Expenses of the organization Essay

Capitalism has been of great benefit to me as an individual due to the fact that it values political as well as economic freedom of an individual. Through allowing people to undertake various business activities, capitalism has allowed me to maximize on profit making. Capitalism does not limit the amount of wealth an individual can amass. Capitalism also ensures that my constitutional rights to own property are protected. The schemes of getting rich quickly in the capitalist world are some of the major disadvantages associated with capitalism. The driving force of these schemes is the employees who pay the business loans of organizations voting at work so as to regulate the property they are paying for (Downing p, 37). As an employee I have been paying for the expenses of the organization I work for, which are by far beyond the salary of employees. The capitalist world favors development as well as establishment of as many industries as possible an aspect which in the long run results in environmental degradation. The greatest losers of capitalism in the United States as well as the world are those who seem to have lost the battle for regulation of economic policies. These people include those who rely on agricultural capital. The winners of capitalism, on the pother hand, are those who invest in a variety of sectors including factories, companies, goods and services (Soto p, 114) Historical materialists, who are few, own so much wealth at the expense of the poor majority. The practice of materialists constitutes some of the reasons as to why poor people and poor countries remain poor whereas rich people and countries continue expanding their wealth. Materialists claim that they are not accountable to anyone, but to their stakeholders and therefore all their practices are focused at amassing as much wealth as possible rather than looking at the plight of common man (Misraa, Woodringa, and Merz p, 320). Work cited: Misraa, Joya. Woodringa, Jonathan. and Merz, Sabine. The globalization of care work: Neoliberal economic restructuring and migration policy, 2006, Vol 3: 3, 317 – 332 Soto, Hernando. The mystery of capital: why capitalism triumphs in the West and fails everywhere else, ISBN 0465016154: Basic Books, 2003 Downing, David. Capitalism, 2nd edn, ISBN 0431191808: Pearson Education, 2008

Qualities of a teacher Essay

The first thing that a good teacher needs is knowledge. You will need to be able to provide students with what they need and want to know. I will learn a lot of the knowledge I need from the college classes I am taking but I will also learn a lot if not more from the student teacher hours I will gain my last year of school. Also, a good teacher must be a person who is open to change. There is a place not only for tradition but also for new ways, new ideas and new methods. To be a good teacher, you must be willing to learn from other peers and from students. I have learned a lot just from observing my teachers in high school, as well as the teachers I help out in the elementary. I have learned that they all help each other out; they all have creative ways of teaching the classroom. I am excited to be able to have a classroom of my own and share methods that I have learned to the teacher at the school I will be teaching at someday Creation perhaps is the second quality a good teacher should have. To me is it equally as important. A teacher must be able to motivate students by using creative and inspirational methods of teaching. They should always seek to find new ideas, ideas that will motivate kids to want to learn. Lessons need entertaining just as much informational. Being a creative teacher will make students enjoy classes because they know there are many new and interesting things in your lessons.

Chocolate business plan Essay

Introduction The market leader of the chocolate industry in India, Cadbury, is a British subsidiary of the American multinational confectionary, food and beverages conglomerate â€Å"Mondelez International†. Cadbury, is the second largest confectionary company in the world, close on the heels of Mars, Inc. In India, Cadbury owns a market share of 66 %, significantly ahead of the other multinational company operating the same space for many years, Nestle India, as well as other national, international and regional brands like Amul and Ferrero. Cadbury India began its operations in India in 1948, and has been a trusted and favored brand for decades in India. The market share has decreased from 70-80% in view of entry of other international chocolate companies in the Indian market, however it is still significantly large. Cadbury figures in the Brand Trust Report, 2011 in the Top 100 Most Trusted Brands in India. While Cadbury sells products in several categories such as candy, gum, beverages and chocolate confectionary, this report is aimed at studying the marketing strategy employed by Cadbury India in view of its chocolate confectionary business. Some of the products in this category include the highly popular Dairy Milk, Dairy Milk Silk, Bournville, Temptations, 5 Star, Dairy Milk Shots, Celebrations, Perk and Toblerone. In order to analyze the marketing strategy for Cadbury, this report begins with a SWOT analysis of the company. Environmental Analysis Political Food Safety Act 2006: Detailed and exacting regulations, for standards of production as well as imported chocolates, exist in India. Opportunity. Cadbury is better equipped to follow standards in production than smaller regional or local brands. Strength. Expand into the rural areas before local or regional companies focus on the rural market. Import Tax Rates on Chocolates: A tariff rate of 30% is levied on chocolates. Opportunity. Strength. Demand for premium chocolates at affordable prices can be encashed before foreign entrants can grow their roots within the Indian industry by introducing and aggressively marketing domestically manufactured premium chocolates. Economic Per Capita Spending Patterns: The biggest consumption category in India is Food. Spending in this amounts to almost 21% of the Gross Domestic Production. People, on average, spend 31% of their budget monthly, on food. 70% of the food spending is on agri-products, which incorporates candies and confectionary including chocolates. Two-thirds of this spending is on processed products. Domestic spending on food is expected to grow at a compounded 3 annual growth rate of 4% and billed to reach approximately 320 billion US dollars in value within the next 7 years. USD 841 million is spent on chocolates and confectionary in India. Opportunity. In households across income groups, a large share of money spent goes towards processed agricultural products including chocolates and other confectionary items. This can be encashed by developing effective channels to reach out and sell to lower and lower middle income groups. Strength. Socio-Cultural Social and cultural acceptability of products: There is an increasing acceptance of chocolates as an equivalent of traditional sweets in urban areas. Chocolates are, however, still seen as a luxury food item in rural areas. Opportunity. Chocolates are increasingly being seen as an equivalent or substitute for traditional sweets in terms of the convenience it offers when used for gifting on occasions. Strength. Cadbury is already working on this approach to sell to urban consumers. Rural consumers can also be reached out to and offered chocolates as a new gift item replacing sweets leading to increased sales. Technological Constantly improving technology in chocolate making leads to better tasting products as well as more convenient storage. Opportunity. Strength. Cadbury has the financial capability to invest in R&D and has already produced products that are better suited to Indian tastes and storage conditions that other foreign entrants into the industry are not yet as well adapted to. Natural factors. Climate for Cocoa Production: Cocoa, used to produce chocolates can only be grown in regions 15 degrees to the north or south of the equator. Cocoa, originally a crop native to the Amazon basin, can only be grown in the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is not a commonly grown crop. Threat. Lack or scarcity of domestic cocoa producers can affect production costs of chocolates within the country. Strength. Cadbury has encouraged farmers in Kerala to produce cocoa since the 1970s and is now in the process of promoting Cocoa as an inter-crop plant for coconut growing farmers. Successful pursuance of this connect with the farmers would help Cadbury procure raw material at lower prices within the country. Consumer behavior Age composition: 66% of the population is below the age of 35. Opportunity. It implies that a huge part of the population can be encouraged to take up consumption of chocolates more frequently and will be met with less resistance than that put up by older consumers with already set eating habits. Strength. 4 Competition Traditional Sweets: Very widely available and traditional choice, but inconsistent in hygiene levels and taste. Threat. Build on image of chocolates being a better and more hygienic choice, which adheres to food safety standards set out by the Govt. Build on image that chocolates are a more sophisticated choice for gifting carrying greater meaning than ‘mithai’ from neighbourhood sweet shops. Strength. Confectionary items like candies, cakes and icecream: Candies are easily available and appeal to children who have traditionally been the target consumers for chocolates. Threat. Cadbury can emphasize more strongly that chocolates are not meant only for children but for adults as well who may not prefer to eat candies. Cadbury chocolate can be offered as an experience, that is not replicated by eating candies and conectionary items. Strength. Entry of several foreign players: As India is seen to have a rapidly growing chocolate consuming country, with people willing to spend not only on inexpensive smaller packs of chocolates, but also premium chocolates as well, foreign players have started foraying into the market with the hope of establishing a presence in the premium sector at least. Threat. Cadbury can increase its foothold in the premium sector of chocolate industry by launching and promoting premium chocolate brands with higher cocoa content which could be priced a bit lower than the foreign brands. In fact, Cadbury is already in the process of implementing such a strategy through the introduction of Bournville and Toblerone. Strength. Suppliers Global network: Half of the cocoa sourced for chocolate making by Cadbury is from sources around the globe, including countries like Ghana, for its famous brand Bournville. Opportunity. Cadbury can source the majority of its cocoa from farmers in India through contract farming, while importing from foreign countries specifically for certain brands only. This will help reduce loss due to global fluctuations in cocoa bean prices and also reduce transport or shipment costs. It will also help create an even more positive image in the eyes of the Indian population. Strength. Dealer network: Cadbury has CSR activities directed at the farmers who are producing cocoa on contract for Cadbury in the state of Kerala. Opportunity. Cadbury is now in the process of extending these activities to farmers in 3 more southern Indian states. This will help cement positive relations between the cocoa growers and the brand, which may put it at an advantage when compared to new foreign entrants in the country like Ferrero or Mars, Inc. Strength. 5 Advertising environment Use of role models: Trustworthy role models in the media, when used as Brand Ambassadors, give a much needed push to the further acceptance of a product. Opportunity. Cadbury has been able to utilize this by roping in celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, thus emphasizing the idea that even adults can have chocolates, since even a person of Amitabh Bachchan’s stature has not shied away from having them. Cadbury also has the financial power to rope in more high profile celebrities for the same. Strength. Availability of media and ad agencies: Several media channels like TV, Radio, newspapers are available for Cadbury to advertise on. Opportunity. Cadbury has been advertising its chocolates heavily throughout, to keep the brand on top of the mind recall. There have been innumerable ads by Cadbury that have long stayed on people’s minds and even evoked nostalgia, indicating a deep connect of the brand with the audience. Strength. Segmentation Cadbury segmented the consumer based on age. Till the 1980s, chocolates were seen as a luxury item which were eaten only on special occasions or used to reward children with. Despite being the market leader already at this time, Cadbury decided to reshuffle their marketing strategy and position chocolates as a snack and an everyday item of consumption rather than a special treat. In order to do this, the first step was to segment the consumers. Geographic or occupation based segmentation would have proven less relevant in helping raise revenues generated from chocolate sales. The segmentation was done on the basis of age. The existing segment of choice for Cadbury had been children up to the age of 14 who had been driving the consumption of chocolates until the 90s. The other segment that the consumers could be grouped into was the adult population. Targeting The decision made to target a segment is based on gauging the segment attractiveness of the segment. During the 90s, with a rise in the population of the 15-35 year olds, combined with a surge in income and spending power due to the simultaneous opening up of the economy, made the adult segment an attractive one and since then, it has been targeted by Cadbury. Being the market leader already, switching to this target consumer group was not a difficult move for them, in terms of channel attractiveness of the segment. The existing channels which served the consumers until the 90s, such as kirana stores, need no resource intensive special adaptations to serve the youth consumer group as well. Alongside this, competitive attractiveness of the youth segment was also high since no other chocolate company had targeted this consumer group so far. Although this meant 6 Cadbury needed to put in extra marketing effort to change the social acceptance of chocolates in this group, it also translated into a first mover advantage for them. Positioning Positioning is the decision of how the brand wants to be perceived as by the target consumer group vis-a-vis competitors. Cadbury has positioned itself to cater to specific needs and attributes that the target consumer group looks for. Cadbury’s objective was to engage the customers of the adult age group. In the early 90s, Cadbury had the leading share in the market but the volume of sales in terms of per capita consumption was very low compared to western countries. This was also because consumption of chocolate by children was strictly governed by adults and hence increasing per capita consumption within the children consumer group was not a feasible option. In order to widen the net of consumers, Cadbury had to increase the social acceptance of chocolates in the adults age group. This was done through the means of extensive and successively huge ad campaigns which eventually lowered the attitudinal barrier that existed. Cadbury had wanted to and has successfully moved from the perception of chocolate being a children’s product to a celebratory/gifting product, and more recently an indulgence product (For instance Cadbury Silk). In 1992, Cadbury launched a series of aggressive ad campaigns starting with ‘Real Taste of Life† which showcased adults eating the chocolates on their own and not in a parent role or buying it as a reward or a way to say sorry to loved ones. This included the famous ad â€Å"Kuch khaas hai zindagi mein† which showed adults enjoying the taste of chocolates on their own. Later on, Cadbury launched a campaign for Perk which said â€Å"Thodi si pet pooja† which emphasized the use of the chocolate as an any time snack to satisfy hunger, which was a marked shift from the earlier perception of chocolates. Later, to promote Cadbury chocolates as an alternative to traditional desserts, the â€Å"kuch meetha ho jaaye† campaign sought to change perceptions once again, this time including the entire family consisting of elderly grandparents also in the ad to show acceptance of the Cadbury chocolates as dessert. By tying chocolates to Indian customs, and festivals, like Celebrations especially for Raksha Bandhan and Diwali, Cadbury has come a long way from the â€Å"Real Taste of Life† campaign, and â€Å"Indianized† itself in order to entrench itself within the minds of the adult population in India. Marketing Mix – 4 Ps Product/Service Product There are four types of products by Cadbury India, and this report is focused on the Chocolates category. These aim to satisfy the hunger need as well as relaxation and convenience need (easily available snacking option). In order to satisfy these needs, the 7 product is available very easily, at least in the urban markets and in various sizes. Cadbury chocolates are branded so as to represent some emotional core values like family values, and togetherness, but at the same time, they are also branded as a fresh, satisfying, convenient product. Place Cadbury has 6 company-owned manufacturing facilities: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Thane Induri (Pune) Malanpur (Gwalior) Bangalore Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) Hyderabad There are 4 sales offices, one each in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The corporate office is in Mumbai. In terms of distribution, Cadbury chocolate products are sold directly to wholesalers and retailers. The network comprises roughly 2100 distributors and 4,50,000 retailers. The chocolates are sold through Kirana stores, gift stores, medical stores, canteens, paan shops, bakeries and so on. Price The generally established price point for chocolates in India is Rs 5 and Cadbury has 4 products at this point including Dairy milk, 5 star, gems and perk. This price point accounts for half of chocolate sales in India. At the same time, Cadbury sells multiple differently sized packs on a range of prices, going up to higher, premium priced products as well such as Bournville. In this way, Cadbury has a hold on various price points available to various groups of consumers based on their appetite for spending. Promotion Cadbury promotes its products through various media channels. It uses mainly television ads with strongly featured taglines that get associated with the products easily. There is some amount of seasonality in the market in the way that demand ideally goes up during festive season due to gifting needs and Cadbury launches special ad campaigns around those times to encash on this increased demand. National level competitors like Amul have been unable to match up to the scale of promotions undertaken by Cadbury. Regional players hardly advertise on a big scale through campaigns. However, its MNC competitor Nestle has its own promotional ads and campaigns that seek to rival Cadbury’s and sometimes directly challenge the Cadbury ads. 8 Recommendations 1. In view of the recent entry of foreign players in the market, though Cadbury does not face the threat of losing a significant amount of its existing customers, for instance, those who buy Dairy Milk or Perk, there is a possibility of losing out on potential customers who are interested in premium chocolates. Since this is a rapidly growing industry, and being the established market leader, Cadbury should focus on its premium chocolate brands in a big way through more visible ad campaigns and promote their products based on the brand equity they have built through the years. 2. While leveraging the lower cost of Cadbury premium chocolates vis-a-vis foreign chocolates, Cadbury must take care to ensure it does not go the Tata Nano way, as lower prices in the premium segment may be perceived as lower quality in the product delivered as well. 3. As it has already managed to successfully position chocolates as a snack for children’s as well as adults’ consumption, it can now focus on activating the elderly consumer segment which is typically more resistant to chocolates compared to traditional sweets and feel guilty on indulging in chocolates even if not restricted by health reasons. 4. Cadbury can now change the positioning of certain specific products or introduce new products to cater to â€Å"instant energy† giving needs similar to Mars bars abroad. 5. Recently, a 20-calorie chocolate has been developed in the UK which is now being sold at Michelin starred restaurants. Cadbury can also direct some of its R&D endeavors towards developing a similar product which would give the company a distinct edge over competitors and help tap into a new markets and increase their consumer width. 9 NATIONAL BRAND 10 Introduction Amul is an Indian dairy Co-operative based out of Anand in Gujarat. The co-operative started off as the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union in December 1946. The Co-operative was set up by the milk producers of the Kaira district of Gujarat who felt cheated by the unfair trade practices. The co-operative collected processed and marketed milk and was co-owned by the milk producing farmers of the district. The brand Amul was used by the Kaira District Co-operative to market its brand of milk products. By the 1970s the Co-operative model had become highly successful and spawned similar Co-operative in other district s of Gujarat. In order to combine together and expand their market while not competing with each other, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), an apex marketing body of these district co-operatives was set-up in 1973. The brand name of Amul which was held by the Kaira Union was transferred to GCCF. Today, the GCCF is the largest food product marketing organisation of India. The co-operatives collect around 10 million litres of milk per day from around 3 million milk producer members of the Co-operative. Its current turnover is around Rs. 140. 0 billion. Amul started producing and marketing chocolates in 1970. It currently markets 6 different chocolate brands namely Congtas, Fundoo, Chocozo, Bindaaz, Rejoice, Almond Bar, Fruits and Nut and Amul Cooking Chocolate. Current market share of Amul chocolates is just 4% as compared to market leader that is 66%. The main reason behind such low market share is lack of promotion and more focus on dairy products. Environmental Analysis Strengths ? ? ? Raw material (milk) security: Major raw materials for the production of chocolates are Cocoa, milk and sugar. Milk supply is secured for the company which protects it from any volatility in prices. High brand awareness: Amul through its concerted marketing over the last 5 decades has created a brand that is synonymous with good quality. The brand has also become a symbol of successful Indian entrepreneurship that has positively impacted the lives of millions of small farmers, hence there is a sense of patriotism and pride associated with the brand as well. Strong distribution network: Amul has been marketing and supplying milk through a pan India distribution network which supplies milk and milk products to independent retailers but also to its own milk parlours. 11 Weakness: ? ? ? Low market share: Amul chocolates have a low market share in the Indian chocolate industry. The brand, though having a strong recall value, is not primarily associated with chocolates. The market leader in the chocolate industry in India is Cadbury with 70% market share followed by Nestle at 20% market share. Co-operative structure of Amul: Due to the Co-operative nature of GCMMF, there is limited capital infusion in the company. As a result there is a limited scope for aggressive product launches or diversification. Volatility in Cocoa prices: Unlike the major chocolate producing companies in the world, Amul does not own a cocoa plantation. The prices of cocoa are volatile in nature as they are dependent on the international demand supply dynamics. Not having a cocoa plantation of its own exposed the company to volatility in prices of this raw material. Opportunities: ? Huge untapped market: The per capita consumption of chocolate in India has increase from 40 gm per person in 2005 to around 110 gm per person currently. Though this is impressive growth in itself it is still much lower than the per capita chocolate consumption, in countries like Ireland or Belgium which have a chocolate consumption per person of more than 11 kilograms or even USA or Australia which have chocolate consumption per person of around 5 kilograms. There is thus a huge untapped market for growth in the chocolate industry in India. Corresponding Strength: Since Amul has a strong â€Å"Brand awareness†, people would be willing to buy new products launched under its brand name. Amul can launcha variety of new chocolate products for youth and kids. ? Gifting: Gift hampers consisting of chocolates has been a successful marketing strategy by companies like Cadbury. Amul too has the ‘Rejoice’ brand especially for this purpose however there is scope to launch or aggressively advertise this. Corresponding Strength: Since, Amul is a strong brand name and has a strong distribution network, It can very well advertise the gift packs like rejoice and can introduce new brands catering to the same need. ? Advertising: Amul need to advertise and carry out lot of promotional activities to inform the consumers that still exist and can provide them with what they want. It’s been years that Amul’s chocolate advertisement has been telecasted on India’s major television channels. Sales promotions like discounts and free samples can also help them to increase the Brand awareness and attract customers to switch brand from competitors. Big brands use a celebrity as a Brand Ambassador for its product. 12 For example Amitabh Bachchan for Cadbury & Rani Mukherjee for Nestle, Amul can also use a brand ambassador for the promotion of its chocolates. Corresponding Strength: Amul has a huge turnover of around Rs 140 billion and is a financially strong company and has enough funds to carry out the needed advertising campaign and promotions. By spending a small percentage of revenue on advertising campaigns Amul can increase its market share to a large extent. ? Low rural penetration of chocolates: There is significant awareness of the Amul brand even in rural India. The company can leverage these launch cheaper brands targeted at the rural segment which has till now stayed away from chocolate consumption. Corresponding Strength: Amul has been marketing and supplying milk through a pan India distribution network. It has a strong distribution network in rural areas. Amul can leverage this strength and can launch cheaper products in rural market. Threats: ? Strong competition from foreign multi nationals: There is significant potential in the Indian chocolate industry which has been attracting international competition. Companies like Cadbury have been launching premium swiss chocolate brands. Also other premium chocolate brands like Ferrero Rocher are making their presence felt in India. Corresponding Weakness: Since â€Å"Amul† is mostly related to its milk products and has not made its presence felt strongly in the chocolate industry, its still far behind its competitors like Cadburys which is a very aggressive player in the chocolate industry. Amul faces tough competition and to handle the same it needs enormous marketing and advertising campaign and introduction of new chocolate products under its brand name. ? Low brand loyalty in chocolate industry: Chocolates are impulse purchases and compete with categories of soft drinks, snacks and other beverages. Although people may like a particular type of chocolate (dark, milk, white, etc. ) there is not a significant brand loyalty. Hence this presents a threat to established players in the market. Corresponding Weakness: Since Amul has significantly low popularity in chocolate industry and also people are picky while selecting a chocolate, there is not a single chocolate brand product under its brand which enjoys strong loyalty from consumer side. Also, people like to try different kinds of chocolates and are not necessarily inclined towards a single chocolate product. Since, Amul does not offer a large variety of chocolates; therefore it is at a weaker position in the chocolate industry. 13 Segmentation Geographic segmentation: Chocolate consumption is concentrated in urban areas of the country. Chocolate consumption in rural areas of the country may be considered negligible. Chocolates are still considered as a luxury product by the population and are hence consumed by the middle and the upper classes of society which reside in the towns, cities and metropolitan centres of the country. Amul chocolates are thus marketed in these areas of the country. Demographic segmentation: Amul chocolates are mostly segmented its consumers into various age groups like the children, adolescent and youth segments of the society. Since, chocolates are particularly liked by children and middle aged and older generations refrain from eating it citing health concerns due to high sugar content of chocolates. Targeting The brands of Amul chocolates like Fundooz, Bindaaz, Congrats etc. have been named to be attractive to the younger generation who use these words in their daily lexicon. There has been a strategy by the company to provide a young, dynamic and fun loving character to its chocolate through such branding. Amul chocolates also markets two brand namely Amul Cooking Chocolate which is targeted towards the homemakers and professional cooks and chefs. Positioning Positioning is the decision of how the brand wants to be perceived as by the target consumer group vis-a-vis competitors. Amul has positioned itself as an affordable, â€Å"value for money† chocolate. Since, it has mostly targeted kids and youth, it is still considered as a snack unlike cadbury’s product like Celebrations which is considered as gifting option. Amul has not positioned itself as an alternative to sweets or has not developed its product to actually cater to an emotional need. It is simply a chocolate available at a lower price. Marketing Mix. Product Amul has a very low range of products in its chocolate business. There are only 8 chocolate brands that Amul offers as of now in the market and these are Congrats, Fundoo, Chocozo, 14 Bindaaz, Rejoice, Almond Bar, Fruits and Nut and Amul Cooking Chocolate. The problem is that there is no clear differentiation between the products that it offers. For example Cadburys is catering to a different need corresponding to its individual Chocolate product. ? ? ? ? ? Product Dairy Milk Dairy Milk Shots Bournville 5 Star Perk Need Milk Chocolate (Basic taste and style). Small balls of chocolate (Circular unlike chocolate bars) Dark Chocolate Sweeter in taste with honey as an ingredient Crispier with wafer inside However, Amul completely ignores such kind of differentiation between its products and hence their product can be easily substituted by their own products apart from the competitor’s product. Another important factor is packaging because majority of the consumers is kids and youngsters who like attractive packaging. Most kids buy chocolates not just because they like chocolates but also because of the attractive wrappers. Packaging used by Amul stands low on appearance parameter. Also, it lacks a common theme or â€Å"top of the mind† recall point. For example, Cadburys is strongly associated with blue wrapper and more than brown it’s the colour blue that we associate with a chocolate. As compared to this, Amul’s packaging is weak and lacks lustre. Amul needs to make changes to its product (chocolates) like introduction of more flavours and attractive packaging because the wrappers Amul uses is not at all attractive compared to those used by Cadbury and Nestle. This would keep them in competition with competitors like Cadbury and Nestle. 15 Pricing Second P of marketing that is Price is often confused with blindly lowering the prices of different products and completely relying on this strategy to increase sales. However it is of extreme importance to divide the target group on the basis of their price sensitivity and purchase power. Every customer segment has different price expectation from the product. To maximize the returns, it is important to identify the right price level for each segment and then progressively moving through them. Amul has launched various chocolate products to cater to different segments of population. Pricing must take into account the competitive and legal environment of the industry. Majority of people in India live in villages and have low disposable income. With such a heavy competition in the chocolate market, Price plays a very important role. Amul pricing strategy has been â€Å"Value for Money†. Amul’s believes in giving value for money to its customers and it has always followed that principle. Its products are of high quality and available at affordable prices. For example, Cadbury’s â€Å"Fruit n Nut† is priced at Rs 35 per 42 gm pouch whereas Amul’s Fruit and Nut is sold at just Rs 25 per 40 gm. Amul offers same quality at a price 30% lower than its competitor. Amul has not launched any premium (high price) product in its chocolate business. Place Place in marketing is considered as the channels of distribution through which products move from the manufacturer to the consumers. The channels of distribution mean intermediaries or middlemen who act as a link between the manufacturer and the consumers. Factors that need to be considered when choosing the place are the characteristics of the product, characteristics of the buyers, control and competitors channels. Since chocolate is an edible product, Amul should adopt an intensive distribution strategy wherein they will manufacture products and make it available at various shopping malls, food joints, local stores, Chocolate parlours etc. Corresponding to its strong distribution channels, Amul currently has very low visibility. It needs to increase the visibility through offering discount to retailers along with buybacks to convince them to store the Amul Chocolates. Since Amul is a â€Å"value for money† brand it can be placed anywhere from small kirana shops to big malls. Amul has a big brand name because of its dairy products. They can easily use it to increase the awareness of its chocolates using various distribution channels. 16 Promotion Promotion refers to exchange of information between an organization and the consumer of its products. Consumers here include Customers, shareholders, employees, government and other parties related to the products like trade union and media. The aim of promotion is to inform the consumers, differentiate from other products and to persuade them to buy. There are many techniques of promotion like Advertising, Sales promotions, Direct Marketing & Personal selling. Amul has been criticised for lack of promotion. Amul has a strong brand name because of its dairy product leadership. Amul must advertise its chocolates using media like newspaper, television and internet to inform the public about the quality & the price of its product. Amul has totally shifted its focus from chocolates towards milk and other milk products and have totally ignored chocolates. Using the mediums like Television and newspaper the company needs to remind the public that they are back with improved products at an affordable price. 17 Recommendations 1. Amul needs to introduce new varieties of chocolates and improve its existing ones. 2. They should introduce milk chocolates like Nestle’s Milky Bar, Chocolates with fruits and nuts like Cadbury has its Fruit and Nuts, Mint chocolates like Nestle’s After Eight etc.

Physiology research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Physiology - Research Paper Example The researchers selected 128 children of patients with autosomal-dominant Alzheimer’s disease as study participants, as they were at risk of carrying the mutation. The autosomal-dominant nature of the disease in these cases was determined by family pedigrees. The mutations known in these pedigrees included presenilin 1, presenilin 2, and amyloid precursor protein. The expected age of symptom onset for the participants was set as the age at which the parent was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. They studied several physiologic mechanisms occurring in these patients. First, they carried out clinical assessments of cognitive change using questionnaire-based scales, giving them a cognition score. This characterized the participants as normal cognitive function, very mild impairment, or mild impairment. Brain imaging with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was done to screen for any pre-existing brain disease. Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning was done to determine any regions of fibrillar amyloid deposition, and decreased metabolism. They also analyzed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for concentrations of tau, and beta-amyloid. They found that 50% of the asymptomatic study participants were carriers of the mutation for Alzheimer’s. The carriers had lower cognitive scores and at an earlier age, compared to non-carriers of the mutation. The carriers also developed bilateral hippocampal atrophy, seen on MRI, 15 years before expected symptom onset. Through PE scanning, they detected a selective decrease in the metabolism of the precuneus region of the brain in carriers, 10 years before expected symptom onset. Mutation carriers also had significant amyloid deposition in the precuneus region at 15 years before symptom onset, while non-carriers did not have any amyloid deposition there. Levels of CSF tau protein and plasma amyloid were elevated in the carriers 15 years before symptom onset,

Methods of Investments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Methods of Investments - Essay Example Money market accounts are a type of savings account, in which money is invested at a high-interest rate, with high restrictions on its withdrawal.A money market account offers a very high rate of interest on the amount deposited. Furthermore, the interest is compounded daily, and paid monthly, which means that the interest amount keeps on increasing based on the compounded interest. This normally pays off the highest, and it is safe due to the fact that most money market banking systems are insured by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.There mostly is a high cap on the minimum amount that may be left in a money market account so most banks might not even accept the $1,000 as a deposit amount. Furthermore, there are restrictions on the number of transactions that can be made per month which limits user control, and there are high transaction fees as well. All these things have to be kept in check when a money market account is made.A passbook savings account is one for which all tr ansactions including deposits, withdrawals, and interest, are recorded in a passbook accessible to the account holder. This is updated by the bank on a routine basis.A passbook savings account allows the account holder to observe his banking trends and extract profitable patterns from the records. Also, this account has a higher degree of transaction freedom than a money market account. Thus it is beneficial to those account holders who have a keen interest in the trends and they do not need a monthly statement.

Do you Believe in Feng Shui Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Do you Believe in Feng Shui - Essay Example This is thus harmful energy and brings bad luck and negative energy from the surroundings into a house facing a T-junction because a house that is facing such a junction is said to have all the negative energy coming in from the road directly into the house without any place for it to escape. If the house is very close to the road then the bad energy seeps in with immense force and is very aggressive. For the purpose of this paper, I interviewed my parents and they tend to believe in Feng Shui a great deal; they have placed objects in their home on the basis of the same because they believe it helps to secure a better present and bring in the maximum amount of positive energy. Superstitions of Feng Shui are believed by many people around the world and as per personal opinion, I do feel that it is true as I have seen my parents practicing it on a daily basis and it has helped to make the home a lighter and more positive place. Every object in the household emanates a certain form of e nergy; the area that one’s home is placed in has a surrounding environment filled with different forms of energy and in order to churn out the most amount of positivity, it is important to place the objects carefully. It may be regarded as a cultural superstition but is indeed very scientific because it talks about the positive and negative forces of the earth; Feng Shui helps in calming the home by directing all the positive vibes inside. Having superstitions is not detrimental in nature because they help people to be careful; Feng Shui is a very positive superstition and thus it is only beneficial to people that follow it as it helps to channel good vibes into one’s home and keep oneself in a better mood throughout the course of the day which is brought on by positive vibes. It is suggested that if people live in T-junction facing homes, then they should try and get some landscaping done around the house for the energy to dissolve into the surroundings and not focus completely on the home and the members present within. Another way by which the effect of the bad energy can be mitigated is to be living near a road with very less traffic. In order to improve the positive energy in the household, every possible open space in the house should be landscaped in order to minimize the sharpness of the energy; doors and windows should be covered with plants to give out more oxygen and reduce the level of pollutants from the road. Yet another cure is to place a Bagua mirror inside the house which is another superstition that will be discussed further. It is believed that Bagua mirrors protect a household and bring it good luck and positive energy according to Feng Shui, especially if the home is placed in a wrong area or faces an environment consisting of bad or negative energy. The mirrors should ideally be hung outside the house in order to repel or ward off any kind of bad luck or energy passing through the house. Buildings and homes that are placed n ear T-junctions should ideally include these mirrors in order to ward off the negative energy that approaches them. The origin of this particular superstition may be traced to the i-Ching or the Chinese Book of Changes said to have been created more than 200 years BCE.     

Business ideas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business ideas - Essay Example Imam (Muslim priest) or a Muslim scholar who would serve as a Consultant to ensure that the clothing style that will be made by the company is appropriate for Muslim women. This is critical because the competitive advantage of the company is its ability to serve a certain niche with a cultural and religious overtone. The company cannot afford to make a mistake especially during its initial phase because when it will lose its credibility in that segment either by mistake or ignorance, it is already doom to fail because Muslim women are its sole market. Know-how on what are appropriate clothing designs for Muslim women. Fabrics to sew or create such design. Employees who have knowledge and expertise in sewing Islamic high fashion clothes. Capital to start and operate a business. Being culturally and religiously correct does not mean that people has to dress dull. The Islamic high fashion clothing line that will be introduced by the company in the market will be stylish but culturally and religiously aligned with the dressing prescription of Islam for women. Customers will the center of the business. Such, the business will take the pain to consult Muslim scholars about the appropriateness of the clothing line in addition to the effort of making the clothing line stylish and comfortable. The channel of establishing customer relationships and distribution shall be highly selective since the target market is highly specialized. Marketing efforts in establishing customer relationship will only be limited to Islamic communities where the target markets are concentrated. Since the proposed business is targeted towards a market with a high disposable income, the channel of distribution will also be situated in high street fashion retail stores to make the product appropriate to the status of its market. The idea of putting up a clothing business that caters to a specific market has a very good chance of success provided that it will be done right. The

Control Room is a Documentary Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Control Room is a Documentary Film - Essay Example The film literally revealed the things that happened during the United States and Iraq’s war that the Bush administration does not want the people to see. Control room showed how typical Iraqi men and women watch the news and fearfully worried about their safety not from Hussein and other liberators but from the invaders. One of the scenes in the movie was when an Iraqi man criticized Saddam Hussein, though it was a dangerous action during that time, not because Hussein is a brutal dictator but he allowed Americans to take over the scene. The film also revealed how Americans wanted to take control over the media wherein people can get updates about the war. One proof was when Bush said that they are one either with them or against them. The Arab news outlets were destroyed by three separated attacks in just a day. The Americans reasoned that Iraqis distributed terrorist propaganda but actually not. The firm said that it was the Americans way of cutting the connection between t he media and the Iraqis so that people will not be updated about the war. Several say that the documentary film was a good one for it brings realization upon the minds of different people, most are those who have viewed it already. The film showed a different angle with regards to the perception of the Iraq war. Control Room was not just a documentary film that shows what happened during Iraq’s war but a film that widens the debate about media and deepens the meaning and importance of journalism in the country. Through the journalist’s coverage, several issues are unfolding and so, justice will be given. The death of Al-Jazeera, the journalist, due to the airstrikes that the US had committed on civilian targets, is one of the proofs that state that journalism has something to do with the revelations of the hidden issues. Justice will always prevail no matter what.

Critique E-Mail Documentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critique E-Mail Documentation - Essay Example Grey. personal communication MT1 29, 199X). Consequently, the emails made the situation even worse. Furthermore, the composed mails in majority of the instances failed to adhere to the rules of Basic English grammar, and the choice of the words in case of a formal letter also made the scenario extremely critical. The use of uppercase in a few of the originally mailed messages violated basic norms of formal English writing. Additionally, the mails were unable to depict a clear picture of the concerned matter by focusing more on inappropriate use of words and showing emotional feelings which could have been reserved for a face-to-face interaction. The e-mails failed to convey the actual meaning to either of the participants involved in the conversations. The exchanges were communicated in an extremely informal way without being concise. Thus, it can be stated that the participants were not careful during the exchange. The mails composed rather overshadowed the actual subject. The parti cipants were not able to understand the actual matter; rather they got confused in their efforts towards resolving the issue. It would have been better for them to have a round table discussion and to chalk out the issue personally with relying more on the face-to-face communication. Moreover, the participants took extended period of time to resolve the issue which could have been resolved more quickly. It can be stated that participants failed to resolve the concerning issue effectively. The exchanges of the emails were far below the expected level of professionalism. The poor use of grammar and punctuation, spelling mistakes cannot be considered to be professional. The participants were required to follow at least basic formal English language rules that would have helped them to present their messages in an understandable manner. In addition to this, the e-mail exchange was not considerate. The messages composed were missing the core subject matter; instead of resolving the issue , the composed emails increased its complexity. They could have been more thoughtful towards their mail composition and could have sequenced their messages in a more understandable and precise manner. The composed mails were lengthy and deviated far from the actual subject. In several instances the mails used many unethical words, such as killing and disgrace among others, which should not have been included (Frodo Jackson, personal communication, MT1 26, 199X). These words create a negative impression about the communicator. Thus, the entire e-mail exchanges lacked professionalism and use of ethical as well as formal composition. Part 2 - Improve the Communications "Improving Frodo's Communication" From: "Frodo Jackson" To: theprofessor@someinstitutionsomewhere.edu Sent: DayofWk, MT1 13, 199X 7:53:11 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Assignment 1-5-1 Professor Grey: Attached is my final assignment of 1-5-1. I appreciate your help during the course. I wish you great term brea k time. Thank you, Frodo Jackson ----- Original Message ----- From: Frodo Jackson To: The Professor Sent: DayofWk, MT1 26, 199X 12:59:22 PM Subject: Re: Grades Professor Grey Frodo I have checked my report and find it to be incomplete. I was looking forward for the grade to be updated by MTI/26/0X. At the same time, I

Corporate social reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate social reporting - Essay Example In a similar manner, disclosing the information associated with the corporate social responsibility activities is an important part of the daily functioning of organizations. Importance of CSR Reports The importance of CSR reporting has emerged because of the lack of dependence on the information provided by organizations, as opposed to their actual contribution towards the society. From the academic point of view, there is an accepted theory that discusses the factors responsible for motivating companies in disclosing their CSR information. Most of the information disclosed in the CSR reports was previously considered as the activities or decisions belonging to the private domain of corporations. The theoretical evidences suggest that companies disclose information associated with CSR activities to the public, in order to satisfy their prime needs and reflect an extremely responsible image towards the society. The legitimacy helps organizations in achieving the main purpose of attai nment of sustainable profitability as an important goal of the business. The corporate sector gives huge economic profit to the environment and society. However, in spite of the advantages, there remains an increasing concern related to the wastage or abuse of resources in the society. The society offers huge benefits to the corporate sector, which is why, it has the right of seeking information associated with what the organization returns to the society. The increasing awareness concerning the natural resources is responsible for the decision of legitimacy of companies, which in turn increase the necessity of disclosing CSR information. Stakeholder’s theory According to P.A. Stanwick & S. D. Stanwick (2006), the business relationship must be occupied with a large number of managerial researches (Tilt, 1997; 2007). The stakeholder’s theory addresses to questions where stakeholders require special attention. Approaches to this kind of question are determined by the rel ationship between organizations and the stakeholders. It is done on the basis of exchange transactions, legitimacy claims, power dependencies and various other claims. The researchers have integrated the stakeholder’s theory with the help of various managerial perspectives, mainly the theories belonging to governance and agency. The stakeholders theory have been an useful frame, being both normative and instrumental, for measuring the role of NGOs in developing and adopting environmental standards. The stakeholder management offers theoretical base for proper understanding of the necessities of the stakeholders and function accordingly. Legitimacy Theory According to Brennan & Merkl-Davies (2013), Legitimacy theory can be explained in the following manner: Every organization seeks legitimacy from the public by ensuring the fact that their value system is congruent with the value of the community, within which it is performing its business operations Deegan & Rankin (1996) hav e identified four different strategies with the help of which the organizations improve their self-image, thereby gaining legitimacy. They can seek legitimacy from the public by informing them about the real changes in the behaviour, followed by bringing a change on the perception of general public, without causing any change in the actual behaviour,

Juvenile Justice Subsystems Essay Example for Free

Juvenile Justice Subsystems Essay The role of the police is to enforce the law and maintain order in the community. In 2000, there were approximately 18,000 police agencies employing more than one million full-time sworn and non-sworn personnel. They are intimately involved in juvenile justice issues, they mostly operate locally, and are thus in close proximity to towns and neighborhoods. For juvenile offenders and victims, local police are often their first contact with juvenile justice authorities. The reason for this is simply stated: Juvenile offenders who break the law are frequently taken to the police as a first option, or the police may apprehend them while observing them committing an offense. Youths who have been victimized or whose welfare is at risk are likewise referred to police custody—for their own protection. The Judicial Subsystem The judicial component of the juvenile justice system is composed of many of the same personnel as found in the adult system. These include judges, administrators, prosecutors, and defense counsel. It is a civil (rather than criminal) system, so there is also a significant amount of participation by social workers, probation officers, case managers, and other professionals whose primary duty is to inform and advise the court on the status of each juvenile. The Corrections Subsystem Juvenile correctional institutions are regulated under state law and must comply with state and federal mandates for the humane treatment of youths who have been consigned to locked or other residential facilities. The underlying mission of juvenile corrections is to treat and rehabilitate youths. Although many facilities are highly restrictive, and confinement conditions can approximate those found in some adult facilities, it is the duty of this subsystem to â€Å"correct† the behavior of offenders.

Leadership Process Essay Example for Free

Leadership Process Essay First Section Leadership is a process by which one person influences the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of others. Leaders set a direction for the rest of us; they help us see what lies ahead; they help us visualize what we might achieve; they encourage us and inspire us. Level 5 leadership refers to the highest level in a hierarchy of executive capabilities that we identified during our research. Leaders at the other four levels in the hierarchy can produce high degrees of success but not enough to elevate companies from mediocrity to sustained excellence. And while Level 5 leadership is not the only requirement for transforming a good company into a great one—other factors include getting the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and creating a culture of discipline—our research shows it to be essential. Good-to-great transformations don’t happen without Level 5 leaders at the helm. They just don’t. (Traylor, 2001) The Level 5 leader sits on top of a hierarchy of capabilities and is, according to our research, a necessary requirement for transforming an organization from good to great. But what lies beneath? Four other layers, each one appropriate in its own right but none with the power of Level 5. Individuals do not need to proceed sequentially through each level of the hierarchy to reach the top, but to be a full-fledged Level 5 requires the capabilities of all the lower levels, plus the special characteristics of Level 5. (HBR, 2001) It differs from other leadership styles as the leaders come from the grass root of the organization. Meaning, it is the leader who has grown and developed from the ground level of the organization and has gradually escalated towards the top most level. This allows an employee to go through all phases and nurture to the top level of the organization i.e. CEO level. A few years ago in Strategy Leadership, Michael Raynor debunked the premises on which the shareholder-first model rests, and a few months ago Michael Porter criticized the current belief that looking beyond the business is bad for business. In the January/February Harvard Business Review he argues that companies should be considering other stakeholders, and so generates economic value by creating societal value. These respected thinkers offer another answer to the question about the purpose of a business: the firm should see itself as an interdependent part of a community that consists of multiple stakeholders whose interests are integral to business success. In this view, an enterprise can be seen as a system of long-term cooperative relationships between affected parties. (Collins, 2001) These include the firm’s managers and employees, customers and clients, investors, suppliers, the towns, states and nations where the firm is located or sells goods and services and even future generations of stakeholders. In such a system, stakeholder influence generates pressure for the organization to behave in ethical and environmentally and socially responsible ways, and in turn, this interdependency helps the firm be sustainable and resilient. This alternative approach to leadership is variously referred to as ‘‘sustainable,’’ ‘‘Rhineland’’ or ‘‘honeybee’’ leadership. By sustainable we don’t just mean a firm is being green and socially responsible. Research and observations in over 50 firms around the world, including in many listed corporations, suggest that sustainable leadership requires taking a long-term perspective in making decisions; fostering systemic innovation aimed at increasing customer value; developing a skilled, loyal and highly engaged workforce; and offering quality products, services and solutions. (Caroselli, 2003) Second Section In 2005, Lee Scott, ex-CEO and President of Wal-Mart Stores and now Chairman of its Executive Committee, announced that the company would essentially adopt sustainable leadership principles going forward, although he did not use that term. Financial performance was solid, but the company was the target of many complainants – employees, local communities, suppliers, and environmentalists. Scott decreed that Wal-Mart, one of largest Fortune 500 corporations, would become more ethical, and more socially and environmentally responsible. The company would use its political might to benefit ordinary Americans in healthcare and energy savings, and make people’s lives better. Scott even advocated paying more for products from ethical suppliers – an extraordinary reversal by an enterprise built around a low-cost strategy. In the years since, Wal-Mart has experimented with environmentally-friendly stores and other socially-responsible measures. Interestingly, its bottom line has not suffered during this process, posting net sales increases for the past five years, according to Wal-Mart’s 2009 annual report. In recent months, in a move to improve the healthiness of its products, the firm announced plans to reduce the fat and salt in its house brand groceries and cut prices on fresh produce. (Shaw, 2005) A considerable body of evidence shows that sustainable practices are more likely to enhance business performance than the shareholder-first approach. First, various writers have examined and compared the Anglo/US system with its Rhineland counterpart, concluding that Rhineland principles are more sustainable and lead to better outcomes than the shareholder-first approach. Second, Avery and Bergsteiner have gathered extensive evidence for each of the individual practices in their pyramid model, showing how they are more likely to contribute to positive business outcomes than their counterparts under the shareholder-first model. For example, a major difference between shareholder-first and sustainable practices lies in whether they retain people or lay them off when times get difficult. Staff retention is regarded as a foundation element in the pyramid because conditions aimed at keeping staff can be initiated at any time. However, retaining staff supports various higher order outcomes in the pyramid; it allows knowledge to be retained, and supports quality, trust, and innovation, for example, and enhances financial performance, as well as staff and customer satisfaction. Similar cases can be made for the other 22 elements. (Cooke, 2008) What senior executive would reject these as legitimate goals for an enterprise seeking to both thrive and endure? To some cynics, sustainable leadership – a management approach aimed at delivering better and more sustainable returns, reducing unwanted employee turnover and accelerating innovation – sounds too good to be true. They dismiss it as just another form of humanistic management, merely good management practices, or as following old-fashioned values. There is some truth in each of these characterizations. Certainly, sustainable leadership embraces aspects of humanistic management in that it includes valuing people and considering the firm as a contributor to social well being. The individual practices of sustainable leadership are not new: B Warren Bennis advocated recruiting, training, and employing an effective top leadership team rather than just relying on the heroic CEO. He also proposed that firms become financially transparent as a step to becoming more ethical. B Peter Drucker wanted managers to promote change and allow innovations to come from all over the organization, thereby enabling ordinary people to make extraordinary things happen. B Stephen Covey urged using the knowledge and engagement of a firm’s employees. What is new is the understanding that these practices form a self-reinforcing leadership system that enhances the performance of a business and its prospects for survival. What is also significant is that sustainable leadership practices are diametrically opposed to the typical shareholder-first approach, which business schools, management journals, the media, and many practitioners continue to promote. (Branson, 2010) Sustainable leadership in practice Sustainably-led organizations have been identified across different sectors, countries, institutional contexts, and markets. Examples of successful enterprises that consistently embrace sustainable leadership principles abound, particularly among privately-held firms and SMEs. Unlisted companies displaying virtually all of the 23 characteristics of a sustainable enterprise include: in the USA, WL Gore Associates (Goretexw and other products) and SAS (software); in Germany, Giesecke Devrient (bank notes and securities) and Ka ¨rcher (cleaning solutions); and in Switzerland, Endress Hauser (flow technologies) and Migros (retail conglomerate). However, it is likely to be more difficult for listed corporations or private equity groups to operate on sustainable principles because of the pressures on them to achieve short-term performance goals. Yet numerous listed enterprises manage to operate sustainably, if necessary by standing up to or managing their relationships with the financial markets. Well-known examples include Germany’s Munich Re from the finance industry; Colgate (consumer goods) based in the USA; Britain’s BT Group (telecommunications); the Thai construction corporation, Siam Cement Group, and its competitor from Switzerland, Holcim. (Streshly Gray, 2010) Third Section There are many obstacles in changing to sustainable leadership. First, sticking with conventional wisdom is comfortable and easy – it’s business as usual. Second, change is disruptive and initially creates both financial and intangible costs, although as the Wal-Mart case shows these may not slow growth and profits. Third, most people disregard hard evidence and make their decisions on the basis of ideological beliefs. Managers are no exception to this human foible despite their training and experience in decision making. Fourth, major change involves risks, bringing with it the chance of a drop in short-term performance, so stakeholders need to be prepared to focus on the long term. Finally, radical change can take a long time to embed and then maintain. A major Australian bank converted from a shareholder-first strategy to a sustainable leadership model. The change took a decade to take hold, with outstanding results, but unraveled in only a few years to under a new CEO with a different agenda. The choice to adopt a more sustainable strategy, one that research and practice show leads to higher resilience and performance over the long term, remains in the hands of each executive team. Unfortunately, executives remunerated on a short-term basis may have no incentive for seriously pursuing long-term change, to the detriment of shareholders and other stakeholders. This is where the fundamental short-term focus of the shareholder-first or business-as-usual model begins to destroy shareholder value and endanger a firm’s very survival. (Brown, 2005) References Branson, D. M. (2010). The last male bastion: gender and the CEO suite in Americas public companies. Taylor Francis. Brown, M. T. (2005). Corporate integrity: rethinking organizational ethics, and leadership. Cambridge University Press. Caroselli, M. (2003). The business ethics activity book: 50 exercises for promoting integrity at work. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Collins, J. C. ( 2001). Good to great: why some companies make the leapand others dont. Harper Business. Cooke, P. (2008). Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Non-Profits Make a Difference and Others Dont. Gospel Light. Shaw, K. A. (2005). The intentional leader. Syracuse University Press. Streshly, W. A., Gray, S. P. (2010). Leading Good Schools to Greatness: Mastering What Great Principals Do Well. Corwin Press. Traylor, P. S. (2001). IT Takes Two. CIO Magazine , Vol.15, No.4, November 15

Principles in Locating Manufacturing Sites

Principles in Locating Manufacturing Sites Wong Wing Man The general principle in locating manufacturing sites is cost minimization. For locating retail services, what is/are the major principle(s) and theories? Particularly, you need to explain the perplexing phenomenon that stores providing similar services (selling similar products) are located very close to each other (even adjacent), forming spatial clusters (e.g., jewelry stores, hotels). What are the spatial-temporal dynamics involved in producing such patterns? Introduction Locating retail services is different from locating manufacturing sites because retailers mainly serve local residents but rarely engage in export trades. Instead of choosing sites with low transport cost, retailers consider distance as a determinant for proximity to market, which represents incentive for consumers to visit. Locational strategies for retail stores are primarily based on profit maximization through increasing market share and business volume. This essay researches three major theories for locating retail services, and investigates the rationale behind spatial clustering of retail stores. Major principles and theories for locating retail services Central place theory describes functional hierarchy of centres based on order of services retailers offer. Considering the distance consumers are willing to travel and basic demand to sustain businesses, Christaller (as cited in Bell et al., 1974) categorized high-order services which have large ‘range’ and high ‘threshold’, in opposition to low-order services. In a regional scale, retail centres with low-order stores such as fast food shops and convenience stores are located closer to each other because consumers of these services have low incentive to travel a long distance. While high-order centres are far apart to secure a larger market for their high ‘threshold’. Within each centre, bid rent theory describes spatial pattern of retail services using the rule of land occupation by the highest bidder. Keen competition for central locations implies occupation by retailers who could afford high land rent, whilst housing and industries are located at outer zones. Low-order retailers occupy central sites inside neighbourhood retail centres, but are pushed towards the periphery in regional centres when higher-order retailers outbid them (Brown, 1992). Co-location of high-order stores such as department stores, women’s apparel and jewelers in core areas gives rise to retail clustering. Spatial clusters of retail stores selling similar services in a micro scale From microeconomic perspective, Hotelling’s (1929) principle of minimum differentiation argues that two homogeneous retailers initially located at opposite ends of market would leapfrog each other to capture the bulk market, which eventually leads to locations adjacent to each other in market centre at equilibrium. Despite support from empirical research, Hotelling’s position is being criticized for incompatibility with the notion that retail stores should be spatially dispersed to maximize market share, and failure to justify spatial clustering for high-order services (Brown, 1992). Addressing risk reducing behaviour of consumers, Wolinsky (1983) modified the principle by explaining the need for consumers to search the market as a result of imperfect market information. Retail clusters are more attractive to consumers than isolated store because asymmetric information on quality and availability of goods encourages comparison shopping. Retailers offering similar servic es locate in close proximity to benefit from agglomeration economies, which creates additional demand and reduces operating cost to outweigh potential loss from more intense competition. Relaxing assumptions in classical models to allow multi-purpose shopping behaviour, Ãâ€"ner Larsson (2014) also explains the clustering of stores selling complementary services. Spatial-temporal dynamics involved in spatial clusters As economy grows and city expands over time, spatial pattern of retail services change. The classical retail succession model which divides city areas into central, middle and outer zones predicts that retail cluster at central zone would gradually transform from low to high order retail stores under development pressure and rising land rent (Brown, 1992). At the newly expanded suburb, residential patterns changes as household size declines, bringing more low-order services and convenience stores cluster to satisfy single families’ needs (Jones Simmons, 1990). Although classical models explain well for small retailers in post-war period, rapid growth of large retailers creates new dynamics in retail locations. Central and neighbourhood business districts with no pre-set format are gradually transformed into planned shopping centres which entail higher rent (Burnaz Topà §u, 2006). The clustering pattern is no longer explained solely by agglomeration economies but also centra l management of store location in malls, and domination of large chained-brands which could afford skyrocketing commercial rent (Lovreta et al., 2013). Conclusion Retail locations in a macro level are primarily determined by central place theory and bid rent theory. The former describes spatial dispersion of retail service centres, while the latter portrays intra-urban spatial pattern for various retail types. In micro level, the principle of minimum differentiation incorporating consumers’ risk reducing behaviour is essential in explaining agglomeration economies as a motivation for spatial clusters of retailers selling similar or complementary services. Although classical approach is still supported by empirical research, it is indispensable to address spatial-temporal dynamics since retail structure evolves tremendously during economic and demographic transitions. Retail clustering becomes a composite effect of agglomeration economies alongside mall’s management decisions and large retailers’ domination. References:   (APA 6th Style Referencing) Bell, T.L., Lieber, S.R., Rushton, G. (1974). Clustering of Services in Central Places. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Vol.64, No.2. Brown, S. (1992). Retail Location: A Micro-Scale Perspective. England: Avebury, Ashgate Publishing Limited. Burnaz, S. Topà §u, Y. Ä °. (2006). A Multiple-Criteria Decision-making Approach for the Evaluation of Retail Location. Journal of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. 14: 67–76. DOI: 10.1002/mcda.401 Hotelling, H. (1929). Stability in Competition. The Economic Journal. Vol. 39, No. 153, 41-57. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2224214 Jones, K. Simmons, J. (1990). Location, Location, Location – Analyzing the Retail Environment. Ontario, Canada: Nelson Canada. Lovreta, S., MiloÃ… ¡eviĆ¡, S. StankoviĆ¡, L. (2013). Competition Policy and Optimal Retail Network Development in Transitional Economies. Economic Annals. Volume LVIII, No. 199. DOI: 10.2298/EKA1399057L Ãâ€"ner, Ãâ€". Larsson, J. P. (2014). Location and co-location in retail: a probabilistic approach using geo-coded data for metropolitan retail markets. The Annals of Regional Science. Vol.52(2), 385-408. DOI: 10.1007/s00168-014-0591-7 Ãâ€"ner, Ãâ€". Larsson, J. P. (2014). Which retail services are co-located?. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management. Vol. 42, Iss 4, 281-297. DOI: 10.1108/IJRDM-11-2012-0105 Wolinsky, A. (1983). Retail Trade Concentration due to Consumers’ Imperfect Information. The Bell Journal of Economics. Vol. 14, No. 1, 275-282. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3003554

William Goldings Lord Of the Flies :: Golding Lord Flies

William Golding's Lord Of the Flies Theme: Most people perceive children as being innocent, precious beings. Some believe that they are angelic. Put in the wrong situations though, they can become savage beasts. The innocence leaves their bodies and they are no longer precious. The survival of the fittest instinct kicks on and they can become killers. In the book Lord of the Flies the theme is that kids are not as innocent s they seem. At the beginning of the book the boys seem to have peace and order. They help one another out. They elect Ralph as their leader. They follow his orders when they need to work together. The conch shell is used to bring order within the group of boys. Soon these practices die out and the kids start to change. Jack and his group of hunters, began to get a thrill from killing pigs. Jack and the hunters also lose all respect for Ralph and the conch. They start their own tribe, who soul purpose is to hunt and have rituals. The killings of the pigs start to bore them so they began to find other things to kill. The hunters start forcing people to join the tribe through threats. Then the threats lead to the killings of two boys. The hunters first kill Simon , whom they think is a beast. Then they kill Piggy by rolling a stone on top of him. With the two killing under their belt they soon began to go after Ralph. They chase him all over the island but soon he is rescued. The naval officer witnesses how the children had turned from well-behaved boys to savage beast. Though children are not as innocent as they seem they still hold a close place in their parents heart. They are also human just like everyone else. They know the difference between black and white and right and wrong. The survival of the fittest instinct is something that every creature on this planet has. The weak one always loose. The book showed this well. Important Passages: "Ralph sat on a fallen trunk, his left side to the sun. On his right were most of the choir; on his left the larger boys who had not known each other before...before him small children squatted in the grass.

Langston Hughes On the Road Essay -- Langston Hughes On Road Poetry E

Langston Hughes' "On the Road" In Langston Hughes, "On the Road" the Sargeant is a homeless Black man that is desperate for food and shelter. In his desperation, Sargeant goes to the church to refuge, but there is no one at the Church to help him get refuge. Although Sargent is living in a time where the depression is in existence amongst all people, Black and White, he finds no one to help him. Sargent goes to the Church because the Church helps people. However, because Sargeant is Black and the Church is populated by a White congregation, he is rejected. In the story " One the Road", one of the people: A big black unemployed Negro holding onto our church... "The idea"! This represents that Sargent wants the benefits of the white society, but because of racism he was not allowed the opportunity to acquire the benefits. When Sargent was holding on to the Church, this represents his relentlessness and striving that he had to endure to live in a society in which discrimination and racism existed. He held on to the C hurch's doors because he was holding on to the American dream in which all people have the right to receive the same treatment regardless of color. Sargent knew he was no longer a slave, so when he was holding on to the Church's doors to be let in. He wanted to be fed and accepted into a society that did not want him. In his persistence of wanting to be accepted, the Sargent caused the Church to collapse. Once the Church fell down, Christ came off the cross, and symbolically this represents freedom. "They have kept me nailed on a cross for nearly two thousand years(Hughes 619)." Victory invokes a feeling of freedom. Therefore, when the white converts kept Christ on the cross for two thousand years, they kept ... ... "Sargeant grabbed, but not for anything so weak as a broken door. He grabbed for one of the tall stone pillars beside the grabbed at it and caught it. And held it" (Hughes 618) As I read this, I wanted to know what the Sargeant wanted. When I asked myself this question, white poeple said: "A big black umemployed Negro holding on to our Church!... "The idea(618)!" I realized he was holding on because he wanted the benefits of this white society that he was entitiled to. There is interaction between the text and the reader. If there were no interaction between the text and the reader, people would not read. Iser made a very good point that the text is not only in motion, but the reader is too. The reader's perception of the text is what makes the story come alive, and what enable readers to write and analyze different ideologies that are presented in a text.

Civil War Essay -- American History Civil War

Abraham Lincoln once stated, "A House divided against itself cannot stand. I Believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the house to fall. But I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other". More than anything else, differing interpretations about the Civil War drove the debate over the meaning of the Constitution and of the Union. These were, of course, not new issues. Indeed, as Professor Joseph Ellis has noted in Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation both had been on the minds of the delegates to Philadelphia in 1787. And, significantly, they were considered so controversial that neither the word "slavery" nor the word "nation" appeared in the Constitution. In the late 1800's the Southern states began to slowly secede from the Union on grounds that the federal government was limiting their rights, such as the right to own and regulate slaves, which were at that time considered to be property (Monk 208). Slavery was the South's main reason for secession, among other things. The South also, at that time, chose to remain an agricultural region; therefore, it had strong reasons for seeing that slavery, as an institution, continued without limits or interference. At the same time that all of this angst was going on, the Supreme Court was being appointed a case that would add even more fuel to the alread y raging fire. The Dred Scott Decision of 1856 gave yet another argument to this long debate about the issue of slavery between the North and the South. The case itself would not have reached the Supreme Court in the first place had it not been for the fact that slavery and its extension into new territories had become such a continu... ...from the beginning. In contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union of these states is perpetual, or everlasting (Lincoln's Inaugural Address). Abraham Lincoln stated in his Inaugural Address of 1860 that, " Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to say that no proper government ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination" (Lincoln's Inaugural Address). I agree with Lincoln's theory because if the framers created the Constitution with provisions for its own termination, then they would have implied that there would need to be necessary cause for such an action. No Union would create a constitution implying temporary unity (Ward 34). Lincoln's words and theory of a perpetual union explains the fundamental statement "no state has the right to secede from the Union."

Revisiting the NASL

It is said that we are able to see the correctness, validity and impact of our actions only after the moment we act had passed. This article looks back into the experience of the North American Soccer League. This is an attempt to revisit the rise and demise of the league.A Brief HistoryThe North American Soccer League (NASL) was established as a result of the merger of the United Soccer Association and the National Professional Soccer League. It was the culmination of the first modern attempts to create a truly national soccer league in the United States. The NASL even had franchise teams from Canada. Prior to its establishment, soccer competition in the United States was primarily on the semi-professional and amateur level.The United Soccer Association (USA) was sanctioned by the Federation of International Footbal Association (FIFA) and established itself in twelve major cities across the United States. The National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), on the other hand, was not san ctioned by FIFA. It also did not abide by FIFA player transfer rules and had ten franchise teams. Fan interest for the two leagues was initially high and attendance was not bad for the first year.The merger of the two leagues into the NASL, however, was an act of desperation. Fan interest had quickly faded, television ratings were terrible and the teams of the USA and NPSL had experienced massive financial losses. The disastrous start was such that only five teams of the original seventeen teams that started the NASL survived the first two seasons (Holroyd, 2005).Teams folded but new franchises took their place in the league. The turning points in league history took place in the 1971 to 1975 period. The New York Cosmos joined the NASL in 1971 and won the league in 1972. The entry of the Cosmos established the league’s presence in a major market and brought greater media attention to the league. The following year saw the Philadelphia Atoms joining the league. The Atoms also won the league title in their inaugural season. The team was bannered by Kyle Rote Jr., son of a former star of the National Football League’s (NFL) New York Giants. Rote also won the league’s Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. By 1974, the NASL had grown and have fifteen teams competing (Holroyd, 2005).Before the start of the 1975 season, the New York Cosmos got Edson Arantes do Nascimento (more popularly known as Pelà ©) to play for the team. This move placed the league in the spotlight and significantly increased public interest in soccer in the United States. Pelà ©, of course, is considered possibly the greatest soccer player ever. He gained the moniker â€Å"King of Football† or simply King Pelà © during his career. The attention snowballed through 1977 and culminated with 77,691 spectators for the 1977 playoff game between the Cosmos and the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers at Giants stadium. Pelà © retired from the sport, and the league, in 1 977 after an exhibition game between the two professional football clubs he had played for — New York Cosmos and Santos FC from Brazil (Holroyd, 2005).The NASL followed its success by undergoing a major expansion, adding six teams in 1978. League competition was organized into a NFL-style divisional lineup with a 30-game season. Teams also went into an unprecedented spending spree to sign up international players in an attempt to match the Cosmos’ success or at least remain competitive in the league (Litterer & Holroyd, 2003).Seven years after Pelà ©'s farewell, the league started 1984 (its 17th season) smaller than it had been in over a decade with only nine teams. Also, four of these teams were on shaky financial ground. The league eventually closed down after the Chicago-Toronto best-of-three finals series in Toronto, Canada (Holroyd, 2006).Addressing the MistakesPolicy 1: Develop Homegrown Talents to Generate AwarenessWhat could have the league done to sustain its elf? What could have been avoided? Among the team sports played in the United States, soccer had not yet reached the level of fan interest and media attention that is given to professional baseball, basketball and football. As a result, the franchise teams that made the NASL were in shaky financial standing except for that brief golden period that spanned 1971 to 1977.In this regard, the first issue to address is generating awareness and increasing the interest of fans. Soccer was not, and is not yet, dear to the hearts of American sports spectators. It has not reached the manic-obsessive levels of fan interest outside of the United States. According to Paglia (2007), the nature of the game runs counter to the fundamental element required of a US spectator sport.A hallmark of the most popular outdoor spectator sports in America, for example baseball and football, is that fans try to anticipate the next plays, possible game outcomes and share these speculations with one another. Socc er, by its nature, is an extemporaneous sports with many improvisational plays. It is so fluid that speculating on outcomes is close to impossible.Fan interest could, however, be impacted by creating awareness. In 1975, fan interest and awareness of soccer went up when Pelà © played in the league. At the time of his entry, Pelà © was famous even in the United States. This tack is being duplicated again by the Major League Soccer when the LA Galaxy contracted David Beckham to play for the team. Paglia (2007) sees that Beckham will create an impact but this alone will not â€Å"convert the curious to fans†. Furthermore, the impact may not be at the same level as when Pelà © played in the NASL. The two players are not the same whether in stature or even in playing style.Giorgio Chinaglia, the former Italian international who played alongside Pelà ©, does not think Beckham alone can promote the sport and league. Other big European names have to follow him to produce sustained success. Chinaglia even estimates that around 50 international soccer stars may be needed. (Adderley, 2007). But the NASL have already gone through this route before and it was with disastrous results.Some, even in 1978, had criticized the move to bring in more foreign players as shortsighted. They said that it was more important to develop American talent. But those voices were lonely cries in the wilderness.A lesson could be learned from 1973 when the Philadelphia Atoms won the NASL championship. Fan interest was sparked by the emergence of Kyle Rote Jr. He was considered the first â€Å"All-American† soccer star. The American spectator wants a star to relate to and follow. And it would be better if the star was homegrown. The NASL should link up with amateur, collegiate and semi-professional soccer leagues. It would even be better if it had its own developmental league.Policy 2: Cooperation and Fiscal DisciplineLooking back into the 1978 NASL spending spree, despite the i ncreased audience base and interest, more money was being spent than what was being earned. Operating a sports league is an awkward venture. The owners have to co-operate and make many business decisions collegially despite the fierce team competition. Taking a page from the National Football League’s business model, the NASL could have developed an internal incentive system that would stabilize team expenditures and â€Å"equalize† revenue generation.Two sets of incentives used by the NFL are (1) the teams' owners share roughly 70% of their revenues with each other; and (2) they stick to a strict salary cap that limits the amount each team can spend on players' salaries. As a result of these incentives, all thirty-two teams in the NFL have an even chance of being financially viable and athletically competitive despite having different market base (The Economist, 2006). Admittedly, the NASL attempted to institute a salary cap in 1984 but by then it was to little to lat e.Policy 3: Align Game to International StandardsSoccer’s World Cup is the biggest sporting event in world. The third policy that NASL could have done was to align its tournament format to that of the World Cup and international competition.By establishing a tournament format aligned to international (or globally accepted/recognized) format helps the league in two ways. One is that the American audience is educated on the mechanics of the game, and consequently increases the level of appreciation for the sport. Another is that the level of play of American players also gets aligned to that of foreign national teams.European football leagues hold inter-league competitions to determine the â€Å"continental† champion. For example, the Italian League champion plays against the French League champion. The NASL had already previously done this through friendly tours. The Ft. Lauderdale Strikers made a tour of England in February 1978. Foreign teams also toured the United St ates.Becoming competitive against foreign soccer teams could have helped in sustaining fan interest and support. Case in point is the impact of US National Team’s achievement in the 1994 World Cup. The team surpassed all expectations and reached the quarterfinals. This accomplishment sparked greater interest in the sport.ReferencesAdderley, Nigel. 2007. Beckham’s US Test. Accessed October 25, 2007 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6294762.stmHolroyd, Steve. 2005. The Year in American Soccer – 1984. Accessed October 25, 2007 from http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1984.html2006. The Year in American Soccer – 1968. Accessed October 25, 2007 from http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1968.htmlLitterer, David and Steve Holroyd. 2003. The Year in American Soccer – 1978. Accessed October 25, 2007 from http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1978.htmlPaglia, Jim. 2007. A Naysayer View of Pro Soccer. Accessed October 25, 2007 from http://www.soccera merica.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage;art_aid=22406The Economist. 2006. In a league of its own. [Electronic version] Accessed October 25, 2007 from http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6859210

Michael Obi Essay Essay

Michael Obi in Dead Men’s Path is an excitable young man who gets a chance to get his hopes of progressing the Ndume Central School fulfilled when he is appointed headmaster. His obsession with â€Å"modern ways† and extreme eagerness to make changes negatively affect his decision making on how important the path is to the town’s natives. His dismissal and refusal to acknowledge the tradition is the inevitable means to the end of the story. Obi is so focused on his assignment of bringing the school into the modern world that he is blind to how important the traditional tribal ways and beliefs are to the townspeople he needs to work with in order for the school to be successful. He is very stubborn and refuses to keep an open mind about the path. His only focus is making the school as modern as possible and to stamp out anything old and traditional. He ignores the warnings from the fellow teachers and signs from the villagers about the path. When another teacher warns him about how there was â€Å"a big row† the last time someone attempted to close the path, he brushes it off and decides to block it off anyways. Even when the village priest calls on Obi to tell him how much the village depended on the path and how important it is to their tradition, he would still not listen and respect what the priest has to say. After a young woman dies during childbirth Obi finally has to face the consequences of his stubbornness to compromise with the villagers. Obi shows an inability to compromise with the villagers because of his complete belief in modern ways and his negative attitude towards the â€Å"primitive† (as he sees them) beliefs of the villagers. Obi will not allow the villagers to make a highway out of the school. He feels that his goal  with the school is to teach students through â€Å"modern ways† to laugh at the idea of tradition. He doesn’t think that students can be taught in these modern ways and still respect their ancestors tradition. This ultimately leads to the school’s downfall. Conclusion In the end, Michael Obi is not able to accomplish his goal of creating a modern school from an unprogressive one. He is so focused on his goal that he will not listen to the villagers or respect their cultural tradition. He ignores the warnings teachers and villagers give him about the importance of the footpath and shows a complete inability to compromise with them because of his attitude towards their beliefs. This in the end leads to the destruction of the school and Michael Obi’s dream with it.

English Language Teaching Essay

This paper aims to highlight the importance of teaching sociolinguistic competence to ESL learners in Malaysian schools. Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of socio cultural rules of language and of discourse. This type of competence requires an understanding of the socio context in which language is used. It is proposed that carefully designed language activities be carried out by instructors in order to impart sociolinguistic skills to learners. The importance of universal intelligibility should be stressed, as opposed to native accent. Furthermore students should also be taught proper contextual use of English, in accordance to cultural reference and cultural appropriacy should be part of the learners’ core sociolinguistic competence. Keywords: Socio-cultural rules, Sociolinguistic competence, Formal language, Colloquialism 1. Introduction Malaysia is a multi-racial society which is strongly bounded by its system of monarchy. However, Malays form the largest portion of its demography, with Malay as its national language. Though Malay is still the most commonly used lingua franca among Malaysians, English is gaining more importance and relevance in the country. In fact, Malaysians have come to realize that it is no longer necessary, nor desirable to aim at an English native speaker’s speech to achieve their communicative function. However, there has been a strong decline in the levels of English proficiency in the country .This is evident in Malaysians’ everyday speech, which are often marred by grammatical and phonological errors or at times too loaded with â€Å"suffixes† (e.g. lah, lor, meh) and loan words from other languages. English is the second most important language in Malaysia. It is used in  various professions and is an important requirement in Malaysian academic settings. The academic setting is a microcosm of the Malaysian population, which is a mix of interlocutors of different racial and language backgrounds. They may also differ in their English language proficiency levels. Therefore, it could be assumed that in Malaysian schools’ unique language environment, sociolinguistic competence contributes to Malaysian students English language proficiency. 2. Malaysian School Language Policy When Malaysia got its independence in 1957, the government of Malaysia set out on a program to establish Bahasa Melayu as the official language, to be used in all government functions and as the medium of instruction at all levels in the education system. The introduction of a new primary school curriculum which goes by the Malay acronym, KBSR (Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah), and the new secondary school curriculum which goes by the acronym, KBSM (Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah), is an approach to provide holistic, balanced and integrated development of an individual’s potential; intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical aspect. However in 2002, the government announced a reversal of policy, calling for a switch to English as a medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science at all levels in the education system. Since 2003, Science and Mathematics have been taught in English. Therefore, teachers will be forced to code-switch to make pupils understand the su bject matter. 3. Sociolinguistic Competence Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of the sociocultural rules of language and of discourse. This type of competence requires an understanding of the social context in which language is used: the rules of the participants, the information they share, and the functions of the interaction. Only in a full context of this kind can judgement be made on the appropriateness of a ‘particular utterance’, as mentioned by Brown (2000). Lyie Bachman’s (1990) sociolinguistic competence comprises aspects, which deal with factors such as politeness, formality, metaphor, registers, and culturally related aspects of language. For students learning English in Malaysia, sociolinguistic competence should take into account those aspects as proposed by Bachman. Broersma (2001) stated that the process of learning sociolinguistic competence is challenging even in one’s first language. He also proposed that evidence of this can be found in the popularity of â€Å"Miss Manners† columns. He claims if we all had perfect sociolinguistic competence, we wouldn’t need advice about the proper way to send wedding invitations or give a dinner party. Having good sociolinguistic competence means knowing how to â€Å"give every person his or her due.† It means knowing when to be quiet, and when to talk, when to give compliments to others, and when to apologize. It also means being able to read situations and know what is the right thing to say or do. There are an infinite number of combinations of roles, tasks, contexts, and feelings that govern what is appropriate in any given encounter. 4. Sensitivity to Dialect or Variety The standard variety of English used in our country is the variety that is taught formally in schools and the Standard British English is the linguistic model in the education system of Malaysia. However in Malaysia, English, being the second language, is learnt for a functional purpose. The most important measure of success when a language is learnt for a functional purpose is communicative effectiveness; that is, whether the language enabled the learners to achieve the purpose of learning. A dialect is a language variation spoken by a particular ethnic, social or regional group and is an element of the group’s collective identity (Ogbu, 1999). Each dialect within a language is just as logical, complex and  rule-governed as the standard form of the language (often called standard variety). Malaysian English (or Manglish) is a non-native variety of English and is one of the most prominent features of Malaysia’s linguistic corpus. Baskaran (1994) has categorized ‘Manglish’ into three sociolects, which are: †¢ Acrolect (‘high’ social dialect) – used for official or educational purposes, considered to be the standard educated sub-variety that approximates native competence and is used in formal speech as well as in written forms by speakers who have been educated in English; †¢ Mesolect (‘middle’ social dialect) – used in semiformal and casual situations, a sub-variety that is used in informal situations among fellow Malaysians. †¢ Basilect (‘low’ social dialect) – used informally and colloquially as a ‘patois’ shades into a pidgin used mostly by village peddlers when talking to tourists and other potential customers. 5. Different English Varieties. There are different varieties of English used here in Malaysia. The important issue here is what would be considered as an acceptable variety of English for Malaysian students? In Malaysia, there is a strong tradition of teaching English when learners are still very young. Also, due to home language interferences and strong media influence, which at times popularises Manglish as a more convenient spoken variety, Malaysian students might not have enough exposure to models of Standard English. Parents might communicate with their children in  strong accented English which is unique to each cultural/racial group, or/and even in broken or grammatically incorrect English. This variety of English could be incomprehensible at times. 5.1 Malaysian English (ME) Some words of ME reflect the multilingual traits of the country. The existence of loan words in the lexis of ME is very rampant and common, especially since Malaysia is a Malay dominated country both in language and culture. Moreover there are no lexical equivalents of certain Malay words in English. Listed below is a list of commonly used borrowed words and phrases which have made their way into the repertoire of speech among speakers of Manglish. At the lexical level, some words of ME used by students reflect the multilingual traits of the country. There exist loan words from contact languages such as Chinese (ta-paw, pu-yao) and Bahasa Malayu (makan). Using substrate lexemes plural in the usual English way is common, e.g. kopios coffees (kop-o, black coffee), Menteri Besar (head of state government) and pengarahs (directors). Other cultural expressions adopted in ME, for instance: †¢ Kadhi (religious judge) impose a fine for khalwat (illicit proximity to the opposite sex) †¢ Don’t act so ulufied (backward, not hip) Wear something more stylo (stylish) †¢ Lets go ngerdate (dating), an Indonesian slang very common among the Malays. †¢ Hello thamby, (boy) one cup of coffee please. An example of a short conversation in colloquial Malaysian English (non-standard English) may sound like this: Housewife: Your fish so flabby, no good one. Fishmonger : Like that already hard †¢what. How hard one you want? You want stone, want wood. I can’t find. Housewife : You half-past six lawyer one. Give little bit cheap la, this fish. Fishmonger : Oh, that’s why you said that kind, said my thing flabby, you want Cheap-cheap. Housewife : You don’t want give, I look other places. Fishmonger : Look, look la, wait you come back look for me also. (Adibah Aroin, New Straits Times, 3V December 1992) 6. Awareness of language differences in the classroom Though the use of Standard English is very much desired, one must not dismiss the significance of other varieties of the language, particularly Manglish. Students must be made to realise the importance of Standard English in academic and formal settings; but at the same time be conscious of the communicative function of Manglish. Manglish helps learners to bridge the gap between the use of acrolect among proponents in an academic setting and the basilect used among their peers to facilitate understanding. More importantly, Manglish has a social function of fostering ties. It motivates students to move from one speech to another level through the opening up of communication channels across the sociolects. Students must realise that the main objective of learning English is not to acquire native speakers’ competency but rather to be intelligible among international English speakers and those within their ‘community’. Students  must be conscious that dialects are not inferior languages and that they should be respected, and that Standard English is necessary only in a formal context. 6.1 Intercultural Media Language The English language and its varieties would make excellent vehicles to create cross-cultural awareness. Students are able to use print and non-print resources of language such to compare the language used in British newspapers and the local dailies. Students will find differences in the use of lexical items and would be able to familiarize themselves with the constructs of ‘Manglish’. They will then proceed to examine larger texts such as novels and plays. This will encourage students to accept their own variety and ‘overcome reluctance to approach another variety once they found that the texts in these other varieties were accessible to them’ (Kachru and Nelson: 1996) 6.2 New English Literatures An excellent method to introduce other varieties of English is through literature. The area of literature opens up multi-traditional aspects of human life, which encourages students to broaden their horizons. By introducing literatures that is very much Malaysian, students will be exposed to new uses and forms of their own language. 6.3 Manglish Discourse Materials, which have features of ‘Manglish’ such as advertisement, obituaries and excerpts from TV and conversations, provide excellent  resources in discussing discourse markers. In this way, students are able to study speech acts such as negotiating, persuading, and apologizing within the structures and cultural context which is most familiar to them. Rather than perceiving it as an obstacle to learning the English language, the recognition of ‘Manglish’ by educational bodies may perhaps be of a great value. 6.4 Importance of Standard Variety I would suggest that students learn to handle formal language in schools. This is because they can easily revert to conversational and colloquial language as and when the context arises. However if one only learns to speak at the colloquial level, one can never rise up to the occasion to speak formal English when the need arises. Formal English requires usage of proper grammar and syntax with appropriate vocabulary. It takes a lot of practice before one can master English at this level. So why short change our students by accepting communication that is only up to the non- native variety level? In fact there is worry in many English speaking countries that teenagers are so used to using colloquial English in their ‘SMS’, that they cannot manage formal English, especially at the written level 7. Sensitivity to Registers The notion of ‘developing a language’ means, adding to its range of social functions. This is achieved by developing new registers. According to Halliday (1978:195), a register is a set of meanings that is appropriate to a particular function of language, together with the words and structures which express these meanings’. Registers are commonly identified by certain phonological variants, vocabulary, idioms and other expressions that are associated with different occupational or socio-economic groups. 7.1 Importance of Registers to Learners The term register includes different aspects of language in various contexts such as field of discourse, modes of discourse, style of discourse and discourse domain. It is important for students to develop styles and registers and recognize how to use them appropriately and be conscious of the need to do so. 7.1.1 Field of Discourse The knowledge of discourse enables students to have the ability to communicate with specialists in a particular field once they’ve understood the use of terminologies used in that field. In The STAR online, 24h March, there was a write up from a concerned parent who felt that teachers needed help in the field of Maths and Science and how crude errors are made such as ‘8 push 4 is 4’ a literal translation from BM (8 tolak 4 ialah 4). Therefore it is important for students to be exposed to mathematical and scientific terminologies because knowledge is power Having knowledge in various fields will help students in their future studies or career such as being proficient in delivering speeches, conducting negotiations, preparing drafts of agreements and in routine business communication. 7.1.2 Modes of Discourse Modes of discourse can be either written or verbal. Students who are not very well versed in their speech may produce ungrammatical, short, incomplete sentences, filled with false starts, fillers and pauses. Tongue (1968:83) has defined ‘fillers’ as a term used to indicate those items of language which communicate no particular denotative meaning but which are used to indicate the emotive, affective attitudes of the speaker, or sometimes simply to fill a pause or a moment of hesitation or reflection in the stream of speech. The most well known is the â€Å"suffix† lah or sometimes pronounced la, which realises different pragmatic functions as illustrated below: †¢ Emphasizing support e.g. I agree lah †¢ Persuading e.g. †¦ .you must do it in a proper way lah †¢ Complementing e.g. that’s a good idea, good lah Other common fillers used are ‘bah’ (by the Sabahans), ‘mah’ (by the Chinese) and â€Å"a?† or â€Å"ah†. â€Å"Ah† serves to function as fillers or breaking points as well as bringing out a question force as shown below. †¢ No point helping friends who are not interested, do you agree with that, ah? Other features of Malaysianess include the use of tag questions in particular the use of â€Å"isn’t it?† and adding the phrase â€Å"or not† to the preceding instead of presenting two alternatives. †¢ We’ve done it, isn’t it? †¢ You want to follow or not? Students must be mindful that usage of such a variety of English is accepted in informal settings. However in a formal setting, the standard variety of English is necessary and is the acceptable norm. With the changing role and the decline in the standard of English in Malaysia, it is found that instances of deviation from Standard English have increased in frequency. Though there is an attempt to use the Standard English, inadequate exposure and lack of knowledge result in the many basic Standard English deviations, which are found even in the speech of educated users of the language. As far as Malaysian students are concerned, these irregularities are usually tolerated and overlooked, as long as they do not interfere too greatly with communicative purposes. At present, indication of these irregularities may be observed in the spoken mode, as many students seem to feel quite free to incorporate features of the local dialect, into their speech, be it in a formal or informal situation . 7.1.3 Style of Discourse An important issue is how students use their verbal repertoire and what are the uses they will put them to. According to Halliday (1978), there are factors, which affect the way people use language. Halliday classifies this as field, mode and tenor. Field refers to ‘why’ and about what a communication takes place, mode is about ‘how’, and tenor is about to whom. For example, in writing a letter, one might start: â€Å"l am writing to inform you that†¦.† but in another letter, the same person might write: â€Å"I just  want to let you know that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  According to Joos (1967), there are five types of formalities: 1) Frozen style is more characteristic of writing than speech e.g. Students should make their way at once to the upper floor by way of the staircase. 2) Formal style uses sentences that show careful planning and logical development of ideas e.g. Students should go up the stairs at once. People who have limited shared background use consultative style; sentences are complete and some background information is given e.g. Would you mind going upstairs right away, please? People who have a shared background use casual style; it is marked by slang, profanity and incomplete sentences e.g. Time you all went upstairs now. Intimate style is the style, which is highly economical and is accompanied by a lot of non-verbal communication; people who know each other very well use it e.g. Up you go, fellows! It seems to me that it is in the area covered by consultative, formal and frozen, that our students need to be competent in. They ought to know which style to use when an occasion arises. Once a student said to his teacher in class: â€Å"Would you be so kind to explain again?† and a moment later, he said, â€Å"I want you to explain this question again†. This shows that the student is not consistent in the level of formality. In a classroom situation, the second one is acceptable but the first one is too formal. Our students fail to take into account the relationship between participants and situations or settings. Students need to be aware that a formal setting requires formal speech and that they may use colloquial words or phrases in an informal setting. They need to be aware that using language often involves how formal one needs to be in a situation. 8. Cultural References and Figures of Speech An overall understanding of the significant role of cultural variables in cross-cultural interactions will act as a bridge to mutual understanding and acceptance in situations of cultural conflict. Students must be aware that in certain cultures, the people are expected to respond to certain  utterances in an appropriate way, which is of the linguistic norm. 8.1 Importance of Cultural Appropriacy A possible way of dealing with varied cultural behaviour is to sensitise students to the unique characteristics of other cultures. Students should develop cultural tolerance and show understanding for other people’s differences. The ability to be tolerant is necessary for anyone hoping to avoid miscommunication. It involves the learner recognizing that every culture has its own logic, its own integrity and that no one culture is any better (or, for that matter, any worse) than any other. Malaysian idiomatic expressions used by learners could only be understood at the local context. Some are even fond of the idea of contextualization these days. It truly gives a Malaysian flavour to our speech. Localised expression appeals to the average man in the street. Having a common speech pattern somehow helps some students to bond quickly and so it helps to establish friendship between like-minded people. 9. Ways of Improving Students Sociolinguistics Competence The lack in cross-cultural understanding or sensitivity on the part of the teacher has serious implications because it affects classroom management and consequently, student’s learning. There are various activities that can be carried out in classrooms to instil cultural understanding. Learning how to perform particular speech acts in both formal and informal settings,  learning particular â€Å"ways of speaking†, like story telling, narratives, joke-telling, simply learning to chitchat, are all important in learning how to speak proficiently. Syaharom Abdullah (1995) believes that students will become conscious of the values and expectations, which are basic in a culture through dialogue practice or role-play. In learning English, the student has to learn how to use and interpret the sociolinguistic rules of English in various contexts. To achieve this, the learner must develop an awareness of areas in which the sociolinguistic system of his own culture differs from those of other cultures. Teachers can design some problem-solving exercises in order to do so. 10. Conclusion It is obvious that sociolinguistic competence offers more insights in learning a language. Problems may arise for students’ who may not be familiar with the various context of language use. By means of getting acquainted with the various cultures of Englishes and updating their knowledge about language learning, students may be better able to accomplish the goals of engaging themselves in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purpose. It is important that the second language instructors in Malaysia be familiar with sociolinguistics. Teaching language is not just about learning the rudiments of the language but also various cultural refinements. Students must be made aware of formal and informal language use. They should be knowledgeable as to appropriate expressions for different context. Students must be mindful as to when they can resort to colloquial language and when formality is necessary. Lastly students need to be made aware that mastering English does not mean acquiring native proficiency, but rather having universal intelligibility. References Adibah A. (1992). The New Straits Times, SO†1 December. Bachman, L. (1990). 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