Strategic Options Available To Coast4Life For The Upcoming Fiscal Year

This report outlines the strategic options available to Coast4Life for the upcoming fiscal year. Through my research, I have identified the current situational analysis that is necessary to be considered for the options that will be provided in this report.Current situational analysis:Vision: Coast4Life cruise will be the first choice for vacationers who are seeking a safe, enjoyable and unique cruise experience in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Mission: Coast4Life meets the needs of vacationers by offering safe, enjoyable and unique cruises along BC coast at affordable prices and at a high quality of service. Coast4Life strives to minimize the safety effects of cruising on ecology and maximize the safety of customers, staff and marine life by ensuring ships are well maintained and environmental and safety regulations are exceeded.Preferences:The Board of Directors(BOD) preference is to be profitable and maintain a positive net income in light of upcoming economic downturn. The Gene ral Manager of the Fraser dry dock believes it defines the reputation on BC Coast for Coast4Life safety. Constraints: Cash available on hand is $10,461,000 and an after tax rate of return on 16%.Key Success Factors:Coast4life cruises wants to provide high quality services to the passengers. Refer to the passenger/crew ratio in comparison to industry averages(see Appendix 3-1).Current Financial Analysis(See Appendix 1- Financial Ratios): Ongoing increase to Coast4life’s abilities to meet its short-term obligations. In light of the slight increase of acquiring additional assets, our revenue streams still continues to outmatch this on a steady basis; however, the incremental revenue is declining with each year. Our service offerings grow; generating incremental income each year; nevertheless, Coast Native and Natural Splendour gross margin’s are the same, and each offers different services. Company’s ability to cover interest is growing over the years, and our debt s are declining. Coast4Life’s ability to convert investments into profit has increased. Strategic Options: To cut costs.Option#1: Divesture of the Fraser dry dock Pro(s): Gain on sale of $7,274,000; in favour of BOD preferences and in line of providing the necessary funds to maintain incremental financial targets for upcoming economic downturn(see Appendix 3- 2).Con(s):Against general manager’s preference, as can affect the reputation of the company – the quality of safety regulations the company adheres to. Option #2: Registering Coast4Life’s ships in LiberiaPro(s):Wages&Salaries will be cut by 30%; In favour of BOD’s preference to cut costs – $1,423,530 would be saved by outsourcing from Liberia(see Appendix #3- 3).Con(s): Affect quality of service provided by the crew; be against the mission statement Hiring unskilled labour can potentially increase management expenses(Additional Training). Minor options: For materiality purposes with res pect to revenue sources the following are minor options to generate additional revenue: Option #1: Switching customer target marketsPro(s): By targeting 40-60 year olds, revenue streams will increase by 20%, which could also increase all financial ratios by the same rate and, thus be in line with the vision statement. This target group can afford a more unique  experience given industry annual family income of $78,000. For ages 40 -60 Industry is higher by 8% so we have space to grow and target this age group (see Appendix 3-4).Con(s):By changing target there is no guarantee that revenues will be maintained throughout the downturn in the following fiscal year even with growth in tourism industry in Canada.Option #2: Implement a web-based booking systemPro(s): Can potentially save the company up to $1,341,250 [($2,146,000Ãâ€"10% reduction)/16% after tax rate of return] in travel agent commissions over the life of the company and assist in further increasing the company’s ac tivity ratio Can be paid off in less than 4 months. The payback formula proves that no cash is needed to be spent, as through the incremental savings this investment will be recouped(see Appendix 3-5).Cons:Decrease word of mouth advertising via travel agents. Increase global competition due to the online presence.RecommendationGiven the uncertain future ahead, it is best to be conservative and in line with the current mission statement for company objectives. It would be best that Fraser dock would be divested and web-based booking system would be implemented. This would cut costs and increase revenues via savings that can be earned without risking the reputation of the company or established revenue stream. With this consideration, the company will still have enough resources to maintain its financial position.

Carrie Chapter Two

‘I'm sure she'll be all right,' she said. ‘Carrie only has to go over to Carlin Street. The fresh air will do her good.' Morton gave the girl the yellow slip. ‘You can go now, Cassie,' he said magnanimously. ‘That's not my name!' she screamed suddenly. Morton recoiled, and Miss Desjardin jumped as if struck from behind. The heavy ceramic ashtray on Morton's desk (it was Rodin's Thinker with his head turned into a receptacle for cigarette butts) suddenly toppled to the rug, as if to take cover from the force of her scream. Butts and flakes of Morton's pipe tobacco scattered on the pale-green nylon rug. ‘Now, listen,' Morton said, trying to muster sternness, ‘I know you're upset, but that doesn't mean I'll stand for-‘ ‘Please,' Miss Desjardin said quietly. Morton blinked at her and then nodded curtly. He tried to project the image of a lovable John Wayne figure while performing the disciplinary functions that were his main job as Assistant Principal, but did not succeed very well. The administration (usually represented at Jay Cee suppers, P.T.A. functions, and American Legion award ceremonies by Principal Henry Grayle) usually termed him ‘lovable Mort.' The student body was more apt to term him ‘that crazy ass-jabber from the office.' But, as few students such as Billy deLois and Henry Trennant spoke at P.T.A. functions or town meetings, the administration's view tended to carry the day. Now lovable Mort, still secretly nursing his jammed thumb, smiled at Carrie and said, ‘Go along then if you like, Miss Wright. Or would you like to sit a spell and just collect yourself?' ‘I'll go,' she muttered, and swiped at her hair. She got up, then looked around at Miss Desjardin. Her eyes were wide open and dark with knowledge. ‘They laughed at me. Threw things. They've always laughed,' Desjardin could only look at her helplessly. Carrie left. For a moment there was silence; Morton and Desjardin watched her go. Then, with an awkward throat-clearing sound, Mr Morton hunkered down carefully and began to sweep together the debris from the fallen ashtray. ‘What was that all about?' She sighed and looked at the drying maroon hand-print on her shorts with distaste. ‘She got her period. Her first period. In the shower.' Morton cleared his throat again and his cheeks went pink. The sheet of paper he was sweeping with moved even faster. ‘Isn't she a bit, uh-‘ ‘Old for her first? Yes. That's what made it so traumatic for her. Although I can't understand why her mother†¦' The thought trailed off, forgotten for the moment. ‘I don't think I handled it very well, Morty, but I didn't understand what was going on. She thought she was bleeding to death.' He stared up sharply. ‘I don't believe she knew there was such a thing as menstruation until half an hour ago.' ‘Hand me that little brush there, Miss Desjardin. Yes, that's it.' She handed him a little brush with the legend Chamberlain Hardware and Lumber Company NEVER Brushes You Off written up the handle. He began to brush his pile of ashes on to the paper. ‘There's still going to be some for the vacuum cleaner, I guess. This deep pile is miserable. I thought I set that ashtray back on the desk further. Funny how things fall over.' He bumped his head on the desk and sat up abruptly. ‘It's hard for me to believe that a girl in this or any other high school could get through three years and still be alien to the fact of menstruation, Miss Desjardin.' ‘It's even more difficult for me, she said. ‘But it's all I can think of to explain her reaction. And she's always been a group scapegoat.' ‘Urn.' He funnelled the ashes and butts into the wastebasket and dusted his hands. ‘I've placed her, I think. White. Margaret White's daughter. Must be. That makes it a little easier to believe.' He sat down behind his desk and smiled apologetically. ‘There's so many of them. After five years or so, they all start to merge into one group face. You call boys by their brother's names, that type of thing. It's hard.' ‘Of course it is.' ‘Wait 'til you've been in the game twenty years, like me,' he said morosely, looking down at his blood blister. ‘You get kids that look familiar and find out you had their daddy the year you started teaching. Margaret White was before my time, for which I am profoundly grateful. She told Mrs Bicente, God rest her, that the Lord was reserving a special burning seat in hell for her because she gave the kids an outline of Mr Darwin's beliefs on evolution. She was suspended twice while she was here – once for beating a classmate with her purse. Legend has it that Margaret saw the classmate smoking a cigarette. Peculiar religious views. Very peculiar.' His John Wayne expression suddenly snapped down. ‘The other girls. Did they really laugh at her?' ‘Worse. They were yelling and throwing sanitary napkins at her when I walked in. Throwing them like.. like peanuts.' ‘Oh. Oh, dear.' John Wayne disappeared. Mr Morton went scarlet. ‘You have names?' ‘Yes. Not all of them, although some of them may rat on the rest. Christine Hargensen appeared to be the ringleader †¦ as usual.' ‘Chris and her Mortimer Snurds,' Morton murmured. ‘Yes. Tina Blake, Rachel Spies, Helen Shyres, Donna Thibodeau and her sister Fern, Lila Grace, Jessica Upshaw. And Sue Snell.' She frowned. ‘You wouldn't expect a trick like that from Sue. She's never seemed the type for this kind of a – stunt.' ‘Did you talk to the girls involved?' Miss Desjardin chuckled unhappily. ‘I got them the hell out of there. I was too flustered. And Carrie was having hysterics.' ‘Um.' He steepled his fingers. ‘Do you plan to talk to them?' ‘Yes.' But she sounded reluctant. ‘Do I detect a note of-‘ ‘You probably do,' she said glumly. ‘I'm living in a glass house, see. I understand how those girls felt. The whole thing just made me want to take the girl and shake her. Maybe-there's some kind of instinct about menstruation that makes women want to snarl. I don't know. I keep seeing Sue Snell and the way she looked.' ‘Um,' Mr Morton repeated wisely. He did not understand women and had no urge at all to discuss menstruation. ‘I'll talk to them tomorrow,' she promised, rising. ‘Rip them down one side and up the other.' ‘Good. Make the punishment suit the crime. And if you feel you have to send any of them to, ah, to me, feel free-‘ ‘I will,' she said kindly. ‘By the way, a light blew out while I was trying to calm her down. It added the final touch.' ‘I'll send a janitor right down,' he promised. ‘And thanks for doing your best, Miss Desjardin. Will you have Miss Fish send in Billy and Henry?' ‘Certainly.' She left. He leaned back and let the whole business slide out of his mind. When Billy deLois and Henry Trennant, classcutters extraordinaire, slunk in, he glared at them happily and prepared to talk tough. As he often told Hank Grayle, he ate class-cutters for lunch. Graffiti scratched on a desk in Chamberlain Junior High School: Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, but Carrie While eats shit. She walked down Ewin Avenue and crosssed over to Carlin at the stoplight on the corner. Her head was down and she was trying to think of nothing. Cramps came and went in great, gripping waves, making her slow down and speed up like a car with carburettor trouble. She stared at the sidewalk. Quartz glittering in the cement. Hop-scotch grids scratched in ghostly, rain-faded chalk. Wads of gum stamped flat. Pieces of tinfoil and penny-candy wrappers. They all hate and they never stop. They never get tired of it. A penny lodged in a crack. She kicked it. Imagine Chris Hargensen all bloody and screaming for mercy. With rats crawling all over her face. Good. Good. That would be good. A dog turd with a foot-track in the middle of it. A roll of blackened caps that some kid had banged with a stone. Cigarette butts. Crash in her head with a rock, with a boulder. Crash in all their hearts. Good. Good. (saviour Jesus meek and mild) That was good for Momma, all right for her. She didn't have to go among the wolves every day of every year, out into a carnival of laughers, joke-tellers, pointers, snickerers. And didn't Momma say there would be a Day of Judgment. (the name of that star shall be wormwood and they shall be scourged with scorpions) and an angel with a sword? If only it would be today and Jesus coming not with a lamb and a shepherd's crook, but with a boulder on each hand to crush the laughters and the snickerers, to root out the evil and destroy it screaming – a terrible Jesus of blood and righteousness. And if only she could be His sword and His arm. She had tried to fit. She had defied Momma in a hundred little ways, had tried to erase the red-plague circle that had been drawn around her from the first day she had left the controlled environment of the small house on Carlin Street and had walked up to the Baker Street Grammar School with her Bible under her arm. She could still remember that day, the stares, and the sudden, awful silence when she had gotten down on her knees before lunch in the school cafeteria-the laughter had begun on that day and had echoed up through the years. The red-plague circle was like blood itself-you could scrub and scrub and scrub and still it would be there, not erased, not clean. She had never gotten on her knees in a public place again, although she had not told Momma that. Still, the original memory remained, with her and with them. She had fought Momma tooth and nail over the Christian Church Camp, and had earned the money to go herself by taking in sewing. Momma told her darkly that it was Sin, that it was Methodists and Baptists and Congregationalists and that it was Sin and Backsliding. She forbade Carrie to swim at the camp. Yet although she had swum and had laughed when they ducked her (until she couldn't get her breath any more and they kept doing it and she got panicky and began to scream) and had tried to take part in the camp's activities, a thousand practical jokes had been played on ol' prayin' Carrie and she had come home on the bus a week early, her eyes red and socketed from weeping, to be picked up by Momma at t he station, and Momma had told her grimly that she should treasure the memory of her scourging as proof that Momma knew, that Momma was right, that the only hope of safety and salvation was inside the red circle. ‘For straight is the gate,' Momma said grimly in the taxi, and at home she had sent Carrie to the closet for six hours. Momma had, of course, forbade her to shower with the other girls; Carrie had hidden her shower things in her school locker and had showered anyway, taking part in a naked ritual that was shameful and embarrassing to her in hopes that the circle around her might fade a little, just a little- (but today o today) Tommy Erbter, age five, was biking up the other side of the street. He was a small, intense-looking boy on a twenty-inch Schwinn with bright-red training wheels. He was humming ‘Scoobie Doo, where are you?' under his breath. He saw Carrie, brightened, and stuck out his tongue. ‘Hey, ol' fart-face! Ol' prayin' Carrie!' Carrie glared at him with sudden smoking rage. The bike wobbled on its training wheels and suddenly fell over. Tommy screamed. The bike was on top of him. Carrie smiled and walked on. The sound of Tommy's wails was sweet, jangling music in her ears. If only she could make something like that happen whenever she liked. (just did) She stopped dead seven houses up from her own, staring blankly at nothing. Behind her, Tommy was climbing tearfully back on to his bike, nursing a scraped knee. He yelled something at her, but she ignored it. She had been yelled at by experts. She had been thinking: (fall off that bike kid push you off that bike and split your rotten head) And something had happened Her mind had †¦ had †¦ she groped for a word. Had flexed. That was not just right, but it was very close. There had been a curious mental bending, almost like an elbow curling a dumbbell. That wasn't exactly right either, but it was all she could think of. An elbow with no strength. A weak baby muscle. Flex. She suddenly stared fiercely at Mrs Yorraty's big picture window. She thought: (stupid frumpty old bitch break that window) Nothing. Mrs Yorraty's picture window glittered serenely in the fresh nine o'clock glow of morning. Another cramp gripped Carrie's belly and she walked on. But †¦ The light. And the ashtray; don't forget the ashtray. She looked back (old bitch hates my momma) over her shoulder. Again it seemed that something flexed †¦ but very weakly. The flow of her thoughts shuddered as if there had been a sudden bubbling from a wellspring deeper inside. The picture window seemed to ripple. Nothing more. It could have been her eyes. Could have been. Her head began to feel tired and fuzzy, and it throbbed with the beginning of a headache. Her eyes were hot, as if she had just sat down and read the Book of Revelations straight through. She continued to walk down the street toward the small white house with the blue shutters. The familiar hate-love-dread feeling was churning inside her. Ivy had crawled up the west side of the bungalow (they always called it the bungalow because the White house sounded like a political joke and Momma said all politicians were crooks and sinners and would eventually give the country over to the Godless Reds who would put all the believers of Jesus – even the Catholics – up against the wall), and the ivy was picturesque, she knew it was, but sometimes she hated it. Sometimes, like now, the ivy looked like a grotesque giant hand ridged with great veins which had sprung up out of the ground to grip the building. She approached it with dragging feet. Of course, there had been the stones. She stopped again, blinking vapidly at the day. The stones. Momma never talked about that; Carrie didn't even know if her momma still remembered the day of the stones. It was surprising that she herself still remembered it. She had been a very little girl then. How old? Three? Four? There had been the girl in the white bathing suit, and then the stones came. And things had flown in the house. Here the memory was, suddenly bright and clear. As if it had been here all along, just below the surface, waiting for a kind of mental puberty. Waiting, maybe, for today. From Carrie: The Black Dawn of T.K. (Esquire Magazine, September 12, 1980) by Jack Gaver: Estelle Horan had lived in the neat San Diego suburb of Parrish for twelve years, and outwardly she is typical Mrs California: She wears bright print shifts and smoked amber sunglasses; her hair is black-streaked blonde; she drives a neat maroon Volkswagen Formula Vee with a smile decal on the petrol cap and a green-flag ecology sticker on the back window. Her husband is an executive at the Parrish branch of the Bank of America; her son and daughter are certified members of the Southern California Sun ‘n Fun Crowd, burnished-brown beach creatures. There is a hibachi in the small, beautifully kept back yard, and the door chimes play a tinkly phrase from the refrain of ‘Hey, Jude.' But Mrs Horan still carries the thin, difficult soil of New England somewhere inside her, and when she talks of Carrie White her face takes on an odd, pinched look that is more like Lovecraft out of Arkham than Kerouac out of Southern Cat. ‘Of course she was strange,' Estelle Horan tells me. lighting a second Virginia Slim a moment after stubbing out her first. ‘The whole family was strange. Ralph was a construction worker, and people on the street said he carried a Bible and a .38 revolver to work with him every day. The Bible was for his coffee break and lunch. The .38 was in case he met Antichrist on the job, I can remember the Bible myself. The revolver †¦ who knows? He was a big olive-skinned man with his hair always shaved into a flattop crewcut. He always looked mean. And you didn't meet his eyes, not ever. They were so intense they actually seemed to glow. When you saw him coming you crossed the street and you never stuck out your tongue at his back, not ever. That's how spooky he was.' She pauses, puffing clouds of cigarette smoke toward the pseudo-redwood beams that cross the ceiling. Stella Horan lived on Carlin Street until she was twenty, commuting to day classes at Lewin Business College in Motton. But she remembers the incidents of the stones very clearly. ‘There are times,' she says, ‘when I wonder if I might have caused it. Their back yard was next to ours, and Mrs White had put in a hedge but it hadn't grown out yet. She'd called my mother dozens of times about â€Å"the show† I was putting on in my back yard. Well, my bathing suit was perfectly decent – prudish by today's standards – nothing but a plain old one-piece Jantzen. Mrs White used to go on and on about what a scandal it was for â€Å"her baby.† My mother..-. well, she tries to be polite, but her temper is so quick. I don't know what Margaret White did to finally push her over the edge – called me the Whore of Babylon, I suppose – but my mother told her our yard was our yard and I'd go out and dance the hootchie-kootchie buck naked if that was her pleasure and mine. She also told her that she was a dirty old woman with a can of worms for a mind. There was a lot more shouting, but that was the upshot of it. ‘I wanted to stop sunbathing right then. I hate trouble. It upsets my stomach. But Mom-when she gets a case, she's a terror. She came home from Jordan Marsh with a little white bikini. Told me I might as well get all the sun I could. â€Å"After all,† she said, â€Å"the privacy of our own back yard and all.† Stella Horan smiles a little at the memory and crushes out her cigarette. ‘I tried to argue with her, tell her I didn't want any more trouble, didn't want to be a pawn in their back-fence war. Didn't do a bit of good. Trying to stop my mum when she' gets a bee in her hat is like trying to stop a Mack truck going downhill with no brakes. Actually, there was more to it. I was scared of the Whites. Real religious nuts are nothing to fool with. Sure, Ralph White was dead, but what if Margaret still had that .38 around? ‘But there I was on Saturday afternoon, spread out ‘ on a blanket in the back yard, covered with suntan lotion and listening to Top Forty on the radio. Mom hated that stuff and usually she'd yell out at least twice for me to turn it down before she went nuts. But that day she turned it up twice herself. I started to feel like the Whore of Babylon myself ‘But nobody came out of the Whites' place. Not even the old lady to hang her wash. That's something else – she never hung any undies on the back line. Not even Carrie's, and she was only three back then. Always in the house. ‘I started to relax. I guess I was thinking Margaret must have taken Carrie to the park to worship God in the raw or something. Anyway, after a little while I rolled on my back, put one arm over my eyes, and dozed off. ‘When I woke up, Carrie was standing next to me and looking down at my body.' She breaks off, frowning into space. Outside, the cars are whizzzing by endlessly. I can hear the steady little whine my tape recorder makes. But it all seems a little too brittle, too glossy, just a cheap patina over a darker world – a real world where nightmares happen. ‘She was such a pretty girl,' Stella Horan resumes, fighting another cigarette. ‘I've seen some high school pictures of her, and that horrible fuzzy black-and-white photo on the cover of Newsweek. I look at them and all I can think is, Dear God, where did she go? What did that woman do to her? Then I feel sick and sorry. She was so pretty, with pink cheeks and bright brown eyes, and her hair the shade of blonde you know will darken and get mousy. Sweet is the only word that fits. Sweet and bright and innocent. Her mother's sickness hadn't touched her very deeply, not then. ‘I kind of started up awake and tried to smile. It was hard to think what to do. I was logy from the sun and my mind felt sticky and slow. I said â€Å"Hi.† She was wearing a little yellow dress, sort of cute but awfully long for a little girl in the summer. It came down to her shins. ‘She didn't smile back. She just pointed and said, â€Å"What are those?† ‘I looked down and saw that my top had slipped while I was asleep. So I fixed it and said, â€Å"Those are my breasts, Carrie,† ‘Then she said-very solemnly: â€Å"I wish I had some.† ‘I said: â€Å"You have to wait, Carrie. You won't start to get them for another †¦ oh. eight or nine years.†

Gender Disparities and Gendered Miseries in Divakarunis One Amazing T Essay

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Puritanism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Polymath a Man of Many Talents Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

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Discription of my research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discription of my - Research Paper Example On the basis of this context, the research will intend to concentrate on the withdrawal of drug consumption of people in order to make them socially responsible. The research is based on understanding the role played by rehabilitation centers in order to recover the individuals who are addicted with drugs. The research will help to gain significant understanding about the challenges that are faced by the drug users while retreating from using drugs. Furthermore, the research will also provide a significant knowledge regarding the reasons for drug consumption and possible negative impacts of it in the life of people. Throughout the research, learning can be gained regarding the method of therapy for drug users. It will help to recognize the best practices that can help to completely eradicate the usage of drug and to become a responsible societal member. There are several organizational benefits related with the research. The research will help to assist the people who are suffering from drug addiction. Besides, involvement in the rehabilitation program can help to gain significant experience about the characteristics of drug users. As a result, it can support the employees in the rehabilitation center regarding the method of dealing with the drug users and the method of treatment. The research will be a five step process. At first, review will be conducted through critical study regarding the subject or related topics. The literature review will be intended to gain basic theoretical knowledge about the research subject. After conducting a comprehensive literature review, primary data will be collected through questionnaire survey method in order to understand the behavior and the characteristics of the drug users. In the third phase, the collected data will be analyzed in order to generate detailed understanding of the research problem. The outcome of data analysis will be presented in the fourth phase to depict the

Health Care Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health Care Economics - Essay Example However, with advances in technology scientists came out with the discovery of solar panels. Solar panels are just a one-time investment and once set up they’ll provide free electricity for their entire life. What simply happens is that the solar panels take up energy from sun rays and convert that energy to provide electrical power. This simple example goes on to show how technology has brought down the cost of various products. Health care has been one of the most important issues of the current time. With the ever increasing health care costs, people from all walks of life have been complaining they cannot afford proper treatment. Workers in America have so hardly been hit by the high health insurance premium payments that they often forego getting a recommended checkup rather than paying huge sums of out of pocket money. So why it is that business technology saves a lot on costs but when it comes to healthcare, new technology drives up costs? There are a lot of reasons to this and we’ll look at each in turn. Firstly, we’ll focus on simple demand and supply factors. The demand for health care has increased over the years as worldwide population increases exponentially. However the supply side hasn’t moved at the same pace as there are a limited number of medical technology producers. The demand supply gap is one of the main reasons why healthcare costs have gone up. Another important reason why health care technology has increased health care costs is that medicinal technology is different than other forms of technological improvements. When a new medicinal technology is launched in the hospital market, a new progress towards diagnosis of a disease or its treatment is made. However in other fields, technological innovation is just a continuation of a previous product to make it better. Such an innovation’s primary objective generally is to achieve an increase in the product’s efficiency and therefore reduce its overa ll cost. However when it comes to medicinal technology, a new purpose is accomplished every time a technological advancement is made and so the investment and the return (payback) process starts from the beginning every time. To recover such investments, patients have to be charged high so at least the hospitals breakup if they don’t make a profit. This is one of the main reason why patients end up paying high medicine bills as the recovery cost of technological improvements is ultimately passed on to the final consumers. Health care technology requires a lot of research. The major chunk of expenditure that’s made by pharmaceutical and health care equipment companies is on research and development of new products and technologies. These figures are often so significant that they take up to seventy percent of a company’s annual budget! It’s pretty obvious now that when such companies will develop their products, they’ll have real high costs attached to them. The latest machines for chemo therapy and drugs to contain cancer have very high costs associated with them. These high costs simply reflect the amount spent on research and development towards the innovation of these drugs and machineries. Whether a particular technology will reduce or increase the amount spent on healthcare will depend upon several critical factors. One of such

Business Marketing Strategies for Global Markets Assignment

Business Marketing Strategies for Global Markets - Assignment Example Some of the market entry options include direct export that entails producing products in the home country and selling them to overseas customers. Licensing, where licensor will provide an organization in the foreign market a license to manufacture the product or use the brand name and in return receive a payment. In addition, the use of joint venture that involves two organizations coming together to share the risk of market entry into a new foreign market (Root & Mark, 2006). The strategic significance of global market participation includes the following. The expansion provides the opportunity to increase sales as well as make profits; moreover, it leads to lower prices for goods and services to the customer due to the economies of scale derived from a larger global base and to bring down barriers to world trade and providing some protection in some countries and industries. There are the types of international strategies. The Multi-domestic strategy emphasizes product customization for each market. In addition, there is the Global strategy where products are the same in all countries where the business is involved. Lastly, the transnational strategy that tries to balance the efficiency while adjusting to the local preferences of various countries. Finally, the components of international strategy include the distinctive competence, the scope of operations and the resource deployment and

Create or use an existing company Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Create or use an existing company - Term Paper Example There are some main factors that company has to deal with. As most of the soft-drink and beer bottles are liable for reuse and recycling, company gets some of its raw material from defected and used bottles that are supplied back by the beer companies. However, a number of bottles do not reverse and company has to involve glass as the raw material of new bottles. There had been a stagnant increase in the market since last three years which provides and estimation for supposed upcoming market demands. In light of those factors company has to keep a safe number of bottles that can be supplied urgently when required by buyers. On the other hand, a large number of bottles made in advance can create a burden over company’s investing strength. That would also create a lack of fluency in company’s cycle of work. Thus, company has to involve a concrete Inventory management that keeps the overall demand and supply chain in a safe and trustworthy position to provide continuous pr ofit to Volga Glasses. The supply chain and IT Factors Obviously, the purpose of Volga Glasses’ is to enhance and manage its supply chain to perform with a perfect smoothness that does not shake even in the conditions of an urgent tide in market situations. Company uses elegant IT techniques to manage that smoothness. Chiefly the bills are collected as electronic data providing an exact record of supply over a particular period. While mostly a supply chain is maintained over longer period like a year or six months, Volga Glasses is bound to use three month estimation because of the nature of its assets and frequently wavering requirements. Three years ago company has ordered a software organization to design software for their inventory management. The software had produced good results while it had been quite dependent of human inputs and mandatory analysis by the supervisors of Volga Glasses. This software ‘Smart-Task’ bases its strategy in collecting the suppl y data and comparing the overall cost of raw materials added with the labor and mechanical expenses. Over the time it also manifests the comparative graphs of market tides during various supply chain periods. Company manages to base its strategies in short term chains such as three months as well as yearly managements of supply chains. During last years it had come out that Smart-Task has been accurate and efficient in processing the data to manifest a scenario of the market. However, during the recent immediate ups and downs of market the estimations of Smart-task have failed when external situations like a temporary recession had stricken the market of soft drinks. Therefore an analysis of Company’s requirement and reliability of IT over numerous patterns of system of research is mandatory. Synchronization of IT and HR Out of the data processing methodology of Smart-Task, it has come out that it depends solely on human inputs which provide a base for calculations and estima tions. Company’s HR department is responsible for providing the supposed information for future uplifts and lowering of market because Smart-Task puts the data in various graphs that ease the methods of comparisons provide a manifestation of supply chain. The requirement of advance inventory is calculated on a

Rights of the Child and the Childcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rights of the Child and the Childcare - Essay Example Being young human beings, children cannot and are not allowed to acquire certain rights that adult humans enjoy. Due to their premature and underdeveloped intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual faculties, they are not permitted by laws to vote, to marry, to engage in sex, etc. that only fully developed humans are able to responsibly do. It is because of children's limited power that critics question the capacity of children to have rights. Advocates of the will and interest theory of rights argue that a right is protected choices that only those who are capable of exercising can enjoy (Archard). But, in response to will theorists, it is also due to children's limited power that spurred the need to give them a set of special set of rights distinguished from adults. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that 'childhood is entitled to special care and assistance (Article 25).' This has entitled them to enjoy a new set of rights that the government of UN member countries should uphold and protect. This is what the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child contains. One of the primary violations of children's rights is child abuse. ... Children suffering from these may experience serious negative effects that would largely impair the growth of an abused child. Low self-esteem, depression and anxiety, injury, criminal and anti-social behavior, delinquency, or even death could from these. Protecting children from impaired development of their faculties provides them the need for a different set of rights that adults should respect.  

The BRICS are more effective in todays economic environment than the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund ran by the United States Essay Example for Free

The BRICS are more effective in todays economic environment than the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund ran by the United States Essay Over the last few decades, the resilience and ability of the BRIC countries to withstand economic, social and political forces that have brought down big economies is exciting and worth noting.BRIC is a label that defines Brazil, Russia, India and China which according to demographics and recent economic performance have been identified as the countries to watch when it comes to economic development in the 21st century. The BRIC countries are set apart by their strong economic policies and largely by their demographics that is a large indicator of a countrys economic potential. Together, the four countries with the late addition of South Africa have a population of 2.8 billion people who are estimated to be at least 40% of the world population. The four are also believed to occupy a quarter of the land surface across three continents CITATION Glo15 l 2057 (Global Sherpa, 2015). Through the monetary fund, some regulations and guidelines have been established to guide the BRICS in their development agenda. The regulations are known as the Washington consensus and contain ten major areas the Bretton Woods institutions thought would spur economic growth in developing countries and encourage free trade. Over the years, the IMF and the World Bank have been key players in the development sector. The two institutions have often been used as a political tool to coerce the beneficiaries to play according to their rules. With the recent formation of the BRICS Bank in July of 2014, the two institutions’ influence on developing countries is set reduce. Developing countries, who have a similar agenda of future economic growth inclusivity and relevance, are know preferring the BRICS Bank. The bank offers loans without strings attached except loyalty, guarantee of participation and payment in the long-term development agenda. China, which is the largest contributor to the bank, has not imposed itself on members as commonly seen in IMF and Word Banks help. The aims of the Bretton Woods institutions, though hidden in the disguise of empowerment, are mainly operated as a business for profit. Between 2002 and 2008, BRICS managed to increase their GDP from 16% to 22%. Opening up their borders to foreign trade and have seen the countries expand outwards to have a presence in overseas markets. China of the four has seen great expansion in Africa where statistics in the last decade shows that China has been outdoing the Bretton Woods institutions in grants and loans advanced to other developing countries. The BRICS has seen growth in imports and growth in GDP despite economic ups and downs. Through their collaboration, BRICS have seen tremendous infrastructural development in technology and engineering.BRICS have developed tailor-made solutions for their problems unlike depending on solutions imposed by a third party. Developing countries feel more appreciated and included in their developmental agenda. The countries have together increased their spending on research and development leading to a 7% growth in research expenditure CITATION Glo15 l 2057 (Global Sherpa, 2015)Given that they possess a large labour population, high concentration of natural resources and a large population offering a big market, the BRICS are set for a more dominant role in economic growth. Being owners of capital and input, the Brics integration and corporation is setting the world towards a paradigm shift where developing countries are no longer onlookers but participants in the development agenda. These few achievements, over only five years, are more than what the Bretton Woods institutions achieved over the same time when they were formed. Hence, the conclusion that the BRICS are doing better than the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank References   Global Sherpa. (2015, January 07). bric-countries-brics. Retrieved from Global Sherpa: Retrieved from http://www.globalsherpa.org/bric-countries-brics Source document

Angostura Strategy Most Profitable Rum Company

Angostura Strategy Most Profitable Rum Company Analysis of Angostura In this chapter the information gathered from primary and secondary resources will be used to analyse the marketing strategy and performance of Angostura SBR. The vision of Angostura Ltd is to be the most profitable rum company in the Caribbean and continuously improve their position as the largest aromatic bitters company in the world. And their mission is to bring the spirit of Trinidad Tobago to every customer experience by providing preferred products and excellent products and excellent customer service. From these statement it is believed that Angostura would like the company to be the flagship brand or product of the country and that they would incorporate these statements when developing their strategies to market their products .Over the past five years the company have been through a lot which would have affected their existence and performance within the market. They have overcome disastrous obstacles such as having their old (CLICO) parent company filing for bankruptcy w hich would have affected their reputation and their business operations. In this chapter the information and results collect from the interviews, observation and surveys will be analysed and compared with those of the competitor. Angostura strategy Past Present In the past it could clearly be determined that the previous strategy was not about having a dominant presence in the market but more trying to have their products in the foreign markets. It can safely be said that Angostura adopted a strategy of a merger and acquisition type because they were purchasing and forming agreements with other distilleries. In 1999 they bought the minority share in Bacardi Ltd, in 2002 they bought Burn Stewart a scotch distillery in Scotland. And they also formed relationships/alliances with Dewars Ltd. These developments assisted in the distribution of the Angostura brands into untapped markets. They were capitalising on the brand names and the association of the brands to penetrate the markets. It can clearly determine that they adopted a strategy from the Ansoff matrix to the best of their ability to become a leader in the alcohol industry in the world. At that time of the company existence, then chairman and owner of Angostura Lawrence Duprey who is a visionary saw these products as being world class and it should be available to the world. This strategy could be considered to be successful because some of the products won international awards in the GermanysMundus Vini Competition and International Spirits Challenge UK, but there was some neglecting to their home market as there was little awareness of the brands in the local market . There was little advertising over those years that are when the foreign competitors penetrated the market with their intensive marketing tactics and influence a significant number of consumers to switch from rum to scotch. The foreign competition came into the market through distribution via local distributors. The main product that affected Angostura market share which they held for years was scotch. Starting in 2010 the new CEO decided to implemented a new strategy to take the company back to its rightful position in the market and eradicate all competition. The companys CEO Wayne Yip Choy said â€Å"he saw an untapped opportunity to increase rum sales in what had been a stagnant market for the last 25 years or so. The growth of rum over the last 25 years has been flat at about 500,000 case per year while whiskey sales went from 34,000 to 267,000 cases.† The CEO has endorsed this campaign professing that it was successful (Newsday 19th May 2011 page 3) He employed a market penetration strategy which consisted of several changes to the companys structure and products. These changes include an immediate stop to distribution of all competitor products such as Bacardi and Dewars and a repackaging of their rums and repositioning the brands. Albarran et al (2006) states that the industry life cycle helps in understanding the dynamics of a market structure and the entry, exit and survival patterns of firms. The rum industry can be considered or characterized as being in its decline phase as they have not been active in the market like they should. There is a moderate entrance of competition into this industry; however the industry is favourable to Angostura as they are the leaders in the rum distribution which makes it difficult for any new company to sell rum and penetrate the market. However there is a heavy threats in the alcohol market from brands such as Johnnie Walker Black (JWB) which is a scotch beverage and has capture a significant segment of the market. The company responsible for the marketing strategies of this product is AS Brydens who follow the strategy The present strategy being employed by Angostura can be best identified as a Differentiation out of the porter generic strategy. The product differentiation strategy in any market gains competitive advantage from being able to offer additional value to their customers that they may in some way appreciate and value. Differentiation strategies are not about pursuing uniqueness for the sake of being different it is about understanding customers and how the product can meet their needs, differentiation is about uniqueness, establishing differentiation advantage requires creativity. They have achieved this by offering a premium product with a unique taste and new packaging to the consumers. Presently in the market Angostura have fierce competition by foreign competitors who have entered the local alcohol market via distribution channels such as AS Brydens and Alstons Marketing Company who control the powerful brands such as Johnnie Walker Black and Dewars respectively. The Angostura Singl e Barrel Rum (SBR) is product that the company is actively marketing currently. This product is an old product that has been rebranded and re-positioned to a new target audience to regain its market share from scotch. The main competitor for the SBR is JWB. JWB is the most preferred drink for upcoming professionals and socialites between the ages of 18- 35 which is also the same target audience that angostura is also seeking after for SBR. The JWB has been able to captivate this market after persistent years of active marketing strategies over the last 10 years and how they have positioned the product in the minds of this target group. Angostura have realised that this target group will be the future leaders of the country and decided to focus SBR on this target audience. There are many marketing strategies that they may have evaluated to deliver the best approach to reach with this group. But from observations and analysis it can be determined that they may have adopted the challenger strategy whereby they develop a strategy that is similar to the market leader (JWB) and try to capitalise on it. This strategy is effective because it tends to feed off the energy or success of the market leader. However it can be safely said that the strategy that they adopted to allow them maximum mileage and infiltrate the market without much hindrance is between the market penetration or product development strategy out of the Ansoff Matrix. The market penetration would be a suitable strategy to adopt because it contributes to the increase in market share and it is a great growth strategy as it contributes to the increase usage of the product. The marketing mix that angostura used for SBR used can support the justification of the market penetration strategy. They implemented extensive advertising via newspapers, billboards, radio and event sponsorships. They flooded the market with the SBR adverts aggressively targeting scotch particularly JWB. The pricing strategy that they also used would allow the product to penetrate the market because it was cheaper than the competitor making it more affordable and attractive to the consumers. The product development strategy may have been more align to the overall strategy, and it justifies by producing a high quality rum for its consumer hence the reason for an entire repositioning of the product. SBR was given a drastic change from the bottle to the way it was presented to the public. The packaging of the bottle improved to a sleeker smooth and sexy look that would to appeal to the specific target group as its similar to the shapes of their competitors in the market. These changes were slowly introduced to the country using the â€Å"BOLD† concept to explain the approach that they adapted. The marketing mix that they used supported this by the use of having a launch event to introduce the new packaging of the SBR .This was then was supported by intensive print and billboards advertisements describing the shape and look of the bottle. The ads also describe the flavour of the rum and why its better than the scotch. Angostura can be deemed to seek a type of innovation in implementing this strategy and introducing a forgotten secret from their distillery. This product is not a new product as it has been in existence for at least 4 years and it was not marketed to the public. It was the decision of the previous CEO to share this secret with the public rather than having it on their shelves that the House of Angostura as an ornament collecting dust. Mr Yip Choy felt that the product deserved and audience and this was the catalyst that began the introduction of a new old product into the lives of alcohol consumers of Trinidad and Tobago. Angostura have core competences that they can use to their advantage to give them the competitive edge over their competitors. Core competences such as they have the factory readily available to them as they have highly skilled staff to produce these rums. They have the history of the company which is known to produce high quality products, that have received world class awards and they dont have the to pay excessive taxes to import an finished goods compared to the competitors who are faced with high taxes and duties that they need to pay to import a finished product into the country and pass on these cost to the consumers. In analysing the strategy a random survey was conducted online to measure the effectiveness of the campaign to date. The results of this survey is discussed below .Based on the results from the survey it can be assumed that the strategy has not been totally effective. They have been able to develop a discussion or buzz about SBR that probably led to a considerable amount of persons trying the product at bars, clubs, events where ever the product was available after its mega launch and print intensive campaign. The target group for this campaign is one of an elite nature. The target audience for SBR are males who are within the age group of 25-35 years old who are professional or upcoming managers, who live in urban or well developed areas. Their income ranging between -20k 30 k per month belonging in the social class of A and B. This target audience tends to be the trendsetters of the new generation; the mangers, the upcoming executives, leading accountants, and the influential people within the society. There is some concern if this is the ideal age group that Angostura should be focussing their strategies to as with this audience they are seasoned and have peculiar and specific needs and they really change unless influence by something very drastic. Also to note that Angostura will have a tough challenge to persuade all ready established scotch drinkers to switch to rum because it two different types of alcohol . However with this new strategy that they have employed it may be successf ul. Their marketing strategy also consist of a branding strategy which conveys the entire image and direction of the brand so that the target audience can relate and create a connection with the product. The brand strategy is a part of the marketing strategy because this is responsible for the positioning the brand and the other attributes of the brand. This will play a significant role into the development of this strategy because of the target audience and the competitor that they are going up against they need to have a very fierce and aggressive strategy to accomplish this feat. In analysing the brand profile it can be assumed that the Brand Identity Prism created by Jean-Noà «l Kapferer model was used to develop this framework. Physical Facet of SBR- Simple packaging, smooth taste, sweet aroma premium rum dark rich colour Brand personality -Rich, complete, Independent and distinguished Customer Reflection It entices the consumers palate , satisfies them, helps them re-calibrate Customer Self Image-Discerning, Unique, part of a select group and well educated The image of the brand has to be well positioned as to have great influence over the target audience. Some of the attributes of the brand that were indicated above do apply to how the consumer drinking it wants to be seen because they are image driven because of the status that they hold within society. They mostly associate themselves with products that are align to the character. SBR have the necessary brand profiles that twill meet the needs of the target audience. Angostura has positioned the product as a premium product to compete with JWB which is also positioned in that bracket. It is imperative that the Angostura Ltd employ active and aggressive tactics to persuade this group because what they are trying to do is a drastic switch of a consumers taste. From this strategy it was also observed that Angostura is trying to influence consumers behaviours by providing facts and additional information about the distilling process about rum and scotch to convince the consumers to switch. It can be deemed that they use the black box model to influence this change of behaviour. The concept of the model is that it suggests consumers will respond in particular ways to different stimuli after they have processed those stimuli in their minds. These messages were conveyed in their ads such as â€Å"Because Spirits mature faster in warm climates a 5 year old rum has a better aged flavour than a much older scotch.Age has nothing to do with maturity.† Statements like this will cause the consumer to think and processed the stimuli in their minds. Alcohol Sales In Trinidad Tobago alcohol is associated with most rituals or events because the culture is a celebrating and socializing culture. When looking at the sales of alcohol it can be seen that sales continue to rise for the period of 2008-2010 even though the Governor of central bank stated that the country was going thru a depression. This statement was not a reality as it was seen that even though the economy was considered cash strapped the population was still purchasing these products as regular. The chart below, illustrates the sales within the alcohol industry over the past years. There was a slight decline in sales in 2007/ 2008 but from end 2008 the industry gained momentum and have increased and plateau till 2010. During this period of 2007 2009 Trinidad Tobago was considered to be going thru a decline in economic activity other known as a recession and according to philosophy, goods of this nature tends to increase in a recession as these products are used as a way of comforting due to financial hardship. Most consumers had switch brands and purchase a cheaper brand which gave them more value for their money. During this period beers such as Carib and Stag had significantly increased during this recession and posed a threat to Angostura Table 1 Yearly litre cases in 000s Spirits 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Rum 513.5 525.9 502.1 497 501 497 Vodka 27.75 29.5 31 33.5 36.65 37.85 Scotch 207 238.5 240.5 244.9 224.7 211.65 Beer 395 400 420 438 452 465 Source IWSR 2010 At this present time Trinidad Tobago is said to be experience an increase in productivity which indicates there is an increase in disposable income. An increase in disposable income leads to increase purchases of items that are not necessities such as alcohol. Angostura would have accessed these conditions when developing their strategy to influence consumption. The sales of SBR have increase significantly for 2009 where only 250 bottles were sold compared to 2010 where they sold 4594 bottles . The sales in 2010 could have increase significantly due to the launch, events and high level of awareness that was happening for the period of September to December. This is a good sign for the brand as it show that there is a possible market for the product. Johnnie Walker Strategy JWB marketing strategy can be determined to be an aggressive strategy but through a focus approached. They use world-class marketing capabilities to combine with flair and agility to delight consumers with both a trusted brand favourites and the introduction of new and exciting innovations. JWB thrives on innovation as they believe thats the way to the consumers especially with all the available technology .They have also adopted a Premiumization strategy which position it as an elites product which is what Angostura has implemented with the SBR. JWB has put a lot of emphasis on testing different aspects of the marketing mix so that they can understand what the consumers wants when advertising or on-premise or digital. They have clearly identified who their target audience and have developed the necessary strategies to consume this group. The clientele that they are chasing after are selective just like the SBR so they have developed a framework within their strategy to attract this audience which is known as FACE. (Flair, Agility, Customer centric and Evolving) These are the watch words that they use to effectively acquire and maintain their customer base. This strategy has been proven to be effective because the sales of this product have increase continuously year after year. Table 2 Scotch Yearly litre cases in 000s in Trinidad Tobago Brand 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 JWB 26 29 29 36 40 Black White 30 35 33 36 34 Dewars White Label 6.85 7.85 8.15 8.25 7.75 Chivas Regal 4 4.8 4.95 5 3 Source IWSR Report Johnnie Walker campaign is as less aggressive print wise but they capitalize on digital and relationship building in their campaigns and this is how they execute the FACE frame work. Flare is particularly important in this category because consumers care about it. Every time they select a brand theyre making a statement about themselves its not about functional performance.The brand has flair in the way they execute the ads, the promotion they way they present the product to the consumer, it is executed in a manner thats appeals to the target audience that distinguishes itself from the others. They have implemented campaigns that are fully integrated campaign across multiple channels, above the line and below the line that motivates and engages consumers and builds affinity and loyalty for the brand. They also use a premium pricing strategy to position the product as a high end product that distinguishes from the other brands. Analysis of survey A survey was carried out online to evaluate several issues and the effectiveness of the campaign. The sample size of 100 was used based on a random sampling where 73 % percent of the respondents were male and 27 % female of which 75 % were the suitable age profile for SBR. Based on the educational background profile that meets the criteria of SBR 58% of the respondents had a degree or even higher qualification which meets the profile. This is based on the profile given on the brand profile for SBR. In the survey questions were asked to get the factual, felling and emotional statements about the product and their experiences. When asked the question if they have every tasted the single barrel rum 69.2% indicated that they have but when asked if they will drink the drink again 34% said no ,while 40.3% indicated that they may try it . This is not positive signs for SBR as they want to stimulate repeat purchase as this is what will take the product to the pinnacle to surpass scotch. Figure 1 Figure 2 When asked how they found out about the product the most popular responses were from word of mouth and TV. However the word of mouth can only happen because someone saw an ad. From my interview with Ms De la Rosa VP Marketing Manager, she indicated that part of the strategy was to create a conversation and buzz about the products, it can be said that they achieved this because of the percentage of persons were informed by word of mouth. It can also said that the aggressive print campaign which included newspapers and billboards contributed to this discussion, but some of the comments about the ads were not that compliment as some of the respondents indicated that the ads were not that appealing. Figure 3 The art of marketing is to influence ones behavior to try a new product and this is done by creating a strategy utilizing the marketing mix and tactics that that will appeal to the target audience that will encourage them to try the product . During the Christmas and carnival 2011 Single barrel rum is in most if not all of the events promoting the rum in an attempt to push the product on the consumers and maintain awareness. However this strategy may not have been the contributing factor that influenced persons to try the drink as the main reason for trying it was curiosity and friends. When new products arrive in the market people are hesitant to try it unless they are heavily influence by some factor, they tend not to come out of their safety net. But recommendations by peers have can influence their behavior as they will trust their friend who has endorsed the product. The ads that appeared would have contributed in some way but it was not a major influence. The product was introduced received some great reviews for its new shape an packing as this was one of the highest ranking issues that the audience like about the product . The taste was the leading choice of what they like about the product. The new taste is differently and it seems to be a key ingredient for this product. Angostura has used the taste to clearly justify their existence and why scotch should be a second option to that brand. This taste can be used as their competitive advantage along with the health benefits for consuming those beverages. The brand attributes associated was not communicated because when asked how they felt about the drink or association with the brand 60% said they felt nothing and another 20 % felt refreshing. The brand has specific attributes associate with the image of the product, feelings of independence, noteworthy, leader, trendsetter are the some of the words associated with the brand. It can be determined that it may be too early in the products awareness cycle for these attitudes to be conveyed in the targets audience mind but, with fierce and persistent competition on the outside. From the 100 respondents it can be clearly stated that the marketing /advertising campaign was effective as overall 65% found that the campaign was good or excellent. This is a very good rating for the company and their agency, but the campaign being a good one may not translate into the figures that the company would like for their sales because the overall objective for the campaign is to increase the sales of the SBR and move into the market share of the scotch market. Figure 4 In the survey it was important to find out what the public thinks about rum so questions were asked to get this rating. The leading drink to be a first choice was scotch. Rum was 3rd 4th choice to beer and wine. Angostura has tried to influence the target audience to switch the use of rum as a first preference. This change is a behavior change that they need to address to get the target audience to switch. When asked why they like this preferred drink the most favorite response was taste. Taste is important to the consumer; as a result Angostura can look at this capitalizing on the taste to gain an edge over their competitors. Table 3 When socialising what is your preferred drink of choice? Answer Options 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Scotch/Whiskey 22 16 7 4 4 1 Rum 9 6 13 9 7 6 Vodka 7 10 11 12 11 3 Beer 11 17 11 10 2 1 Wine 9 7 10 10 14 3 Other 4 2 4 2 2 6 Digital Marketing In the 21 century where there is so much different technology and ways for communication and reaching a target audience a company should utilise the. In 2007 Heineken decided to create a marketing campaign that would â€Å"rejuvenate its brand among Puerto Rican youth,† it recognized that 30-second TV spots and other forms of traditional media would not be the most effective means of reaching its target audience. Instead, the company seized upon the architecture of the online world to build a powerful, interactive â€Å"virtual universe† named Heineken City . They were able to fuse the digital world along with the traditional media to develop a campaign. From research conducted for this paper it was concluded that Angostura has not utilised these digital marketing tools to their advantage to date and these tools are used by the target audience on a regular basis. They have access on a daily basis as they are have it available to them at home , in the office or on the go on their Smartphones such as blackberry and iphones. Campaigns like this one are transforming the nature of advertising in the digital age. Today, alcohol brands are promoting their products across a wide spectrum of new platform from social networks to mobile phones to immersive, virtual communities. This marriage of communications and commerce has benefited from a â€Å"perfect storm† of converging developments: the rise of a global generation of Internet-savvy users; the growing capability to access online content at any hour, especially through mobile devices; powerful new digital marketing platforms such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube; and the growing sophistication and power of both online advertising techniques and the companies that offer them. Angostura has only utilised YouTube to upload two of their TV ads and no presence of a facebook page. Their immediate competitor JWB, have developed extensive tactics utilising the digital world. They have developed mobile applications for Smartphones, they have utilised all the social media which includes facebook and twitter to keep their customer current on all promotion and events that are happening with the brand. They have embraced the technology and expanded on it using it to the

Product and Process Evaluation of Huxley 3D Printer

Product and Process Evaluation of Huxley 3D Printer Product development for quality Ademola Adewoye Quality engineering, product and process evaluation Huxley 3D Printer Quality Gurus’; coursework Abstrat This article refers to a coursework of product development for quality to which answers are provided for questions as related to product development for quality coursework1. This report is dived into two: part A consists of question and answers for Huxley 3D printer and part B comprising quality gurus’ analyses. Aims To extend the masters’ student’s ability to apply design methodology and assessment techniques associated with quality engineering in broad context of managing the engineering and design process. Objectives The core objectives employed include the following. Teaming to assemble 3D Huxley printer Understanding and evaluating the design defect with comparative analyses Understanding quality, quality development, and quality design fundamentals. exploring the quality gurus philosophers Learning about quality operation and management Scope of the study This article is limited to answers to product development for quality coursework and evaluation of quality gurus; titled quality engineering, product and process evaluation. Significant of the study In context of technical skills, I had learnt new technical skills e.g. assemblage of disassemble machine as one worked upon; the 3D Huxley printer. I also worked with external experienced students in modelling and printing of different parts. The experience and knowledge gained is never quantified hence this study is significant to helping students developing a practical technical skills. Chapter one Part A 1.0 brief introduction A Huxley 3D printer is a robust three dimensional rapid prototyping machine developed by Erik Debruijn and other and named after a biologist Thomas henry Huxley. It is a mechatronic machine consisting of mechanical components such as timing belt, nuts, bolts, bearings, extruder, x, y and z axis frames and electrical component such as electric motor, microprocessor, and converter. This machine is controlled by a firmware and a host software configured to convert a 3D design from any CAD related software into a physical design called rapid prototype printing. This 3D printer are flexible, fast, trendy and easy to use. Chapter two 2.0 Assemble the Huxley 3D printer using the supplier online instruction and once complete demonstrate the machine as a working systems. 2.0 Answer The 3D Huxley printed was assembled by my group and was functionally demonstrated. 3.0 Compare the following aspect of your completed machine with one completed another machine built by your peer groups. Report on what do you observe to be the factors affecting the following; Individual component quality System consistency when compared to other completed ‘Huxley 3D printers’ Ambiguity and opportunity for error in the instruction set 3.0 Answer The following observations were made in comparison with other peer groups in terms of quality. Coupling or assemblage accuracy and orientation are factors that affects the output of the printout in terms of quality as was observed during testing of peer A and peer B machine. One peer machine produce better surface finish than the other observed to be as a result of poor orientation of vertical and horizontal frame parts. The plastic frames were also observed not properly fillet with no allowance which bars performance and quality of printing. Electronic components such as the electric motor positioning was observed not labelled and diagrammatized. Generally, the individual components of the ‘Huxley 3D printer’ was affected by lack of surface finish and inaccurate labelling. The following observations were made in comparison with other peer in term of system consistency All the electric component e.g. electric motor provided the was observed consistent in both peers Major mechanical components such as bearings, x-y-z rods, axis-belt drive, pulley and shaft, provided by supplier was observed consistent. All major frame components Generally, the factors which affects systems consistency are labelling and specifications. Mechanical components parts such as nut were not threaded with precision; Part was observed to be excess. The following was observed a major factors responsible for systems ambiguity and opportunity for error in comparison with other peers. Too many component parts Part dimensional inaccuracy Poor labelling Too many axes Poor surface finish of parts. 4.0 Based on your observations suggest how the quality of the system as well the user experience could be improved. 4.0 Answers Based on my experience gained and observations made during the course of the study I suggest the following for system quality improvement. parts should be simplified to improve design optimisation Nozzle could be modified to lower dimension of 0.3mm or less for high quality surface finish Increase the number of extruder to differentiate support materials from printing material when printing or prototyping complex design. Improve the slice setting Increase speed Accurate parts labelling for easy and better assemblage. Frame rigidity could be supported by other methods of joining e.g. riveting to provide frame structure a solid rigidity. Post treatment (rework) of Huxley 3D printer parts could help to ensuring part are produced to standards e.g. uniform dimensions of frame rods, bolt and nuts. Thermoplastic mini-spool (printing material holder) should be inclusive in design parts to store sufficient amount of filament when the machine in operation. The x-carriage mounted fan should be designed in two parts for effective and speedy cooling of printing parts. An additional nuttraps in substitute of self-tapping screw with metal screw should be used for the carriage for better quality finish. In regards to user experience the expressions below are suggested; More practical sessions should be allocated to students offering this module to facilitate their real know-how technical skills of the subject matter. The assembly of the machine should be individual with group analyses, suggestion and assessment to ensure an independent knowledge transfer. Exhibition, seminar should be held and best student compensated to motivate students to go extra-ordinary. Part B Discus your personal experience for this project making specific reference to ethos captured by the terms; ‘zero defect’ as used by Philip Crosby ‘Fitness for purpose’ as used by Joe Juran ‘constant improvement’ as advocated by Bill Conway Answer The quality guru Philip Cosby defines quality with his four principles of quality management as follows; ‘quality is conformance to requirements, ‘defect prevention is preferable to quality inspection’, ‘quality is measured in monetary terms’ and ‘Zero Defect (ZD) as quality standard’ as main focus as concerned this article. The need of technological advancement and commercialization of 3D printing for all is observed a genuine requirement for 3D development but substandard finished parts, poor labelling and other defects observed during the machine assembly in the course of the practical study was as a results of a ‘no zero defect’. This factor of no zero defect with the Huxley 3D printer can be blamed on management. Perhaps, its worker are not motivated and recognised accordingly toward a personal interest in their job and or lacks production procedures where for every final parts produced requires an inspection to ensuring quality. The lack of ‘no zero defect’ was clearly observed in the bolts and nuts, frame rod, and thermoplastics frame parts. furthermore, since Huxley produces large volume of components part (mass production) they should adopt the principle of ‘zero defect’ primarily focusing on preventive methodology; zero defect’ of its worker towards a constant, cautious, and right attitude of work within its organization to ensuring quality at every level of production. This methodology if adopted will impact great benefits to the company’s general growth, brand recognition and improved their profit maximisation. The American-Romanian quality guru; Joseph Moses an advocator of quality and total quality management defines quality in term of fitness for purpose as ‘evaluation of how well a product perfumes’ for its intended use’. Since the primary function of the Huxley 3D printer is to print 3D designs preconceived from any computer aided design software (CAD) and as observed during the course of the study, it perform this function to satisfactory printing various component parts; simple and complex it can then be established that the fitness for purpose postulated by Joseph Moses is satisfied hence Huxley would need to fine-tune and improve on its current standards for quality with fitness of purpose because â€Å"without standard there is no logical basis for making a decision in taking actions† (Philip 2008) to provide its teaming customers with not just a 3D printing machine but one that can stand global competitive market in quality and functions. Although, it is assumed that Huxley already adopt this methodology in its production and quality management structures but it would do the company more benefit fine-tuning to achieving a more global qualitative product. William Bill Conway advocates for continuous improvement in product development for quality; a concept that put the American ford company into world breaking record in operational effectiveness. Huxley 3D printer was made an open source on the internet to serves as empowering tool for product improvement, the need to train and retrain its staff is another way a strategy to continuous improvement of product for quality. A company growth depends on the ability of its management strengths for a consistent improvement which further translate to efficiency and effectiveness in operations. It is conceived that Huxley Company applied this methodology via internet open source with continuous research as well. In this way, a substantial improvement on the component parts of the worked on Huxley 3D printer has been updated and new model are produced. With maintaining this methodology and exploring other related method constants product improvement can be sustained with enormous benefits. References Roberts, T. (2014): product development for quality EEB_7_877 [lecture note] quality gurus, Huxley 3D printer, LR-313, London South Bank University, 25th March, 2014. Available from http//:www.blackboard.ac.uk Wikipedia article (2014) online [accessed 28th 04, 2014] available from: http:// www.reprapro.com Google image (2014) online [accessed 30th, 2014] available from: http//www.google.com/image google article (2014) online [accessed 4th, 2014] available from: http//www.google.com

Four freedoms :: essays research papers

1 Four freedoms – January 6, 1941 freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear of armed aggression. 1. The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world. 2. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world. 3. The third is freedom from want -- which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world. 4. The fourth is freedom from fear -- which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor-- anywhere in the world. his Four Freedoms speech did promise America's "full support" for the Allied cause. On August 14, 1941, President Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill confirmed the Four Freedoms as joint war aims in the Atlantic Charter. Atlantic Charter (declaration of U.S. into the war and to fight Germany first, and Japan second) 1. At the Casablanca Conference, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met and agreed on the term of â€Å"unconditional surrender.† At the Tehran Conference, the Big Three (Wilson, Churchill, and Josef Stalin, leader of Russia) met and agreed that the Soviets and Allies would launch simultaneous attacks At the Potsdam Conference, the Allies issued an ultimatum: surrender or be destroyed II. Yalta: Bargain or Betrayal? 1. A final conference of the Big Three had taken place at Yalta in February 1945, where Soviet leader Joseph Stalin pledged that Poland should have a representative government with free elections, as would Bulgaria and Romania, but he broke those promises. 2. At Yalta, the Soviet Union had agreed to attack Japan three months after the fall of Germany, but by the time the Soviets entered the Pacific war, the U.

Capuchin BiPedalism :: essays papers

Capuchin BiPedalism This experiment tested how posture affects the hand preference in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). The research indicated that in fact there may exist a preference for use of the right-hand when in an upright posture standing bipedally. This preference, according to the study is exhibited in the capuchins when reaching bipedally. However the monkeys did not necessarily exhibit a preference when using tools to probe for a treat. In addition the results showed that there was little or no bias in hand preference neither for reaching nor for tool use when standing quadrupedally. The authors link this finding with the human retreat from quadrupedalism and our subsequent right-hand preference that has been selected for almost exclusively, equally exemplified in all human cultures, through the use of complex tools. The experiment consisted of 11 male and 5 female capuchins at various developmental levels all of which contributed 50 trials each, over 8 months. In order to conduct the quadrupedal reaching analysis the researchers placed a piece of fruit on the base of the subject’s cage. To evoke the bipedal reaching response the fruit was instead place 40-50 cm above the floor on the cage mesh. The probing response was evoked using an apparatus which was filled with a sweet sugar syrup the apparatus was mounted to the cage both at the bottom of the cage (quadrupedal response) and at shoulder heighth (bipedal response). In all cases a researcher took note of the hand used for the retrieval or tool use actions. In order to more accurately and systematically measure each response the researchers developed a formula that yields a handedness index (HI), a score that indicates hand preference. The formula is as follows: [(R-L)/(R+L)] , R = the number of right-handed reponses and L = the number of left-handed responses. Next this HI score was used as an absolute value so that regardless of right or left hand preference a measure is reached that shows overall preference strength. This scale places a positive value to right-handed actions and a negative value to left-handed actions. According to this scale there was a significant rise in frequency of right-handedness in bipedal reaching and a greater frequency overall in bipedal action. Contrarily there was little interaction in the bipedal tool use. The authors offer several mechanisms through which bipedalism may affect a particular hand preference. One view offered is that the quadrupeds, not habitually standing bipedally, are influenced by the ‘greater specialization’ required in order to perform such manual actions.

Americas Transition from a Regional to a World Power Essay -- America

America's Transition from a Regional to a World Power Between the years 1875 through 1920 the United States of America was able to secure itself as a major world power. This was easy to do after the Industrial Revolution and the Progressive movement because the two most important qualities needed to be able to accomplish moving from a regional to a world power existed during this time period: an economic need of resources and mass production using technology, especially with transportation. Ideology and culture also played important roles in America’s rise to power. As industrialist Andrew Carnegie describes, â€Å"The old nations of the earth creep on at a snail’s pace [but the United States] thunders past with the rush of the express [train]† (Norton 608). The first, and arguably the most important, event that helped to bring about the United States’ new status was the Spanish American War. It was extremely vital for the United States to establish itself as having colonies in order to be a part of the world. Additionally, most Americans were in favor of expansion as lo... America's Transition from a Regional to a World Power Essay -- America America's Transition from a Regional to a World Power Between the years 1875 through 1920 the United States of America was able to secure itself as a major world power. This was easy to do after the Industrial Revolution and the Progressive movement because the two most important qualities needed to be able to accomplish moving from a regional to a world power existed during this time period: an economic need of resources and mass production using technology, especially with transportation. Ideology and culture also played important roles in America’s rise to power. As industrialist Andrew Carnegie describes, â€Å"The old nations of the earth creep on at a snail’s pace [but the United States] thunders past with the rush of the express [train]† (Norton 608). The first, and arguably the most important, event that helped to bring about the United States’ new status was the Spanish American War. It was extremely vital for the United States to establish itself as having colonies in order to be a part of the world. Additionally, most Americans were in favor of expansion as lo...

How do some poets explore ideas of loyalty, love and relationships? Essay

Love is perhaps the most expressed topic in media, since forever. The word ‘love’ is extremely ambiguous, able to be expressed in multiple ways. Love is often described as a double edged sword. It can mean all there is to one, an experience to be desired and pursued. To others, love is a poison, a drug, which slowly eats away your life and leaves you as nothing but an empty shell. Depending on who you are, love could mean either of these things. Or it could mean both. Poets too, have their own opinions on the subject of love, and often convey their feelings through their works of literacy. Examples of conflicting views on love can be seen expressed by the poets Browning, Keats, Shakespeare, Rossetti and Donne. How do these poets explore ideas of loyalty, love and relationships in their most well known poems? A popular recurring theme featured in love poetry is the theory of true, eternal love. A kind of love which supasses all other infatuations and is often mentioned as ‘the most beautiful gift given to humanity’. Shakespeare expresses his belief of this theory in his 116th sonnet. Written in the 17th century, a time of which poets wrote about the mystical and metaphysical, sonnet 116 really stands out as among others poems as a deep and meaningful one, and serves as a semi-serious guide to love. In sonnet 116, Shakespeare expresses his view on loyalty in love, in which he writes: â€Å"Love is not love which alters with alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove. † His view is thus; he believes that true love is so powerful, that once acquired, cannot be broken, even if it â€Å"bends with the remover to remove†, meaning if a partner were to be disloyal, true love would still still stay unbroken. Shakespeare also believes that it would be wrong in trying to separate two true lovers, as seen here: â€Å"Let me not to the marriage of true minds, admit impediments. † He sees a true couple as almost a religious blessing, as he refers to the marriage tradition, asking for reasons of which a couple should not be wed. Shakespeare later writes: â€Å"O no! It is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken. It is the star to every wandering bark, whose worth’s unknown, although its height be taken†. Again, Shakespeare is comparing true love to lighthouses and bright stars, suggesting that true love guides people to comfort, safety and happiness. He could also be expressing his thoughts on relationships, suggesting that even when things go bad, true love will still guide you through tough times and can repair your relationships. Shakespeare again, states that true love is forever, even though physical beauty will deteriorate, it will stay unbroken until the end of time. (â€Å"Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks, within his bending sickle’s compass come: love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom. †) Loyalty is an extremely important element which keeps relationships together. Many modern poets write about the sadness and depression they experience as a result of lost love. Browning’s no different from the rest. He too, believes that loyalty is key in love and he conveys his thoughts through his dramatic monologue, ‘My Last Duchess’. The poem was written in the romantic era (nineteenth century) and served as one of the greatest works of literacy at the time. ‘My Last Duchess’ shocked many with its dramatic context, and amazed many more with its hidden messages and its colourful suggestions. In ‘My Last Duchess’, Browning demonstrates the disastrous consequences of a lack of loyalty in love, and this is mainly shown through the death of a partner. Death is an arguably common occurrence in poems involving love and ‘My Last Duchess’ is an excellent example of how effective death can bring out the importance of loyalty. The poem is not divided into sections of any sense, resulting in it seeming like an everyday conversation. The poem also features a first person narrator, and this all adds up to the realism behind the poem. It should also be noted that the poem contains minimal imagery and again, this is to create a realistic scene and situation. Browning believed that love is nothing of fantasy, and he is trying to convey that love is very real and must be taken seriously. In ‘My Last Duchess’, Browning writes â€Å"since none puts by the curtains I have drawn for you†, this is suggesting that the Duke is incredibly possessive and he could be possibly suggesting that in real life, men have their wicked qualities and it could be the downfall of a relationship. Later in the poem, Browning describes the duchess as â€Å"too easily impressed†, and â€Å"T’was not her husband’s presence only, called that spot of joy into the duchess’ cheek†. This hints that the duchess could be lacking in her loyalty, or being unfaithful to the Duke of Ferrara. As a result, the duke has the duchess killed, which blatantly shows the evil and jealousy in humans, and demonstrates how many relationships are built up on the foundation of false love, which results in lack of loyalty. This can be linked to Shakespeare’s sonnet 116, which implies that love is commonplace, but true love is beautiful and rare. Browning’s view on love is thus: love is no game, relationships mustn’t be taken lightly, loss of loyalty can cause catastrophes. Browning seems to be implying that until the duke finds true love, he will not stop killing his wives (as he seems unfazed with filling in the emissary with the details and reasons for his act of murder). However, this view contradicts slightly with Shakespeare’s view on true love, in which unfaithfulness does not cause relationships to waver. Another good poem showcasing the consequences of unfaithfulness would be ‘The Apparition’ by 17th century poet, John Donne. Again, this poem deals with death, and although this time, it is metaphorical, it still fits in beautifully among 17th century poetry, which focuses on the metaphysical. The story is of a woman being unfaithful towards her now ex-partner, and Donne relates the feeling of abandonment with death. Within ‘The Apparition’, Donne uses a plethora of (unpleasant) sexual imagery and suggestive themes: â€Å"in worse arms shall see; then thy sicke taper will begin to winke, and he whose art then being tyr’d before†, which suggests that unfaithfulness bears consequence for both individuals within a couple, as the unfaithful partner is being neglected and mistreated. Donne is also using a lot of euphemistic language, e. g. â€Å"sicke taper†, which may stand for something less pleasant. Donne’s attempt to cover up this sexual imagery could suggest that he is trying to cover his love for this ex-lover. Later in ‘The Apparition’, the lines â€Å"bath’d in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lye† can be presented as a cold, cruel scene, as quicksilver (mercury) is seen as a poisonous metal, which could suggest that disloyalty in relationships could result in a poisonous or corrupted life. Near the end of ‘The Apparition’, Donnes writes â€Å"since my love is spent, I’d rather thou shouldst painfully repent†, and this shows Donne’s belief of which disloyalty completely destroys people, caused him to wish the worst to befall upon her. Another poem on the topic of disloyalty would be Christina Rossetti’s ‘Cousin Kate’. Written in the romantic period (19th century), this poem tells the story of a cottage maiden who suffers from the effects of unfaithfulness and rejection. In ‘Cousin Kate’, the narrator who is described as â€Å"contented among my cottage mates, not mindful I was fair†, is neglected by her lover. By writing that even the most sensible and fair women could be destroyed by lack of loyalty, Rossetti could be suggesting that unfaithfulness is a force so powerful, it can wreck even the strongest bonds. In ‘Cousin Kate’, Rossetti writes â€Å"Call me an outcast thing†, this shows that Rossetti believes that a failure in love causes people to face the negatives the society endows her, and suggests that love is often unjust. However, Rossetti, like Donne, believes in justice and near the end of ‘Cousin Kate’, she reveals and talks about her child, who is described as â€Å"my shame, my pride†, and notes that since cousin Kate cannot bear children, the lord will remain childless and she feels that even though disloyalty, justice will always be present. Love does not only revolve around trust and loyalty. Love is built up of many elements, and John Keats writes about the power and allure of love in his poem ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’. Written in the 17th century, ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, also consists of somewhat supernatural and magical elements. The poem is split into two subsections and consists of two narrators. The first narrator, a lady addressing the knight, speaks of the knight’s ill condition, but does not realise the truth of what has befallen the knight. Keats is possibly suggesting that although it is better to hear the story from two sides, you may not always get the full story. The same occurs in love, in which you may not know the whole truth behind many relationships. The lady states â€Å"The sedge has wither’d from the lake, and no birds sing. † and â€Å"The squirrel’s granary is full, and the harvest’s done†. These lines contain autumn imagery, the state of decay. This could suggest that love is not forever, and all relations have the possibility to decay. The theme of decay is also strong pathetic fallacy for the events which happen in the poem. The lady then speaks of â€Å"a lily on thy brow†, as flowers are normally symbols of love, but lilies are symbolic for death, Keats is possibly suggesting that love in full of opposites and contrasting ideas. The knight first speaks of â€Å"a faery’s child†. Fairies are said to have supernatural powers, and this suggests the unexpected, magical events which happen during the course of being in love. Later, he states â€Å"She look’d at me as she did love, and made sweet moan†. This is possibly some euphemistic language to cover up strong sexual imagery. The use of euphemisms and cover ups may suggest that love is powerful and is undoubtedly strong, and uncontained love may be dangerous. He then lists a series of holy foods: â€Å"roots of relish sweet, and honey wild and manna dew†. Keats is obviously trying to convey to the readers that love is so powerful a force, it may even be holy and is a gift from god, given that manna dew was also a gift from god. The knight then recounts that he had a dream, and it was â€Å"the lastest dream I ever dreamt†. The idea of last dream implies that he cannot sleep again, which was a known symptom of lovesickness in the 17th century. Keats is implying that love is so powerful, it can fill your mind and take over your life. The knight then tells us that in his dream, he sees â€Å"pale kings and princes too† â€Å"They cried La Belle Dame Sans Merci hath thee in thrall! †. From this, we can see that Keats is implying that relationship problems happen more frequently among the rich and powerful, as all these high position men are being seduced by the faery’s child. This could be Keat’s view that true love is not built up on a desire for riches and power, but a sense of mutual agreement. At the end of the poem, the knight awakens from his dream, and he is described as â€Å"sojourning† and â€Å"palely loitering†. This suggests that women have immense power over men in relationships, and spoils of love is frequently one sided. The last lines are as thus: â€Å"Though the sedge has wither’d from the lake, and no birds sing†. These repeated lines confirm that the world is indeed decaying for the knight, proving the importance of love and relationships. This is also a short cyclical structure, and this could suggest that love and heartbreak is all a cycle, and we should learn to accept the tough times in life. When the word ‘love’ is mentioned, hearts, flowers and females come to the minds of males, but do all males see love the same way? Keats, Browning and Donne provide good examples of masculine views on love, and these views are seen in their poems, ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, ‘My Last Duchess’ and ‘The Apparition’. In ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, Keats describes men as objects to be seduced, a woman’s plaything. In the poem, the faery enticed many powerful men and put them all under her control by means of them contracting lovesickness. Keats may be implying that infatuation is often confused for love, and the results of being misguided can include becoming someone’s pawn, as some women take advantage of this situation and will attempt to manipulate and control men. Chivalrous love is also a key focus in ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, and Keats believes that being chivalrous is important in any relationship, but men must be aware that they are not being played with. In the poem ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, Browning presents us with a rather contrasting view. In ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, the roles are switched around, instead of the female establishing control over the male, the lover in the poem suddenly decides that he owns Porphyria, and briefly strangles her. The use of the statement: â€Å"she was mine, mine fair† shows the male’s perception of dominance over his Porphyria. The use of repetition also strengthens this idea. In the end of the poem, the narrator states that â€Å"God has not said a word†, which implies that the lover believes he has committed no offense, and his actions were justified. Browning’s other poem, ‘My Last Duchess’, seems to revolve around the same concept, that men are free to do what they wish to women. It is a fact that the duchess is â€Å"easily pleased†, but it has not been proven that she has done anything wrong. The duke murders her on the basis of suspicion, and again, he feels it is his right to do so, as he proclaims that he shall murder his next wife if she were to be unfaithful too. It seems that Browning’s view on love is very one sided (at least as it is shown in his poetry), and he seems to believe in male superiority. From ‘The Apparition’, we can see that Donne’s views are slightly more similar to the modern day views on love. Donne first makes it clear that in the poem, he is now a ghost, and the ex-lover is the killer: â€Å"O murdresse, I am dead†. This suggests that the pain he feels from the break-up is strong enough to metaphorically kill him, and many modern day people going through tough relationships can relate to this. He later speaks of how his ex-lover has made the bad choice leaving him and how she will be treated unfairly: â€Å"in worse arms shall see†. Many modern day people also feel this way, the belief that they are better than the third party. In the end, Donne wishes the worst to befall his ex-lover, and this view is commonly shared among 21st century youths. Donne creates a precise but generalized male’s view on lovers and loyalty, and his views are most suited to what is accepted and expected out of males in our society today. It is important, when trying to present a message, that you acquire the correct context. ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ is set in the medieval period, and medieval settings are often hints for fantasy. Given that the poem is replicating a non-existent setting, and that the poem itself was written in the ‘metaphysical poetry’ era, it is easy to assume that this context is one of illusion. Keats could possibly be suggesting that love is a powerful illusion, women are controlling and tyrannical, and true love is the only way out of this trap. Given this context, we can also assume that lovesickness is caused by men being separated from their women, and this suggests that Keats believe men should break free of this illusion and let go of their past. This context is well suited for bringing out the message of this poem, which is the strength of false and true love, as the fantasy setting and the supernatural events constantly remind you of power and magical acts. As ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ is set in the past, it is also possible that Keats is suggesting that chivalry is dead, and there is no time nor need for chivalry in the modern world. Aside from context, form is usually a key point in poetry. The form of ‘Sonnet 116’ made it obvious that it was a manuscript on true love, as Shakespeare had arranged the lines in a listlike form. Short, snappy verses suggest that to love, you must follow procedures, and ‘Sonnet 116’ is the instruction manual. The regular rhyme scheme of ‘Sonnet 116’ also suggests that love is straightforward and does not suffer from change in any way. the couplets in the end may imply that true love is fair and couples are never meant to be broken. ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ is presented neatly into four line stanzas and a constant rhyme scheme for every second and fourth line. The controlled divisions and rhyming may be to emphasize the fact that women control men, and how fluid things flow when someone is in control. There is a break in the rhyme scheme in the very first and last stanzas, and this may symbolize the possibility to break free of control, by avoiding temptation in the beginning, and by finding true love in the end. ‘The Apparition’ follows an unusual rhyme scheme, which goes ‘abbabcdcdceffeggg’. This is strange, for the poem seems mismatched and in disorder. It is possible that this was what Donne was implying, that disloyalty in love causes one to become confused, and throws a person’s life into disarray. The fact that the rhyme scheme steadies in the end may be a message, suggesting that people must learn to forget about the past, stabilize and look forward to the future. ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ features no stanza division, but follows a controlled, yet irregular rhyme scheme. The lack of stanza division suggests that the action is fast paced and flowing, and there is no flaw in the lover’s plan. The controlled rhyme scheme emphasizes the lover’s control over Porphyria, but the irregularity suggests his mental instability. Every individual has their own view and opinion on the topic of loyalty, love and relationships. Through these poems, I can conclude that love is usually presented as a powerful, yet natural force with the ability to influence and control humans, and plays a very important role in society throughout the ages.