique has been found to be the most accurate overall; the best choice of modeling technique seems to depend significantly on the situation (Song & Li, 2008). For example, travel motivation theory suggest that the reasoning behind the trip is the most important in predicting the demand for tourism to a specific location (Goh, Law, & Mok, 2008). Dynamic destination image indexes (DDII) are collections of news stories about a destination that can affect a consumer's choice of vacation destination, by adding a line of reasoning about recent events to the consumer's decision-making process (Stepchenkova & Eales, 2011). Using the DDII can be more helpful to managing demand in a nation that is frequently shown on the international news, but less so in a case where fewer people are aware of current events at that location. Scenario planning is used to predict events, both positive and adverse, that could effect tourism demand. Ideally, scenario planning will also forecast the magnitude of this effect .

History of education Essay Example for Free

History of education Essay â€Å"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. † –Nelson Mandela The importance of learning is to enable the individual to put his potentials to optimal use. Education makes man a right thinker and a correct decision-maker. It achieves this by bringing him knowledge from the external world, teaching him to reason and acquainting him with past history, so that he can be a better judge of the present. With education, he finds himself in a room with all its windows open to the outside world. A well educated man is a more dependable worker, a better citizen, a centre of wholesome influence, pride to his community and honour to his country. A nation is great only in proportion of its advancement in education. Education is Self Empowerment. Receiving a good education makes a person strong enough to look after himself in any given situation. It keeps him aware of the given surrounding as well as the rules and regulations of the society. Its only through knowledge that one can question authority for its negligence or discrepancies and only then that can a person avail his rights as a citizen and seek improvement in the structural functioning of governance and economy. As a whole, people can bring about development only when they know where improvement is necessary for the greater good of mankind. Education gives a better understanding to the person, it helps realize potential and qualities one possesses as a human being. It helps tap into latent talent, so that people can sharpen their skills. Education teaches what man lives and struggles for. It cultivates an integrated life. By so doing, it gives significance of life. It helps restores financial stability and dignity of life. It is the essential basis of a good life. Education enlightens and lifts a nation to heights of progress. The problem in India is that it has adopted democracy without preparing the ground for it by educating population. But its never too late to undertake mass programmes of Adult education or Social education. Adult education is the education of grown up men and women. In the complex modern times, people must be knowledgeable and be aware of what they are doing and what is being done to them. To create such sentience every responsible citizen should take up this social cause and educate the knowledge deprived people. Teaching a daily worker for just an hour daily can change their lives in propitious ways as it was rightly quoted by Neil Armstrong, ‘One small step is a giant leap for mankind’. In recent history our country has taken up good measures to ensure a high educated population by taking up several social causes and concentrating on the rural areas, since they comprise a majority but the system has been laid back due the restraints imposed by old cultural ethics. For the past few centuries in India, the girl has been completely neglected even as a human being, her sole purpose of life has been to feed the family and bear a child. Good education has been denied to women. It is argued that women have their domestic duties to perform and that, if they were educated, they would bury themselves in their books and have little time for attending to the management of their households. But what people fail to understand is education involves knowledge of the means by which health may be preserved and enable a mother to consult such modern books as will tell her how to rear up her children into healthy men and women and skilfully nurse them and her husband, when disease attacks her household. The purpose of education is not just earning a livelihood but education makes an individual into a good human being, which is passed on to the next the kith and kin. It is true that, the education of girls has lately taken a slight leap but this is only in a very small segment of Indian society. Unless the motion is fast and continuous, and includes more of poor urban and rural girls in the field of education, there can be no hope of having a developed and first world country status for India. â€Å"When a man is educated, only he is educated but, when a woman is educated, a family is educated. † – Indira Gandhi â€Å"Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farworkers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another. † – Nelson Mandela.

Analysing Structure Changes due to Sony in Restructuring Mode

Analysing Structure Changes due to Sony in Restructuring Mode As directed by the Board of Directors of Sony, this report will analyse the structure of Sony Corporation from 1999-2005, the problems faced together with its responses and underlying rationales and recommendations for the benefit of the future directions of Sony. Being a multinational corporation in the electronics business, the company faces significant macroeconomic challenges. The decreasing trend in profits could be seen since 1998, possibly the main reason that prompted the need for an organisational restructuring. Whether the organisations strategy influences its structure or vice versa, the structure of Sony has to be evaluated first. In 1999, after the restructuring, the company became a tall hierachical structure with three main business areas electronic, entertainment and insurance and finance. Alongside with the unified dispersed model to face the constant market demands, the company became a divisionalized form with decentralization of dispersion of power to ease decisi on-making. The divisional structure of the electronics business is divisionalised due to its low interdependency level, adhocracy in entertainment business and professional bureaucracy in the insurance and finance business. In 2003, Transformation 60 saw a more centralised structure of Sony management-wise and financial-wise . It was found that Transformation 60 still had the company in a divisionalised form but a stronger pull to formalize in its technostructure. One of the problems faced include rapid evolution of technology causing top management to respond by investing heavily and restructuring of the organisation using a Value Creation Model and Transformation 60. Stiff market competitions resulted to partnership and takeovers for off-shoring purposes and to benefit the AV industry. The election of Howard Stringer as CEO will cause the problem in management style due to the differences in national culture. It can be concluded that Sonys management and business strategies affec t its organisational structure as it was the drop in profits that had the shareholders to pressurised the change of top management. Recommendations include the need to combine both Western and Eastern cultures under Stringer and comprehensive considerations in investment strategies. Contents Pages 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Business Description and Corporation Strategy 2.1 Key Figures 2.2 Correlation between Organisation Strategy and Organisation Structure 4-6 3.0 Organisational Structure 3.1 Structure of Sony in 1999 3.1.1 Internal Structure of Sony as a Whole 3.1.2 Divisional Structures of Sony 3.2 Structure of Sony in 2003 3.2.1 Divisional Structure of Transformation 60 3.2.2 Financial Structure of Transformation 60 7-12 4.0 Problems and Responses 4.1 Rapid Evolution of Technology 4.2 Market Competition 4.3 Differences in National Culture 13-16 5.0 Conclusion 17 6.0 Recommendations 18 Appendices 19 Bibliographies 20-22 1.0 Introduction As directed by the Board of Directors of Sony Corporation, this report will analyse the companys situation from 1999-2005. Sony, a world class consumer electronics makers, was facing serious concerns since the late of 1990s, such as Asian financial crisis in 1997, the tech bubble and the terrorist attacks in America in 2001. Besides, the ever increasing competition from competitors and rapid market changes are eroding the market shares of Sony. The top management confront their difficulties bravely and executed a series of actions to respond to those difficulties. This report focuses on the structure of Sony in 1999 and the restructuring in 2003, as well as the analysis of difficulties faced by Sony and how the management responded to those issues. The structure of the report starts with the business description and the corporation strategy which has significant relationship with the following sections. Then, the focus will move to structure 1999 follow with the restructuring of Sony in 2003 called Transformation 60. After the discussions about the business structure, the report will concentrate on analysing the issues associated with Sony and state the responses taken by the management and its underlying principle before concluding and with appropriate recommendations. 2.0 Business Description and Corporation Strategy Sony is one of the worlds top consumer electronics makers and employs over 167900 workers (Sony, 2010). The business operates in over 200 countries and covers the games, electronics, financial services, entertainment markets and others (ibid.). After 65 years of growth, today, the group has established a world class brand and the strong brand image can benefit its bargaining power and make the business move into new markets easily. 2.1 Key Figures Some key figures of Sony from 1997 to 2010 are listed below (Graph12). The Sales figure remained in the reasonably floating level before 2007. Unfortunately, the management and shareholders are unsatisfied with the profits, since 1998 the profits reduced nearly every year, this might have been the trigger to ignite the restructuring of Sony. Graph 1 Source: Sony Annual Report 2001, 2006, 2010- Five-Year Summary of Selected Financial Data Graph 2 Source: Sony Annual Report 2001, 2006, 2010- Five-Year Summary of Selected Financial Data 2.2 Correlation between Organisation Strategy and Organisation Structure Strategy and organisation structure are correlated to each other, even the debate of whether strategy or structure comes first is still in existence (Lynch, 2006). Therefore, to understand Sonys corporation strategy (Graph34) is significantly important before discussing the structure and restructuring of Sony. Besides, an essential portion of the study of Sonys actions is an understanding of the nature of business strategy for the Sony corporation as a whole (Mullins, 2010). Graph 3 Source: Sony Annual Report 1998 pp6, 7 Sony Annual Report 1999 pp26 Graph 4 Source: Sony Annual Report 2003 pp5-management discusses key issues 3.0 Organisational Structure This section is classified into two parts, 3.1 focuses on the structure of Sony in 1999 while section 3.2 concentrates on the restructuring in 2003. 3.1 Structure of Sony in 1999 Sony as a world class player in a diversified high-tech market was challenged with the fierce competition during the late 1990s (Sony, 1999). Therefore, the restructuring was necessary for Sony to survive in the competitive market. The group announced the organisations restructure plan in March 1999 to seize further growth opportunities in the new century and the Internet era (Sony, 1999). The structure of the organisation is determined by its age and size, technical system, power and environment (Mintzberg, 1979). Furthermore, in relation to the environment, the diversity of the environment will largely determine the structure of organization and directly affects the organisation functions into goal-seeking activities through the formal structure to achieve aims and objectives (Mullins, 2007; Mintzberg, 1979). In this diverse environment, different structures will be taken in specific department to meet different aspects of situation for Sony. 3.1.1 Internal Structure of Sony as a Whole The internal structure of Sony is a tall hierarchical structure as Sony consists of three main business areas which are electronic business, entertainment business and insurance and finance business (Graph 5). Besides, the setting up of the unified dispersed management model is to face the rapid change in market in the aforementioned pillars of Sony (Ravi, 2005). As a result, the overall structure of Sony in 1999 was divisionalized form. Schwartz and Thompson (1986) suggested that the divisionalization form can facilitate the various divisions to compete fiercely among them, with effective operations to face rapid changes in external environment. Graph 5 Source: www.Sony.net, Press Archive, March 29, 1999 Besides, centralization and decentralization depends on how organisational power is dispersed and is determined by the organization structure for decision-making and problem-solving (Schmidt, 2006). The structure of Sony in 1999 displayed Sonys trend to be decentralization to distribute the power yield. For example, Sony set up a unified dispersed management model which facilitates more functional and operational autonomy (Ravi, 2005). 3.1.2 Divisional Structures of Sony After the discussion above, the focus now moves to the structure of different divisions. The electronic business consists of various subsidiaries (Graph 6). Each subsidiary is responsible for its own different products and makes business decisions in different markets. There is little interdependence that exists between each other. Thus, the structure of electronic business was divisionalized form. Entertainment business displayed adhocracy due to its little formalisation of behaviour. Insurance Finance business displayed a Professional Bureaucracy structure due to its complex environment with highly trained skills and knowledge to offer standardisation of products and services (Mintzberg, 1979). Graph 6 Source: www.Sony.net, Press Archive, March 29, 1999 Each business division has the autonomous to make decisions in its daily operation. The Group headquarters concentrated on coordinating these business divisions to make a long-term business strategy. Nevertheless, under the complex, diverse and dynamic environment, perhaps the more organic and decentralized structure is more suitable for Sony. 3.2 Structure of Sony in 2003 Indeed, Sony restructured its organisation in 1999 into a more divisionalized and decentralised form using the unified dispersed model as a means of a Value Creation Model. Transformation 60 saw some changes in the architectural structure of the organisation with it becoming more centralised, management-wise and financial-wise. It was aimed to refining the organisational responsibilities in carrying out the operating strategies and restructuring the marketing strategies in profitable niches. The goals are to achieve more profit margins, reducing annual cost, and component outsourcing (Sony, 2003). 3.2.1 Divisional Structure of Transformation 60 Transformation 60 saw the convergence of the three pillars of Sony electronics, entertainment and financial as opposed to the unified dispersed model. The following are the divisional changes: In the electronics business, the management combined the Semiconductor Network Company, Home Electronics, Mobile Electronics and Information Technology (Sony, 2003). The entertainment business saw the joint of assets of pictures, music, game, electronics and services to enhance its position as a worldwide media company. The constructed financial holding company absorbed Sony Life Insurance Company Ltd, Sony Assurance Inc. and Sony Bank Inc. By these convergences, Sony clarified the operational structure and concentrated on the engineering, innovation and financial resources. According to the converging strategy, the new operation structure of Sony seems like a basic Machine Bureaucracy structure (Mintzberg, 1983). Although it is less dispersed than the structure in 1999, the pull to formalize by the technostructure of Sony could be seen in Transformation 60 (Mintzberg, 1981). The restructuring of Sony in 2003 was more centralised than before as a result of the serious convergences of several businesses. The tactical and strategic plans were permitted to each sectors, which points that the divisionalized form still existed. However, the power on personnel issues was controlled by the top management, as well as the supportive finance and the ultimate goal were allocated and formulated by the headquarters (Ravi, 2005). Moreover, the restructured Sony in 2003 did not belong to any specific structure of Mintzbergs pentagon t heory but the combined one (Graph 7). Graph 7 Sony organisational chart: electronics-related business (as of 1 April 2001) Source: www.sony.net, Press Release, 29th March 2001(a) 3.2.2 Financial Structure of Transformation 60 In the light of improving its fiscal position, the consolidation of fixed costs and the combining of assets reflected the change of a more centralized structure in Sony. The company aims to achieve an annualized cost reduction of approximately  ¥300 billion (Ravi, 2005). The cut in employees due to the off-shore strategy to China establish the Contribution equal to Compensation principal of paying for performances, as Schein (2004) stated that employees have worked well enough to be considered valid. Deactivating employees from Sony had cost the company financially and it might have explained the poor financial performance of Sony after the transformation was done. 4.0 Problems and Responses This section will discuss the problems associated with Sony alongside with the responses taken and its rationale. The difficulties faced by Sony have been separated into different categories mainly the rapid evolution of technology, competition in the market and the differences of national culture. 4.1 Rapid Evolution of Technology The rapid evolution of technology as pointed out by Idei (Ravi, 2005) has affected the electronics, entertainment and insurance and finance sectors of Sony. The constant improvements in technology have caused the company to respond to the demand of the market. The following are the responses made by the company alongside with its underlying rationale: Investments: Sony invested heavily in RD, capital equipment and facilities in order to meet demands and improve profitability. Technology for Inspiration and Shared Experience and Creating New Value are Sonys RD missions (Sony, 2011). The company believes that technology is capable of linking inspiration and shared experiences on top of creating new values and capturing emotions of customers (ibid.). Investment strategies link to the capability of top management of Sony. Organisation restructuring: The Company believes that the new group architecture can help gain market share besides increasing shareholders value (Sony, 1999). In this Value Creation Model, the unified dispersed management method saw changes in the electronics operations, establishment of Digital Network Solutions (DNS), changes in composition of workforce which could ultimately affect the morale of employees, implementation of new value-based performance measurement system and the separation of headquarters into two distinct functions (Ravi, 2005; Sony, 1999). Indeed, the model brings competitive advantage to Sony (Jayaranam Luo, 2007). In such a stiff market, it is understandable as to the measures taken to seize every opportunity. Unfortunately, in 2001, the September 11 attacks caused the consolidated drop in sales, affecting the fiscal position of the company (Sony, 2001b). This has proven that the Value Creation Model had loopholes, hence Transformation 60 took course. Severe cost saving measures were taken but by 2005, as a result of pressure from shareholder, a top management reshuffling with Howard Stringer as CEO (Ravi, 2005). This proves that investors of Sony began to lose confidence of the previous management team therefore it was necessary for the company to overhaul its board. 4.2 Market Competition Among Sonys competitors are LG, Samsung, Sharp, Dell and Canon. Each competitor seemed to have an advantage over Sony in different products. Below are among the steps taken by Sony to beat the competition in the market: Partnership with Solectron Corporation in year 2000 and off-shoring to China were to aid the outsourcing process of production of electronics was a step to help the company meet fluctuations in demands, cost reduction, quality improvisation and customer satisfaction (Sony, 2003; Sony, 2000). Outsourcing may be beneficial to the company as a whole but it could ultimately decrease the motivational level of employees, as there is a tendency of decrease of power of managers, and failure rate is between 40%-70% (Purse, 2009). This may explain the Sony Shock (Ravi, 2005) incident that happened in 2003 despite the laborious process of organisation restructuring. The cost-benefit consideration was not given much thought before the outsourcing was done. The takeover of Aiwa Co. Ltd. as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2002 was for the benefit of the electronics business of the company, particularly the audio and visual (AV) industry (Sony, 2002). The takeover became part of Transformation 60. It helped accelerate the structural reform of the electronics business of Sony on top of the creation of synergy as a result of the merger. 4.3 Differences in National Culture As Howard Stringer took over as the CEO of Sony in 2005, a major problem he would experience would be the differences in organisational culture. Culture refers to the way we do things around here (Sanchez, 2004). Being one of the few foreigners to be part of the top management in a Japanese company, Stringer has the responsibility of considering whether to impose the Western culture in a Japanese company. Azumi Mcmillan (1975) found that both the U.S. and Japanese culture are quite highly centralized and companys rules and procedures are abided. In Sony, although divisionalization form can be seen, the Headquarter still plays its role as a coordinator, meaning that ultimately, the decision-making process will need approval from the top management. Also, in Japan, traditional values that emphasises on hard work and details are a common practice due to its religion influences but in the U.S., creativity and innovation are the common values (Webster White, 2009). Hence, in U.S., risk-taking is very much observed. The open management style of Stringer, his understanding towards Sonys tradition and his international viewpoints could be the key to influence the cultural organisation (Sony, 2005). This can explain Stringers successes in streamlining Sonys movie and music businesses. 5.0 Conclusion Due to the external environment effect such as the Asian financial crisis, the ever increasing competition, as well as the internal business issues like the low efficiency, the profits of Sony has been reduced dramatically since 1998. Therefore the management had to execute some restructuring plan to respond to those concerns. According to the restructuring plan announced in March 1999, the structure of the group was divisionalized and more decentralization, in order to seize further growth opportunities in the 21st century. Besides, the group launched a unified dispersed management model to ensure that the business operate more efficiently and to be able to survive the rapid change of environment. Sony did a mass of changes to adapt to the market changes; unfortunately, the pace of the latter was overtaking the managements expectations. Consequently, Sony had to accelerate the reform plan and announced another restructuring plan called Transformation 60 in 2003. The change in 2003 s aw a stronger pull to formalize in the technostructure although it can be seen that there is a mixture between the machine bureaucracy and divisionalized forms. Convergences in the three sectors saw power being more focused at the top management. The change of technology, market competition and the differences in organisational culture, especially after the takeover of Stringer, were the main concerns of Sony. Organisational restructuring and investment strategies were among the solutions in coping with technological changes. Market competition forced Sony to deal with vast partnerships, joint ventures and mergers with other companies for outsourcing purposes. Finally, the change to a foreigner to lead a Japanese company spark concerns on the future of Sonys organisational culture. Nevertheless, based on the analysis that has been done, it can be concluded that Sonys management and business strategies affects its organisational structure. It was the drop in profits that led investors to force the overhauling of top management, as a result, the unified dispersed model and Transformation 60. Unfortunately, both measures failed to bring positive impacts to the companys fiscal positions. In light of the situation above, the new team led by Stringer with the probable change in organisational culture could probably help turn things around. 6.0 Recommendations Two main recommendations should be taken into account: Firstly, the future of the organisational culture of Sony has to be determined from two aspects based on the organization structure and the differences in national culture since the takeover of Stringer as CEO. Perhaps, Stringer could consider integrating the Eastern and the Western cultures to obtain the best of both worlds. Next, investment strategies of Sony may have to be re-evaluated again, as after the study of the company was done, there are hints of possibilities that failures in the companys fiscal position may have been caused by past investment decisions. Outsourcing may be beneficial but a thorough cost-benefit analysis has to be done. Investment decisions will reflect the capability of top management to stakeholders. Appendices Value Creation Model refers to the combination of intangible assets and monetary items to create additional value of the business for stakeholders, particularly shareholders (Qureshi, Briggs Hlupic, 2006; Haksever, Chaganti Cook, 2004). 2 The performance measurement system is capable of reflecting the current cost of capital of Sony 3 Before being elected as the CEO of Sony Corporation, he was the Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation of America. Bibliographies Azumi, K Mcmillan, C (2004) Culture and organisation structure: a comparison of Japanese and British organisation, International Studies of Management and Organization. Vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 35-47. Available from: Business Source Premier. [Accessed 16 January 2011] Datamonitor (2010), Sony Corporation-Company Profile, pp4, 5 and 21, Publication date: 12 Mar 2010 Elkington, J. Masaki, T. (2004) CSR Report 2004, [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/issues/report/2004/index.html [Accessed 5 January 2010] Haksever, C, Chaganti, R Cook, R (2004) A model of value creation: a strategic view, Journal of Business Ethics. Vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 291-305. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 27 December 2010] Jayaranam, V Luo, Y (2007) Creating competitive advantage through value creation: a reverse logistics perspectives, Academy of Management Perspectives. Vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 56-73. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 23 December 2010] Lynch, R. (2006). Corporate Strategy, 4th edition, Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall Mintzberg, H. (1979). The Structuring of Organization.Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliff Mintzberg, H. (1983). Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations. Prentice-Hall Inc. pp 169-175, pp 190-200, pp 215-222, pp 273 Mintzberg, H (1981) Organization design: fashon or fit? Harvard Business Review [online]. Vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 103-116. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 16 January 2011]. Mullins, L, J. (2007) Management and Organisational Behavior, 8th edition Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Mullins, L, J. (2010) Management and Organisational Behavior, 9th edition, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Purse, K (2009) Outsourcing myths and workers compensation claims administration, The Australian Journal of Public Administration Vol. 69, no. 4, pp. 446-458 Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 4 January 2010] Qureshi, S, Briggs, R Hlupic, V (2006) Value creation from intellectual capital: convergence from knowledge management and collaboration in the intellectual bandwidth model, Group Decision and Negotiation. Vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 197-220. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 27 December 2010] Ravi, M., (2005) Sony in restructuring Mode: Stringers Challenge (B), ICFAI Knowledge Center Sanchez, P (2004) Defining corporate culture, Communication World [online]. Vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 18-21. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 27 November 2010] Schein, E. H. (2004). Organisational Culture and Leadership 3rd editions, John Wiley Sons, Inc. Schmidt, T. (2006) A review of Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations Schwartz, M. and E. Thompson, 1986, Divisionalization and Entry Deterrence, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 101, 307-321. Sony (1999) Press Releases: Sony announces new group architecture for network-centric era [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199903/99-030/index.html [Accessed 23 December 2010] Sony (1999) Press Releases: Sony Announces Organisational Structure For New Network Companies [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199903/99-038/index.html [Accessed 23 December 2010] Sony (2000) Press Releases: Sony and Solectron announce cooperation in electronics manufacturing [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200010/00-1018E/ [Accessed 4 January 2011]. Sony (2001a) Press Releases: A New Group Structure for the Next Stage of Integrated, Decentralized ManagementTransforming Sony into a Personal Broadband Network Solutions Company.[online] Available from http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200103/01-017E/ [Accessed 3 January 2010] Sony (2001b) News and Information: Consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended 30 September 2001 [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/qfhh7c000000kl5e-att/qfhh7c000000kl6g.pdf [Accessed 27 December 2010] Sony (2002) Press Releases: Accelerating structural reform of the Sony groups electronics business  [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200202/02-0228aE/ [Accessed 5 January 2011]. Sony (2003) Press Releases: Transformation 60 confirming Sonys position as a  leading consumer brand in the 21st century [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200310/03-047E/ [Accessed 4 January 2011] Sony (2005) News Releases: Sony Corporation announces new management structure [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200503/05-014E/index.html [Accessed 16 January 2011]. Sony (2010) Sony Annual Report 2001, 2006, 2010- Five-Year Summary of Selected Financial Data [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/Archive.html [Accessed 1 December 2010] Sony (2010) Sony Annual Report 1998 pp6, 7 Sony Annual Report 1999 pp26 [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/Archive.html [Accessed 1 December 2010] Sony (2010) Sony Annual Report 2003 pp5-management discusses key issues [online]. 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Harlem Renaissance :: American America History

Harlem Renaissance During the 1920's, the spiritual, social, and literary eagerness that raced through Harlem could be called the most important period of self-discovery in African-American history after the Civil War. Black literature went through a tremendous outbreak in Harlem, which is a district of New York City. In the middle of the changing atmosphere, a small group of black men and women began a public relations campaign to promote what they called the "New Negro" movement. While these men and women promoted art and literature, they were credited with starting much more than just and intellectual movement. This movement included poetry and writing, which forever changed the African-American lifestyle into a unique and more educated culture. As the African American culture expanded their horizon, and viewed passed the obstacles and barriers that were set by other ethnic groups, many families migrated to the northern cities, including New York City. Harlem was a magical, transforming place then, and that was especially true for the forsaken civilians who went to New York in search of a greater opportunity. Many believe, the Harlem Renaissance truly began, when W.E.B. Dubois, editor of "The Crisis magazine" published "The Souls of Black Folks". He stated that "One ever feels two-ness-and American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled stirrings: two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn as under". There was an immediate reaction, it was clear that literature was definitely one art form that could bring the black culture together. Even though slavery had been abolished 75 years earlier, were still able to relate to racism. For the first time, African Americans felt open minded, and in which their creativity strongly impacted every field of art and entertainment. They viewed poetry and writing as a form of expression, as a form of freedom and escape during the troubled life that many lived. As more and more people moved into Harlem, the job opportunities became larger. People felt confident and took greater risks. They often wrote about alienation and their own life stories, which were directed mostly to African American people and the third world of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Very few became successful and flourish in every literary area. "The decade just past was the oleomargarine era of Negro writing," Hurston said (editor of "Opportunity" magazine). "Oleomargarine is the fictionalized form of butter. Harlem Renaissance :: American America History Harlem Renaissance During the 1920's, the spiritual, social, and literary eagerness that raced through Harlem could be called the most important period of self-discovery in African-American history after the Civil War. Black literature went through a tremendous outbreak in Harlem, which is a district of New York City. In the middle of the changing atmosphere, a small group of black men and women began a public relations campaign to promote what they called the "New Negro" movement. While these men and women promoted art and literature, they were credited with starting much more than just and intellectual movement. This movement included poetry and writing, which forever changed the African-American lifestyle into a unique and more educated culture. As the African American culture expanded their horizon, and viewed passed the obstacles and barriers that were set by other ethnic groups, many families migrated to the northern cities, including New York City. Harlem was a magical, transforming place then, and that was especially true for the forsaken civilians who went to New York in search of a greater opportunity. Many believe, the Harlem Renaissance truly began, when W.E.B. Dubois, editor of "The Crisis magazine" published "The Souls of Black Folks". He stated that "One ever feels two-ness-and American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled stirrings: two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn as under". There was an immediate reaction, it was clear that literature was definitely one art form that could bring the black culture together. Even though slavery had been abolished 75 years earlier, were still able to relate to racism. For the first time, African Americans felt open minded, and in which their creativity strongly impacted every field of art and entertainment. They viewed poetry and writing as a form of expression, as a form of freedom and escape during the troubled life that many lived. As more and more people moved into Harlem, the job opportunities became larger. People felt confident and took greater risks. They often wrote about alienation and their own life stories, which were directed mostly to African American people and the third world of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Very few became successful and flourish in every literary area. "The decade just past was the oleomargarine era of Negro writing," Hurston said (editor of "Opportunity" magazine). "Oleomargarine is the fictionalized form of butter.

Life Struggles of Phoenix in Eudora Weltys A Worn Path Essays -- Worn

Life Struggles of Phoenix in Eudora Welty's A Worn Path "A Worn Path," by Eudora Welty is a heartbreaking story about the heroic trip of an old African American woman, Phoenix. The readers won't find out right away the plot of the story or why Phoenix won't give up her exhausting trip to town-the conflict of this story-especially on a very cold day. The title, "A Worn Path," indicates that Phoenix has obviously walked down this path many times before-also the fact that she can cross a creek with her eyes closed confirms the title's message. Her trip is full of obstacles, from bushes of thorns that get caught in her dress, to her crossing of a creek. These elements complicate the conflict and increase the readers' curiosity about the plot. Phoenix can't trust her eyes, choosing instead to walk along with her eyes closed and sense her way with the help of her cane. While needed rest forces her to stop for a while, she has a vision of a little boy handing her a slice of marble cake. So many questions arise in the minds of the readers. Who was the little boy? Is she halluci...

Frank Sinatra Essay examples -- Essays Papers

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra born on December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey later became known as Frank Sinatra and one of the greatest entertainers of his generation. American singers - Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday, influenced Frank Sinatra. Sinatra then developed a signature vocal phrasing in his music that influenced generations of popular vocalists. Sinatra anticipated the decline of big-band instrumental jazz music, and helped establish an enthusiastic climate for popular singers. One of the songs Frank Sinatra is most known for singing is the hit My Way. Frank Sinatra’s career began after he signed his first performing contract, when he was 24. He got his start singing with Tommy Dorsey’s band in the 1930’s. He then scored his first number one song a little more than a year later, â€Å"I’ll Never Smile Again†. Sinatra’s popularity began to rise through airtime as a radio singer during World War II. He soon left Dorsey’s band for a solo career that lead him to several hits and great success in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Young At Heart, All the Way, Witchcraft, Strangers in the Night, and that’s Life were some of his hit songs. In the 1940s Sinatra embarked on a solo career and became the idol of the â€Å"bobby-soxers†. They were teenage girls who swooned over his crooning, soft-voiced singing. During this time period he also appeared in many film musicals such as, Anchors Aweigh (1945), Till the Clouds Roll By (1947), and On the Town...

Progressive Movement Essay

The period from 1890 to 1917 in the history of United States is known as Progressive era. This period is marked by an all-encompassing and intensive change in all spheres of American life viz. political, economic and social. According to Nevin and Commager, this period was â€Å"marked by revolt and reform in almost every department of American life. Old political leaders were ousted and new one enlisted; political machinery was overhauled and modernized; political practices were subject to critical scrutiny and those which failed to square with the ideals of democracy were rejected.† (p. 382) These leaders from middle class pleaded for government regulation of big businesses to prevent exploitations pf the weaker sections. Stressing on the needs for reforms, Theodore Roosevelt said, â€Å"†No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down as to the way in which such work [reform] must be done; but most certainly every man, whatever his position, should strive to do it in some way and to some degree.† (Roosevelt) Most of the problems that Progressives wanted to tackle was an outcome of the industrial expansion and the political-industrial coalitions of the Gilded Age. During the Progressive almost every department of American life was overhauled and modernized. Thus Progressivism was a movement with â€Å"predominantly middle class objectives and viewpoint, deriving much of its support from small businessmen, farmers and professional people.† ( Parkes, p.544) At the federal level, the Progressive movement set in with the inauguration of the President Roosevelt curtailed the powers of the large organizations was epitomized through the suite against The Northern Securities Company in 1903. He introduced other legislative measures to breakdown the monopoly of the large corporations. Trust-Busting was the first radical step taken by Roosevelt that was aimed at the breaking of monopolies in any form and its abuses. Second major proponent of Progressivism at the Federal level was President William Howard Taft (1909-1913) who accomplished more progressive legislation than the Roosevelt. He introduced and enacted law to check corrupt practices during the elections. He dissolved ninety trusts under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (these trusts were saving huge taxes in the name of charity and were involved in certain illegal activities). He strengthened the cause of democracy when he propagated the idea of direct elections for the senators and introduced 17th amendments in the U.S. constitution. Woodrow is the next in the row for progressive presidents. He introduced far-reaching economic reforms and adopted a number other progressive measure to capacitate the entire American spirit with purpose. Hs foremost priority was the revision of tariff and introduction of viable reforms. Secondly, he introduced another Act to reconstruct the monetary and banking sector. Although his program of more progressive reforms were cut short but the outbreak or WW II but two more constitutional amendment (18th and 19th) became effective in his presidency.[1] Progressives could not bring about the revolutionary transformation of the political and economic system. The evident disappointment of the Progressive movement was its disinclination to deal with racial discrimination. Although it had a national agenda but it was meant for Whites only. The Afro-American suffered from the victimization at the social and state level through disfranchisement, Jim Crow laws, and poverty.   Additionally, it failed to address the questions of class conflict and ended in despair for small owners and businessmen. Yet it cannot be denied that through their reforms they tried to revitalize democracy and made the rulers responsible and accountable to the public. â€Å"Perhaps the best known results of this era are the 18th and 19th Amendments, Prohibition and woman suffrage respectively. But this legislation really came at the tail end of the period that has come to be known as the â€Å"Age of Reform.† The amendments were actually the byproducts of an immense social and political upheaval which changed forever the expectations of the role government would play in American society.† (PBS) References Nevins, Allan& Commager, Henry S. 1966. A short history of the United States. New   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   York: A. Knopf. Parkes, Henry B. 1959. The United States of America—A History. New York: Knopf. PBS. The Progressive Era 1900-1918. On-line. Available from Internet, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/peopleevents/pande08.html, accessed 23 March   2008. [1] 18th Amendment of U.S. Constitution the process of introduction of Prohibition was completed whereas 19th Amendments granted the right of vote to the women on equal terms with men.

Christianity in the first three centuries Essay

After the terror of September 11 the American people wanted to know what type of people would fly airplanes into buildings killing thousands of their good citizens. The left wing media and the Bush administration, which often patronizes left wing, political correctness, provided the most typical ‘spin’ for public consumption. This interpretation works within the typical left-wing paradigm, which deems all religions as essentially the same and politics as Ð ° separate category of life, removed from the private concerns of true religion. It is only when conservative religious-types attempt to impose their narrow minded beliefs upon the peaceable world of religious and political communities that problems arise. (Sherifa 2005 28) Therefore, it is not Islam that brought about September 11. ‘Islam is Ð ° religion of peace’. It is ‘fundamentalists’ who are most to blame for disturbing the peace. After all, the term Islam means ‘peace’. â€Å"Enhanced analysis is where â€Å"the rubber meets the road† Up to this point in the analytical process, personnel have primarily been cleaning data and analyzing information using broad approaches. Transforming the information into quality intelligence requires time and skill. Whether some forms of analysis are art or science is debatable. In the case of homeland security and terrorism analysis, it is both. Methods employed by an analyst can be replicated for use on many different fronts. In addition, there are numerous scientific models and tools available for analysts that can be utilized by anyone to prove or verify information. The data should yield the same results for whoever undertakes the process. (Paul 2002 31) Use of Ð ° checklist is encouraged due to the magnitude of events that can be faced by an analyst undertaking terrorism or organized hate group investigations. Too many steps are involved in the intelligence process, and information often arrives at intermittent times, making organization of the information difficult. Matrixes, link charts, time lines, and maps also play important roles in transforming information into enhanced intelligence. Whatever techniques are used to analyze the information, it is crucial to know one’s criminal data and what information is available. In warfare, one needs to know the enemy, and in the analytical world one needs to know the enemy (subject or target) as well as the data. If you do not know what you have, how can you transform it into intelligence? (Michael 2004) Today the term is used by the media and intelligentsia as Ð ° form of hate speech an epithet to curse those who disagree with them. In the present context it is used as Ð ° means of casting aspersions upon conservative Christians in relating them to terrorist activity. Stephen Schwartz serves Ð ° good example of this type of rhetoric. In his work on the Saudis and Wahhabis, The Two Faces of Islam, he skews an otherwise outstanding work with Ð ° continual reference to ‘fundamentalist’ Muslims as perverting ‘true’ Islam. The term serves as Ð ° source of pure rhetoric throughout the work, disembodied from any specific reference to Ð ° movement, group or set of beliefs. There is only one section where he even bothers to relate it to Ð ° specific viewpoint. In this place he condemns Muslims who limit ‘all historical and cultural development in Islam after its first two generations’. However, this understanding of fundamentalism in terms of literal interpretation and living-in-the-past contradicts the overall thesis of Schwartz and his liberal constituency that would characterize the religion of Muhammad the ‘true’ and ‘authentic’ Islam as Ð ° religion of peace. If Muhammad was Ð ° man of peace, literal Islam would have produced the same sort of pacifism that we observe among early Christianity in the first three centuries. But the real truth is that it produced much the opposite. Islam does not exist in the world of ideas as Ð ° disembodied, un-interpreted spirit, subsisting above and beyond the communities who represent the faith. ‘True’ Islam exists only in the mind of those liberals who wish that Muslims would find in Islam what they want them to believe. No religion, philosophy or political ideology exists apart from those who interpret it in accordance with their own purposes. For example, one could find Nazism within the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche if one wishes to use his writings to deconstruct certain themes in certain ways. His writings contain that possibility, even if Nietzsche himself was not an anti-Semite. All works contain enough tensions within them to allow the interpreter to choose this or that reading as more indicative of the true essence of the text, It is all Ð ° matter of choice, If Ð ° reader wishes to find the good things of liberalism within the Qur’an feeding the poor and helping widows and orphans in their distress, there is much in the text that lends itself to this direction. (Paul 2002 56) However, Ð ° liberal cannot deny that there is more Ð ° pretext for deconstructing the Qur’an and proceeding in the horrid direction of September 11 than there is in the Bible or the sacred texts of most other religions. The Bible certainly contains imprecatory psalms and holy wars, but within its writings, especially those of the New Testament, there is much to counteract the more bellicose verses of the old Testament and marginate them or treat them as Ð ° product of Ð ° bygone dispensation. Within the Qur’an there are Ð ° number of disturbing sections that could lead in the direction of September 11 if so interpreted, and little else to counteract them. There is no concept of the historical progress of revelation, as the divine revelation did not take place over Ð ° period of time. According to most Muslims, the Qur’an is an eternal and uncreated book. Its Arabic is God’s Arabic its words God’s Words. Nevertheless, Islam does not exist as Ð ° simple monolith, which demands our acceptance or rejection. â€Å"Since the events of September 11, the American people may have been treated to more truth from their government than ever before. In the post Vietnam era, when the notorious Phoenix program of assassinations finally came to light, public indignation was sufficient to empower investigation by the Church Committee, and Ð ° subsequent ban on foreign assassinations. Over the past decade and increasingly under the Bush Jr. administration, however, open talk of intended foreign assassinations, efforts to overthrow the leaders of other sovereign states, or invasions of an unspecified array of nations can reach the daily papers through on-record remarks by elected officials. † (Amit 2003 127).

Nest Coffee Essay

1. Batch: 2011-2014 Course Code: 50121308Course Name: Marketing II Roll #601 Assignment #302 †¢ 2. Brand Name: Nescafe Parent Company: NestleYear of Establishment of Nestle: 1866 IntroductioNestle was established in Switzerland by Henri Nestle n Year of Entering the Indian Market: 1961 First Plant set up at Moga, Punjab Brief Overview: In 1930 the Brazilian governmentapproached Nestle to create a new instant coffee that would give the consumer another option and at the same time increase the dwindling coffee exports of Brazil. It took eight years but in 1938 Nestle introduced Nescafe. †¢ 3. Product Range (in India) †¢ 4. STP Analysis Targeting A target market is a set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. Positioning. Position is the act of designing the company image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target markets. A product position is the way the product is defined by consumer attributes Segmentation Market segmentation means dividing a market into smaller group with distinct needs, characteristics, or behaviour who might require separate products or marketing mixes. †¢ 5. Segmentatio n Geographical Segmentation Nescafe has divided the country into four segments i.e. Southern, Northern, Eastern and Western. The Southern Segment consumes the most amount of Coffee and prefers hard and roasted coffee. Where was in Northern region, Nescafe instant coffee is consumed in higher quantities. Demographical SegmentationNescafe has tried to segment every age group, families, region, gender and different socio-economic. †¢ 6. Segmentatio Past n Nescafe was targeted to morning people PresentNescafe is now targeting the Youth According to Andrew Ward, worldwide account director ofNescafe has launched a $30 millionglobal campaign, specifically aimed at 16-24 years old. Use of Youth Icons like Purab Kohli, Vir Das and Deepika Padukone as According to McCann-Erickson Brand Ambassadors World Group, coffee is the most popular drink among the youth. †¢ 7. Examples NESCAFE CAPPUCCINO Targeted to †¢ Premium urban consumers †¢ Core audience aged 17-30 †¢ Concentrates on the theme of â€Å"The magic world of endless pleasure†. NESCAFE CLASSIC Targeted to †¢ The urban professional †¢ Core audience aged 20-30†¢ Concentrates on the classic taste of coffee with the tagline â€Å"Coffee at its Best† †¢ 8. Positioning Nescafe’s positioning is â€Å"1 coffee cup, 1 good feeling † The TVCs and all Promotional Messages focus on passing love between two person. Sharing a cup of coffee is shown as a symbol of sharing happiness. The Red Nescafe mug is another popular symbol which associates the Brand Nescafe with the concept sharing happiness. Nescafe Classic is positioned as â€Å"100% Pure Instant Coffee† Nescafe Cappuccino is being positioned as â€Å"A true Cafe† †¢ 9. Tvc and Print Ads They all focus on positioning the brand as a symbol of shared happiness.

Road congestion

The underlying causes of congestion are far more complicated than many traditional interests have historically been willing to admit. The ability of available roadway space-the most traditional method of measuring supply or capacity to meet traffic demand, is just one of a set of several underlying factors that research has found contribute to traffic congestion. Whereas more than half of all children walked or bicycled to school in the 1950s, that number has now fallen below 10 percent as streets have become more dangerous due to traffic. Combined with the loss of school bus service, the resulting trend has been an overwhelming increase in parents driving their children to school, clogging local roadways during critical peak hours. An estimated 20-25 percent of rush hour traffic on local streets and roads is now attributable to the school commute. To make matters worse, not only does the typical suburban development model characterized by low-density cul-de-sacs, wide, high-speed arterials, and massive intersections make traffic management difficult, it also makes it less cost-effective for public transport to serve scattered destinations and makes walking or bicycling both inconvenient and dangerous. Many experts believe that widening motorways and main roads is only a temporary solution at best to the complex problem of traffic congestion. Indeed, research has pointed to a result known as â€Å"induced traffic† that suggests new and wider roads actually create additional traffic, above and beyond what can be attributed to rapid population increases and economic growth. In larger areas, drivers will often abandon carpools and public transport when additional roadway space is made available, thus creating additional trips and more traffic. In the longer term, the promise of more convenient transportation access allows commuters to live further from work, increasing development pressures and thus fuelling even more traffic demand. The lack of affordable and mixed-income housing near employment centres, and the imbalance between jobs and housing, creates the notorious commutes between the countryside and city areas. Also, with many people losing their confidence in public transport due to long delays, strikes and many rail crashes it seems much easier to take the car. It is important to note that the skewed pricing signals given to travellers appear to make road travel, even at the most congested periods of the day, entirely free, while public transport is often perceived as too expensive. Market failure is the inability of an unregulated market to achieve allocative efficiency in certain circumstances and we see a severe re-allocation of resources. There are various reasons why allocative efficiency may not be achieved, one of these is externalities. An externality is said to exist when the production or consumption of a good directly affects businesses or consumers not involved in the buying or selling of it and when those spill over effects are not reflected in market prices. The spill over effects are known as external costs or benefits. When people use their cars other people suffer from exhaust fumes, congestion and noise. These negative externalities make the marginal social benefit of using cars less than the marginal private benefit (i.e. marginal utility). The optimum equilibrium for society would be where the marginal social cost is equal to the marginal social benefit (Q!). However, a free market left to itself will produce where the marginal private cost is equal to the marginal private benefit (Q^). If there are negative externalities in consumption, a private market will therefore tend to over-provide a good. Congestion in urban areas can be seen as a form of market failure because the socially efficient output is not produced. The social optimum amount of vehicles on the road must be exceeded if congestion results. The marginal cost to the consumer is the only cost really considered when a driver makes the decision to use the car. What is not taken into account are the costs to other road users, the cost to society collectively; the social cost or themselves to some extent. The marginal cost to other road users is the added congestion caused by the extra car on the road. The marginal costs to society collectively are the increase in emissions produced by the extra journey made, the follow on effects from this are large, rising asthma levels in the local area, decaying buildings and collapsing roads could be caused because of the high congestion rates. The marginal cost to the individual could be the opportunity cost of the time spent in congestion. If the more space efficient bus made the journey, the traveller would be able to read the newspaper, play on a hand held computer or even do some work, this is not possible if the car is chosen to make the journey. The marginal utility of existing users of the congested roads would decrease with the addition of an extra motorist, an extra 10 or even 100 motorists would lower the marginal utility levels dramatically. But each individual's marginal cost wouldn't be affected, which explains why the marginal cost and marginal social cost diverge. Congestion is not the only cost that occurs from a large number of cars on Britain's roads. We must also consider, road damage costs, accidental externalities and of course environmental costs. Heavy vehicles basically cause Road damaging as the damage to the road pavement increases to the fourth power of the axle load. Accident externalities arise when extra vehicles on the road increase the probability that the other road users will be involved in an accident. Accident probability depends to a large extend on distance, driving time and particularly the other traffic. This is why accident costs will be treated like congestion costs. Environmental damage comes in various forms, such as local: emission of CO, NC, NO2, global: emission of CO2, CFC, water pollution and noise and vibrations. Congestion is inefficient, polluting and dangerous. Removing just 5% of traffic at peak times could substantially reduce or even eliminate rush hour congestion from many cities. One approach that is starting to stoke interest among municipal leaders is road pricing. The theory seems sound enough: introduce a price on bringing cars into congested areas that incite drivers either not to travel unnecessarily or to vary their times of travel or, indeed, to try public transport, walking or cycling. With the right approach, drivers who incur higher prices during rush hour periods would benefit from reduced congestion and travel time, while nonessential travel would take place at less congested and cheaper times. Road pricing has been debated in political circles for many years. The main debate was about the difficulties that would occur in trying to impose a system in order to toll drivers. These problems no longer exist, and advances in electronic devices have made sophisticated road pricing schemes more feasible. The new technology of electronic tolls no longer requires motorists to halt at tollbooths. Therefore, it prevents additional congestion. Drivers would be given an electronic number plate, which signals to the recording computer the presence of a vehicle. This would be the most direct way to charge the amount specific to the road and the time of the day. The devise could charge users via bank account or monthly bill. This would also allow a central computer to monitor roads with the greatest amount of use. Also, another method that has been put forward is for drivers to buy a travel card (similar to those on London Transport) and display these on their dashboards when driving in and out of priced roads. However, the political will is often lacking, perhaps because of uncertainty about voter reaction. I believe there are both advantages and disadvantages to the proposed road pricing theory. ADVANTAGES OF ROAD PRICING Road pricing is a good instrument to use to internalise most of the external effects mentioned earlier, especially in the case of congestion costs, it appears to be the optimal method of internalisation because a price mechanism would replace the present queuing mechanism, which is allocatively inefficient. Because road prices would be primarily connected with congestion costs, some distributional and locational effects could arise. Costs of driving in non-urban areas would probably fall whereas urban driving costs would increase so that in the medium run, the quality of the public urban transport system would improve. In the case of pricing highways on the continent, road pricing is a good instrument to overcome the free rider problem of foreign carriers using â€Å"home country† highways. This is especially interesting against the background that current ways of financing highways are very different. It is fair to say that foreign carriers buy their petrol abroad, which is cheaper, and they do not contribute to business in the UK. For that reason actual competition between international carriers is not neutral. With the proposed electronic system, there seems to be 2 benefits. The first of these is the business generated from the insertion of the microchips and the second is the ease of use i.e. simply driving past a scanner. Furthermore, Ken Livingston has stated that he believes traffic will reduce by 15% with the implementation of the system and he says money generated from the implementation of such a scheme will be used not only on the maintenance of our roads but also into investment of our public transport which again reduce the number of cars on the road leading to a better environment for all. A recent survey suggested that 70% of the public would not mind paying fuel tax if it was invested in public transport. The system is already used in Singapore and the immediate reaction was a reduction of 24,700 cars during the peak time and also, traffic speed increased by 22% at this time. And also, in Trondheim in Norway the toll was not introduced in order to make people leave their cars at home but soon, it was noticed that congestion was reduced and political consensus was that some of the money generated could be used for public transport within the city. DISADVANTAGES OF ROAD PRICING The cost of implementing electronic toll system is very high. The UK government estimates that the implementation of the system will cost à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2 bn for only a small area such as London. Plus individual costs for every vehicle of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½40 each, not including additional costs of controlling the system. Also, we are likely to see a lagged response and it would take time to raise revenue. The initial costs are high thus; they would have to pay off in the long run. Ken Livingston, has suggested a charge of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 for entering London, many believe that when we consider, fuel taxes, road tax, and maintenance of a car, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 to enter London is extortionate. It is important to consider those on lower incomes, who may find it difficult to pay a regular à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 charge. This could lead to the displacement of traffic, in the way that people will try to avoid the tolls and take other routes down side roads- this is likely to cause congestion in quieter streets not to mention accidents because the streets are so narrow. The introduction will be hard and people will object to it. They believe it affects their rights of passage and with an estimated 230 cameras per zone it compared to the big brother phenomenon. Tax on roads may have damaging effects on the economy. Because the cost to firms will be greater and it may also serve to make London a less desirable centre, there will be a reduction in Aggregate Supply. There will be growth in unemployment as firms will not be able to afford workers, this will cause a slowdown in economic growth and could even cause an inflationary threat. In terms of negative environmental externalities, road pricing is (with the exception of noise) probably not the optimal instrument for internalisation. Taxes on fuel or emission fees, for instance, charge vehicle emissions in a more direct way and they are very simple to design. Some believe that there should be different taxes for those people who do not have public transport available to them easily and those who do but choose not to use it. Furthermore it must be mentioned that the effect of road pricing depends to a large extent on the authority that receives the revenues and its way of using the money. Economists would argue that the profits made should be reinvested into the transportation system to generate an efficient outcome rather than cross-subsidising other traffic modes or other state activities. CONCLUSION In conclusion I believe that road pricing is the best instrument to internalise the costs of congestion and road damage. Although the initial costs of installation are high, these costs would probably quickly be exceeded by the efficiency gains of corrected prices. Nevertheless, road pricing cannot perfectly internalise external environmental costs. That is why instruments like â€Å"fuel taxation† or â€Å"emission fees† will still be necessary to design an optimal price mechanism in the transportation sector that sets the correct incentives. I believe pricing could be the trick to remove that 5-10% of traffic that causes congestion in peak periods in our cities. If that means picking up the children on time and being able to drive into city centres to shop, then surely that would be a price worth paying. Finally, what's perhaps most important is a recognition that solving these problems will require strong leadership from a government level in addition to management, planning and eventual implementation at the regional and local levels. Traffic congestion must thus be tackled within a broader context of economic, environmental and social goals and its solutions must be compatible and work in support of solutions for a broader range of issues.