Real Estate Investment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Real Estate Investment - Essay Example Lack of infrastructure and basic facilities would lead to downfall in prices of the land and investors will lose faith and retract the investment. This would be huge disaster for any businessman. Therefore before putting a land to sale check the basic amenities and infrastructure and the price of the land accordingly. Italy has become a hotspot for real estate business domestically and internationally. The main reason for this is the presence of strong infrastructure and basic facilities like water and electricity. One of the important factors that have increased the real estate corporate is the high rate of ownership. Real estate has become an alternate investment in Italy. A general definition of valuation of property is to state the actual value of the property both according to the government and private (commercial) sector. But government will valuate only landed property and fertile land. While valuating a property government will not consider the commercial demand that property is possessed with. Italy has many heritage monuments. The heritage monuments may fetch income in the form of tourists visiting these monuments. Government earns income with the developing tourism. The income goes to the government treasury, which is utilized in developing the country's economy. Apart from state owned properties commercial and residential ... Commercial show room owners are ready to pay any amount of money to get a place in the most commercially viable areas. The reasons for the properties producing high income is leasing it out or renting the property for a specified period of time. The value of the commercial and office property keeps growing with the development of the city. With increasing number of tourists visiting the revenue increases. Tourism also plays an important in increasing the price of the land. As population of the country increases the cities start expanding and drag the outskirts into city limits. Since outskirts will be a new place to establish, developers raise the property keeping in mind the space required for offices, commercial establishments, military units and staff quarters for employees to reside. Newly established property prices touch the skies means the prices are always soaring high allowing only rich and effluent people to purchase the property. These properties fair well when they are presented up again for resale. The process of buying a property is regulated in Italy. An offer should be made through selling agent once an investor secures the mortgage for the property. A contract will be framed once both the parties agree on the price. At this juncture investor has to deposit 10-30 percent that is mandatory. The deposit is not returned to the investor if pulls out from the contract. If the vendor pulls out he should pay twice the amount that was agreed upon as the deposit. The preliminary contract contains information on basic issues like sale price, details regarding mortgage and completion date. The both parties, which are a legally binding agreement, sign the reservation and the sale is completed on a specific date

The main one being superstition Essay Example for Free

The main one being superstition Essay How has Willy Russel portrayed Mrs. Johnstone and Mrs. Lyons in Blood Brothers? How does he shape the audience response to the two women? I think the author has portrayed Mrs. J as a loving, caring person. She always involves her family when she thinks of life and just thinks of the simple things as luxury, this shows she is quite poor, she doesnt seem to have many things and she just wishes she could make her children happy. Shes always trying to support them and give them everything they want, for example in the catalogue she has tried to keep all the things she picked out from it but she doesnt have the money, it shows shes very soft towards her and her childrens needs, she just wants to get them everything they want but cant afford it, I love the bones of every one of them this shows she loves everything about them, every part of them. She seems to always buy things from the catalogue and always getting the consequences in return, this shows she never learns her lesson. Only mine until the time comes around to pay the bill. Then, Im afraid, what cant be paid must be returned. You never, ever learn, that nothings yours, on easy terms. This proves the point, the idea of having everything for her children is so tempting she just keeps on trying to pay, as though she has some hope that one day when it comes around, she will have the money to pay it. Easy terms is used by the narrator, easy terms means that you pay for something over time but the narrator is using easy terms for Mrs. Johnstone as there will be a price to pay, in the end you will have consequences to your actions, in this case she will pay for giving her child away. The writer uses these lyrics so that they can connect or relate to the audience because everyone has to pay for something in their life, it may not be something you want to do but in the end you have to, its showing that Mrs. Johnstone will always have to pay for what she has done. In the easy terms piece I think you could create a tear-rending scene by having Mrs. Johnstone in a apron or a maids dress to show she is very busy and she works a lot even though its probably not a well paid job. You could have her level with the babies to show the connection she has with them, she doesnt want to scare or intimidate them, she wants to mother them and putting her in this position will show what feelings she feels towards them. Then, Im afraid, this shows she is dreading the idea of what is going to happen. She should have a dreading, saddening face on and look as though she is about to burst into tears. I think the lighting should position a spot light on the babies and Mrs. Johnstone, concentrating on them and showing what is important. The volume of the music should move up and down to show her bursts of emotion but the sadness is shown with the quietness now and then. She is also thinking of her child when she swears on a bible; so that he gets all the things hes ever wanted or needed. We have seen Mrs. J as a kind, giving person and we give the response of sympathy. She has no money, no food, no normal, simple necessities, she just wants to have a care-free life and shes showing she is prepared to work hard for it. I think the author has portrayed Mrs. J as a pushy, selfish person. At the beginning we thought of her with sympathy, her husbands away, she has a big house with no family to fill it with and cannot have the joy of children. You start to see her side on how she has never had a child and craves one so badly that she even dreams of a child she never once had but then, the table turns and we she her bad side. We see her desperate side as she says that you have to swear on a bible, then we see that she is very pushy and selfish, when she says to Mrs.J that she wants the baby right now, this could mean that she doesnt want her to get attached to the baby, making it even more hers. Suddenly we see her pushy side when the baby is in the cot, Mrs. Lyons makes it clear that the baby is hers and that she is the mother from now on. Its even worse when we see she is firing her from her job, breaking a promise and even threatening her when she says she is going to tell someone, turning the blame to Mrs. J. We then see that Mrs. Lyons has a very dark side to her as she uses superstition against Mrs.J, knowing that, that is her weakness. In a way I can see her point of view, this is her chance to take what shes always wanted, to make her life perfect and she is never going to let it slip away since its so close to reach for. The response he is trying to get from the audience is a hated view, that she is a very terrible person and that she is doing all she can to get what she wants regardless of other peoples feelings. The play is about a number of things. The main one being superstition. Mrs. J starts the superstition in the play by telling Mrs.L to take the new shoes off the table because it is bad luck.

Why Great Men Do Not Become President Essay examples -- Elections Poli

Why Great Men Do Not Become President Over the course of history America has been electing the most popular not necessarily the best-qualified men as president. The office has become a strategic component vital to each political party. Parties sacrifice a great leader for the man that will win the most votes. History is a record of how we have always had had this practice. The office is full of corruption because money and influence run the presidency. The political leaders lie to the people that he is intended to serve. There are many overwhelming reasons that the best man is not always chosen for the job. They all inevitably stem down to the simple fact that a political party in order for its survival must have their candidate elected. In this struggle for dominance, qualities crucial to making a â€Å"great† leader are sacrificed in order to get votes. Location, religion occupation, and track record are all taken into consideration when choosing a candidate. Although these factors have no effect on how a leader will perform in office they are crucial factors in determining a candidate. Presidential candidates can best be described to a form of selective breeding. Similar to how farmers choose the best seeds to plant their crops each season to grow the most food, political parties choose the best candidates in the same respect. In order to survive and have their philosophy be heard in the American system of government, political parties must win elections. To ensure the best chances of winning an election they select the best â€Å"seeds.† Ultimately though sacrifices need to made to ensure a successful election. This is due to the simple fact that a bad president is better then no president in the eyes of ea... ...ar as the last election to be disproved. George W. Bush was a poster child for Republican America. He is not a great man in any sense of the word. Bush is not a genius or scholar. He did work to build himself up but was simply born into the Bush royalty. Just like royalty fittingly enough he was appointed president by having the right connections, image and of course, money. America needs a change from the current standard. We have had men in office who have lied cheated and stole from the very people that they are there to serve. Respect for the office is lost because of their actions. It is clear that corruption runs deep and is not a new addition to the White House. The discerning fact is that this may never change as long it takes money and image to win an election. American elections will always be more an election of popularity then of principle.

To What Degree Might Different Languages Shape In Their Speakers Differ

To What Degree Might Different Languages Shape In Their Speakers Different Concepts Of Themselves And The World? What Are The Implications Of Such Differences For Knowledge?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The difference in languages can cause different perceptions of various cultures leading to distinctions or possible clashes. When I lived in France I faced some of the problems a language barrier can cause. The most common and at the same time most irritating problem of language is the inability to translate word for word as some words just don’t have a direct translation into another language. These are normally colloquialisms for example â€Å"up the apples and pears† does not translate into â€Å"monter les pommes et les poires.† This would cause people to look at you in a very strange manner wondering what on earth you were talking about and it’s not only verbal language which creates different perceptions of people. Body language, such as hand movements and voice intonation can determine or change someone’s perception of a culture. The following paragraphs will illustrate the way language can be misconstrued.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first point I would like to illustrate is the way body language can have different effects on people. For example, in England the use of hands when you are speaking is quite rare, the odd movement of the hand may be seen but the most common use of hand signals or motions is when someone is making an insult. I will use the Italians as an example of at times exaggerated and frequent use of hands. The Italians often use their hands as a way of secondary communication. As they speak they dramatise their conversations which can be mistakenly perceived by some people as confrontation when in fact they are having a simple conversation. This is where the lack of knowledge of a culture can cause a misunderstanding. Another example of communication which can cause raised eyebrows is the way the French acknowledge one another is doing something called the â€Å"bises.† This is where they give a kiss on each cheek. (Depending on the region this could be two, three even four kisses.) It is considered rude to just verbally greet someone so the â€Å"bises† is the norm for them. However when they are out of their country they could receive strange looks because people don’t understand their reasons and therefore could be perceived that French m... ...age on the planet, or to speak the universal language of Esperanto created in 1887 by Dr. Zamenhof which, if possible would bring an end to our cultural differences – how boring!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, each country has the knowledge and understanding of its own culture and will therefore have a different perception of foreign cultures due to the possible lack of understanding. The argument â€Å"someone can only fully understand another culture if they speak their language† is I believe true. Language can not always be translated directly so the only way to fully understand a concept of a culture is to speak that language learning the subtle nuances. Ignorance, I believe causes misunderstanding, take for instance when Brits go on holiday unable to comprehend another language yet believing that everyone should understand them sometimes coming across as arrogant and rude. Understanding a culture needs patience, understanding and open mindedness. Respecting one-another’s differences can allows us to live together in harmony irrespective of our cultural upbringing and beliefs. I believe differences alleviate boredom as life would be mund ane if we were all the same.

Plot vs Character in Tragedy Essay

Q. PLOT Vs CHARACTER In Tragedy In his immortal creation Poetics Aristotle mentions six formative elements of tragedy — ‘Plot’, ‘Character’, ‘Thought’, ‘Diction’, ‘Spectacle’ and ‘Song’. And among them ‘plot’ gets the prior attention and importance. Aristotle claims ‘plot’ to be the soul of tragedy. In his view character as secondary to the plot. He in his book Poetics opines â€Å"Plot is the fundamental thing, the soul of tragedy, whereas character is secondary.† [Chap—7]. It is only in the context of describing ideal plot that Aristotle refers to character. Aristotle categorically states that there can be a tragedy without character, but there can never be a tragedy without plot. According to Aristotle, there are two kinds of plot—simple plot and complex plot. In simple plot we find only ‘peripeteia’ or the reversal of situation, and complex plot shows both ‘peripeteia’ and ‘Anagnorisis’ or the sudden discovery. Besides these main two,’ plot’ can be based on scenes of sufferings. An ideal plot is one which arouses pity and terror and brings about the outlet of emotions. But the suffering of all characters cannot arouse pity and terror. If the tragic hero is a thoroughly bad man, his sufferings will not arouse the desired tragic emotions. And if the tragic hero is a thoroughly good man, his sufferings will shock us. So the arousal of pity and terror demands the description of a person who is neither very good nor very bad. The ideal character should be a person of intermediate sort. Thus, character is subordinated to plot. Tragedy depicts actions, and not character; it is the plot which reveals the character. In the classical tragedies of Greece emphasis is certainly laid on plot. Sophocles’ King Oedipus, Aeschylus’s Agamemnon or Euripides’s Medea is really plot-oriented. But in modern or social tragedies, character is closely assimilated with the circumstances of life—with different social forces. Bradley’s definition of tragedy as a tale of exceptional calamity of a person who falls from prosperity to misery shifts our attention to character. Synge’s Riders to the sea or Ibsen’s A Doll’s House exhibits the greater prominence of characters. To sum up the above discussion we can accept the fact that a proper blending between ‘plot’ and ‘character’ is the sole requisite of a good tragedy. And a successful tragedy writer knows how to provide the  readers or the audience with the blend of these two and make them mutually contributory to each other.

How Does A Dualistic Vision Hold One Back, Spiritually What Role Does

How Does A Dualistic Vision Hold One Back, Spiritually What Role Does How Does A Dualistic Vision Hold One Back, Spiritually What Role Does Regetarianism, Play In The – Coursework Example Dualistic Vision and Spirituality Dualistic vision is a major set back on human progress toward God as the spiritual endeavors of human beings call for a wholeness of being. In an ontological understanding of the term dualism, it is apparent that â€Å"multiplicity is original.† (Friesen) In the ontological dualism, the creation of the world by God has been from eternally pre-existing substance. The split between body and the soul is comprehended as dualism in the anthropological point of view. This dualistic vision of reality does not offer wholeness which is most imperative in a realization of spiritual goals. Human beings can comprehend the concept of God in wholeness which is, significantly, lacking in a dualistic vision. Dualistic vision is caused by the belief in a separate self and as Mà ¶ller de la Rouvià ¨re argues, â€Å"Dualistic vision is therefore  a direct consequence of this presumed inner entity called the ‘I’.† (Rouvià ¨re) This I-cons cious disturbs the wholeness of experience and ultimately the realization of God is destroyed. Humanism, which is important in the recognition of God, requires non-duality or wholeness as an integral aspect of human life.  Significantly, human life can experience truths and realities in terms of non-duality or wholeness. The realization of God as well as spiritual goals is possible only in a non-dualistic vision of reality and it is at this point that the role of regetarianism comes into play. Rouvià ¨re also postulates that â€Å"Spiritual life is†¦a human affair and the fulfillment of human life is the fulfillment of spiritual life.† (Rouvià ¨re) Dualistic vision of truths such as God fails to comprehend reality and, therefore, holds back human beings spiritually and the role of regetarianism can be realized in terms of human experiences that require wholeness rather than dualism. Friesen, Dr. J. Glenn. â€Å"Monism, Dualism, Nondualism: A Problem with Vollenhoven ’s Problem-Historical Method.† 21 Sept. 2008. aspecten.org/netschrift/Method.docRouvià ¨re, Mà ¶ller de la. â€Å"Principles of Spiritual Humanism.† Discover Spiritual Humanism. 21 Sept. 2008. spiritualhumanism.co.za/principles_of_spiritual_humanism

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Essays - Beecher Family, Free Essays

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Essays - Beecher Family, Free Essays Charlotte Perkins Gilman Good 1 Charlotte Perkins Gilman experienced astonishing success during her life. When she died in 1935, she left behind a legacy of ingenious writing. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was one of the leading intellectuals of the American womens movement in the first two decades of the 20th century (Gilman, The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman). Her literary works explore the minds of remarkable and courageous women. Charlotte Perkins Gilman left an impression on society not only through her brilliant writings and social reforms, but also in her own perseverance in overcoming personal hardships. Charlotte was born into the prominent Beecher family (Gilman 3). In fact, the illustrious Harriet Beecher Stowe was a great-aunt (3). Charlotte grew up with pride in her family. She recalls When about fifteen years old I was told of our extremely remote connection with English royalty and I wrote eagerly to my learned father to inquire as to the facts- was I related to Queen Victoria? (1). However, her father solemnly replied, It is quite true that you are related to Queen Victoria, but there are a great many persons between you and the throne and I should not advise you to look forward to it (1). Despite her legendary family ties, Charlottes childhood was filled with pain, uncertainty, and rejection. Her father abandoned his family shortly after her birth (Lane 3). While a young woman, she suffered through a bad marriage that caused her to endure a nervous breakdown (3). It was during this time that Charlotte encountered her first bout with depression; there were many battles to follow (3). Thus, within the formative years of her young life, Charlotte suffered immeasurable pain and agony at the hands of males. This may possible be a motive behind her works based around strong female characters. Throughout her early life, it was apparent that Charlotte was an extremely strong-willed girl. At the age of sixteen or seventeen she perceived herself as having no character to be especially proud of: impressionable, vacillating, sensitive, uncontrolled, often loafing and lazy (Lane 57). However, she was determined to change herself into a disciplined, controlled person. Charlotte, an extremely intelligent child, was not able to consistently attend school until the age of thirteen. Living in poverty for most of her life, Charlotte was only able to attend school after the death of a great-aunt who left her an inheritance. Although her teachers were impressed with her aptitude, they soon became frustrated with her resistance to routines that restricted her imagination (59). Charlotte longed to be different. She was driven to defy conditional notions of what young girls should be. Dr. Studley, a teacher who instructed Charlotte in hygiene, became particularly influential (59). Charlott e instantly converted to a regime of cold baths, exercise, fresh air, and dress reform (59). She became caught up in the physical culture movement of the late nineteenth century. In a culture that valued frailty in women, Charlotte took delight and pleasure in her robust health and her strong body (59). Much of Charlottes late adolescence was spent nursing her ill mother. She describes her mother as being the disciplinarian and this caused problems between the two of them (Gilman 12). Charlotte complained that her mother was so rigorous in refusing all manner of invitations for me I was denied so often (Lane 60-61). Her mothers denials protected her from entering the adult world of men, relationships, and love. Charlotte soon, however, entered this world when she was married to Charles Walter Stetson (Gilman 82). In her autobiography, she discusses her mixed emotions regarding Mr. Stetson and marriage. She says, my mind was not fully clear as to whether I should marry. On the one hand I knew it was normal and right in general, and held that a woman should be able to have marriage and motherhood and do her work in the world (83). However, there were more cynical times when Charlotte expresses I felt strongly that for me it was not right, that the nature of the life before me forbade it, that I ought to forego the more intimate personal happiness for complete devotion to my work (83). Despite her doubts, the two were married in May of 1884.

History of the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy

History of the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy The 1960 Olympic Games (also known as the XVII Olympiad) were held in Rome, Italy from August 25 to September 11, 1960. There were many firsts at these Olympics, including the first to be televised, the first to have the Olympic Anthem, and the first to have an Olympic champion run in bare feet.   Fast Facts Official Who Opened the Games:  Italian President Giovanni GronchiPerson Who Lit the Olympic Flame:  Italian track athlete  Giancarlo PerisNumber of Athletes:  5,338  (611 women, 4,727 men)Number of Countries:  83 Number of Events:  150 A Wish Fulfilled After the 1904 Olympics were held in St. Louis, Missouri, the father of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin, wished to have the Olympics hosted in Rome: I desired Rome only because I wanted Olympism, after its return from the excursion to utilitarian America, to don once again the sumptuous toga, woven of art and philosophy, in which I had always wanted to clothe her.* The International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed and chose Rome, Italy to host the 1908 Olympics. However, when Mt. Vesuvius erupted on April 7, 1906, killing 100 people and burying nearby towns, Rome passed the Olympics to London. It was to take another 54 years until the Olympics would finally be held in Italy. Ancient and Modern Locations Holding the Olympics in Italy did bring together the mixture of ancient and modern that Coubertin had so wanted.  The Basilica of Maxentius and the Baths of Caracalla were restored to host the wrestling and gymnastic events respectively, while an Olympic Stadium and a Sports Palace were built for the Games. First and Last The 1960 Olympic Games were the first Olympics to be fully covered by television. It was also the first time the newly chosen Olympic Anthem, composed by Spiros Samaras, was played. However, the 1960 Olympics were the last that South Africa was allowed to participate in for 32 years. (Once apartheid ended, South Africa was allowed to rejoin the Olympic Games in 1992.) Amazing Stories Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia surprisingly won the gold medal in the marathon - with bare feet. (Video) Bikila was the very first black African to become an Olympic champion. Interestingly, Bikila won the gold again in 1964, but that time, he wore shoes.   United States athlete Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, made headlines when he won a gold medal in light heavyweight boxing. He was to go on to an illustrious boxing career, eventually being called, the Greatest.   Born prematurely and then stricken with polio as a young child, U.S. African-American runner Wilma Rudolph overcame here disabilities and went on to win three gold medals at this Olympic Games. A Future King and Queen Participated Greeces Princess Sofia (the future queen of Spain) and her brother, Prince Constantine (the future and last king of Greece), both represented Greece at the 1960 Olympics in sailing. Prince Constantine won a gold medal in sailing, dragon class. A Controversy Unfortunately, there was a ruling problem on the 100-meter freestyle swim. John Devitt (Australia) and Lance Larson (United States) had been neck and neck during the last segment of the race. Though they both finished at about the same time, most of the audience, the sports reporters, and the swimmers themselves believed Larson (U.S.) had won. However, the three judges ruled that Devitt (Australia) had won. Even though the official times showed a faster time for Larson than for Devitt, the ruling held. * Pierre de Coubertin as quoted in Allen Guttmann, The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992) 28.

Nursing and unions Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing and unions - Research Paper Example Sometimes they face problems such as extended work and no appreciation, less compensations, tensed environment and so on. These conditions require some control and for controlling these negativities, nursing unions are there. With the help of unions, the nurses can get their due rights according to their hard work and the efficacy of unions cannot be rejected. Nurses accommodate the people with appropriate strategies that can be adopted for gaining optimal health. The vitality of nurses cannot be negated in the profession of healthcare. Nurses work as individuals as well as groups to help the needy people in terms of health. Nowadays, the lack of attraction towards nursing profession poses a serious concern for the health based departments and public health is endangered. The nurses have the right to gain positive reception for their hard work and in gaining that positive reception, unions play a positive part. Some nurses believe, that one alternative to the current slide in morale is to join together as a collective voice to bring about a change in the healthcare profession, which in turn is boosting the participation in nursing unions. It may lead to improved patient outcome because of increased job satisfaction and increased safety measures designed to protect both nurses and the patients. Because of unionization, more people will be encouraged to join nursing as a profession as they will be sure that their due rights will not be rejected and they will be taken care of. The nurses unions represent industrial interests of nurses employed under all awards and agreements, in both the public and private sectors. Its primary function is to protect the interest of nurses in this profession. Moreover, the association represents and provides for the professional, educational and industrial welfare of nurses in government and non government forums at state, national and international level. (Koontz & Weihrich, 2006) Because of unions, the members of the union stay c ontented that their dignity and respect will not be lost and they will be able to raise their voice against any ignorance or overlooking of their rights. Unions do many tasks such as comprehending the problems of members and taking them to the authorities, accommodating the members by acknowledging that they will always be supported and assisted for their rights and taking appropriate actions for the interests of the members. Therefore, nursing unions are very useful for making the nursing profession an attractive profession. Nurses require registration and for being registered, they are required to complete a course set by Nursing and Midwifery Council. Those that graduate from a college nursing program are considered as registered nurses or RNs. RNs have passed National Licensing exam. Some RNs are also employed in private practice. The RNs play a major role in patient’s healthcare, as they require 24 hours service in terms of assistance in walking, bending, stretching, sta nding and/or other requirements. Nurses may be put to duty during work nights, weekends and even on holidays. (Taiki, 2009) A RN’s scope of practice is determined by each state’s Nurse Practice Act. It outlines what is legal practice for RN and what tasks they may or may not perform. It also dictates the scope of practice for nurse practitioners. (Taiki, 2009) Nursing is constituted as a noble profession. The core of this profession is based upon the social contract that defines the professional rights and responsibilities, along with the

Individual Critique Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual Critique - Literature review Example 2.0- SYNOPSIS FROM THE ARTCILE The article pointed to the importance of following factors behind the economies resisting growth: The recovery from recession receive great impact from the social factors Exports of a country has a great role to play in the recovery specifically in the net exports Role of debts and foreign direct investment is also critical. Impact of united currency in the overall recovery of countries (Walker, 2013). 3.0- ACADEMIC ALLIGMENT The article asserting the agreed upon definition of recession that paved way for the economy resisting to recovery. Among large number of factors with economic and financial strategies that play role in the economic recovery, the article highlights the dominant impact of social factor. The importance of the social factor is insisted with fact that despite the high public debt levels of Germany beyond the agreed 3% of GDP (BBC, 2012); the market considers Germany as safe heaven for investment while considering Spain and Italy in tro uble. Exploration of working conditions behind provided evidence that Spain, Italy and France had heightened the private debt (as shown in figure below) during economic growth boom to increase investments and resultantly raised the wages. (BBC, 2012) In the similar duration Germany has maintained the wages level and has developed greater export base. Hence, despite being hit by recession Germany has a positive outlook while consumers in mentioned countries are concerned with paying up debts and increased competitive wage rate has low spending sentiment thereby resisting recovery with social factors (Economou at el., 2012). Moreover, the increased resistance of French economy to recover can also be traced to have a greater contribution from similar factors as given below: (BBC, 2012) Hence unlike the dominant economic notion of high negative impact, public debt only on economic recovery is contrasted with current situation. Moreover, the increased pressure of controlling the public d ebt is also countered with continuing positive outlook of German economy. Strategy of German economy is to increase export with control wage rate developed trade surplus and hence the economy is in better position to attract foreign direct investment while the economies in trouble, in contrast, are facing trouble of huge trade deficit with piled up imports as referred below: (BBC, 2012) The current conditions of France to revisit its growth estimates along with relaxing labor laws also assert the realization of over burdened economy. While deteriorating condition points to the piling up of all factors of trade deficit, extensive government borrowing along with private borrowing as well as the labor law problems. Hence, assessment highlights reasons for controlling the debt in all in a broader context of all mentioned factors; unlike traditional theories that posed all pressure on public spending only. However, this does not refer any relaxation for public debt going beyond the set l imits and due importance of controlled public debt still retains the elementary position in economic betterment. The other highlighted factor that is making exports expensive and costing the economic recovery of countries in trouble is the increased attention to strengthen the united currency. In contrary to foundation stones for Euro that promised growth in jobs and exports, the strengthening Euro has started

Visual Anaysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Visual Anaysis - Essay Example One of the objectives of modern art is to express the artist’s thoughts and emotions by following what is deemed right by the artist wherein to cubists, form alone defines the subject thus, the use of geometric figures to bring out the form of the subject matter. Juan Gris, a Spanish cubist artist portrayed a self portrait of the bench marker of the cubism period, Pablo Picasso, in the vantage point of their contemporaries with the same vision in his work entitled Portrait of Pablo Picasso (The Art Institute of Chicago). The general form of the painting shows a man seated and exhibits him to be well dressed though not very recognizable for a viewer to really be sure of what details one can decipher from the painting. As what would have been expected from a cubist, Gris used a lot of lines, cubes and other geometric figures to bring out the three dimensional view of his subject however, distorting the real appearance of the image. Being called analytical, the cubist painters we re said to have analyzed their subject to come up with the products like the aforementioned art work and among others, Mandolin and Clarinet by Pablo Picasso and Armored Train in Action by Gino Severini.

Viability of doing business in Brazil Assignment

Viability of doing business in Brazil - Assignment Example Global business competitive has taken a new twist where it has moved from inter-organisational competition to inter-country competition, and this is the observation of Accenture (2007). Clearly, there is so much justification in this observation with empirical records of economic growth of some major emerging markets, particularly those classified in the BRIC, namely Brazil, Russia, India and China. For example, Brazil’s trade investment is said to have jumped as up high as 50% in recent times. This report therefore looks into important factors that make Brazil viable for market expansion into that country. Any inconvenient factors shall also be outlined for further recommendations. Demographic Data of Brazil Brazil is a highly populated country with a population growth that continues to grow by the years. As of 2008, the PNAD had pegged the population of Brazil at 190 million people with a male to female ratio that is quite close, which is 0.95:1 (Kanter, 2008). Brazil benefi ts from a higher urban population which accommodates 83.75% of the total population of the country. Characteristically, business and economic development in that country is centred in the urban areas. Because of the higher urban population, this obviously means that there is a very active trade and business activity in the country that makes labour cheaper than compared to other developed countries (Colquitt, Lepine & Wesson, 2013). Quite unusually, there is less population concentration in the two most extensive regions of the country, which are the Centre-West and the North regions which have only 29.1 million inhabitants even though they encompass 64.12% of the country’s territory (Chen, 2008). Economic Variables Statistics from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund gives Brazil some of the most favourable economic ratings in the world and among their peers in the BRIC. For instance Brazil is ranked as the world’s 7th largest economy at market exchange rate s and representing Latin America’s largest economy with the world’s 7th largest purchasing power parity (PPP) (Hryckiewicz & Kowalewski, 2010). Brazil’s GDP given in 2012 by the International Monetary Fund was $11,875 which is contributed by a mixed economy. The mixed economic nature of Brazil’s economy is a major boost for all investors and entrepreneurs around the world who want to expand to that country, giving the assurance that there exist multi-variant areas in the economy where they can do business in. There is however exchange rate disparity with some of the world’s major currencies compared to the Brazilian Real, which gives exchange rate risk to most companies (Colquitt, Lepine & Wesson, 2013). Socio-cultural environment of Brazil Socio-culturally, Brazil operates a very open ended environment where the people are very open to socio-cultural changes and adjustments. Even though there are generally the high class and low class divisions, t he middle class seem to dominate the socio-cultural environment, helping to foster evenness between the rich and the poor. Popular culture has its roots in the socio-cultural make up of Brazil with so much dominance of this focused on sports following (Accenture, 2007). There are several social activities and programmes that bring people together such as naming ceremony, marriage, funeral, and parties. The reason for these socio-cultural characteristics could best be linked to the abundance of tourism in the country, which is patronised by both natives and foreigners. For the company, this will come as an advantage because it makes the people more spending focused and thus willing to do business without really thinking of spending as a waste (Pelle, 2007). Political-legal factors As part of a national consented effort to make Brazil an attractive global destination for doing business, there are several government interventions and programs that are aimed at making the country

The Art of Storytelling from Chopin to Barth Essay

The Art of Storytelling from Chopin to Barth - Essay Example In these loosely connected fourteen stories that form the collection, Barth explores the predicament of man's stark and almost bare reality, and a sense of being under constant observation perforates the work. Barth experiments with different styles in this work, being contemporary and realistic in a few of the early stories, whereas adopting a more innovative and fantastical approach towards the later half. Through this paper I want to establish the fact that the literature of a period reflects the social, economic, cultural and literary trends of that age. The narrative, structure, language, portrayal of characters, themes and literary styles all represent the relation of the individual with the society that has conditioned him. The portrait of twenty-eight-year-old Edna Pontellier in The Awakening is a milestone in American fiction, which depicts a woman in search of her own identity. Even in the perception of her husband, Mr. Pontellier, Edna is not a quintessential "mother-woman" (p. 8) naturally given to strong maternal instincts and selfless nurturing. In this quest she turns away from convention and society, and rather takes a turn towards the primal, irresistibly attracted to nature and the senses. "A certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her,-the light which, showing the way, forbids it." (p. 13) For me, The Awakening vividly depicts the socio-cultural transition that marked the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century-a transition from Victorian outlook to the seminal steps towards modernism as reflected few decades later in the works of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. It depicts a period in history when women were regarded as the property of their spouses and mostly taken for granted. Lost in the Funhouse for me also typifies certain assumptions of the age it was written in. Post-modernist fiction has a predominant theme of self-consciousness which I feel this work reflects in immense measures. Moreover, the contemporary theoretical problems of fiction writing, that Barth was preoccupied with during the 1960s is strongly embedded in the text. A sense of loss, of frustration also comes across through the stories which the age was preoccupied with. The Awakening traces predominantly an inward journey of self. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist of the novel, is the wife of a successful New Orleans businessman. On the exterior she reflects happy domesticity-a mother of two children with a husband who provides adequately for the family. Her husband is no villain as is clear by the following lines: "And the ladiesall declared that Mr. Pontellier was the best husband in the world. Mrs Pontellier was forced to admit that she knew none better." (p.7) She is more or less content with this state of existence till she vacations with her family at a seaside resort in Louisiana where she spends much of her time with Robert Lebrun, a romantic young man. This interaction sparks or rather awakens a new side of her personality which had since been dormant. She starts thinking about herself as an individual rather than being defined by the roles she plays in the society. Soon, after many intimate

Viability of doing business in Brazil Assignment

Viability of doing business in Brazil - Assignment Example Global business competitive has taken a new twist where it has moved from inter-organisational competition to inter-country competition, and this is the observation of Accenture (2007). Clearly, there is so much justification in this observation with empirical records of economic growth of some major emerging markets, particularly those classified in the BRIC, namely Brazil, Russia, India and China. For example, Brazil’s trade investment is said to have jumped as up high as 50% in recent times. This report therefore looks into important factors that make Brazil viable for market expansion into that country. Any inconvenient factors shall also be outlined for further recommendations. Demographic Data of Brazil Brazil is a highly populated country with a population growth that continues to grow by the years. As of 2008, the PNAD had pegged the population of Brazil at 190 million people with a male to female ratio that is quite close, which is 0.95:1 (Kanter, 2008). Brazil benefi ts from a higher urban population which accommodates 83.75% of the total population of the country. Characteristically, business and economic development in that country is centred in the urban areas. Because of the higher urban population, this obviously means that there is a very active trade and business activity in the country that makes labour cheaper than compared to other developed countries (Colquitt, Lepine & Wesson, 2013). Quite unusually, there is less population concentration in the two most extensive regions of the country, which are the Centre-West and the North regions which have only 29.1 million inhabitants even though they encompass 64.12% of the country’s territory (Chen, 2008). Economic Variables Statistics from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund gives Brazil some of the most favourable economic ratings in the world and among their peers in the BRIC. For instance Brazil is ranked as the world’s 7th largest economy at market exchange rate s and representing Latin America’s largest economy with the world’s 7th largest purchasing power parity (PPP) (Hryckiewicz & Kowalewski, 2010). Brazil’s GDP given in 2012 by the International Monetary Fund was $11,875 which is contributed by a mixed economy. The mixed economic nature of Brazil’s economy is a major boost for all investors and entrepreneurs around the world who want to expand to that country, giving the assurance that there exist multi-variant areas in the economy where they can do business in. There is however exchange rate disparity with some of the world’s major currencies compared to the Brazilian Real, which gives exchange rate risk to most companies (Colquitt, Lepine & Wesson, 2013). Socio-cultural environment of Brazil Socio-culturally, Brazil operates a very open ended environment where the people are very open to socio-cultural changes and adjustments. Even though there are generally the high class and low class divisions, t he middle class seem to dominate the socio-cultural environment, helping to foster evenness between the rich and the poor. Popular culture has its roots in the socio-cultural make up of Brazil with so much dominance of this focused on sports following (Accenture, 2007). There are several social activities and programmes that bring people together such as naming ceremony, marriage, funeral, and parties. The reason for these socio-cultural characteristics could best be linked to the abundance of tourism in the country, which is patronised by both natives and foreigners. For the company, this will come as an advantage because it makes the people more spending focused and thus willing to do business without really thinking of spending as a waste (Pelle, 2007). Political-legal factors As part of a national consented effort to make Brazil an attractive global destination for doing business, there are several government interventions and programs that are aimed at making the country

Motivation for Crusades Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Motivation for Crusades - Essay Example The Moslems themselves kept the routes open to Christians, and the Byzantine Empire safe, until 1071, when Seljuk Turks took the lands, and persecuted Christians on the way. Lost land, religious conflict, and internal pressures were the background to Western Europe's initiation of the Crusades. R.W. Southern notes that "The worsening position of the Eastern Empire, and the genuine desire of some to save it: the even more potent though secret desire of others to profit by its disintegration; the dim realization that Islam constituted athreat to Christendomsome hoped to be saved by going; others didn't care if they were damned so long as they found new fields for profit and adventure. There was something in the Crusades to appeal to everyone." (Southern, 56) The crusades were, as Riley-Smith states "A holy war fought against those perceived to be external or internal foes of Christendom for the recovery of Christian property or in defence of the church or Christian people" (Riley-Smith, 1987, xxviii). This was certainly the overt motivation for the first Crusade, as initiated by Pope Urban II in November of 1095. This Crusade had a peculiar beginning, and Riley-Smith has made extensive note of this: "Few nobles turned up, and the theatre must have been riskyeven so, his appeal for knights to liberate Jerusalem struck a chord in western society" (Riley Smith, 1995). Urban openly declared "'Dieu le veult' - 'God wills it!'" (Bishop, 105); for many hearing the religious leader of the Western World declaring God's Will, the Crusades must have seemed to be a religious duty. In considering why this speech made such an impression, it should not be forgotten that the majority of Western Europe was, by this time, Christian in name at the very le ast. Europeans had been making the arduous pilgrimage to Jerusalem for decades, and in some ways the early Crusades might be considered another form of pilgrimage. Personal penance and justification by faith were still quite strong issues of faith, and would remain so until at least the mid-fourteenth century (Flagellants during the Black Death being one example of this). Being a Crusader, not only fighting for Christ but also traveling to the Holy Land to do so, was therefore a religious duty, atonement for sin, and a Holy Quest, similar to that being written about in Early Medieval romances. In fact, it seems as though Urban did not intend to have such a dramatic effect upon the nobles of Europe: the impression is that "The pop was taken aback by the success of his proposal. No plan had been made for the prosecution of the crusade" (Bishop, 106). The organization of the First Crusade was rather like a mopping-up exercise, after the disastrous People's Crusade in 1096. Poor people such as this marched under their own steam to free Jerusalem, and rather than the idealism of the nobility, their motivations appear to be genuine religious concern for the Holy Land. It should be clear, therefore, that the overt motivation, religion, was also an emotional force for many of the participants in the first Crusades, Kings and princes, such as Richard I of England, who were not struggling to maintain a fief, were probably

The arms race and the naval race Essay Example for Free

The arms race and the naval race Essay There were few valid reasons for the start of WW1. The reasons I am about to explain to you are IMPERIALISM, MILITARISM and ALLIANCES. WW1 started because the greed of other countries. Imperialism started to be a big factor in 1848 because a new, very big and very strong country called Germany was made. It was made up of Prussia, Oldenburg, Schaunburg-Lippe, Mecklenburg-sterhitz, Hessen, Hohenzollern and Waldeck. A few days after they became Germany, they attacked France and conquered some of their land (Alsace and Lorraine). This is just one example showing that Germany want to become stronger and bigger than they were before. The Russian empire controlled Poland which showed they were making a advance to get a port at sea so the could have a use for their ships that they have built (dreadnoughts). Also the Ottoman Empire was decreasing fast so they would also want to gain some land back. The arms race and the naval race were also a great long term cause of WW1. As one country increased its armies, so all the others felt obliged to increase their armed forces to keep the balance of power. The arms race was clearly being won by Germany with 8.5 million men in 7 years, that is 4.1 million more than Russia, who is in second place. On the whole though, the triple entente (Russia, France and Britain) had more arms than the triple alliance (Italy, Germany and Austro-Hungary). The naval race, although, was won clearly by Britain with 29 dreadnoughts and 9 warships while Germany had 17 dreadnoughts and 7 warships. Great Britain felt threatened by Germany for their sudden manufacturing of dreadnoughts because they could now takeover colonies that England have, so England made a alliance with Japan in 1904 so the pacific sea was taken care off. Alliances were one of the main causes of WW1. There were two main alliances one was the triple Entente ( England, France and Russia) and the other was the triple alliance ( Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy). When Franz Ferdinand, the archduke of Austro-Hungary was assassinated by the BLACK HAND organization they wanted to attack Serbia, but Russia had a alliance with Serbia and vowed to defend them if Austro-Hungary made a move. If they did make a move though, Germany was in an alliance with Austro-Hungary, and also vowed to defend them if Russia attacked. If Germany attacked Russia however, France would defend Russia because they were in an alliance. This was the main reason that WW1 started, turning from a argument between two countries and turning into a war within the whole of Europe, including the USA.

Feasibility Study for Fast Food Restaurant

Feasibility Study for Fast Food Restaurant I would first like to thank Mrs Sumaira Hamid for giving us the opportunity to conduct this project which has enabled me to understand fast food restaurants more closely and thus it defiantly increases my knowledge about the subject. I would also like to thank my friends, as without their cooperation this project would not have been completed. Executive summary This project is purely based on economic and financial analysis. Here I have conducted a feasibility study for a fast food restaurant. I have tried to cover all the aspects, economically related and financially related to the proposed project. There are two main parts in this project. first one is the pre-feasibility study and second is feasibility study. In the first part I have analyzed the scenario in the sector and market potential. In the second part I have tried to cover the financially related aspects of the project. Introduction Definition of fast food: Inexpensive food, such as hamburgers and fried chicken, prepared and served quickly. Food prepared and served quickly. A fast food restaurant is the one that after ordering supplies food quickly and with minimum service. Generally all restaurants are characterized as fast food restaurant. The food in these restaurants is pre prepared and kept warm. The food is produced in a huge quantity. There are some fast food restaurants, which even dont provide sitting area to its costumers. Main characteristics of a fast food restaurant The main aim of fast food outlet is to focus on consumer convenience. The increasing number of outlets clearly states the demand of consumer for fast food in the country. The company increases its accessibility by increasing number of outlets. The concept of free home delivery and take away has increased the sales, a major increase has been seen in satellite outlets such as airports, railway stations, gas station etc. The fast food is popular among consumer for several reasons. Some of them are as following; Deliver food to costumer at a low price. Accessibility for consumer. Good reputation for cleanliness. Fast service. Child friendly atmosphere. Break from routine cooking. Another aim of fast food restaurant is to decrease the cost and time consumed for food consumption. The rise in population, employment and increasing work schedule has increased the value of time. Thus our economy is increasingly becoming service oriented. Fast food industry is becoming an important part our life. In these scenarios fast food industry will grow with a moderate speed. Fast food industry is becoming an important part our life. Scrotal analysis Fast food industry is very popular in Pakistan, as many international fast food chains like K.F.C, McDonalds, Pizza-hut, Subway, etc are based here. These international corporations cater to high income segment and modify their menu according to the taste of their potential consumer. These international chains are not the only source of fast food in the country. Many local chains (AFC, Bryani express, cock and bull, Lahore brost) has been developed over time, to give a good competition to these international chains by lowering their prices and hence increasing their sales by catering middle income and low income level consumers. The behavioral change in food consumption among people has attracted many international organizations. Fast food industry in Pakistan insures a promising return. It has shown impressive progress in the past, and will continue in the future. The presence of international organization operating in the region is a clear shade of investment opportunity in the country. The Market of fast food industry in Pakistan has a room for many more. With the little help of government, much more can be done attract more international organization, or to bring up the local ones. Presence of SME Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a pivotal role in giving necessary impetus to  employment generation, GDP growth and poverty alleviation and hence have been recognized  increasingly all over the world. Although the performance of SME sector in Pakistan is quite encouraging, however due to some inherent and structural weaknesses and problems, its access to credit from the formal sector has been inadequate. The analysis of quality of loan portfolio reveals that, the quality of SME loans has improved over the year in this sector. List of some popular fast food restaurants in Pakistan McDonalds Pizza Hut KFC Subway Nandos Al Baik Al-Najam Fried Chicken [50] Arizona Grill Chicken Cottage Ginos Mr. Burger PapaSallis Pizza AW Papa Johns Pizza Express Pizza Next Dominos Dunkin Donuts Investment opportunity As the value of time in Pakistan is increasing day by day due to hectic work schedule, people are trying to save their time from any mean they can, and thus are becoming increasingly service oriented. Fast food industry gives a good opportunity to save their time by providing fast and healthy food to its costumers. The food service industries that offer the highest levels of convenience have, been rewarded with strong sales growth. The value of consumer time, as well as the demand for consistent, high-quality food products, will continue to shape the fast food industry. Fast food is becoming an increasingly significant part of the young generations diet. The role of convenience in this dietary shift cannot be over-emphasized, and the future growth of the rest of the food service industry will be driven in large part by its ability to find new ways to save consumers time. Another important fact is the increase in food consumption due to increase in population. Considering these factors, investment in fast food restaurant is a good opportunity There are some critical important factors, which if acted upon properly will provide a promising investment opportunity. Identify goals and ways to measure them. Adjustments according to change in consumer habits. Implementation system and ensure consistency of operation. Points of difference that enables them to dominant their market nitch. Consistency of quality and service, and operating systems and management procedure. Menu selection and pricing. The specific location within your target area. Conduct market survey. In depth investigation Pakistan, currently ranked as 6th in terms of total population, is characterized by a high  Population growth rate of 1.9% (Pakistan Economic Survey 2005) and is set to take the top  Three positions in terms of total population with already 153.4 Million people registered in  2005. With this, the per capita income has increased to US$ 736 while the productive age  group (15 to 64) years is said to take the major chunk of population (67% of total  population) by 2020. The growth rate in food consumption is also augmented by the rapid increase in the  employment rate for males / female population aging between 20 to 29 years (fast food  goers) hence the greater income contribution to the overall income generated is expected to  be higher. The growth in Risks There are certain risks involved in this sector. Some of them are stated below. Increase in pieces of raw material. Political instability Change of trend in consumption pattern. Required machinery and other equipment The quality of food is highly affected by the technology used in its production. The machinery required for production of fast food products is easily available in international market as well as in local market. It is up to the owner weather to purchase expensive branded ones or the cheaper ones. This decision depends on the question how much importance the owner gives to the quality of food being served to the consumer?. As fast food industry is growing day by day, so is the technology being used in it. Branded equipment (first hand and second hand) is available in the market. The minimum delivery time required is three months, if ordered through an internet vendor. There are also re-conditioned machines available in the market. Some outlets, before closing their business sell their machinery at low cost. Maintenance of machinery is very important for maximum quality and long life of the equipment. The machine requires routine cleaning, maintenance and annual service. We will use new machinery with latest technology in our project. This would help us in producing good quality food products, high efficiency, low labor and operating cost and would reduce human errors. The machinery required for the plant is easily available in local market, so all the purchases will be done locally. Local purchases would help us in clams of default piece, would prevent us from high transportation costs and government taxes and would reduce our time to start the project. Raw material The raw material required for the production in a fast food restaurant is easily available locally. In every city there is a local market from where these material are easily available at cheap prices. Thus the raw material for the proposed project will be purchased from the city local market .the list of raw material is given bellow with their nit prices, total units required and total cost. Items Quantity Per unit or per kilogram price Total price Eggs 100 50 5,000 Sugar 70 30 2,100 Spices 250 300 75,000 Flour for batter 100 70 7,000 Chicken 1000 115 115,000 Meat 400 250 100,000 Beef 400 150 60,000 Cheese 300 250 75,000 Oil 400 100 40,000 Sauces 250 200 50,000 Corn 50 80 4,000 Carrot 50 15 750 Cabbage 60 20 1,200 Tomatoes 70 24 1,680 Onion 100 18 1,8000 Lettuce 60 15 900 Total 539,430 Human resource Hiring right employee for the right job dose not only contributes to your sales but also creates a good image in the sight of consumer. There are several categories of personnel in the restaurant business: manager, cooks, servers and cleaners. The manager is the most important part of any organization. The manager for the proposed project should be skilled, should know about the area, supplies buying sources and most importantly should know about the buying behaviors of customers. At initial stage of a restaurant five people are required to carry out the work at kitchen. Another important part of a restaurant is servers. The servers will have the most interaction with customers, so they need to make a favorable impression, work well under pressure and meeting the demands for customers. Land requirement for the project The outlet of a fast food restaurant should be in such place where the traffic of its potential costumer is maximum. In the distribution of land for different areas in a restaurant, it is recommended that the largest part should be donated to the dining hall and second preference should be given to kitchen. The land requirement in our project is 4475 sq.ft. The area should be populated and should have proper utilities and facilities. The construction cost totally depends on the size of land the amount of work to be done on it. In our project the construction requirement in different parts of the restaurant is different. For example construction cost for kids playing area would be lower than construction cost for waiting area, as less has to be done in waiting area as compared to dining area. Location The location chosen for the required project is JOHER TOWN MAIN BUALIVORD.The traffic of potential costumer is maximum there .the construction of micro shopping mall and Pakistan trade center would bring a huge wave of potential costumers Rent The rent at Johet Town Main Boulevard for a double storied building is 125,000 per month. Plant capacity The area required for this restaurant is 4500 sq feet. The seating arraignment is for 100 people. There are 25 dieing tables, and four people can sit on one table. The total management in the restaurant comprises of 23 people. Ten people can be seated at the waiting lung. Hence in total, the restaurant can shelter up-to 130 to 140 at a time. Utilities Assumptions Rent increases by 5% after every year. Salaries increase by 2% after every year. Residual value is zero. Capital utilization differs in four years, and remains constant afterwards. Debt-equity ratio is 50-50. Straight-line method is used for depreciation. Current interest rate is 20%.. Tax rate is 20%.. 150 people visit the restaurant every day. Average purchase amounts RS.120. Do-ability of the project The proposed project can show high returns. the project perfectly sets to the changing patterns of the country. If the gets good reorganization among its potential costumers, the project can show amazing result, and can prove a good investment for the investor. Comparative advantage As the demand for fast-food increases, the prices increase with it. The only comparative advantage is that, the owner will offer low prices to the costumers. This would increase its sales. ACCABILITY OF THE PROJECT As shown, that the NPVs and IRRs calculated above are negative in most of the cases, except the resource statement. This shows that the project is not acceptable. On the other hand if the revenues assumed above are increased, the returns will increase, and thus will end up with positive NPV. This can be done by proper marketing of the restaurant.

The Meaning of Mental Health and Ill-health Essay -- psychology, psych

Mental health as Pilgrim (2005) stated is used positively to indicate a state of psychological wellbeing and negatively to indicate its opposite, or euphemistically to indicate facilities used by, or imposed upon, people with mental problems (pg 3) although Richards (2002) argued the concept of sanity and insanity are relative and may vary according to individual and social perspectives, and illustrated that an acceptable behaviour at an arts festival may not be perceived similar in a private home and that there are times when every one of us could be considered to be in an abnormal state of mind (pg 13-15) and in that regard dispensed the term ‘madness’ which could have emotive meaning, is neither a medical term nor a diagnosis and could imply lack of wholeness, control and hope and implicate a perception of fear (pg 16) while Stevens and Price (2006) summoned the idea that psychiatric symptoms were probably manifestations of ancient adaptive strategies inappropriate in the current epoch but could be understood and treated in an evolutionary and developmental context. Thomas Szasz (2006) however challenged the whole notion of mental-illness and coined the term â€Å"myth of mental illness† (Szasz, 1961) while giving the argument that the distinction of physiological and psychological illness was based on ‘misuse’ of the terms illness or disease which were observable anatomical and physiological phenomenon. His focus was on the fact that mental disorders have a clear biological component, and that they should be treated like any other illness. He advised the use of terms like "severe brain disorders" when describing these illnesses and stated psychiatry could indeed be replaced by neurology (2006) and considered physical diseases of ... ... of the World Health Organization WARR, P. and PARRY, G. (1982) Depressed Mood in Working-Class Mothers With and Without Paid Employment. Soc Psychiatry 17 pp. 161-165 WEINSTEIN, J. (eds.) (2010) Mental Health, Service User Involvement and Recovery London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (2002) Gender and Health: Gender and Mental Health: A Report of the World Health Organization, Department of Gender and Women’s health in collaboration with Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence Geneva: World Health Organization WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (2005) Promoting Mental Health: Concepts, Emerging Evidence, Practice: A Report of the World Health Organization, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse in collaboration with Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and the University of Melbourne Geneva: World Health Organization

A Torrential Downpour in the South Essay -- Descriptive Essay, Descript

What causes fascination? Perhaps it is our inherent curiosity of the unknown. Why then, do we often marvel at the most mundane of phenomena? Wherein lies the secret to this sensation of phenomenal wonder - the ability to perceive the ordinary with a unique sensual acuity? I cannot claim to have this aforementioned acuity, but I have endeavored on many occasions to hunt for the intriguing in what is plain - to experience ‘phenomenal wonder’. There are experiences which do not require acuity to fascinate us - the mystical. I have encountered much that is mystical, but the torrential downpoor will forever amaze me. I pity those who have not bathed in the torrential downpoors of the southern states, for such a shower cannot be found in the most elaborate of spas. Many northern states are deprived of the torrential downpoor, and for me to explain its splendor, I must first describe the atmosphere prior to it. During the summer, the south is like a clay pot in an oven. The land is dry, hot, and dusty. The heat convinces you that the mouth of hell is opening, with flames licking your feat as you walk. Entire communities pray for a miracle hailstorm to extinguish this incredible heat. It is apparent that no amount of praying will result in a hailstorm in the middle of July; rain, on the other hand, is quite possible. Meteorologists argue it is the natural order of things; poets and romanticists claim it is the will of thirsty land that prompts the sudden showers of the downpoors. I am not concerned with the cause of this heavenly precipitation, only interested in its result. The first torrential downpoor is like tasting a sip of water after days in the desert. The mouth of hell is closed and the flames smothered. You can smell ... ... looked innocent and tranquil. As the ferocity of the downpour would end, we would begin to open the windows. Chilly breezes would sweep magnificently through our house, almost as if the wind had a mind of its own. I swear that I have, on more than one occasion, touched the wind. Physicists may label my claim as impossible; others envy me. The wind is a spirit; it is like a hand that strokes the earth to soothe it; and if you were to use an innate acuity (which we all possess) the spirit in the wind will surely touch you. For me, the torrential southern downpoors have never lasted long enough. The cold dry winter would always come too early, and the downpoors begin too late. Perhaps that is why I savor every rain drop. I have tried to search for such ‘phenomenal wonder’, but I have yet to succeed in finding an experience more astounding than that of rain.

Cure for Aids Case to How to Distribute

Mykon’s Dilemma When I discovered the cure for AIDS, I was so excited. I was finally going to make medical history and I was going to be known for saving so many lives. I never thought I would be sitting before this board about to make the hardest decision of my life. As you all know there are pressures from every angle for me to make a decision that is best for our company and for the whole world. I wish that I could say that this decision is easy, like every other medication decision we have made in the past.I am regretful that I will not be able to make everyone happy and that I feel I have been given the power to determine who will live and who will not. I have come to the decision that I will only release 85% percent of the available Sprattalin and will scale back the production so that in time we will be able to help more people. The focus of this medication, at this time, will be only on those patients who are asymptomatic HIV positive. These patients will see the most benefits and will be an asset to the society and economy.Since I became CEO, I have made it my mission to do what is best not only for our company, but for our consumers and the help in the world that we currently do not help. So many of us have different ideas and suggestions as to how we could and should distribute Sprattalin. I understand all the ideas and angles that have been presented here, but I feel that we need to keep in line with the mission of this company. I personally follow the theorist Immanuel Kant. Kant is the founder of Kantian Ethics, which believes that everyone should be bound by the same duties and rules.There are three principles associated with this theory; Universizability, respect for people, and categorical imperatives. The jest of it is that you have to be able to accept and comply with the same rules that you would put on everyone else. I wish that I could follow this theory in my business practice, but I simply cannot. I have to think about everyone in volved, including my shareholders and stakeholders of the company. In this particular situation I would follow John Rawls’ theory of Egalitarianism. This particular theory is about equality.He has three main principles under this theory; Veil of Ignorance, Equal Opportunity, and Difference Principle. It is the Difference Principle that I am applying to this situation. I cannot help everyone that I would like, but giving those that cannot afford the medication some, is better than giving them none. I have been presented with a global summary of the HIV/AIDS epidemic as of December 2007. The numbers that I have received do not indicate how many of the people living with the disease in 2007 have HIV or full blown AIDS.I will only distribute to the Asymptomatic HIV patients, because they have the greatest chance of living a normal life expectancy. This is the Utilitarian theory, but as I cannot help everyone that I would like, it is not the main theory that can be used to support my decision. I know that many will not agree with this, but will distribute Sprattalin in a manner that will try to take care of everyone. I will first increase the prices by $2. 00 for all over-the-counter medications that we sell. I will then raise the costs of our prescription medications by two percent.The extra proceeds that are generated by the slight price increase will in effect subsidize the costs of Sprattalin that will be given away to low-income and third world countries. I would like to first start selling Sprattalin in the United States and Europe. These two places can afford to purchase our medications and try to help recoup the amount spent on research and development. I will not allow all of the available medication to go to these countries. I know it costs us $20,000 to produce one dosage of the medication and we will sell it for $80,000 in those two countries.I know that this is a steep price, but if countries are willing to pay way more than that for Sprattalin, then I want us to be able to help more people. Two months after the release in the United States and in Europe, I will start to release it to lower income countries. Africa unfortunately will be the last. They have the highest infected population, but are the poorest region. I know that many countries have tried to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in that region and they seem to still spread it to more people than die every year. They need additional help to ease the number of people becoming infected.Once Africa begins to receive Sprattalin, some of it will have to be paid for, but most of theirs will come from the price increases of the other medications that we sell. This is so that we can maintain our mission of helping the most people, but maintaining our profits to ensure that our investors stay happy. The reason behind not providing Sprattalin to full blown AIDS patients is because, I can only help fewer of those people and those people have already been battling it for year s. I feel great sympathy for these people and wish that I could help, but I want to help as many people as possible.I know that if I was one of those patients who could have benefited from Sprattalin, I will be pushing to supply me the medication and save my life. I cannot hide behind John Rawls veil of ignorance, because I do not have AIDS or HIV and I cannot imagine what those people are going through. My choices came from several factors that are prevalent to the determination of distribution. First was the company profits, without the investors, I would not have been able to make the discovery, but to the investors, I only ask for patience as this company deals with the costs and losses that may occur.We will find a way to create this medication in the lab so that the costs can be reduced and so that we can produce more Sprattalin. Cultural environment is also prevalent in this decision, because Africa, which in not only the most infected and the poorest, but they are the least educated on the spread of the disease and the ways to prevent transmission of the disease. In 2007 1. 7 million people were infected and 1. 6 million people died from it. I believe that this area of the world needs more help than we, as a company, can provide.I know that discussing Africa in this manner may seem bias to some of you, but it is the cold hard facts, upon which I relied my decision. Mykon has responsibility to try to provide to everyone in the world the lifesaving medication, and though personally I really want to help those in the lower-income countries with the highest rates, I have to think about the longevity of the company, which employs a lot of people. It is here where I had to determine what corporate social responsibility our company will commit to.I know that Milton Freidman would say that I should only think about the company and the company’s profits, but at the same time I want to help everyone. It is for all of these reasons that I have chosen to pr ovide the medication to those patients whom are asymptomatic HIV and not to those who are full blown. Hopefully throughout the next few years, our company will be able to come up with a way to generate more of the medication. The 15% of the available medication that I am keeping for the company is to be used to help regenerate the fungi growth, so that in three years we still have the medication to pass around.

Marketing Strategy of Innocent Drinks Essay

1: Introduction Every organization needs to have a marketing strategy so that they know who are their competitors, which market they need to target, do they have resources to compete in that market and what strategies they need to adopt to gain competitive position in the industry. The most important thing is with the help of marketing, company is able to make people aware of its product. This report focuses on how the company innocent drinks developed their marketing strategy in terms of brand positioning and marketing mix and with the help of SWOT analysis, what further actions they can take to maintain their market share. 2: Innocent Drinks 2.1: Profile After starting the business in 1998 in a friendly way, innocent drinks have become a very established brand now. Innocent has become ten years old this year. It is now the largest smoothie brand in UK and the fourth largest overall. The company has achieved a sale of over 100m pounds within a span of ten years and it has now around 250 employees. The company has won many awards from the year they have started. Its main competitors are Tropicana and own label brands which are still quite behind in terms of market share. 2.2: Company products Innocent drinks has a long range of products which they claim to be made up of pure and fresh fruit and which are free from any kind of preservatives. Their products include smoothies, yogurt drinks, thickies, kids smoothies (taking account of those fruits which children like the most), pure fruit squeezes. Their products are available in different sizes and shapes. The  company developed their logo required for a brand in an unconventional manner and now it is famous as dude. 3: Marketing strategy and analysis 3.1: Marketing objectives The company has highlighted the importance of their smoothie by injecting in peoples mind that drinking smoothie is part of their healthy lifestyle. The company’s objectives are that their product should be delicious, healthy and sustainable and their vision is to make world healthy by providing their products. 3.2: Analysis People are becoming more health conscious and that is what the Innocent highlighted among its consumers to increase its customer base and loyalty. â€Å"95% of our marketing strategy is what goes in the bottle,† as said by Reed. The company is not using latest marketing strategies, they are upbeat with the fact that their customers are happy. The company has restricted its marketing and branding to its packaging. The company didn’t involve in heavy advertisements in the beginning, instead they use their product as a mean to communicate with their consumers. The owners were in favor of print to advertise their product so they had it on the bus sides which will move everywhere in the UK. Innocent has a mixture of both market orientation and product orientation. Developing a user friendly website, publishing a book, inviting people to visit the company’s headquarter, banana telephone where customers can give suggestions and view are clear signs of market oriented co mpany. Secondly, they are quality conscious. They consider their product a fruit and not made of fruits and that is what they want to see in the eyes of their customer. The prices of their product are high but they justify it on the basis of quality by saying that preservatives and concentration reduces the cost and they want the best thing for their consumers. But the company’s over confidence regarding its product being the best and healthy one may divert its attention from customer needs and demands. Because the competitors may come with same nutritional values but better taste, it can then be a threat to a company. The company has a marketing team which is  involved in analysing competition and come up with new ideas regarding the products and strategies. And there is a communication team also which make an effective communication link with its consumers by website, news and feedback. 3.2.1: Brand strategy and positioning Branding creates value for the product and it influences everyone directly or indirectly. Innocent made their brand stand out from the crowd by adopting innovative ways of marketing and that was their beginning in differentiating their product from their competitors Brand name is very critical and it should be consistent with what the company is trying to deliver and how it wants to be perceived by customers. By establishing brand name as â€Å"innocent†, the company is trying to convey the message of being pure. Branding has been effectively used as a strategic tool for marketing by innocent smoothies and that helps the company to maintain its share in the market or in keeping its competitive position. Innocent has developed its brand image by providing excellent satisfaction, by being genuine, healthy and socially responsible in the eyes of their consumers and once the image is developed, they were able to attract the customers. It is because of brand and its perceived value that consumers are loyal and committed to the Innocent products and they do not look for any substitutes (Ginden, 1993). Customers also perceive it less risky in buying a brand product with which they are emotionally attached. It is more important for products like innocent drinks which the customers have to consume and which has direct impact on their health and body. For keeping a brand alive, it is very important to go for heavy promotions and advertisements and innocent drinks have used their resources very affectively in promotion (O’Malley, 1991). Innocent drinks have also taken a move to stay in touch with its consumers by making a family section. It is a method of communication and reminding the consumers about the products and also to get feedback from customers. The company is using family branding policy as all of its products use the company name. This reduces the cost of having different brand policies for different products. The key to positioning is to make it important in the eyes of consumer that you are incomplete without the product and on the  basis of this, innocent smoothies has kept their customers intact with them. Innocent smoothie is considered a premium brand by its consumers as they relate high cost and high quality with the product as compared to its competitors. The following figure is as perception of customers about Innocent drinks. 3.2.2: Marketing mix To make the product successful, company needs not only the products but a mixture of elements which is called marketing mix. The marketing mix is usually designed with the help of marketing research and it is also based on judgment. Every element of marketing mix compliment each other so efficient integration is required to make it successful. Innocent company has used the marketing mix quite efficiently and effectively. Product: Innocent produces fresh and healthy drinks for its customers. The company has a lot of product range including juices, smoothies, thickies, veg. pots and some of their drinks target specific customers as drinks for the kids. The drinks are available in different sizes and in different packings. Their main focus is to keep things natural and they are also very much conscious about the fruits and the farms from where it comes. Innocent smoothies distinguish themselves from other brands on the basis of purity and being 100% natural without preservatives, concentrates and colorings. The company has also described the negative consequences of concentration and that a product loses its quality, taste and nutritional value and it is done just to reduce cost and making more money. The company makes its drinks with little carbon impact. Same is the case with the recycling. Most of their packing is 100% recyclable and they are making efforts to use minimum material and that too with little carbon footprint. Some people are also fascinated from the product just because of the labeling and packaging. Labeling helps in promoting a brand and provides useful information about the product. So innocent drinks made their labeling very different and the kind of which can amuse and make people to give a second look at it. Innocent drinks is enjoying product width from smoothies to veg. pots as well as product length in terms of different flavors which are available to  consumers and that has really helped the company to maintain its market share and a protection against the current uncertainty occurred in the economic environment. Price: There are number of factors that can have an impact on the price. The company is charging high prices as compared to its competitors and still has the largest market share. It has been possible only because of the brand name and positioning. Since the company justifies its high cost with the high quality they are providing to its consumers, so their prices are also at premium level. People paying a premium price because now they have an emotional attachment developed with the brand But since the economic crunch has affected everyone so people are becoming more price sensitive and that is the reason that innocent drinks has lost some market share this year. The company emphasized that it is less expensive to purchase innocent smoothie than to buy fruit and make it at your own. Promotion: Innocent is carrying out various activities to create awareness about the product among the new or potential consumers and to remind and convince the current purchasers to go for the product. The company uses different methods of promotion from advertisement to personnel selling. They have done advertising and sales promotion very effectively. Innocent has used different approach for its marketing by targeting consumers of different products with different advertisements and campaigns. Website is always an effective method to communicate, promote and making relationship with the consumers. Banana phone is used to get feedback from the customers. Customers are allowed to visit their offices. This strategy is used to develop strong relationship with them. Innocent has also taken support from television commercials and they are using it since 2005. Moreover, to make people aware about their products, the company once made a very big compaign on the television and it regularly arranges festivals as well. Innocent used all the leading newspapers for their advertisement. Online advertising such as on facebook has also been used by innocent as a strategy for promotion. Innocent has also developed public relations. The company has been engaged in certain social projects such as giving money to charity, providing drink for homeless etc which are important for long term sustainability of business and to have a good image in the eyes of your consumers. Place: In the beginning, Innocent used the local shop for its products but as the popularity of products multiplied, the company gradually gained a great market share. The company has found a unique method of selling and distributing their products using cow vans. Innocent drinks use intensive distribution strategy by placing their product in as many places and outlet as possible. The company strategy has been shifted from push to pull as being the largest seller in UK and successful brand name, consumers demand the product. It is now available in more than 7000 retail outlets including the big names as Sainsbury, Tesco, Asda and coffee shops like Starbucks. Export has already been started by the company in Europe and Ireland. Children also got greater access to smoothies after the company made a contract with the company offering catering services to school. After the investment by the coke in the company, innocent will now have more distribution channels and will have access to new places as well. 3.2.3: SWOT analysis SWOT analysis has been carried out to evaluate where the innocent smoothies is standing with respect to the market position. It also helps innocent to analyze how strength can be used to exploit opportunities and how weaknesses can be overcome to avoid possible threats. Strengths * brand name / value already developed * company image * customer loyalty * market leader * distribution channels * investment by coca cola * wide product range and substitutes for breakfast / fruits| Weaknesses * high prices as compared to competitors * lower take up among old people * not popular in evening times * can be made at home and even in cafes and shops| Opportunities * new products for evening which enhances night sleep * emerging markets showing increase every year in market growth * global expansion| Threats * competitors (Tropicana) and products by supermarkets as Tesco * new entrants because of market potential * price sensitive people * credit  crunch can affect demand | Why are concentrates so rubbish? We believe that food companies should do everything they can to get food to people in its natural state. A concentrated orange juice is OJ that has been boiled, then evaporated in a vacuum and then homogenised, resulting in a thick tar. This is then frozen and shipped to countries where it is defrosted, reconstituted with water and has ‘add backs’ added (to enhance flavour and aroma). The concentration process not only affects the nutritional value of the juice but also the taste. All the good stuff gets boiled away and you’re left with a sugary syrup which then has to have lots of horrid stuff added back afterwards to make it taste like fruit again. Basically, concentrated juice tastes cooked, has virtually no nutritional value and that’s why we won’t ever use concentrates. It has to be pure fruit for us. How should I look after and store your drinks? Please please please keep our drinks cold. We can’t stress that enough. Because we don’t use any preservatives or other artificial stuff that might make them last a bit longer, they need to be well cared for. They should be stored between 0-5 ° C, which, luckily enough, is the temperature of your average fridge. So stick them in the chiller as soon as you get home from the shops, or if you’re saving a bit for later, don’t leave it on your desk – pop it back in the fridge for a while. Once opened, we reckon our drinks are best drunk on the same day, although as previously mentioned you should refrigerate them between sips. If you leave them out of the fridge, they will eventually start to ferment. This is a completely safe, natural process but it means the smoothie goes fizzy. It normally causes tiny bubbles in the drink. Click here to find out more about fermentation. If you suspect a drink to be fermented, please dispose of the contents of the bo ttle and contact us at hello@innocentdrinks.co.uk or call the banana phone on 020 8600 3939 with details about the bottle or carton and its enjoy by date. So, please do keep our smoothies nice and cold. ^ back to top How long do they last? Our drinks are made from 100% pure fruit and nothing else. Because we don’t use preservatives, stabilisers or additives they generally last about as long as a pint of milk. Please always keep them chilled and drink them on the same day you open them. Can I freeze your smoothies? Our smoothies are made of nothing but whole crushed fruit and pure juices, so it’s completely safe to freeze them. However, we don’t really recommend it because they taste much better fresh. To be more specific, bananas don’t freeze well; when they defrost they go brown and a bit slimy. Check out this picture of a fresh banana and one that’s defrosted. We know which we would rather drink. If you do decide to freeze one of our smoothies, please make sure you defrost it in the fridge so it stays chilled at all times and note that this might take as long as 3 days. You should also drink it on the day of defrosting. What is love? Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more. Do you have any drinks that don’t contain banana? Our kiwis, apples & limes smoothie (also available in 1 litre cartons) and yoghurt, vanilla bean & honey thickie are both completely banana free. Are your products organic? No they’re not organic. We want to minimise pesticide and other agrochemical usage on our fruit, and this is one of the requirements of both the Rainforest Alliance and also the innocent minimum standards for our fruit growers. Both sets of standards also ban the use of any of the ‘dirty dozen’ pesticides as listed by the Pesticide Action Network. To ensure the safety of our drinks we conduct independent tests on our ingredients, at an  accredited laboratory, throughout the harvest calender. Of the test results with anything being detected at all, these detections fall well within the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) that you are allowed. Each year our policy will be reviewed and testing procedures will be updated. And what about all of those plastic bottles? Since January 2008, all our smoothie recipes are in 100% recycled PET* plastic. We’ve been working on this project for quite a while. In 2003 we started using bottles made from 25% recycled plastic and in 2006 improved it to 50% recycled. All the time, people told us that it would be impossible to get to 100%, but we tried and tried and tried again. And now we’re here. 100%. It means a 20% reduction in materials (we’ve made the bottle lighter) and a 55% carbon reduction in terms of the bottle’s manufacture. It’s a big step for a little company. We’re very proud. *PET stands for ‘polyethylene terephthalate’. Clear plastic, in other words, said our Stu, who knows about these things. So can I recycle your plastic bottles and tetra pak cartons? We’ve got a whole section on our website dedicated to this. You can check it out here. ^ back to top Are your products suitable for vegans? Smoothies – We’re afraid as we can’t guarantee that our drinks are shellac free, due to the small chance that tiny amounts of shellac do make it into our drinks, we can’t class our drinks as being suitable for vegans. Thickies – no (they contain dairy produce and honey). Are your products suitable for pregnant women? Yes. Although we’ve heard that some of them prefer coal. Can infants and children drink your products? Infants under 12 months shouldn’t drink our vanilla and honey bean thickies. The Food Standards Agency says that honey should not be given to infants under 12 months old because of the small risk of botulism. Infantile  botulism occurs when honey contains Clostridium Botulinum spores, which infect the infant gut that then produces the toxin. This is not a problem for anyone aged more than 12 months. Regarding children in general, our smoothies, thickies and juices are OK – they contain nothing but crushed and juiced fruit (and low-fat bio yoghurt in the thickies), so the health properties should be welcome for kids who quite like sweets and crisps too. But it should be noted that our smoothies and juices contain a large amount of naturally occurring fruit sugars. For this reason you can add water to dilute them if you like. The FSA also recommends that for children, you should try to keep fruit juice to mealtimes. In general, look on the ingredients panel and check the amount of fruit in each bottle. If it seems like a reasonable amount of fruit, then it will be OK. If you don’t usually give your child this much fruit, then adjust the amount accordingly. We make a range of drinks specifically for children which you can find out about here. They’ve got less bits in them, as children seem to prefer their smoothies that way. Do you think I should dye my hair? No. I’ve always thought that blonde suited you. Why do you always use apples, oranges and bananas in your smoothies? These three fruits are a bit like the salt and pepper of the fruit world, except there are three of them. We use them for natural sweetness (apples), natural sharpness (oranges) and natural thickness (bananas). It beats using artificial stuff. So why don’t you call your mangoes and passion fruits smoothie â€Å"apples, mangoes and passion fruits†? We name our smoothies according to whichever flavours you can taste the most. So we feel if we were to start calling the smoothies â€Å"apples, mangoes and passion fruits,† it would be a bit misleading, as what you really taste when you take a mouthful are the mangoes and passion fruits. All of the ingredients are printed in full on the label, so it’s not like we’re trying to be sneaky or anything. Do your products contain nuts? Our veg pots may contain traces of nuts but our smoothies and juices contain no nuts whatsoever (which keeps the squirrels happy). Are your drinks GM-free? Yes they are. How do you make sure your fruit is from ethical sources? Our ultimate aim is that we are proud of every piece of fruit that we use. We want to buy our fruit from farms that look after both their workers and the environment. To achieve this we have created our own set of minimum standards, that detail our expectations for all the relevant social and environmental issues. We are in the process of rolling out these standards with our suppliers, and will work together with them to implement the agreed action plans. We feel that it is really important to understand the issues relevant to each country, and the pressures faced by our farmers, so we are meeting with more and more of our growers. As our fruit comes from all over the world this is a huge task, but one to which we are passionately committed. We know that there is no point recreating the wheel – so we also work with established international accreditation organizations such as the Rainforest Alliance. We first met them at a banana plantation in Costa Rica, and were so impressed with the work they do, that we now only buy banana from Rainforest Alliance approved plantations. The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour. It not only looks at farm workers rights and wellbeing, but also protects ecosystems on the farms, which encourages bio diversity. We believe this sustainable approach is the best one. A well run farm with motivated workers means better quality fruit and better productivity, which means we get nicer fruit and the farms are more profitable. Are you going to move all your fruit to Rainforest Alliance approved sources? No, it just isn’t applicable for certain countries and certain fruits, like those that we source from the UK. But as the Rainforest Alliance expands into new certification territory, like pineapple, we’ll be keen to keep on building our relationship with them. As they develop new standards for new  fruits, we will assess their suitability for our growers. Whilst we don’t like to boast, it turns out they quite appreciate the work we do and they showed their gratitude last year with this rather fetching trophy. Outside of the world of fruit they certify all sort of things including coffee, cocoa and forestry. Find out more here: www.rainforest-alliance.org ^ back to top Why don’t you buy fairtrade fruit? We take the ethics of our supply chain incredibly seriously and took great care to find the best independent certification scheme that matched our values, and suited our needs the best. Fairtrade’s primary focus is on the prices paid to the farmers and social issues for small farms and cooperatives. It’s a great scheme but we felt that Rainforest Alliance looked at a broader spectrum of issues (both social and environmental), which we thought was a better fit with our own ethos. Also, the Fair Trade scheme predominantly certifies cooperative and and family run small holdings – not all of our fruit is available from these types of farms, so Fairtrade isn’t always applicable to our growers. Articles like this one from The Observer Food Monthly debate the key differences between Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade (this one’s about coffee). What is the innocent foundation? The innocent foundation is a grant giving charity that was set up in July 2004 with the idea of bringing nature and communities closer together for mutual benefit. innocent donate 10% of our profits each year to charity, primarily to the innocent foundation, which funds rural development projects in the countries where our fruit comes from. Find out more here. Do your drinks actually contain shiny trumpets/pebbles/cricket pavilions/small churches? No. Can I have some free drinks for my event please? We get lots and lots of requests for our drinks and as much as we’d love to help everyone out, it would just be impossible. Instead, we give any excess drinks we have to the homeless through the charity, Fareshare. You can find out a bit more about the good work they do here. Okay. But it’s for charity. Does that make any difference? Generally, we feel it’s better to be able to offer a significant amount of support to one cause rather than a little backing to lots of different ones. With that in mind, every year we donate 10% of our annual profits to the innocent foundation. Its remit is to fund Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that work to bring nature and communities closer together. You can see a bit more about the projects we support at www.innocentfoundation.org. Hope that all makes sense. I’m running a marathon/ climbing Everest/ shaving off all my chin hair for charity. Can you sponsor me please? Again, whilst we applaud anyone who gives up their time to sit in a bath of baked beans or run further than the corner shop to raise money for charity but if we sponsored everyone who wrote to us, we’d be living off beans and no toast. Instead, we make sure that we give something back to the countries where we buy our fruit, via the innocent foundation. Can I borrow your car? The clutch has gone funny, the fan belt’s shot and there are no windows. Plus I’ve forgotten where I’ve parked it. Lend us a fiver. No. 4: Conclusions and Recommendations 4.1: Conclusion Innocent’s success has been made possible just because of effective and innovative way of marketing which they adopted. Innocent used every kind of channel, big or small in carrying out its promotion. They used every kind of that marketing strategy in which low cost was involved but its impact was high. The company updates the website and labels regularly. Innocent changed the label quite frequently to maintain the attention of its consumers Innocent made the customers loyal by doing little things but they made huge difference for them. Innocent was of the view that making their drinks easily accessible to customers is very crucial and success of the company depends on it. The innocent also arranged a free event for its customers as a means of giving thanks to its customers for using their products. Innocent always remained active in interacting with its customers. The owners of the company didn’t have much idea about how things should be done and no strategic plan was involved in making the brand name, its packaging and process of launching it but surprisingly their idea was welcomed by the consumers as it was different and something they can amuse or laugh at. Innocent dominance has been affected in 2008 after the introduction of Tropicana in the market. In April 2009, investment by Coca-Cola is seen as a wise step because as a result of decrease in sales, it was necessary to maintain the brand value. Since the company is facing severe competition from rivals such as Tropicana so funding was required to be in the competition. Coke will increase the distribution channels and give access to more markets by making customer aware of the product. Innocent’s premium positioning is a key advantage and it also has developed a strong connection with its consumers over the passage of time. Brand loyalty is good but they have to look at their prices if they want to sustain their position as people are becoming more price conscious. It is more difficult to retain the customers than to attract new customers 4.2: Recommendations Innocent drinks should closely monitor the environment and conduct market research to identify issues as consumer behaviour, competitors’ strategies which can have an impact on their brand or positioning (O’Malley, 1991). This will help the company to be proactive in their approach rather than reactive. As the market is becoming more global, there will always arise new opportunities but also threats as consumers also have access to variety of products from different countries with different tastes and nutritional values so innocent drinks must consider what their consumers want, their preferences if they want to survive and be successful in the long term. SWOT analysis has identified the threats and weaknesses which innocent should  consider and the opportunities which they should exploit by using their strengths. There are some strategies which can be adopted by innocent smoothies as market leaders. They should try to expand the market either by market penetration or by exploring new potential markets. Innocent can also try to protect their current market share which has fallen because of Tropicana by introducing new products into its line. More aggressively, they should try to increase their market share by reducing their prices which are quite high currently and by further increasing promotion. Innocent should also make good use of collaboration with the Coke as it can provide the company with lot of distribution channels. Innocent must focus on strategies which help them to attract new consumers and in retaining the existing customers. Different promotional strategies can be adopted. The company can offer discounts, free samples for new customers to try, free gifts, coupons for customer loyalty, tickets for different events etc. innocent should also ensure that its product is available in as many places as possible. They can increase the availability of products on train/bus stations, petrol pumps and a lot more health clubs. Customer satisfaction is very important because that will encourage them to buy the products of the company again and they will also become a source of advertisement by referring the companys’ product to others as well (Gilson, 1986). It is the least expensive method of advertisement and promotion. Innocent can adopt some defensive strategies against Tropicana as well. Innocent can reduce the prices in the market in which the rivals have greatest share. Secondly, it is good to have information about competitors’ move in advance so that appropriate actions can be taken. Diversification can also be done if the markets are becoming more vulnerable. The research has also shown that smoothies are not consumed in later part of the day so the company can make some drinks which are light, easy on stomach and which help the consumers in getting better sleep at night. Innocent should make use of its brand name by launching new products like ice cream. Sometimes, new products help in compensating the loss of failed products but the company must remain conscious in launching a new product because it is difficult to develop, have to carry out rigorous market research and there are also long lead time involved and if it fails, it will bring bad image to the brand and will affect the brand equity so the company must use all the processes of product development from idea generation to commercialization in order to mitigate the risks associated with new products. References Baines P., Fill C., Page K.,(2008). â€Å"Marketing†. New York: Oxford University Press, Pg 374-382 Ginden, R. (1993), â€Å"The name game†, Cheers, pp.59-62. Innocent drinks. http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk (accessed 02/12/2009) Mintel. http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen academic/my reports/display (accessed 03/12/2009) O’Malley, D. (1991), â€Å"Brand means business†, Accountancy, 107, pp.107-8.