Kfc Essay Essay

It has grown enormously following its fragile birth, splashing in scintillating numbers in both franchisees and company owned stores all over. The company’s prime strength lies in providing high-quality chicken meals to its huge consumer base all over the world. Now every day, more than 12 million customers are served at KFC restaurants in 109 countries and territories around the world. KFC operates more than 5,200 restaurants in the United States and more than 15,000 units around the world. The company has strong product identification through its branding, advertising as well as packaging signifies the company in various manner. The famous paper bucket that KFC uses for its larger sized orders of chicken, its logos and the famous picture of Harland Sanders, the initial founder, all represent KFC in the most colorful way. KFC’s specialty is fried chicken served in various forms. However the recipe of 11 herbs and spices used by KFC in preparation of their chicken still remains a trade secret. KFC’s primary product is pressure-fried pieces of chicken made with the original recipe. The other chicken offering, extra crispy, is made using a garlic marinade and double dipping the chicken in flour before deep frying in a standard industrial kitchen type machine. Despite KFC’s success as a company, the fast food organization had faced many problems over the years. There were mostly environmental issues that had influenced their product marketing and in time they had inherited new ways and different techniques to cater their fast food products. Animal Cruelty Since 2003, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), have been protesting KFC’s treatment of the animals used for its products with the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign. PETA states that they have held more than 12,000 demonstrations at KFC outlets since 2003 because of alleged mistreatment of chickens by KFC suppliers. Alleged rainforest destruction In May 2012, Greenpeace accused KFC of sourcing paper pulp for its food packaging from Indonesian rainforest wood. Independent forensic tests showed that some packaging contained more than 50 per cent mixed tropical hardwood fibre, sourced from Asia Pulp & Paper Macro environment KFC operates in a larger macro environment of forces that creates opportunities, but also threats. A company such as KFC usually cannot influence trends in the macro environment, as they affect people and organisations on a larger scale. However, KFC has to carefully examine macro environmental trends and must create competitive responses to such trends. There are six major macro environmental forces KFC has to take into account. Micro environment The microenvironment consists of all forces that are close to KFC, and on which KFC has an impact. They directly affect KFC’s ability to serve its customers. Three major components influence KFC’s microenvironment: COMPETITORS Because the fast food market is highly competitive, KFC faces a wide number of direct and indirect competitors. KFC’s main competitors are fast food chains such as McDonald’s and Domino’s, which are already well established throughout the world. McDonalds’s in particular is a direct competitor, as they have already successfully introduced their Salads plus line, which directly targets ‘healthy food’ conscious world we live in. But, there are a number of other competitors that is also focusing on ‘chicken’ types products. All this competition makes it quite difficult for KFC to maintain or even broaden their customer base. However, with the introduction of a new and healthy product range, KFC can differentiate itself from most competitors and will gain a competitive advantage. CUSTOMERS KFC’s customer market consists solely of the consumer market. KFC’s products are bought by individuals (males, females, singles, and families). Therefore, the product range KFC offer should appeal to as many people within this consumer market as possible, to ensure that the maximum amount of products can be sold. The characteristics of these individuals and a segmentation of them are discussed later in this report. Strengths and weakness of competitors Strengths: 38 products, Attractive Outlets, Huge Marketing, Budget, More entertainment for kids Weaknesses: Same type of Menu, No Home Delivery How they compete with their competitors? It is found that KFC compete its competitors by five ways: †¢KFC compete its competitors through marketing strategy †¢They offered different packages at different events like Ramadan offer, midnight offer etc. †¢KFC compete their competitors by providing good services They must hired the hard selling persons to market their product in the market and motivate their employees for the sake of organizations and employees do well and they compete there competitors KFC has quality products and through these quality products they compete their competitors Current Sales Analysis Market Share Market Share KFC has a very long history and has the most recogni ze able brand in chicken with over 50% of the market share. It becomes difficult for the companies like Sub way, Mc Donald’s, Chicken planet, Dixie or those who may want to enter in the market of fast food restaurants. Due to with over 50% of the market share in fast food industry KFC has recognition around the world and has been globally positioned for many years in and to capture the market share in adopting a chicken loving experience. Environmental factors and opportunities Political: The operations of KFC are affected by the government policies on the regulations of fast food operation. Currently government are controlling the marketing of fast food restaurant because of health concern such as cardiovascular and cholesterol issue and obesity among the young and children in the country. Governments also control the license given for open the fast food restaurant and other business regulation need to follow such as for a franchise business. Good relationship with government in giving mutual benefits such as employment and tax is a must for the company to succeed in any foreign market. Economic: Though for last 1 year there was economic slowdown all across the globe but the sales of KFC and other fast food chains did not slow down to that extent that of other sectors in. The GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is estimated at2. 965 trillion U. S. dollars in the year 2010. The GDP- per Capita (PPP) was 2700 U. S. dollars as estimated in 2008. The GDP- real growth rate in 2007was 8. 7%. India has the third highest GDP in terms of purchasing power parity just ahead Japan and behind U. S. and China. Foreign direct investment rose in the fiscal year ended March 31 2007 to about $16 billion from just $5. 5 billion a year earlier. Socio cultural: India is the second most populous nation in the world with an approximate population of over 1. 1billion people. This population is divided in the following age structure: 0-14 years – 31. 8%, 15-64 years – 63. % and 65years and above – 5. 1%. There has also been a continuous increase in the consumption of fast food in India. The social trend toward fast good consumption is changing and India has seen an increase of 90% fast food consumption from the year 2002-2007. This increase is far greater than the increase in the BRIC nations of Brazil (20 per cent), Russia (50 per cent) and China (almost 60 per cent). Thus this shows a positive trend for fast food industries in India. Technological: The fast food Industry is heating up with a lot of foreign players entering the market. The technological knowhow and expertise will also enter the market with an increase in competition. With the lower rates and increase technology the fast food counters are attracting youth by giving them attractive deals. For e. g. KFC and Domino’s pizza. For a fast food restaurant, technology does not give a very high impact on the company and it is not a significant macro environment variables. However KFC should be looking to competitors innovation and improve itself in term of integrating technology in managing its operation. For example in inventory system, supply chain management system to manage its supply, easy payment and ordering systems for its customers and wireless internet technology. Implementation of technology can make the management more effective and cost saving in the long term. This will also make customer happy if cost savings results in price reduction or promotional campaign discount which will benefits them from time to time. Environmental: As one of world largest consumer of beef, potatoes and chicken, KFC always had been critics for world environmentalist. This is because high consumption of beef causing the green house effect by methane gasses coming from the cow’s ranch. Large-scale plantation has effect the environment and lost of green forest opening for plantation activities. Vegetarian environmentalist criticizes the fast-food giant for cruelty to animals and slaughtering. In America, once KFC want to introduce whale burger causing uproar because whales are endangered species. Before using paper packaging, KFC once had been criticized for being insensitive to pollution because of using ne based packaging for its food products. Imagine millions of people purchase from fast food operator and how is the impact to world environment by throwing away those hard to recycle packaging. Our world is getting concern on environment issue and business operating here should not just care for profit, but careful usage of world resources for sustainable development and care for environment safety and health for our future generation. Critics and concern from all public or activist should bare view and support if necessary to ensure we play our social responsibility better. Legal factors: As a certified fast food operator, there are many regulations and procedures that KFC should follow. For example is the Halal certification that becomes a concern to Muslim consumers. KFC should protect its integrity and consumer confidence by ensuring all materials and process are as claimed or must followed. Other legal requirement that the business owner should follow as stipulated in laws are such as operating hours, business registration, tax requirement, labor and employment laws and quality & environment certification (such as ISO) in which the outlet has been certified. The legal requirement is important because the offenders will be fined or have their business prohibited from operating which can be disastrous. KFC India -BCG Matrix Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) Matrix Currently KFC have launched a new product in the market. They have also tried to come into the beverages market by launching its new brand of shakes called KRUSHERS. As it is a fairly new product it comes in the category of the Question Mark in the BCG Matrix. It has a low market share thus brings low revenue. KFC is advertising a lot to popularize this product so there is a lot of expenditure on it. This product is individually not bringing any profits and is a cash drain for the company. Company may decide to completely remove this product from the market if it does not do well soon and start bringing in revenue. Business macro-environmental factors The company and all the other actors operate in a larger macro-environment of forces, including political, economic, cultural, technological, legal and ecological factors, which shape opportunities and pose threats to the company. Political and legal regulatory affect the strategic development of KFC Corporation, which made the US market more challenging. Example- Forbidding the use of trans-fat cooking oil mandating calorie counts on menus,removing advertisement from kid’s programme, and even prohibiting from making unconfirmed claims concerning nutritional value and losing weight benefits. All of these may seriously impede the free flow of goods within a group and from suppliers and consumer demand. According to the Institute for the World Economy, the aggregation of financial crisis continues to result in negative result to the world economy and generate a strong downturn in the entire restaurant industry, which leads to the falling of US unit expansion from 3. % of 2006 to 2. 4% of 2007. On the other hand, fewer costs as compared with healthier food helped KFC and the entire fast food industry to grow rapidly. Moreover, KFC can increase profit margins with chicken which is lower in cost compared to other meat. With the ever-increasing impact of health consciousness, like obesity, among consumers, it’s increasingly ha rd for KFC to keep its original product mix and alternatively prompt them to offer healthier foods (threat). In contrast, under the slump chicken consumption in Europe and Asia market owing to the outbreak of avian flu, US market still shows an image of rising. Furthermore, hurried and changing lifestyle of people along with convenient and tasty characters of foods, which offered numerous business opportunities for KFC Corporation. The innovation in technology offers further development possibilities to fast food industry. However, owing to equipment problems, KFC lost its Rotisserie Chicken market which had achieved a huge success in non-fried chicken area. Restaurants are known to have very high levels of energy intensity due to their relatively small building size and the amount of cooking, heating, and refrigeration needed to prepare and serve food to customers. Due to these high levels of energy use, we continue to focus our efforts on reducing our energy intensity in both new and existing restaurants. In 2006 KFC established a goal to reduce energy usage in the U. S. company-owned restaurants by 12 percent from 2005 levels by the end of 2009. They achieved a 14% reduction through the application of numerous energy conservation measures (ECMs). In addition to reducing energy consumption, these ECMs resulted in the elimination of over 117,000 metric tons of CO2 per year from the atmosphere. The KFC China division has also recognized the need to focus on energy conservation and has become actively involved in implementing ECMs over the past few years. Their efforts have resulted in the elimination of over 5300 metric tons of CO2 per year. Greenpeace, a conservational and environmental organization in 46 countries, has accused Cargill concerning the illegal exportation of soya to KFC for its chicken food supplied. Changing consumers’ perception about KFC is arisen among analyst and specialist and forthright. In respect to the accusations has actively retrofit existing restaurants with more efficient lighting systems. During 2009, 190 restaurants in China had their interior linear fluorescent lamps upgraded to a more efficient version resulting in a reduction of over 600 metric tons of CO2 per year. Heating, Ventilation ;amp; Air Conditioning (HVAC): In 2006, Yum! made the commitment to standardize high efficiency air conditioning systems for all U. S. restaurants. Since then, over 1800 high-efficiency air conditioning units have been installed with slightly over 600 taking place in 2008 and 2009. These 600 + installations have reduced our CO2 output by 10,500 metric tons per year. In China, the engineering team developed the means to overcome water hardness issues compromising the efficiency of certain heating devices used in our KFC kitchens. Their solution enabled the equipment to operate at peak efficiency which eliminated over 4200 metric tons of CO2 per year. In conclusion, KFC had used all its macro environment factors efficiently; it had improved its product in terms of packaging technology, its cooking methods and most important heath wise keeping in mind the external affect on the environment.

Mental Exploration with Super Natural Elements

Man is born with love, happiness, gloom and desperation but along with it, an essence of an unknown fear. It is a fear of strange phenomenon that has imbibed within their soul from their ancestors’ ardent belief in supernatural forces in their social and cultural lives. The aura of feelings of that strangeness is so strong in many that they begin to believe their activities and their lives as a result of the strong influence of this strangeness. The traits of these feelings dominates’ their mental powers to the extent that they deem all the supernatural elements a reality. These feelings also rely on all the displeasures and pains that he feel in the life which he mostly find in environment and nature around. He began to feel nature as personification of devils and witches, the shapes given by fork-lore of the generations past and have become so part of our life that they took many of us in its vintage of belief. All the stories, Poe’s â€Å"Fall of the House of Usher†, Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, and Bierce’s â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge†, are psychopathic novels. In all these stories, protagonists have strange feelings of supernatural elements with evilness and dread-ness not withstanding shrouding in them but along with that there are also scenes of lives they had passed and hope for a future if they would have lived long. These stories are not just shrouding with physical fear and gruesome murder tales but there are certain more intrinsic qualities examining mental upheavals and heart swearing souls of protagonists. They are not in certain supernatural as other tales of Gothic literature but are given the supernatural touch to the objects and environment so close to protagonists. Poe gave the House of Usher a supernatural realm and Roderick Usher felt himself into close associated with the house and owed his odd behavior to the house. Usher had a feeling that his morale and his behavior were dependent on this house. From the beginning of the story only, it had been told that there was something very unusual and peculiar about this house. When narrator met Roderick Usher, he remarked†¦ â€Å"The physique of the gray walls and the turrents, and of the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had, at length, brought upon the morale of his existence.† (Poe, 1515). In the house, narrator also felt a sense of gloominess. Usher’s family though belonged to the ancient clan could not flourish, as there remained only one survival member from generations. It happened with Roderick Usher too, his twin sister Madeline died and Roderick with the help of narrator buried Madeline in the tomb in building itself. Often Roderick would become very uneasy and would hear strange sounds and often mutter himself. They also saw the bright looking gas surrounding the house. Roderick felt that they had buried Madeline alive and she would often come out of the tomb and felt that she was standing behind the door. Wind blew the door opened and Roderick was confirmed as he saw her standing in white robes covered with blood as if she was struggling to escape. She attacked Roderick as life was passing from her and Roderick died due to fear. Along with the death of Roderick, the house too collapsed and narrator escaped from the house. There is no doubt of the fact that writer had espoused upon the supernatural elements while giving the mental dilemma of Roderick. Poe developed claustrophobia in the story. The supernatural element is naturally the ghost of Madeline. Some scholars even point to the fact that Madeline never existed but only the part of Roderick’s mental imagination but Madeline was there. Both were twins and shared same sense of dispositions. Though Madeline died soon yet Roderick never found himself separated from Madeline: this is main thrust of the story and they were again united in the end when Madeline became the cause of Roderick’s death. There is no thematic element in the story but only reflects the psychological and claustrophobic disturbances that can haunt any lonely person in a huge mansion from the walls of which spring woeful tales of his ancestors. Hawthorne shared same tendencies with Edgar Allen Poe to bring supernatural elements. His writings shook our nerves; with his ardent touch of supernatural elements, he showed us our fears and inhibited desires. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† has both the elements of supernaturalism in the form of devil having snakelike staff that he always carried with him. Hawthorne portrays devil as equal to Brown as if there is a certain common link between the two.   It emphasizes the puritan theology, that devil is everywhere in the world. It implies every man has the qualities impersonalized by goodness as well as evilness and we easily get distracted towards evilness. Brown got every chance to go back to Faith, his wife representation of religion, purity and goodness but he fell into the trap of devil as his ancestors did.   This meeting with supernatural element in the wilderness left Brown completely distorted in his vision of the world and as a result he got psychologically disturbed and began to live with empty heart. He began to see devil behind every bush and in the heart of every man but without realizing that devil was in his heart. He always felt within him evilness and his end mounted in hopelessness and wretchedness. Hawthorne said, â€Å"A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of the fearful dream.† (Hawthorne, 612) He could not even listen to the holy psalm, because sin had already overpowered his soul. As compared to Edgar Allen Poe, his Young Goodman Brown has an element of theme. It is the theme of Christian doctrine over evilness. If a person once gets into the trap of evil, it is impossible for him to come out of it. He went into the evil world full of darkness and even though tried to come out of it could not emerge out and finally fell into an eternal doom. Ambrose Bierce’s Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a clear picture of man whose end is near-his feelings; psychological desires and tendencies brunt open his inherent willingness to live into this world. It is again a psychological dilemma of man punished to be hanged till death at Owl Creek Bridge. There is no direct supernatural element in this story as is in Hawthorne’s or Poe but Peyton Farquhar thoughts and some strange sounds when he saw the log drifting in the stream below and the strange light when he was falling in the river and drowning. There is an essence of realistic touch in the end of the story. In his dream, what Peyton Farquhar saw â€Å"strange roseate light†, trees that look like â€Å"giant garden plants†, and â€Å"great golden stars† (Bierce 274) are though supernatural in essence and immersed in the words as real but what exactly Peyton Farquhar’s was looking at were only artificial substances woven in his mind. All events of his attempts to escape and finally when he fell down from the shot was the psychological manifestation of a man within whom there was a realization that he could escape from the clutches of death and become free like a log drifting in a river before. His love and remembrance for his wife and children was so imbibed in his soul that he felt some supernatural power would come to save him from death, but his death was inevitable. Though he thought he had escaped from soldier’s claws yet when he was going to meet his beautiful wife, he fell down from the shot and in the end, we saw him dangling from the Owl Creek Bridge. There is a misdirection of plot in story pleading a man’s desire of life but if death has to come, then no one can escape from it. This is a thematic game that Ambrose Bierce's played so naturally with the mental trip of Peyton Farquhar. Middle age was the period of Gothic literature-Witches, ghosts, spirits, etc. have formed the part of these stories and the whole environment have the feeling of strangeness in the midst of real lives, but the depth to which these stories are presented gave these stories a different dimension. These stories are more of man’s mental disturbances and emotional upheavals that take the form of supernatural beings. What a man thinks, idealizes and gets set backs in life is all form of devils and witches coming to grasp him in his jaws. This is the thematic element, Poe, Hawthorne and Bierce’s so profoundly and dexterously espoused in their stories. WORKS CITED Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher.† The American Tradition in Literature ei~th edition. Ed. George and Barbara Perkins. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994. 1511-1523. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† Norton Anthology American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W Norton & Company, 1999. 601-613. Bierce, Ambrose. â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.† Norton Anthology of American Literature: Volume 2. Ed. Nina Baym, et al. New York: W. W Norton, 1998. 268-275.      

Culture and Beliefs Essay

Different cultures and beliefs can have an effect on implementing anti-discriminatory practice. One example of this preventing anti-discriminatory practice is though in a culture saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to things, where in another culture this may not be normal and so if someone doesn’t say thank you or please to something this may be seen as rude, and could make the person treat the other person differently. Another way culture and beliefs can affect implementing anti-discriminatory practice is that people may understand a person’s situation, or not understanding why someone behaves in that way and then the professionals own views or stereotypes will take control over the way the person treats the individual and then this wont promote anti-discriminatory practice. This may differ depending on where the health care setting is for example if it is in more of a multi-cultural area, beliefs and views may be different. Not understanding the importance If care providers don’t understand the importance of promoting anti-discriminatory practice, they are more likely to not work in an anti discriminatory practice. Care providers should be aware of the active promotion of anti discriminatory practice in order for the service users of health and social care to get the best of the services. If care providers fail to work in an anti discriminatory practice, service users will be not treated fairly and their choices wouldn’t be respected or taken into account, so therefore it is very important for health and social care professionals to work in an anti discriminatory practice. If the care settings fail to promote an anti discriminatory practice, service users will be marginalised and disempowered and this can lead to stress and depression and can trigger challenging behaviour. The way in which anti-discriminatory ractice is promoted may be different in different health and social care setting such as a school will focus more on children where as an residential care home may focus more on elderly or disability. Following the ‘norm’ Both care providers and service users are used to doing what is the ‘norm’ for them. This can cause problems when promoting anti-discriminatory practice because if for example a care provider is used to carrying out certain behaviour then they may ignore new anti-discriminatory practice that has been introduced because it is something they are not used to doing. This can cause loads of problems because it means service users may be neglected and discriminated against because new practice is not being followed. This could also sometimes be down to the age of the care provider. If someone has been working in a care setting for a long time they may be used to caring in a certain way which means that they will not adapt appropriately to new practice where as someone who is new will be fully aware of the new procedures in place so may be more likely to follow them.

Gay marriage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gay marriage - Research Paper Example Thus, in this paper, the pros and cons of gay marriage will be investigated for this writer to show that there are more reasons for individuals, organizations, institutions and lawmakers to thwart the implementation of gay marriages. Gay marriage proponents argue that legal principles of nondiscrimination and equal treatment should be given to gays and lesbians (Masci). There have been so many groups that fought for their rights during the past decades such as feminists. This is perhaps the reason why gays found the courage to also gather their strengths together to fight for their rights. This argument seems to be the main reason which branches out to other discourses used by gays to really get what they want because of the growing recognition of individual rights. Females have been given equal chances to be employed in an often male-centered jobs as well as run for offices in the government. Blacks are now given equal rights to employment and recognition in a white World, too. Foll owing their steps, gays are seeking for such equal rights including to marry and to enjoy the benefits every married couple get. Gays argue that there are many of them who stay together for years but do not enjoy the same benefits of the common male-female couples because they are not allowed to marry. They cry for equality. They believe that they have the right to pursue happiness not only professionally and financially but including having healthy relationships that help them become better citizens. Not allowing them to marry, they claim, is a deprivation of their basic rights therefore they seek to enjoy the rights every other citizen has. On the other hand, conservatives disagree with the demands of equal marriages for the very reason that marriage is not supposed to be between same sexes. Rather, it has been culturally observed for centuries that marriages are between males and females only. Marriage is believed to be purposefully for building a family, meaning; couples tie the knot and commit to each other to build a strong family as they are given children. However, gay advocates argue that they can also build a family together with the help of the law or science. First and foremost, they can always adopt children whom they can consider and raise as their own. Secondly, couples can now bear their own children with the help of technological advancements as in the case of Thomas Beatie who shocked the world with his pregnancy in 2008 (Dagnell). Although technically, Beatie is a woman who had a sex transplant and married a woman, she or rather he got pregnant with the help of science. This example encourages same sex couples to fight for their rights because technology is making things possible for them. When it comes to the ability to raise children in a normal environment, most gay couples claim that they are as able as the commonly recognized couples are. When religious views step in, gays have often been silenced in the past years but now, they conside r religions as old-fashioned and thus challenge them to be open-minded and accept the effects of modernization. They argue that there is no such thing as traditional marriage. More and more politicians are getting sympathetic to gay grievances and therefore recognize them and listen to them, fortifying

Othello Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Othello - Essay Example The heart of Othello is opened for Desdemona, but his mind remains closed. We can see that love is different with different characters of the play. The main hero Othello understands that trust is very important thing in marriage and it can’t be built in one day. However, his foes acted too rapidly and did not give him a time to build trust. The deep feeling of Othello and Desdemona appeared instantly and was built mostly on passion, but Desdemona managed to turn it into strong attachment not realized by Othello: "It cannot be true that she really loves me†¦if she loves me, then there must be something wrong with her" (Shakespeare). Desdemona succeeded to protect her marriage in the face of her family. She protected her choice before Brabantio and Gratiano, praising her husband’s best qualities. Othello was clever and purposeful. He proved to be a successful leader and commanded deep respect his people. Within the play, Desdemona’s character transforms gradua lly. Having married Othello, Desdemona acted against her father’s will and in the teeth of the Renaissance public opinion. She is â€Å"a woman who combines spiritual and physical love for Othello and who is courageous and independent in her judgments, often stubbornly so† (Hall, 1999: 67). Firstly, she had fully relied on her father, but in her married life, she had to submit to her husband. On Cyprus, she supported him in career making and dealt with household with pleasure. Othello really loved his wife, their marriage was concluded due to deep love and passion. However, this passion was too strong and he could not control its power. It captured him so deeply that he did not want to see the truth. Jealousy is the power that appeared to kill Othello. It was Iago who helped this destructive feeling occupy the soul of the mail hero of the play. Stupid Iago thought that he knows everything about jealousy but he did not take into

Communication, Ethics, and Society Research Paper

Communication, Ethics, and Society - Research Paper Example disaster also caused massive property damage and caused mass scale human suffering, which was exacerbated with the inability of the government and other social service organizations to make haste in their relief efforts and broaden the scope of their activities. In the aftermath of the disaster, New Orleans remained the center of the media coverage, not only because of the level of devastation, which is still apparent from the scars left from high water level on the exterior of several abandoned buildings, but also because of the cultural and ethnic diversity of New Orleans. For most of its recent history, New Orleans has been seen as the Mecca for tourists and has remained famous for its flexibility in liquor laws, voodoo, and flair for jazz. Since the devastation left the locals without any means for communication, the media agencies became the source for not only reporting the information, but also for deciding the context and interpreting the information (Cutter, et al., p. 15). Thousands of poor African Americans who found themselves isolated on the patches of dry land, stranded on the rooftops, seeking shelter in the Superdome and Convention Centre without any food or shelter became the center of the media coverage. The media did not waste any time in showing the bloated corpses that were floating in the water-filled streets of New Orleans (Cutter, p. 85). Much of the media controversy emerged primarily because of the language used by media outlets when covering this event. During the first few days of the disaster, almost all of the media outlets referred to the individuals as â€Å"refugees†. However, many critics did not receive the use of this term well because it was uncommon for media outlets to use this term for citizens of the United States living within the United States. Subsequently, many news organizations made formal announcements that they would cease to use this term and would use â€Å"victims†, â€Å"survivors†, and â€Å"evacuees† when

Strange Fruit Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strange Fruit Paper - Essay Example Billie Holiday composed and performed the song Strange Fruit in 1930s with the main themes of the growing hypocrisy by the southern American whites and the increased lynching of the blacks as explained by racial discrimination. The book by David Margolick however fails to have an extensive analysis of the politics of racial discrimination and lynching of the blacks by the song but touches on the issues of race as influenced the music industry of the time. The main concern of Margolick in the book is on how such a single song as ‘strange fruit’ would stir up awareness in subverting political cultures that are rather backward as well as ‘reaching to the soul’ of the listener. The song is therefore portrayed as having been very effective in exposing the behind scenes efforts by the whites to promote desegregation while black artists took a lead in using creative arts to express themselves and protest against racial discrimination in the time. The book is theref ore very clear on expressing such themes as martyrdom and suffering as were the song’s identity (Margolick 15-107). The Strange Frui song as originally composed is portrayed as having been a very controversial and powerful type of jazz ballad within the story. Unlike the common themes such as love and dancing that are typical of jazz especially in moonlight, the song moaned the strange ‘fruit’ that trees from the south bore. Blood was on the trees’ leaves, as well as roots and this right away raised the eyebrows of people when the song was first performed within the January of 1939. Through well planned and neatly organized piece of art, sad, harsh as well as unforgiving words are what illustrate the feeling of Holiday towards racism. Through taking the traditional vocal jazz format, the song rose be very popular, controversial and influential of the time. Thematic concerns of a ballad jazz are often much

Individual Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 2

Individual Project - Essay Example The Five Cultural Dimensions Model is the brainchild of Geert Hofstede, a Dutch academic. This model shows five dimensions which define work-related values that are also related to national culture. These five dimensions (Hofstede, 2001) are discussed below. This dimension deals with the degree to which power is equally distributed in a society and the extent to which the said society accepts the distribution. A culture that is high power distance oriented has a preference for strong leadership styles, hierarchical bureaucracies. People in this kind of culture hold very high regard for authority. On the other hand, people in low power distance cultures favour autonomy and personal responsibility. This dimension addresses the extent to which people require clear structures and set boundaries. In high uncertainty cultures, individuals have a better mechanism for coping with risk and innovation. A low uncertainty culture puts a lot of emphasis on greater job security and standardisation. This is the measure to which people hold their own self-interest as opposed to the interests of a group. In a collective oriented culture, the group’s needs are deemed to be more important than personal needs and the government plays a big role in markets. On the other hand, an individualistic culture values and encourages free will. This dimension is concerned with the degree of the goal orientation of a society. A masculine society values status that is derived from position and wages while a feminine culture values quality of life and human relationships. This dimension looks at the extent to which a society values respect for tradition and long term commitments. Long term-oriented cultures greatly value thrift, long term planning and industriousness. Short-term oriented cultures are more concerned with living for the moment and

Decarts and existence of evil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Decarts and existence of evil - Essay Example His argument hinges on the fact that knowledge of God is anchored on a distinct idea on the existence of a supreme being (Marion, 2008). There must be the existence of an idea first before a given claim can be verified. For Descartes, this distinct idea resided in his mind. It is this idea that gave him the essence of God as a devine. It is an idea that could not be verified through empirical methods. The existence of an Evil Demon, in line with the thinking of Descartes, can only obtain if it is backed by a distinct idea.   There must first exist the essence of the Evil Demon that is crystallized into Descartes mind in order for him to make a claim about the existence of such a being. One of the arguments upheld by Descartes is that essence implies existence. It would follow logically that the absence of essence effectively negates all possibilities of existence. Without the essence of the Evil Demon in distinct form it would be pointless to assert any claim of such an existence. Therefore, this would mean that Descartes could claim the existence of God but refrain from making any suggestions on whether or not some Evil Demon actually exists (Marion, 2008).. Proof of such existence could be gained from other arguments, or by using some logical claims outside the boundaries established by Descartes methods.   Descartes knowledge of God was based on the theory of natural/extant ideas. He believed that it is possible for things to exist without their very nature of existence being verified by a form of proof. According to Descartes, the mind can generate knowledge of its own through the power of logic. The practice of intuition basically demands aligning the mind to the essence of ideas without establishing the evidence of experience or other methods that would be preferred by logicians to prove such facts. The existence of God, according to Descartes, is a â€Å"gift†Ã‚   In this way, the knowledge of such must be based on distinct

Book Analysis of Ideas and Weapons by Irving Brington Holley Essay

Book Analysis of Ideas and Weapons by Irving Brington Holley - Essay Example This paper extensively examines the perspectives of war according to different scholars and the development of weapons. It also deals with the development of warfare from ancient societies up to the current, sophisticated forms of attacks. Ideas and Concepts There are several ideas and questions according to Keegan warfare. He strongly believes that war has a historical factor. For instance, he is a proponent of Clausewitzian framework, which he describes as being great in providing the foundation of examining warfare but fails to answer some pertinent questions. He tries to answer the question, what is war? In addition, how did war start? Specifically he notes that war has a cultural phenomenon (Keegan 56). War culturally came from militaristic way of life in Europe as compared to other historians who define it as the political struggle. Keegan proves extensively that culture is the focal point to describe warfare. Irving Brington Holley, on the other hand, brings the idea that deve lopment of weapons happened in steps (Holley 34). It is from his fact that those who used the modern weapons had victorious win over their rivals. The allies to the modern US with modern weapons could access the tools and protect themselves better. He provides a well thought idea that the need to get better protection of the US created the need to develop new and advance models of weapons to use in the war. The weapons made in this case were to be used by the American Air force. Themes and Propositions According to Keegan, many people lived unpretentious and pastoralist lifestyles until their cultural attitudes changed towards violence. He proves this by examining four groups of people who lived pastoralist lifestyle (Keegan 66). First, the Zulu originally from Sothern part of Africa lived a gentle life. The Shaka invaded and interrupted Zulu’s lifestyle through attacks, which sparked a war between the two communities. He categorically states that the war intended to protect the cultural systems that existed (Holley 56). More so, through Samurai of Japan, Keegan identifies war as culture protection being one of the aspects that cause it. Irving in his views divided his thoughts about ideas and weapons in three classes. Mainly the three classes are involved with supporting aerial weapons development that could be utilized in the world wars. First and far most, he identifies pursuit as a technique to hunt for the enemy. The US tacked down the skies of Europe to get areas of interest to attack (Holley 67). The second-class was the observation of key areas from the sky to be sure of attacking the correct areas. The last class included final stage, which was to bomb the targeted areas in Europe. He further notes that the minds of those who were responsible for innovating field operational aircrafts were to protect the US interests. The field aircrafts helped US to strike directly at the European ground forces and get away without any injuries. The Europeans were greatly defeated because of lack of sophisticated weapons against their opponent. It made all the US allies admire the innovation that was in place both in the First World War and the Second World War. Similarities and Differences Keegan divides warfare history in four main eras. They include iron, flesh, fire and stone. Each era marks a transition in the innovation of warfare right away from the strengthening and gradual development of the armies. Keegan creatively brings out different kinds of warfare in

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 47

Philosophy - Essay Example In his epistemology, David Hume held that all ideas are derived from sense experience; Hume saw ideas as nothing but memory of impressions (Solomon, Higgins, and Martin, 2011). For Hume, impressions are the immediate sensations that we have of things. For Hume, therefore, it is impossible of have ideas of things that we do not sense or we do not have their impressions. In his views on the self, David Hume argued that there is nothing like, simply because we do not have and we cannot have impressions of the self. The following is the argument that Hume advanced in support of his view that self is an illusion, and that what we call self is merely a bundle of sensations. Hume began his argument on the self by claiming that, if you think about the concept self, and if you will ask yourself which of the five senses give you the impression of self, you will realize that none of the five human senses gives one the impression of self as a unified reality. Hume claimed that when he tries to think about the concept of self, what he stumbles upon are particular perceptions such as heat or cold, love or hate, or pleasure or pain. Hume claimed that in his reflections on self, he realized that it was impossible for him to have a unified impression of self without the particular perceptions. For this reason, therefore, Hume concluded that there is no self, but what we call self is merely a bundle of sensations. Hume, however, argued that, although self is a bundle of sensations, we nevertheless have some idea of personal identity or the self. Hume reasoned that the idea of personal identify or the self that we have is an error in reasoning caused by human tendency to associate ideas and to attribute to erroneously attribute to them a causal connection. Because of this human tendency, we associate the various human perceptions and wrongly claim that these perceptions cause the impression of self. Hume, therefore, concluded that the impression of self is impossible, and for that

Evaluating Eighteenth Century Poetry Essay Example for Free

Evaluating Eighteenth Century Poetry Essay Evaluating eighteenth century poetry is not an easy task. After all, the use of language, the cultural references, and the metaphors used then might be a little too different from what are being used now. As such, it would be necessary to take into account the usage of the language—the construction, the idioms being used then, as well as the different expressions being used then. The following points outline several points in reading, enjoying, and evaluating poetry in the eighteenth century. I. Introduction: The authors who wrote poetry in the eighteenth century should be reviewed briefly so that a student may gain some familiarity to 18th century poetry. II. Historical Context and State of the Art. A brief description of the social situation in the period will also be in order as these would lend color and appearance to the poetic inspirations and situations depicted in the poetry then. III. Literary Devices. In evaluating poetry, the reader should be on the lookout for several literary devices such as metaphors, similes, and personification among others. These would also point to the topics and themes explored then. These literary devices can then be analyzed internally as to their effectiveness in conveying the poem’s message during the period. IV. Â  Language. The language of the eighteenth century is far different from today. As such, it would be necessary to look into the language used, the manner of sentence construction as well as the overall usage and popularity of the language then. Finally, there could also be a way to trace the legacy of these poetry to poetry today.

Food And Beverage Analysis Marketing Essay

Food And Beverage Analysis Marketing Essay Urbanization, globalisation and agro-industrialization put increasing demands on the organization of food and beverage chains and networks. Food and beverage supply chains and networks once characterized by independence and autonomy of performers are now quickly moving in the direction of globally interrelated systems with a large diversity of difficult relationships. This is also touching the ways food is processed, produced and delivered at the market (Reardon and Barrett 2000; Van der Laan et al. 1999). Perishable food products can at the moment be shipped from halfway around the world at justly competitive prices. The market exerts a dual pressure on agro-food chains, constraining towards continuous agency coordination and innovation. Traditional price and quality issues are more significant than ever, since consumers can choose from a cumulative amount of products offered by challenging chains. Patterns of food production and consumption are at the core of all human ecology (Dietz et al.1996:181). The food production and dietary habits procedures that support them obviously have consequently affected the global environment and economy (Goodland 1997). Nearly 37% of the land surface of the Earth is used for agricultural production, including both cropland and grazing land (Harrison and Pearce 2000). Because of the environmental effects of food operation, development, production and consumption, it is important to understand both the factors that influence the human diet and the aspects of food production that are most harmful to the environment. Here we mainly focus on food and beverages operational and development issues, social and cultural factors that influence the production and consumption of food as well as how those issues influence on the production and consumption of food. Food and Beverages operational and development issues Food and beverages chains are seriously affected by consumers apprehensions regarding the quality, the safety and the sustainability of handling methods and food production. Public concerns regarding GMOs, environmental impact and chemical residues have to be met in an increasingly, competitive global environment. Greater consumer demands regarding the traceability, quality, and environmental friendliness of products and processes call for fundamentally new ways of producing, developing, and marketing products (Humphrey and Oetero 2000; Omta et al. 2001). This activates the growth of grades, agreements and standards regarding management practices and good production, over and above suitable monitoring systems to promise rapid responses and quality compliance. Supply-chain analysis is becoming an interdisciplinary activity. Distribution and production processes involve a mixture of PESTL (politic, socioeconomic, technological, legal and standards that are highly balancing in explainin g overall food and beverages chain performance (see Figure 1 below). Figure 1. Analytical perspectives on food chains Integrated logistics, production, innovation and information systems become of serious prominence for sustaining a competitive market position. In order to attain international collaboration between farmers, retail companies and agro-industries, cross-cultural alignment and strategic, compliance to national and relational trust and international regulations have become key issues. Reciprocal learning techniques and feed-back mechanisms are important to assure such global alliances. Although, in recent decades, the world has seen a cumulative integration of developing-country firms into geographically spread commodity chains or supply networks. These chains connect together traders, producers and processors from developing countries with consumers and retailers in urban centres and in the developed countries (Gereffi and Korzeniewitz 1994). Companies and firms involved in global food and beverages chains networks are facing rapid changes in the business environment, to which they must respond over continuous innovation. Practices and new procedures for organizing food supply networks with direct ties between primary producers, processors and retailers emerged to cope with health demands and food safety. Improving the specific stages in a chain typically results in sub-optimal total chain performance. Meant for this reason, agro-food companies attempt to implement regulations to all actors in the chain that become part of the global market and institutional env ironment (Jongen 2000; Van der Laan et al. 1999). Firms in developing countries face, however, particular restraints linked to limited access to (market and technical) information and reduced borrowing opportunities (Harris-White 1999). Chain integration can formerly be helpful to expand forecasts for sustainable resource management based on more stable access to information and markets that allow further investment in food quality management (Kuyvenhoven and Bigman 2001). Current studies concerning development and trade focus responsiveness on evolving barriers to agricultural exports from developing countries due to rigorous sanitary and phytosanitary necessities (Henson and Loader 2001; Otsuki et al. 2001). Liberalization of global trade is gradually accompanied by technical measures that enforce quality standards regarding residues, additives and microbiological contamination. Moreover, fast attentiveness takes place in the retail sectors for food products both in less-developed and developed countries where US- or EUowned supermarket chains such as (e.g., Royal Ahold, Carrefour, Tesco, Sainsburys, WalMart etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) control an increasing share of food supply to urban consumers. Retailers are also dedicating more shelf space to suitable high-quality fresh products (selfservice) that are critical to retain middle-class and attract customers (Fearne and Hughes 1998; Marsden and Wrigley 1996). This poses further demands on processors and producers to satisfy uniform, high quality standards and recurrent delivery requirements (Reardon et al. 1999). International sourcing of perishable products to secure year-around supply (under private label) can be assured over long-term contracts and partnerships. Presence of smallholders from developing countries into global supply chains that satisfy these conditions used to be based on processes for sub-contracting and outsourcing under strict investigation with frequent audit of local practices and facilities (Dolan et al. 1999). However, in practice a cumulative degree of vertical integration within food, beverages and agribusiness networks can be noticed, based on complex predetermined measures for monitoring process standards and product quality. Consequently, producers can only maintain their market position if credible measures are taken to enhance product quality and safety. The complex connections between the before-mentioned processes of market globalization and integration, complemented by tendencies of changing consumption patterns and growing urbanization, bring about a number of essential changes in the organization of agro-food chains and networks. The rapid growth of supermarkets in both developing countries and developed (See appendix 1:25) extremely transforms the institutional landscape of exchange and agro-food production systems. Main tests as how to assure the participation of smallholder producers in these more and new demanding sourcing networks need to be addressed. Thoughtfulness should also be given to the institutional necessities that empower smallholders to meet the more rigorous quality regulations and food safety. International competition is increasingly taking place around the implementation of (private and public) regimes of standards an d grades. Positioning the values of chain reversal in practice implies that innovative methods are required that address the required conditions for equitable integration and successful of developing countries producers into sustainable agro-food chains and networks that are capable to satisfy these changing consumer demands. Supermarket procurement regimes for sourcing of vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy intensely impact the organization of the supply chain. The market requires continuous deliveries, product homogeneity, stable shelf life and quality upgrading. Procurement dependence on wholesale markets is quickly substituted by specialized wholesales, subcontracting with preferred consolidated and suppliers purchase in regional warehouses. Supermarkets therefore increasingly control downstream segments of the private standards, chain through contracts and sourcing networks. A typical example can be seen on particular food and beverage such as fast moving consumer goods where its not surprising that this industry cite a long list of high-priority concerns for their supply chains. Reducing logistics costs is the recurrent number one goal across all industries in the Annual 3PL Study, nonetheless additional main concern speak to the particular challenges of the fast-moving consumer goods category, including perfect order completion quickly identifying and reacting to changes in consumer demand and shortening new product time to- market and supply chain integration. British foods retailer manufacturer Tesco, for example, delivers direct-to-consumer within 24 hours of when the order is placed; in some markets that means delivery to one home on behalf of a number of customers or home delivery, while other markets kindness pickup at a kiosk or service centre. Thats challenging the food production manufacturer to upturn order accuracy and work to avoid out-of-stocks while managing with the costs incurred by operating so many delivery models. Fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers are acting on growing global awareness of the need to mitigate the environmental impact of manufacturing and logistics processes, by placing first priority on structure sustainability into the supply chain. Green is no longer leading edge or pioneering; it is now a normal part of a companys operations, driving the need for manufacturers and others to develop cohesive and comprehensive earth-friendly sourcing strategies. Improving shipment density and load utilization is one of these strategies, enabling manufacturers to maximize use of shipment capacity to reduce emissions, wasted capacity and potentially costs as well. Limited Brands Logistics Services, for example, continues to work on new configurations of its carton proportions to fit as much merchandise into containers as possible. Sustainability is a mandate to do a better job in the logistics area, says one FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) executive, whose company has been testing hybr id electric delivery trucks and working to comply with emerging sustainability. Shippers want 3PLs (Third Party Logistics) to help improve shipment density/load utilization, reduce logistics costs and establish a supply chain disruption/mitigation strategy, but they consider them less often for goals such as shortening new product time-to-market and supply chain integration. Shippers are also involving 3PLs in cost-reduction strategies less often than one might expect, with the biggest gaps in improved forecasting and inventory capabilities, rationalizing SKUs and redesigning the supply chain network. 3PLs see their role as much larger in these and other services. The trust issues that have consistently slowed the evolution of shipper-3PL relationships may be a factor in these gaps. Some shippers have tested sharing warehousing and transportation as a green and cost reduction strategy, with most reporting savings of less than 5%. Nevertheless, superiority in Operations remains an illusion for most food and beverage companies. This will be lasting as long as they stay limited within the mindsets associated and the organizational structures with todays vertically combined business model. According to a McKinsey report based on problems and opportunities relating to operational excellence, the study comes out with the following findings: 1. Operations issues get deserted from top-management two main business processes of consumer management and customer management. It suggests that operations issues get a lot less than 20% of the Executive Committees agenda time. To multifaceted the problem, only around 10% of top executives in food and beverage companies have straight personal experience in operations. It is barely surprising; however, that the promise to drive radical change may not be as resilient in operations as it is in the other two business processes. 2. Around 10% of FMCG companies have a global operations director with full responsibility for both operational development and strategic resource allocation. 3. Most of the top quartile talent is tapped for handling marketing or finance functions. Operations functions are short of management talent. High potential generalists often find food and beverage operations too internally focused and too technical. At the other end of the scale, senior operations experts are often attracted to other industries such as electronics, automotive or engineering where operations is both more highly rewarded and more highly regarded. These difficulties are not new. What is new is that a possible solution the mixture of organizational separation and value chain de-verticalisation. Deverticalisation International food and beverages companies that are able to attain organizational functionally and separation organized national companies This efficiently means outsourcing your supply chain actions to a third party. Naturally this will involve selling the existing activities and operations assets, as well as manufacturing, procurement, process RD and primary distribution, a third party manufacturer, financial buyer or a joint venture with other food and beverage companies. In essence, this leaves an asset light food and beverage company and an asset heavy supply company. How will it create value? From the perception of the food and beverage Company, the supply company of its will now be in a position to address the above-mentioned operational issues. A strongly incentivized management team frequently directly responsible to the capital markets. Although it will be better able to motivate and attract talented operations managers, emphasis 100% of its attention on operational skills and operations issues. However, operational distinction will translate directly into bottom-line impact. Accordingly deverticalisation allows the management of the food and beverages company to emphasis completely on consumer and customer management the key engines of growth though sharing in progressive operations cost developments over either an equity stake or open book supply contracts. From the financial outlook this would also help the food and beverage Company get a significant bound in return on capital employed. Social and cultural factors that influence the consumption of foods Influences on Food Choices There are many factors that determine what foods a person eats. In addition to personal preferences, there are cultural, social, religious, economic, environmental, and even political factors. Cultural influences A cultural group provides guidelines regarding acceptable foods, food combinations, eating patterns, and eating behaviors. Compliance with these guidelines creates a sense of identity and belonging for the individual Kittler (1998). Within large cultural groups, subgroups exist that may practice variations of the groups eating behaviors, though they are still considered part of the larger group (Haviland, William A. 1990). For example, a hamburger, French fries, and a soda are considered a typical American meal. Schlosser, Eric (2001). Someone who is repeatedly exposed to certain foods is less hesitant to eat them. For example, lobster traditionally was only available on the coasts, and is much more likely to be accepted as food by coastal dwellers. States, however, eat veggie-burgers made from mashed beans, pureed vegetables, or soy, and people on diets may eat a burger made from lean turkey. In the United States these are appropriate cultural substitutions, but a burger made from h orsemeat would be unacceptable (Klimis-Zacas et al: 2001). Religious proscriptions choice from a few to many, from relaxed to highly restrictive. This will affect a supporters food selections and behaviors. For example, in some religions specific foods are prohibited, such as pork among Jewish and Muslim adherents. Within Christianity, the Seventh-day Adventists dispirit stimulating beverages such as alcohol, which is not prohibited among Catholics. Social influences Members of a social group depend on each other, share a common culture, and influence each others behaviors and values. A persons membership in particular peer, work, or community groups impacts food behaviors. For example, a young person at a basketball game may eat certain foods when accompanied by friends and other foods when accompanied by his or her teacher. The Social Significance of Meat Consumption While vegetarianism is on the increase in Western societies (Amato and Partridge (1989); Beardsworth and Keil (1997); Dietz et al. (1995)), meat consumption is still a central part of the Western societies diet (Beardsworth and Keil (1997)). So far there is considerable indication that meat is not only unnecessary for a healthy diet, it is a leading contributor to many health problems (Amato and Partridge (1989); Lappà © (1991); Marcus (1998); Melina et al. (1995); Robbins (1987)). Given that general meat-eating behaviour in prosperous societies cannot be readily explained by biological necessity, other factors must play a major role in defining individual dietary habits. A critical macro-level approach suggests that the production of meat cannot simply be explained as a direct response to consumer demand, since production is affected by government subventions and industry groups, such as the pork and beef councils. Political economists argue that the economic elite control consumer preferences through means of social, psychological, and cultural manipulation for example, by the use of advertising (Schnaiberg (1980); Schnaiberg and Gould (1994)). Therefore, production may generate consumption because processors, producers, and marketers have cultural hegemony, that is, control over the beliefs and values of a culture. Consequently, from this perspective, the operational power of the meat industry is expected to be a major element of stages of meat consumption. Cronons (1991) analysis of how the U.S. meat industry grew throughout the 19th Century by transforming American agriculture provides clear support for the argument that consumer habits are greatly influenced by powerful corporate interests. However, although this viewpoint may explain aggregate levels of production and consumption in a society, it does not explain variation of consumer behaviour among individuals within a shared political economic context. However, a micro-level approach to understanding consumer patterns focuses on the social psychological factors that lead to food consumption. Dietz et al. (1995) and Kalof et al. (1999) argue that social psychological factors, such as beliefs and values, have a significant influence on consumer demand for various food types. The results of their analyses suggest that values and beliefs have a greater influence on the choice of a vegetarian diet than do demographic factors. Reliable with these results, other researchers have found that social psychological factors have a more effect on consumer request than do demographic and economic factors (Breidenstein (1988); Guseman et al. (1987); Sapp and Harrod (1989)). However, social structural factors form the context in which psychological factors operate. Social structural position such as (gender, race and class) probable plays an important role in determining each individuals life experiences, socialization, and psychological attributes . Distinguishing the intertwined reputation of psychology and social structure is necessary to appreciate behaviour. Both the critical the social psychological perspective and macro -level perspective have made significant contributions to our understanding of food and beverage in general and meat consumptions. The environmental literature recognizes industrial meat production as a prominent source of many environmental problems (Durning and Brough 1991; Ehrlich, Ehrlich and Daily 1995; Goodland 1997; Pimentel and Pimentel 1996; Rifkin 1992; Subak 1999). Nowadays, intensive meat production places a problem on ecosystems as it necessitates the usage of large quantities of natural resources mostly energy, land, and water used to produce feed grain (Durning and Brough 1991; Dutilh and Kramer 2000; Fiddes 1991). Comparative to the production of other vegetables and grain, problem for human consumption, the production of meat is tremendously resource ineffective several times more people can subsist on a vegetarian diet than can on a meat centered diet (Durning and Brough 1991; Dutilh and Kramer 2000; Ehrlich, Ehrlich and Daily 1995; Lappà © 1991; Rifkin 1992). Beef production is mostly supply intensive, having an even bigger impact on the environment than is recommended by the amount of grai n and the resources that goes into generating grain that it needs (Subak 1999). Beef grazing contributes to many environmental problems including desertification, soil erosion, loss of biological diversity and water pollution, (Durning and Brough 1991; Ehrlich, Ehrlich and Daily 1995; Pimentel and Pimentel 1996; Rifkin 1992). For example, millions of acres of tropical forest in Latin America have been empty for cattle grazing (Durning and Brough 1991; Harrison and Pearce 2000; Myers 1981). Moreover, due to their digestive physiology, cattle also emit a large quantity of a greenhouse gas, a methane, and their manure expels gaseous ammonia into the air, contributing to acid rain (Durning and Brough 1991; Harrison and Pearce 2000; Subak 1999). Changing Profile and Mind Set of Consumer People are becoming aware about hygienic and health. There is a transformation in the mind-set of the Consumer and now looking at Money for Value rather than Value for Money. We have seen inclination in consumers to move to advanced products/ brands, because of shifting lifestyles, growing disposable income etc. Consumers are switching from economy to premium product even we have witnessed a sharp increase in the sales of packaged water and water purifier. Porters five forces analysis of the food and beverage Source: Valuenotes.com, (2010) The intensity of rivalry is very high among the competitor of food and beverages Industry. There is a threat for new entrants as well as for substitute. Even there is high bargaining power for Suppliers as well as for Buyers. Rivalry among Competing Firms In the food and beverages industry, rivalry between competitors is very fierce. There are uncommon customers because the industry is highly saturated and the competitors try to seize their share of market. Market Players use all sorts of activities and tactics from intensive advertisement campaigns to price wars and promotional stuff etc. Therefore the intensity of rivalry is very high. Potential Entry of New Competitors Food and beverages industry does not have any methods which can control the entry of new firms. The conflict is very low and the structure of the industry is so multifaceted that new firms can easily enter and also offer tough competition due to cost effectiveness. Therefore prospective entry of new firms is extremely viable. Potential Development of Substitute Products There are never ending and complex consumer needs and no firm can satisfy all sorts of needs alone. There are adequately of substitute goods available in the market that can be re-placed if consumers are not satisfied with one. The varied range of needs and choices give an appropriate room for new product development that can substitute current goods. Every other day there is some short of new product, design and variants. This leads to higher consumers expectation. Bargaining Power of Suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers of intermediate goods and raw materials is not very high. There is ample number of substitute suppliers available and the raw materials are also willingly accessible and most of the raw materials are homogeneous. There is no monopoly situation in the supplier side as the suppliers are also challenging among themselves. Bargaining Power of Consumers Bargaining power of consumers is also very high. This is because in food and beverages industry the substituting costs of most of the goods is very low and there is no threat of buying one product over other. Customers are never unwilling to buy or attempt new things off the shelf. SWOT Analysis Strengths: Presence of well-known distribution networks in both urban and rural areas Low Operational Costs Occurrence of well-known brands in food and beverages sector Accessibility of raw materials Weaknesses: Me-too products which unlawfully mimic the brands and labels of the recognized brands Lower scope of investing in technology and achieving economies of scale, especially in small sectors Low exports levels Opportunities: Large domestic market over a billion populations Unexploited countryside market Increasing income levels, i.e. increase in purchasing power of consumers Trade potential and tax duty benefits for implementing exports units Threats: Regulatory and tax structure Exclusion of import restrictions ensuing in replacing of domestic brands Temporary Slowdown in Economy can have an impact on food and beverages industry Source: Valuenotes.com (2011) Conclusions With low margins and large volumes, food and beverages companies must react fast to deliver in-demand, on-trend products to shoppers where and when they want them, to avoid getting held with unwanted merchandise. The increasing integration of local and cross-border agro-food chains can be considered both a threat and a challenge for rural development. Poor farmers in developing countries who have limited resources and scarce access to markets and a more cautious, less faithful customer has arisen in the global recession, stimulating consumer goods manufacturers and their supplier and retailer partners to develop more responsive and demand-driven. A value-conscious customer is particularly challenging for producers of food and beverages.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Vertical Integration

Benefits and Drawbacks of Vertical Integration Vertical integration is the corporate strategy which the firms take to gain the competitive advantages by of in multiple markets or industries simultaneously. Best strategy of the common ownership is the vertical integration where the supply chain is being united there by producing a monopoly termed as vertical monopoly. Vertical integration is the degree to which owner owns suppliers of upstream (towards raw materials) and the buyers of downstream (towards end customers). Vertical integration is having important implications in a business unit with respect to its financial position, differentiation and other issues of strategic importance. In the corporate strategy the most important consideration is the vertical scope of a firm. In an organization the first strategic change is vertical integration. Any company has its own centre of gravity. Any initial strategic move will never affect the centre of gravity because of any prior as well as subsequent changes as they are operated usually for the benefit of the centre of gravity. 2. Vertical Integration: Based on the stream of integration it can be Integrating Backward Integrating forward Integrating in balanced 2.1. Integrating Backward: Acquisition of control subsidiaries which is intended to create (produce) some inputs which could be used in the production of its products. Integrating towards upstream or suppliers or raw materials. Backward movement is done to guarantee in terms of supply as well as to secure bargaining leverage on vendors. 2.2. Integrating forward: Acquisition of distribution centres which can extend up to the retailers to reach the final or end customers directly. Integrating towards downstream or buyers or end customers. Forward movement can guarantee markets and volume for capital investments and it would become own customer thereby providing feedback regarding new products. 2.3. Balanced Integration: Acquisition is done both in upstream as well as downstream which is integrating in both forward as well as backward its towards raw materials and finished products. 3. Benefits due to Vertical Integration: Cost reduction in terms of transportation can be done. More co-ordination in terms of supply chain management is possible Expansion could be possible in terms of core competitors. Capturing the profit as well as maximising the profits both from upstream as well as from downstream. More opportunity provision by differentiation through control over inputs. Through vertical integration the barriers of entry can be increased for the potential competitors. We can increase the access towards downstream distribution channels or else it may not be accessible. In some specified areas we can go for high investment in which upstream and downstream players finding it difficult to invest. 4. Drawbacks regarding vertical integration: Building excess upstream capacity (more investment) so that down stream can have sufficient supply even under heavy demand. There will be lack of supplier competition which will lead to low efficiency resulting in potentially higher costs. Even though vertical-related coordination may increase. The flexibility may get reduced due to previous investments in both upstream as well as downstream. If there is need for significant in-house requirements then it will reduce the ability to produce the product variety. Sometimes existing competencies should be sacrificed to develop new core competencies. Definitely the bureaucratic costs will get increased. 5. Factors in favour of vertical integration: Vertical integration is favoured by some of the situational factors like Taxations as well as tough rules and regulations regarding market transactions. Unexpected obstacles happening while formulating and monitoring contracts. Vertical related activities many times have the strategic similarity. Large scale of productions generally results in benefits like good economies of scale. Hesitation from other firms for investing in some specific transactions. 6. Factors opposing vertical integration: Some factors make vertical integration less attractive like The minimum efficient scale of production of the particular raw materials is much more than what is needed by the production department in that case the company must bear the loss happened due to this excess production which will increase cost of production. Sometimes the activity needed is very different type of core competencies. Very different types of industries like manufacturing retailing must carry out vertically adjacent activities. The firm may be viewed as a competitor rather than as a partner as firm needs to co-operate for the addition of new activity places. Technology of static importance: There will be many internal gains like Transaction costs could be reduced. Supply and demand synchronization is possible along the chain of products. Since there is less uncertainty there will be less risk involved hence high investment is possible. Throughout the chain the market foreclosure is possible. This in turn gives the ability to monopolize the market. At the same time there is a possibility to face the internal losses In case of switching of the suppliers or buyers there higher organizational costs as well as monetary costs. There are some benefits to the society like 1. Since there is reduced uncertainty which in turn result in more investment which will enhance the growth At the same time there are losses to the society as well 1. There will be monopolisation of the markets. 2. There may be a throwaway society due to monopoly on intermediate components. Technology of dynamic importance: 1. In order to keep up with the competition the company would be forced to reinvest infrastructure. This indicates that some times vertical integration will eventually would hurt due to availability of new technologies. The cost production will get increased due to reinvestment in new technology. Vertical integration Vs Outsourcing: In a firm when something is found it is not a core competency then it is liable to get outsourced, through outsourcing we can do more strategic use of scarce resources in a firm as well as cost saving with better productivity is possible. Even though some of the gigantic oil companies like Standard oil as well as Exon is completely under vertical integration. In the current scenario until and unless if there is any compelling reasons for vertical integration the firms are going for non-integration or out-sourcing. By product seller: Among the strategic categories the poorest performer is the by-product sellers who are vertically integrated. Generally the by-product sellers are the primary manufacturers of the raw materials which are the upstream business in process in any business. The problem behind this is that there is no resource allocation across multiple products it got confined within a single business. Ultimately there is also no possibility for any change due to the fact that management skills partly technological as well as know-how whereas it do not transfer across the industries at the primary manufacturing centre of gravity. By product diversification Most of the vertically integrated company first sell by products as a move towards first diversification. But both the centre of gravity as well as the industry will remain unaltered. Full Integration: It generally exists between two stages of a production process both A and B. All the As production sold internally and all Bs requirement obtained internally. For example in case of integrated steel plants the steel plant gets all Pig iron it is not purchased outside. Tapered Integration: It generally exists when two stages of production both A and B are not self sufficient internally. For example a car company gets most of its spare parts externally even though the core component is been produced within the care company. b

Oedipus The King :: Oedipus Rex, Sophocles

Oedipus The King; Did the prophecy cause his destiny?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Undoubtedly there has been a tremendous amount of speculation and dissection of this play by countless people throughout the ages. I can only draw my own conclusions as to what Sophocles intended the meaning of his play to be. The drama included a number of horrific and unthinkable moral and ethical dilemas, but I believe that was what made the play so interesting and that is exactly the way Sophocles intended it to be. The play was obviously meant to entertain and portray the author’s own insight. The underlying theme to the play is that no man should know his own destiny, it will become his undoing. This knowledge of things to come was presented to both Laius and Oedipus in the form of prophecies well in advance of it coming to be. The prophecies told of things that were so morally disturbing that they both aggressively did everything in their power to try and stop them from coming true. The story begins with Oedipus at the height of power as King of Theb es. His kingdom has encountered rough times and he has sent his nobleman Creon to seek help from the god Apollo to restore his land. Creon tells Oedipus that he must find the murderer of the previous King Laius and by finding this man and banishing him, his land will be restored. The murder occurred some time ago and King Oedipus sends for the seer Theiresias with his powers of prophecy to aid in the search for the murderer. Sophocles cleverly projects his feelings on wisdom and knowledge through Teirsias when he says â€Å"Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that’s wise!†(23) Teirsias knows that this terrible prophecy has already been set into motion and the damage has already been done. There is really no point in telling it to Oedipus because it will only cause more harm than good. Oedipus provokes Teirsias into telling him the prophecy, â€Å" à  tell you, king, this man, this murderer-he is here. In name he is a stranger among citiz ens but soon he will be shown to be a citizen true native Theban, and he’ll have no joy of the discovery: blindness for sight and beggary for riches his exchange, he shall go journeying to a foreign country tapping his way befor him with a stick.

The Chasm between France and the United States Essays -- Foriegn Polic

The Chasm between France and the United States France and the United States have a long history of alliance. In the recent past cooperation has been limited, if not reluctant on both parts, and the relationship is evolving. On some levels, the two are not called to deal directly with each other, instead, there is an American identity versus a European identity, as well as an American identity versus a French identity. However, the special relationship between France and the United States is far from being over, and good relations between the two are vital to both countries in order to pursue the national interests of each. This research will consider the differences in foreign policy perspective between the US and France during the Bosnian crisis, the war in Afghanistan, and the International Criminal Court issue, attempting to illustrate the awkwardness of the synchronization of policy between France and the United States. The important changes that have taken place in each nation’s government over the last 200 years have been the driving cause of the evolution of the relationship between the Americans and the French in their passage from two infant democracies conceived in the idealism of the late 18th century to the current world powers that each currently has become. From the beginning of its independence from Great Britain, the United States has had a sort of marriage with France, if for the wrong reasons, which lasted until perhaps WW2, before France’s post WW2 humiliation and De Gaulle’s attempts to restore national power. The separation came during the cold war, during what could be called a mid-century crisis, in which France sought to prove their independence from the increasing... ... Alliance Since World War II. Maxwell MacMillan Canada Inc., 1992. 4. Dempsey, Judy. â€Å"Europe’s Divided Self.† Financial Times 09 July 2002. 5. Hagund, David G.â€Å"The France-US Leadership Race,Closely Watched Allies,†Queens Quarterly Press (Kingston,Ontario: 2000). 6. Holmes, Stephen. â€Å"Liberalism in the Mirror of Transnational Terror† The Tocqueville Review Vol. XXII No: 2-2001Philippe Roger, quoted in John Vincour, â€Å"Why France Disdains America,† The International Herald Tribune 9 Oct. 2002 7. Kagan, Robert. â€Å"Power and Weakness.† Policy Review, No. 113. 8. Rà ©my, Daniel. Qui Veut Tuer la France? (Paris: Jaques Grancher Editeur, 1999) 9.Shapiro, Jeremy, et al. â€Å"The Role of France in the War on Terrorism.† (The Brookings Institution, 2002). 10. Vincour, John. â€Å"Why France Disdains America.† The International Herald Tribune 9 October 2002.

Should Drugs Be Made Legal? Essay -- social issues

Should Drugs Be Made Legal? For several decades drugs have been one of the major problems of society. There have been escalating costs spent on the war against drugs and countless dollars spent on rehabilitation, but the problem still exists. Not only has the drug problem increased but drug related problems are on the rise. Drug abuse is a killer in our country. Some are born addicts(crack babies), while others become users. The result of drug abuse is thousands of addicts in denial. The good news is the United States had 25,618 total arrests and 81,762 drug seizures due to drugs in 1989 alone, but the bad news is the numbers of prisoners have increased by 70 percent which will cost about $30 million dollars. Despite common wisdom, the U.S isn't experiencing a drug related crime wave. Government surveys show between 1980 - 1987 burglary rates fell 27 percent, robbery 21 percent and murders 13 percent, but with new drugs on the market these numbers are up. One contraversial solution is the proposal of legalizing drugs. Although people feel that legalizing drugs would lessen crime, drugs should remain illegal in the U.S because there would be an increase of drug abuse and a rapid increase of diseases such as AIDS. Many believe that legalizing drugs would lessen crime. They point out that the legalization of drugs would deter future criminal acts. They also emphasize and contrast Prohibition. When the public realized that Prohibition could not be enforced the law was ...

Contributions of Bill Gates Essay

Bill Gates was born on Oct. 28, 1955. He grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Their late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International. Gates attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There, he discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at age 13. In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft’s chief executive officer. Gates dropped out of school for one year to work for TRW in computing, earning $30,000 (Microsoft, 2010). In 1974, Bill was attending Harvard University when Allen spotted an advertisement for a $350 assemble-at-home computer called the Altair 8800, manufactured by MITS, a company headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bill and Allen worked nonstop for six weeks to devise a simple version of BASIC, a programming language, for the Altair. They demonstrated their finished product to the company’s engineers with great success, and the following year, Bill and Allen founded Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft had entered the personal computer (PC) industry at an opportune time. In 1980 Microsoft won a contract with IBM to operate personal computers using Microsoft’s system, commonly known as MS-DOS. By 1983 the IBM PC had become the industry standard and MS-DOS was its operating system. In 1995, Microsoft introduced Windows 95 which again revolutionized the PC market, and became an industry standard (Master of Business, 2010). Bill Gates has accomplished so much beginning at age 13, starting with the creation of Traf-o-Data, then starting Microsoft, on to writing books, and finally becoming one of the richest and most giving philanthropist in the world. In 1970, Bill Gates and Paul Allen had been involved in some impressive software projects by then, most recently at TRW working on software to control the Northwest power grid. Traf-O-Data was a little different. Traf-O-Data was a computerized machine for processing paper tapes from traffic counters, those black hoses most of us have driven over on roads throughout the United States. It was an early example of a microprocessor-controlled â€Å"embedded system,† not really a computer as we  know it, but computerized. It began with the idea of automating the processing of traffic tapes for the local road department, which a group of students at Gates’s and Allen’s Lakeside School was doing by hand at the time and it would also require special hardware. Neither of the two had much hardware experience, so they enlisted the help of a friend, Paul Gilbert, to construct the machine while they wrote the software. The plan was to manufacture the Traf-O-Data and sell it to state and local governments, but their one demo was a failure. The tape reader malfunctioned and the sale was lost. They repaired and debugged the machine, but it never became a product—which was fortunate. Success would have distracted Gates and Allen at a crucial moment. As it was, by the time the lone Traf-O-Data began processing traffic tapes in 1975, the two had turned the operation over to Gilbert and moved on to form Microsoft (Startup – Albuquerque and the Personal Computer Revolution, 2006). Gates eventually sold this system to the city for $20,000 when he was only fifteen years old (Master of Business, 2010). Microsoft is founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. With annual revenues of more than $32 billion, Microsoft Corporation is more than the largest software company in the world. The company’s core business is based on developing, manufacturing, and licensing software products, including operating systems, server applications, business and consumer applications, and software development tools, as well as Internet software, technologies, and services. Led by Bill Gates, Microsoft has succeeded in placing at least one of its products on virtually every personal computer in the world, setting industry standards and defining markets in the process. Microsoft’s big break came in 1980 as IBM began developing its Personal Computer, or PC. While IBM contracted Microsoft to develop languages for the PC, IBM’s first choice to provide an operating system was the leader in the field, Digital Research. However, IBM and Digital Research were unable to agree on terms, so the contract for the operating system was awarded to Microsoft. As Microsoft was under a tight deadline and did not have an operating system of its own, the company purchased the rights to one from Seattle Computer Products for $75,000. The year 1980 also saw the arrival of Steve Ballmer, a close friend of Gates from Harvard, who was hired to organize the  non-technical side of the business. Ballmer later recalled the company’s stormy beginnings under Gates’s leadership: â€Å"Our first major row came when I insisted it was time to hire 17 people. He claimed I was trying to bankrupt him.† Conservative in his spending, Gates dictated th at the company must always have enough money in the bank to operate for a year with no revenues. Nearly 20 years later that policy still stood–in 1999 Microsoft had cash reserves of more than $13 billion and no long-term debt–while Ballmer, who had by then become Microsoft president, remained Gates’s closest friend and adviser. In March 1986 Microsoft held an initial public offering (IPO) of 2.5 million shares which raised $61 million. Within a year the stock had risen from $25 to $85, making Bill Gates a billionaire at the age of 31. Before 1990 Microsoft was primarily a supplier to hardware manufacturers, but after 1990 the bulk of the company’s revenues came from sales to consumers. That year Microsoft became the first software company to reach $1 billion in revenues, closing the year with 5,600 employees. Before 1990 Microsoft was primarily a supplier to hardware manufacturers, but after 1990 the bulk of the company’s revenues came from sales to consumers. That year Microsoft became the first software company to reach $1 billion in revenues , closing the year with 5,600 employees. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice and a group of 20 state attorneys general filed two antitrust cases against Microsoft alleging violations of the Sherman Act. While the antitrust suit against Microsoft showed threats of a forced breakup of Microsoft, innovations in the company continued. In 2000, Microsoft invested $135 million in the software publisher Corel. Apparently, Corel negotiated the investment, offering to drop â€Å"certain legal actions† it had against the company, even as it had no legal claims filed against Microsoft. The Department of Justice ruled that they would not enforce a breakup of Microsoft. By the end of 2002, the U.S. District Court approved the settlement Microsoft reached with the Justice Department. The settlement included preventing Microsoft from benefiting from exclusive deals that could hinder competition; uniform contract terms for computer manufacturers; the required ability of customers to remove icons from certain Microsoft features; and a requirement that Microsoft release specific innovational technical information to its rivals, in order to enforce competition. By 2004, with more than 56,000 employees and anticipated year-end revenues of  up to $38 billion, Microsoft continued to hold a strong lead in the computer software industry. (Funding Universe, 2004). Microsoft’s revenues this year will be around $36 billion, or $100 million a day (Overview of Microsoft Today, 2010). While at Microsoft, Gates started to write a series of books. His first book was published in 1995, The Road Ahead. The book was at the top of the â€Å"New York Times† bestseller list for seven weeks. In the edition of The Road Ahead, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates laid out his vision of an interconnected world built around the Internet. Based on the premise that life will be transformed by the convergence of inexpensive computing and inexpensive communications, Gates drew from his experience at the center of the personal computer revolution to give insights on the growth, evolution and impact of technology. (Microsoft, 2010). In 1999, Gates wrote â€Å"Business @ the Speed of Thought†, a book that shows how computer technology can solve business problems in fundamentally new ways. The book was published in 25 languages and is available in more than 60 countries. â€Å"Business @ the Speed of Thought† has received wide critical acclaim, and was listed on the best-seller lists of the â€Å"New York Times†, â€Å"USA Today†, â€Å"The Wall Street Journal† and on Amazon.com. Gates has donated the proceeds of both books to non-profit organizations that support the use of technology in education and skills development (Microsoft, 2010). Gates has written so many other great books that have been translated into Spanish, German and other languages. Bill Gates has accumulated a huge personal fortune over the years. In 2005, Gates committed himself to donating $750 million to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation charity. The Gates foundation, which (at the time) is worth $30 billion, is now the largest charity to have been created by a single benefactor or private company, following a previous $3 billion gift from its founder last July. Mr Gates has stated that he intends to give away 90 per cent of his fortune, which is currently valued at about $50 billion (Bill Gates, Saviour of the World?, 2005). As of December 31, 2009, the total grant commitments since inception has came up to, $22.61 billion. The Gates foundation has given to several charities and organizations around the world (Foundation Fact Sheet, 2010). Works Cited (2010, January 26). Retrieved 2010, from Microsoft: www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/?tab=biography (2010). Retrieved 2010, from Microsoft: www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/writing/default.mspx Bill Gates, Saviour of the World? (2005, March 17). Retrieved 2010, from Marxist: www.marxist.com/bill-gates-capitalism-170305.htm Foundation Fact Sheet. (2010). Retrieved 2010, from Gates Foundation: www.gatesfoundation.org/about/pages/foundation-fact-sheet.aspx Funding Universe. (2004). Retrieved 2010, from Funding Universe: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/microsoft-corporation-company-history.html Master of Business. (2010). Retrieved 2010, from Bill Gates Microsoft: www.billgatesmicrosoft.com/history.htm Overview of Microsoft Today. (2010). Retrieved 2010, from Acedemic Earth: http://acedemicearth.org/lectures/overview-of-microsoft-today Startup – Albuquerque and the Personal Computer Revolution. (2006). Retrieved 2010, from Startup Gallery: http://www.s tartupgallery.org/gallery/story.php?il=45