Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on Outline The Challenges Faced By The Government In Abolishing Child Poverty

Outline The Challenges Faced By The Government In Its Bid To Abolish Child Poverty â€Å"Because a fair society and the strongest possible economy depend upon leaving no one behind, Britain must build on the reforms taking nearly one million children out of poverty and give every child the best possible start in life. So our ambition is - by the end of the next decade - child poverty reduced by half - on our way to ending child poverty within twenty years.† - The Chancellor of the Exchequer, pre-budget report November 1999 Poverty rates in Britain rose sharply in the 1980s. In 1979, 12% of the populations were poor. Poverty here is defined as having net household income below 60% of the median income, after housing cost. By 1999 this had risen to 24%. The situation is even bleaker for children, with almost a third of children living in poor households in 1999. Shortly after taking office the New Labour Government made a commitment to halve child poverty within a decade and to abolish it within two decades. The guiding principle in achieving this goal was the belief that the best route out of poverty is through work. Consequently, the government introduced a plethora of social policy reforms designed to â€Å"make work pay† for individuals who had languished on benefits for too long. The primary policy introduced to change work incentives was the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), but other important policies such as the National Minimum Wage, the various New Deals, refo rms to the National Insurance system, the lower rate of Income Tax and a National Childcare Strategy were all designed as part of a package of welfare to work policies. In addition, the government is tackling the poverty issue by raising benefits for non-working families. Distribution of poor children by work hours of household Total hours worked by all persons in household Actual poverty patterns 1999 Projected poverty in 1999 if wo... Free Essays on Outline The Challenges Faced By The Government In Abolishing Child Poverty Free Essays on Outline The Challenges Faced By The Government In Abolishing Child Poverty Outline The Challenges Faced By The Government In Its Bid To Abolish Child Poverty â€Å"Because a fair society and the strongest possible economy depend upon leaving no one behind, Britain must build on the reforms taking nearly one million children out of poverty and give every child the best possible start in life. So our ambition is - by the end of the next decade - child poverty reduced by half - on our way to ending child poverty within twenty years.† - The Chancellor of the Exchequer, pre-budget report November 1999 Poverty rates in Britain rose sharply in the 1980s. In 1979, 12% of the populations were poor. Poverty here is defined as having net household income below 60% of the median income, after housing cost. By 1999 this had risen to 24%. The situation is even bleaker for children, with almost a third of children living in poor households in 1999. Shortly after taking office the New Labour Government made a commitment to halve child poverty within a decade and to abolish it within two decades. The guiding principle in achieving this goal was the belief that the best route out of poverty is through work. Consequently, the government introduced a plethora of social policy reforms designed to â€Å"make work pay† for individuals who had languished on benefits for too long. The primary policy introduced to change work incentives was the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), but other important policies such as the National Minimum Wage, the various New Deals, refo rms to the National Insurance system, the lower rate of Income Tax and a National Childcare Strategy were all designed as part of a package of welfare to work policies. In addition, the government is tackling the poverty issue by raising benefits for non-working families. Distribution of poor children by work hours of household Total hours worked by all persons in household Actual poverty patterns 1999 Projected poverty in 1999 if wo...

Friday, November 22, 2019

No More One and Done

No More One and Done All writers know that building a career in words is only two parts   writing and sixty parts marketing. For new writers especially, the   ratio of marketing to writing is high. Writing regularly for a handful   of publications means less marketing and more actual paying work. You probably have a few editors youd like to work with again, but   dont stop there. Dream Clients Keep a list. Decide where you want to write and pursue those   publications. Decide what types of writing you want in your   day-to-day. If your goal is to write health and wellness pieces, pitch   those markets. You might not jump straight to the ranks of Oxygen   magazine but keep them on your list while you build clips from other   fitness publications. Eventually, you can show off those Now What? Youve landed an assignment at a publication youd like to write for   again. You rocked the article, you liked your editor and your piece is   approaching publication. Now what? Submit another ideaor two. You dont have to wait months or start from scratch somewhere else.   Remind the editor of your previous work together and submit a couple   new article ideas with an offer to send an outline on any that pique   an interest. If you met your deadline and delivered what you promised,   youre already ahead of 99 percent  of the submissions in her inbox.  I landed a regular column this way. Keep In Contact Ways to maintain relationships and create new ones include: Social Media Retweet, share, like and tag those posts. Follow your dream editors on   Twitter and LinkedIn. Friend them on Facebook. Not only will it keep   your name in front of them but it will also keep you informed and   current and might even get you some inside info, like birthdays and   pet peeves. The Comment Box â€Å"Nice post† is not enough. You have to contribute meaningful and   helpful comments. Remember that the purpose of a blog is to help the   readers. Bloggers, whether youve written for them before or not, will   notice your willingness to assist their readers and your knowledge of   the subject. Subscriptions, duh No brainer, right? This is cheaper with online publications because   most digital newsletters are free and youll probably get the latest   download in exchange for your email! For print publications, read the   letter from the editor every month and note any changes in format or   the masthead. In your pitch, mention something recent to show youre informed on   what the publication has been up to. A quick â€Å"congrats on being named   one of the top fifty blogs in the universe† or â€Å"excited for the   release of your [insert upcoming product here]† demonstrates your   continued interest. The Editorial Calendar A pitch aimed at the editorial calendar shows youre professional, do   your homework and are there to make the editors life a little easier.   Find their lead time which will tell you how far into the calendar   you should focus. If you cant find an editorial calendar, you can   always shoot a quick email asking if there are upcoming themes for a   publication. Narrowing your client list can lead to steady sources of work and less   time marketing, which means more time writing and earning. Be   professional and respectful. Meet your deadlines. Deliver what you   promise and if you maintain those relationships, editors will be   relieved when they see your name in their inbox again and again.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Globalization is Good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Globalization is Good - Essay Example According to him there are three major arguments namely network society, informational capitalism and the development of contemporary global politics acts as a unifying thread for globalization. His trilogy works on the interaction of these three forces leading to globalization. It is this informational and technological revolution that led to network society where all society structure and activities are based on electronically processes information (Castells, 1998). This network society along with informational capitalism is the globalization system, which gives rise to globalized networks in the form of enterprises and political movements etc. This has only been made possible with the advancement information and communication technology (ICT). This ICT revolution has seeped in all aspects of our society and the economy and is responsible for the current phase of globalization. According to him the changes in economic policy resulting in liberalization and deregulation of economy i s also made possible due to changes in ICT (Castells, 2000). It provided the technological capacity to the system to work as a single global unit. Castell’s view is different from Gidden’s on globalization who talks about globalization in totality whereas Castell’s emphasizes on the transformation to global society and the leading factors. According to Castells this informational capitalism is quite unique in its form and shape from the earlier forms of market society. it is argued that this form emerged in the wake of failure of capitalism in the 70’s due to declining profits, burgeoning social cost, rising standards of living and the post war settlements which led to full... This essay aims at studying the meaning and characteristic of globalization along with the social developments. What are the driving forces and factors for the globalization and network society? What role internet has played in transforming the functional capabilities of the social networks? This essay also aims at studying various dimensions of globalization along with different social experiences and configurations of globalization as well as their alignment with each other. After studying the forces, such as changes in communication and technology, that is responsible for transformation in globalization it is evident that globalization is inevitable. It has entered into every sphere of our life, including economy, politics, society etc. Society network has led to informational capitalism and has influenced the global economy. This globalization has not only been limited to economy and business it has changed the concept of nationality and identity as well. The new concept is of gl obal citizenship that transcends national boundaries. The impact of globalization has generally been positive although it has led to more ethnic violence in some cases, but it is argued that such violence and hatred can also be resolved by introducing globalization at the grass root level. Globalization has also created some disruptions in the concept of jurisdiction and sovereignty but these problems can be resolved with appropriate legal measures. Hence generally globalization has been inevitable but good.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Brand Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Brand Management - Coursework Example Overall branding is viewed as a differentiated strategy through which the customers can easily distinguish the features of a product from that of similar products offered by other marketers. It is also viewed as a tool used by the marketers to position the products with a reliable image of quality and values to make certain the growth of a recurring fondness by the consumer. That is why it is often said that products are something which is manufactured in the factories. Brands are something developed in the minds of the customers; and, hence, the customers do not buy the product; customers actually buy the brand. From the discussion it is quite evident that in order to gain a competitive position in the market it would be important for the marketers to develop a strong brand. However, developing a strong brand is not an isolated approach; rather it is a holistic one which includes a combination of marketing activities. The present study has been conducted in lieu to critically analyz e various aspects related to a brand. The brand chosen happens to the largest coffee chain in the world, Starbucks. During the course of study various elements of the brand, the present branding strategy of the company, the marketing and communications strategy of the company as well as the key factors related to the brand equity of the brand has been analyzed by using various analytical and marketing tools and models. Back ground of the brand By Origin Starbucks is an American coffee chain which has now become the largest coffee chain in the world and the one of most popular global brands. The company began its journey in 1971. The headquarters of the company is located in Seattle, US. The company has 20,891 stores in sixty two countries. The product of the company includes Coffee, Tea, Smoothies and Frappuccino beverages. As on 2012 the company had 149,000 employees and the revenue of the firm happened to be US$ 13.29 billion. The chairperson, President and CEO of the company is M r. Howard Schultz. . Brand Elements Brand elements are a set of elements that are utilized by a brand to develop a unique position in the minds of the consumers. Brand elements play an instrumental role in creating brand identity. Creation of a unique brand identity is quite important as it helps the marketer to define how brands plan to leverage the brand to reach the predefined corporate vision; to support to corporate values and achieve the corporate vision. Ultimately it helps the company to achieve brand loyalty and equity (Keller, 2012, p.399). One of the key brand elements of Starbucks has been the logo of the company; the first logo of the company was developed in the year 1971. The next was built in the year 1987. The next logo was built in the year 1992. The present logo is almost the same as the one built in the year 1992. The star of the logo represents the company that provides high quality offerings and has been living up to the expectations of the customers for quite a long time. Another key element of the brand would be the packaging of the products (Arvidsson, 2006, p. 201) The packaging of the cups are simple and yet attractive. One of the key features of is the cups are recyclable (Elliott and Percy, 2007, p. 291). Through such brand elements the Starbucks

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Broadsheet and Tabloid Comparison Essay Example for Free

Broadsheet and Tabloid Comparison Essay The media is undoubtedly one of the most influential and powerful force within our society today. Its means of mass communication has the ability to report news in a way which often affects and distorts a persons opinion and interpretation of a certain story. Yet its importance in our society is immeasurable, since its the main way of informing the public of national and international events. The purpose of this essay is to examine and analyse how two contrasting newspapers a broadsheet and a tabloid report the news. We often view the broadsheet as having higher status than the tabloid as it is more serious, sophisticated and elaborate. The tabloid in contrast is dominated by sensational stories. I would be scrutinizing The Daily Mirror, a typical tabloid paper and The Independent which is the conventional broadsheet paper. The story in question which both newspapers are narrating concerns the fatal murder of Yetunde Price, sister of the famous tennis players Venus and Serena Williams. Different papers frequently vary the way news is portrayed in order to engage and captivate different audiences, yet their primary purpose is to inform and entertain. The Daily Mirror is likely to entice those who are less well educated and classified as Social class III, IV and V in the Registrar Generals Scale the working class. Therefore the stories that attract them are likely to concern violence, showbiz and sporting events, stories which are glamourised. This is shown by the way how Yetunde Prices death was highlighted by the fact that her sisters were distinguished tennis players and also the article was contextualised to feed the readers curiosity. The Independent is aimed at the more conservative, middle classes who are categorized as Social class I and II in the Registrar-Generals Scale. They are more likely to have had an extensive education and prefer upmarket newspapers. Yet it is much more complicated than this: both articles would have not existed if not for the prominent status of Yetundes sisters, and so The Independent has defied the stereotypes of a broadsheet by focusing more on her glamourous and famous sisters. It is often thought that the newspaper influences the reader, yet the readers themselves influence the way news is reported as the newspapers have to adapt their stories to the readers taste in order to attract their attention. The style of The Daily Mirror is one which is explicitly written, containing many gr aphic, vivid information on the deathly event, undoubtedly in order to sensationalise Yetundes untimely demise as well as reveal the great dissimilarity between her life and her sisters. The article begins by presenting Venus and Serenas wealth and prestige: they had the fame, the fear and the bodyguards, this use of triplets and alliteration not only emphasis their greatness but is also an attention grabbing introduction, inveigling the reader to read further. It then goes on to mention the sad story of their shy sister so that the reader may understand the significance of this story. The details then becomes more disturbing and horrific, describing plainly the fusillade of shoots, how Yetunde was lying in blood and hit in the chest. Such emotive descriptions may be sickening but the writers agenda in a tabloid newspaper is to focus on the blood and the gore in order to make it more realistic for the reader. The varied sentence structure also contribute to the glamourised effect. The article from The Independent begins with having short sentence structure which goes straight into the story, capturing the readers attention, Yet the information given are uncertain and rather vague, using phrases such as: perhaps, no one yet knows and but for some reason. This combines the facts with an element of mystery and so it creates suspense and stirs the readers inquisitiveness.The Independents style is based on the conventions of a fairytale story genre and it is centred on the Williams sisters rise to power. Yet, like all fairytales there is the feature of tragedy and sadly in this particular story, the tragedy triumphs. Yetunde is the victim of this tragedy yet the article concentrates more on the power pair sisters and the glitz and the glamour of countless tournament trophies, of commercial endorsement, of fashion lines. The writers device on using alliteration and anaphora again gives greater impact and excites the reader. It is also part of the fairytale style narrative which prevails throughout the article. The article is also not as harsh and blunt as The Daily Mirror and contains a lot of euphemism. Apart from the euphemistic descriptions of her final hours, Yetunde is little mentioned in comparison to her sisters in The Independent. This is due to the fact that she is virtually unknown and so the writer does not want to lose the readers attention. However, the reader may then come to view fame, wealth and prestige is more important then the main story. There is undeniably a disproportionate focus on the more admired of the Williams sisters, which centres on their background, upraising and lifestyle that it overshadows the main story. Little of the article is dedicated to Yetunde as there is hardly any mention of her upbringing and characteristics. The pictures creates the impression of all the sisters close bond which emphasis their grief over the loss of Yetunde. Despite of this, Yetunde herself is not central figure of the picture. She is instead placed on the far left and she is facing away from her sisters. The edit or may have this particular image because of her posture and the sombre clothes she is wearing, perphaps as a sign of her approaching demise. The Independent contains some of the important facts on how Yetunde was killed and provides only one witness account. The Daily Mirror contains more witness accounts and expert opinions on the case, which gives a more comprehensive view of the case. Yetunde is also given more attention and the text explores thoroughly the cause of her death by having more of these witness accounts so that it conveys a more striking and stirring effect. As well as this, The Mirror focus more on the the area and the environment the Williams sisters were brought up in, with a small section at the end dedicated to exposing the terrible history of the notorious Crompton district. There is also more background knowledge of their lives, yet it tends to intrude into their private lives as the details given are very personal. The pictures include one of the scene of the crime, which is very much like a scene from a Hollywood film and a picture of the weapon used so that the reader may feel more disturbed at the killing yet inclined to read on. The biggest picture shows Yetunde and her sister Serena attending a glittering awa rd ceremony which again dramatise the story. The striking headline of The Daily Mirror, Killed With AK47 is not only blunt but written in capital letters and spread across the page so that it conveys shock to the reader. The smaller headings above and beneathe it is a brief explanation of what happen yet it creates an element of suspense. The Stars Sister is Murdered in particular outlines the nature of the story so the reader would expect a lot of sensationalism. The main picture of Yetunde and Serena is in fact bigger than the the text itself but it has been enlarged so that the reader would think that Yetunde herself is a celebrity and raises the importance of the article. The other pictures are placed on the left side of the main image so the reader could see the contrast between them, and so come to understand the harsh reality of Yetunde life. The small section at the end has the heading Streets of Fear which is a metaphor and conveys to the reader the true nature of the district they were brought up in. The Independent shows none of these pictures of Crompton but instead has only one picture which is the same size of the text, so there is less sensationalism. The article itself is half the siz e of The Mirror due to lack of information so the reader may come to view this story as insignificant. It is also placed on page 11 as opposed to the tabloid which placed it on page 4 and 5, so here there is not as much hype around the story. The headlines are less blunt and there is also the use of italics on the words: fairytale, close-knit family and grief which sways the readers emotions. As I have analysized above, the two newspaper articles shows contrasting representations of the same story. The Mirror with its tendency to exaggerate the stories, presents this article with the features of fame, glamour and explicit descriptions. The editor is obviously aware of the fact that sensationalism sells. The Independent, despite its lack of information, has actually taken the more dignified approach by showing respect for the deceased with going into too much information the gory details. It could be argued that The Mirror is rather inappropiate in immorally cashing in on Yetundes death, yet their story is in the readers interest since not only is Yetunde mentioned more but it covers many aspects of her life and personality in tribute to her. Whereas the editors motive in presenting the article the way it does in The Indep endent might be in conflict with the reader as they are likely to want more information on Yetunde and the nature of her horrific death instead of Serena and Venus. In our society today, we as the audience are becoming increasingly concerned, bordering on obsessiveness, with the lives of the rich and the famous. The media understands and encourages our curiosity by publicising more and more stories on celebrities. This could affect the quality of the news we consume, especially in tabloids, where instead of presenting the more serious stories, we are swamped with excessive news on the famous.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Attachment Theory Essay -- Psychology, Interpersonal Relationship

The Attachment theory is a psychological, ethological and evolutionary theory that gives a descriptive and explanatory framework of understanding interpersonal relationship between human beings. Presented by John Bowlby, the important tenet of this theory is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to progress generally. The idea of attachment theory is that infants become attached to adults who are sensitive and responsive in social relationships with them, and who remain consistent caregivers for some months during the period of early six months to two/three years of age. In the early days Bowlby was criticized by academic psychologists and also ostracized by the psychoanalytic community but, attachment theory has become a dominant approach in understanding social development and giving rise of empirical research into the formation of children’s close relationships. The child that is observed for this paper is my nephew aged 5 years. He is currently in grade 1 possessing few characteristics of anxious ambivalent (discussed in history) child. History After graduating from the University of Cambridge in 1928, Bowlby performed volunteer work at a school for disturbed children while reconsidering his career goals. His experiences with two children at the school set his professional life on course. One was a very isolated, remote, affectionless teenager who had been expelled from his previous school for theft and had had no stable mother figure. The second child was an anxious boy of 7 or 8 who trailed Bowlby around and who was known as his shadow (Ainsworth, 1974). Persuaded by this experience of the effects of early family relationshi... ...hown that early childhood attachment is necessary for the healthy development of child. Children are needed to have a sense of security so that they can grow up to be healthy and productive adults but if there is lack of attachment with them, they are at the higher rate of risk of developing social, emotional or behavioral problems in childhood or adolescent. Insecure attachment has been developed because the primary caregiver (mother) had not consistently responded to him in warm, affectionate, loving, dependable and sensitive way. Such babies are more likely to develop a mental representation of world as hostile or uncaring leading them to many psychological disorders. Teenagers who have not developed secure attachment tends to be open to depression and anxiety and they are more likely to get involved in drug abuse and antisocial/sexual activities. (Doyle, 2000)

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Advanced International Trade

In any economy where there exists free mobility of labor force across borders ,labor policies are bound to spill over from one country to another thus will have an impact on international trade. Thus international trade is mostly restricted to goods and services more than to factors of production.In such a case then goods and services can serve as substitutes to factors of production by importing goods and services produced by such factors. In an open economy, the welfare gains from domestic labor market exports will exceed the share of goods exported.  If prices increase for goods the owners of factor of production responsible will benefit in real terms while owners of the other factors will likely push for opposing agendas on controls of mobility of labor across borders. An increase in capital will otherwise benefit both owners of capital and labor.The first impact would be to increase the amount of untrained labor in fish production in home country. An increased unskilled labor is expected to be more than the amount of capital available.Owing to the fixed nature of capital, there is expected decreasing returns to scale. But since the untrained labor is mobile within the industries, they are going to move from one industry to another depending on the wage differentials.The relative price of fish is expected to go down in home country due to the availability of cheap labour.Accordingly; the real wage of the unskilled labor will decrease owing to the powers of demand and supply of labor in the fish industry. The real wages paid to the skilled workers will depend on the output of the economy.As more unskilled labor flow in a country, output will not be affected since it uses more of skilled labor than unskilled labor, what is going to happen is decreasing returns to scale on unskilled labor and this will lead to more costs than benefits hence decrease the real wages of the skilled labor.The production of computer chips will be adversely affected since unskille d labor will flow from fish production to computer chips production. With capital and skilled labor fixed, then the production can be increased only by increasing the amount of capital and skilled labor in the country, thefore country’s output is bound to decrease especially in computer chips production and also to some extend on fish production.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Green Mountain Coffee Essay

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) started as a small cafà © in Waitsfield, Vermont in the year of 1981. It was in 1993 that the company went public and acquired the early phase of Keurig Incorporated Inc, and then completed the acquisition in 2006. (Unknown.( 2004). Gmcr.Retrieved from http://www.gmcr.com/about-GMCR.html) Once these two companies combined it made the way we drink beverages different than ever before in both the home and office. According to GMCR’s website â€Å"Today, GMCR is recognized as a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, and acknowledged for its award-winning coffees, innovative brewing technology, and environmentally and socially responsible business practices.† ((Unknown.( 2004). Gmcr.Retrieved from http://www.gmcr.com/about-GMCR.html) GMCR has three business units that they operate with today. The first being specialty coffee which includes Green Mountain Coffee, Tully’s Coffee, Diedrich Coffee, and Coffee People. The 2nd unit is the Keurig business unit, which created the signal cup brewing system. The 3rd and final is the GMCR Canada. The GMCR Canada is owns all sales for the company and includes the Van Houtte business as well as Timothy’s World Coffee brand. ((Unknown.( 2004). Gmcr.Retrieved from http://www.gmcr.com/about-GMCR.html) The current CEO is Brian Kelley who joined GMCR in 2012. Before GMCR Brian Kelley was Coca-Cola’s Chief Product Supply Officer , and president and CEO of SIRVA, Inc. ((Unknown.( 2004). Gmcr.Retrieved from http://www.gmcr.com/about-GMCR.html) as well as other companies such as Ford Motor Company, GE, and Proctor and Gamble. In 2011 net sales were 2,650.9 million which was up 95% over fiscal 2010. (http://investor.gmcr.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=622448) The acquisition of Van Houtte which took place in December, 2010 in addition to the partnership with Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts with the K-cups option of their coffee has helped add over 321.4 million to the net sales in 2011. (http://investor.gmce.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=622448) GMCR has seen accelerated growth over the last couple of years due to its Keurig single cup brewing system and the K-cups that go along with it. Below is the breakout for the 2011 Fiscal Financial Review provided by (http://investor.gmcr.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=622448). 2011 2010 $ Increase SWOT ANALYSIS StrengthsWeakness S1-Strong reputation with it’s customersW1- Keurig single-cup brewers all made by one manufacture S2-AcquisitionsW2-Large % sales from one area of the business (K-cups & brewers) S3-Marketing W3-Forecasting due to such overnight success OpportunitiesThreats O1- Increase marketing to the age group of 40 and older T1- Risk of patents expiring allowing other competitors into the market O2-Increase marketing in the Supermarket locationsT2- Keurig single-cup brewers all made by one manufacture O3- Introduce other manufacturesT3-Product recalls & product liability T4- Coffee availability ANALYSIS VIA PORTER’S FIVE FORCES MODEL The threat of new entrantsThe bargaining power of buyersThe bargaining power of suppliers The competition of this type of product & service because of cost overhead would need to come from an already known company or a company that becomes successful after the patients expire that GMCR hold. Strong threatOver time as patients expire buyers will have bargaining power. ThreatGMCR has one manufacuting for the K-cups and brewing systems which resides in China. Weakness The threat of substitute product and servicesThe intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry The threat of substitution is high. ThreatAlthough there are other companies that try to offer the same service, GMCR is at the top of the coffee industry for this type of service. Strength STRATEGY USED GMCR is using a differentiation strategy by offering a different way for the consumer to enjoy specialized coffees, teas, hot chocolate, and other hot beverages in their own homes, workplaces, and hotels at an overall lower cost than coffee houses. They are able to do this by taking the lead in the market due to their strengths in product development, licensing agreements with partners, and on-going successful acquisitions. GMCR growth through their acquisition strategy and their licensing agreements have been the biggest contributors to their growth. In 1998 when Keurig launched its first single- cup brewer for the office environment GMCR was there to partner with. (Dess,G, Lumpkin, G. & Eisner, A.(2012). Strategic Management (6e). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.) From that point on it just continued whether it be the agreement with Starbucks in 2011 or the agreement with Dunkin Donuts in that same year to sell K-cup’s with both Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts coffee they continue to thrive in the market. If we look at Porter’s generic strategies that our text talks of we can identify the following. †¢Differentiation – The product and service that GMCR brings to the market is the best value for price and quality. †¢Focus strategy – The acquisitions and licensing agreements that GMCR has been able to focus on continues to allow success to the buyer markets and geographic markets. †¢Overall cost leadership – GMCR is able to keep cost low because of the amount of product they supply to the customer without much competition. THE ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACING THIS COMPANY I think for now GMCR will continue to have competitive advantage. GMCR should be able to accomplish this by continuing to offer their K-cups and brewing systems at the same competitive price to the same type of customer. Although patents are ready to expire and more of the product and service will be able to join the market, I feel that GMCR with their past record of new product innovation will continue to strive in the coffee market and lead the way for competitors to follow. COURSE OF ACTION RECOMMENDED It seems to be that because of the success of Keurig & K-cups that GMCR has put all their eggs in one basket without much focus on the rest of their products. We can see this in both the 2010 and 2011 earnings (http://investor.gmcr.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=622448). With patents becoming expired in the near future by recommendation would be that GMCR starts to focus on the other products that they sell or that they start to work on the next great product for the coffee industry. My fear is once patents expire that you may see some of the larger distributers try to come into the Market and possible succeed if there able to produce the same product at a lower cost. OPINION My opinion of the case study is first I had no idea that GMCR was such a large company. I don’t drink coffee but am a tea drinker and I guess I just didn’t pay much attention to the marketing and advertising . I’m sure they would like to hear this feedback, it may give them a clue as to where the marketing needs to go during the next phase. With that being said this company to me shows the true meaning of great business leadership and a successful supply chain and focus strategy. During the research I even found a joint venture with 3M the company I work with. It seems that 3M helped GMCR develop a coffee filter. This was a very enjoyable case study and it showed a great example of how to be successful in my opinion. References Dess, G., Lumpkin, G. & Eisner, A. (2012). Strategic Management (6e). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Green mountain coffee roasters, inc.. (09/1). Retrieved from http://investor.gmcr.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=622448 Unknown. (2004). Gmcr. Retrieved from http://www.gmcr.com/about-GMCR.html

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Divorce and family deterioration essays

Divorce and family deterioration essays My mother was a loving housewife. With a great deal of patience, she diligently carried the weight of our needs on her strong shoulders. Like most women of her time it was the social norm for the husband to be the breadwinner and for the wife to take care of the home. These roles have changed over the years with the increased involvement of married women in the work force. The effects of a married womens employment can have adverse consequences that has lead to a rise in divorce and deterioration of the family household. Fighting for ones marriage was strongly encouraged in the past. Divorce was generally frowned upon like a sickness. Views regarding divorce have changed over the years. I can remember the advice my grandmother would give my mom whenever marital distraught threatened her life. She would tell mom, Hes your husband and you need to work things out! The ease of filing for divorce has become the immediate quick fix to the problems were facing today. My first marriage ended this way. It was so easy; my ex-wife simply did most of her filing over the internet. Laws have been set in place to make this process easier. For example, in the state of Florida its called Simplified Dissolution of Marriage. Unfortunately, divorce has become an accepted event in our society. Can we afford to ignore these factors? We should seriously consider the relationship between a working wifes financial independence and the availability to these simplified divorce procedures. Changes in economic conditions have shifted the emphasis from togetherness to an emphasis on individuality (Elkind, 1994). Married working women are less financially dependent of their husbands. I believe the traditional housewife was almost forced to make her marriage work. We can ask ourselves if an employed mother would work harder at saving her marriage than a fina ...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Reagan and the 1983 Marines Barracks Massacre in Beirut

Reagan and the 1983 Marines Barracks Massacre in Beirut In 2002, the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs interviewed Caspar Weinberger about the six years (1981-1987) he spent as Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Defense. Stephen Knott, the interviewer, asked him about the bombing of the U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983, which killed 241 Marines. Here’s his answer: Weinberger: Well, that’s one of my saddest memories. I was not persuasive enough to persuade the President that the Marines were there on an impossible mission. They were very lightly armed. They were not permitted to take the high ground in front of them or the flanks on either side. They had no mission except to sit at the airport, which is just like sitting in a bull’s eye. Theoretically, their presence was supposed to support the idea of disengagement and ultimate peace. I said, â€Å"They’re in a position of extraordinary danger. They have no mission. They have no capability of carrying out a mission, and they’re terribly vulnerable.† It didn’t take any gift of prophecy or anything to see how vulnerable they were. When that horrible tragedy came, why, as I say, I took it very personally and still feel responsible in not having been persuasive enough to overcome the arguments that â€Å"Marines don’t cut and run,† and â€Å"We can’t leave because we’re there,† and all of that. I begged the President at least to pull them back and put them back on their transports as a more defensible position. That ultimately, of course, was done after the tragedy. Knott also asked Weinberger about â€Å"the impact that the tragedy had on President Reagan.† Weinberger: Well, it was very, very marked, there was no question about it. And it couldn’t have come at a worse time. We were planning that very weekend for the actions in Grenada to overcome the anarchy that was down there and the potential seizure of American students, and all the memories of the Iranian hostages. We had planned that for Monday morning, and this terrible event occurred on Saturday night. Yes, it had a very deep effect. We talked a few minutes ago about the strategic defense. One of the other things that had a tremendous effect on him was the necessity of playing these war games and rehearsing, in which we went over the role of the President. The standard scenario was that â€Å"the Soviets had launched a missile. You have eighteen minutes, Mr. President. What are we going to do?† He said, â€Å"Almost any target we attack will have huge collateral damage.† Collateral damage is the polite way of phrasing the number of innocent women and children who are killed because you’re engaging in a war, and it was up in the hundreds of thousands. That is one of the things, I think, that convinced him that we not only had to have a strategic defense, but we should offer to share it. That was another of the things that was quite unusual about our acquiring strategic defense, and which now seems largely forgotten. When we got it, we said he would share it with the world, so as to render all of these weapons useless. He insisted on that kind of proposal. And as it turned out, with this cold war ending and all, it didn’t become necessary. One thing that disappointed him most was the reaction of the academic and the so-called defense expert community to this proposal. They were horrified. They threw up their hands. It was worse than talking about evil empire. Here you were undermining the years and years of academic discipline that you shouldn’t have any defense. He said he simply did not want to trust the future of the world to philosophic assumptions. And all the evidence was that the Soviets were preparing for a nuclear war. They had these huge underground cities and underground communications. They were setting up environments in which they could live for a long time and keep their command and control communications capabilities. But people didn’t want to believe that and therefore didn’t believe it. Read the full interview at the Miller Center for Public Affairs.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

First Across The Rhine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

First Across The Rhine - Essay Example A lot of action-packed, tactical, militarily strategic, and heroic stories fill war movies. Rarely are the actual tasks and skills of non-combatants were featured. This paper will try to present the roles of engineers and their team during the war using mainly the book by Col David E. Pergin and war writer Eric Hammel (1994) First Across the Rhine: The 291st Engineer Combat Battalion in France. The immediate challenges during their landing in the war zone were: grave reservations of the standard in the organization as off-the-shelf engineer combat battalion inevitable combat losses that could remove key people with essential skills or unique training from the ranks (Pergrin and Hammel, 1989, 17). To address this immediate concerns, Pergrin’s solution was to cross-train as many officers and troops as possible in whatever time was left. He noted that, â€Å"The training directives established minimum, not maximum, standards (Pergrin and Hammel, 1989, 17). ... After the cross training, every member of the squad was a qualified: Rifleman for .30-caliber M2 carbines for NCOs and .30-caliber M1 Garand rifles To operate the squad’s .30 caliber machine gun and bazooka (2.35 inch rocket launcher) To lay, detect, and clear mines To operate bulldozers, dump trucks, chain saws, picks, shovels, jackhammers and other tools Read maps (most of them). Meanwhile, Pergin also ensured that the squad leader and his assistant were able to use radio and field telephone equipment; carried manuals on the three main types of bridges with which they expected to work – Bailey, timber trestle, and pontoon; use proper combat engineer tactics to stop or delay enemy (Pergrin and Hammel, 1989, 19). Each line platoon was equipped with: Bulldozer, weapons carrier, 4-ton man-hauling truck with a .50 caliber machine gun, a number of 2 & ? ton dump trucks for hauling equipment and material, own motor pool staffed by mechanics charged with maintaining all the w heeled and tracked equipment and vehicles, weapons sergeant and supply sergeant as overseers of small section of specialists. Pergin noted that the main purpose was â€Å"to save lives in the battle areas by using the many skills and the fruits of their rigorous training,† (Pergin and Hammel, 1989, 27). The following were exemplified and exercised by the team members: Stress small-unit operations using combat-engineering equipment; Facilitate movement of tanks in support of the attacking infantry; Clear mines rapidly; Police and patrol the area up to the front to provide vital information to the decision-makers up the chain of command. All their tasks were conducted through strategies as follows: 1. led the paratroopers through the