Courtship Of Mr Lyon and Wolf Alice Comparison Essay Essay

Extract: The Courtship of Mr Lyon from ‘the voice that seemed to issue from a care full of echoes’ to ‘he went on all fours’. Using this extract as your starting point and this reference to one other story of your choice, you should: -Explore Carter’s manipulation of language to develop the voice of the lion and the reaction of the girl to it. -Examine how Carter exploits the voices of her characters in both stories to comment on attitudes towards characters that are different. The Courtship of Mr Lyon loosely refers to the main storyline presented with the fairytale; The Beauty and The Beast. It is heavily feminine and throughout strives for the equality between men and women, despite their potential ‘otherness’s’. Combined with Wolf Alice, loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s: Alice through the Looking Glass, Carter uses a variety of linguistics and literary techniques in order to communicate a strong sense of voice to the reader. Developing this, then enables Carter to manipulate language to suggest the reactions and relationships between characters within both stories. Throughout the extract, Carter uses a third person omniscient narrative in order to create a sense of separation from events, potentially mimicking the attitudes of society. In general those who tend to ‘stick out’ are ignored, abandoned and shunned. The use of this narrative choice enables reader’s to be faced with the reality of their actions and encourage them to change their views. Beauty exists within days of ‘pastel-coloured idleness’, a sense of boredom reinforced by the use of soft sounding constanants and open vowels. The choice of these lexis help to suggest details regarding Beauty’s persona, a passive character, innocent and submissive, unable to make her own decisions, reflecting historical context, many women were considered to occupy this role within Carter’s writing time. With, ‘a kind of halo’ the Beast appears almost saintly, providing a distraction from Beauty’s monotonous existence. This also suggests the Beast is the authoritative figure within the relationship, Beauty possesses somewhat of awe towards him. However, the distinct lexical choice ‘kind’ suggests the Beast is not entirely what he seems, his sense of ‘otherness’ never able to leave him totally. The Beast appears to hold the position of authority between himself and Beauty; ‘he was irradiated’ foregrounding the anaphoric references ‘he’, highlighting the importance the Beast possesses. A strong sense of the voice of the lion is created through the Beast ‘forc(ing) himself to master his shyness’ revealing feelings the Beast possesses, through a internal third person narration. However, unlike Beauty, who is unable to defeat the ‘small talk (that) turned to dust in her mouth’, the Beast overcomes his sense of fear, yet again suggesting he is stronger than Beauty, a strong sense of character and voice created through repeated reinforcing of the character of the Beast. He can relate to Beauty, ‘(gazing) at her with green, inscrutable eyes’, he is able to understand that she needs to see herself different, shake off the societal constraints she has become conditioned to obey. Beauty is submissive, no longer shying away from the Beast, she has come to accept the Beast’s ‘otherness’ much more, and realises her potential, of which he has created. Beauty sees her face ‘as if it were a bud’, suggesting her potential, she needs to grow and mature, with her stark realisation; ‘all he is doing is kissing my hands’, reinforcing how far Beauty has already progressed, as at the start, she is afraid to acknowledge the Beast’s existence. Earlier in the story, when Beauty first enters the Beast’s castle, her father is attacked by the Beast, who shook him ‘until his teeth rattled’ and ‘yapped distractedly’ after. Although these actions are not that expected from a ‘normal’ member of society, and suggest the Beast possesses very little humanity at that moment, the humorous nature of the phrases suggest that the Beast may not be as frightening as initially thought, hinting to the reader foreshadowing, already actions of the Beast are not all as they appear. The Beast sees the ‘absolute sweetness’ of Beauty, an ambiguous syntactic parallel, suggesting to the reader that not only the Beast, but Beauty too possesses ‘otherness’, as her beauty, ‘who looked as if she had been carved out of a single pearl’ hinders her development, she is treated as a possession, and has very little idea how to interact with humans alongside her in society. Within Wolf Alice, a third person restricted narrative is used to emphasise the central character’s sense of ‘otherness’ within the story. Described as a ‘ragged girl’, with a ‘panting tongue’ that ‘runs on all fours’, Wolf Alice is introduced as different from the rest of the society. The voice of the narrator stating ‘her pace is not our pace’. The inclusive audience address of ‘our’ perhaps suggesting, similar to within The Courtship Of Mr Lyon, that society wishes to separate themselves from people that appear different, or unique, a belief that Carter wishes to challenge, emphasised by the phrase; ‘she was lonely enough’. However, the repetition of the lexis ‘pace’ may suggest similarities between Wolf Alice and the rest of society, even though different, there are similarities also, Wolf Alice is not entirely different. The Nuns, supposedly religious and accepting, ‘poured water over her, poked her with sticks to rouse her’. Evidently, these are against Wolf Alice’s otherness, containing within them the views of the entire society. However, Carter may also be using the Nun’s as an alternative, additional message, that religion too is deteriorating. Throughout The Courtship of Mr Lyon, the idea of eyes is repeated frequently. A symbol of understanding and potential, ‘as if her eyes’ the Beast is able to see the possibilities Beauty contains and wishes her to encourage her character to blossom. Earlier in the story, Beauty finds the Beast’s ‘bewildering difference from herself almost intolerable’, she focuses only on the differences between themselves, and has a lack of understanding and appreciation. The progression Beauty has made in accepting other’s differences is highlighted as ‘the stiff bristle of (the Beast’s) muzzle’ graze on her lap, and Beauty does not retreat. Within the Beast’s eyes, ‘she saw herself repeated twice’ possibly showing Beauty’s realisation. She is now able to see how she is viewed by society, as well as the changes she has made herself. She is no longer shallow or possesses appearance-dominated beliefs. Beauty is amazed at ‘how is was that she had never noticed before that his agate eyes were equipped with lids like those of a man’, she has finally come to accept both her own and the Beast’s otherness, and is content and comfortable with herself. ‘It was no longer a lion in her arms but a man’, concludes the main idea of the story, both Beauty and the Beast have found themselves and are comfortable, despite the reactions and isolation they experience from society. They are happy together and become one, the idea highlighted with the tense change of the last syntax, the present tense suggesting a continuation, suggesting this occurs in the present, and should continue, an idea which resonates within the reader’s mind. Finally, the Duke too, within Wolf Alice has differences and repulses society; ‘his thin legs scabbed with old scars where thorns scored his pelt’. Society too has hate for him, he is an outcast, much like Wolf Alice. ‘Old scars’ suggest previous encounters with society, their macabre actions, wounding the Duke. Carter is challenging the reader, just because actions are completed by the masses, does it make them right? The Duke ‘sees, nowhere a reflection of himself’. He has retreated from society, he does not accept his character, further emphasised by his separation from society, living on his own in a ‘gloomy mansion’. Potential fear the villagers have towards the Duke is highlighted within the humorous euphemism ‘lupine fiesta’s’, perhaps suggesting that the reader’s do not want to accept responsibility for the actions they have performed which have driven the Duke to be so un-human. The repeated capitalisation of ‘Duke’ also suggesting respect, if not fear, towards the strong, seemingly soulless character. If they had been accepting and nurturing, the Duke may have been able to blossom and progress, yet their harsh, judgemental actions have secluded the Duke, leading him to live a primal life, no conscious present. However, throughout the story, Wolf Alice grows and matures from a child to a woman, gradually developing human-like characteristics, such as the need for hygiene, ‘looking for rags to sop the blood up’. After meeting the Duke, Wolf Alice continues to progress and encourages the Duke to do so too. Finally, ‘as if brought into being by her soft, moist, gentle tongue†¦ the face of the Duke’ appears in the mirror. The ideas of the story concluded, similar to The Courtship Of Mr Lyon, Wolf Alice and the Duke both accept their otherness, and encourage the other to do so. All are able to find happiness and live contently despite the views society may possess. Carter is suggesting that feminism does not mean a dominating sex, but equality between them, as each is equal within creation. In conclusion Carter’s use of literary and linguistic techniques successfully portray the sense of voice and the reactions of characters within both stories to the idea of otherness. Her final ideas are concluded well within both stories, creating a clear message which resonates and questions the reader, encouraging them to consider their actions within a modern-day society.

Agile Electric

Automaker a large multinational auto component manufacturer headquartered in North America with plants worldwide. It supplied complete systems to many car manufacturers globally. This particular project was the first time that it had supplied components to MOM. Automaker was looking forward for more business form MOM if this was successful. Due to increasing cost In the United States, Automaker was on a lookout for global low-cost source. During Its search It came across Agile In India and sent Its technical team to assess this potential supplier.The team was satisfied with the facility and approved It as Its supplier of motors to Automaker. As Eagles quality and delivery performance was good. In 2002 Automaker awarded a business for a new product which was not In Eagle's existing product portfolio. A team was deputed to work with Agile to setup the manufacturing line to produce the product as per Automates requirement. The launch was successful and Agile continued to deliver Zero d efects or delivery defaults. Based on previous track record Agile was selected to supply new actuator assembly and they had no experience in this.As done earlier, Automaker is not deputing any engineers to work with Agile. They accept to process the in house parts. For critical components Agile approach Automaker for support as they no idea on the parts. Agile recommends ESP. who was also an existing supplier to them. The Automaker team audited ESP. and gave a go-ahead to ESP. with some gaps to be addressed. ESP. recommended BILL for supplying of PC. Automaker agreed as BILL was an ISO 9000 certified company. After auditing the recommended some gaps and gave a go-ahead for development. ProblemThere were a failure reported by the Ford which seemed to originate from the actuator assembly supplied by Agile. Automaker asked Agile to investigate the problem and report on root cause of the problem. In 2009 Automaker deputes its Process expert to work on the problem. After series of experi ments and trials which located the problem as originating from the board shearing operations at Agile. This problem was not being detected at the final testing as there was no test that checked for shearing force. List of Key protagonists and their role.Surest Kumar, vice -president of Operations Agile Raja Reedy, Chief Executive Officer, Tom Smith, Supplier Quality Manager John Arthur, Purchasing Manager James Roach, SMS process Expert Possible alternatives Automaker should have maintained supplier scorecard to monitor the quality, telling and delivery of Its suppliers. Proper training need to be Imparted before awarding any new project which has no expertise. Work need to be supervised on a regular basis. If any gaps is found in the process need to make sure that it is corrected before asking a go-ahead. This was successful.Due to increasing cost in the United States, Automaker was on a lookout for global low-cost source. During its search it came across Agile in India and sent it s technical team to assess this potential supplier. The team was satisfied with the facility and approved it as its supplier of motors to Automaker. As Eagle's quality product which was not in Eagle's existing product portfolio.

Sony-Ericsson Case

The reasons for this are of course numerous. One of the reasons was that both companies only had a minor market share, Ericson 10% and Sony 1,5% of the world market, whereas as the leader Nooks had 30,6%. This giving Nooks a huge advantage in existing customers as well as strong brand awareness. Another main reason for the fusion of both the mobile departments of the company was that both had problems in managing their departments. Sony had so many different sectors it was in that mobile was Just one more and was ;t paid enough attention.Ericson had the technology to be a leader, but they were always criticized for only being a group of engineers, developing good products, but not paying as much attention to customers desires as Nooks did. Therefore being significantly less successful than their Finnish rival. Both companies needed to restructure their efforts in the mobile development and that Is why it made sense for them both to start this partnership. Ericson would provide people and their expertise In telecommunications and Sony it ‘s expertise In consumer electronics products as well as $500 million.Both were able to cut costs significantly and still able to become a global player on this prosperous market In the future. 2) What was needed to succeed in this market? The main attributes that were needed to succeed in the market was the knowledge to develop in the direction of the technology that would be used in the future, as well as knowing and offering your customers what they were looking for. In fact one can say that Nooks did everything one needed to do to succeed. They listen to what their clients where looking/expecting from their mobile phones, and built a product portfolio accordingly.Due to this approach they were able to offer a specific product to every customer profile they had. Concerning technology they also did good work being the clear leaders In the 26 markets, which gave them a age head start. The management also did an excellent work, having a better-cost extra effort on not becoming a huge corporation with 100,000 employees, staying rather small gave them the advantage that decision could be taken quickly and that changes and adoptions to the products were able to be done immediately. ) Compare Ionians and Sony Ericson Mobile Communication's situations (activities, competences, finances) SEEM had a clear goal, which was to become the global number one player for multimedia products. This was supposed to be achieved by combining their forces in R&D, marketing, sales, distribution and customer services. The Joint force should give them the resources to overcome their seemingly untouchable competitor Nooks. The soft activities they were planning and adapting were: being responsive to the market, analyzing the behavior of the consumers and of their competitors.Nooks on the other hand wanted to keep their activities in the mobile sector at the same high level they had been over the sass's, strengthening their p osition in the market today and constantly investing in R. Even increasing the percentage of net sales being reinvested to R, which were around 8,9% in the late sass's, the goal being to maintain the strong market position for the 36 generation phones. From a financial point of view, we can only compare the individual financial statements of Ericson, Sony and Nooks from the appendix of the case.In a first look at the data available we can deduct that the financial situation of Nooks is clearly the most advantageous one. To be able to analyses financial statements that are comparable, I will only look at the ones of Nooks and Ericson. The Sony Corporation has so many different activities going on that from this financial statement I can't detect which revenues are from the mobile industry. The only observations I would like to mention about the company is that their revenue has been increasing over the years, but net income has been decreasing.This showing that in the core business w e are talking about Nooks has made the biggest step by increasing net sales in this sector by offer having a 80% growth per year between 1998 and 2000. These numbers are also reflected in the market share Nooks has on the world mobile market. 4) What are the potential risks for this alliance? The risks for this alliance are of course numerous. First of all Sony Ericson has to find a proper way to communicate to the public/customers why they have merged heir mobile departments and explain what profits this results in for them in the tend to which to other brands.This is the main risk, that they have to manage, which has to be dealt with proper attention and experienced marketing experts, so that a clear message is sent out to the public and current/future customers. Another potential risk is the management that consists of managers from both Ericson and Sony. It provides conflict potential when two corporate cultures clash. Managers from both sides are used to doing business their wa y but now they have to adapt to the managing methods of one another.This might make it difficult to find a common strategy, with which they want to market their brand. The responsibilities and decision fields have to be clearly defined to avoid these kinds of occurrences as good as possible. A further threat would be that both sides could quickly get frustrated if results are not as good or worse than expected. This could lead to one accusing the other of bad management, insufficient research and so on, resulting in a bad atmosphere in the company. This would further complicate the merger and might even lead to the decision to go separate ways again.

Present Status and Future Development of Marketing at Nike Assignment

Present Status and Future Development of Marketing at Nike - Assignment Example Additionally, Nike’s marketing strategy has continued to evolve through diversification. For example, when Nike’s sales started to stagnate in 1988, it realized that solely focusing marketing efforts on specific market segments â€Å"could only grow sales and profits so far† (Hill & Jones, 2009). As a result, Nike diversified market development into other areas such as aerobics, golf, and basketball and implemented the 4Ps marketing mix; namely product, price, place, and promotion (Pride & Ferrell, 2008). Furthermore, Nike’s marketing strategy also involved entering new markets by purchasing established footwear companies such as Converse and Cole Haan (Hill & Jones, 2009, p.200). In addition to diversifying, Nike’s marketing strategy has been dramatically redefined in the 21st century as a result of the interrelationship between globalization and the e-commerce business model (Pride & Ferrell, 2008). The incoming of the second media age and multiple digital platforms have created new societal trends and business opportunities through the multimedia business model, which has challenged pre-existing methods of information dissemination. On one side of the spectrum, this has led to increasing commercialization of the customer, which is further reflected by changing consumer habits and multi-chain retail strategy (Vollmer & Precourt, 2008). On the other side of the spectrum, the digital era has redefined how the people interact with each other, thereby marking a shift in societal relationships and trends, which in turn informs cultural norms and enables innovation in building consumer/business relationships. Appurtenant to the digital revolution has been the radicalization of communication modes, with the inception of chat rooms, email, instant messaging and blogs.  

The life of William shakespeare Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The life of William shakespeare - Research Paper Example Of the five siblings, William had two sisters and three brothers. Edmund Shakespeare, the last born in the Shakespeare family was born when William was in his teenage years, and that’s when he lost one of his sisters. John Shakespeare later became the mayor of the town in which William was born. Shakespeare never had an extensive education life. At the age of six or seven, William Shakespeare attended the King’s new school in Stratford (a school that taught children of prominent citizens) where he leant grammar and got the chance of sharpening his writing skills which laid down the foundation of his career in theater. In his secondary, he studied Latin, literature, rhetoric, logic, and ethics. In his work, there is evidence of Roman comedy, classical mythology and ancient history. This is believed to be his only formal education as there is no evidence to suggest he ever received university training. William might have been withdrawn from the school of grammar due to the increased poverty of his father at the age of thirteen. At that time, his father was a butcher, and William joined him in that business for some time. The business of John Shakespeare had gone from bad to worse, and at the time, William Shakespeare was eighteen, his father was deprived of his mayorship. This happened on 6th of September 1586. Not much is known about the life of William Shakespeare in his youth, but it is evident that at the age of eighteen, he got married to a farmer’s daughter known as Anne Hathaway who was eight years older than him. They married when Anne had William’s pregnancy and she gave birth six months later. It is believed that Shakespeare was forced into marriage by the Hathaway family since he wanted to marry one Anne Whateley who was already married to Wm Shaxpere and that he had previously impregnated Anne Hathaway. William Shakespeare never showed affection to his wife. This is evident because in his first draft of his will,

The genre of dystopian novel from We by Zamyatin to 1984 by Orwell Research Paper

The genre of dystopian novel from We by Zamyatin to 1984 by Orwell - Research Paper Example Therefore, Clute and Nicholl (p.361) defines dystopia as a fictional society or community, which is in some crucial way frightening or undesirable. Dystopias are most of the time characterized by dehumanization, environmental disasters, autocratic governments, and other traits associated with a catalystic decline in the society. We by Zamyatin and 1984 by Orwell can be categorized as dystopian stories because they are characterized with the following: backstory, hero, conflict, and climax. First, since back story is part of the fictional world, a back story is necessary of how this world came to be or how it evolved from our current world. Secondly, the hero/protagonist intuitively feels something is wrong within the society and sets out to alter it, such as D-503 in Zamyatin’s We and Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984 .Next, in the conflict, the protagonists meets and is sometimes assisted by a group of individuals who are also attempting to escape or destroy the dy stopia. Lastly, in the climax of dystopian literature like We by Zamyatin and 1984 by Orwell, the dystopia is often not brought down, thus the stories remain unresolved. The elements of dystopias differ from political, environmental and social issues. The dystopian societies as the one depicted in We by Zamyatin and 1984 by Orwell culminated in a wide series of sub-genres of fiction and were utilized to raise awareness of the real world issues in relation to environment, religion, society, politics, economics, technology, and psychology, if left unaddressed, led to a dystopia-like condition in the future. Currently, dystopias have taken the form of a multitude of speculations, for example, poverty, pollution, political repression, and societal collapse. We is a classic dystopian novel that was set in the 26th century. Its message of hope and warning is as timely as the end of the 20th century as it was in the beginning (Parrinder, p.18). Yevgeny Zamyatin was a marine engineer and a Russian writer wrote this novel in 1919-1921. The novel was written as a consequence of author’s personal experiences during his life in the Newcastle suburb of Jesmond, the Russian revolution of 1905, and 1917, as well as the during his work in the Tyne shipyards during the First World War (Thomas, 314). This book by Zamyatin is one which ended up influencing other dystopian authors such George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. Orwell’s 1948 is a futuristic piece of work that the novelist chose to turn inside out the last two numbers of the year he had authored it, 1948 into 1984 to depict issues that would be solved by that time. Zamyatin is hailed as the grandfather of satirical futuristic dystopia genre. He goes ahead and takes the totalitarian and confirmative concepts of modern industrial society to a very extreme conclusion, portraying a state that trusts in free will which is the source of unhappiness, and that the lives of the general public is controlled with the mat hematical precision founded on the system of industrial efficiency which was formulated by Fredrick Taylor (Clute and Nicholl, 85). An examination of myths and symbols show that Zamyatin’s work is easily comprehended as an internal drama of a conflicted modern man as compared to the external drama reality in a failed utopia. Furthermore, the city is laid out as a mandala which had many archeotypes and was subject to an archetypical conflict. The utilization of color and other forms of imagery depicts that Zamyatin advocated for the same subjectivist as had Kandinsky as well as other European Expressionist painters. Zamyatin’s We novel is considered to be the first dystopian novel, since it was influential in the formation of genre and important in any study of literature. Dystopian stories

Describe the main phases of the business cycle and discuss recent Essay

Describe the main phases of the business cycle and discuss recent economic growth patterns in Australia - Essay Example At the end, there is a depiction of the movement of the leading index and coincident index, which are two composite indices of prime economic indicators. These indices are particularly designed to predict business cycle and growth rate cycle patterns. The basic features of business cycles in Australia over the past few decades and the compatibility of the recent economic growth with the prevailing business cycle phase are analyzed on the basis of these indicators and the NBER methodology. The analysis of business cycles in Australia shows strong incidence of asymmetry as compared to the growth rate cycles. The study of business cycles is crucial for exploring the economic activities and its trends of a given nation or territory. In Economics, â€Å"business cycle† is the up and down movements of the economy which occurs at irregular intervals. The major indicators of business cycles or tools of measuring the business cycles include the important macroeconomic variables and essentially, fluctuations in GDP. A business cycle is an irregular, unpredictable, or non-repetitive phenomenon. A business cycle is recognized as a succession of four phases. The first phase is Contraction, which implies a slowdown in the pace of economic activity. Next comes, Trough, which is the lower point of turn of a business cycle. This is a point from where the phase of downturn or contraction moves towards expansion or upturn. The third phase is that of Expansion, a speedup in the pace of economic activity; and finally comes peak, the upper turning of a business cycle. The research on the cyclical in stability, contraction and expansion of economic activities or outputs is an important aspect of study in economics. Particularly, this area of research got emphasis since the seminal works of Burns and Mitchell (1946) at National Bureau of Economic

Wireless Networks and Pervasive Computing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wireless Networks and Pervasive Computing - Essay Example This method has several advantages such as it is reliable, it is ordered, and it is heavy weight (Kozierok, 2005). It is reliable in that any message sent along it, arrives safely unless there is a problem with the connection. Also, when two messages are sent along a connection, the first message arrives first and ordered. However, if messages arrived in the wrong order, resend requests must be sent, which requires a lot of effort to put together. UDP is also a commonly used the message-based internet protocol that does not require any connection (Kozierok, 2005). According to Kozierok (2005), UDP is not be used to send crucial data like database information and web-pages, but for streaming video and audio. It is faster than TCP; hence, it is used in streaming media like real player, and Media audio files. Its speed is higher than that of TCP because it does not require any error correction or flow control. However, it is quite unreliable because the data sent along it is likely to be affected by errors and collision. Also, it is not ordered because messages sent can arrive in any order. Unlike the TCP, UDP is lightweight because it does not track its connections or order messages; hence, little effort is required to translate the data back from the packets (Reid and Lorenz, 2008). All computers, which are connected to the internet, must have an IP address. This is a unique number that is assigned to all computers as a means of recognizing a certain computer from others that are connected to the internet. When information is sent to a computer, it is accepted through the use of TCP/UDP ports. In is highly essential in business in order to ensure the data sent reaches its destination safe and in proper order. What happens is, when a computer program sends or receives data via the internet.

Hitler and Germany Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hitler and Germany - Term Paper Example During the World War II, the young scientist served in British intelligence. As soon as the war ended, he was delegated to Berlin. It was Trevor-Roper, who was appointed as the head of the British commission, investigating the circumstances of the death of Hitler. As the result of this work, he published a range of the authoritative studies of the Nazi Germany, among which was Hitler’s Table Talk, 1941-1944. According to Trevor-Roper’s edition, Hitler covered a range of questions and issues that, to his opinion, were crucial for the Nazi Germany, its supremacy in the world, and justification of the regime. The current essay will discuss one of these topics: the status of religion, particularly Christianity, according to Nazi leader and Nazi regime. Christianity was in the deep conflict with the racist ideology of Nazism. It is clearly illustrated by the religious beliefs of Hitler. He was born in the Catholic family, but idealized antiquity. The leader of Nazi rejected the Christian religion for the following reasons: Christianity protected the weak and downtrodden; Christianity had Jewish roots; forces people to bend by the sound of church bells; the first Christians were sick, exhausted, and desperate people (Trevor-Roper 78); the Christian dogma of forgiveness of sin, resurrection, and salvation seemed utterly absurd to the Nazi; Christian compassion was unworthy and harmful to the ideology of the strength of spirit (Trevor-Roper 397); the Christian idea of love to the neighbor was not relevant for Nazi ideology, because it paralyzed man; the Christian idea of equality protected the racially inferior and weak people that were unwanted in Nazi opinion. Initially, the Nazi party program contained a grain of Christian ideas. H owever, Christian commandments could not get along in one party program with strict racist principles. Soon, the religious values had been completely suppressed by the revived Nordic values and the idea of super-human. When

Master Degree in Accounting Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Master Degree in Accounting - Personal Statement Example However, my quest for knowledge and development instills me with the passion to learn more beyond what I already know. I believe that I should not stop but strive to achieve my full potential My decision to pursue a master's degree in accountancy is part of my quest in furthering my growth and development as a person and an employee. This program will certainly boost my knowledge through the new concepts which will be presented by my professors. Considering that I am from Egypt, I believe that I will surely learn a lot of new things in this country. The acquisition of knowledge will be more efficient as I will be dealing with the nest teachers and other students from around the globe. Aside from this, I know that my interaction with my classmates will also enable me to enhance my social skills, make me more open-minded, and improve my knowledge on world culture. This university is the best venue for me to gain all these. I believe that a master's degree will be my ticket in fulfilling my life's purpose-to contribute in the success of business organizations. I am born with an innate desire contribute what I have to the business world. With my knowledge and experience, this will be in my field of interest-accountancy.

Selecting Leaders Essay Example for Free

Selecting Leaders Essay As you may already know leaders hold a vital role within a team and it takes certain skills and qualities to be a good leader. Different leaders can emerge through a group of people and stand out as having those skills required and others are select from groups of people who have all be looked at or applied for the same position. In this task I am going to looking into how leaders might emerge or be selected. A lot of people believe that leaders can emerge through groups by showing their natural abilities. I personally believe that this is true to a certain extent because all good, effective, respected leaders do seem to have a natural talent to lead a group of people to success. This natural talent consists of certain qualities that really so put them above other people who may be around them. These qualities could be: * Communication skills * Integrity * Problem solving * Courage * Quick thinking * Luck A number of people have looked at and researched the type of qualities that leaders have and have come up with Trait Theories. Psychologists such a Bird (1940), Warren Bennis (1998), Stogdill (1948) and Mann (1959) have all come up with similar theories. They all say that leaders are people who can express themselves fully. They are people that know what they want, why they want it and how to let people what they want to a team or people. In they receive the co-operation, respect and support of their team. They explain how good leaders, such as Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandella etc, have a number of general or individual qualities or traits. Early research into traits showed that these different characteristics that appear to separate the leaders from the followers. John Gardner looked at large number of organisations in the USA and the people in charge of them. He came to the conclusion that people who had the qualities are good leaders and have a high chance of getting tasks done effectively and quickly with the utmost success. The qualities that he found and studied were: * Physical vitality and stamina * Intelligence and action-oriented judgement * Eagerness to accept responsibility * Task competence * Understanding of followers and their needs * Skill in dealing with people * Need for achievement * Capacity to motivate people * Courage and resolution * Trustworthiness * Assertiveness * Decisiveness * Self-confidence * Adaptability/flexibility http://www.infed.org/leadership/traditional_leadership.htm The majority of Gardners qualities have certain aspects of a persons behaviour, skills and others to do character and mental ability. More recently studies have been made on people who have a mixture of traits that might be good for particular situations. The British Army is one of the public service organisations which has a huge emphasis on leadership and having good leaders. They have two separate levels of entry one for squadies and the other for officers. Before people join the Army the recruiters look for the trait qualities of a good leader within them and in their academic records and put them through the selection procedures for officer level. This branch of selection as well as being based on the general fitness required for Army life. They assess recruits on their ability to use their natural qualities and take a group of people and impose their own will on these people to get them to be and effective force for whatever situation gets thrown their way. During this time they look for high levels of confidence when instructing people, normally their peers, on what they have to do. As well as confidence they look for problem solving skills by setting command tasks. Here the assessors look for the for the ability to make and instant decision after being faced with a challenging situation and then being able to give clear orders on how they want the task to be completed in the quickest and most effective way. This will be done at a Regular Commission Board (RCB). It is designed to find out whether a person is capable of the Army Officers role. Every officer applicant must pass before proceeding to officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The RCB is carried out in Westminster and it lasts for four days. In the long run this is a good way of getting the right leaders in the Army who will lead their men to success. It is designed to take the raw natural talent of an individual and mould it into a great leader for the British Army through encouragement and expert training. This gives all potential officers the basic ideas on how to take charge of a large number of people but offers no real hands on experience until they have finished training and they are in the battlefield in a real life situation. The Armys two tear holds very good for those who want to take the officer route but these people may be young and unable to release their potential, without any real military experience behind them. On the other hand it holds no favours or advantages for those who took the squadie route. These people may be the people who didnt have the academic grades or signs of potential before they joined but have come up through the rank structure and shown that they can take a group of people and turn them into a good team. From here it seems obvious that a person with these qualities and some sort of military experience should be given the opportunity to be an officer. It isnt as easy as it sounds though and more often than not they will stay within the ranking structure of a squadie. In other public services, such as the Police, every person starts of at the same level, Police Constable. This allows everyone to develop qualities at the same rate and eventually the right leader will emerge through the job. When people have made themselves seen for having the qualities they hold and the potential to be promoted to the next stage up. To reach this next stage they have to take part in a promotion board with and exam at the end to be promoted, to Sergeant from PC in the Police force. This system unlike the Army gives everyone the opportunity to show their qualities and ability to be a leader. Unfortunately its a very long process and is subject to job availability. Just recently though the Police have introduced a high potential development system. Like the Armies officer training route it is a system set to spot potential early and offer a fast track to promotion with people who have the right characteristics. Similarly to the Army a weakness of this process is that candidates my lack experience and possible respect from their team. Leaders can also emerge as leaders due being faced with a challenge i.e. conflict, operation or even a major disaster. These situations can sometime bring the best out of some people where they need to take the situation by the scruff of the neck and get the team through it successfully. Sometime this can be good when you are faced with situations like this regularly but when it comes to a day to day basis and there is nothing to give the adrenaline rush that may trigger this kind of reaction are they able to give the same type of control. Task 6b Within the public services there are a number of selection processes that evaluate and make the most of leadership shills and qualities. I am now going to look at the RCB I mentioned before and evaluate how good it is and how effective it is to turn out good leaders. The RCB is made up of two parts the briefing and main board. All candidates have to do the two day Briefing process which assesses the candidates suitability to go on to the Main Board. It also provides information on the structure and role of the Army and also candidates will be informed on what they can expect and what is expected of them on the main board. During this briefing there are a number of different tasks to be carried out by the candidates. One of these tasks being a computer based assessment known as an ACMAP, Army Commission Mental Aptitude Profile. This gives the assessors information on the candidate verbal, numerical and abstract abilities. A long side this there are a number of other activities which bring individuals up to the same standard so that candidates can give of their best when attending the Main Board. Throughout the process various Military Officers will assess the candidates. After this each candidate sits a debrief interview. During the interview the Officer will explain to the candidate how well they did and give them their results. Selection for the Main Board is based upon the potential shown by candidates at the Briefing. Prior to selection, candidates will be required to meet our physical selection standards. The briefing before the main RCB is designed to asses all candidates on their potential before taking part in the RCB which then leads on to officer training and entry into the Army at officer level. If this didnt take place some people who werent capable of leading a group of people into war or like situations. From this they can select people with high potential to take part in the RCB and be very effective officer within the Army structure. The Main Board forms the second component of the assessment and selection process for entry to RMAS and lasts four days. The Board selects from the field of suitably qualified candidates, those with the potential qualities of character, ability and leadership who should, after training, be able to command a sub-unit (platoon or troop) in the performance of common military tasks in peace and war. Arriving mid-morning of day one, candidates complete the battery of physical assessments then go on to complete an essay and undertake the computer based assessments: Army Commission Mental Aptitude Profile (ACMAP) Multiple Choice Assessments (MCTA). Day two gets under way with an Opening Discussion followed by a number of interviews designed to show the Army what you have to offer. Remember, sell yourself, make us want to buy. The remainder of day two is given over to outdoor activities including Opening Tasks and the Opening Race. Day Three commences with the written Planning Exercise leading into the discussion element where you are expected to answer some questions relating to your chosen plan. It is the one part of the Main Board that candidates never forget. After being inside for the morning, attentions once again turn to your performance outside in the Command Tasks and Individual Obstacles. The day culminates in a formal dinner in the Mess, this is a chance for candidates to sample life as a young officer. The last day of the Board is the last chance to show us what you have to offer. This is done in the form of the Closing Race where candidates must complete a number of objectives in a given time. After the race the Brigadier gives candidates a closing address before departing RCB. Over the assessment phase you will have shown the Board members your potential and it is this that the Boarding conferences are based upon. Board members discuss the evidence that they have collected and use this to reach the Boards decision. Candidates dont compete against each other at RCB, they compete against a standard; above the line and you pass, below the line and you fail. If selected, candidates will have demonstrated that they have the potential to be an Army Officer. Candidates will have rightly earned themselves a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (provided you pass the Army medical). We aim to dispatch the result letter to candidates on a Friday afternoon so that all candidates know their result by Monday.

Potential ethical, moral, or legal issues Essay Example for Free

Potential ethical, moral, or legal issues Essay Evaluate any potential ethical, moral, or legal issues and Cite specific career competencies that are helpful or can be used in debate. Legalizing marijuana could lead to potential ethical, moral, and legal issues concerning its uses. Legalizing marijuana could be both ethical and unethical depending on whether its use is for medical or recreational purposes. While the raw marijuana plant may not be safe, medicinal marijuana is beneficial to cancer and AIDS patients. Marijuana is used to alleviate a lot of medical ailments such as nausea in cancer patients from chemotherapy, loss of appetite due to diseases such as HIV/AIDS; helps relax muscle tension and spasms, and chronic pain (Jacques Luling, 2013). Medicinal use of marijuana would be ethical and moral because it is beneficial to ones health. The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly called THC acts upon specific sites in the brain called cannabinoid receptors that lead to the high that users experience when they smoke marijuana affecting functions in a variety of ways, causing distorted perceptions, impairing coordination, causing difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and creating problems with learning and memory (Office of National Drug Control Policy , n.d.). However, the recreational use of marijuana would be unethical and immoral because it is being using to get high and alter the state of mind. Legalizing marijuana does not keep you out the clear for legal issues, as there are still guidelines, regulations, and laws one must follow. It is important to recognize that these state marijuana laws do not change the fact that using marijuana continues to be an offense under Federal law and state laws do not change the criteria or process for FDA approval of safe and effective medications (Office of National Drug Control Policy , n.d.). Laws have been initiated to control the amount of marijuana a person can have in their possession as well as the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana but keep in mind that laws vary from one state, county, or city to another (Office of National Drug Control Policy , n.d.). The use of marijuana determines whether it is ethical, unethical, moral, or immoral and not following laws could lead to legal issues . Legalizing marijuana has the potential to create jobs and contribute cash  into state and local economies. The Cox (n.d.) website stated that the burgeoning medical marijuana industry is quietly creating thousands of jobs across the country but there is no exact number on how many new jobs have been created by medical cannabis nationwide. 14 jobs available in medical cannabis are recommending physicians, physicians assistants, growers, budtenders, dispensary operators, security guards, dispensary administrators, solar panel specialists, delivery drivers, lab techs, marketing specialists, lawyers, insurance agents, and government jobs (Cox, n.d.). Not only does it create jobs but it also contributes money to state and local economies through taxes and business license fees (Cox, n.d.). Reference Cox, T. (n.d.). AlterNet. Retrieved from http://www.alternet.org/story/152487/14_kinds_of_jobs_sustained_by_marijuana?paging=off ¤t_page=1#bookmar Office of National Drug Control Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/frequently-asked-questions-and-facts-about-marijuana#harmless

Nonsom Fermented Fish Rice Biology Essay

Nonsom Fermented Fish Rice Biology Essay Fish is classified according to origin such as seawater fish, shellfish, oily and white fish and freshwater fish. Fish is a rich source of protein and it contains other nutrients such as essential fatty acids, fat soluble vitamins and calcium (Barnett, 1998). In fish, it contains fat soluble vitamin such as vitamin A , D and a number of water soluble vitamin B group. Vitamin A and D are mostly found in the visceral fat, though there are amounts in the flesh for a few species such as lamprey and some species of tuna (Pirie and Swaninathan, 1975). Fish is also low in saturated fatty acids and oily fish in particular is an excellent source of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids with ÃŽÂ ±- linolenic acid( ALA), Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and cocosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to aid in preventing cardiovascular disease(Brunner, 2008). Fish can be rich source of iodine and some magnesium, calcium and iron are also present. However, fish are more perishable due to the surface slime by a mass of ba cteria covering the fish body and the bacteria resides in the digestive tract. In Malaysia, fish is an important food in the Malaysian diet and besides consuming it as a dish itself it can be used as a condiment in various traditional form such as dried, salted and fermented. 1.2 Fermentation Fermentation is the most conventional method in food processing. It is a desirable process of biochemical modification by microorganisms that bring changes to food and enhance properties such as taste, aroma, shelflife and nutritive value. Through fermentation, the safety of food can be enhanced by removing their natural toxin components or by inhibiting the growth of disease-causing microbes (Adams et. al., 2001). Food fermentation can be classified in several groups which is beverages, cereal products, dairy products, fish products, fruit and vegetable products, legumes and meat products. Fermented foods were developed by many cultures for two main reasons, that is to preserve harvested or slaughtered products which were abundant during those times and are scarce and the other reason is to improve the sensory properties of products that are unappealing. In Southeast Asia, fermentation of fish the most common as fish is a major component in the human diet. Freshwater shellfish ,marine fish and crustaceans are processed with salt to produce various type of fermented fish products. Fish fermentation produces a type of savory flavor from marine products by using both endogenous enzymes in fish and salt tolerant microorganisms in the environment. Fish fermentation is also a method of preserving perishable fish and marine products in a high salt concentration (Lee et al., 1993). Lactic acid fermentation plays a major role in preserving perishable vegetables and fishes, ensuring its safety. The organic acids, mainly lactic acid and acetic acid, produced by lactic acid bacteria are effective antimicrobial agents, and they reduce the pH in the foods to prevent the growth of most hazardous food microorganisms (Lee et al., 1994). 1.3 Nonsom Nonsom or bosou is a traditional fermented fish-rice product made among the among the KadazanDusun-Murut community in Sabah. It is served during festival occasions such as Pesta Keamatan. The ingredients used to make this dish includes fish rice, salt and grinded kernel seed of the Pangium edule. The process of producing nonsom is simple. First the fishes are cleaned thoroughly and salted. Rice is added into the conoction and mixed thoroughly. Dried seed of Pangium edule also known as pangi ,with the content that is scraped out are pounded into a powder form and is then sprinkled onto the conoction to be mixed. The mixture is then transferred into a tightly close jar and kept for one month period before consumption. Nonsom can also be cooked by steaming, fry with onions and chili or be eaten just as it is (Vivienne, 2007). One of the ingredients in nonsom is the seeds of Pangium Edule that are said to be poisonous due to presence of hydrocyanic acid which is toxic Pangi seed can only be consumed after treatments such as boiling and soaking in running water(Davidson and Jaine, 2006 ). These seeds are specialty in Indonesia and have been used as spices. It is claimed that the addition of these seeds into the fermented foods helps in controlling the fermentation process and provide unique flavor to the products. The KadazanDusun community eliminates the poison of pangi by soaking and boiling them in water. They use the powdered seed of pangi as food ingredients in the fermented fish product. This gives a nutty aroma on the fermented fish. The flavor source for spices is due to the dominant amino acids that is present in the fermented seed, which is Glutamic acid (Andarwulan et.al., 1999). 2.0 SIMILAR PRODUCTS WORLDWIDE 2.1 Burong dalag. In the Philippines a fermented rice-fish product which involves lactic acid bacteria is served as appetizer, sauce or main dish (Melchor,2007). Burong isda is a traditional fermented fish product in the phillipines that is similar to narezushi in Japan. Burong isda is produced in white and red form. The red is by addition of angkak which is a culture grown in rice. Burong isda is prepared using freshwater fish that is cleaned thoroughly and mixed with salt overnight before mixing with cooled cooked rice. The mixture is left to ferment for 7 to 10 days in room temperature. There are other kinds of burong isda based on the type of fish used. An example is Burong dalag, a fermented rice-fish mixture using mudfish, Phicephalus striatus (Sanchez, 2008). 2.2 Narezushi Narezushi is a fermented fish product by fermented salted mackerel with boiled rice. It was suggested that narezushi was developed as a mean of fish preservation. In the past half century, marine fishes has been substituted with freshwater fishes due to the drastic decrease of harvest. Aji-no-sushi is another form of Narezushi that is made from horse mackerel (Trachurus japonicas). The mackerel is gutted and put in a barrel that has been salted. It is then drained off and placed in a vat filled with vinegar rice. The salting takes 3 days to 2 months and the desalting phase varied. The fish are stuffed and covered with cooked rice, scattered with a small amount of Japanese pepper leaves or red pepper and pickled in a barrel with the lid that is held closed by stone weights. The fermentation period last from 6 weeks to 1 year, depending on the manufacturer (Kuda et. al., 2009). 2.3 Sikhae Sikhae in Korea is the lactic acid fermentation of seawater fish with cooked millet. The process of producing is similar to other fermented fish-rice products but millet is used instead of rice as it is the common carbohydrate source in the northeastern country. Other ingredients added include minced garlic and red pepper powder. Garlic shows antimicrobial effect on most microorganisms in raw material and the product. It also functions as a selective agent which explains that why lactic acid bacteria is dominant in sikhae fermentation (Lee, 1997). Garlic plays dual role in fermented fish products by inhibiting Gram-negative bacteria and yeasts and providing LAB less sensitive to garlic with a carbohydrate source for growth (Puladan-Muller et.al., 1999) . The fermentation last for 2 to 3 weeks at 20 °C. The pH of Sikhae drops quickly due to the organic acids formed from the millet that provide fermentable sugar for lactobacillus. The product can be stored up to one month at 5 °C after fermentation. The foul fish odor disappears and an acceptable flavor is formed during the fermentation process (Lee et.al, 1993). Leuconostoc mesenteroides   and Lactobacillus plantarum   are the lactic acids involved in the fermentation of Sikhae. The role of these acid forming bacteria for the preservation of fish is apparent, but a more important factor is their ability to produce acceptable flavor during the fermentation process. 2.4 Plaa-som. Plaa-som is a Thai fermented fish produced according to family or local geographic preferences, especially in the central, northeastern and northern parts of Thailand. The fermented fish product is composed of freshwater salt, boiled rice or cooked rice and garlic. In Southern Thailand, another local variety of plaa-som is produced. Palm syrup are used to replace garlic and boiled rice, and from time to time by roasted rice resulting in the resembles of another type of fermented Thai fish known as plaa-uan (Paludan Muller et. al., 2002). In processing of plaa-som, all ingredients are mixed and left to ferment at ambient temperature (25-30  °C) for 3-5 days in a covered-lid cooking pot. The fermentation spontaneously occur due to the presence of microflora , mainly lactic acid bacteria that is found in raw materials. Appropriate conditions are important in order for the complete fermentation by lactic acid bacteria. For example the presence of carbohydrate and antimicrobial substanc es containing ingredients like salt and garlic (Kopermsub and Yunchalard, 2008). Garlic is believed to act as an antimicrobial agent against certain gram negative bacteria and stimulating the growth of lactic acid bacteria(Paludan-Muller et. al, 1999). 2.5 Pekasam Another similar product to nomsom is pekasam that is localized in the state of Kedah, Perak and Kelantan of Peninsular Malaysia. Pekasam is made from fermented freshwater fish that is mixed with ingredients such as roasted rice, tamarind and salt. It is prepard by thorough cleaning of the fish and salted overnight with 20-50 per cent of salt. Then the fish are drained before mixing 50 per cent of roasted rice powder and some tamarind. The mixture is packed into an earthenware container in layers and allowed to ferment for 2 to 4 weeks. After fermentation, the fish is consumed deep fried or made into a side dish( Lee et.al., 1993). The table below shows the composition of pekasam and the composition may vary slightly depending on the type of fish use and method practiced. Table 1. Composition of pekasam. Composition Approximate range pH 4.5 6.1 Lactic acid (%) 0.1-0.4 Salt (%) 10.0-16.0 Moisture (%) 57.0-73.0 Protein(%) 15.0- 25.0 Fat (%) 3.0-8.0 Ash (%) 6.0-14.0 Souce Zaiton (1980) During fermentation process, lactic acid bacteria lowers the pH and preserves the product. The presence of the organic acid also contribute to the flavor of the product. The formation of acid combined with the addition of salt eliminate proteolytic and putrefying microorganisms. The carbohydrate source that supports the growth of lactobacilli comes from the roasted rice powder which also aid in masking the fishy odor and colour development of the final product. There is also some breakdown of the fish protein by autolysis to peptides and amines. These compounds together with acids and products formed by microbial fermentation give rise to typical flavor and odor of the pekasam (Lee et.al., 1993; Kuda et.al., 2009). 3.0 WHAT WERE DONE IN THE PAST. Currently there are hardly any studies on the local indigenous fermented fish-rice products of Malaysia such as nonsom. The only studies made so far are the effect of Pangium edule seed in the production of fermented fish by Ajik (1999) and the nutritional content and physiochemical analysis of fermented fish of different species from different areas in Sabah by Joanis (2002). The study done by Joanis (2002) found that nonsom from Tamparuli using Tilapia mossambica contained the highest nutrient and mineral content. Most of the studies were carried out on the seed extract of Pangium edule whereby antioxidant activity were associated with mobilization of lipids and phenolic compound during fermentation (Andarwulan et.al., 1999). According to (Chye and Sim, 2009) report, there is a strong relationship between the phenolic compound of the seed extracts with the antioxidative and antibacterial activities. It was concluded that the phenolic extracts possess good antioxidant and antimicrob ial activities which could be a promising source of natural preservative and be used in pharmaceutical industry. On the other hand, pekasam which is a similar product of nonsom has already been studied on the fermentation process and fast fermentation method has been introduced whereby the product can be ready in 2 to 3 weeks (Che Rohani Bt.Awang, 2001). In other previous work, there were studies done on the microflora and chemical changes in fermented fish products during fermentation. It is found that lactic acid bacteria are the dominant microorganisms involved in the fermentation of fish-rice products such as Plaa-rom, Narezushi, Burong isda, sikhae and in our local indigenous fermented food of Pekasam and Nonsom. The lactic acid bacteria involved for each type of fermented products are listed in the table below. The role of lactic acid bacteria is to ferment available carbohydrates which lead to a decrease in pH that inhibits pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. The combination of low pH and organic acids present is the main factors that preserve fermented fish products (Paludan-Muller et. al., 2002). Table 2 : Type of lactic acid bacteria found in fermented fish-rice product. Country Name of fermented product Findings Journal resource Thailand Plaa-som Parallel growth of yeast and LAB was found. Pediococcus pentosaceus and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii are the predominant lactic acid bacteria and yeast species respectively. Lactic acid bacteria initiates fermentation followed by alcoholic fermentation by Zygosaccharomyces rouxii. Paludan-Muller et.al., 2002 Japan Aji-no-susu It is reported to be a typical traditional lactic acid fermented fish product and the lactic acid concentration was very high as compared to other narezushi products. The predominant bacterial groups were lactobacilli and lactococci. Kuda et.al., 2009 Korea Sikhae Leuconostoc mesenteroides   and Lactobacillus plantarum   are the lactic acids involved in the fermentation of Sikhae Lee et.al.,1997 Phillippines Burong dalag The fermentation is initiated by Leuconostoc mesenteroids and Streptococcus faecalis then followed by Pediococcus cerevisiae and finally Lactobacillus plantarum. Orillo and Pederson, 1968 Besides that, reports on different salt concentrations, presence of amino acids and organic acids and also source of carbohydrates influenced the fermentation process of fermented fish-rice products. In fermentation with salt, the high salt content retards microbial growth, hydrolysis of the fish protein is thought to occur by natural tissue enzymes, cathepsins. For low salt products, halotolerant populations consisting of gram-positive organisms will prevail. I- sushi which is fermented by various strains of lactobacillus has been associated with food poisoning outbreaks from toxin production by C. botulinum type E. (Downes and Ito, 2001). However, different fermented fish products have different salt concentration requirement. The sufficient amount of salt in fermentation is important as it influence the microbial growth and the rate of fermentation which also affects the sensory quality and safety of the product. Padulan-Muller et. al.(2002) studied on the growth of microflora wit h different concentration of salt in Plaa-som, a Thai fermented fish product. It is found that in high salt concentration of plaa-som, the growth of lactic acid bacteria was inhibited and this delayed the fermentation process. This increase the risk of growth for salt-tolerant potentially pathogenic bacteria, example Staphylococcus aureus (Paludan-Muller, 1999).Thus, 6-7% of salt concentration is recommended for Plaa-som to facilitate the growth of LAB and rapid decrease of pH to below 4.5. However, different fermented fish products have different salt concentration requirement. Aside from salt, the taste of fermented fish-rice product is enhanced during fermentation due to the presence of organic acids and amino acids. According to (Itou et. al., 2006) research, it is reported that the marked increase of the extractive components and organic acids is thought to contribute to the umami taste and the sour taste of narezushi. The extractive components such as free amino acids and peptides increased remarkably because of the decomposition of proteins in fish. As for the organic acid, it increased rapidly due to the fermentation of rice and permeation into the fish meat. Same goes the taste of Aji-no-susu where the predominant amino acids of alanine, lysine,leucine,glutamic acid and theronince were found and are important in providing the taste of fermented fish products (Kuda et.al., 2009). Fish contains little carbohydrate and thus rice or millet that is used mainly functions as a carbohydrate source for fermentation by LAB for the reduction of pH in products without indigeneous starter culture. Rice is an important source of carbohydrate to provide fermentable sugar for lactic acid bacteria in the reduction of pH. High buffering capacity of the fish is also reduced by the rice in order to obtain a rapid decrease of pH.The decrease of pH inhibits pathogenic and spoilage bacteria thus preserve the fermented fish. The starch from rice are hydrolyzed by the amylolytic activity found in lactic acid bacteria by which is reported (Olympia et.al., 1995.) that lactic acid bacteria strains isolated from burong isda hydrolyzes soluble starch, amylopectin, glycogen and pullulan. Addition of salt and spices such as garlic or pepper may add to the safety of the product. In another study (Paludan-Muller, 1999) describes the role of garlic that serves as carbohydrate source for lacti c acid bacteria in fermented fish product. In garlic, a garlic fermenting Lb. Plantarum strain was found . This indicated that garlic may be more important than rice starch as a carbohydrate source for fermentation. Moreover, garlic play dual role in fermented fish by inhibiting gram negative bacteria and yeasts and acts as a carbohydrate source for growth of lactic acid bacteria. The traditional method of fermented fish product was based on spontaneous fermentation or by the use of indigenous starter culture. The starter culture serves as a source of a variety of enzyme including amylolytic enzymes. Based on a study (Olympia et. al., 1995) it was found that in strains of L. plantarum contains the L137-amylase enzyme that hydrolyzes both ÃŽÂ ±-1,4 and ÃŽÂ ± -1,6-glucosidic linkages in polysaccharides. The enzyme degrades the starch to fermentable carbohydrates for the growth of lactic acid bacteria in the fermentation process. Recently there has been studies that mentioned the fermentation process could be improved by using a mixed starter culture. In the fish sauce fermentation a report from Yongsawatdigul et al. (2007) found that strain of Staphylococcus sp. SK1-1-5 from proteinases and bacterial starter culture has the potential to be utilized as it can accelerate the fermentation without having great effect on the sensory qualities of the fish sauce. Another research by Saithong et.al (2010) examined the use of lactic acid bacteria as potential started cultures of plaa-som. The scientists discovered that plaa-som inoculated with the mixed starter culture were found to contain higher amounts of lactic acid after 24 h than plaa-som inoculated with single starter culture. This indicated the possible advantage of increased product safety and quality in addition to reduction in fermentation time. Moreover, the combination L. plantarum IFRPD P15 and L. reuteri IFRPD P17 starter cultures could also inhibit th e growth of clostridia during plaa-som. As a conclusion, L. plantarum and L. reuteri have great potential to be used as starter cultures in plaa-som and may possibly reduce fermentation time. 4.0 CHALLENGES The indigenous fermented fish-rice products are mostly produced in household or small factory scale with limited processes to control and ensure the safety and quality of the product. Like other fermented products, it is easily contaminated due to the presence of other harmful microorganisms. Contamination can occur due to exposure to microorganisms from the environment during harvesting, processing, storage and distribution. Besides that, improper food handling and lack of good hygiene practices increases the risk of microbial contamination. For example, fish that is not eviscerated prior to fermentation process are prone to spoilage since the raw materials are not cooked. Nearly all fish bourne botulism outbreaks are associated with the consumption of salted-dried or fermented fish that is consumed without further cooking. Clostridium sp has been reported to contaminate izushi, a fermented preserved fish with rice in Japan (Downes and Ito, 2001). Likewise in the Philippines, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium sp. which has been isolated from bakasang indicated that practice of hygiene during production was poor ( Salampessy et.al.,2010).The resultant from pathogenic microflora present in the food include negative effects such as spoilage, where the food is unfit for human consumption or risk of health by infectious or toxigenic microorganisms being present. Proteolytic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum cause microbiological hazards in fermented fish as both of these microorganisms are associated with salt and raw fish used in the processing. Insufficient level of salt concentration also leads to growth of pathogenic m icroorganisms in fermented fish products. At higher salt concentration there is a risk for growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum type A and B. Besides that, the producers of the fermented fish-rice products are not well educated on importance of proper handling and maintaining good hygiene practice to avoid cross-contamination during fermentation process of the product. They are also not well aware of the undesirable changes on the fermented food may occur during processing and repackaging of the product. Knowledge on the microflora which are involved in the fermentation process of the fermented fish-rice products are limited. 5.0 THE EMERGING NEED OF RESEARCH Currently there are no studies done on the nutritional composition of certain indigenous fermented fish-rice products such as nonsom. Moreover, there is no standardization in the addition of salt concentration since nonsom made from different areas of Sabah are based on personal preferences. Thus, the final product of this fermented fish-rice based product may contain excessive addition of salt. In addition, higher percentage of salt concentration was found to have a slow or no decrease in pH, whereas a rapid decrease of pH was found in low salt concentration (Paludan-Muller et al., 2002). However, Pekasam which is a similar product to nonsoom has already been standardized in Malaysian Food Act 1985 whereby it must not contain less than 10% salt. Because of this, more research on this indigenous fermented product needs to be carried out for the standardization and safety of the product produced. Next is the need of improving knowledge base. Other fermented food such as cheese, bread , beer and wine are well known and well developed. However for indigenous fermented fish-rice products, the knowledge is poor. Therefore, to have a broader spectrum of understanding these indigenous fermented products, microbiological, nutritional and technical investigation should be carried out on each process. The isolation and characterization of each organism should be determined and should not narrowed to only the dominant organisms as other organisms in small numbers may contain important function in the process. Understanding the roles of the microorganisms in these fermented products is important as they largely control the qualities of the fermented products. Also, more research needs to be done on various fermented fish-rice products to accelerate the fermentation time by using mixed starter culture instead of depending on traditional spontaneous fermentation to produce the fermented products. Researches on starter cultures by lactic acid bacteria or commercial proteinase with bacterial starter culture showed that there are great potential for the use of these starter cultures in accelerating fermentation of fish products (Yongsawatdigul et. al.,2007; Saithong et.al.,2010). Thus, more research has to be made on the use of these starter cultures to other fermented fish-rice products to accelerate the fermentation time and without adversely affecting the sensory quality. 6.0 STRATEGIC FOR CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT. The production indigenous fermented fish-rice product of nonsom has the potential to expand and commercialized as more people are consuming the fermented food and the taste is acceptable. However, the process of fermented fish-rice products are done using traditional method so a more organized and specific method is required to upgrade the way of processing the fermented product. For small scale industries that produce fermented fish-rice products, implementation of quality control of the processing and distribution is required based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point principles. New practices can be added for improvement in Good Manufacturing Practices. Good practices in certain steps and identifying the possible critical control points for example lactic acid bacteria counts, pH and the length of maturation stage, for better production and higher safety standards. Food handlers should also be educated in line with on (HACCP) for controlling safety of the product. Besides that, to combat issues on safety of fermented fish-rice products reseraches on the microbial and chemical changes in these indigenous fermented fish-rice products are necessary in order to ensure the safety and improve the quality of the fermented product produced. Findings from research can be used as an indicator for the producers to understand different stages of fermentation process and precautions to be taken to minimize the risk of contamination and maintain quality consistency of the product. Furthermore, a more safe production can be resulted if starter culture are used. The use of starter culture in the fermentation of fermented fish-rice product could increase product safety and quality as there is a rapid growth of lactic acid bacteria and lower pH to a safe level. In addition, fermentation time is also shorten.

Juvenile Crime Essay -- Juvenile Crime Essays

Juvenile Crime Juvenile crime rates have nearly doubled in most countries. In the news we keep hearing about youngsters got mixed up in shady affairs and committing petty crimes. Firstly they just steal an apple from the market stands, then rob a small shop, next day we learn about a 17-year-old kid who killed his classmates. People are concerned and rightly so. That's all what we do or maybe give them a harsh punishment. It seems that the problem has only focused on punishment and very little on prevention or intervention. There is no single cause of violence but we can certainly list a lot of risk factors, which increase the development of delinquent behavior. These include child abuse and family disintegration, violating behavior, academic failure, school dropout, and lack of contact with the society, fighting with peers and antisocial behavior early in life. In order to reveal the real background of juvenile crime it's obviously not enough to stop at this point. Probably none of the young delinquents were born with aggression, rage and hatred. Their environment and our society have turned them into who they are today. Juveniles have to face the cruel sides of the world too early and they are not well prepared for it yet. Some of them are able to deal with it, some of them are not. The latter shocked by the realization will escape to the world of crimes so trying to hide themselves from all the disappointment. Crime rates are the highest in the more urbani...

Considering Culture in the Selection of Teaching Approaches for Adults :: Adult Education Learning Cultural Essays

Considering Culture in the Selection of Teaching Approaches for Adults Adult educators are increasingly committed to designing learning that takes into account cultural differences. We are discovering that â€Å"valuing† diversity is not enough to enable educators from the dominant culture, particularly European Americans living in the United States, to recognize difference and know how to change instruction so that learners who have felt marginalized feel visible and valued. This Digest examines the different dimensions of culture that are relevant to the adult learning context, speaking primarily to the case of the United States, including both the personal cultures of learners and educators, and the culture of the larger social political environment. It explores how cultural values permeate instruction and looks at several approaches that take culture into account. What Is Culture, Anyway? The simplest definition of culture includes those values, beliefs, and practices shared by a group of people. Social scientists and anthropologists vary on their definitions of what comprises a culture, subculture, or microculture, but for practical purposes, the notion of sharing a common worldview is often enough for individuals who find themselves moving between multiple cultures. Culture can be subtle, and what is considered cultural can evolve over time. For example, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and age might not have been considered dimensions of culture 25 years ago. But today we study gender communication differences, the influence of religious views on decisions and behaviors, and the assumptions that can or cannot be made depending upon a person's physical ability, sexual orientation, or age. Educators need to be mindful that they cannot assume they know the cultural background of their students; even the seemingly homogenous classroom necessitates an e xpectation and active exploration of multiculturalism. Culture is an attribute of individuals, of small groups, of organizations, and of nations; a single person can belong to a multiplicity of cultures, any one of which may be important at any given time (Brislin 1993). For example, the most salient dimension of culture for a 50-year-old woman named Emma enrolled in a course to learn a new software program may be age, as she observes the ease with which her 22-year-old classmates negotiate the intricacies of the program. When Emma participates in a racial dialogue experience, she is very aware that her ethnic/racial identity as a European American is preeminent. And if Emma were Deaf, considering a graduate degree, it would be critical for her to find a program that actively facilitated her use of American Sign Language interpreters.

External Influences Affect All Firms Essay example -- Papers

External Influences Affect All Firms Many businesses are quite capable of organising themselves internally, however this does not guarantee complete business success. Businesses have many outside pressures to face, which can become quite complicated to manage. These are called external influences. There are many factors that can affect a business, of which the market is just one. Businesses are tremendously influenced by the markets in which they trade. The size of a business does this: whether it is local, national or even international will affect the nature of the product that they supply and also the quantity. Competition is also a factor that can influence the rise or fall of a business. Communications and methods of transportation such as the delivery of products by air have made the competition in the market place more intense. Many businesses in the United Kingdom now face competition from other continents from around the world. A good example of this is the UK grocery market where the competition had become fiercer following the coming of foreign supermarket chains such as Aldi. Also new products, price changes and take-overs of other businesses can be a big influence. Economical influences are a factor too. Interest rates are the priced paid for borrowed money, this can affect businesses because every month the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) assembles each month and decides on whether to alter the base rate of interest. So if the MPC decide to alter the base rate of interest this could have sufficient implications for businesses. A rise will result in greater overheads for most businesses,... ...he long run as they buy the product. In conclusion to the title of this essay, 'External Influences Affect All Firms, To What Extent Do You Agree With This Statement?' I believe that this statement is very honest. From the evidence I have given in this essay it is clear that there are a lot of factors that influence and affect businesses. Take the climate, may seem small compared to the other factors, but it has a significant affect if it takes the wrong path. Also the obvious factor - the market itself, its size can cause many problems. Basically every business if it's a large company set in the heart of London, or a small corner shop down the road has to take each factor into consideration to maintain their business stays afoot. Although its hard and definitely impossible to grasp to a full one hundred percent.

Krushers Kfc

[pic] Report Title: â€Å"Krushers† – Marketing Strategic plan Submitted By: Group name: Date: 15 April, 2010 Submitted To: Dr Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business and Management, University of Wollongong in Dubai Table of Contents 1. Background3 1. 1. Introduction and Objective3 1. 2. Situational Analysis3 1. 3. Constraints and Assumption. 5 1. 4. Product Need and Value. 7 2. Segmentation, Target & Positioning8 2. 1. Segmentation and Target8 2. 2. Positioning Map9 3. Marketing Mix10 3. 1. Product strategy10 3. . Pricing strategy10 3. 3. Place strategy11 3. 4. Promotion strategy12 4. Business Plan12 4. 1. Sales and Profits12 Bibliography13 Appendix14 Background 1 Introduction and Objective Introduction: KFC Corporation, also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants known all over the World since 1952, however the history of the company goes back to 1930. â€Å"KFC† is serving more than 12 million cust omers in 109 countries throughout the world every day. Company is actively franchising across the World during 58 years[1]. Loyal customers can find their favorite restaurant in almost every developed country across the Globe. â€Å"KFC† established strong position in the market place and recognized by millions of people in the World for its â€Å"finger lickin’ good† chicken. â€Å"KFC† is serving more than 12 million customers in 109 countries throughout the world every day. Currently, The Company is the most popular chicken restaurant chain in the entire Globe. This particular report is focusing on KFC Arabia, United Arab Emirates in particular. KFC restaurants introduced to the Middle East region by franchise partner Americana since 1973. Currently, there are KFC branches in over 70 different locations across United Arab Emirates. Menu offered to the Arab World is more focused on chicken sandwiches and Colonel’s Crispy Strips, and also includes side items that are suited to local preferences and tastes. [2] Product Portfolio: The fact that, â€Å"KFC† restaurants are associated by the customers with chicken, does not limit the range of products has been offered to the customers. Currently, more than 300 different types of products have been introduced by the company all over the World. World Famous menu contains of chicken pieces, salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, wraps, kebabs, snacks, sweets and sides, beverages. â€Å"KFC† Corporation constantly upgrades its menu with new innovative products in order to satisfy unmet needs of their current and future customers. KFC is introducing a new product called â€Å"Krushers† to the region; a new refreshing frozen drink. This new refreshing frozen drink first was introduced in 3 different flavors â€Å"Strawberry†, â€Å"Chocolate Krumble†, â€Å"Kookies N Kream†, followed by â€Å"Karamel Krunch† flavor that has been introduced later on in the Middle East. Objective: The objective of this report is to create strategic marketing plan for â€Å"Krushers† product and successfully launch it in the UAE. 2 Situational Analysis External environmental analysis: PESTEL Environmental (competitors): â€Å"Krushers† is introduced in a very competitive environment. There are several direct competitors in this product category, the biggest ones are MC flurry from MC Donald’s and Hand-Scooped shake from Hardees’s, these are traditional competitors for KFC in the fast-food segment and have similar products to the â€Å"Krushers†. Other competitors in this product category include Baskin Robins, StarBucks and Jonny Rockets as they offer frozen drinks as part of their product portfolio. Indirect competitors include Lipton’s Ice tea and Pulp Juice bar’s frozen drinks, they are considered as indirect competitors because they offer product replacements or substitutes to the â€Å"Krushers†. Sociological: The UAE population has higher levels of disposable income compared to the rest of the world, according to HSBC bank study, UAE is the fifth top country in the World in terms of disposable income. 3] As a result, eating out is almost a daily activity in the social life of UAE residents, which in turn produces a bigger market for restaurants and food outlets. In addition to that, In terms of age groups, the UAE has a dominant young population, with the 25-29 years emerging as the largest group of about 777,000 at the end of 2008. It is projected by the Ministry to peak at 830,000 at the end of 2 009. [4] This combination of high disposable income and young population makes the UAE a perfect market for KFC â€Å"Krushers† product which targets age group of 18-24. Technological: From a technological point of view, production of cold beverages relies heavily on the right equipment. KFC has state of the art production equipment. The company also utilizes advanced CRM solutions to gear its direct marketing efforts. Economic: â€Å"In the UAE over two-thirds of expats in the UAE stated that their attitudes to spending had changed as a result of the economic crisis, however over three-quarters of expats (82%) living in the UAE also said that they had not considered a move home. [5] Having said that, the UAE remains one of the strongest economies in the region (third in the region after Saudi Arabia and Iran). [6] As mentioned earlier, the disposable income in the UAE is cooperatively high, which makes it an ideal market for KFC and the new product â€Å"Krushers†. Industry Analysis: Porter’s Five Forces Market Rivalry: â€Å"Krushers† is a product category that faces high rivalry from various direct and indirect competitors. T hese competitors do not only include fast food chain restaurants with a similar product category, but also chains that focus exclusively on that market niche (frozen shakes and drinks). The fact that â€Å"Krushers† is a hybrid or mix of different products (i. e. ice cream, milk, smoothie, ice, fruits, juice, cookies, etc) makes it difficult to place it in a specific product category and thus exposes it to higher competition from those various product categories. In addition, competing products have been established in the market and have a healthy market share. It would be a challenge for KFC to strongly compete in this product category, partly because the product is new and partly because they are not strongly associated with frozen drinks like â€Å"Krushers†. Bargaining power of suppliers: KFC is one of the largest purchasers globally; all their suppliers go through a very rigid screening process to meet their quality standards. Having said that, KFC only uses high quality suppliers with which they have strong relationships, therefore, the threat of suppliers is minimized. Threat of Substitutes: â€Å"Krushers† falls into the frozen drinks category, due to this point, it faces a high threat of substitution from a number of relevant product categories including carbonated drinks, milk shakes, ice cream, ice tea, ice coffee, frapuccinos, fresh juice and smoothies. In order to offset this threat, KFC has to rely strongly on their established brand image and large customers base to market and sell the product. Bargaining power of buyers: As it mentioned earlier, the target segment(s) (18-24) are high in population, however, there is a large number of product substitutes available to them. Therefore, they enjoy a fairly high power of bargaining. Barriers to entry: The barriers to entry to this specific product market are relatively low. The investment needed is not very high and the health regulations can be met with reasonable effort. However, due to the size and the number of KFC branches across the UAE, it would be very difficult for new players to significantly compete with KFC’s market share unless they make significant financial investments, thus reversing the barriers to entry to very high. 3 Constraints and Assumption. Constraints: There are several constraints that KFC face in the introduction level of a new product â€Å"Krushers†. Customers are not aware of a new product that has been introduced by KFC. Lack of awareness can be explained by poor promotion and advertising, training of the employees. â€Å"Krushers† should be prepared within 1 minute, however, according to the survey, almost 95 percent of the consumers received their â€Å"Krushers† during the time frame 3 minutes to 6 minutes. [7] KFC is known all over the World for its â€Å"finger lickin good† chicken, it would be difficult for consumers to associate KFC as a place where they can purchase â€Å"Krushers†. The company didn’t define the product for the customers whether it is a milk shake or it is a desert, etc. However official launch of the product might solve these constrains. Assumptions: KFC does not publish any sales figures as a reference point; therefore the sales forecasts are based on an assumption that each branch will be able to sell 5 â€Å"Krushers† per hour on an average from their branch traffic. Assuming that branches operate from 10 a. m. to 3 a. m. that makes a total of 17 working hours a day. According to data published on the Americana website, they have 70 locations across the UAE, which equals total working hours of 1,190 per day (17X70). Assuming that the price of â€Å"Krushers† is at 9 drh per drink without a meal, and 4 dhs per a drink with a meal and based on the research conducted with consumers, 25 percent of the consumers will buy a â€Å"Krushers† with a meal and 75 percent of the consumers will buy it without the meal. [8] Based on these assumptions, we can conclude the following: Total number of â€Å"Krushers† sold per a day = total working hours X number of â€Å"Krushers† sold per hour = 1,190 X 5 = 5,950 â€Å"Krushers† per day across all locations. Therefore, total revenues per day would be calculated as following: Revenue of â€Å"Krushers† sold with a meal = (5,950 X 25%) X 4 = 5,950 dirham Revenue of â€Å"Krushers† sold without a meal = ( 5950 X 75% ) X 9 = 40,162dirham Total revenue of â€Å"Krushers† per day = revenue with meal + revenue without meal= 5,950 + 40,162 = 46,112 Monthly Total revenue of â€Å"Krushers† = total revenue per day X 30 days = 46112 X 30 = 1,383,375 dirham Annual revenue of â€Å"Krushers† = monthly revenue X 12 = 1,383,375 X 12 = 16,600,500 dirham Since KFC spends 6% of the total revenue on marketing and promotion, we can estimate the annual marketing budget for â€Å"Krushers† at annual revenue of â€Å"Krushers† X 6% = 16,600,500 X 6% = 996,030 dirham Due to the lack of information on variable or direct costs, we will limit our forecasts to only revenues. However there is more accurate way to estimate net profit of the company from â€Å"Krushers †. Target segment that has been chosen by the company is the youth in the age range 18-24 of UAE, which has been estimated to 1,417,300 people. It has been assumed that 60 percent of the total youth in the age range 18-24 would be a potential target of the â€Å"Krushers†, according to the chosen target segment â€Å"UAE explorers†, which is 850,400 people. [9] Penetration has been assumed according to seasonal demand, such as hot summer weather effect. Shopping festival was another reason to estimate increase in penetration in the month of December, and there is other reasons that has an effect on penetration percentages across the year, which is explained in the business plan section 4. 1 of the report. Revenue has been calculated according to the total users that would purchase the â€Å"Krushers† and the selling price. Expenses that would go on the marketing part of the â€Å"Krushers† have been assumed by the group and calculated in the business plan section 4. 1. Expenses have been estimated according to: Magazine = 150,000 dirham Newspaper = 168,000 dirham Facebook = 20,000 dirham In house AD: 30,000 dirham TV = 600,000 dirham Road signage = 200,000 dirham Billboard = 300,000 dirham Campaign = 50,000 dirham 4 Product Need and Value. |KFC’s value characteristics |Consumers need analysis | |KFC is a well known brand as a value for money all around the |Consumers would search for a reliable drink with no risk to | |world. |their health. |KFC has large number of branches, as well as big variety of |People living in gulf countries such as UAE would always search| |items, all delivered in a timely fashion, all of these give |for a drink which refreshes their feeling. | |high value of convenience. |Consumers would go for a product which is faster to be | | |delivered to them and easier t o carry with them while doing | | |their normal routines during the day. | | |Actually people are always after new things in their life. | |Those things could be a new product like â€Å"Krushers† or even its| | |new flavors to be introduced to the market in future. | | |There many other important factor in the consumers mind to be | | |considered as their needs of product such as pricing, great | | |taste and optional choice. | â€Å"Krushers† value analysis based on the mentioned needs above: †¢ â€Å"Krushers† is introduced as a smoothie drink that doesn’t have negative effect or risk on consumer’s health. It supposed being a drink to be alternative to those of energy drinks fulfilled of caffeine. â€Å"Krushers† came up with different flavors for variety seekers and those valuing a product based on optional choice. †¢ Offering â€Å"Krushers† as a value-added to meal as of satisfying perception of value for money p romised by KFC. They offer customers to add 4dhs to their meal and have â€Å"Krushers† with their meal in spite of soft drink or juice. †¢ Soon enough â€Å"Krushers† could be a replacement for cold drink at KFC by offering less than half the price if it is with any KFC meal. †¢ †¢ As of the discussed need of customer relating the weather of UAE then â€Å"Krushers† could be the best solution for relieving the thirst and the heat. Segmentation, Target & Positioning 1 Segmentation and Target Segment 1 â€Å"Academia’s† University students actively socialize in groups for many reasons, be it for regular chat ups between classes, for examinations studying or even group assignments etc. Therefore as the above points display that a â€Å"Krushers† will fit in perfectly with all three areas of a university student. Students usually have a red bull or a coffee or a milk shake etc with them while working on assignments with a group or while studying in order to keep them going. It’s become more like habit to do so. This is where we feel a â€Å"Krushers† can come in to play as it is a thick ice cream based shake with different flavors that will be able to fulfill a student’s need and want in terms of a having a drink that goes with what they do. Segment 2 â€Å"Beach & Shopping mall goers† (Fun) For this group what we really mean is the lifestyle of having fun and constantly active. We used the beach and shopping mall as examples of places where those who are in constant search of fun and activity can have a â€Å"Krushers†. The reason we used the beach and shopping mall as examples is due to the fact that a â€Å"Krushers† can be consumed in both situations / locations where on the beach it can be used as a refreshing cold drink to keep cool under the sun where as in the same time people don’t usually take food with them to the beach as it spoils under the sun and so having a â€Å"Krushers† on the beach is like a two in one feeling as it has real bits in some of its drinks like â€Å"kookies n kream†. Where as in the mall those shopping around can have a â€Å"Krushers† as a drink to walk around with while shopping or/and even as a drink to just and relax with while taking a break or even while meeting friends for a â€Å"coffee†. Segment 3 â€Å"UAE Explorers† This is a group of people who are constantly out and about but don’t really engage in activity. They just simply roam around places such as the mall or the JBR walk etc. by just watching other people or ‘window shopping’ or even simply go for drives around the city in search of something to do. Basically they don’t have anything to do and just want to keep themselves busy. Generally they do this in groups of two or more. The reason why have inserted such a lifestyle in our segment is because a thick shake like â€Å"Krushers† can be very appealing to them in terms of keeping them busy with a drink in their hand. Not only do they have a choice from a variety of flavors but the fact that it takes only a minute to prepare the drink of their choice , thus allowing them to think â€Å"its quick, ill stop and get one on the way†. There is a KFC available in almost if not every mall in Dubai, as well as on popular roads such as the Jumeirah beach road where a drive through option is available. Target Segment & Justification (U. A. E Explorers) †¢ †¢ According to feedback, most people would consume a Krushers ‘on the move’. †¢ They look at it more of a milkshake like drink with pieces in it than anything else. Krushers drink does not fit in with the food served at KFC, and therefore existing KFC customers will not have one at a dine in time especially considering the y don’t see it as a desert either. †¢ Sports people have energy bars and drinks to consume. †¢ University students opt for a red bull or coffee based drink to keep them up and alert. †¢ The ‘fun’ group of people would not really consider having a Krushers as it is not suitable for them. They would not meet for a ‘coffee’ in KFC nor would they buy a Krushers and sit on a bench for a chat. †¢ Therefore the best group and lifestyle is that of a UAE â€Å"Explorer† as on a drive they can go to a KFC drive through almost anywhere in Dubai, Krushers is available at almost every mall in Dubai and at the famous JBR walk too. A Krushers fits in well with a UAE Explorers activities as it is packaged in a way that can be taken in almost any environment and placed almost anywhere easily without risk of leak or spilling over etc. 2 Positioning Map â€Å"Krushers† is perceived as a refreshing shake that you can have between your m ain meals. It can satisfy both thirst and hungers basic needs of a person. There are two main benefits which â€Å"Krushers† has over its competitors in relation to the target segment, such as Brand Image and Store Location K FC’s brand image in the UAE is stronger than that of McDonalds and Hardees. Therefore having a strong brand image is advantageous to the consumer in terms of trusting to try a new product and actually consuming it. Store location is a big factor to the target segment as KFC’s stores are more convenient in terms of reach and comfort. Basically this is because KFC is available at all leading malls in the UAE, but so are its competitors McDonalds and Hardees but what makes the difference here are famous roads and hang out spots such as JBR where there is a KFC restaurant but no McDonalds or Hardees. Not only that, in one of the most famous areas for food in Dubai, the Diyafah area there is no McDonalds yet there is a KFC restaurant there too. There is no McDonalds or Hardees in the Knowledge village area or the AUS (American University in Sharjah) food court but there is a KFC. UAE Explorers are on the go and so with KFC restaurants being on their ‘way’ (drive thru) Jumeirah Beach Road, which is one of the most famous cruising streets a â€Å"Krushers† will be just the thing they will go after as it keeps them busy through their drive or walk at JBR etc. Marketing Mix 1 Product strategy â€Å"Krushers† is a sub product that has been represented by KFC. Introduction of this product increases variety of the product line available in KFC Corporation. â€Å"Krushers† has been introduced in order to bring customers throughout the day. The drink is available in 4 different flavors in the region. â€Å"Strawberry†, â€Å"Chocolate Krumble†, â€Å"Caramel Krunch†, â€Å"Kookies N Kream† are the types of flavors that has been introduced by KFC. According to the survey, customers identified two most popular flavors which are â€Å"Kookies N Kream† and â€Å"Chocolate Krumble†. Currently it is represented in 1 size. It is advisable to add more size options to suit different needs of the consumers. KFC offers â€Å"Krsuhers† as a value-added to a meal by just adding 4Dhs by customer to their meals which is less than the real price of â€Å"Krushers† purchased separately. The promise of great and natural taste is given by KFC through their advertising slogan by saying â€Å"full of real bitZ†. This slogan says that â€Å"Krushers† contains real pieces of fruits and chocolates in it. Thus one of the other augmented products of â€Å"Krushers† is the stated promise. 2 Pricing strategy One of the most important factors that must be considered carefully by companies is appropriate price strategy. â€Å"Krushers† is a new product, due to this point it is recommended to follow penetration strategy while pricing process. However it must be based on â€Å"Krushers† demand, as the demand are more for â€Å"Krushers† it is more obvious that penetration might be superior strategy to follow. Beside they also can gain some market share in marketplace however the supplier of â€Å"Krushers† must be assure when they imply this strategy for their product , they are capable to handle demanders and distribution channels . After all consideration about KFC â€Å"Krushers†, it is better off if they follow penetration strategy. According to the survey, 23 percent of the respondents were dissatisfied, 40 percent were neutral, which makes it total of 63 percent of the respondents (which is more than a half), that were not satisfied with the current price choices. Cutomers are unhappy which means the price does not affect their objectives toward purchasing products. [10] Normally the fixed cost for supplier is 60% of variable cost of products, Krusher is 9 Dhs, 60 % of variable cost would be 5. 4 Dhs which is the fixed cost and the profit approximately might be 3. 6 Dhs on each â€Å"Krushers†. According to the interview made with one of the KFC stuff, assumptions were made as followed: Integrant of â€Å"Krushers† for each cup: 60 % of each cup contains ice cream (2Dhs for each cup) Because they purchase the ice creams in retail, it costs less than an ice cream that is selling in stores). 0 % Slash (blended water and sugar), (30 fils for each cup) Flavor (1 ounce), with consideration that the ba ttle is 30 Dhs but for each cup they use just one ounce), (Around 30 fels). These amounts of materials imply for the entire available flavor. All the calculation is Close to 3 Dhs and approximately 1Dhs or less for packaging; in overall it cost 4 or 5 Dhs for company. Option Price: There is just one size of krusher available in all of the outlets; however option price are as below: †¢ 9 Dhs for any flavor in regular cup size †¢ 5 Dhs for having a Krusher with the meal. 3 Place strategy KFC Corporation uses one channel distribution across the World, which is their network of restaurant outlets or branches. Krushers† are sold directly to the customers without having any middlemen. KFC branches are available almost in every neighborhood across the country. Restaurants spread out across 70 different locations in United Arab Emirates. Examples would be: †¢ Shopping mall food courts(Dubai Mall, City Centre) †¢ Close to schools and universities(knowledge village) †¢ Petrol stations (Emirates Petrol station) †¢ Office buildings (Sheikh Zayed Road) †¢ High traffic roads like (The Walk in Dubai)[11] Customers can dine in the branches of KFC that accommodate dining areas, as well as choose take-away option and consume their â€Å"Krushers† outside in any other location they would prefer to have it. In the Introduction stage of the â€Å"Krushers† Corporation did not represent delivery service for the product; these might be due to ice ingredients in it. Before opening any store KFC conduct market research to estimate and consider the population of that area, consumer’s demographic details and major streets which are close to that specific location. It is worth mentioning that the †Krushers† is not part of the home delivery service due to the physical nature of the product (is it cold and can melt). 4 Promotion strategy In promotion strategy there are some factors that can be used to promote the products base on MARCOM mix that is used for KFC â€Å"Krushers† promotional strategy. Direct marketing: As a direct marketing, KFC departments can hire some people mostly young girls and boys to promote the â€Å"Krushers† in a very small cup to let the volunteers just taste it and promoters can encourage and motivate the volunteers to go for the bigger â€Å"Krushers†, and the best place for this sort of promotion is in the malls, at the foot court entrance. Sales promotion: KFC already gives the customer this chance that if they want â€Å"Krushers† with their meal the price will be reduced for them to 4 Dhs, which the price is 9 Dhs regularly. While the loyal customers buy a combo from KFC outlet , as a promotion they can give the customers coupons with four blank checklist , that if they buy KFC combo meal for four times as a promotion they can get one free â€Å"Kruchers† with their flavor choice. Generally it can be profitable for Kentucky chicken part sales and for â€Å"Krushers†, and also that would lead to better result for KFC and keep the customer loyal to the brand. Advertising: Coupons are Another tools in sale promotion, KFC can sign contract with well known and famous companies or organization which stated whenever they have customer who purchase something from the companies or organization, they give the customers KFC voucher, the vouchers are for specified items but this sort of promotion can bring the customer to the outlet to use their voucher and make them to try new or their favorite products that are available in outlets. It is very important to use online marketing today. Print advertising is another way to market the product. Sample has been developed by the group. There are twelve pieces of ice, with person inside each of it. There is one person standing in it and one of the piece contains Kentucky in four of the ices the â€Å"Krushers† flavors are representing and in the other ice pieces there are all the smiley faces that is representing the , iciness ,freezes , tastiness and freshness of the â€Å"Krushers† and The people in the ice are young and fresh people because it is related to our target segment which is the youth from age 18 – 24 who are the young generation whenever you look at the advertising it gives a positive , delight feeling about the product and the taste, the choice of putting people in the ice pieces is showing the coldness and freezing feeling that â€Å"Krushers† can give the customers. â€Å"Krushers† has been displayed in the official website, however social networks should be taken into consideration as well as the popular search engines etc. Also it is advisable to use media advertisement, such as radio, tv, etc. Also print advertising like ne wspapers magazines etc. Business Plan, 2010. 1 Sales and Profits |Jan |Feb |march |april |may |june |july |Aug |Sep |Oct |Nov |Dec | | |potential segment |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 | | |heavy user |3% 5% |10% |13% |15% |30% |40% |50% |52% |55% |60% |65% | | | |25512 |42520 |85040 |110552 |127560 |255120 |340160 |425200 |442208 |467720 |510240 |552760 | | |moderate user |2% |4% |8% |10% |11% |25% |32% |40% |43% |46% |50% |57% | | | |17008 |34016 |68032 |85040 |93544 |212600 |272128 |340160 |365672 |391184 |425200 |484728 | | |Total user |42520 |76536 |153072 |195592 |221104 |467720 |612288 |765360 |807880 |858904 |935440 |1037488 | | |(SP=9) X 75%(users) |287010 |516618 |1033236 |1320246 |1492452 |3157110 |4132944 |5166180 |5453190 |5797602 |6314220 |7003044 | | |(SP=4) X 25%(users) |42520 |76536 |153072 |195592 |221104 |467720 |612288 |765360 |807880 |858904 |935440 |1037488 | | |total revenue |329530 | 593154 |1186308 |1515838 |1713556 |3624830 |4745232 |5931540 |6261070 |6656506 |7249660 |8040532 | | | expense: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |magazine | | | |150000 | |150000 | |150000 | |150000 | | | | |newspaper | |168000 | | |168000 | |168000 | |168000 | | |168000 | | |radio |135000 | |135000 | |135000 | |135000 |135000 | |135000 |135000 |135000 | | |facebook , |20000 | |20000 |20000 |20000 | | |20000 |20000 | |20000 | | | |In house Ad | | | |30000 |30000 | |30000 |30000 |30000 | |30000 | | | |Tv | |600000 | | |600000 | | | |600000 | |600000 | | | |road | | |200000 | |200000 | | |200000 | | |200000 | | | |billboards |300000 | | | | |300000 | | | | | |300000 | | |campaign | | | |50000 | |50000 | | | |50000 | |50000 | | |total |455000 |768000 |355000 |230000 |1153000 |500000 |333000 |535000 |818000 |335000 |985000 |653000 | | |profit/loss |-125470 |-174846 |831308 |1285838 |560556 |3124830 |4412232 |5396540 |5443070 |6321506 |6264660 |7387532 | | |total profit | | | | | | | | | | | | |40727756 | | Bibliography KFC official website, 2010, URL: [www. kfc. com], [last accessed April 6, 2010] KFC Locator, 2010, Americana group official website, URL: [ http://www. americana-group. net/Default. aspx? Id=1207 ], [last accessed April 7, 2010] KFC, 2010, Wikipedia, URL: [http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/KFC],[last accessed April 4, 2010] KFC Arabia official website, 2010, URL: [http://www. kfc-arabia. com/new_products. html#Krushers],[last accessed April 8, 2010] Annual report, 2008, Americana group, URL: [http://www. americana-group. net/Default. aspx? Id=1316], [last accessed April 14, 2010 ] Annual report, 2008, Yum, URL: [http://www. yum. com/annualreport/docs/annualReport08. pdf], [last accessed April 4, 2010 UAE population to exceed five million by year’s end, 2009, UAE Interact, URL:[ http://www. uaeinteract. com/docs/UAE_population_to_exceed_five_million_by_years_end_/37085. htm], [last accessed April14,2010] Appendix Graph 1. [pic] Graph 2. [pic] Graph 3: [pic] Graph 4: [pic] Based on: 1. Strongly dissatisfied 2. Dissatisfied 3. Neutral 4. Satisfied 5. Strongly satisfied ———————– [1] KFC corporate website (2010) 2] Americana group website (2010) [3] AMEinfo press release, June 24-2009. http://www. ameinfo. com/201597. html [4] Ministry of social affairs, annual statistic, 2008 [5] AMEinfo press release, June 24-2009. http://www. ameinfo. com/201597. html [6] Wikipedia, 20 10 [7] Appendix, Graph 1, page () [8] Appendix: Graph 2, page ( ) [9]URL:[http://www. uaeinteract. com/docs/UAE_population_to_exceed_five_million_by_years_end_/37085. htm] [10] Appendix, Graph 4, page () [11] Americana group website (2010) ———————– High Brand Image KFC Krushers McDonalds Shake High Store location convenience Low Store location convenience Hardees Shake Hardees Shake Low Brand Image