Vitamin Water free essay sample

In the early 1990’s, when Manhattan was hit by water contamination, Bikoff set out to buy bottled water and found that except for the brand name, there was very little difference between the different brands of bottled water sold. Bikoff was looking for additional nutritional value rather than plain water. Finding none, he started conducting an in-depth study about different companies making bottled water. He found that he could use vapor distillation to create an alternative to bottled water. Bottled water was generally procured from springs and contained some dissolved minerals, which could be removed using vapor distillation. Bikoff then came up with the idea of starting a company that could offer a healthy alternative to soft drinks and plain water. He decided to name the company Glaceau; a combination of the words glace (ice) and eau (water) which signifies clean water. Bikoff started the venture in the year 1996, from his father’s office in Queens, New York. We will write a custom essay sample on Vitamin Water or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He worked with RD professionals to develop the company’s first product Glaceau Smartwater, which was sourced from glacial aquifers in Connecticut, vapor distilled, and supplemented with electrolytes. With his previous expertise on packaging, he asked his team to design a 20 ounce bottle instead of the conventional 16 ounce bottle. Another unique aspect of the bottle was its sport cap. With the popularity if the packaging, several beverage manufacturers started using caps on the bottles. Bikoff then got the bottle redesigned and the bottle was made available in half liter, one liter, and one and a half liter sizes. The next product was Fruitwater, introduced in 1999. This was Smartwater with the added flavor of fruits and it was sugar free. Fruitwater was the first non0carbonated water with a fruit flavor. The water was subjected to pasteurization due to which it had a long life though no preservatives were added. Fruitwater was available in several flavors including watermelon, mint, pineapple, and guava. It was in the year 2000 that Bikoff realized the potential of water enhanced with vitamins. What sparked the realization was a tiring yoga session after which he had a drink of water along with a Vitamin C wafer. The water-Vitamin combination proved extremely refreshing and planted the idea of water enhanced with Vitamins in his mind. To devise the formula for water with vitamins, he started working on the product along with a team comprising a dietician, a microbiologist, and a food scientist. Bikoff felt that the name should reflect the fact that the product was not merely water but water with additional vitamins and nutrients. It was not long before he realized that he was creating a new category of product known as enhanced water. It’s is defined as a category based on delivering value-added nutritional benefits in a hydrating beverage, so that people can drink more water with more usage occasions. Once the products were ready, the challenge was to get shelf space from vendors. These were problems in distributing this product through major retailers, as they were not willing to give expensive shelf space for new products. There were several small retailers who were ready to try out new products. These retailers were highly impressed by the fact that Bikoff was delivering and promoting the products himself and it was they who gave him a chance. By initially targeting smaller stores, the company built up demand. The product’s unusual appearance and unconventional packaging attracted the customers. Initially companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola dismissed the Glaceau product as a passing fad, but with the product gaining popularity and outselling their products like Dasani and Aquafina they were forced to take notice. In 2002, Coca-Cola introduced fortified water, Dasani Nutriwater, and Pepsi came up with Aquafina Essentials. However, neither of the two did well in the market and both products were later discontinued. By 2005, Glaceau’s products were being sold in all the 50 states in the US. The sales had grown 80 percent from January 2004 to January 2005. As of 2005, the company was selling around two million bottles per day, with VitaminWater accounting for 75 percent of total sales. Furthermore, in 2006 PepsiCo Inc. announced that it had agreed to change the packaging label, and cap of its SoBe Life Water, after the settlement with Energy Brands Inc, maker of Glaceau’s range of enhanced water products. In April 2006, Energy Brands Inc. ad filed a lawsuit against Pepsi, alleging that SoBe Life Water’s packaging label, and cap were similar to those if Glaceau’s VitaminWater and that Pepsi intended to confuse the consumers with its new packaging. Pepsi had resorted to trade dress infringement and dilution and its label and bottle resembled that of VitaminWater. It was also alleged that Pepsi had launched SoBe Life Water after it failed to acquire Energy Brand in early 2006. The lawsuit and its subsequent settlement indicated the growing insecurity of the soft drinks majors, which were facing threat from companies promoting healthy alternatives to soft drinks. Energy Brands, the parent company of Glaceau, was one such company, which advocated healthy living through low-calorie, low-sugar drinks, and non-carbonated water with additional nutritional supplements. Glaceau’s line of enhanced water products comprised VitaminWater, Smartwater, and Fruitwater. Energy Brands was credited with created a new category of drinks popularly known as â€Å"enhanced water products. † Inventory Research Identify all brand elements for product and services The main brand elements are brand names, URLs, logos, symbols, characters, spokespeople, slogans, jingles, packages, and signage. Affiliated brand names: Glaceau =gt; Coca-Cola =gt; VitaminWater URLs: http://www. vitaminwater. com/, http://www. coca-cola. com/, www. drinkbetterwater. com Logos: VitaminWater is considered to have a strong word mark; no accompanying logo aside from the name. The word â€Å"Vitamin† is in bold letters whereas the word â€Å"water† is in normal font. Spokespeople: 50 cent, Kelly Clarkson, Shaquille O’Neal, Tracy McGrady, Brian Urlacher, David Ortiz, Kasey Kahne, Donovan McNabb, Ladainian Tomlinson, David Wright, Gilbert Arenas, and Allen Iverson. Slogan: â€Å"it works† is the slogan shown on the label of the product. Each spokesperson has their personalized slogan that essentially sets them apart from one another. For example: Shaquille O’Neal has a slogan which is â€Å"diesel power† whereas Allen Iverson’s is â€Å"the answer’s answer. † Packages: The packaging contains bright colors to enhance the Vitamin Water logo. The colors used on the bottles compliment the various colors of the liquids themselves. Flavors: Vitamin Water comes in fifteen different flavors and varieties. Each product contains a different combination of vitamins and minerals, which the company claims are beneficial for things like energy, balance, endurance, and focus. Flavors include Dragon fruit, Tropical Citrus, Fruit Punch, Lemonade, Kiwi-Strawberry, Orange-Orange, Grape, Raspberry-Apple, Green Tea, Peach-Mango, Lemon Tea, Cran-Grapefruit, Jackfruit-Guava, Lemon-Lime, Acai-Blueberry-Pomegranate. VitaminWater Mind Map Trendy The brand, Vitamin water is perceived as a trendy drink. The product it known for its wide mouth, bright color-coded labeling and vibrant designs. The Vitamin water site also takes the branding to the next level by bundling each flavor with its own expressive animated image. Healthy According to the nutrition facts on the bottle, the product contains 98% water and 2% sugar. The extremely small amount of sugars is added through the natural fruit juices that are included in the ingredients to increase flavor. The product also markets the high amounts of electrolytes used to purify its water. Entertainment The company Coca-Cola was able to continue marketing the product through the use of celebrity tie-ins that allowed the customers to personalize each flavor by associating a celebrity with a flavor. The technique exemplified brilliant brand marketing. High Quality In the market, this product is considered to be a luxury item. Energy Brands is the parent company of Glaceau water products, which sells water under the labels VitaminWater and SmartWater. The use of bright vibrant colors is one of the marketing tools used by the brand in order to reflect the refreshing quality of the product. 50 cent rapper The grape flavor Formula 50 vitamin water is 50 cent’s custom-made flavor with 50% of his daily choice of vitamins; therefore is specialized for those 50 cent fans. The grape-flavored drinks label reads, inspired by todays most talked about artist, hottest record producer, and soon-to-be movie star, this not-so-hypnotic tonic contains 50 percent of many of the important vitamins that you need every day. Variety 50 cent is currently promoting the upcoming increase in the variety of flavors from 15 to 50. The product line already includes flavors such as Power C, Energy- Tropical, Revive, Multi V, Focus, Essential, Formula 50, Defense, Rescue, Endurance, Vital-T, Balance, B-Relaxed, and Charge. Innovative The vitamin water bottles are especially designed in mind to fit-in-your-hand with ease. Each flavor offers a different taste experience for the new generation of bottled water lovers. Coca-Cola is known for its innovative platforms and by adding this new product to its line enables the company to capitalize on recent health and wellness trends. Coca-Cola With Coca-Cola’s recent purchase of Glaceau, the company obtains additional credibility, potential customers, and an enlarged distribution channel through its new affiliation with the Coca-Cola brand. Through the use of these elements where is the brand positioned? Through the use of these elements the brand is positioned as trendy, innovative and entertaining mainly due to its unique graphics and imagery. Furthermore, when visiting the VitaminWater site it supports the company’s brand positioning; revealing a rather smart site, which opens on colorful splash pages. The site is based on Flash technology; it enhances the brand with a multicolored organ producing different tunes when the mouse passes over VitaminWater bottles. The sites branding is perfectly aligned with Glaceaus brand positioning. It has the same look, same attitude, and same voice. Similar to label packaging, the text is full of confidence. VitaminWater states that â€Å"one sip, swing or gulp may result in boycott of other beverages. † Color use is bright and vibrant, reflecting the refreshing quality of the product. The label maker is a cool feature, which again nicely reinforces the brand and allows VitaminWater to both collect information about its visitors and plumb for free ideas. Visitors can take a shot at making their own label of a vitamin drink complete with attitude, colors and minerals. To view your label, you have to supply an email address, giving the brand managers access to a mailing list of interested consumers. Glaceau provides an excellent example of website development aligned with its brand positioning. Rather than being a display of technological know-how, the Flash technology is deployed here to enhance the website and further promote the brand as trendy, innovative and entertaining. Exploratory Hierarchy of the Brand Survey Results (See Appendix) We developed a ten question survey in which we disseminated through email to our peers to assess the strength of Vitamin Water as a brand. We paid particular attention to the consumers’ knowledge of specific brand attributes such as the spokesman and number of flavors. The survey was limited to 10 questions to ensure participation and valid responses. There were 40 respondents to our survey, and there were only 3 questions in which all 40 participants did not answer. Even so, for those 3 questions we still had 39 people respond. This means there was a response to 99% of the questions asked. We purposely did not ask demographic information since we only gave the survey to our peers. Although this may appear to have skewed our results, we felt that since our peers are in the target population for Vitamin Water’s core marketing efforts, our conclusions are valid. Additionally, we did not generalize any of our conclusions for the total population. Question Analysis 1. 60% of respondents are very familiar with Vitamin Water. Only Gatorade had a higher number of respondents who said they were very familiar with the drink at 85%. Aquafina also had 60%, or 24 respondents say that they very familiar with the drink. However, Aquafina had a higher rating average than Vitamin Water meaning that overall more people are familiar with the brand. Still, Vitamin Water is doing fairly well in the category considering that no one said they had never heard the drink before. 2. When asked to rate Vitamin Water based on knowledge and what they’ve heard about the brand, most respondents gave the drink an excellent rating. In other words they rated the brand a 4 out of 5, second only to Gatorade. Again, no respondents gave the brand a poor rating, and only 2 didn’t know enough about the brand to give it a rating at all. . Many of the respondents thought that Vitamin Water was the newest drink in the category, which was wrong. Sobe Life Water is the newest drink, but this lets us know that Vitamin Water is doing a good job of keeping its brand in the mind of consumers rather than letting a new drink capture some of its market share. 4. While most people did choose â€Å"enhanced water â€Å"whe n asked what category to place Vitamin Water, we feel that enough people answered other choices to conclude that generally there isn’t a strong association between the two. Considering the other answer choices on this question, many respondents may have chosen enhanced water through the process of elimination. As the brand inventory showed, people associate the drink with multiple categories because of the many different types of branding. 5. No one was able to recall that Brian Urlacher is a spokes person for the brand. This may mean that Vitamin Water is paying him for no reason, or it could mean that he is just not the person to reach the target population for survey respondents. On the other hand, Kelly Clarkson wouldn’t be considered the best fit for a spokesman to reach our target population either, but a number of respondents recognized her as a celebrity endorser of the brand. Clearly 50 cent is the most recognizable spokesman for the brand. There is an overload of celebrities in the industry endorsing so many different products that people get lost. If people are associating the wrong person with your brand it might affect your image. This is where Vitamin Water runs into a problem. Having too many spokes people for your brand confuses consumers and they don’t get a true image association. . Most respondents knew that Coca Cola was the parent company of Vitamin Water. This is most likely due to the highly publicized sale. This publicity was very good because it increased awareness of the brand. Since Coke is such a strong brand, it is very beneficial for Vitamin Water to associate its self with the brand and company. 7. Most respondents co rrectly identified Vitamin Water’s distinctive characteristic: each flavor has a different set of vitamins. However, just as in question 4, we feel that many respondents may have chosen the correct answer through the process of elimination. A quarter of the respondents identified incorrect characteristics with the brand. We believe that this is a sign that the company isn’t effectively distinguishing themselves from their competitors when it comes to brand attributes. 8. 67. 5% of respondents have tasted Vitamin Water before. 25 of the 40 respondents gave comments about what they thought about the drink. Most of the comments were favorable, and there was only one very negative comment about the taste. Many consumers said that they thought the drink was â€Å"Ok. † 9. People don’t know that there are 15 flavors of Vitamin Water offered. Only 3 respondents (7. 7%) knew that there are 15 flavors. Although we did not get to ask the question, chances are that most respondents haven’t visited the brand website because all 15 flavors are vividly displayed. The problem is that no one sells all 15 flavors (as discussed in the brand inventory). This is a differentiating characteristic of the brand and consumers don’t know about it. If variety is what sets you apart and people don’t have access to it, it doesn’t help the brand. 10. The last question tells us that most of the respondents have purchased Vitamin Water before, which is very good. We would have liked to get into brand loyalty and find out who purchased Vitamin Water a second or third time. There were some people who have tasted the brand but haven’t purchased it yet. This could be due to price or just due to the fact that they didn’t like the taste. Gap Analysis While the brand seems to be doing pretty well, we have determined that there are some gaps in the company’s message which will affect Vitamin Water’s image in the future. The main hindrance we see with the brand is its consistency. It’s very difficult to tell what type of image the brand wants to have because they use so many different spokes people in commercials and advertisements. Consumers aren’t getting a consistent message about the image of the brand because they are seeing everyone from athletes, to actors, to singers. For the first couple of years after a new product release it’s important not to confuse consumers. For instance, now we see well known actors in Hanes underwear commercials, but in the past it was just Michael Jordan. Another reason consistency is such an issue with Vitamin Water is because consumers don’t know exactly what type of drink it is. When Vitamin Water hit the market it made its own category, â€Å"enhanced water. † Most consumers don’t even know what enhanced water is. This is where associations can be very useful. Some of Vitamin Water’s top competitors such as Crystal Light, Gatorade, and Crystal Light are very particular about the type of people that are associated with their brands and making sure that there are consistent associations. Crystal Light. Gatorade is has defined its self as a sports drink. The company understands that people may drink Gatorade at other times, but that is their niche so they only feature athletes in their commercials. Red Bull doesn’t use athletes from main stream sports such as basketball, football, and baseball because they pay particular attention to the brand image they portray through the use of extreme sports and activities deeply rooted in culture. Branding Strategy Vitamin Water has tried to market its self as a â€Å"Lifestyle† drink. This has worked thus far because the drink is new and there’s not a lot of competition. The â€Å"Lifestyle† category may work in other product categories such as clothes and shoes where there is such a thin line between categories. For instance, plenty of people by athletic apparel and wear them as every day clothing. However, in the beverage industry it’s necessary for a brand to distinguish its self by selecting a more specific segment of the market. Recommendation and Implementation We recommend that Coca Cola pick a specific market for Vitamin Water and concentrate its marketing efforts toward that category. This will help them to obtain a consistent message in their marketing strategy and advertisement. The most logical options for further segmentation in the beverage category for Vitamin Water are health, sports, and energy. Health- The name of the drink does imply that it’s healthy, but we don’t recommend that Vitamin Water take that association any farther. Being healthy isn’t one of the most important factors in choosing a drink for Vitamin Water’s target market. Young, hip individuals are more concerned with the way a drink tastes and added benefits. Sports- The only drawback we see with having Vitamin Water in the sports drink category is that there are so many competitors is that specific market segment. Energy- We recommend that Vitamin Water develop its marketing and branding strategy as an energy drink. Vitamin Water contains ingredients such as vapor distilled, deionized water, taurine and crystalline fructose, all ingredients that are seen in other energy drinks. Coca-cola should focus on establishing the drink as an energy beverage opposed to being a health drink. Advertising its flavor as energy enhancing beverages will fit more closely with its endorsers and the â€Å"Lifestyle† branding. Rappers and singers do need energy to perform, so Vitamin Water using 50 Cent and Kelly Clarkson as spokes people makes sense. While athletes also need energy, we recommend that Vitamin Water cease its contracts with athletes such as Brian Urlacher and Peyton Manning. These associations may confuse consumers into thinking that Vitamin Water is a sports drink. Other recommendations for Vitamin Water include cutting back on the number of flavor options it offers and the number of people that they use as endorsers of the brand. The company should implement new flavors slowly.

The great Depression and the World Wars essays

The great Depression and the World Wars essays A Look at the Great Depression of 1936 After reading through the article, I gained very good information of what really happened during the era of 1930s in USA. Whereas I think the main cause for the Great depression was the huge stock market crash that occurred in October 1929 other than the Dust Bowl. The great Depression affected almost every nation. It caused a sharp decrease in world trade because each country tried to help its own industries by raising tariffs on imported goods. Everyone blamed the President Herbert Hoover at that time and people were very upset about his decisions involving the economy. They dealt with anger and elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was the one who helped get the economy back in shape by creating a program called the New Deal. I think the Great Depression is one of the most misunderstood events in American history. It is routinely cited, as proof that unregulated capitalism is not the best in the world, and other interventions can save capitalism from itself. Among the man y myths surrounding the Great Depression are that Hoover was a laissez faire president and that FDR brought us out of the depression. What caused the Great Depression? To get a handle on that, its necessary to look at previous depressions and compare. The Great Depression was by no means the first depression this country ever had, but it was clearly the worst. What made it different that the rest? At the time of the Great Depression, government intervention in the economy was higher than it had ever been and a special government agency had been set up specifically to prevent depressions and their associated problems, such as bank panics. One agency was the Federal Reserve Board and it was to have been the loaner of last resorts for banks in order to prevent collapses as it happened before. I think the most dynamic fiasco, ever recorded which affected life in eve...

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The strategy of e-business Annotated Bibliography

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Social Work Theories Older Adults

Social Work Theories Older Adults 1. Introduction This essay concerns the application of social work theory and practice with adults within the context of a specific legislative framework. The assignment specifically takes up different aspects of social work theory and practice that concern the carers of old and disabled individuals. It makes specific use of the case study on Betty, her daughter Elizabeth, and other members of Elizabeths family. The case study is provided in the appendix to this essay. It is considered as read and is thus not described in the body of this essay. The assignment deals with the role of carers in the UK social work infrastructure and their needs and rights. It also takes up the importance of interprofessional participation and partnership between social and health care professionals and carers in delivery of social and health care, including the management of risk. 2. Identification of Issue This assignment focuses on the responsibilities, difficulties, and needs of Elizabeth, the 49 year old daughter of Betty, who is 74 and has been living with Elizabeth and her family for the last 2 years. Elizabeth, who is white, is married to Charles (48), who is black and of African-Caribbean origin. They have two children, Mathew (22) and Elisa (19), who live with them. Betty suffered from a stroke two months ago and is recovering in hospital. She has developed poor left side mobility on account of the episode and will require a wheel chair to move about. She has been medically assessed as ready to return home, where Elizabeth is expected to care for her. The situation and the caring relationship, whilst transparent and logical, has become complicated because of Charless redundancy from employment and his strained relationship with Mathew, who is yet to start earning. 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The SAP facilitates a single assessment for the medical and social needs of individuals and calls upon respective agencies to work together for provisioning of appropriate and holistic care to individuals in need (Baker, 2004, p 14). The SAF-OP is particularly relevant for Betty, because it provides a framework for providing of holistic social and medical services to individuals who have experienced strokes. 4. The Role of Carers Whilst Bettys medical condition and social needs are certainly addressed through policies like the SAP, the SAF-OP, the progressively greater use of the social model, the person centred approach, the existing social health care infrastructure, the efforts of the individual carer, in this case her daughter Elizabeth, will play a critical role in the delivery of such care. The progressive elimination of hospitalisation and institutionalisation for people with physical and mental ailments and the replacement of such approaches and methods with community centred care commenced in the 1960s and progressively increased over the years through appropriate policy modifications. It is now widely accepted that people with disabilities live far more enriched, satisfied and productive lives amongst their families, friends and communities than in specialised institutions. Betty, after her recuperation from her stroke, is expected to come back into the community, live with her close relatives and family members, and be cared for by people who care for her. Such community care, whilst extremely desirable as an alternative to institutionalisation, however calls for the services of specific carers for individuals, who cannot manage their own activities, and thus need to be looked after by other people (Office for National Statics, 2006, p 1-2). Such carers, in the overwhelming majority of cases, constitute of family members, spouses, siblings, parents or even children (Office for National Statics, 2006, p 1-2) Betty, after her stroke, has reduced left side mobility and will need a wheel chair for her personal movement. Whilst she may, in all probability, be able to look after her own needs to some extent, it is probable that she will certainly need the care of another person. Elizabeth, her daughter and the person with whom she is living at present, is expected to fulfil the role of her carer. Carers occupy a unique role in the British social care infrastructure. Practically 11% of the population, i.e. approximately 6 million people, provide unpaid care in the UK to individuals in need. Whilst practically half of these carers fall in the age group between 45 and 64, many of them are very young as well as quite old. The majority of people who receive care live either in residential premises (Office for National Statics, 2006, p 1-2). Caring for an elderly person, as Elizabeth will be required to do, calls for significant amounts of sensitivity and commitment. Most people involved in care for older people look after parents or relatives who were previously used to looking after them (Weinstein, et al, 2003, p 114). Elderly people often wish to remain self reliant and make their own decisions as long as possible. Such changes in family relationships can often be complex and lead to situations of conflict if they are not handled with adequate care and thought (Weinstein, et al, 2003, p 115). Whilst caring for older people has to be handled with great sensitivity to avoid upsetting the people who are being cared for, it also calls for a great deal of hard work, effort, and self sacrifice on the part of carers (Williams Robinson, 2000, p 18). Carers often have to adjust their responsibilities towards their employers, if they are employed, and to their other family members who may need their emotional and physical support, in order to look after the individuals whose care has been entrusted to them (Williams Robinson, 2000, p 18). With carers playing critical roles in supporting and providing essential services to disabled and ailing elderly people, it is essential for them to work in close coordination and participation with responsible medical, health and social care professionals in order to facilitate the provisioning of holistic medical, social, physical and emotional support to their elderly wards (Stalker, 2003, p 81). Such partnership helps in better assessment of risks that are faced by persons in care and formulation of appropriate care and intervention plans. Social and medical care plans thus need to be carefully formulated by the concerned social workers after appropriate assessment with the use of person centred approaches and the involvement and agreement of the service user and the carer (Stalker, 2003, p 81). Elizabeth, as has been stated before is experiencing difficult domestic conditions at home because of the unemployment of her husband. Whilst her husband Charles did not previously have any objection to Bettys staying with them, his attitude might now change because of her illness as well as straitened domestic circumstances. He has a history of alcohol misuse and domestic abuse and his employment redundancy, as well as annoyance with Matthews unemployment, drug abuse and household thievery may upset him enough to relapse into his old ways. Elizabeth could in the normal course of events expect assistance from her two children in discharging her caring and household duties. This however looks improbable because of Elisas plans to shift in with her boyfriend and Matthews disturbed emotional state and surreptitious misuse of drugs. 5. Assessment of Needs of Carers Carers, like Elizabeth, perform vital and pivotal roles in the delivery of social care to individuals under their care, who are otherwise unable to manage, at home, without some form of support because of issues like disability, mental health needs, and illness or learning difficulties. Such carers have their own problems and needs that can easily be overlooked by the people around them. Elizabeths problems, as explained in the previous section, whilst not apparent are complex and real. The previous New Labour government recognised these needs, and introduced significant legislation for the protection of the rights of carers, through the enactment of the Carers and Disabled Children Act, 2000, and the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act, 2004. The Carers and Disabled Children Act provides carers with the rights for separate assessments of their needs, if they provide or intend to provide regular and substantial care to others (Department of Human Services, 2003, p 18). The person under care is usually assessed for his or her needs under the provisions of the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act (Department of Human Services, 2003, p 18). This is the best way of helping, both the carer and the person in care. The services provided to people who are in care often helps to support carers through the provisioning of some of the care that is being given by carers. The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act aims to assure that carers can avail of opportunities that others often take for granted (Department of Human Services, 2003, p 18). Assessments of needs of carers take into account the need of carers to continue with their work, return to work and excess education as well as training or leisure activities (Department of Human Services, 2003, p 19). The provisions of UK law state that carers are entitled to assessment, when they provide, or intend to provide, regular and substantial care to individuals in need, and the person being cared for, can access services from the Community Mental Health Team or the Department of Community Services (Department of Human Services, 2003, p 19). Such rights for assessment provide carers with (a) opportunities to reflect and discuss their own needs as carers, (b) share their caring experiences, (c) obtain recognition for their roles as carers, (d) obtain information and advice, (e) identify and discuss existing and potential difficulties, and (f) create contingency plans for circumstances that may not make it possible for them to continue in their caring roles (Stalker, 2003, p 83). Assessments are made to investigate the ways in which social and health care professionals and the existing infrastructure can help people in their caring roles by maintaining their health and wellbeing (Stalker, 2003, p 85). Such assessments concern issues like different aspects of individual caring roles, availability of breaks from caring, health issues of carers, maintenance of relationships with the person being cared for and others in the family, caring for home, accommodation, finances, work, education and training, support, emergencies, alternative arrangements and the future. As is evident, existing policies aim to make the assessment of carers as holistic as possible (Stalker, 2003, p 87). Such assessments take up a whole range of issues like the time being taken for caring, understanding the condition of the person being cared for, and difficulties in providing suitable care (Stalker, 2003, p 88). Health, relationships, finances, and work, are very important components of the assessment process, and social and health care professionals aim to assess whether carers can be helped in their relationships with people important to them and in their health, their finances and their leisure activity (D epartment of Human Services, 2003, p 19). Assessments for carers lead to personal discussions with them on the help required by them and the preparation of care plans that try to accommodate the wishes and constraints of carers to the maximum extent (Department of Human Services, 2003, p 21). The Department of Community Services can, after such assessment, provide help to both the carers and to the people who are being cared for. The persons who are being cared for can be helped with direct payments in order to allow them to purchase their own care, practical or personal care at home, respite care, adaptations and home equipment, and day care services (Department of Human Services, 2003, p 21). Carers can be helped with support in the form of (a) direct payments to help them to buy the support they need, (b) substitute care in order to enable them to take breaks from caring, (c) assistance with specific tasks and equipment to help them in their caring efforts, (d) advice and support in their role as carers and (e) short brea ks (Department of Human Services, 2003, p 21). Elizabeth can ask for an assessment, discuss her various problems with the social worker and try to work out, not only the best available care plan for Betty, but the ways in which she can obtain help to perform her caring functions effectively, maintain her home, help her children, and continue a good relationship with her husband. Conclusions This essay takes up the analysis of the case study of Elizabeth, her mother Betty, and her immediate family, and uses Elizabeths particular circumstances, as a would be carer for her mother, for an examination of existing legislation, theory and practice in areas of social and health care for adults with disabilities and their carers. Social work policies, practice, and theory for carers, as well as the persons they care for have evolved significantly over the last decade. Whilst assessment policies and intervention tools for adults with ailments or disabilities have been streamlined significantly in order to account for their individual needs and to empower them with independence in choosing their care and treatment plans, the importance of carers in the delivery of social work in a community care environment has come to the forefront. Carers are acknowledged to be critically important in the delivery of care. Social and health workers are expected to work collaboratively and in partnership, with each other and with carers, for the planning and delivery of holistic care and health services that take care of the individual needs of service users. Carers are also entitled to assessment of their needs and various forms of assistance to make their caring duties more effective and less onerous. Whilst Elizabeths responsibilities towards her mother and her family members are undoubtedly onerous, the social and health care policies of the country provide significant facilities that can help in making her responsibilities easier and her life more enriching and fulfilling.

gattom Importance of the Automobile in The Great Gatsby Essay

The Importance of the Automobile in The Great Gatsby    F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was written about a time of gaiety for a certain set of people. One of the major thematic aspects of the book is driving and the automobile. At the time the book was written the car had begun its establishment as a national institution. This is apparent in one of the central events in the book. Tom's unfaithfulness first comes to light from a car accident in Santa Barbara. He misguides the car and the misdirection of his life is made glaringly evident. The automobile affected Fitzgerald and it influenced the writing in The Great Gatsby. Driving is equated with living. Nick Carraway, describing their ill-fated trip from New York in Chapter Seven of The Great Gatsby says, "...we drove on toward death..."(143) This is both literal and metaphorical. They were driving toward the horrific scene of Myrtle's death. The entire novel deals with living, which is a movement toward death. Driving becomes a metaphor for living. Automotive transport becomes the rhetoric for describing everything. Even nature is related to automobiles. Nick describes the season in terms of elements associated with cars. "Already it was deep summer on roadhouse roofs and in front of wayside garages where new red gas-pumps sat in pools of light..."(25). For these people driving is about the new way of getting around quickly and living life fully. No one is exempt from being touched by the influence of cars. Fitzgerald incorporates the automotive metaphor into every aspect of his novel. This is especially evident when Fitzgerald describes people. Often the basic terminology used is automotive related. Daisy describes Tom as a "great big hulking physical specim... ...ed" that draws the automobile metaphor into it. It is the hit and run style of living that makes The Great Gatsby such a wonderful book, and Fitzgerald's continuous use of cars helps to keep this a vivid image. Works Cited Berman, Ronald. The Great Gatsby and Modern Times. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1994. Dillon, Andrew. "The Great Gatsby: The Vitality of Illusion." Arizona Quarterly 44.1 (1988): 49-61. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York. New York.: Scribner., 1995. Godden, Richard. "The Great Gatsby: Glamor on the Turn." Journal of American Studies 16.3 (1982): 343-371. Mizener, Arthur, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963. Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.

The Gambia and the Movie Industry

Table of Contents The Globalizing of Films and Introduction of Film Industries into Developing Countries 3 The Globalizing of Films and Introduction of Film Industries into Developing Countries and the Affect on the Business Environment 8 The Globalizing of Films and Introduction of Film Industries into Developing Countries and the Affect on the Business Environment, Case Study: The Gambia 13 Bibliography18The Globalizing of Films and Introduction of Film Industries into Developing Countries Movies, films, cinema, the big picture; all of these are terms used to describe an industry that has captured the minds and imagination of billions of people throughout the world. And what an evolution process this industry has gone through. Video recording has been around since the late 1800’s, and back them the videos seemed more like Claymation technique than anything else. The videos were grainy, stopped a lot, and had no sound. Of course through time improvements have been made. As th e 20th century moved forward, so did the movie industry.Videos became clearer and longer, and so people decided to shoot movies and charge people money to see said films. The early ones of course had no sound and had to use cue cards, but as time progressed so did technology. In just a few short years not only was sound added to the films, but also color, and even 3d technology. So what comes next for this billion-dollar industry? The industry is now taking its business throughout the world; to countries that one would not expect the movie industry to set up camp due to the increase in technology and decrease of technological costs.The movie industry is also becoming less localized, in that the movies that are being produced in any of these countries are not simply made for the local audience, but rather are made for a global audience. Of course, almost everyone in the world knows about Hollywood, and Bollywood is bigger than Hollywood in terms of movies produced, though may not be as well known in the world. Nollywood is a well-established movie-producing powerhouse. In the past, when Hollywood was the main movie-producing powerhouse, Nigeria was probably one of the least places experts in the industry thought would take begin producing movies.Now, Nollywood is a main staple in movie productions each year. It appears as though these â€Å"woods† are beginning to pop up all over the world. Countries, regions, cities, are all beginning to see the benefit to having their own movie producing location. What is causing this trend of areas wanting to set up their own movie producing locations? The main aspect that is leading the way for this increase of â€Å"woods† throughout the world is the fact that movies are now being made in a less localized fashion. There are not nearly as many movies produced that are made specifically for a certain region.A movie producer is no longer going to fund a movie that will only do well in the country that it is made in. No, producers want to make the most money on the films, and that means relating the films to a global audience. Nigeria can be looked at as an example. Nigeria has a decent sized population, but how many people of that population would be willing to pay money to see a film. Not many, there are many other problems that need to be fixed before going to see a movie. So why produce movies in Nigeria for a population that would not sustain the industry? It is because the production costs have gone down so drastically.It no longer takes $50 million to make a movie. Nollywood thrives on its many producers providing small capital to many different movie projects (Haynes). The old movies that were created in, for lack of a better word, developing countries have always been inferior to those created by the US, England, and France. The technicality, special effects, costumes, and so on were never able to compete with the powerhouse countries (Callimanopulos). Now, however, with the lower cost of these techniques, these less fortunate countries are able to use the same technique, or at least those of equal quality.Sure, these countries may not be able to use the newest of filming technology (such as 3d or Imax), however these improvements give these countries a greater edge in the market. In fact, the average cost of a Bollywood film is $1. 3 million, whereas the average cost of a Hollywood film is $13. 6 million (Factoids). No longer are countries following Hollywood’s style of producing blockbuster after blockbuster. Nigerian producers realized that by dividing capital amongst many different projects, the income from each project may not be as great, however the total revenue from the combined projects is plenty to sustain Nollywood.That is why Nollywood has become the third largest movie producing area in the world. The same case can be made for Bollywood. India was an emerging market where movie producers took an opportunity to produce many movies at a che aper cost, and the effect was the same. This style of movie producing is what is allowing these developing countries to, basically, take over the market. A few decades ago the US was producing 5% of the movies in the world, however these US movies occupied 50% of the screen time in the world (Callimanopulos).While these numbers have not changed drastically, they are still beginning to take a new form. The world is producing more movies in general, and the US movies are occupying slightly less screen time than before. This decrease, however, is the forefront to what is expected to be a greater change as time progresses on. In fact, what is happening is that the major studios are begin to see how successful these â€Å"guerilla† movie making tactics is, that they are beginning to want to get into the market as well. For example, Warner Brothers is now financing French films and Fox is financing Latin American films (Toward).This just adds to why the movie industry is globalizin g so quickly, and why it is beginning to reach these developing countries. As these big companies continually invest more money into these less than fortunate countries, then the movie makers will be able to use the newest equipment to make technical better films, ensuring their spot in the global film industry. These movie producers, directors, and writers are now realizing that even with this increase of lower budget films being produced, they need to make sure that the movies produced are made for a global audience, rather than simply a local audience.France is actually experiencing the negative side of low budget film production. The number of French films produced is well over 200 a year now, however with so many of these low budget films being produced, the audience is beginning to see fewer films because of the repetitive nature of the films (Hayes). What French filmmakers failed to do was to look ahead at the big picture. Instead of writing scripts and backing films that the French society will only understand, they should have been producing films that a global audience can enjoy. By continuing to produce movies that can only be relevant in France, the audience gets bored.If these movies were more globally friendly, then there is less of a chance of the audience getting â€Å"bored† with the same predictable movies. It is this thought of less localized more globalized filmmaking that has opened the door to new areas of film. For example, 20 years ago China and Korea films were unheard of. The movies that they made there were made specifically for those countries. Now, it is very common to see Chinese or Korean films in theaters around the world (Toward). The movie industries within these countries realized that simply producing movies for their citizen’s alone is not enough.In order to stay relevant they would need to begin to produce movies that the global audience can enjoy. Specifically, South Korea has taken this attitude and run wit h it. A decade ago, South Korea was hardly in the movie scene. The current system of localizing the films was flawed. Instead, the film industry began producing movies with less nationalism so as to appeal to the global audience. As a result, the country produced The Host, the most successful movie in South Korean history, beating out worldwide famous movies like Titanic (Lee).The reason this movie did so well is that it did not focus on issues simply related to South Korea. It was a contemporary look at a monster attacking a city. Before this movie was produced, most South Korean films depicted the lifestyle of problems facing South Korean citizens. By taking on a movie that appeals to the global audience, they were able to reach a larger number of people, resulting in a much more successful film. This concept of producing fewer localized movies is allowing these smaller film industries to compete with the likes of Hollywood and Bollywood.If these smaller nations were to simply pro duce films that appealed to their own country, there would not be enough demand to sustain it. There are a lot of people in the world, and by reaching out and connecting with that audience, the smaller film industry nations are able to thrive as efficiently as the leading film industries. The Globalizing of Films and Introduction of Film Industries into Developing Countries and the Affect on the Business Environment This shift in the production of films affects the business industry in many ways. Being such a large industry, a multibillion-dollar industry. This industry is also very versatile.It does not take a lot to have the industry fall apart one year and bounce back with record numbers the following year. Since the movie industry is so big an impacts so many people, this versatility can drastically affect the business that is done in the entire country. This may not be true in the United States since there is so much other business that gets done in the country, however just th ink about the impact it could have on a small country. If the country loses small country without a high GDP loses another couple billion dollars form a poor movie year, then that country will suffer directly from that poor year.The opposite is also true. If that same country has a magnificent year in terms of movie productions and sales, then the entire country’s GDP and way of life will improve directly due to the movie industry. Since the movie industry is so vast and covers so many different areas of the business sector, including marketing, management, and finances, a country’s entire economic well-being could depend directly on the success of that movie industry, which relies on the experiences of the marketers to sell those films. Most people would consider actors, directors, and producers to be the most important part of filmmaking.Of course, these aspects are very important, but it is hard to admit that those aspects are the most important part. Just thinking about it for a second. If a movie were to have the best director of all time, director the best actor of all time, acting the best scrip of all time, it would seem like it would be the formula for an extremely successful film. The problem is, if no one knows about the film how is anyone going to be able to see it. If there are no ads, promotions, or tours, how is the movie going to make a profit.The muscle behind the movie could be the actors and directors, however the brains behind the revenue and eventually profits are the marketers. This becomes especially important when thinking about the shift of localized films to globalized films. It is one thing to be able to market a movie properly to one country, but it is entirely different to market the same movie in 5 different regions across the globe. The first place to look is towards Bollywood, the largest film industry in the world, located in India. The films produced in India are unique to their own country.These movies tend to b e, a lot of the time, musicals, which can be difficult to introduce into new territories. Recently, however the Bollywood film industry has looked toward producing more global friendly film. Just look at the success of Slumdog Millionaire. This movie stars unknown actors from Bollywood, and went on to be a huge global success, even going as far as winning at the Oscars. Similarly, one year later Bollywood released a period-epic movie entitled Jodhaa-Akbarr, which was the most successful Bollywood film at the time, being released in 26 other countries.The following year, My Name Is Khan was released in 70 countries, taking over as the most successful release from Bollywood in terms of release countries and revenue (Mahmood). This clearly shows that Bollywood is following the trend of trying to release more globally friendly films, but the important part that always gets overlooked is that marketing of these globally friendly films. It is put best when it was said, â€Å"In Bollywood today, if the box-office is King, then marketing is the Queen† (Bollywood). This seems to put Bollywood in the best perspective.Of course, box-office and revenue are the ultimate goal of any movie being released in Bollywood, which is why box-office can still be considered king. On the other side, these movies could never reach those revenue streams without marketing. The two go hand-in-hand. With countries such as India trying to release produce globally friendly movies, marketing becomes even more important. This can include creating a trailer that will attract the attention of the most consumer, to actually doing the market research to find out which country’s would be the best to release the film in and which countries the film would not fare well in.This is connecting the film to the audiences that are most likely to create a large return on profits (Arons). The cost to market a movie properly has gone up. The audiences are expecting to see more trailers, more app earances, more billboards, more everything, and as inflation and prices begin to go up, it is easy to see how expensive it can become to promote a movie (Bollywood). This again details the importance of picking the right countries to release the movie/market in. If a marketer fails to pick the right country, it can be a large expense on the film company.It is the marketers job to put in the time and money to promote the movie in the best way possible on the smallest budget possible. These movie companies in areas like India do not have the amount of spending that US film companies have, which is why it is so important to count every penny. In addition, Bollywood continues to find new markets in which to export. In fact, in the past 4 years there has been a 60% growth in overseas sales (Lorenzen). As these sales continue to rise, there will be more need for marketers.The importance of all of this is that as more countries, like India with its Bollywood, begin to improve their movie i ndustries, they are going to need marketers. As the movies that these movie industries produce, such as in South Korea and Taiwan, begin to look towards the global market with their movie productions, their marketing tactics need to improve. Since most countries with a film industry are making globally friendly films, the need for marketers, accountants, and the likes will increase. A company will need a lot more employees to promote a movie abroad as compared to promoting one in a single country.The need of so many new employees to keep up with the demand of overseas promotion can vastly help the economies of any country, especially those that are less fortunate than our own, which is where many of these new film industries are popping up. A little over a decade ago, Nigeria was a crime-ridden country that where people were afraid to leave their homes. This was before the time of Nollywood (Obhafuoso). This, obviously, would lead to a problem with the economy. If people were afraid to leave their homes, how would people spend money? How does an economy survive without money being spent?The short answer is that it cannot. To make matters worse, the reason people were turning to crime was because there was no work to make money at. It was a vicious cycle that seemed to have no end. Nollywood became Nigeria’s answer to these problems. If the country could get people jobs, and give them a decent wage, then that would (at least in theory), reduce the number of people who would have to turn to crime to support themselves and their family. Did the theory work well in the business world as well as it was suppose to? In short, yes.To put it into scope, Nollywood is considered the second largest employer of labor. Each film that is made employs, on average, 130 people (Obhafuoso). So how many movies are made each year? Well, each week, there are 30 new movies that hit the market. That is 4,500 movies each year (About Nollywood). This is a drastic change from the late 80’s to early 90’s. Back then it was extremely dangerous to walk around and even harder to find work. Now, with the growth of Nollywood, not only are the streets safer, but the way of life of the citizens is improving because of the money that is generated from the movie industry.These employees of these 4,500 films are going home with a minimum of 5-10,000 naira per film, but can make up to 20-25,000 naira. That is equal to about 128 US dollars (About Nollywood). It may not sound like a lot, but that kind of money really can change the lives of a family, economically and socially. By raising a kid on a fair day’s wage, that same child will see that it is possible to make a living without the crime that seems to plague the country at the moment. It is a turning point for the country.Nollywood injects the country with $250 million dollars a year (About Nollywood). In a country that was not well off to begin with, that is a huge difference. This one industry has single handedly changed the economic downfall of a country. There are of course still problems, still crime, still unemployment and poverty in the country, but there always will be. This film industry can be an example of a tool that can be utilized by a country to fight poverty and crime, and vastly improve the economy and standard of living throughout the country.The Globalizing of Films and Introduction of Film Industries into Developing Countries and the Affect on the Business Environment, Case Study: The Gambia Now the question turns to where to next open a movie industry. Africa seems to be the newest location where these new film industries (like Nollywood and Bollywood) are being created. A movie industry is exactly what many of these African countries need. There is not a lot of stability in these countries, both politically and, more importantly, economically. As shown earlier, a film industry can pump a large amount of money into an economy as ell as employee many ci tizens with jobs and a steady income. One country in Africa that seems to be looking at these statistics is The Gambia. Gambia is located on the western shore in Northern Africa. In Gambia, about 60% of the population falls below the overall poverty line. This can be due to the fact that the unemployment rate in the country is over 40% (The Gambia: An Assessment). With such a high unemployment rate, it is difficult to maintain an economy. The introduction of a national film industry in Gambia would allow for the economic growth that the country seems to be in need of.If a country wishes to be economically successful, it is important to be a part of the global economy. A country does not need to be a part of the global economy to sustain itself, but of course life can be made easier for the citizens of global economy countries. It appears that Gambia, and its 1. 8 million citizens, are struggling with their economy (History). If 60% of those 1. 8 million people are out of work, then there is clearly a need for the creation of new jobs. As stated earlier in the paper, many countries have had similar problems with their economies, and needed to change something.These countries saw the film industry as an opportunity to help its citizens. The film industry can be made extremely global if done correctly, which would allow for greater demand for films and create more jobs. Gambia is following suit by attempting to also start its own economy. There was once a short lived film industry in Gambia, but was shut down by the government in 1994. Since then the government has had major control of media outlets such as radio and television (History). Over the years the country has been slowly switching to give the people more power and control over their lives.It is this slow shift in power that is allowing Gambia and its citizens to have another go at creating a film industry. The government is also beginning to understand the need for change in such an impoverished country . Since the citizens are now able to vote for their leaders, it is now of more importance of these leaders to keep the citizens happy. If the country is not making any money for its citizens, then these leaders will not be re-elected. This is extremely important because the creation of such a big industry in a country of poor economic standard would require support from the government (Kasumaye). In order to get movie roducing off the ground, there needs to be investments. How can people invest if no one has enough money? That is where the government needs to step in and begin to financially back this industry. As the movies begin to take off and sell and make profit, then the industry will be able to sustain itself. Until then the government needs to understand the effects such an industry can have on Gambia. It seems strange to think that the government should back an industry such as filmmaking. Would it not be better to back things such as farming? Farming is important, but farm ing will not bring the country into the global economy.The film industry in Gambia has a large impact on the citizens of the country. It creates commerce throughout the entire country and teaches the individuals in the country new skills (The Gambia and its). Any kind of film costs a lot of money. In fact, simply look at The Hobbit. The new movie was filmed in New Zealand, and contributed more than 2. 4 billion dollars to the New Zealand economy (Child). That movie is an exception, since they are such large production unites, however it just goes to show that one movie really can make a difference in the economy.The film companies need to feed their workers, hire clean up crews, etc. , and if Gambia creates a major film industry with many movie companies, then the economy will reap the benefits as much as the CEO’s. Going hand in hand with an increase in commerce is that fact that a new industry will create many new jobs for the citizens. In fact, it is estimated that a film industry created in The Gambia would employ, at a bare minimum, 5,000 Gambian youths (Janko). This does not include the actors, directors, or any of the business aspects (such as marketers, accountants, financers, etc. . This is simply extra people needed on set to help with set up, tear down, dining, and every other aspects involved with filmmaking. As the industry begins to take off, so will the amount of jobs available. The more movies that are made, the more jobs will have to be filled. These 5,000 jobs can increase to 20,000 if the film industry grows. Nearly 20,000 new jobs can be a huge benefit to an economy that is suffering from high unemployment. Clearly as more people get jobs and begin to receive a steady income, the more money families will be able to spend on the market. The ore money that is spent on the market, the faster the economy will turn around. The faster the economy turns around, even more jobs will be created to keep up with the improvements. In fact, a well organized film industry could not only help the standard of living in Gambia, but also the surrounding areas as well (Sankanu). As the industry grows, it is very possible for citizens of surrounding countries to migrate over to Gambia in order to be apart of the industry. This influx of new people also means that these same people will be spending their money in the Gambian economy.Also, as the Gambian film industry creates more and more globally friendly movies (if they continue to follow the current trend in movie making), then the surrounding countries could be big importers of these films. Countries closer to Gambia may find Gambian films more appealing than, say, a Hollywood blockbuster. These imported movies can clearly help both video stores and movie theaters in these bordering countries to survive. As stated earlier, marketing is one of the most important factors in the film production process. The consumers need to know about the movie in order to see it.That being said, a Gambian film industry would open the door for all sorts of marketing professionals, both local and global marketers. It would seem pretty obvious that the locals of the country would work on the local promotion of the film. It would not be too far fetched to think that a movie company would want to hire a professional marketer from an already well-established company overseas. It can be a safe assumption that these kind of professionals will most likely have more experience with this global marketing than a native individual from Gambia. Normally, marketing a film globally would be extremely difficult.However, due to the established tourism industry and breathtaking scenery, Gambian movies may be easier to promote to the world than, say, a movie from Chad (Kasumaye). If the world has a basic understanding of The Gambia, then people will be much more open to watching a film from Gambia. This makes the jobs of whatever marketing professional get the job that much easier. The Gambia is currently struggling to improve its economy and standard of living. The unemployment is too high and their economy is not sufficient enough to give its citizens a proper standard of living. Nigeria was in a ery similar situation, and by adding a film industry, hundreds of millions of dollars was expelled into the economy, creating jobs, and improving the standard of living. The Gambia has a similar opportunity, in that there are plenty of actors, directors, and writers that want to create films, there just does not seem to be enough capital to truly get the industry off the ground. The government needs to realize this opportunity, and fund (at least for the beginning) the creation of this industry so as to create a greater flow of cash and employment throughout the country.This will create a large number of new opportunities for marketers to jump into the new industry to become a part of the growing phenomenon. A Gambian film industry can not only help the economy and business th rive in the country, but can also create new business opportunities on a global scale as well. Bibliography â€Å"About Nollywood. †Ã‚  This Is Nollywood. N. p. , 2006. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. . Arons, Marc. â€Å"Five Key Drivers of Global Marketing. †Ã‚  Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. . â€Å"Bollywood Goes over the Top with Marketing Bollywood, Updated Feb 25, 2012 at 03:10pm IST. †Ã‚  Http://ibnlive. in. com/. CNN, 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. . Callimanopulos, Dominique. â€Å"Film and the Third World. †Ã‚  Cultural Survival. N. p. , 11 Feb. 2010. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. .Child, Ben. â€Å"The Hobbit Boosts New Zealand Film Industry. †Ã‚  The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 Apr. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. . â€Å"Factoids. †Ã‚  : Bollywoodcountry. N. p. , 2011. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. . Hayes, Graeme, and Martin O’Shaughessy. â€Å"French Cinema: Globalization, Representation, And Resistance. † French P olitics, Culture, & Society 23. 3 (2005): 1-13. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Nov. 2012 Haynes,

Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination Essay

Most people have experienced prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination at some time in his or her life. There is no doubt social discrimination, prejudice, and hostility still create serious problems and challenges, even in today’s apparently more and more individualized and â€Å"enlightened† society. This paper will discuss prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination in the context of social psychology; what the consequences of stereotyping and discrimination are; and strategies to improve attitudes, judgments, and behaviors. Social psychologists recognize prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination â€Å"by focusing on whether they involve feelings (affect), cognition, or behaviors. † (Feenstra, 6. 1 Prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination, para 1). Prejudice is a negative belief or feeling (attitude) about a particular group of individuals. Prejudices can be passed on from one generation to the next. Cognitive schemas can cause stereotyping and contribute to prejudice. Stereotypes are beliefs about individuals involving their membership in a particular group. These beliefs can be positive, negative, or unbiased. Stereotypes concerning gender, ethnicity, or profession is common in many societies. â€Å"Discrimination is negative behavior toward individuals or groups based on beliefs and feelings about those groups. A group you are a part of is called your ingroup. Ingroups might include gender, race, or city or state of residence, as well as groups you might intentionally join. A group you are not a part of is called your outgroup. † (Feenstra, 6. 1 Prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination, para 1). Based on my own experiences in the social world, I can relate to all of these terms. The era in which I grew up ushered in the civil rights movement, anti-war protests, hippies, the Cuban missile crisis, and political and feminist activists. The world was a changing place; many times, we saw and heard prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination at its worst. Unfortunately, we are seeing the same types of prejudices, stereotyping, and discrimination going on today; especially since the â€Å"9-11† attacks and with the â€Å"Occupy or 99%† movement going on today. Social identities depend on the groups to which people belong. Any group a person belongs to is an ingroup, and those that they do not belong to are considered an outgroup. Social cognitive research suggests that outgroup discrimination and prejudice are a result of basic and functional cognitive processes such as categorization and stereotyping. â€Å"Our prejudice and stereotypes come not only from the way our systems process information but also from the world around us. Societal origins of prejudice involve the norms in the world around us, the competition that exists between groups, and the social inequalities that exist in the world. Ingroup favoritism leads to unequal treatment of those we have categorized as in the outgroup. And outgroup homogeneity bias blinds us to the differences within the outgroup. † (Feenstra, 6. 1 Social Cognitive origins of prejudice and stereotypes, para 2). â€Å"Immediate social contexts do shape individual responses to individual outgroup members. This exemplifies a social psychological analysis, that is, how actual, imagined, or implied other people influence and individual’s stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. † (Fiske, 2000, P. 303). Categories help us deal with large amounts of information. They make it possible for us to process more information and save cognitive energy, so we use categories copiously. â€Å"That might not be a problem if all we did was categorize people, but it turns out that along with quickly and easily developing categories, we use them to make later decisions (Tajfel, 1970). † (Feenstra, 2011, 6. 2 Categorization, para. 4). Competition for resources can also create prejudice. This competition could be economic interests, political or military advantage, or threats to the safety or status of the group. People can become angry if they feel that a rival group is taking resources or prestige from their ingroup; and anger is a strong motive for prejudice (Feenstra, 2011). â€Å"Social discrimination results from the generalization of ingroup attributes to the inclusive category, which then become criteria for judging the outgroup. Tolerance, on the other hand is conceptualized as either a lack of inclusion of both groups in a higher order category or as the representation of the inclusive category in such a way as to also include the other group and designate it as normative. † (Mummendey & Wenzel, 1999, P. 158). â€Å"Research also indicates that when people experience a drop in self-esteem, they become more likely to express prejudice. An unfortunate implication of this research is that for some people, prejudice represents a way of maintaining their self-esteem. At the same time, the link between prejudice and self-esteem suggests a hopeful message: it may be possible to reduce prejudice with something as simple as a boost in self-esteem. † (Plous, n. d. , P. 10). Stereotyping and discrimination can powerfully affect social perceptions and behavior. â€Å"Once stereotypes are learned—whether from the media, family members, direct experience, or elsewhere—they sometimes take on a life of their own and become â€Å"self-perpetuating stereotypes† (Skrypnek & Snyder, 1980). One way this can happen is by people experiencing a stereotype threat that lowers their performance. Stereotypes can also become self-perpetuating when stereotyped individuals are made to feel self-conscious or inadequate. † (Plous, n. d. , P. 19). Since all of us are part of a social group, we all have the possibility of having our performance disturbed by stereotype threat. â€Å"The roots of prejudice are many and varied. Some of the deepest and most intensively studied roots include personality factors such a right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation, cognitive factors such as the human tendency to think categorically, motivational factors such as the need for self-esteem, and social factors such as uncharitable ingroup attributions for outgroup behavior. Research on these factors suggests that prejudiced attitudes are not limited to a few pathological or misguided individuals; instead, prejudice is an outgrowth of normal human functioning, and all people are susceptible to one extent or another. † (Plous, n. d. , P. 11). The most important question is, what can we do to improve attitudes, judgments, and behaviors in order to reduce prejudice and discrimination? â€Å"The contact hypothesis proposes that contact between members of groups that hold prejudice against one another may reduce prejudice. Contact can reduce prejudice when a number of conditions are satisfied. Common goals, called superordinate goals, are particularly helpful in bringing groups in conflict together. † (Feenstra, Ch. 6 Summary). Looking at the world today with all of the large bank and corporate bailouts, the state of our economy, continued protesting, and the discontent of the majority of the American people; I do believe that we are inadvertently creating self-fulfilling prophecies in our society. In Self-Fulfilling Prophecies, Michael Biggs states, â€Å"A theory of society could, in principle, prove self-fulfilling. Marxism predicts that capitalism is fated to end in revolution; if many people believe in the theory, then they could forment revolution (Biggs, 2009). † It seems that now would be a good time for everyone to learn and practice the Seven Pillars of Mindfulness (Kabat-Zin, 2010). People throughout the world live with prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination, and the consequences of the resulting actions every day. There is no doubt social discrimination, prejudice, and hostility still create serious problems and challenges, even in today’s apparently more and more individualized and â€Å"enlightened† society. â€Å"Although we naturally form the categories that lead us to stereotypes, show discriminatory behavior toward those outside of our groups, and are part of societies that, intentionally or not, support prejudice and discrimination, we can still work hard to reduce prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination through our interactions with others. † (Feenstra, Ch. 6 Conclusion). References Biggs. M. (2009). Self-Fulfilling Prophecies. Retrieved from http://users. ox. ac. uk/~sfos0060/prophecies. pdf Feenstra, J. (2011). Introduction to social psychology. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Fiske, S. T. (2000). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination at the seam between the centuries: evolution, culture, mind, and brain. European Journal of Social Psychology (30), 299-322. Retrieved from http://www2. psych. ubc. ca/~schaller/Psyc591Readings/Fiske2000. pdf Kabat-Zinn, J. (2010). Mindful Attitudes. Retrieved from http://mindfulworkshops. com/? tag=non-judging. Mummendey A. & Wenzel, M. (1999). Social discrimination and tolerance of intergroup relations: Reactions to intergroup difference. Personality and Social Psychology Review, Vol. 3, No. 2, 158-174. Retrieved from http://dtserv2. compsy. uni-jena. de/ss2009/sozpsy_uj/86956663/content. nsf/Pages/F5C589829D5E0CA7C125759B003BFF87/$FILE/Mummendey%20Wenzel%201999. pdf Plous, S. (n. d. ). The psychology of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination: An overview. Wesleyan University. Retrieved from http://sscholar. google. co. uk/scholar? start=10&q=Prejudice, +stereotype,+discrimination+ingroup+vs. +outgroup&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3.

Jane Ayre analysis essays

Jane Ayre analysis essays Charlotte Bronte makes use of nature imagery throughout "Jane Eyre," and comments on both the human relationship with the outdoors and human nature. The following are examples from the novel that exhibit the importance of nature during that time period. Several natural themes run through the novel, one of which is the image of a stormy sea. After Jane saves Rochester's life, she gives us the following metaphor of their relationship: "Till morning dawned I was tossed on a buoyant but unquiet sea . . . I thought sometimes I saw beyond its wild waters a shore . . . now and then a freshening gale, wakened by hope, bore my spirit triumphantly towards the bourne: but . . . a counteracting breeze blew off land, and continually drove me back"(Bront 159). The gale is all the forces that prevent Jane's union with Rochester. Bront implies that Jane's feelings about the sea driving her back remind her of her heart felt emotions of a rocky relationship with Rochester and still being drawn back to him. Another recurrent image is Bront's treatment of Birds. We first witness Jane's fascination when she reads Bewick's History of British Birds as a child. She reads of "death-white realms" and "'the solitary rocks and promontories'" of sea-fowl. One can see how Jane identifies with the bird. For her it is a form of escape, the idea of flying above the toils of every day life. Several times the narrator talks of feeding birds crumbs. Perhaps Bront is telling us that this idea of escape is no more than a fantasy-one cannot escape when one must return for basic sustenance. The link between Jane and birds is strengthened by the way Bront adumbrates poor nutrition at Lowood through a bird who is described as a little hungry robin. Bront brings the buoyant sea theme and the bird theme together in the passage describing the first painting of Jane's that Rochester examines. This painting depicts a turbulent...

The Importance of Company Valuation to Investor, the Shortcoming of Literature review

The Importance of Company Valuation to Investor, the Shortcoming of DCF Mode - Literature review Example An example of an investor who hugely benefits from company valuation is one who reinvests dividends. By this kind of re-investment, such an investor could build wealth for myriad uses such as retirement benefits. However, the core importance of company valuation to investors is that it allows them to know the value of a company and its assets before investing (Copeland et al., 2000). Familiarity with the value of a company and its assets is quite important for investors’ intelligent decision making, more so for deciding the most appropriate prices to pay or receive during a takeover (Pratt, 1998). Additionally, valuation helps investors to choose the right investment portfolio and sound financing and dividend choices when running a business. Valuation also helps investors make reasonable estimates of the values of real and financial assets. Company valuation also ensures that an investor does not pay more for an asset than its real worth. Therefore, valuation plays several cri tical roles in acquisition analysis, corporate finance, and portfolio management (Pratt, 1998). Efficient Market Hypotheses Is Not Trustable Many researchers, scholars and investors have theoretically and empirically criticized and disputed the efficient-market hypothesis. At the forefront in criticizing the efficient-market hypothesis are behavioral economists who assert that combinations of cognitive biases are responsible for the deficient nature of Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) (Gaughan, 2004). These cognitive biases include overreaction, information bias and representative bias, predictable human errors of reasoning, information processing errors and overconfidence. The alleged reasoning errors have been observed to drive many an investor to buy excessively expensive growth stock while avoiding value stock (Hitchnera, 2006). On the other hand, those reasoning correctly buy and profit from the neglected value stock and the overreacted selling of growth stocks. In a similar m anner to theoretical evidence, practical evidence fault the efficient-market hypothesis, For example, while some behavioral economists assert that low P/E stocks have greater returns, others tend to differ, attributing these higher returns to higher beta (?) (Gaughan, 2004). In fact, the latter group’s researches have been accepted by efficient market theorists as adequately explaining the irregularities according to the modern portfolio theory. That stock buyers often operate on and are driven by irrational excitement implies that a lot of speculative economic bubble anomalies are encountered in the markets since such buyers do not detect the underlying values of stocks (Gaughan, 2004). After these economic bubbles, there is always an overreaction and frantic effort to sell stocks to unscrupulous investors who then buy these stocks at bargain prices. Further, since markets may remain irrational for a longer duration than expected, even rational investors could encounter diff iculties to operate profitably since they may be forced to shorting irrational bubbles since they are no longer able to remain solvent over the period (Gaughan, 2004). The Limitations of Net Asset Valuation Model Once a company gets solvent, it may decide to pay its creditors, sell its assets

Company E-Business Comparison Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Company E-Business Comparison - Research Paper Example E-procurement refers to the business activities that employ the internet. This process requires the utilization of electronic applications. Effective e-procurement systems link companies with their business partners. The most significant link is to suppliers and hence fosters possible negotiations on costs and takes care of any issues arising from transactions. An effective e-procurement system should be able to evaluate prices and result in an optimum output from the supplier (Chorafas, 2001). Company B will benefit from the application of this procurement process as it ensures organization of data for the company thus data required can be easily retrieved. This simplifies the process of coming up with decisions for the company. In addition, these processes occur as prepared copies that are filled in a similar way hence ensuring uniformity of data collection within the company. In addition, the uniformity plays a crucial role in monitoring and keeping track of business transactions. Effective application of this model will also help to avoid the cost of inventory for company B (Chorafas, 2001).   On the contrary, there are various challenges that Company B will experience. It requires the input of time, manpower and money to implement effectively and hence a deficiency of either of these parameters will lead to a collapse of Company B. Moreover, the results may manifest after a long time and hence patient should be observed by company B so as to realize the input of the resources utilized and this can be frustrating (Chorafas, 2001).  ... In overall, implementation of this process will make company B more competitive as it gives it a cutting edge above company A as it attracts a bigger share of the market (Chorafas, 2001). Though the implementation of this process is of benefit, there are a variety of challenges that it possesses. To begin with, this process requires the input of professionals so as to execute efficiently. Moreover, the development of complex networks may impair the proper functioning of the system since some may be neglected and render the whole system ineffective. Therefore, the functioning of an effective customer relation management system is advantageous. However, it should be operated by skilled personnel for effectiveness (Chorafas, 2001). Sell Chain Management Sell chain management refers to the processes involved in ensuring secure and timely delivery of products to the client. It promotes flexibility in the production process and leads to outsourcing of products and services. This means that there is delegation of managerial responsibilities during service delivery and, hence multiple companies are involved in the process of product delivery to the customer (Zigiaris, 2000). The implementation of effective sell chain management systems within a company is crucial so as to compete effectively with the concept of a diverse market following globalisation. Company B, which employs the sell chain management process will benefit by reaching a larger and diverse market while sharing managerial responsibilities with the other players within the network. This will foster efficiency within each player and hence the overall output from Company B will be better than company A due to the effect of specialisation employed (Zigiaris, 2000).