The 'American Splendor' Film By Pucini and Berman as Being Essay

The 'American Splendor' Film By Pucini and Berman as Being Successfully Adapted from Harvey Pekar's Comic Book - Essay Example Harvey points out for instance, relating to photography versus hand-drawn images, that the difference is fundamental between the two. The latter are manual creations, while the latter are machine creations, being photographs. Now Harvey says that in essence machines have limitations in terms of not being able to render what hands can image wise. Machines are constrained to render nature, and not the creations of hands (Harvey, 1996, p. 175). Lefevre on the other hand says the same thing, and adds that the photography in film implies movement, whereas in drawn images the default is that of static frames. This presents fundamental problems in rendering drawn images as photographed moving images (Lefevre, 2007). Hight essentially deflects those objections via a discussion on genres and treatment. classifies 'American Splendor' as a drama-documentary, and the work itself has its focus both the art of Harvey Pekar, as reflected in the comic which has an eponymous title, or has the same name as the author, as well as the comic itself. Drama-documentary implies realism and the use of the personal subjective perspective of the key character and of Pekar himself to render the comic series on film. In essence, with the use of the genre, the film is able to effectively render the static hand-drawn image unto film overcoming the objections of Lefevre and Harvey.... Drama-documentary implies realism and the use of the personal subjective perspective of the key character and of Pekar himself to render the comic series on film. In essence, with the use of the genre, the film is able to effectively render the static hand-drawn image unto film overcoming the objections of Lefevre and Harvey. The answer to the objections raised by Lefevre and Harvey, in other words, is the choice of the drama documentary and all that the genre implies in terms of filming technique and overall approach to film making, and Pekar's own vision of his art work as the rendering of images the same way that photographers take pictures realistically (Hight, 2007; Lefevre, 2007; Harvey, 1996). With regard to page layout for the comic and the image on one screen, Lefevre says that this is a problem because in comic books the reader dictates the pace and the images are at closer proximity to them. In film, the watcher has to move along in the pace dictated by the movie. The watc her is unable to leaf through pages like in comic books, linger on a page. The experience is not the same (Lefevre, 2007). Harvey says the same thing, that one page on a comic does not equate to several sequences in a film, or that there are difficulties in rendering unto the movie image, moving, a single comic page that can capture a series of movements or a meaningful snapshot of events (Harvey, 1996, p. 176). To this objection Hight basically says that the unique rendering of the film essentially means that the film is able to bridge the gap between the page layout of the film and the single image of the screen. To this he presents the case for the way the film makes use of a hybrid

Business Contract Agreement and Possible Negligence Assignment

Business Contract Agreement and Possible Negligence - Assignment Example An offer is a declaration of the expressions on which the offeror wishes to adhere to (Deakin et al, 2003). Expression of offers comes in distinct forms and can be in the form of an advertisement, email, conduct and a letter, only if it communicates the grounds on which the offeror intends to contract. However, an offer should be differentiated from an invitation to treat. Invitation to treat is an â€Å"expression of willingness to negotiate†. This is an invitation for customers to present their offer. However, an offeror making an invitation to treat is not obligated as soon as it is accepted by the offered individual. In this case, the advertisement by Techno products was an invitation to treat and not an offer. This implies that the company invited customers to contract. This implies that the company is not bound to sell the computers to anyone willing to pay for them. This is seen in Partridge v Crittenden (1968), where the court determined that the appellant only intende d to offer to sell the birds and was not an offer (Young, 2010). However, an advertisement can be an offer in certain circumstances. In this case, the advertisement by Techno products to sell the computers at ?1 to the first ten customers on 12th September 2013 was an offer. In this case, the actions of Peter portrayed acceptance of the offer. This case is similar to Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company (1893). In this case, the company offered a reward to anyone who contracted influenza as a result of using the smoke ball for three times. The court determined that any individual who makes an offer for the sale of items through an advertisement impliedly brandishes notification of acceptance if the primary objective is to sell as many items as possible (Young, 2010). In this case, Techno products chief aim for carrying out the advertisement was to increase its sales after it had seen that its profits were on the decline.  

Marketing theories and concepts applied to Waitrose

Marketing theories and concepts applied to Waitrose In this report firstly I aim to examine different theories within marketing, secondly I would be critically analysing the common characteristics of a marketing oriented organisations. Moving on from there I would be explaining various elements of marketing concepts using my research I carried out on Waitrose and would be evaluating and comparing the costs and benefits of marketing approach for todays business. Furthering in this report I would be explaining how tools of macro and micro concepts would help in decision making within marketing using Waitrose as my example. Then I would be looking into the significance of segmentation and factors influencing during the choice of targeting strategy. To summarise this section, I would be looking into how buyers behaviour affects any marketing activities in an organisation in two different situations. Finally, I would be examining how product development helps Waitrose in sustaining a competitive advantage over their competitors and how are their distribution channels they have in place for their customers proving convenient for their customers and how it helps the business in return. Defining marketing There are many definitions of marketing which generally revolve around the primacy of customers as part of an exchange process.   Customers needs are the starting point for all marketing activity.   Marketing managers try to identify these needs and develop products which will satisfy customers needs through an exchange process.   As a business philosophy, marketing puts customers at the centre of all the organisations considerations.   This is reflected in basic values such as the requirement to understand and respond to customer needs and the necessity to search constantly for new market opportunities.   Marketing means more than one thing. Many Marketing experts have many definitions of marketing, but most of them are based around different ideas of marketing. If you look at these two expert definitions of marketing, they are based on the idea of marketing being a range of activities. Kotler defines marketing as a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering, and exchanging products of value with others. his view on marketing looks at marketing being more of an exchange process. [Kotler, 1991] Chartered Institute of Marketing defines it as the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers requirements profitably. However, there exist numerous definitions of marketing; it is always about meeting existing needs and anticipating future needs [Bagozzi, 1975]. In Elements of marketing, Prentice Hall, 1975;Marketing is all those activities involved in getting goods from producers to users, including buying, selling, storing, transporting, advertising, and promoting the goods [Bagozzi, 1975]. Another view explains marketing as being more of a process of goods or services getting it from the supplier to the customer. This definition is based on that idea. Marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers to customers. [C E Merril. 1982] Now after the definition of marketing, it is important to understand the marketing concept. This concept holds to achieve organizational goals depends on the needs and wants of the target market and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors. To illustrate the marketing concept Peter Drucker said: if we want to know what business is we must first start with its purposeThere is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer. What business thinks it produces is not of first importance. What the customer thinks he/she is buying, what he/she considers value is decisive-it determines what a business is, what it produces, and whether it will prosper? [Peter Drucker, 1954] Common characteristics of marketing oriented organisations The major feature of the marketing oriented organization is that they are aimed to stay closer to the customers and ahead of their competitors. The reason is that the basic aim of these organizations is to attract the customers. There are four major characteristics which define the marketing oriented organizations including, Shared Values, Organization, Strategy, Customers. Firstly, all decisions of these companies consider the customers first and they share the common value of superior quality of products. Secondly, their organizational structure has very few layers and their policies are not very difficult. Thirdly, the strategy of a market oriented organization is long term, flexible and participative. Finally, they consider the expectations of the stakeholders before making any important decision. The Marketing Concept and the Mix The marketing concept is a kind of recipe how a company can achieve its goals by understanding the exchange partners and associated costs, being a response to external opportunities and threats and to internal strengths and weaknesses as a means of competitive advantage (Houston, 1986). Bagozzi (1975) underpins this viewpoint, arguing that marketing is much about the exchange paradigm which focuses on the question why parties take part in exchanges and how these work.   The marketing mix is the organizations overall offer or value to the customer.   The Marketing Mix is a term used to describe the combination of tactics used by a business to achieve its objectives by marketing its products or services effectively to a particular target customer group.   Businesses need to make sure they are marketing: The right product, to the right person, at the right price, at the right place and at the right time. The aim of doing this is to gain a competitive advantage and thus to outperform competitors. (De Wit and Meyer, 1998) The concept of marketing mix and 4Ps was introduced in 1965.It has become the basic model of marketing and has been unchallenged since then. It is defined as the set of controllable tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market.   The marketing mix consists of everything the firm can do to influence the demand for its product. It is considered that a common model for achieving this is the 4-P framework as put forward by Kotler and Levy (1969). Lauterborn (1990) proposed that there were twelve dimensions of marketing, however, McCarthy reduced the model so that it became known as the 4Ps: Product, Place, Price and Promotion. Waitroses Marketing Mix There are many factors that encourage Waitrose to vary its product mix, promotional offers pricing from store to store as place (location) is also very important to Waitrose. . Price   Although Waitrose tries to operate a uniform national price list (all products sold at identical prices) it does admit to some price flexing to keep in line with its competitors. A variation of prices between stores can be in response to the size of the store, position of a store, regional incomes, and customer preferences, which can all have major affects. To illustrate the picture, a Waitrose store situated in the centre of London may have higher prices compared to a Waitrose store out of town in Surrey. This can be due to the high operating costs of trading within the city centre. Transport costs can also have an affect on prices especially to stores situated in London, as they will now experience the cost of the congestion charge, resulting in an increase in the cost of delivering stock. Also stores may face higher costs because they are remotely located. Yet stores that have a local monopoly, because no alternative shop is located within reasonable travelling distance, Waitrose may decide to exploit this by setting high prices. On the other hand, fierce competition will see low prices to attract the consumer who would have a choice in this case. Regional incomes and customer preferences can also have an effect on prices as certain areas may have lower incomes so prices of certain products may have to be decreased to meet the wealth of certain areas. All these factors have to be considered when Waitrose prices it products. Overall prices within Waitrose tend not to vary as most stores are situated in the south of England so incomes and operating costs are fairly similar. Product Product mix may differ from area to area because of varying consumer tastes. For example, the Canary Wharf store is tailored to meet the needs of its affluent customer base as they offer designer breads, a sushi bar, a wine bar, a steak and oyster bar, and an exclusive wine cellar offering vintage wines. Product mix may also vary in relation to what Waitroses competitors are doing, as Waitrose may feel they have to supply certain products just to keep up to date and in competition with its competitors. Additionally, Waitroses product mix may vary due to the size of the store and the space allocation of products. Waitrose may choose to supply certain products in certain areas as they are good sellers and so the bigger store the more they may sell. Sales data is a good way of identifying where certain products should be situated between branches and a process of achieving sales data is by the use of electronic data interchange (EDI). Varying the product mix is part of an efficient consumer response system (ECR). By focusing on the efficiency of the supply system and thereby reducing cost enables Waitrose to offer products tailored to a region. A major advantage of own brands is their extremely short maturity process. Since own brands are commonly exact imitates of branded manufacturers products. They benefit from this, by being immediately familiar with the customer. Most popular own brand products are those that show little difference to branded products, so-called inferior goods, where there is little room for differentiation. Retailers have the advantage of tracking market needs fast and react to the change in social life style (take away, healthy eating, alternatives food, exotic, ethnic foods) that encourage expanding in new own brand categories. The retailers have often been quicker than the major branded producers to respond to consumers tastes, as it tends to be easier and quicker to alter lower volume, private label products specifications than higher volume manufacturer branded products. Promotion Promotional offers may be carried out within certain stores to help grow specific lines which do not sell well, in hope of increasing sales, and matching sales targets of other stores, while encouraging shoppers to increase their spend within the store. Another reason for promotional offers to contrast between stores is so that they can compete against their local competitors offers in aim of keeping and gaining (counter competitor activity). A new store may also have promotional offers running at different times to other stores a means of winning customers, and increasing awareness of the new store. Different levels of store traffic can also have an effect on promotional offers, as stores with low traffic may carry out promotional offers in an attempt to increase the number of people visiting the store. An alternative motive for the variation in promotional offers between stores can be to stimulate customers switching to own brand products, as certain stores may have low own brand s ales. Place Waitrose is located mainly in the south east of the UK with stores only as far north as Newark. The typical Waitrose Store is located in town centres next to other major shopping facilities. The average Selling Space of a Waitrose Store is under 1500 sq meter, which is fairly small. However newly opened stores tend to be of at least 2000 sq meters and preferably 2500 sq metres. With the introduction of its food home store format, Waitrose has also started to build in out of town locations, however, this account for only a very small share. Costs and benefits of marketing approach The principal benefit of marketing is that it enables companies to maximise their potential and reach the right customers at the right time. But any organisation should weigh up the costs approaching marketing. Every project is different and could end up with the costs mentioned below, Setting marketing focus structure Initial product development Building excellent services Attracting attentions of customers Building long-time relationships with: +customers +suppliers +distributors customer retention A proper approach to marketing involves understanding the customer and his or her needs: identifying the real needs of the market.  And the below benefits are more likely to happen; Profits Customer loyalty and trust Long term goal Reputation PEST Analysis PEST Analysis is used to finding out if the market is in growth or decline, or has potential and the direction of the business. PEST analysis is manly used for measurement implement. External factors usually are beyond the firms control and many of different times can cause problem and treats for a business, but external environment also creates new opportunities, this is different for each country because they have different rules and guidelines. Pest analysis can be used for market and business development and decision making.  Ã‚   Waitrose PEST Analysis Political: The Government remains firmly committed to the objectives of PPG6, which seeks to sustain and enhance the vitality and viability of our existing city, town, district and local centres and to make them the focus for retail investment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦means that it is very difficult to get planning permission for out-of-town stores. The Competition Commissions report The Supply of Groceries from Multiple Stores in the United Kingdom, published in 2000, stated that the leading supermarkets do not operate as a cartel to keep food prices unduly high. (Key Note, 2001, Supermarket Services) Although some questionable practices were found (selling product at a loss, lower prices in areas of high competition), the Commission did not recommend any corrective actions. EU Competition might not be as generous as the Competition Commission and therefore might order changes. If the introduction of the congestion charge is successful in London, it is likely that this kind of scheme will be extended to other big cities. Economic The takeover of Safeway by Morrison is an indicator that competition is getting more intense with fewer but bigger players. Social Demand for organic and healthy foods has increased and most retailers have responded to that trend. Today customers are less prepared to pay a premium price for organic foods, which is why retail chains have started to offer own brand organic products. Waitrose has long been offering these kinds of products. Busier lifestyles increased the demand for convenient foods/ ready meals. Also notable is an increasing demand for exotic and ethnic foods from consumers. The public has become more environmentally aware and Waitroses strategy fits well into this Almost 70% of women are working and working times are longer than in any other European Country. However, women are still doing the majority of the shopping. More than 75% of shopping trips are made by car. Public transport links are even declining as a percentage. Technological Online shopping is a major new opportunity for retailers and the UK offers a good market for this with the highest percentage of people online across the EU. And already more British food shoppers have converted to online grocery shopping than in any other country (Keynote, 2001, The Internet Grocery Market) Tesco is now the worlds biggest Internet grocer. Information technology and Communication has enabled more sophisticated store management, with detailed statistics of products sold being made available, thus facilitating the ordering of new stocks. More attributes of the store can be steered centrally such that costs are reduced, margins increased and sales enhanced. Stakeholders of Waitrose and their influence in marketing. A stakeholder is a person who interests a business. The stakeholders in Waitrose are: Customers: without customers Waitrose would not survive. Sales provide revenue. Employees: Waitrose has many employees in all aspects of their business.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Owners and shareholders: Waitrose have people that own parts of the company and get a part of profit. If they invested money successfully then they will make money for Waitrose. But if it is not, they will lose money. The local community: their interest in business activities and operations that could result in damage to the local environment such as the building of housing on green-field sites. Pressure groups: their main concern is the products that Waitrose are selling.   Suppliers: Suppliers selling their goods to Waitrose. Financial: Waitrose would not survive without money. Waitrose loan money from e.g. bank. Stakeholders within Waitrose have different interests in the business like, Customers have an interest in the production and services that Waitrose provide. The range of goods or services offered in the Waitrose. Also the price of these and the quality, and the range of additional facilities and services such as free home delivery. The customers also have interest on the attitude of staff and the overall performance of the organisation in this case Waitrose. The Employees have an interest in success of Waitrose as this can affect their wages and long-term employees with the company. Also employees have an interest on the way which they are treated e.g. they want be treated fairly and to do interesting work. They want to be paid a fair rate in relation to other people worked in Waitrose with the same qualifications and experience. They have interest in receiving sick pay and holiday pay. Owners and shareholders have interest in the amount of profit that is made. How much money Waitrose has invested? All shareholders have one vote for each share. Large institutional shareholders like Waitrose may hold several hundred thousand shares and they can use their votes to influence the way company is run. Also they have interest on the health and safety of customers and employees. The local community has an interest in many of the business activities taking place in an area. E.g. residents of a large housing state might welcome a supermarket opening the edge of their estate but be concentrated but the number of Lorries making late deliveries to the store. Also local community may be concentrated about business activities and operations that could result in damage to the local environment.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The government have interest on employment of people, more taxes off Waitrose. They want employ the people that could be the best for customers. Government is also interested in business for political reasons. The government want to retain power aim to be re-elected. If the economy is healthy, then the government receives more money. Pressure groups have interest in what kind of products Waitrose are selling and if they harm the environment or have been animal tested. There are thousands of pressure groups in Britain including: trade unions and the TUC, most charities e.g. Amnesty International, many famous environmental groups such as Greenpeace. The interests of a specific pressure group will depend upon who it represents. For example The TUC and trade unions represent the views of employees and campaign on issues such as health and safety.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Suppliers have interest on in selling their goods to Waitrose for a fair price. To be successful themselves, they need to keep receiving orders from buyers. Some suppliers dislike being dependent on business buyers so they extend their operations to sell direct to the final consumer for example, many breweries own their own pubs and restaurants and petrol companies have their own petrol stations. Equally some business do not like being dependent on suppliers. Financiers have interest in putting money into a business like Waitrose. If a grant has been provided, there will be checks ensure the money is used as agreed. If the financier has provided a loan, the business must honour its repayment commitments. Porters Five Force Analysis for Waitrose This is a means of identifying the forces which affect the level of competition in the retail industry. Threat of New Entrants Economies of scale in terms of square footage of shopping area and breadth of distribution channels are all critical factors in the U.K market. Larger stores can stock and sell many more products faster which is consistent with both their customers and suppliers preferences. Brand loyalty of customers in the sector is relatively high in that existing players have built a certain amount of goodwill with customers through loyalty and own branded credit cards. Scarcity of suitable real estate for shopping centres consequent to the absorption by the existing players as well as government legislation placing strictures on further out of town development. New entrants have limited access to U.K distribution channels as these channels are controlled by existing players. Access is typically being gained through mergers and acquisitions. There are very low switching costs to customers in the market and so market share can typically be gained by leveraging price and product range variables.  Ã‚   Existing players have accrued cost advantages due to experience curve effects of operation with  fully depreciated assets.   Power of the Supplier Supplier power tends to be relatively low for the most part in the U.K market as there are a small number of significant operators in the market. However in certain segments of the market for example washing powder where Procter and Gamble and Unilever enjoy a virtual duopoly. As own brands are emerging as a growing segment of the goods portfolio of large grocery multiples due to the higher margins available, even large suppliers manufacturers such as Unilever, Nestle, PepsiCo have been increasingly producing   for own labels despite potential competition to their own brands. Some however such as Kelloggs, Coca Cola and Gillette do not agree to such arrangements as they consider it prejudicial to their quality reputation. Power of the Buyer Buyer power is particularly strong in the U.K grocery retailing industry where there is an extremely high concentration of buyers. Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda dominate the market. For smaller retailers joining a buying group is an important element of survival and give members enhanced economies of scale in purchasing. These groups however play only a small and declining role in the market since they do not buy on the scale of the large supermarkets and also cannot guarantee sizeable shelf space to major suppliers. Consequently they obtain lower discounts than the major chains. Wholesaling and distribution have been internalised and the retailer controls them directly. The cost of switching suppliers in the U.K market is very low and involves negligible risk.   Threat of substitutes Though Tesco has successfully improved its margins by increasing the ratio of non-food to food in its superstores it has moved into other competitive arenas e.g. its foray into furniture and household appliances has put it on a collision course with household appliance retailers like Currys and Argos. Changes in public consumption; e.g. the loss of confidence in British beef during the B.S.E beef crises of 2001 or fear of the long term implications of consuming genetically modified foods. Competitive rivalry Four major firms dominate the U.K market at present but concentration has increased markedly in the 1993-1996 period with major multiples pursuing active policies of new store development. Over this period Tesco has overtaken Sainsbury to become the market leader while Asda has since being newly acquired by Wal-Mart been threatening to take Sainsburys slot. There is no genuine differentiation between products therefore the principal rivalry tends to revolve around pricing and perceived value for money. Own-Label is increasingly becoming an important differentiator. Information Technology offers modern retailers the potential to speed up stock replenishment while reducing the cost of distributing products as well as strengthening links between the retail chains and their customers. Players which are most innovative in adapting technologies for these purposes tend to have a decisive advantage in the market. Strategies of the larger players are fairly similar in that larger players typically employ growth by international acquisition in emerging markets and by increasing their exposure to the non food segment of the market. Players in the lower echelon such as Sainsburys have since embarked upon a strategy of consolidation around a core business of food while maintaining a presence in the international arena. Other Global competitors such as Carrefour/Promodes just across the channel may gain entry positions to the U.K market by way of acquisition of weaker companies. Segmentation Undifferentiated marketing assumes everyone is the same and aims a particular product at everyone. Advantages: easy to plan, doesnt miss anyone. Disadvantages: can be wasteful, ignores segmentation, can lead to disappointing sales. This applies to market coverage strategy whereby a company ignores differences within a market and attempts to appeal to the whole market with a single basic product line and marketing strategy. Undifferentiated marketing relies on mass distribution and mass advertising, aiming to give the product a superior image in the minds of consumers. It is cost effective because there is only one product line to be produced, inventoried, distributed, and advertised. Also the absence of segmented market research lowers the costs of consumer research and product management. Concentrated Marketing:   This is where an organisation concentrates its marketing effort on one particular segment. The firm will develop a product that caters for the needs of that particular group. For example Rolls Royce cars aim its vehicles at the premium segment, same as Harrods within the UK. Concentrated marketing is when the message is aimed at just one small market. Advantages: Small firms can concentrate their marketing, allows a specific mix to be developed. Disadvantages: Ignores other areas of the market, can cause problems in future as may make it more difficult for company to expand. Some companies, particularly smaller companies, identify a comparatively small segment of the market on which to concentrate their marketing effort. By selecting a niche in the market for themselves, they hope to avoid head on competition with larger and more powerful rivals. A classic example of a successful product in a small market is the hand-made Morgan sports car (UK), the demand for which keeps the companys order books filled. Rolls Royce, though a much larger company, has been equally successful in catering to a small but affluent segment of the international market. Niche marketing, as concentrated segmentation is sometimes called, is currently very popular. It is no guarantee of a safe haven, however, since mass marketers will only ignore niches as long as they see no way to compete in them profitably and as long as they are not threatened by them. Should an opportunity or a threat be detected, however, the market power of the mass marketer would prove very uncomfortable fo r the richer. Proposed Waitroses segmentation Waitroses differentiation strategy and its competitive industry were analysed. The selection of the location can be identified as one of the most influential decisions in the life of a store. Various methods are described in order to help identify the most suitable location. The merits and problems of online shopping are explained and it is regarded as too early to evaluate Waitroses performance in this segment. Market segmentation allows Waitrose to identify different groups of buyers who share similar definable needs and behaviours. (Debbie Anderson) Whilst Behaviouristic responses are fundamental to segmenting Waitroses market as factors such as usage rates, impulse purchases, loyalty, and sensitivity to marketing mix factors allow for conclusions and positioning within consumer markets. Waitrose seems to segment its market based on simple variables such as incomes and Geographics (geodemographics). This has been identified by associating the number of Waitrose stores in the south of England with the average incomes, showing that Waitrose is aiming at the higher income earners at the upper end of the market, and segmenting itself toward the social groups of A, B and C1. There are no Waitrose stores in areas such as Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Bradford, Britains poorest regions indicating that Waitrose would not benefit financially from these areas. The use of Geo demographics is a fast and efficient way of identifying trends within certain geographical areas, allowing Waitrose to divide a market into different groups based on social class and lifestyle characteristics. Segmentation helps the marketers to distinguish one customer group from another within a given market and thereby enables him to decide which segment should form his target market. Targeting strategy Once a firm has successfully identified the segments within a market, the next step is to target these segments with products that closely match the needs of the customers within that segment.   There are a number of targeting strategies, including: Niche/concentration marketing this is concerned with targeting one particular, well-defined group of customers (a niche) within the overall market.   An example is, Jordans, the cereal company, adopted this approach by targeting groups of customers interested in organic products at a time when this group of consumers represented a relatively small proportion of the overall market.   Niche markets can be targeted profitably by small firms who have relatively small overheads and, therefore, do not need to achieve the volume of sales required by larger competitors.   The main disadvantages of niche markets are that the potential for sales growth and economies of scale may be limited, and the survival of the firm may be seriously affected if sales begin to decline. Mass/undifferentiated marketing this is concerned with selling a single product to the whole market.   This strategy is based on the assumption that, in respect to the product in question, customers needs are very similar if not identical.   The main benefit for the firm is that it can produce on a large scale, benefiting from low unit production costs via economies of scale.   These lower costs can be passed on to the consumer in the form of lower prices because, although profit margins on each item sold may be lower, high sales volume should generate large profits over

Restoring the Balance :: Psychology Psychological Freud Essays

"Restoring the Balance" World War I was a war of new technology. There were machine guns, gas bombs, and trenches. Because of this new technology, World War I was also a war filled with atrocities. The men fighting in the war experienced horrors that no human being should have ever experienced. The novel Regeneration by Pat Barker addresses the question of how these soldiers were supposed to recover from these horrors. For Dr. W.H.R. Rivers, there was only one answer -- psychology. On page 29, a patient of Rivers' named Anderson tells Rivers, "That's what you Freudian Johnnies are on about all the time, isn't it? Nudity, snakes, corsets." Freudian therapy is also alluded to on pages 31 and 46, although Freudian methods of analyzing dreams, recognizing symbols, and understanding the unconscious are constants. Rivers helps to bring the traumatized soldiers back to a reality where they can accept life and the duties that they must fulfill through the use of a psychology which draws upon Freud's theories. The a ppearance of Freudian psychology in Regeneration helps to acknowledge the frailty of the human mind, body, and soul. Rivers' use of psychology is a way to restore the delicate balance of life, giving renewal to a life thought hopeless by its possessor. Sigmund Freud's life work as a psychologist and psychoanalyst has been very influential. Sigmund Freud (1856-1931) attended college in Vienna where he started writing his many treatises and theories on the psychoanalytical approach. In 1881, Freud got his doctor's degree in medicine. From 1885-86, Freud spent time studying the effects of hypnosis and studied hysteria. From 1900 to 1916, Freud wrote many of his most famous works, such as The Interpretation of Dreams, and gave many lectures. Of all his works and theories, Freud is most known for his theories on the unconscious and for the importance he puts on sex (Thornton). With the start of World War I, Freud began studying several patients suffering from hysteria and shell-shock. He died of cancer in England in 1931. Freud studied and wrote several theories on neurosis and the use of psycho-analysis as a form of therapy. Freud said that there were several forms in which neurosis appears, including repression, regression, and fixation. Freud felt that in order "to effect a cure, he must facilitate the patient himself to become conscious of unresolved conflicts buried in the deep recesses of the unconscious mind, and to confront and engage with them directly" (Thornton).

A Childs Grave, Hale County Alabama

â€Å"A Childs Grave, Hale County Alabama† â€Å"Child’s Grave, Hale County Alabama† struck me with excellent imagery. The poem has an outstanding portrayal of exactly how difficult times were during the Depression. At first glance this poem could simply be about a man burying his child. But I believe it is much more than that, also a descriptive depiction of average families struggles during this historical rough spot for this country. It is easy for modern American’s to take for granted all of the advantages we have.Taking for granted what our predecessors had to endure for us to have these daily benefits. In this poem a man carries his deceased child to give him a respectful burial. In 1936, just after the depression, times were tough for all American families. The land was described as so hard that even in less difficult years the unforgiving land would snap the head off a shovel. He had to steal a post from his landlord’s farm and carried it al ong with his child three miles from home to burry his son.This particular night he snuck away from his wife in the dead of night. All of this effort and sneaking could possibly suggest the father may have killed his son. Perhaps he knew he would not be able to feed another mouth and wished to take his son out of his misery. The father could have thought this action was justifiable; knowing first hand the hardships this child would have to endure and it was too much to bear for this father to bear.When he gets to the gravesite he digs painstakingly to five feet down into this baron tough ground to let only one foot of the post show above ground. In the poem the post was described as a â€Å"half-cross† this could symbolize his internal struggle between right and wrong, good and evil. In his mind, killing his son out of protection from this cruel world was a necessary evil. The amount of effort that the father put into this burial showed that he cared very much for his son.The father leaves off the engravings on the post to mark the child’s grave. This could possibly be because he was illiterate, which was common for this era. He could have felt the plain post suited his son better, representing his plain family and average struggles. This was a post a personal memorial to his son, he didn’t put it there for public viewing. The father obviously loved his son and felt enormous grief he could not properly raise him. But at the very least, this man would give his son a proper burial.

Does Science Tells Us the truth Essay

In the American heritage Dictionary of the English Language, science has been defined as â€Å"the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of natural phenomenon† (Gottlieb, 1997). But can these explanations be equated to truth? Through out history, science has explained myriad occurrences in the universe. However, until today, many still questions the validity of scientific knowledge in relation to its truthfulness and the veracity of its claimed truthfulness. According to Gottlied (1997), science is â€Å"an intellectual activity†¦designed to discover information†. This information is then organized and used to create a meaningful pattern that can explain natural phenomenon (Gotltieb, 1997). It is also said that the main purpose of science is to collect facts that discern the â€Å"order that exists between and amongst the various facts† (Gottliedb, 1997). The ability of science to discern and collect facts to give meaningful explanation of the causes and effects of natural phenomena becomes a way of discovering the truth. Without science there would be no discipline to work on these explanations and the truth will be left undiscovered and mankind will be left in the dark wondering about things. Does science tells us the truth? Or is it concern with the pursuit of truth? According to Esting (1998), â€Å"scientists must understand that it is moral cowardice to dissociate the practice of science from the pursuit of truth†. This only means that scientist should use science in order to discover the truth and inform the people of what lies behind every scientifically explainable phenomenon. In addition, Esting (1998) also mentioned that the mere fact that science is but a mere creation of men, does not change the purpose of science, which is the pursuit of truth. For example, according to the article, ‘What Is’, versus ‘What Should Be’ (n. d. ), it is mentioned that science is more concerned in explaining the ‘what is’ truth of things, thought it cannot provide the facts of the ‘what should’ truth of things. Moreover, the article also stated that â€Å"science knows the truth of nature, but only on the material side and incorporates technology to explain how to achieve and prove this fact. In order to explain this claim, take the case of pure science principle of the freezing point of water. Science tells us that water freezes when temperature drops to zero degrees Celsius. In this regard, technology then suggests and explains the various ways on how to drop the temperature to zero (‘What Is’ versus ‘What Should be’, n. d. ). Meanwhile, to answer the question, Cross (200) mentioned that the best way to determine whether or not science tell us the truth is to understand how scientists think and how they arrive at their conclusions. According to him, the existence of science is for the discovery and understanding of human nature apart from the fact of existence of men. In order to understand the laws of nature, we gather facts and formulate theories to explain every phenomenon. These theories try to explain why things happen, why things did not happen and why natural results are unavoidable. The results of these queries by the scientists are then published and made known to the public for whom the information of the conclusion is intended for. Once these conclusions are released, they became open to scrutiny and other scientists try to prove wrong these findings by conducting their own experiments and data gathering; or by modifying these conclusions based on their own findings (Cross, 2000). When scientific findings and conclusiosn remain unchallenged, they become the working guidelines for human actions, which then become ‘facts of life’ and the ‘truth’. Because many people trust how science works, science has become their only way to tell the truth and at least explain the truth about things (Cross, 2000). As it is provided by Cross (2000), science â€Å"has been hugely successful in giving us explanations of the world around us†. However the explanation as to whether or not science does tells us the truth, lies on the determination of what the truth is or what the truth is all about. According to Bradley (2004), even Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time, who showed and discovered the ‘truth’ about things, â€Å"showed that everything is relative† (Bradley, 2004) and â€Å"that truth itself is relative† (Bradley, 2004). The relativity of what the truth is also results to the relativity of the findings and conclusions of science in relation to the truth and how people perceive what the truth is. Finally, science is never an infallible aspect of human existence. There are times that science cannot also explain certain phenomenon, not at the present at least. But, this should not be seen as to mean that science does not tell the truth but rather, its own limitations and the vagueness of life itself, hides the truth from even among the greatest scientists of our time. If men would live in doubt of the truth offered by science and scientific knowledge; then â€Å"all science becomes futile; the search for objective knowledge becomes futile; and no scientific knowledge gathered to date can be true†(Gottlieb, 1997).

Do you have what it takes to be an online creative freelancer

Do you have what it takes to be an online creative freelancer Online creative freelancers can vary in the specifications that are  needed for their  client. Whether it is website development, content, or even design; being an online creative freelancer is customizable to the skills you have. Becoming an online freelancer is a great career choice if you are looking for either full-time or part-time  job opportunities. The work hours are very flexible and you are in charge  of how your day goes as well as the workload you can handle. Thinking about becoming an online creative freelancer? This quiz is perfect for helping you decide if it might be a smart career move.Source [ Playbuzz ]

Longevity essays

Longevity essays Almost everyone dreams of living forever. It seems so appealing to be able to live life for a very long time, happily and healthily, and going out and enjoying everything that life has to offer once or twice. A lot of people think that its a gift from God to live a long time. But what happens when you have to watch all of your friends and family and all of those who are dear to you are dying all around you. Then it becomes a curse. Some may argue that everyone close to them can live long with them, but what about their family and friends? Realistically speaking, is everyone on the planet going to be able to get his or her hands on a longevity supplement so that everyone can live forever? Unfortunately, the answer to that is no. Many scientists, researchers, and even authors are trying to learn more about longevity and ways to live longer. Author Ben Bova has a new book, Immortality, which is one of the many recent volumes that explain how science is beginning to discover more about aging and death and how to prolong life. "Biologists are learning what causes aging in the cells of your body," he says. He reminds us that the human body has about 100 trillion cells and when they cease to function and reproduce, we do as well. Biologists have learned that each cell has a biological clock that tells the cell when to stop dividing and reproducing and when to die. In 1961, California's Leonard Hayflick discovered that most cells in our bodies divide and reproduce themselves about 50 times before slowing down and dying. It's called the Hayflick Limit. Hayflick insists that despite science's best efforts, humans will only live to be 120, which is the longest a human being has ever lived. "When you drive your brand new automobile off of the automobile showroom floor, you have a clear understanding of the potential of that automobile to live for a certain number of years before you have to buy a new one. That's longevity determination...

Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre :: Bronte Jane Eyre

The situation when Jane in locked in the Red Room occurs because she has retaliated against John Reed hitting her and the fact that she is being punished for doing so. The mere fact that she is being locked in the Red Room can already accumulate sympathy within the reader because she is seemingly being very unfairly punished whereas her cousin John has attacked her already and managed to escape any punishment whatsoever. However in the events leading up to being locked in the room, the reader could not feel sympathy for Jane Eyre as she did in a way bring the punishment upon herself for attacking Mr. Reed in the first place. If she has not retaliated she would have not been locked in the room. Most readers however probably do feel sympathy for her as she was acting more in self-defence. She was also unfairly spoken too as they were dragging her to the room itself as they say things like ‘she's like a mad cat' and do not seem to be letting her give an explanation at all for her ac tions, and only listening to what John had too say. They make sure that she knows her place by telling her that ‘You are under obligation to Mrs. Reed' and that she is ‘less than a servant'. These are not kind words and the reader will probably feel sympathetic as she is being treated as a worthless object. The room that she is sent too is a dark and unpleasant place with memories of the dead Mr. Reed. For a child of Jane's young age it would seemingly be very distressing for her, and with the added experience of her seemingly seeing a ‘ghost' of some kind, it would be a terrible experience. Even if the reader has not felt sympathy for Jane before this incident they would surely feel so now, as she is in a distressing situation alone. When Jane first screams out for help from someone it does seem as though people are coming too help her as Bessie and Abbot come to open the door and ask her what is wrong and what has made her cry for help.

How does the practice of crisis management differ from that of Risk Essay

How does the practice of crisis management differ from that of Risk managementsupport answer with reference to appropriate exam - Essay Example Woods et al. (2008, p. 124) identified the core elements of risk management in Figure 1 below. Figure 1. Core elements of corporate risk management Source: Woods et al. (2008, p. 124) 2.2 As indicated by Figure 1, the assessment of risks in the area of risk management is done consistent with organisational objectives (Woods et al. 2008, p. 125). The word â€Å"modification† on the left side of the diagram indicates a feedback process in which the lessons learned from risk management experience are used to review and modify management decisions and even organisational objectives â€Å"to ensure an acceptable and appropriate level of risk exposure on the part of the organisation† (Woods et al. 2008, p. 126). 2.3 The label â€Å"formal audit† on the right side of the diagram indicates that â€Å"formal audit† is the key route for identifying and managing risks (Woods et al. 2008, p. 127). ... ned in the event of a crisis; Provide the required focus for effective response; and Conduct exercises to validate and improve crisis response plans as well as improve staff training and awareness. 2.4 In 2009, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) identified some of the developments in country risk management that could be applicable for other forms of risk management (p. 29-38): Adoption of an all-hazards framework that considers all possible sources of risks; Use of new governance models for risk assessment; Involvement of all organisational units for risk management; Systematic approach to mitigation planning in anticipation of the possibility that some or all of the risks would materialize; Protection of critical infrastructure given the risks; Promotion of organisational resilience and continuity should some of the risks materialize; and Ensuring that financing policies factors in the possibility of crises from risks. 2.5 It is easy to see that some o r all of the developments for various countries risk management strategies apply to corporate and other types of risk management as well. This implies, for example, that: We must identify all sources of risk that threatens the survival or competitiveness of our organisation or population on which our organisation has a responsibility (with a priority emphasis on those that constitute as the biggest threat to our existence or competitiveness); We must adopt forms of organisation that factors in the realities of risks, We must involve all our organisational units in risk assessment even if we have a unit focused on risk management; We must have crisis-mitigation plans as part of our risk management system (the crisis mitigation plans are also part of our crisis management system); Based on

Picturesqueness or Expressionism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Picturesqueness or Expressionism - Essay Example The essay "Picturesqueness or Expressionism" analyzes expressionism style and Robert Venturi. Venturi implies that the designs should not be taken literally from the styles of the past. He has been a controversial critic of the works in the past. Actually, his style somehow meant to significantly include the architectural history and collaborate it to come up with a modern piece. His architectures seemed to be different from the normal styles and are hard for the people to understand. Indeed, architecture for him is a simple art and does not always have to look good just like how he promotes the oppositions of the elements hybrid, compromising and distorted. Expressing his art through writings gives many ideas regarding various architectural designs. In addition to, his writings made him say what he perceives about how styles should be in his own taste regardless of the common styles. He describes a lot about complexity and contradiction, as well as picturesqueness. However, these te rms somehow lead to confusion and thus needs further clarification according to what his book says. According to Venturi, â€Å"I like elements which are hybrid rather than 'pure,' compromising rather than 'clean,' distorted rather than 'straightforward,' conventional rather than 'designed’.† It means that his idea of architecture falls under a messy way of expressing the styles and designs. As mentioned, people are having difficulties with his styles and his buildings do not reflect the styles of the past.

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

International Business - Essay Example After achieving huge success level in domestic market leading companies wish to do business practices across the domestic border in order to maximize profit, its market share, core competency and goodwill. These are all tangible and intangible assets of a company. The company chooses internationalization process in order to take the advantages of advanced technology, potential marketplace and favorable economical factors of international market. The internationalization process and the reason of adopting the process can be identified by several business models. Demand and supply led drivers will help to identify the advantages of customer and supplier relationship management for the international market orientation and the difference of these two drivers will help to identify the impacts on business practices for a company. Followed by this the Eclectic theory of internationalization will help to analyze the different categorized advantages that will help international business pract ices. Next the Uppsala model will help to find the business activities of a company in a foreign market. Last but not the least the product life cycle tool will help the company to develop their product internationally considering different aspects of product life cycle. The objective of the study is to find the reason for internationalization of a company and evaluation of several international business tools. Demand and Supply Led Drivers In order to adopting international business process companies need to understand about the demand led drivers and supply led drivers. The basic purpose to reinforce this demand and supply drivers is the gaining knowledge of companies about the demand chain management and supply chain management in international market. The difference of demand led driver and the supply led driver in specific international market is based on importance. The supply led drivers is the degree that focus on consumers and this driver gives importance on efficiency of s ervice. Here the company management consider about cost-led and supreme level of customer service. The risk of this supply-led driver is that the target customers may be aggregated. Therefore the link between customer and supplier relationship management may be hampered. Demand led drivers hold the broader vision of relationship management. This driver integrates both of the customer and supplier relationship management. The need of demand led driver is to allocate required resources for thy international operation (Porter, 2011, p.115). It is kind of a push strategy which influences both the customer and suppliers. Supply led driver is more of a pull business aspect. It may affect the target customers different brand loyalty and orientation. Eclectic Theory Eclectic theory of internationalization is the economics theory based on the theory of transaction costs. The idea behind the application of eclectic theory in internationalization process is to understand the economic approache s in international competitive business market. The fundamental forms of international market such as Licensing, FDI, and Export can be distinguished by this theory (Cantwell and Narula, 2012, p.71). Before entering in international market the three categories of advantages in internationalization process of this theory such as ownership advantages, internationalization advantages and location advantages need to be identified by the company. If the company has ownership advantages such as knowledge about the international target market, employees’ international language skill, appropriate products, information about import permission and huge contacts can help the company to do the Licensing in

End of Life Care Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

End of Life Care - Research Paper Example The same nurses constantly supply allowable medical information to the end of life patients’ families and friends. The nurses’ healthcare training and years of actual medical experience equips the nurses with the capacity to contribute influential recommendations to the decision making process, especially in terms of terminating the end of life patients’ earthly abode. Consequently, the nurses must be allowed to contribute their share to end of life patients’ decision making activities (Els et al., 2008). In the business world, customers pay for the services of the company. The company uses the customers’ payments to pay for the expenses needed to continue the company’s daily business operations. The business operation expenses include the salaries of the line and staff employees, electricity expense, water expense, and telephone expense. The company uses the customers’ payments to purchase the latest business equipments and inventorie s. Without the customers, the company will be forced to close shop. Further, the same business principle applies to the healthcare facilities. Nurses must prioritize the end of life patients’ rights in the exercise of their duties as nurses (Westrick, 2008). Without the patients, the healthcare facilities will not receive cash inflows. ... The healthcare facilities’ expenses also include the usual electricity expense, water expense, and telephone expense. The healthcare facilities use the patients’ payments to acquire the latest healthcare equipments, tools and inventories. Without the cash payments from the healthcare patients, the healthcare facilities, including the hospitals and home for aged facilities, the healthcare facilities will have no other recourse except to file for bankruptcy proceedings. Likewise, Mary Cooke and Ciaran Hurley emphasized that the patients should be given a greater role in deciding whether to continue end of life medical intervention (Cooke, M., Ciaran, H., 2008). Healthcare service is a partnership between the service providers and the service providers’ patients. The financial factors contribute to the partnership between the healthcare parties. One of the factors is finance. The poor patients cannot afford retaining the healthcare services of the healthcare facilit ies. The healthcare facilities cannot continue serving the needs of the patients if they cannot pay for the services of the healthcare facilities. Further, the healthcare workers, including the nursing professionals, must bend to the preferences of the patients (Cooke, M., Ciaran, H., 2008). For example, the patients can choose to be roomed at the ward or cheapest bed area within the healthcare facilities. The patients may not be able to pay for the exclusive or higher costing rooms of the healthcare facilities. Medical professionals and the nurses must bend to the wishes of the patients to prescribe cheaper but similarly effective medicines. The doctors and nurses should implement the patients’ preferences to under cheaper medical procedures, when the patients’ finances prevent the patients

Where is our Language Headed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Where is our Language Headed - Essay Example The most prevalent and most influential ways of modern communication is texting. Baron has highlighted different arguments concerning effect of texting on the article â€Å"Are Digital Media Changing Language?† Crystal on the article â€Å"2B or not 2B.† has also highlighted the same issue. Whether modern texting has an effect on language remains a contentious issue. Therefore, this paper seeks to compare and contrast the ideologies of Baron and Crystal with an aim of supporting that effect of texting on language is insignificant. Whereas we have appreciated the technological evolution in enhancing communication, it is true that the same has come with an appreciable change in attitude towards language. According to Baron, internet and mobile phone communication has its own characteristics, which are likely to be mapped in official language communication. However, he quotes a study by Pew Internet and American Life Project, which claimed, â€Å"middle school and high sc hool students understand what kind of language is appropriate in what context† (Baron, 2009). According to the findings of this study, it is evident that although texting has become the technological form of communication, it has not greatly influenced the official language of communication. Interestingly, Crystal has echoed the same sentiments. He claims â€Å"Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster† (Crystal, 2008). The similarities in their opinion suffices to support that indeed, the modern trend in texting has little if any significance in official language. It is worthwhile noting that texting is not an emerging trend but rather has evolved since time immemorial. Although it can be claimed that texting has gained heightened usage in recent times, historical evolution has not resulted to considerable effect on official language communication. Baron captures the way technology has caused languag e evolution. For instance, there is an observed change from â€Å"news paper† to â€Å"news-paper† to the presently used â€Å"newspaper.† Similarly, Crystal, on the other hand, recounts the same idea of texting language persistence. He claims, â€Å"The most noticeable feature is the use of single letters, numerals, and symbols to represent words or parts of words, as with b "be" and 2 "to.† They are called rebuses, and they go back centuries† (Crystal, 2008). It can be concluded from the two ideologies that texting has little impact on official language. This is because, texting has been present in the society for decades yet the changes have been minimal. Although Baron has highlighted some of the effects of technology language to official communication, it can be argued that such changes are minimal to warrant heightened worry on language influence. Crystal asserts that language abbreviation has been a common and natural phenomenon for ages. Int erestingly, the criticism on language abbreviation dates back to 1711. He asserts, â€Å"Words such as exam, vet, fridge, cox and bus are so familiar that they have effectively become new words† (Crystal, 2008). People like Joseph Addison were some of the early critiques of language abbreviation. However, language evolution took place as a necessity rather than influence. Language is meant for communication, of course in simple means. Although such changes have been easily adopted as official communication language, Baron promotes the same idea of acceptance to abbreviation. According to him, â€Å"A wide swath of educated speakers of English (at least American English) simply don’

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

International Business - Essay Example After achieving huge success level in domestic market leading companies wish to do business practices across the domestic border in order to maximize profit, its market share, core competency and goodwill. These are all tangible and intangible assets of a company. The company chooses internationalization process in order to take the advantages of advanced technology, potential marketplace and favorable economical factors of international market. The internationalization process and the reason of adopting the process can be identified by several business models. Demand and supply led drivers will help to identify the advantages of customer and supplier relationship management for the international market orientation and the difference of these two drivers will help to identify the impacts on business practices for a company. Followed by this the Eclectic theory of internationalization will help to analyze the different categorized advantages that will help international business pract ices. Next the Uppsala model will help to find the business activities of a company in a foreign market. Last but not the least the product life cycle tool will help the company to develop their product internationally considering different aspects of product life cycle. The objective of the study is to find the reason for internationalization of a company and evaluation of several international business tools. Demand and Supply Led Drivers In order to adopting international business process companies need to understand about the demand led drivers and supply led drivers. The basic purpose to reinforce this demand and supply drivers is the gaining knowledge of companies about the demand chain management and supply chain management in international market. The difference of demand led driver and the supply led driver in specific international market is based on importance. The supply led drivers is the degree that focus on consumers and this driver gives importance on efficiency of s ervice. Here the company management consider about cost-led and supreme level of customer service. The risk of this supply-led driver is that the target customers may be aggregated. Therefore the link between customer and supplier relationship management may be hampered. Demand led drivers hold the broader vision of relationship management. This driver integrates both of the customer and supplier relationship management. The need of demand led driver is to allocate required resources for thy international operation (Porter, 2011, p.115). It is kind of a push strategy which influences both the customer and suppliers. Supply led driver is more of a pull business aspect. It may affect the target customers different brand loyalty and orientation. Eclectic Theory Eclectic theory of internationalization is the economics theory based on the theory of transaction costs. The idea behind the application of eclectic theory in internationalization process is to understand the economic approache s in international competitive business market. The fundamental forms of international market such as Licensing, FDI, and Export can be distinguished by this theory (Cantwell and Narula, 2012, p.71). Before entering in international market the three categories of advantages in internationalization process of this theory such as ownership advantages, internationalization advantages and location advantages need to be identified by the company. If the company has ownership advantages such as knowledge about the international target market, employees’ international language skill, appropriate products, information about import permission and huge contacts can help the company to do the Licensing in

Where is our Language Headed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Where is our Language Headed - Essay Example The most prevalent and most influential ways of modern communication is texting. Baron has highlighted different arguments concerning effect of texting on the article â€Å"Are Digital Media Changing Language?† Crystal on the article â€Å"2B or not 2B.† has also highlighted the same issue. Whether modern texting has an effect on language remains a contentious issue. Therefore, this paper seeks to compare and contrast the ideologies of Baron and Crystal with an aim of supporting that effect of texting on language is insignificant. Whereas we have appreciated the technological evolution in enhancing communication, it is true that the same has come with an appreciable change in attitude towards language. According to Baron, internet and mobile phone communication has its own characteristics, which are likely to be mapped in official language communication. However, he quotes a study by Pew Internet and American Life Project, which claimed, â€Å"middle school and high sc hool students understand what kind of language is appropriate in what context† (Baron, 2009). According to the findings of this study, it is evident that although texting has become the technological form of communication, it has not greatly influenced the official language of communication. Interestingly, Crystal has echoed the same sentiments. He claims â€Å"Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster† (Crystal, 2008). The similarities in their opinion suffices to support that indeed, the modern trend in texting has little if any significance in official language. It is worthwhile noting that texting is not an emerging trend but rather has evolved since time immemorial. Although it can be claimed that texting has gained heightened usage in recent times, historical evolution has not resulted to considerable effect on official language communication. Baron captures the way technology has caused languag e evolution. For instance, there is an observed change from â€Å"news paper† to â€Å"news-paper† to the presently used â€Å"newspaper.† Similarly, Crystal, on the other hand, recounts the same idea of texting language persistence. He claims, â€Å"The most noticeable feature is the use of single letters, numerals, and symbols to represent words or parts of words, as with b "be" and 2 "to.† They are called rebuses, and they go back centuries† (Crystal, 2008). It can be concluded from the two ideologies that texting has little impact on official language. This is because, texting has been present in the society for decades yet the changes have been minimal. Although Baron has highlighted some of the effects of technology language to official communication, it can be argued that such changes are minimal to warrant heightened worry on language influence. Crystal asserts that language abbreviation has been a common and natural phenomenon for ages. Int erestingly, the criticism on language abbreviation dates back to 1711. He asserts, â€Å"Words such as exam, vet, fridge, cox and bus are so familiar that they have effectively become new words† (Crystal, 2008). People like Joseph Addison were some of the early critiques of language abbreviation. However, language evolution took place as a necessity rather than influence. Language is meant for communication, of course in simple means. Although such changes have been easily adopted as official communication language, Baron promotes the same idea of acceptance to abbreviation. According to him, â€Å"A wide swath of educated speakers of English (at least American English) simply don’

Assisted Suicide Essay Example for Free

Assisted Suicide Essay Have you ever heard a grown man cry; a cry so loud that you can hear and feel the pain within his voice? No, well it happens daily, here in the United States. There are thousands of people that are going through so much suffering that pain killers are like putting a band aid of a bullet wound. As hours pass the wound is getting bigger and the band aids are helping less and less. Most of these people just want a release, but even professionals cannot grant that request. Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) is a controversial topic which is debated on through out the world. PAS) is a process where a doctor or nurse gives a lethal injection of medicine to a patient in need. But since this procedure is illegal, doctors are not allowed to aid an individual that is seeking a final release. This is the reason why terminally ill patients around the country are constantly tormented with pain and agony past their will. Assisted Suicide should be legalized in the United States because it will lead to less pain and suffering, less financial problems, and more time for the doctors and the patient’s family to get past this tragic event. The history of assisted suicide is neither lengthy nor complex. Aided suicide has origins tracing all the way back to around the fourth century, when scholars estimate the Hippocratic Oath, an ethical vow taken by doctors, was written (Liecht). Part of the Oath states, â€Å"I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan† (Picket). What this statement is saying is that doctors are not legally or morally allowed to assist a terminally ill patient end his or her life. Within the last thirty years, however, instances of physician assisted suicide have been showing up all over the world. In 1997, Oregon created the â€Å"death with Dignity† law that â€Å"allows terminally ill patients to commit suicide with lethal doses of prescribed medication (Picket). â€Å"At least now theres a discussion around end-of-life care and what people want, and making sure they have access to hospice† (Dr. Hedberg). â€Å"People are talking to their physicians about being in pain. That dialogue has been improving in the state. I dont want to say that its because we have the law. However, over the past 10 years, it has opened people up to thinking about end-of-life care and palliative care as an important aspect of medical care† (Dr, Hedberg). So as years pass more and more terminally ill patients ask for the â€Å"end-of-life care† because of the pain and suffering they have to go through daily. Individuals that are at the end of their lives should have a voice to whether or not they should live painfully or die peacefully on their own terms. Everyday in the United States people decide to take their own lives so they do not have to go through sever problems health wise. For example, take the story of Edward Downes and his wife, Joan Downes was a successful maestro. He conducted the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Opera when he was at his prime. In her prime, his wife had been a ballet dancer, as well as a choreographer. Recently, however, he had become nearly blind and his hearing was deteriorating very rapidly. Joan, his wife, had recently been diagnosed with cancer. Instead of living out the rest of their lives in pain and with the burden of the worsening medical conditions, the pair chose to use physician assisted suicide. The couple’s children were supportive and stated, â€Å"After 54 years together, our parents died peacefully and under circumstances of their own choosing† (Sciutto). Nine hundred and ? ty six usable responses relating to physician assisted suicide (PAS) and 957 in relation to family assisted suicide (FAS) were available. 84% of respondents supported legalization of (PAS) and 54% legalization of (FAS). This compares with 75% in favor of legalization of (PAS) in the US in 1994 and 73% in Australia in 1995 (O’Neil, Feenan, Hughes). These statistics are stating that the majority of the population that was given these questions believes that if assisted suicide were performed that they would want a professional performing this task. Conversely, there are many barriers in making decisions about death among family members, including culture, education, knowledge of the health care system, and the delegating of all decisions entirely to the family (Haley). A family member of a patient stated that all she wanted was â€Å"another sane adult’ who could â€Å"talk in terms†¦that removed the taboo from the processes by giving a real clear picture of possible approaches without advocating [PAS]† (Spigel). It is obvious that no relative would want to let a member of the family pass away without doing what ever is possible, so that the patient has every fighting chance to pull through. So the burden ways equally on the family, if not, more, because when it comes to assisted suicide grieving will last longer than pain every time. Once the procedure has taken place, the family members are the ones who have to take care of the patient after they are diseased. Along with pain and suffering, money is another aspect that needs to be taken into onsideration when the discussion of Physician Assisted Suicide comes up, in an unfortunate conversation. Every year more and more people are diagnosed with terminal illnesses, and the financial toll of the medical bills that are increasing rapidly and the burden falls mainly on the loved ones of the patient. These high medical costs must be borne by the patient, the patient’s family, or the society to prolong life. Thus, the decision to not prolong death could be beneficial to all parties involved (Chan and Lien). The longer the families hold off on their decision, the longer the hospital bill will be. Therefore the benefit of euthanasia is to avoid the realization of the negative cash flows (Chan and Lien). The older a person gets the easier it is to get seriously injured, so elderly people are more of a risk, and less of an award when they have to undergo medical procedures that might or might not save their lives. These trends will be cause for concern. Those elderly and infirm, who must rely on family and friends for care, feel particularly guilty about placing an extra financial burden on their loved ones (Odone). The elderly, as a group, have lower income and are more likely to suffer medical conditions that require a large sum of money to cure or manage (Chan and Lien). This fact alone displays the benefits of having Physician Assisted Suicide as an option that is available at all times. So if someone over the age of sixty gets hurt or injured within your family, most of those expenses are coming out of your pocket. Most of this care is still provided by relatives and friends, while state financed care is available only for those with low incomes. As a result, many pensioners are forced into selling their houses if they move into a nursing home, where the average cost is higher than what a majority of the people with medical problems have the ability to make. Some 2. 5 million elderly live below the poverty line (Odone). Denote Vt as the benefit of euthanasia at the time when terminal illness is diagnosed. Vt includes the cost of continued treatments avoided and the pain and suffering associated with the terminal illness that can also be avoided with euthanasia (Chan and Lien). The t in Vt represents time, so as t goes up the value of Vt goes down. The shorter time it takes an individual to react to the unforgiving reality of terminal illnesses, the better off the patient and the patient’s family will be. So if anyone is considering Physician Assisted Suicide, it would be more beneficial to them if they would go through with procedure sooner than later. The disadvantaged are also hit by today’s recession, when euthanasia may be seen as a cost-effective way to treat not only the terminally ill but all those who require extra care and assistance, including the elderly (Odone). Even though euthanasia is cheaper than keeping someone in the hospital, make sure that your situation is necessary for this process. So if euthanasia is available to you, do it for the right reason instead of thinking that is an easy way out. Consider the view point of a person that has a grandmother that was just diagnosed with a terminal illness. At first you will do what ever it takes to get your grandma back to tip top shape. But as time goes on, her situation is progressively getting worst and so are those bills that are stacking up on your kitchen counter. All of a sudden you have dug a hole so big finically that you can barely feed your family let alone yourself. So paving the way for the early and speedy exit of the elderly and the infirm can suddenly seem like a practical and inexpensive solution (Odone). Last but not least, the emotional aspect of assisted suicide is one of the most important contributions in the making of this decision. The emotions of the patient are the reason why the topic of Physician Assisted Suicide even comes up in a conversation. The mental mindset of the nurses and/or doctors is the reason why the procedure actually takes place. But the emotions of the patients’ loved ones will stay with them for as long as they will live. So the mindset of individuals called emotions are the reasons why (PAS) is needed and why it actually takes place. One doctor quoted a patient as saying, â€Å"I am going to come in and I am going to try to convince you. † Another doctor said, â€Å"I learned very quickly that the patient’s agenda is to get the medication. When I tried to talk them out of it, or to really assess their motivations, then they perceived me as obstructionist and became quite resentful of that (Stevens). The minds of the patients are made up. These unfortunate individuals are more concerned about relieving the pain and stress they have been going through, than to worry about the suggestions of others. If the patients don’t care about another person’s opinion on life decisions their life, then why should the government say that nobody can end their life early because of medical reasons? In a structured in-depth telephone interview survey of randomly selected United States oncologists who reported participating in euthanasia or (PAS), Emanuel reported 53% of hysicians received comfort from having helped a patient with euthanasia or (PAS), 24% regretted performing euthanasia or (PAS), and 16% of the physicians reported that the emotional burden of performing euthanasia or (PAS) adversely affected their medical practice (Stevens). An oncologist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. This observation of different doctors’ experience is stating that the majority of the doct ors feel better when they know that they helped a person in need. Dr. Linda Ganzini described the painful experience of two patients whom she [as the evaluating psychiatrist] disqualified for the option of Oregon’s assisted suicide law. She stated: â€Å"These disqualifications resulted in extraordinary pain and anger for both of the patients and their families, which interfered with much-needed opportunities to resolve other emotional issues (Stevens). † Although the mindset of a patient is not as clear as is would be if they were healthy, these individuals are still capably of thinking for themselves. But if the patient is not stable, the physician should consult with the family. But in this case, the doctor bypassed both the patient and the family’s choice when it came down to their daughters’ health. If both families agreed to have this procedure done on their loved one, then there should be not controversy with the decision by the doctor. Pain and anger is directed towards and felt by the evaluating psychiatrist. Such anger was energetically expressed by Kate Cheney, an Oregon PAS patient, whose evaluating psychiatrist told her, â€Å"You can’t make a decision for yourself and your life, because you are not in your right mind. † Kate Cheney’s angry response was â€Å"Get out of my house. I can’t believe you can tell me something like this (Stevens). † A psychiatrist is a doctor trained in the treatment of people with psychiatric disorders. This situation is another instant where the doctor denies a patient of Physician Assisted Suicide because the evaluating psychiatrist claims that the person in need is not mentally capable to determine if the illness is great enough to perform (PAS). The anger from Kate has carried on to her daughter. That shows that the patient, Kate, was mentally capable to express her anger enough that, the same emotion was cared on to another generation.

Barriers To Effective Supply Chain Management

Barriers To Effective Supply Chain Management supply chain management Abstract Purpose -The aim of this paper is to have a qualitative analysis of benefits,barriers and bridges to effective strategic supply chain management. Design/methodology/approach The author use a case study approach .Interview was conducted from Supplier, SC manager and retailer . Findings- Results shows that customer satisfaction is consider as the primary benefits by all chain partners. And primary barrier and bridge is adequate information system and human factors. Research limitations/implications Due to the resource and time constraint the findings of this research are only based on supply chain of a single organization. Practical implications -This paper provide a understanding of how managers ,suppliers and retailers view benefits .barriers and bridges of SCM. Originality/value Keywords Supply chain management, Strategic management, Relationship marketing Paper type Research paper Introduction In todays business world competition is very fierce. Due to the Globalization, advance technology, and Increase customer demand , organizations need to raise there bar of performance continuously. As Thomas Edison said, If there is a better way, find it. So managers must keep his advice in mind. And supply chain management is a better way to compete in market. Supply chain management is the management of activities from availability and procurement of raw material , their processing into finish goods and then distribution of these goods. The purpose of this encompassing process is to enhance the business of the company and satisfy customers. By Sandra Maria Stammberger Christopher argues that the real competition is not company against company, but rather supplies chain against supply chain. For example, Wal-Mart and its suppliers will battle Carrefour and its suppliers in consumer markets around the world. This study has looked at benefits and barriers to supply chain integration. Vital bridges to supply chain success are also explored. SCM can reduce inventory, improve productivity, enhance quality, and reduce both product development and fulfillment cycles. As attractive as the potential benefits of supply chain management appear; the barriers or roadblocks to achieving them appear equally ominous such as internal external turf protection, inadequate information system, poor collaboration among the chain partners etc. And bridges/solutions are the mirror image of the most of the barriers (e.g., poor management leads to barrier; careful management is the bridge). The purpose of the study is to provide an understanding of the benefits, barriers, and bridges to successful SCM. For this purpose data is collected from the supplier ,SC manager and retailer of PEPSI (Gujranwala). We conclude that there are numerous benefits of SCM but to achieve these benefits we have to overcome two main barriers that is technology and human barrier. Focus of managers and scholars must not be on any specific barrier, but rather consider these two in combination for strategic supply chains to be successful . We hope that the research methodology given in this study provide some useful insight to help managers and their companies as they make headway along the arduous journey to supply chain leadership This research article is comprised as follows: literature of SCM in terms of benefits, barriers, and bridges followed by research methodology.And the main part of article includes findings from in-depth interviews , and conclusion with some suggestions for future research. In this way this article provide valuable insight into the state and direction of supply chain practice research. Background: benefits, barriers, and bridges An enormous amount of material has appeared in current years about supply chain management in both academic journals and trade press. Driving forces of supply chain management The driving forces of SCM stem from two sources: external pressures and potential benefits from strategic SC alignment. External pressures include such forces as advances in technology and increased customer demand across national borders (Mehta, 2004); maintaining lower costs while meeting these diverse needs (Cook and Garver, 2002); and intensified competition utilizing relationships among vertically aligned firms (Togar and Ramaswami, 2004). These pressures have begun shifting the focus of individual firms vying for market presence and power to supply chains competing against supply chains (Bhattacharya et al., 1995). Top ten benefits ,barriers and bridges have been identified by Top ten benefits ,barriers and bridges Benefits Barriers Bridges Increased inventory turnover Internal and external turf wars Information transperancy Increased revenues SCM cost reductions Poor SCM planning Collaborative planning Product availability Lack of SCM vision IT architecture /internet Responsiveness Executive commitment Formal performance tracking Economic value added IT deficiencies Adopt strategic SCM vision Capital utilization Organizational structure /culture Attention to human factors Decreased time to market Lack of SC measures Suppply base reduction Reduced logistics costs Lack alliance guidelines Segmented customers: Poor SCM understanding Shared investment/benefits Benefits of strategic supply chain managemen Increased inventory turnover: Inventory turn reflects how frequently a company flushes inventory from its system. In SCM company has relations both with supplier and customer so they receive material on time and deliver goods to customer on time. So inventory turnover increases. . (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Increased revenues SCM cost reductions: Main source of cost saving is inventory management. Through SCM it is possible to reduce your inventory level and leads to cost saving. Other ways of reducing cost: Better trade relations and lower transaction cost Enhance asset utilization via shared resources Better product design that cost less (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Product availability: Involvement of supplier in new product development process can solve many problems like communications and new ideas are generated in collaborative design efforts rather than non-colleborative. In todays marketplace there is a need to have the right product available at the right time and right place at a lower cost than the competition. . (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Responsiveness: Responding to customers in a courteous, personal and understandable way is vary important.Quickly response to customers requests is possible through collaboration with chain partners.Close relationship with partners enables them to foresee their collaborators needs and handle unexpected events.Supply chain responsiveness requires exceptional/outstanding manufacturing and logistical flexibility to meet unique or special requests.And it is possible through integration. . (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Economic value added: There are two view points from which share holder value can be measured. 1) Internal view point (Economic value is used) 2) External view point (Market capitalization is used) EVA is calculated by deducting the cost of capital from its operating profit. Drivers of shareholder value are : Operating cost reduction ,fixed capital and working capital efficiency and revenue growth. There is no doubt that supply chain strategy affects all these drivers directly or indirectly. These are some of the strategies: Lead time of all incoming products is reduced by having partnership with the suppliers . By integrating processes .internal lead time can be reduced. By having a strong relation with distributor information flow from demand size is improved. (Christopher, M., Ryals, L. (1999)). Capital utilization: Capital utilization refers to how a companys assets are best used. Capital utilization is dollars of revenue generated in relation to dollars invested in assets such as account receivables, inventory etc. Examples of supply chain management connection: Demand planning Transportation management Inventory management Accurate forecasting (Timme, S.G. and Williams-Timme, C. (2000) Decreased time to market Successful companies create supply chains that respond to the sudden changes in market. Effective supply chain enables a firm to respond to the short term changes in demand and supply in the market because of collaborative relationship with suppliers and distributors. (lee(2004) Reduced logistics costs: In an integrated supply chain ,efficiency and effectiveness of operations can be improved by managing the movement of material throughout the firm in an organic and systematic way. This allow the firm reducing their purchase cost ,transportation cost and inventory and warehousing cost.( La Londe, B.J. and Masters, J.M. (1994), Emerging logistics strategies: blueprints for the next century, International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management, Vol. 24 No. 7, pp. 35-47. La Londe, and Masters,). Barriers to effective supply chain management Internal and external turf wars: Conflicts within the departments and within organizations are fundamental barrier to SC collaboration. In most of the companies all departments such as marketing, finance , operation work independently. But when managers make decisions they only consider their own department and ignore the impact of their decision on other departments and on whole organization. And same is the case with supply chain partners each partner work only for its own interest. So A tug of war begins as each department and partner pull the organization in their favor. (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001) Poor SCM planning: Supply chain management is a way to combine process and entrepreneurship. The concept of SCM begins with customer and integrates all activities from raw material procurement to finished product distribution. In many organizations SCM fails due to insufficient forecasting and poor planning process. For correct forecasting, planning process must involve appropriate players and relevant information. Andraski, J.C. (1998). Lack of SCM vision: One of the major barriers to SCM collaboration is that chain partners dont have clear and common vision of SCM. They hold different beliefs and values and supplier and customer dont share common goal. (Akkermans, H., Bogerd, P. and Vos, B. (1999), Lack of SCM vision: Lack of trust is one reason that channel partners are not willing to share information openly .because they have fear that if they share their weaknesses with their chain partners then they might use their weaknesses against them in near future. So Trust is pre-requisite in effective supply chain management. (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001), Executive commitment: Top management should here be understood as the group of people that together constitute the highest management executive authority in a company. Top management is in a position to play an important role in successful SCM collaboration. A prerequisite for performing SCM is top management support. Almost all of the barriers such as incompatible technology ,conflict among supply chain members ,lack of employee willingness to share information can only be overcome with top management support. According to (Moberg et al., 2003) training and education are Important factors for top management to encourage and intensify. (Sandberg, Erik1; Abrahamsson, Mats(2010)) IT deficiencies: As because of globalization suppliers and customers are located all over the world so integration has become a major challenge .Lack of integrated information system is a major barrier as sharing of information is not possible without integrated information system. IT is like a nerve system of SCM. ( E.W.T. Ngai a,*, A. Gunasekaran b ,(2004) Organizational structure /culture: Organization culture and structure are also very crucial barrier to SC collaboration. If an organization is working independently for a long time then its very difficult for it work in collaboration with other chain partners. Lack of SC measures: In order to have a strong collaboration among the supply chain partners it is crucial to measure the supply chain performance.(Brewer and speh ,2001;) Measuring supply chain performance Lack alliance guidelines: Each channel partner in the supply chain has a separate plan for activities such as production plan and schedules. If an organization only have understanding of their on process and they dont have understanding of their customers and suppliers processes then there is a gap exist and organization cant improve their processes as external processes have an influence on internal processes. Lack of same performance measures across different departments and across the channel partners leads to conflicting behaviors both internally and externally. ( Barratt, M. (2004a) Poor SCM understanding: Employee dont have understanding of how SCM is beneficial for the organization and how it will benefit their job .This poor understanding is one reason they are not willing to contribute in SCM implementation. Bridges to effective supply chain management Information transperancy: ( yu zhenxin (2001) Each member of the supply chain should have complete information about the other members. If members are willing to share information then this leads to the improve performance of the whole system . Collaborative planning: Planning should be made with the involvement of all parties involve in the supply chain. Such as demand forecasting, production schedules etc may not be effective without the involvement of all partners. IT architecture /internet: With the passage of time SCM is becoming more and more complex and require online communication system .In order to enhance the buyer- supplier relationship different information technologies such as Electronic Data Interchange ,Internet And World Wide Web Are Used. Formal performance tracking: In order to have a strong collaboration among the supply chain partners it is crucial to measure the supply chain performance. (Brewer and speh ,2001;). Measurement of supply chain performance can help in Reducing cost ,Identify and target those segments of market which are more profitable((Lambert and Pohlen, 2001),better and improves decisions and test and employ new strategies Adopt strategic SCM vision: Chain partners should have clear and common vision of SCM. They should hold same beliefs and values and supplier and customer share common goal. (Akkermans, H., Bogerd, P. and Vos, B. (1999), Attention to human factors: A fundamental factor for the successful SCM collaboration is the human factor . People resist changes and they dont want to share information with others .So attention must be paid to human factors first as their willingness to implement effective SCM is the key to success. . (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Suppply base reduction: Supply base reduction is use by the firms to enhance quality , increase responsiveness , and reduce cost . Coke has adopted N+1 rule of thumb for determining maximum number of supplies. It means they have just 1 more supplier then required. (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Segmented customers: Organization should collaborate only with those suppliers and customers who are strategically important for the business. This segmentation play a very important role in successful collaboration.(Tang and Gattorna, 2003). Segmentation of customers is done on the basis of their buying behavior and services needed. Different supply chains are made for different segments. A different strategy and supportive culture and leadership style is required for different supply chains. To serve the segmented supply chain a further step is to segment the suppliers according to their abilities. Shared investment/benefits: For SCM to be more effective and successful there is a need to share benefits resulting from integrated SCM. Benefit sharing is as much important as information sharing . even though reliable and trust worthy information is available ,there should be a need to fairly allocate benefits among members otherwise it weakens their relationship. (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Methodology SCM removes the boundaries of the organization therefore it is known as boundary spanning activity (Bowersos et al,1999) . To Have a macro picture ,information is collected through channel analysis. In this way more generalized view about the benefits ,barriers and bridges can be obtained. Case studies The case study method is used for answering questions regarding what, why, and how related to SCM implementation. This method put emphasis on in detail qualitative analysis. In order to have a cross-channel analysis interview is conducted from supplier ,SC manager and retailer. A structured ,face-to-face interview was conducted and Confidentiality was ensured .Structured interviews are those conducted when it is known at the outset what information is needed. The interview has a list of predetermined questions to be asked. The interview guide was divides into general questions and questions about the benefits ,barriers and bridges faced by the organization. Average interview duration was 1 and half hour. And face-to-face interview helps in repeating and rephrasing questions if not understood by respondents, and clarify doubts. Interview consist of Open-ended questions. Results and discussion Top five benefits ,barriers and bridges Benefits Barriers Bridges Customer satisfaction Inadequate information system Adequate information system On time delivery Lack share risk and reward Sharing of risk and reward Response to customer request Lack willingness to share information Willingness to share information Order fulfillment lead time Lack employee empowerment Senior management interaction Cost reduction Measuring customer demand Supply chain training Benefits Customer satisfaction: Company customers are satisfied because company is in a position to fulfill their needs, deliver goods on time and at low cost through integrated SC. On-time delivery: The development of closer, cooperative relationships with chain partners together with the establishment of integrated systems and processes make it possible to consistently deliver goods and services to customer at the right time and at the right place. Respond to customer requests: Business analysts have been saying for years-that customers matter most. So response to customers need as quickly as possible is very important for the success of business. One way of doing this in todays competitive market is to develop strong relationship with suppliers, retailers and distributers. This collaborative supply chain enables all parties to respond to their customer speedily. Order fulfillment lead times: Supply chain integration also reduces order fulfillment lead times by having exact quantities on-hand when needed . Cost reduaction: One way of cost reduction is to reduce cost of inventory. Another is sharing of resources with your chain partners and also by reducing product development cost through integrated process. Some other benefits includes: Handle unexpected challenges More open and trusting relationships enable more accurate information to be shared on more timely basis. This helps in making Supply chain partners better able to foresee their collaborators needs and handle unexpected events (e.g unique or special requests ) Productivity One of the most important benefit due to which organizations are adopting SCM is to increase revenues and decrease costs. Productivity is the ratio of Outputs/inputs. if planned and managed correctly, changes in supply chain relationships can help in producing same outputs with low cost of inputs and ultimately revenue increase . This doubleimpact of supply chain management is motivating factor for organizations to build strong relationship with chain partners in order to constantly reduce the costs of purchased items and to work with them to improve their processes in ways that increase productivity. Product innovation lead times, Collaborative product development help to minimize product innovation lead time. Involvement of all the partners results in higher quality,lower cost and less time to market. To gain these benefits there should be a need to build strong relationship base on trust and communication is necessary to share technology, co-locate personnel, and accept supplier-generated design improvements. Overall product quality Through supply chain integration it is possible to shift the responsibity of quality to the supplier. Better quality is assured by supplier certification programs . Barriers Inadequate information system: Inadequate information system is that lack in quantity and quality of information if not enough information is shared or the information shared is of little value strategic SCM may fail. Lack of willingness to share risk and rewards: As employee dont have clear understanding of what SCM is and how will benefit their job so they are not willing to share their risk and reward. Lack willingness to share information: Lack of trust is one reason that people are not willing to share information openly .because they have fear that if they share their weaknesses with their chain partners then they might use their weaknesses against them in near future. So Trust is pre-requisite in effective supply chain management. Lack employee empowerment: Lack of employee empowerment is a barrier to SCM to be successful. As employee empowerment is one way to motivate employees to participate in making SC collaboration successful. Employee empowerment is a form of decentralization it means giving employees the power to make decisions regarding their job and tasks. One of these decisions includes making purchasing decisions .i.e. when and how much is to be purchased..This will leads to successful implementation of Just-in Time manufacturing concept. Measuring customer demand: Accurately forecast customer demand is very important for successful SCM integration . In case manufacturers and distributers fails to accurately forecast customer demands then there are chances of stock outs and organizations face difficulties in maintain adequate inventory level. Some other barriers includes: Organizational boundaries There are two kind of boundaries in any organizarion intra and inter-organizational boundaries. These boundries should be removed for successful supply chain integration. For successful supply chain integration intra and inter -organizational boundaries should be removed. inter -organizational boundaries overcoming the company boundaries and working closely with suppliers and customers. (i.e., functional, business process, information/materials flows, and information/communication technology integration) intra -organizational boundaries Integration between different discipline and functions, such as manufacturing, distribution, marketing, accounting, information, and engineering. Measuring SC contribution, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Measuring Supply chain contribution is very important . these four measures can be used to measure supply chain contribution. Delivery: percentage of entire order deliver to the customer when he or she wanted it. Quality: for this purpose Customer satisfaction and customer loyaty is checked. Customer satisfaction includes giving customer what they expects. Customer loyaty is the percentage of customers who still purchase their products after purchasing once. Time: order fulfilment lead time is effected by inventory level. For total order-fulfilment lead time, first The time spent in inventory should be computed for each part of the supply chain (supplier, manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer) and then added. Cost: measure cost along the supply chain is to measure efficiency in value added or productivity. One measure of efficiency is as follows: Efficiency = sales cost of materials / labor + overhead Lack resources for SCM Resource constraints represent Serious hurdle in supply chain integration efforts Although companies are trying to best utilize the people resources that they have, but due to their nature of always trying to do more with less, create problem of lack of resources. e.g The managers who are Conside to be best for handling supply chain initiatives because of their experience, work ethic, creativity, technical knowledge, and personal credibility are always in high demand. interviewed managers identified other critical resources constraints including capital and technology Bridges Adequate information system: EDI LINKAGES: ERP system is a single unified system in which several computer hardware and software components are used . This unified system helps in cross functional integration (e.g between all departments , accounting departments, as well as marketing, strategic management, and human resources, in addition to warehousing, Information Technology, logistics, and production. ). Organizations adopt ERP system in order to integrate data and process into a single unified unit rather than trying to synchronize data and process across different systems Sharing of risk and reward: Interview manager also highlighted the point that in order to build closer relationship they share both Risk and reward with their chain partners. Frequent communication: Open and clear broad line of communication should be develop (Mohr and spekman (1994)) Senior management interaction: Top management is responsible for integrated supply chain management. Only senior manager can remove the walls between the organization and between the organizations. Supply chain training: As supply chain is becoming more popular and technology focused ,the individuals directly involve with it are required to give additional training. Some ways of giving training to individuals are On the job training Take classes out of work Online training Some other bridges includes: Suppply base reduction, Vendor managed inventory (vmi), Use of total cost analysis, Common goals and shared mission statement, Use of cross-functional teams and cross-functional processes Suppply base reduction: Supply base reduction is use by the firms to enhance quality , increase responsiveness , and reduce cost . Coke has adopted N+1 rule of thum for determining maximum number of supplies.It means they have just 1 more supplier then required. VENDOR MANAGED INVENTORY (VMI). Supplier is responsible for managing inventory at customer s location .Customer is not required to reorder .Its the duty of supplier to maintain the stock of customer at optimum level. Use of total cost analysis As we all know that Competition in todays markets is much more then before.so in order to compete in market , organizations need to offer products at low price and high quality. Through SC collaboration it is possible to reduce Total production cost . by having long term relationship with supplier, supplier reduce the cost of their supplies.in this way total production cost is reduced. Common goals and shared mission statement For SCM cooperative efforts to be successful, increase understanding and respect for partners businesses is very important. This process involves common golas and shared mission statement.When they all have a common goal , combine efforts are made to achieve that goal .And decisions are made for the success of each party. Use of cross-functional teams and Cross-functional processes Effective supply chain requires coordination across businesses and within the business. Coordination within the business is possible through Cross-functional teams and process. . For example, a cross-functional team is often used to plan and control the master schedule for manufacturing. The team consists of representatives from marketing/ sales, production, human resources, and accounting/ finance. The team develops a forecast of future expected orders, plans the capacity of manufacturing, and schedules customer orders. Everyone then agrees to work toward executing this plan. Without a cross-functional team of this type, marketing makes a forecast, production uses a different forecast to plan production, and the capital is not made available to provide the capacity needed. Clear Alliance management guidelines. alliance management techniques, none of the interviewed firms have every one in place. Clear roles and responsibilities are defined and communicated. Risks and rewards are shared on a mutually acceptable basis Technology linkages can be used to routinize information exchange. Overall product quality Through supply chain integration it is possible to shift the responsibity of quality to the supplier. Better quality is assured by supplier certification programs . Conclusion and Limitations This article attempts to identify potential benefits ,barriers and bridges of successful implementation of SC integration . Results shows that all chain partners are enjoying many benefits from SC collaboration. Primary benefit mentioned by all chain partners is Customer satisfaction. In supply chain ,Supplier want to satisfy their customer (i.e. manufacturer) and manufacturer want end user to be satisfied. So for this purpose they must be aware of what customer expects from the product or service and then make efforts to meet their expectations . SC manager ,supplier and retailer do not share the same values and beliefs regarding the primary barrier and bridges of supply chain management. SC manager identify human factors as the primary barrier to SC collaborati