Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Acid-Base Titration Calculation

Corrosive Base Titration Calculation A corrosive base titration is a balance response acted in the lab to decide an obscure grouping of corrosive or base. The moles of corrosive will rise to the moles of the base at the proportionality point. So in the event that you know one worth, you naturally know the other. Heres how to play out the estimation to locate your obscure: Corrosive Base Titration Problem In the event that youre titrating hydrochloric corrosive with sodium hydroxide, the condition is: HCl NaOH â†' NaCl H2O You can see from the condition there is a 1:1 molar proportion among HCl and NaOH. On the off chance that you realize that titrating 50.00 ml of a HCl arrangement requires 25.00 ml of 1.00 M NaOH, you can compute the grouping of hydrochloric corrosive, HCl. In view of the molar proportion among HCl and NaOH, you realize that at the identicalness point: moles HCl moles NaOH Corrosive Base Titration Solution Molarity (M) is moles per liter of arrangement, so you can modify the condition to represent molarity and volume: MHCl x volumeHCl MNaOH x volumeNaOH Modify the condition to disengage the obscure worth. For this situation, you are searching for the centralization of hydrochloric corrosive (its molarity): MHCl MNaOH x volumeNaOH/volumeHCl Presently, essentially plug in the realized qualities to explain for the obscure: MHCl 25.00 ml x 1.00 M/50.00 ml MHCl 0.50 M HCl

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Walt Disney and Disneyland Essay -- History Historical Cartoons Morals

Walt Disney and Disneyland At the point when the subject of the Disney Enterprises is raised, one regularly considers kid's shows, musicals or different films, entertainment meccas, and celebrated characters, for example, Mickey Mouse. What's more, presently, almost four decades after his demise, the producer of said manifestations, Walt Disney, isn't close to as perceived as he ought to be. Not exclusively are his works and different tasks captivating, his ethics and procedures by and by behind them are too. But then they weren’t simply his ethics, they were shared by the country’s individuals who so wanted a case of good standards. Maybe the most huge plan of everything was his production of his own one of a kind event congregation in 1955, Disneyland, situated in Anaheim, California. Called â€Å"the most joyful spot on earth,† Disneyland was pigged out with Disney’s convictions, expectations and qualities (that were in the same way as the country) that were evident in the film themed zones as well as in the entire park and the manner in which it was run too. Disney, a man enthused about blamelessness and being cheerful, needed Disneyland to be a portrayal of only that, just as passing on a feeling of Americana. The making of Disneyland not just included and exhibited the standards of Walt Disney yet additionally filled in as a sanctuary wherein individuals with comparative convictions could come and celebrate such standards as the safeguarding of blamelessness, valuation for straightforward delights, and patriotism in an after war nation. In addition, Disneyland was and stays an embodiment of the American Dream. Walt Disney, the man who was the maker of the Disney Company and items we know and love today, was absolutely exceptional. He is viewed as one of the best individuals in American history, and legitimately so in light of the fact that the size of his achievements is astonishing. His movies (and the movies that are delivered under his name now after his demise), carnivals and other product are recognized and acknowledged all through the whole world. About all the Disney movies and product, and the entirety of the event congregations focus on a crowd of people of little youngsters, and along these lines Disney underwrites his manifestations with stories containing great ethics and an accentuation on looking after guiltlessness. At the point when Disney originally began making his hit vivified highlights, the country was in an after war state and was experiencing some strife inside itself too. Times were evolving. The perfect lives most o... ... symbol, and in light of the fact that the recreation center really did exemplify and strengthen such American convictions, Disneyland ended up being an American achievement. Disney, a man for such solid help for what he accepted was correct and acceptable throughout everyday life and society, was not reluctant to keep down his musings. He passed on them all through his movies and in his own physical creation, Disneyland. Luckily for both him and the individuals of the United States, both he and society conceded to what was ethically right. The country bolstered his beliefs and was appreciative for the outlet to this wonderland that he gave. As a man loaded with - not political-but rather social force, Disney utilized his impact to further his potential benefit: to publicize these ethics to individuals everywhere throughout the world. He started with his production of what some call his adjust sense of self, Mickey Mouse, attempted to delivering films, and later opened his own carnival. From that point the Disney realm extended to too much, greater event congregations sprung up in America, yet additionally everywhere throughout the world, and movies are a s yet being made under his name. What's more, Walt Disney, the man who began everything - and included a style of his and the nation’s great profound quality , will stay a commonly recognized name until the end of time.

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Other summer programs

Other summer programs Since my earlier post on MITs summer programs was linked from the MIT homepage today, Ive been getting lots of traffic interested in summer programs. To that end, here is a further list of some terrific math science summer programs for high school juniors to consider. All of the below are national/international, selective, multi-week, residential summer programs in math science. Science Research programs Clark Scholar Program Garcia Summer Scholars High School Summer Science Research Program (HSSSRP) Michigan State University High School Honors Science/Mathematics/Engineering Program (HSHSP) Minority Introduction to Engineering Science (MITES) Research Internship Program in Science and Engineering Research Science Institute (RSI) Student Science Training Program (SSTP) Summer Science Program (SSP) Math programs AwesomeMath Canada/USA Mathcamp Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics (HCSSiM) Honors Summer Math Camp (HSMC) Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists (PROMYS) The Ross Program Stanford University Mathematics Camp (SUMaC) Womens programs SEARCH Summer Science and Engineering Program (SSEP) Womens Technology Program (WTP) Programs open to out-of-state; largely regional COSMOS Shad Valley Simons Summer Research Program Young Scholars Program in Discrete Mathematics State Governors schools Governors schools directory

Sunday, May 24, 2020

The Regulation Of Minimum Wage - 1055 Words

The Regulation of Minimum Wage In today’s society, people face to many serious issues which affect the society both in a positive and negative ways such as increasing the employment rate and increasing the unemployment rate. The increasing of the unemployment rate is caused by some reasons, and one of the problems that causes the high unemployment rate is the issue of the minimum wage. Depending on the states in the U.S., the price of minimum wage is different, but the low minimum wage may cause the economic condition worse unless the government changes the amount of minimum wage. Minimum wage is the lowest wage that an employer is allowed to pay. This wage is regulated by the law, so all workers must follow this rule. According to the book, â€Å"Minimum Wages†, the author Neumark, David states, â€Å"In 1938, the U.S. Congress passed a federal minimum wage as part of the Fair Labor Standard Act† (Neumark 1). Since that time, the minimum wage has been regulated and controlled by the law. This minimum wage causes a bad effect on the economy because nobody wants to work with a low wage. Therefore, the number of people who quit a job has been increasing, and because of this, the unemployment rate is going to be higher. This issue may cause a big impact on our society and economy in the near future. First of all, if the number of workers quit a job because of the minimum wage, the company will lose workers. Also, a worker who quit a job will lose a job and do not want to start workingShow MoreRelatedMinimum Wage Regulations Strike At The Very Heart Of The Free Enterprise System1526 Words   |  7 PagesAs a form of price control, minimum wage legislations strike at the very heart of the free enterprise system. The father of economics, Adam Smith explained in his masterpiece, â€Å"The Wealth of Nations†, that â€Å"the price system is the communication mechanism that coordinates, motivates, and harmonizes the actions of consumers and entrepreneurs†. His renown metaphor and philosophy of the â€Å"Invisible Hand† captured the idea that free-market pricing system molds individual self interest into extensive economicRead MoreBusiness Inequality in America: Raising The Minimum Wage 1250 Words   |  5 PagesWASHINGTON D.C. President Barack Obama has yelled o n Congress to raise the joined minimum wage, the centerpiece proposition at the State of the Coalition address that pondered on business inequality in America. Pointing out that the present minimum of $7.25 is nearly 20% lower in real paying manipulation than it was 25 years ago, he impelled legislators to prop a bill that ought to grasp the nationwide rate to $10.10. We additionally have to do supplementary to safeguard our economy distinctionsRead MorePolitical Involvement os Power of the Public1456 Words   |  6 Pagesthat distress (Kraft and Furlong, 2013). There are currently nineteen states that offer a higher minimum wage than the federal mandate. Thirteen states raised their minimum wage levels on January 1, 2014, increasing the purchasing power of the lowest paid workers in each respective state, some of the increases were under fifteen cents (United States Department of Labor). It is projected that minimum wage increases will drive consumer spending; and that can encourage job growth which will promote theRead MoreConserve Essay513 Words   |  3 Pagesthe disadvantaged, higher spending and more regulation and policies to redistribute wealth through taxation. Conservatism supports a greater reliance on the free market, a market in which the disadvantaged and minorities can support themselves, fewer government regulations, and lower taxes. I am a conservative. The ideas, which reflect conservative thought and play a role in free market society, are taxation, government regulations, and the minimum wage. These concepts govern the cost of doingRead MoreMinimum Wage in the United States1244 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction WASHINGTON D.C. President Barack Obama has shouted on Congress to raise the combined minimum wage, the centerpiece proposition at the State of the Coalition address that concentrated on commercial inequality in America. Pointing out that the present minimum of $7.25 is nearly 20% lower in real paying manipulation than it was 25 years ago, he impelled legislators to prop a bill that should hold the nationwide rate to $10.10. We additionally have to do extra to safeguard our economy distinctionsRead MoreFair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA)758 Words   |  3 Pagesadvanced and laws were enacted to put into place fair employment for those in the workforce. In 1938, congress would pass and President Roosevelt would sign the Wages and Hours Bill, more commonly known as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). This federal statute introduced a 44 hour, seven day work week, established the national minimum wage, guaranteed overtime pay in specific types of jobs at a rate of â€Å"ti me and a half†, and it defines oppressive child labor, which prohibits most employment ofRead MoreEssay On Government Regulations1162 Words   |  5 Pageseffects of Government Regulations on the Economy The U.S. economy has somewhat recovered from the recession that began in 2008, but from my recent findings I have realized that there has been an unbalance in that recovery. Investments have fallen and businesses investments have been weak. The government regulates securities markets, the environment, and even serves as a safety-net for businesses that are at risk for bankruptcy. In many efforts to mend the economy, regulations are costing the UnitedRead MorePersonal Worldview and Utalitarianism1315 Words   |  6 Pagesindividual’s view on right or wrong is based on personal worldview. The personal worldview shapes a person’s outlook on policy. Therefore, my worldview influences which policies I support. I will use my worldview to judge an editorial regarding minimum wages. In my worldview, I believe in the community good which is the Utilitarian view on ethics. I am willing to make sacrifice for the majority. It is impossible to appease everyone in the group; sometimes compromises have to be made. For example,Read MoreMinimum Wage During The Great Depression1419 Words   |  6 PagesThe Minimum Wage Battle In the United States, the minimum wage was passed during the Great Depression in 1938 to protect the buying power of normal workers in a period in which the â€Å"unemployment rate was still a very high 19 percent† (Sklar, 2009, p. 1). Since that time, there has been significant debate about the controversial topic of raising the federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage law was created to eliminate unfair practices of sweat shops and manufacturing companies during this timeRead MoreA Brief Note On Unemployment And Its Effect On The Economy864 Words   |  4 Pagesthe amount of people that are unemployed in its country. Governments always want to try and provide fixes to things such as unemployment by instituting minimum wage laws, job security laws, and setting regulations on working conditions. While most of these things may seem necessary and even beneficial we have learned that laws and regulations such as these set on businesses typically hurt the ones they are try ing to help the most. It is another case of focusing on the goals that these policies

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Redemption in The Kite Runner - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 659 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/10/10 Did you like this example? Introduction People try to redeem themselves from their past evil acts. These evil acts may be as a result of conflicting principles. Hosseini in his novel, Redemption in the kite running, demonstrates the ability for a person to better themselves after being involved in war, whilst pointing out that one can never truly be in a state of complete moral right or wrong. What are the Instances of Inner or Outward Redemption and Moral Ambiguity of the Society in Redemption in the Kite Running? Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Redemption in The Kite Runner" essay for you Create order Moral ambiguity is seen when people have conflicting principles. Usually, there is lack of clear ethical decisions being made when trying to gauge whether a certain situation is morally right or wrong. Amir is conflicted at whether to save Hassan from the cruel hands of Assef or to leave him there suffering. He is not sure on whether it is morally right or wrong to leave Hassan at the cruel hands of Assef so as to win back the love and trust of his father. Amir says, ‘I had one last chance to make a decision†¦I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan-the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past-and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran†¦I actually inspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.’ (77) Inner redemption can be described as one’s inner peace after saving oneself from evil that took place in the past. Amir tries to redeem himself or search for his inner peace from the evil activities that took place while he lived in Afghanistan before the war. Amir was wrestling with the idea that Hassan’s troubles and lack of a good life like his was because of him. He says, ‘I have a wife in America, a home, a career and a family. But how could I pack up and go home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things.’ (238). Amir did not stop Assef from violating Hassan. He watched and kept quiet about it. Instead of helping Hassan deal with the evil acts from Assef, he made sure that his father fired Hassan’s father so that Hassan is safe from Assef. However, Amir never checks up on Hassan to find out whether he was doing well. Amir had been presented with many chances to redeem himself but he ignored them. Eventually, he trie s to redeem himself. He says, ‘There’s a way to be good again.’ (238). He decides to save Sohrab as a way of redeeming himself. Outward redemption results into better outward treatment. It is seen when Amir tries to redeem himself for his father because he felt that he was the reason why his mother died while giving birth to him. He felt that his father’s disinterest in him was because he made his mother die. He was also worried on why his father treated Hassan better than him and yet he was his son. Amir, thus, tried to redeem himself so that his father may like him by winning the kite-tournament and take the losing kite to his father. Amir’s main motive in performing these actions is to have a better outward relationship with his father. At the beginning of the novel, he says, ‘It’s wrong what they say about the past. I’ve learned about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.’ (1) Conclusion In conclusion, people are often faced with the problem of deciding whether a certain situation is either morally right or wrong. This is because of conflicting principles. The execution of a wrongful act may often make people to redeem themselves from these wrongful acts.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Marketing and New Communications Technologies Free Essays

CHAPTER 1 1)Briefly compare and contrast the concepts of needs, wants, and demands, giving an example of each. Discuss how these concepts relate to marketing practices. Needs are states of deprivation. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and New Communications Technologies or any similar topic only for you Order Now For examples, physical needs for food, clothing, warmth, and safety; social needs for belonging and affection; and individual needs for knowledge and self-expression. Wants are the form that needs take as they are shaped by cultural and individual personality. For example, an American needs food but wants a Big Mac, french fries, and a soft drink. Demands is wants backed by buying power. For example, given their wants anfd resources, people demand products with benefits that add up to the most value and satisfaction. Outstanding marketing companies go to great lengths to learn about and understand their customers’ needs, wants, and demands. They conduct consumer research and analyze mountains of customer data. 2)In a short essay, discuss the challenges and advantages that new communications technologies have created for marketers. The new communications technologies has provided marketers with exciting new ways to learn about and track customers and create products and services tailored to individual customer needs. It’s helping marketers communicate with customers in large group or one-to-one. Marketers also can create their own detailed customer databases and use them to target individual customers with offers designed to meet their specific needs. For example, by using the Internet, a direct marketer can tap into online data service to learn anything from what car you drive to what you read to what flavor of ice cream you prefer. How to cite Marketing and New Communications Technologies, Essay examples

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Effects Of The Economic Crisis On Health - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Qesttion: Discuss About The Effects Of The Economic Crisis On Health? Answer: Introduction The objective of this task is to understand and evaluate the significance and causes of the global financial crisis which occurred in the year 200-2008. The crisis badly impacted the economies of many countries worldwide. So, the below mentioned task explains about the GFC and its reforms and impacts worldwide. Significance of the Global Financial Crisis The financial crisis which occurred in the year 2007-2008 laid an adverse impact on the state of many nations worldwide. The crisis happened in the year 2007 in the subprime mortgage market of market of US. The market busted because many banks went in liquidation and collapsed. Economist says that it is regarded as one of the biggest issue of all times after the Great Depression of 1930s (Davis 2018).Intake of excessive risks in the market led the outburst of the financial markets due to which all the other market were impacted worldwide. Some of the banks Lehman Brothers etc. tried to take advantage of the market by providing maximum loans to the people for purchase of property due to which the subprime mortgage bubble busted affecting the property market as well. High degree of taking risk, high degree of complexity in the market, lax supervision of governments, aggressive strategies of the banking system etc. activities combined together to magnify the impact of global financial c risis (Dijkstra, Garcilazo, and McCann 2015). Further the main reason of this financial crisis was the combination of debt mortgage backed assets with debts. Along with which the housing prices in the property market was rising continuously. The traders in the market were looking forward to expand the bond market due to which they discovered the process of restructuring of US mortgages into bonds and sell them to the investors so as increase the flow of income. Further through such investments the investor aimed to purchase the houses. The investment banks were then buying different mortgages from the issuers, pooling them together and restructuring them (Rey 2015). Then the banks were selling these securities as a new product in the market naming collateralized debt obligation or CDOs. It is assumed that pooling of such different mortgages in the market reduces the risk on securities due to which the assets become safe and secure from the risk. But this theory worked in the opposite manner in this case as the major mortgages wh ich were being securitized were of very low quality and credit rating agencies did injustice to the quality of these debts resulting to which these mortgages were overly estimated (Nobi, et. al., 2014). Due to which the real estate market reached its peak and there was increase in borrowing at low interest rates as well. All these activities collective promote the initiation of financial crisis in the market. The Community Reinvestment Act initiated a law which boosted the mortgage loan for the low and middle income people. Thus, all these activities collectively were poorly handle d in the market and gave rise of the financial crisis (Levine, Lin, and Xie 2016). Examples of financial crisis events Chinese stock market turbulence: The Chinese stock market crashed with the popping of the market bubble in the year 2015 which ended in the year 2016. The A-shares which were listed on the Shanghai stock exchanges were sold by the traders within a short span of time because of insecurities and aggressive fluctuation in the market. The stock market always shows its way when it is being aggressive used by the companies to obtain profits from it. Under this crash, initially the stock market rose to its peak of all time which helped many people present in the market make profits. But soon after that within 3 weeks the market crashed by 30 per cent which was not expected by any person present in the market (Hong 2016). More than 1400 companies listed on the exchange faced a trading halt because of the negative growth. This action was taken so as to secure position in the market and diminish the effect of crashing of the market. Further in the annual meeting of International Monetary Fund, the organization stated that this issue is a serious issue for the countries worldwide as it can trigger another financial crisis. The Chinese stock market was considered as a highly achieving stock market in the world but it suddenly fell down because the shares which were listed on the exchange with a high value than original. Also the high performing stock did not showed up according to the expectations due to which the peak in the market gradually fell down with a rapid speed due to which the country faced difficulties as major GDP of China was growing because of stock market only. Russian Financial crisis: The financial crisis in Russia occurred in the years 2014-2017. This crisis was result of the collapse of Russian ruble beginning in the second half of the 2014. Due to decrease in the interest of the investors in the economy of Russia due to which the people started selling their assets. This activity of people resulted in the increment of the Russian Financial Crisis. The economy of the country started falling when the prices of the crude oil fell in the year 2014. Russia being the major exporter of oil and petroleum product worldwide faced decline in price of these product by nearly 50 per cent due to which most of the income which the economy earned from this source started depleting. Also the country faced crisis because the international economic sanctions imposed various on Russia (Mearsheimer 2014). The US Federal Reserves low rates of interest showed a deep impact on the market of countries worldwide. The companies forecasted the denomination deb including the debts of Russia as well which was increased from 7.4 percent in 2008 to 117 percent by 2017. Reduction in interest rates of US people again started taking interest in the economy of US due to which the capital of Russia started flowing outward. These activities initially slowed the growth rate of the country and it also devalued many national markets like ruble. Further the sanctions imposed on Russia due to annexation of Crimea and Russian assistance to separatists fighting Ukraine in the War in Donbass adversely depleted the state of the country. Causes of GFC The global financial crisis disturbed the whole working of the economies. Many countries faced difficulty in sustaining the global market. Further some of the causes due to which the financial crisis occurred are discussed below: High level of keeping private debts in the banking sector: The banks initiated the strategy of manipulating the market by repacking the mortgaged securities and selling them in the market. Due to this activity the crisis occurred as the mortgage was overvalued. In order to gain the markets and remove the lock on the securities the banks increased the level of debts for the people ad backed up it with assets. In response to which the people in the market obtained household properties, this subsequently misbalanced the stock market along with the property market as well (Chang, Stuckler, Yip, and Gunnell 2013). Lax supervision by government: This factor shall be regarded as one of the biggest causes of the financial crisis. The regulatory bodies of the country ignored the activities which were being implemented in the environment by different sectors of the economy. Thus, due to negligence of the government on the activities initiated by different companies, the financial crisis occurred. The government never investigated the causes and reasons due to which the interest rates of the country depleted and subprime mortgage increased (Bech, Gambacorta, and Kharroubi 2014). Growth of subprime mortgage: In the year 1989, the financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act increased the enforcement of Community Reinvestment Act. This act abolished the banks redlining of poor neighborhoods, after which the regulators started giving ranks to the banks on the basis of their performance in greenlining neighborhoods(Baker, Bloom, and Davis 2016). Further the loans were secured with mortgage but subsequently after some years the federal banks again started raising the rates of interest. And the people were unable to afford them. Due to which people starting selling off their house and the house rates started decreasing. Further due to fluctuation in the property market, the bubble busted resulting in crisis for the country (Ollivaud, and Turner 2015). Possibilities of GFC to occur in future The economist says that now the chance of occurrence of global financial crisis has increased overtime. As the world economy has now become more interconnected than ever due to which one threat can poorly affect the state of all the nations. The financial markets are heavily regulated and the capital markets are expanding their scope in all parts of the world including Africa, Asia and Latin America. The banking sector worldwide is facing reduction in the number of players as banks have started eliminating themselves from the market. The MNIT countries (Mexico, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Turkey) are gaining the attention now after the Russia, Brazil (Harvie, C. and Van Hoa 2016). China, India and South Africa have shown disappointing results. Europe and Germany have started maintaining the pace in the market by recovering the markets. Further US is still regarded as one of the most competitive economy. This is the current situation which seems to be smooth, but again the causes due to w hich the world suffered the crisis are arising again. The government policies are encouraging more and more mortgage and the interest rates have now reduced as well. Also lack of transparency and wrongful intention of different companies to harass the market can lead to initiation of this crisis again in the near future. Thus, the regulatory bodies need to implement strict measures monitor the activities of different companies worldwide (Claessens, and Van Horen 2015). Scale and impact of GFC in different countries The impact of GFC on different countries is discussed below: Australia: The economy of the country faced a surprise after the global financial crisis because the markets started busting in unexpected manner. The banks of the country had adequate profits with them but with the occurrence of this event the reserves depleted within a short span of time. Just like many other countries fall in the prices of property rose, banking sector became unstable and the share market busted abruptly. All the reserves of the country were transferred back to US resulting to which the country faced cash crunch. This activity subsequently increased the deficit balance of the country and unemployment increased in the country (Moradi-Motlagh, and Babacan 2015). India: Though initially the government officials denied that the crisis has not affected the economy of nation but soon the impact was clearly seen. The stock of the country started falling soon after the crisis as rupees 250,000 were wiped off from the share market in a single day. The Sensex started losing its points and showed negative results. The trade also portrayed deficit balance due to which sources of income reduced and the reserves started getting depleted. The manufacturing sector faced difficulty in managing because the demand of the product drooped in the international markets. Lastly it shall be noted that the value of rupee in the market depreciated by 20 percent against the US dollar due to the crisis (Reddy, Nangia, and Agrawal 2014). Actual and proposed reforms for GFC Banking reform BASEL III: As some of the countries were not holding enough capital in order to meet the risk which they were taking due to which mismatch in the interest rates and the bond resulted in loss for the country. So, the Basel reform initiated with an aim to strengthen the regulation, manage the risk on practices initiated in the banking sector and supervise the activities accordingly. The framework maintained standards to withstand with the losses and maintain capital ratio as well. Further reform also maintained liquid cash with the banks in order to meet up the unseen liabilities (Ahmed, Coulibaly, and Zlate 2017). Crisis management and resolution: The key focus of the too big to fail work agenda was to address the international risks. These crisis management activities were initiated for the SIFIs (Systemically important financial institutions). The framework suggests the building banking market sector in such a way that these institution act according to the rules and always remain under the surveillance of the government. Recovery plan was developed to help in financial market infrastructure (Gourevitch et. al., 2016). Bail-in: Under this strategy the unsecured and uninsured liabilities of failing institutions were converted in equity so as to recapitalize them. Under this strategy three classes were differentiated like, contractual bail in, bail in via explicit statutory powers and bail in by business transfers (Simou, and Koutsogeorgou 2014). Conclusion Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events the fact that shall be noted is that global financial crisis is the biggest crisis which disturbed the markets of all nations worldwide. The inflation rate, interest rate, property rates etc. other segments were busted due to the occurrence of this event. References Ahmed, S., Coulibaly, B. and Zlate, A., 2017. International financial spillovers to emerging market economies: How important are economic fundamentals?.Journal of International Money and Finance. Baker, S.R., Bloom, N. and Davis, S.J., 2016. Measuring economic policy uncertainty.The Quarterly Journal of Economics,131(4), pp.1593-1636. Bech, M.L., Gambacorta, L. and Kharroubi, E., 2014. Monetary policy in a downturn: are financial crises special?.International Finance,17(1), pp.99-119. Chang, S. S., Stuckler, D., Yip, P., and Gunnell, D., 2013. Impact of 2008 global economic crisis on suicide: time trend study in 54 countries.Bmj,347, f5239. Claessens, S. and Van Horen, N., 2015. The impact of the global financial crisis on banking globalization.IMF Economic Review,63(4), pp.868-918. Davis, K., 2018. Regulatory Reform Post the Global Financial Crisis. Viewed on January 13, 2018 from https://www.apec.org.au/docs/11_con_gfc/regulatory%20reform%20post%20gfc-%20overview%20paper.pdf Dijkstra, L., Garcilazo, E. and McCann, P., 2015. The effects of the global financial crisis on European regions and cities.Journal of Economic Geography,15(5), pp.935-949. Gourevitch, P., Markovits, A., Ross, G., Bornstein, S. and Allen, C., 2016.Unions and Economic Crisis: Britain, West Germany and Sweden. Routledge. Harvie, C. and Van Hoa, T., 2016.The causes and impact of the Asian financial crisis. Springer. Hong, S., 2016. Chinas Crash Course: How a Turbulent Year Derailed Reform. Viewed on January 13, 2018 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/crash-course-how-chinas-turbulent-year-derailed-reform-1451714582 Levine, R., Lin, C. and Xie, W., 2016. Spare tire? Stock markets, banking crises, and economic recoveries.Journal of Financial Economics,120(1), pp.81-101. Mearsheimer, J.J., 2014. Why the Ukraine crisis is the West's fault: the liberal delusions that provoked Putin.Foreign Aff.,93, p.77. Moradi-Motlagh, A. and Babacan, A., 2015. The impact of the global financial crisis on the efficiency of Australian banks.Economic Modelling,46, pp.397-406. Nobi, A., Maeng, S.E., Ha, G.G. and Lee, J.W., 2014. Effects of global financial crisis on network structure in a local stock market.Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications,407, pp.135-143. Ollivaud, P. and Turner, D., 2015. The effect of the global financial crisis on OECD potential output.OECD Journal: Economic Studies,2014(1), pp.41-60. Reddy, K.S., Nangia, V.K. and Agrawal, R., 2014. The 20072008 global financial crisis, and cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A 26-nation exploratory study.Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies,6(3), pp.257-281. Rey, H., 2015.Dilemma not trilemma: the global financial cycle and monetary policy independence(No. w21162). National Bureau of Economic Research. Simou, E. and Koutsogeorgou, E., 2014. Effects of the economic crisis on health and healthcare in Greece in the literature from 2009 to 2013: a systematic review.Health policy,115(2), pp.111-119.

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Nestle’s Sustainable Growth in Mature Market Essay Example

Nestle’s Sustainable Growth in Mature Market Essay The company establishment Nestle was first founded by Henri Neslte in the 1860s by developing and producing food products for babies who could not adapt mother’s milk. Following the success in baby food products, Henri incorporated with an Anglo-Swiss condensed milk company to develop dairy products, especially for government supply in World War I. High sensitive and quick responding to the demand of consumer, Nestle continued to create and develop new product mix to canned food, beverage, pet care products, to maximize its scope of business in food segment. Nestle had been incurring high success during its operation in food industry, proved by production many creative product portfolio, double sales and tripled profits, globally brand recognition, offices and factories around the world with the management of previous CEO Helmut Maucher. Maucher successfully promoted Nestle to higher position in market as a global company and has been operating beyond its original Europe boundary. Nestle seems not still happy with what it had obtained. Under leadership of current CEO Peter Brabeck, Nestle is now experiencing a more significant growth and synergies as the top nutrition and food company with strategic management of Brabeck since he took over Nestle in 1997. In today, Nestle has developed another core business to Research and Development sector to support its traditional food and beverage business. Vision and Mission Vision According to Chief Technology Officer, Bauer, of Nestle in his presentation, Nestle has two visions classified for its two core sectors. We will write a custom essay sample on Nestle’s Sustainable Growth in Mature Market specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Nestle’s Sustainable Growth in Mature Market specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Nestle’s Sustainable Growth in Mature Market specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer For the Nestle’s operation vision, it indicates Nestle’s ambition to be the world’s largest Nutrition, Health, and Wellness company that innovate and distribute nutritious products that satisfy consumers’ nutritional and emotional needs. Additionally, to have continuous product innovations, Nestle realizes the important of new product research and development. As a result, the second sector is established with the vision is â€Å"to create future, move faster and go beyond what consumers tell us† (Bauer 2009). The new sector applies science and technology into innovating and reinnovating consumer=oriented products. Mission Brabeck’s growing strategies are aiming to position Nestle as the market leader in food industry, or at least to rank stably its product categories as second strong product power. Approaches to the mission are now strategically deploying by series of initiatives to increase internal and external operation efficiency. Nestle is currently widely known as the most success company manufacturing and distributing nutritional products for any aspect of health care. That means, Nestle already reaches the first part of its vision, however, Brabeck never stop thinking of giving Nestle to the most possibly highest position as he can and strikes strategies to advance Nestle’s competencies over its major competitors Nestle in a mature market Industry value chain analysis Targeted consumers: Nestle focuses on developing and manufacturing nutritious food and health care products to all types of retail consumers from premature babies to maturity and aging group. Another special profitable market for Nestle is to develop consuming products for pet care In order to Nestle’s products deliver to end-users, they are distributed by large buyers such as wholesalers, supermarkets, schools, businesses. Even they are retail or larger buyers; they of course have power over their choices and expectation of products. They are holding negotiating power on sales contracts at prices and quality they expect to. Nestle is an nutrition, health and wellness business, and it declare consumer orientation is main business development, it thus must notice to consumer’s wants and needs to offer them satisfactory products and acceptable prices. Intensive competition: Although already being the world’s largest food and beverage company, other food companies either globally or regionally achieve some objectives of their expansion strategies during years. Consequently, Nestle’s widespread position is not likely to be stable for a long-run. The three main competitors of Nestle are defined as Kraft, Masterfoods, and Unilever. Additionally, Nestle also must be aware of slow and consistent of local rivals. Both Nestle and its competitors distribute similar products to the same groups of consumers in same markets. Obviously, demand for food is essential and mature; however, with the significant increase in quality of life, people are searching for high qualitative nutritious products that satisfy their demand for health care. Thus, add-ins product is an important strategy for Nestle to remain its world largest position and market share. Key suppliers: strong supply chain is one of the most important competitive advantages to every business. Nestle has a wide supply chain operating over the world, in countries it has representing offices and factories. Similarly to consumer aspect, suppliers also have their owned power in term of conditions and considerations of supply contracts and they are uncontrollable entities. According to Nestle’s official website, it asserts the company has a strong relationship with its suppliers in single market. The relationship and professional corporation are conducted under respect and loyalty elements of non-negotiable standards to generate the competitive advantage to the company. Barriers to entry/exit: There is unlikely chance for a new participant to compete against Nestle and there is no signal from Nestle’s current rivals to exit the industry. The expansion of regional companies, however, must be noticed as they cannot confront to Nestle in global arena but they will probably occupy market share in a particular area. Merges between existing competitors to enhance their capital, market share and competitive factors then can obstruct Nestle’s internal growth. Substitute product: Adopting business strategies Raisch and Ferlic (2005) mentioned in their analysis that Brabeck wanted to achieve four percent of real internal growth when he had recently taken over Nestle in 1997. On the way to reach his goal, Brabeck had been developing challenging objectives such as strengthening innovative capacity and organizational changes. Many strategies were initialed during 1997 to 2005 in order to obtain his ambitious goal and objectives. Corporate level strategies As a global organization international strategy is at the heart of their competitive focus. Nestle’s competitive strategies are associated mainly with foreign direct investment. Nestle aims to balance sales between low risk but low growth countries of the developed world and high risk and potentially high growth markets of Africa and Latin America. Nestle recognizes the profitability possibilities in these high-risk countries, but pledges not to take unnecessary risks for the sake of growth. This process of hedging keeps growth steady and shareholders happy. When operating in a developed market, Nestle strives to grow and gain economies of scale through foreign direct investment in big companies. For example Nestle licenses its brands to local producers. In the developing markets, Nestle grows by manipulating ingredients or processing technology for local conditions, and employ the appropriate brand. For example, in many European countries most chilled dairy products contain sometimes two to three times the fat content of American Nestle products and are released under different brand names. Another strategy that has been successful for Nestle involves striking strategic partnerships with other large companies. In the early 1990s, Nestle entered into an alliance with Coca Cola in ready-to-drink teas and coffees in order to benefit from Coca Cola’s worldwide bottling system and expertise in prepared beverages. European and American food markets are seen by Nestle to be flat and fiercely competitive. Therefore, Nestle is setting is sights on new markets and new business for growth. In Asia, Nestle’s strategy has been to acquire local companies in order to form a group of autonomous regional managers who know more about the culture of the local markets than Americans or Europeans. Nestle’s strong cash flow and comfortable debt-equity ratio leave it with ample muscle for takeovers. Recently, Nestle acquired Indofood, Indonesia’s largest noodle producer. Their focus will be primarily on expanding sales in the Indonesian market, and in time will look to export Indonesian food products to other countries. Nestle has employed a wide-area strategy for Asia that involves producing different products in each country to supply the region with a given product from one country. For example, Nestle produces soy milk in Indonesia, coffee creamers in Thailand, soybean flour in Singapore, candy in Malaysia, and cereal in the Philippines, all for regional distribution. Business level strategies. To be able to adopt Innovation Strengthening objective, Nestle invested in maximizing assets, capacity utilization and distribution network. These investments were to generate operation efficiency and resources for reinforcing brands and stimulate product innovation that increases the company’s competitive advantages. For example, Nestle employed and financially succeeded in MH97, Target 2004+ and Operation Excellent 2007 projects which created considerably savings on capital. Reducing production cost (direct and indirect cost), innovation on production to minimize time and maximize outputs, closure of 165 factories from 1997 to 2002 and focusing on high-performed factories, improve supply chain were implemented during the period. As a result, the company saved up to 7 billion. For more saving, the company initialed FitNes project in 2002 to renovate administrative process that could save 1 billion. The amount saved from those activities was then invested in Ramp;D sector by establishment of Product Technology Centers, Local Application Centers and Clusters in the US, Europe, and partly Asia.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Special K Case Essays

Special K Case Essays Special K Case Paper Special K Case Paper Kellogg is a U. S. company, which offers the Special k cereal and accompanying products (cereals in different flavors as well as granola bars and protein shakes) that are healthier options for people who are aware of their diet and want a better lifestyle. Kellogg expands the market by targeting women who skip breakfast to stay slim. The marketing strategy helps to position the brand as a healthy alternative. The commercials we chose offer a weight management plan designed to lose weight in 2 weeks by consuming Special K products. The commercials chosen are both from the same campaign and the same year- 2009. In this report we have taken into consideration different international advertising factors to show Kellogg’s international advertising strategy. In this report we used several factors of international ad models to determine that Kellogg uses a hybrid international marketing strategy. Hybrid Advertising Strategy see table 1 Based on the environmental analysis below, we concluded that Kellogg’s uses a hybrid strategy known as pattern advertising (1). We considered these environmental factors: Political and legal: Kellogg uses a global approach because both countries have similar advertising regulations; therefore, there is no need for diversification. Economic: Kellogg’s uses a global approach because both ads target the same market consisting of middle and upper class working women who have a similar income, age, and knowledge of healthy lifestyle. Sociocultural: Kellogg’s uses a local approach because in the American advertisement the idea of time and logic is very important. In contrast, in the Mexican advertisement Kellogg appeals to emotions and the idea of personal satisfaction. Technological: Kellogg’s uses a global approach because they are aware that their target markets, who are middle to upper class working women, have the technology (television, internet) to see the commercials. Creative Execution see table 1 Creative execution, or the manner in which ads are carried out and presented, is different for U. S. and Mexican ads. The impact of the message depends not only on what is said but also on how it is said in these ads (2). Messages are presented in a mix of different execution styles: Straight sell: is presented in both ads. Here, the straight sell relies on the specific benefits/attributes of the product-the target audience can lose 3 kilos in 2 weeks (Mexico)/6 lbs in 2 weeks (U. S. ) with the help of Special K products. Both ads show that by buying Special K products, the target audience will enjoy the reward of weight loss. Rational vs. emotional argument: the rational argument, or the supporting claim, is presented in the U. S. ad by stating that loosing weight will lead to the â€Å"healthier new you. This is because in the U. S. the rational argument appeals to the monochromatic culture with low power distance like U. S. On the other hand, the emotional appeal is demonstrated in the Mexican ad when it shows the woman feeling great about herself. The emotional appeals to collectivistic cultures with high power distance like Mexico. Demonstration: the actual use is seen only in the Mexican ad bec ause Mexico is a collectivistic culture heavily relying on the opinion of family, friends, etc. so therefore the target audience is able to connect with the woman eating and enjoying the Special K cereals. High-context cultures, like Mexico, are relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative. Therefore, women in Mexico need to relate to the everyday situation when using Special K products. Americans rely on reason and individualism and therefore they don’t have the need to connect with the woman in the ad. Slice of life: both ads portray a real-life situation involving a problem-not being able to fit into jeans- and then both ads focus on how to resolve the problem by eating Special K, losing weight, and finally fitting into those jeans again. The slice of life is effective for everyday products such as cereals that consumers feel good about if they see real people buy and use them. Dramatization: it is used in the Mexican ad where there is a scenario in the form of a story- bad shopping experience and not being able to fit in your regular size-and the problem solution-eating special K products and losing weight. The reason for dramatization is that Mexico uses emotional/dramatic appeal in the advertising. On the other hand, U. S. commercials rely on the rational/lecture appeal. Also, Mexico is a high context culture meaning that they use more dramatizations in commercials while they do not have to use many words to explain the situation. In contrast, U. S. is a low context culture, so ads are based on words and explanations. Personality symbol: there is a central character (woman) that the audience can identify with in both ads. Special K is positioned as a cereal for adults, targeted to women and their ongoing concern with losing weight that is heavily influenced by popular culture in both Mexico and U. S. Humor: humor is used in Mexican ad when the woman tries to fit into jeans in the dressing room while her husband waits, and then she dances around when she is finally able to fit her jeans. The commercial is targeted to women, who can relate to main character because they think about the times when they tried to fit into jeans in the dressing room, and therefore they get the joke. As stated previously, the Mexican ad is appealing to women’s emotio ns and this is accomplished with the help of humor. Lifestyle: how well a product fits in consumer’s lifestyle is presented in both ads. Both ads show how easy it is to integrate Special K products into their lifestyle and lose weight. Special K ads are targeted towards working, middle class women, who do not have time to prepare difficult healthy meals, and therefore they can grab Special K cereal in the morning and pack healthy snacks for the whole day without any special, lengthy preparation. Advertising appeal see table 1 Both advertisements have an emotional appeal to their consumers, but the appeals are presented in different manners (1). Both advertisements present the issue of weight loss and women struggling to fit into their clothes. The American advertisement shows a woman trying on her jeans next to a dryer giving the impression that because she put her jeans in the dryer and they shrunk and won’t fit. Then it presents a clock, which indicates that it’s time to lose weight. Americans are very concerned with time, and the idea of losing 6 pounds or a jean size in 2 weeks can be very appealing to the American woman. In the Mexican advertisement, the advertisement involves the sense of personal satisfaction. A woman can be seen in a dressing room trying on many different garments that don’t fit her correctly while outside the dressing room a man is waiting impatiently for her. The commercial explains that no matter what, women will always have a reason to take their time. The advertisement encourages them to accept the challenge and gives them a chance to be able to win a full day of shopping. The commercial also says they can debut a new figure in new clothes. The Mexican advertisement not only has to appeal to the fact that women will lose 3 kilos in 2 weeks, but they can also win new clothes. Message see table 1 The American Special K advertisement claims that you will lose 6 pounds in 2 weeks if you take the Special K Challenge. The Special K Challenge requires you to eat their cereal and other snacks and follow the diet plan they give you. If you do this, you will lose weight. They claim that if you lose this weight, your clothes will fit you better and you will be much healthier. The Mexican Special K advertisement claims that if you use the Special K Program, you will lose 3 kilos in 2 weeks. If you use this program to lose weight, you will look better in your clothes. Also, if you buy Special K products, you will have a chance to win a new wardrobe that will flatter your new figure. Copy/ copywriters see table 1 Both ads use copywriters to communicate what the product is intended for and what it is supposed to do. In the American advertisements, they advertise the Special K challenge while in the Mexican ad they advertise the Special K program (programa de special K). Both ads in different words refer to the same thing, but are not copied from English to Spanish. Also, the slogan of the Mexican add is †because you can† (porque tu puedes) while the one in America is â€Å"It’s never too late to start a healthier new you† they both appeal to a slimmer healthier life, but again are interpreted and not presented with the exact translation. Neither of the ads present slang terms, but the American ad does present the term â€Å"wake up call† which for American means the time to change something, but in the Mexican society such idiom does not mean anything. Target market appeal see table 1 Number of people in ad: The Mexican ad reflects the collectivist culture by having many people in it. It is very busy, with many people in line and husbands waiting for their wives. The American ad, on the other hand, shows only one person, therefore appealing to the individualistic aspect of American culture. Masculine values: Both countries have a masculine culture, but the difference is that the Mexican ad reflects on the compet itive aspect, and the American ad reflects on the individual achievement aspect. Risk: Mexico is much more risk averse than the United States, so the Mexican ad backs the product with a promise of winning a shopping spree. The American ad just states that you can lose weight, therefore making you take the risk of purchasing the product for a vague reason. US product: Mexico has an overall positive attitude towards the United States, and therefore like American products. Therefore, The Special K brand is portrayed very similar in both advertisements. Availability of time: The product is a convenient and quick meal, so it appeals to people that are in a hurry. The product is portrayed in a similar manner in both advertisements. Independence of media from government control: Both countries have limited government control of broadcast television, so the company is able to freely express themselves in the ads, taking into account cultural factors. Relative importance of visual versus verbal in a message: Both cultures rely on visuals to portray a message and appeal to people. The ads both use imagery (i. e. more red in the Mexican commercial, minimalism in American) to appeal to the target market. The American ad, however, relies on verbal delivery to get the message to the viewers. Importance of self-service retailing: In both cultures self service retailing plays an important role for the deliverance of products to the population. Both ads expect the customer to purchase the product at their local grocery store. Development and acceptance of international trademark or trade name: Red, which is used for the theme color of Special K, is important in Mexican culture. The Mexican commercial underlines the red color, using it more than the American ad. Also, Special K does not mean anything bad in Mexico, so the name is acceptable. Applicability of products’ theme or slogan to other markets: Both slogans are different, but they imply the same thing. Both slogans are geared to appeal to the culture. Global media decisions see table 1 Both ads are television ads that implement sight, sound, motion, and color. Television advertising is intrusive in nature meaning that the viewer doesnt have to be actively involved to receive message. Special K is targeted towards middle-class working women and therefore both Mexican and U. S. ds run on television in the morning when women usually turn on the TV while preparing breakfast and in the evening while preparing dinner. The reason for this is the intrusive nature of TV advertising. Special K commercials also run on TV during the TV programs targeted to women. Advertising Objectives see table 1 Both Mexican and U. S. ads are hybrid of persuasive an informative advertising. The persuasiv e advertising motivates users to take action in the form a lifestyle change with the help of Special K products. There is an ongoing issue of weight loss presented in both ads and solution to lose weight. An informative advertisement communicates to create and build brand awareness by positioning Special K products as a cereal for adults that fits into working woman’s lifestyle. It informs the audience about the benefits (weight loss, healthier lifestyle) of the product. Big Idea see table 1 If your clothes are feeling tight, then you should eat Special K to be able to fit into them again. The big idea of both of these advertisements is that this product is a tasty, easy way to lose weight. This definitely appeals to many people who want to lose weight but do not have a lot of time. Also, they have many different Special K products so that the people who are trying to lose weight will have a lot of variety in the food they eat. In the Mexican ad you also have a chance to win a new wardrobe that will fit your new figure. Push/pull strategy see table 1 Both the American and Mexican advertisements use a pull strategy. Kellogg assumes that the target market has knowledge of the product. The ad’s wording them to try Special K and see for themselves that the product will help to lose weight, thus creating demand for the product. The customer will subsequently go to their retailer in search of the product. The ads encourage women to take the â€Å"special k challenge† and lose 6 pounds in 2 weeks. The Mexican ad also offers a free shopping spree for women that can fit into a specific red dress after the challenge. These challenges and offers make women look for the product at their local store. Table 1 Factor/ CountryUnited StatesMexico Hybrid advertising strategyPoliticalGlobal TechnologyGlobal EconomicalGlobal Socio-culturalLocal Creative executionStraight sellyesyes Rational/ motional argumentRationalEmotional demonstrationnoyes Slice of lifeyesyes dramatizationnoyes Personality symbolyesyes Humornoyes lifestyleyesyes Advertising appealyesyes MessagePromisesLosing 6 pounds in 2 weeks. Losing 3 kilos in 2 weeks. Benefit/ claimClothes will fit better and consumer will be healthier. Clothes will fit better and consumer will have a chance to win new clothes. Copy/copywriteCopywriteCopywrite Target marke t appeal# of people in ad 1 character-IndividualismMultiple characters-Collectivism Masculine valuesMasculine-individual achievementMasculine-competitive RiskMore risky-no promise behind Less risky-win shopping spree U. S. productAmerican is goodAmerican is good Availability of TimeLimited-convenientLimited-convenient Independence of media from government controlYes-choiceYes-choice Visual v. Verbal in messageVerbal-minimalisticVisual-dramatization Importance of self-service retailingPeople know where to buyPeople know where to buy Development and acceptance of international trademark Kellogg known Kellogg known Applicability of product’s theme or sloganVisible in adVisible in ad Global media decision Television advertisement-short commercialTelevision advertisement-short commercial Advertising objectivesHybrid of persuasive and informativeHybrid of persuasive and informative Big ideaFlavorful and convenient way of losing weight. Flavorful and convenient way of losing weight. Pull strategyKnown to target marketKnown to target market 1. Keegan, Warren J. , and Mark C. Green. Global Marketing. 6th. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. , 2011. Print. 2. Lakdawala, Ali. Advertising Messages. Scribd. Scribd Inc. , 2011. Web. 29 Nov 2011. .

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Benefits of free music download in iTunes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Benefits of free music download in iTunes - Essay Example This suggestion to have free music download in iTunes has received many critics from several quotas because it is argued as a violation of copyrights laws of the reproduction (Jost, 6). However, iTunes should acknowledge that free music download has more advantages than the disadvantages thus people should be allowed to download music freely on their website (Small, 41-68). The need for free music download has facilitated over one-hundred artists and hundreds of thousands of songs to be made available free download on the internet (Raw Downloads 1). iTunes has been left behind due to the charges it levies of the songs. Some of the reason music should be downloaded freely includes the benefits from great promotion.  When iTunes accepts the need for free download of music on their website, it would provide a better technique of marketing. This should be the chief reason iTunes should offer free music downloads on their website. Through making free music downloads, the music get playe d by people’s listening cars, devices, radios, major events, clubs, the online websites on the iTunes.  When a mass of people are truly attracted to an artist’s music, they will share the music freely through software like Bluetooth. Moreover, this would promote the artist brand name and music thus would get a lot of corporate endorsement (Jost 22).

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Current Health Care Situation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Current Health Care Situation - Essay Example This applies to all nations with America not left out of the list. The system of healthcare provision to the American people is a problem, which was replicated over past generations of the American history and requires the attention of the involved parties. The United States healthcare system is broken down and no one has the idea of how to fix it. Although the country is an economic giant and a superpower, the situation in the health sector is wanting. A fortunate portion of the American population has insurance cover mostly from their employment that covers their healthcare related costs (Liberty, 2012). However, most of the American people are not lucky enough to have healthcare coverage and as a result, they tend to suffer as they lack the essential access to the services. It is this situation that created questions such as â€Å"why do we keep using the health care system if it does not work?† â€Å"Do we need a universal health care system to act as a single payer and c over the American people in their attempts to get health care services?† These concerns facilitated the drafting of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) a United States federal statue that was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barrack Obama. The act commonly referred to as Obamacare or the Affordable care Act (ACA) is the most significant overhaul of the regulations of the system of healthcare of the country since the Medicaid passing in 1965.the ACA established minimum standards in the policies of health insurance (Pipes, 2013). The guaranteed issue in the act the denial of coverage to individuals by insurers based on pre-existing conditions. This means all applicants with the same age and in the same geographical location offer the same insurance premium prices. The act mandates every individual without insurance cover that is from the employer, public or Medicaid sponsored to secure a private-insurance cover unless the individual is in financi al constraints or is a member of a religious denomination that is recognized and does believe in insurance covers. Failure to comply makes a person liable to a fine. Health insurance exchanges that will serve as an online marketplace for small businesses and individuals to compare and buy policies should commence operations in every state according to the act. The exchanges will provide subsidies on a sliding scale from the federal government for families and individuals with low-incomes ranging from 100% to 400% of poverty level created by the federal government (Liberty, 2012). The act also expanded the eligibility for Medicaid to individuals and families with incomes going up to 133% of the federal poverty level with the inclusion of a 5% income disregard. The employer mandate subjects employers who do not provide health care insurance to at least 50 employees to a tax penalty if there are provisions of subsidies in health care for full-time employees through tax deductions by th e government. The reforms in the system of Medicare payment aim at promoting efficiency in the delivery system of health care through restructuring reimbursements of Medicare to bundled payments and not fee-to-service (Pipes, 2013). It seeks to provide access to Americans to affordable health insurance of high quality while reducing the ever-growing health care bill of the American

Monday, January 27, 2020

Analysis Of Marketing Mix

Analysis Of Marketing Mix We took up Amul Ice Cream as a product for our study and analysis. The project basic objective was to acquire a deeper understanding of the product and apply the concepts related to marketing mix, 4Ps of marketing and the consumer behavior as learnt in the course. The project was studied in three parts: Marketing mix of Amul Ice cream Study of the consumer behavior with the help of a structured questionnaire Marketing mix of two main competitors; Kwality Walls and Mother Dairy, suggestions and foresight about Amul Ice Creams In the first part, we studied the marketing mix of Amul ice cream which was further divided into four parts: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. MAIN CONTENTS Note: all corrections/additions/reasons in lieu of corrections are done below the remarks itself. SESSION 1 Marketing Mix of Amul Ice cream Amul Ice Cream was launched on 10th March, 1996 in Gujarat. It was launched on the platform of Real Milk. Real Ice Cream given that it is a milk company and the wholesomeness of its products gives it a competitive advantage. In 1997, Amul ice creams entered Mumbai followed by Chennai in 1998 and Kolkata and Delhi in 2002. Nationally it was rolled out across the country in 1999. It has combated competition from the established players like Walls, Mother Dairy and achieved the No 1 position in the country. This position was achieved in 2001 and it has continued to remain at the top. Today the market share of Amul ice cream is 38% as against the 9% market share of HLL, thus making it 4 times larger than its closest competitor. Product Amul has added a vast variety of flavours to its ever growing range. Currently it offers a selection of 220 products. Amul has always brought newness in its products and the same applies for ice creams. The broad heads under which Amul markets its ice creams are as follows: Royal treat range (rajbhog, cappuccino, chocochips, butterscotch, tutti frutti) Nut-o-mania range (kaju draksh, kesar pista, roasted almond, kesar carnival, badshahi badam kulfi, shista pista kulfi) Utsav range (anjir, roasted almond) Simply delicious range (vanilla, strawberry, pineapple, rose, chocolate) Natures treat (alphonso mango, fresh litchi, anjir, fresh strawberry, black current) Sundae range (mango, black current, chocolate, strawberry) Millennium ice cream (cheese with almonds, dates with honey) Milk bars (chocobar, mango dolly, raspberry dolly, shahi badam kulfi, shahi pista kulfi, mawa malai kulfi cream, green pista kulfi) Cool candies (orange, mango), Cassatta, Tricone cones (butterscotch, chocolate), megabite-almond cone), Frostik 3 layer chocolate bar, Fundoo range exclusively for kids, Slimscoop fat free frozen dessert (vanilla, banana, mango, pineapple), Health Isabcool In January 2007, Amul introduced SUGAR FREE ProLife Probiotic Wellness Ice Cream, which was a first in India. This range of SUGAR FREE, LOW FAT Diabetic Delight ProLife Probiotic Wellness Ice Cream is created for the health conscious. Price Amul has managed to stay ahead of its competitors by providing quality products at competitive prices, maximizing customer value. Amul followed the penetration pricing strategy and entered the market with prices much less than the leader in the market kwality Walls. This helped Amul in achieving great success at the start. Amul also captured a lot of the lower end untapped market due to its pricing strategy and gradually acquired a market share of 12-15% in the first few years. The pricing has been a major advantage of the brand. Following Amul, other players lowered their prices consequent to which Amul now follows a competitive pricing as its major strategy. Range of price minimum and maximum? Amul frostiks start from Rs 10 and go upto Rs. 20. The prolife pro-biotic icecream is priced at Rs. 15 for 125 ml. the super saver take away packs start from as low as Rs.110 for 2 litre whereas catering the higher end, exotica range starts from Rs. 120 per litre brick and extends upto Rs. 160 for different flavours. Place Ice cream, being a perishable item, it is very important to have a good distribution channel. Amuls head office is at Anand. The entire market is divided into 5 zones. The zonal offices are located at Ahmadabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. Moreover there are 49 Depots located across the country and Amul caters to 13 Export markets also. Amul follows four marketing channels to distribute its ice creams. Level Zero also called direct marketing channel consists of a manufacturer selling directly to the final customers how? Amul has entered into direct retailing through Amul Utterly Delicious parlours created in major cities Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Baroda, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Surat. These parlours surpass the regular softy and ice-cream scoop offering joints in terms of popularity and look set to give the more established ice cream brands in the cities a run for their money. In these parlours, icecream is stored and transported in a frozen condition (- 28o centigrade or below). They also keep frozen pizzas and frozen paneer. Level One contains one selling intermediary such as retailer to the final customers Level Two has two intermediaries typically distributor and the retailer Level Three comprises the distributor, retailer with the jobber in between Promotion Amul doesnt follow an aggressive marketing strategy for its ice creams. In the beginning, TV commercials for products such as amul tricone, real milk ice cream, frostik and premium ice cream were seen frequently. However these commercials cannot be spotted now. Instead the company prefers a more direct approach to sales promotion strategy. Offers such as super saver packs, one plus one and the likes are often given to lure the consumers into buying. Apart from these, Amul Company as a whole with its advertising partner FCB-ULKA puts up its hoardings which are famous for their satirical take on current happenings, for its complete basket of products including ice cream. The main reason for Amul retaining its dominant position in the market despite a conservative marketing strategy is because all the market players in this product category follow the same kind of strategy, i.e. minimal exposure to electronic media and high on sales promotion technique. In such a scenario Amul has been successful in creating a niche for itself. Amuls entry into ice creams is regarded as successful due to the large market share it was able to capture within a short period of time. The differential pricing, quality of products and of course, the brand name made this possible. SESSION 2 Consumer Buying Behavior We studied the marketing mix of Amul ice creams. Now well study and analyze the behavior in terms of consumers decision making process and factors affecting their buying behavior. Consumer behavior is how individuals, groups, and organizations select, buy, use and dispose of goods, services and ideas to satisfy their needs and wants. Consumer passes through five stages in buying a product: Need Identification Information Search Evaluation of Alternatives Purchase of Product After Sales Service Consumers dont always pass through all the above stages while making a purchase. For many of products (mostly perishable), the kind of involvement in the buying process is low. Consumers tend to do a lot of brand switching for the sake of variety and novelty. While buying a regular brand of ice cream, one goes directly from the need for ice-cream to the purchase decision skipping information search and evaluation. Even if they are present, the time given to each of these is negligible as compared to other stages. This is very important part of consumer buying behavior which in turn affects the factors affecting the consumer behavior. If one is loyal to one brand he will repeatedly purchase that brand and flavor. However if one doesnt find that product, he is very likely to switch to other available brands without much effort and may start liking it. Factors affecting the consumer behavior: Various types of factors which affect the consumer behavior and lead them towards a particular ice-cream brand are as follows: Product specifications, variety, price range, promotion strategies, and availability of product (which forms an integral part in case of variety seeking products) Reference groups (family, friends , media etc) and their effect on choices Knowledge of other brands existing in the market and their positioning in the minds of the consumers Demographics age, gender, income group Situational occasions where a consumer buys a product Involvement in buying the product in terms of frequency of purchase Studying the consumer behavior: In the survey conducted, (sample size=60) well first do a general analysis studying the market and Amul ice-creams position in it. In second part of the analysis, well see how different age groups may behave differently in consuming ice cream. Methodology: Samples for the study consisted of people from the age group of 18-40. Samples were taken randomly where a structured questionnaire was mailed to the people and their responses recorded. The questionnaire had the following dimensions: Demographics of the respondents such as age, income group, occupation, gender Knowledge/awareness about the various brands available in the market Frequency of purchase of ice cream, place of purchase, price preferences, reference groups, Favorite brands vis-Ã  -vis Amul in terms of ratings on the features of the product. Sample size: 60 respondents from the target population were approached to fill in the questionnaire. Result and discussion: The decision in buying ice cream is influenced by many factors such as taste, availability, pricing, packaging, variety of the product, occasions and mood and so on. Results of the data analysis will be studied in two parts: An overall analysis of all the factors. A comparative analysis of the age groups to analyze the difference in their behavior due to different age. Overall analysis: Demographics of the respondents: Data was collected with respect to four demographics of the sample; age, gender, income groups and occupation. Based on the analysis, it was observed that 68% of respondents were in the age group 18-24 and 32% in the age group 25-40. One third of the respondents were females. More than 50% of the samples were students owing to which the income range of less than 50000 Rs. bears the highest percentage in the income distribution. The following pie charts show the age, and income group distribution of the sample: Consumer behavior with respect to frequency of purchase and the occasions/moods leading the buying towards buying ice creams: The frequency of purchasing of ice creams is high. 7% and 35% of the respondents buy ice cream on a daily and weekly basis respectively. This implies that buying frequency for ice creams is fairly high. This influences the level of involvement in looking for the alternatives each time the buyer consumes an ice-cream. The consumer is more or less habitual own interpretation? in purchasing the ice cream due to which the 2 steps in buying behavior become redundant as already mentioned earlier. By habitual, we mean routine to be more precise. This can be seen in the following pie-chart which shows the frequency of purchase. Restating the data, 7% of the respondents are buying on a daily basis and 35% are doing so weekly. In terms of mood in buying, people generally buy ice-cream without any reason when buying very frequently. If they buy occasionally then the occasions on which buying is carried out on the occasions as given below: The samples are equally distributed over the occasions such as birthday, marriage, family outing, hanging out with friends, or part with the % of people consuming it with friends dominating the others. As far as choosing the flavor/brand of ice-cream is concerned, over 93% choose the flavor/brand themselves. It can be inferred that the influence of family and friends in choosing the ice-cream is very low and people go by their own choices while buying it. 5% of the people eat ice-cream flavors as decided by the family which may be the case when one is buying bricks of ice-cream. Rest 2% constitutes people who go by the friends choice in choosing the flavor/brand. Place of purchase and importance attached to packaging: More than 50% of the consumers buy ice cream from the corner shop of their colony. It signifies the importance of distribution channels and the kind of availability they need to have to maintain to create a position in the market. If they go out of stock they are at the risk of losing their customers to other competitors. The data infers that availability of Ice-creams are high in round the corner shop and Super markets whereas Malls may afford to go loose on all time availability. Regarding the packaging, 93% place importance on the packaging of the ice-cream which again makes it important for the brands to have a very attractive packaging in order to attract the consumers. Factors forming an important consideration for trying a new product/flavor: There are various factors which lead to trying out a new product launched in the market and make repeated purchases. The following pie diagram shows the constitution of various factors that may lead to trying out and repeated a new flavor, brand or product: It can be seen that taste forms the most important factor leading to buying of ice cream which is placed higher than the brand name also. It reemphasizes the fact that brand name of the ice-cream is not the most important. If the consumer likes the taste of other product, one may shift to the other brand. The 2nd most important factor is advertising. Ice-cream brands are generally low on their promotional strategies. However the importance of advertising with consumers is easily visible in the survey. For one fourth of the people, advertising is the force which leads them towards an ice-cream product. Most of the advertising for Ice-creams comes through billboards and hoardings and here Amul as a brand scores over others as the brand awareness of Amul is one the best. 2. Comparison of consumers favorite ice-cream and Amul ice-cream on various attributes: We asked our sample to rate their favorite ice-cream vis a vis Amul ice-cream on various attributes such as taste, packaging, price , variety and availability on a scale of 5 where 1 was the worst and 5 was the best (out of total samples 13 rated Amul as their favorite ice-cream also which is roughly 21% of the total samples). A comparative chart of the same is given below: Studying the parameters: Taste: People rate their favorite ice-cream as approx 3.7 (average of all the samples collected) whereas rate the Amul ice-cream as approx. 3.1. And as we saw that taste is the most important factor in determining the choice of consumers, how you can conclude this? Graph shows that Amul ice cream is lagging behind in this attribute to quite a large extent as compared to other factors. In the previous question, we had asked the consumers about the factors which would lead them to try out a new product/flavour/brand. The response was in favour of taste with over 50% of the respondents going for the same. We took five parameters in that question and weve taken the same in the rating scale also. So using the data from above, weve concluded that from these five factors, taste is the highest influence in making the choice for ice cream. Packaging: Favorite ice-cream stands at an average of approx 3.4 as against Amul ice cream which stands at 2.9. The company needs to work on its packaging also in order to attract the consumers. Price: Amul ice cream fairs slight better than the consumers favorite ice-cream. This is obvious as Amul is known for its lower range products. Kwality-walls among the other brands are known for slightly higher prices. Amul has been doing well on this front. Variety: Favorite ice-cream is rated at 3.4 Vis a Vis Amul rated at 2.8 on this parameter. Though Amul offers a wide range of products, but maybe people are not aware about the variety of the Amul ice-creams. Amul needs to create awareness among the consumers on this front. Availability: On the parameter of availability, people rate their favorite ice-cream as approx. 3.4 and Amul as 2.9. Amul has to ensure that it never goes out of stock due to the nature of buying behavior of the product. Awareness about other brands existing in the market: People are well aware about the brands in the market. Among the top 3 brands mentioned by the consumers, Amul and Kwality-walls feature the most among the two. For the 1st preference, Kwality-walls overtake the awareness whereas for the 2nd choice Kwality-walls and Amul stand at an equal rating. This is important from the point of view of Amul as the people who are variety seeking will switch over easily to the other brands if they are not happy with Amul. Among the brands that are well known to the customers, Amul, Kwality-walls and mother dairy are the most sought after brands. Other than these regulars brands, there are other brands such as Vadilal, havmor, Baskin Robbins, creambell, and others which constitute a small share in the market in terms of awareness level. Analysis with taking age, income (demographics) as the distinguishing factors: For analyzing the difference in factors leading to buying behavior due to difference in age, we have already divided the samples into 2 age groups 18-24 and 24-40 years. Frequency of purchase: Following is a chart depicting the total sample of people on the parameter of frequency of purchase divided age wise: It is clearly visible that 18-24 years consume ice-cream more frequently than the people in the age group of 25-40 years. 57% of people in the age group of 25-40 consume ice-cream occasionally which is only 31% in the case of the lower age group. On the other hand, the combined % of people consuming ice-cream on a weekly or daily basis for 24-40 year age group is only 25% as against 48% in case of 18-24 year olds with weekly consumption leading for the same. Factors consuming new ice cream product, brand or flavor: It can be observed from the above table that number of people preferring taste is much higher in case of 18-24 year olds. Also people in the age group of 24-40 years dont consider packaging or cheaper price as a leading factor while considering a new product. This is an important observation as Amul mainly sells on the lower price strategy. If it is offering a lower priced product, it needs to work on packaging as large numbers of people give importance to packaging in this group (also shown in the following chat). However it may or may not work so much on packaging if it is introducing a new product/flavor in the higher end markets. Willingness to buy sugar free ice cream at a higher price: To determine the level of health consciousness of the people and their willingness to buy the ice cream at a higher price if available, the data was collected, representation of which is given below: 70% of the people were not willing to buy the sugar free ice-cream at a higher price. This can be due to 2 factors: always better to ask from the respondents people are less health conscious people are price sensitive The options given to determine the same would not have been exhaustive. Possible the open-ended question wouldnt have been of much use. But yes, it is certainly better to ask from the respondents and due care would be taken next time. To further judge this, we distributed this data age wise to which how many people in which age group are willing to buy the ice-cream at a higher price. The representation of the findings is given below: In case of people in the age 25-40 years, over 42% of the people are willing to buy the sugar free ice cream if available at a higher price. However this falls to 32% In case of the age group 18-24 years. This can be again attributed to 2 factors: People in the lower age group are less health conscious or they are earning less so they are price sensitive or both. People in the higher age group are more health conscious or they are earning more so they can afford higher prices. Miscellaneous remarks about Amul ice creams: (optional in the survey) Amul is my favorite brand but more chocolate varieties are possible using different caramels and nuts. Its like since childhood I have an image that Kwality Walls is the best ice cream. Amul and Mother Dairy are my second best. They should come out with some good advertising campaigns for their ice creams and should really try out the social media to market their brand. It is good, but sometimes some flavors are out of market, especially mango flavor. The Amul ice cream should be readily available and the variety should be more. Also the marketing is very poor we do not see much. Amul seems to be a brand for common men the middle class, very well placed to cater to middle class people the biggest chunk of Indian populationalthough not very popular among the higher class These remarks about Amul ice cream highlight the fact that we have been saying all throughout out analysis. The variety in some products of Amul is not at par with the other brands or the needs of the consumers. The availability is on a lower side due to which some of the samples complained of the brand getting out of stock. Also the level of awareness of the ice creams of Amul among the consumers is very less due to which it suffers a lot. Amul needs to go aggressive on its promotion strategies so that it can expand its market share and perform well. Conclusion: From the above survey, we can conclude that major factors affecting Consumer behavior are Taste, Price, Packaging, Brand Perception and occasion. As Ice-cream is a variety seeking product, therefore the availability of Amul Ice-cream has a major impact on the actual consumption by the consumers and since Amul is very close to the market leader Kwality-walls. It has to take care of availability especially at round the corner stores and super markets where the sales of Ice-cream are maximum. Taste is considered the most important factor in determining the consumer behavior as per the survey. Amul Ice-cream is lagging behind in Taste as per the consumer perception when compared to Market leader. Attitude of the consumer is favorable towards Amul Ice cream and this can be seen through the comparative analysis of different brands in the market. Part of it can be attributed to Amuls brand perception across all the product categories countrywide. There is no significant difference in behavior towards purchasing Ice cream based on gender but the younger age group prefers to eat ice cream more than their older counterparts. Since most of the younger age group also falls in relatively lower income group, this shows the higher consumption trends by low income group in survey.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Technology, Criminal Investigations, and Ethics :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Abstract  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper discusses several implementations of modern technology in criminal investigations, and the ethical issues that accompany these techniques, focusing on the tradeoff between security and privacy. Specific topics include centralization of information, telecommunications, and general technology. Cases are cited for each topic, as well as a discussion of the ethical issues involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With the advent of modern technologies, the face of criminal investigations, and indeed daily life, has been irrevocably altered. In addition to locating criminals with ease, authorities now have the ability to monitor potential criminals before they can commit crimes. However, with an increased ability to detect comes an inevitable tradeoff in privacy. To monitor society as a whole is to monitor both the innocent and the guilty. Phases of sudden change imply a period of social adaptation, namely debates centered on the 4th amendment and personal privacy. Cases related to the 4th amendment reflect the difficult application of 200 year-old principles to a changing society, while the latter examine the tradeoff between privacy and protection.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite a large number of high-profile cases surrounding general technology and criminal investigations, the majority of advancements in the field have been undeniably beneficial to the law enforcement community. Ballistics, the study of dynamics of projectiles, has aided authorities in tracing countless criminals. By maintaining a record of firearm and ammunition types, sources, and characteristics, investigators are given an invaluable tool in collecting information about crimes. The recent advent of DNA testing and analysis allows for incontrovertible identification of individuals. Traces as insubstantial as fingernails, hair, and skin cells can place an individual at the scene of a crime. Police who are equipped with laptop computers can instantly look up the history of a vehicle, including whether it was reported as stolen or owned by an individual with outstanding warrants. Many innovations have indisputably aided criminal investigat ion without causing controversy. However, there have been a multitude of technologies that have incited oversensitive privacy advocates. Centralization of information is one concept that has provoked debate. Large databases can contain information about an entire state or country, which has been done for years in paper form. The distinction is that when information takes electronic form, its location is often indeterminate and the data is prone to corruption or piracy. Given the potential to integrate information about an individual into a single record, there is reason to worry about misuse. Technology, Criminal Investigations, and Ethics :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers Abstract  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper discusses several implementations of modern technology in criminal investigations, and the ethical issues that accompany these techniques, focusing on the tradeoff between security and privacy. Specific topics include centralization of information, telecommunications, and general technology. Cases are cited for each topic, as well as a discussion of the ethical issues involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With the advent of modern technologies, the face of criminal investigations, and indeed daily life, has been irrevocably altered. In addition to locating criminals with ease, authorities now have the ability to monitor potential criminals before they can commit crimes. However, with an increased ability to detect comes an inevitable tradeoff in privacy. To monitor society as a whole is to monitor both the innocent and the guilty. Phases of sudden change imply a period of social adaptation, namely debates centered on the 4th amendment and personal privacy. Cases related to the 4th amendment reflect the difficult application of 200 year-old principles to a changing society, while the latter examine the tradeoff between privacy and protection.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite a large number of high-profile cases surrounding general technology and criminal investigations, the majority of advancements in the field have been undeniably beneficial to the law enforcement community. Ballistics, the study of dynamics of projectiles, has aided authorities in tracing countless criminals. By maintaining a record of firearm and ammunition types, sources, and characteristics, investigators are given an invaluable tool in collecting information about crimes. The recent advent of DNA testing and analysis allows for incontrovertible identification of individuals. Traces as insubstantial as fingernails, hair, and skin cells can place an individual at the scene of a crime. Police who are equipped with laptop computers can instantly look up the history of a vehicle, including whether it was reported as stolen or owned by an individual with outstanding warrants. Many innovations have indisputably aided criminal investigat ion without causing controversy. However, there have been a multitude of technologies that have incited oversensitive privacy advocates. Centralization of information is one concept that has provoked debate. Large databases can contain information about an entire state or country, which has been done for years in paper form. The distinction is that when information takes electronic form, its location is often indeterminate and the data is prone to corruption or piracy. Given the potential to integrate information about an individual into a single record, there is reason to worry about misuse.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Enron: What Caused the Ethical Collapse

It is not easy to find one single person, who can be blamed for the collapse of Enron, because there was so many players in so many levels. We can’t find one responsible person, but there are many person who shared the blame for the scandal that turned Enron into the ultimate poster child for fraudulent accounting practices, and caused one of the largest bankruptcies in the us history. The key people involved internally at Enron were the executives, Kenneth Lay (Chairman and CEO), Jeffrey Skilling (President and CEO), and Andrew Fastow (CFO). They built up a highly successful company, but soon they began to divert funds into phony investments, and cashed their own stocks, while the price was still high. From October 1999 to November 2001, Lay sold a total 1. 8 million shares for $101 million. Altogether, 29 Enron officers pocketed $1. 2billion from selling Enron shares, while unsuspecting employees went broke. Simultaneously, while this was going on, more than half of employees’ 401(k) savings, or about $1. 2 billion, were invested in Enron stock, which were rendered worthless. The chairman sent an email to the workers: the company had â€Å"never been stronger† and its future growth â€Å"has never been more certain†, so most of the workers held their stocks, because nobody could foresee what was about to happen. In Texas, the Teachers Retirement system lost $35. 7 million in Enron stock, In Florida; the pension fund for teachers, state employees, and county workers bought 7 million shares of Enron stock (the fund that covers 650,000 workers and 150,000 retirees estimate they lost $306 million). In the end millions in 401(k) savings were lost. Enron was hiding massive losses by using their strategy of â€Å"mark to market† accounting. Fastow was also found by an internal Enron investigation to have secretly made $30 million from managing one of these partnerships. Outside of the company, Arthur Andersen, the gigantic accounting firm responsible for Enron’s accounting and outside auditing, also shares some blame for the scandal. In theory, companies can't get away with cooking their books because honest, independent accounting firms are looking over their shoulders, protecting the public. In the case of Enron, however, Arthur Andersen failed at their duties. Four days before Enron reported a staggering loss of $618 million for the third quarter of 2001, one of Andersen's top lawyers sent out a memo ordering his staff to shred all Enron-related audit documents. Dvid Duncan got the maximum sentence for his crimes is ten years. redit rating agencys: Credit rating agencies like Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch failed to inform investors how risky buying a company’s bonds might be, failed to spot any problems with Enron until the company was nearly bankrupt, only downgrading its bonds on 28 November 2001. t S&P and Fitch told a Fortune reporter they had no idea how Enron made its money. The lack of regulations, and the good relations with the White House, allowed Enron to have major influ ence over policy in America. On economic policy, Enron wanted complete deregulation with no government interference. They got it. On energy policy, Enron wanted no caps on electricity prices in California. They got it. On tax policy, Enron wanted elimination of the corporate alternative minimum tax. They got it. In the end these policies created the perfect environment for their unethical games. The ultimate example occurred throughout the year 2000 during the California Electricity Crisis. The Enron traders exported the cheap electricity from California to another state and later they take it back and sold it for a higher price. This causes 42 billion losses in California in three years.