Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Analysis Of Homer s The Odyssey - 947 Words

Penelope’s Web At the beginning of The Odyssey, Homer tells of Odysseus’ struggle he faces to return home to his wife and son. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, his wife Penelope is pursued by many suitors trying to marry her and take over his kingdom. Athena then appears to Telemachus as Mentor to give him hope that his father will return and to convince him to set sail in search of his father. In book two, following Mentor’s visit, Telemachus gathers all the suitors and confronts them about their actions toward his mother. Antinous then tells Telemachus of how Penelope had led them on. Throughout The Odyssey, Homer emphasizes many important points with his use of symbolism. One of these points regarded Penelope’s loom. He emphasizes her loom as though to illustrate the ideas of faith, faithfulness, trust and betrayal, as well as the idea of karma. After Telemachus had confronted the suitors of their wrongdoings toward his mother, Antinous spoke up and stated, â₠¬Å"she set up a great loom in the royal halls / and she began to weave, and the weaving finespun, / the yarns endless, and she would lead us on: ‘Young men, / my suitors, now that King Odysseus is no more, / go slowly, keen as you are to marry me, until I can finish off this web†¦ (Lines 102-107).† This is the first that Penelope’s loom is referred to as a web, entailing that there is some complexity in the way she keeps her faithfulness to her husband. Although she is not strong enough to keep off the suitors with physicalShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey By Homer1202 Words   |  5 Pagescoping with the idea of losing his father and letting others to rule Ithaca. It is noticeable from the beginning of The Odyssey, written by Homer that Telemachus finds himself in a complicated situation where his life is seen to be in danger. He is a character of being distance from people. The idea of Telemachus becoming his own father, threatens suitor’s control in Ithaca. Homer describes Telemachus as a teenager who has not found himself and is on a mission to become an adult as his father. TelemachusRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey By Homer1095 Words   |  5 Pagesused in Homer’s Odyssey is the digression. The digression is departure from the main storyline that does not alter the action of the story, but adds a layer of sentimental content to the plot which usually helps underscore themes central to the story. The digressions in the Odyssey are meticulously written with great attention to detail just like the rest of the epic, and they truly help readers grasp the important aspects of the story. The liberal use of digression in the Odyssey helps build a vividRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey By Homer2018 Words   |  9 PagesThe Odyssey by Homer is more light in tone than the Iliad, of the same author: The good wins while the evil is punished. Even though the gods are still strict, the relationship between Odyss eus and Athena is a more sincere and equal a relationship than between God and Man in the Iliad. Odysseus is distinguished not only by his bravery, but largely by his intellect and cunning. He is the type of resourceful man whom never gives up, thinks of the causes, is reverent and never gives in. The Odyssey isRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey, By Homer915 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the Odyssey, the hero, Odysseus is portrayed in two different and contradicting lights: the wise hero and the capricious leader blinded by his own pride. The epic writer, Homer, embodies the theme of hubris throughout Odysseus’ journey home. The idea of hubris, a trait of excessive pride, significantly develops personalities of characters within The Odyssey, and Homer ultimately creates a statement about excessive pride. The dual portrayal of Odysseus leads the reader to ultimatelyRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey By Homer Essay1479 Words   |  6 Pages The word â€Å"Family†, according to Merriam Webster, is thought to be a group of people brought together by common affiliation. The same cannot be said for the culture in the Odyssey by Homer. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is trying to get back home from fighting in the Trojan War. He has been away from home for almost 20 years longing to just be reunited with his kinfolk. Along the way, he comes across many obstacles that hinders him from reaching his home and family in in Ithaca. Luckily, the memoriesRead MoreAnalysis Of Odyssey By Homer s Odyssey2253 Words   |  10 Pagesand Midwifery Council, 2006). The literature surrounding the subject of mentorship is vast and fails to provide a single definition, however the terms used are often similar. Colley (2000) writes that the word mentor originated in Homer’s poem ‘Odyssey’ in which the character oversees the development of Telemachus. Usually mentoring describes the process of an experienced team member using their skills and knowledge to educate and develop a junior or less skilled co-worker (Chartered Institute ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Odyssey 1483 Words   |  6 PagesViolence in The Odyssey Violence in Literature can take any form, whether it be natural disaster like and earthquake or a human based disaster like war (Campbell). In Homer’s The Odyssey both types are found†¦ whether it’s Odysseus’s hardships like making it home or dealing with the wrath of the god Poseidon. Every violent scene has its own reasons, some are more reasonable than others. For instance, the gods were angered by the disobedience of the mortals, this is more reasonable than the killingRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Odyssey 795 Words   |  4 Pages Odysseus Epic Hero In the Epic, â€Å"The Odyssey, spoken by Homer, conveys a heroic tale of an epic hero named, Odysseus, who faces many challenges as he sails to get home. One of the tasks Odysseus faces is, The Sirens, who challenge Odysseus s will power. Another challenge Odysseus encounters is, â€Å"The Cyclops, who torments and slaughters some of Odysseus s men due to his curiosity. One of the hardest threats he had to confront was, â€Å"The Land ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Odyssey1636 Words   |  7 PagesGreek society, Homer’s The Odyssey provides a detailed insight into the values of this intricate culture. In particular, this epic discusses the ways in which the deathless gods influence the fates of the mortals. The overall impact of the gods’ power is the mental straining that emerges from the unrelenting conflict of man versus immortal. Likewise, the actions and misfortunes of others also catalyze this extremely significant and powerful mental battle. Homerâ€⠄¢s The Odyssey reveals the values of ancientRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Odyssey 1128 Words   |  5 Pages The Odyssey shows a lot of different stereotypes for women throughout the book, taking action to get what they want. Odysseus is trying to get back home after ten long years since the fall of troy, and his son is going out to find him. Throughout the book Odysseus meets lots of woman who vary in personality. He meets woman with the stereotypes: â€Å"mantis†- dominant, eats its mate, destroys to gain power, feared by many. â€Å"Damsel in distress†- persecuted maiden, woman placed in a dire predicament requires

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Living on A Minimum Wage Free Essays

Barbara Ehrenreich is a writer and journalist who decided to conduct an experiment and find out for herself what it is like to live on the minimum wage. For one month at a time she entered various communities, taking on minimum wage positions and trying to stay ahead. Ehrenreich detailed her experience in the book Nickel and Dimed. We will write a custom essay sample on Living on A Minimum Wage or any similar topic only for you Order Now This books offers insight into the real lives and struggles of these people, showing just how difficult life is for them. As well as this, it is a striking account of how the lower class are treated by their employers and by people in general. The first thing that was immediately noticeable in the book was just how hard it was for people on the minimum wage just to achieve the basics of having food and shelter. Ehrenreich started the experiment in Key West and was not planning to live an extravagant life at all. Her plan was to find a job that would pay $7 an hour and a place to rent at a low enough price that she could afford food and gas. Ehrenreich’s plan is to live in a trailer home. However, she soon finds that even a trailer home comes at a rent that is too high. Ehrenreich describes this realization saying that â€Å"it is a shock to realize that ‘trailer trash’ has become, for me, a demographic category to aspire to† (Ehrenreich p. 12). This was surprising and shocking to read and changed my opinion about conditions for people on the minimum wage. I had considered that people living in trailer homes were struggling, but had never considered that they were struggling to the extent that just affording a trailer home would be so difficult. I also assumed that people living on minimum wage would be able to at least afford basic items such as food and shelter, even if they were not able to afford luxuries. This immediately opened my eyes to just how much people struggle just to get the basic essentials. This same problem is revealed again later in the book where Ehrenreich experiences the same thing in different towns. At one point, she is working two jobs and working seven days a week. Even then, she is only just able to supply herself with the basics. Ehrenreich also offers an opinion on the housing problem where she states that the high rent is a problem in all places â€Å"where tourists and the wealthy compete for living space with the people who clean their toilets and fry their food† (Ehrenreich 12). This suggests that the minimum wage earners are pushed out of decent accommodation by the people who are better off. The higher wage earners can afford higher rent and so rents go as high as these people can afford. Ehrenreich’s reference to the wealthy though, doesn’t seem to refer to those that would typically be considered wealthy. Instead, the wealthy are labeled from the point of view of someone who is on minimum wage. The wealthy then are really the skilled workers who are by no means rich, but are rich enough to afford to live reasonably well and at least manage to meet their basic needs and achieve a basic living standard. This strongly suggests that there is a major problem in society, since it seems absurd to think that you have to be wealthy just to have enough to have a decent place to live and be able to eat. This is a basic right that every person should have and it seems wrong that it is not available to everyone. It seems especially wrong that it is not available to a person working as hard and as many hours as Ehrenreich does. Ehrenreich also provides further analysis of the problem. As she sees it, there is a supply and demand issue at the heart of the problem. Workers need to work, but there are more workers then there are jobs. This gives employers the ability to keep wages current and still have those jobs filled. In fact, this just created more demand for jobs because workers will be looking for two or three jobs. In this situation, there is no need for employers to increase wages so they do not. This results in the wages being fixed. At the same time, there is demand for rental properties, food, and all the other essentials. This demand is not driven by the people on minimum wage, but by the population overall. While the people on minimum wage may not ever be moving forward, the economy overall and the population overall is always moving forward. This means that the cost of everything is always increasing, which includes the cost of food and the cost of rent. The question this raises is how people on minimum wage are ever supposed to catch up. How can they save anything to better themselves or improve their situation if every cent they earn is spent just trying to live? And if they cannot move ahead but everything else keeps moving ahead, what other option is there but for the people to fall further and further behind? This suggests that the conditions will continue to worsen. People on minimum wage will have to work more jobs and longer hours and will be able to do less and less with that money. In the book, Ehrenreich shows that she came very close to having to live in a shelter. It seems that life will only become harder and this downhill spiral may be the only direction that life can go for people on the bottom levels. Another important point in the book relates to how Ehrenreich is treated. From her first attempts to get a job, there is always the sense that she is being looked down upon by others. The job application processes seem uncaring at best and often humiliating. The working conditions seem just as bad. And for the customers that she serves in her roles, it seems like she is treated as barely human. The only real kindness or consideration she receives is from people in the same position as her. For employers and the public, she is either not noticed at all or seen as inferior and not deserving better treatment. For the public, I think this is something that happens naturally, rather than something is done out of cruelty. As long as someone is in a job and performing a job task, they tend to be though of as existing to perform that task. This applies to all positions, whether it be minimum wage or not. For example, it is natural to think of doctors and dentists in terms of the jobs they perform and not to consider them as people. For this point then, I don’t think that the book shows a special disregard for minimum wage earners. Instead, it is more like there is just a lack of awareness about these people. In the end though, I don’t think it is up to the public to show regard for minimum wage earners or any other type of worker. Instead, it should be up to the employer to treat all employees fairly. As noted though, there is no requirement for companies to do so. And the companies are always thinking of employees as a cost and not considering their personal needs. What can be done about the problem them? Ehrenreich does not provide an answer and there is no clear solution. However, just noticing that there is a problem to be solved is a good start. The book also shows power issues between employers and employers. Ehrenreich suggests that employers are keen to maintain their power over employees, including making it clear that employees should not join unions. During the interview process, Ehrenreich has to answer questions about whether she has children that would interfere with her ability to get to work and whether she thinks safety is the responsibility of management. Ehrenreich also describes trick questions asking about things like the amount of stolen goods purchased per year and the attitude on drugs. It seems clear that the interview process is created with the belief that the person will be a problematic employee. They might injure themselves and expect management to care. They might be late for work because of their children. They might be on drugs or steal from the company. The situation does not get any better when Ehrenreich gets a job, with her boss then constantly watching her for signs of drug abuse, stealing, or any other form of rule breaking. The situation that Ehrenreich describes is one where the employer has complete power. Despite all the laws on equal opportunity, it seems that employers can discriminate and choose not to employ someone who has children. Despite the law protecting the safety of workers, it seems that employers can ignore their duty of protecting employees. Overall, it seems that employees have no rights at all and no power at all. The companies can make demands and the employee’s situation gives them no choice but to accept the demands. The power issues also seem to be increased by the view that the employers have of the employees. They seem to expect employees to be drug abusers, to be likely to steal, and to be barely intelligent or capable enough to perform basic duties. It is this attitude that has minimum wage earners like Ehrenreich being looked down on and treated with no respect. As Ehrenreich notes several times, minimum wage earners are seen as nothing more than people who have no choice but to do the jobs that are above everyone else. What can be done about this problem? Ehrenreich does not provide any answers to this questions. However, what she does do is make it clear that there is a very real problem. After reading the book, the daily battle of minimum wage earners becomes disturbingly clear. It is even more concerning when is it considered that Ehrenreich has trouble surviving as a minimum wage earner even though she has a lot more going for her than most, including that she only has herself to support. If Ehrenreich can’t do it, it seems clear that nobody can. The end result of the book is the realization that there is a major problem in society that needs to be fixed. This is what the makes the book powerful, with Ehrenreich’s account of her struggle able to open people’s eyes to the world that they either couldn’t see or didn’t want to see. How to cite Living on A Minimum Wage, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Organizational Issue in Wal-Mart-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Organizational Issue in Wal-Mart. Answer: Introduction Organizational behavior is the study of individual actions in terms of managerial situations. It includes the study of persons, groups as well as entire association in order to evaluate the activities and performance. The study of organizational behavior focuses on different managerial behaviors for achieving organizational goals and purposes. The theories of organizational behavior are helpful in searching different ways to attain the objectives. By maintaining positive culture, organizations are able to motivate the workforce (Arvinen-Muondo Perkins, 2013). Organizational behavior is an efficient approach to interrelate with the staff within the company. The organizational behavior discloses the operational atmosphere of the organization and permits people to behave morally and graciously with each other. This report identifies the issues related to organizational behavior faced by the company in the vibrant business environment. An organization is chosen for discussing the issue specifically and at the end of the report, suggestions are provided in order to resolution the issue (French Schermerhorn, 2008). Key objective of this report is to identify the key issues of management in an organization. For discussion, Wal-Mart is selected. This report categorizes various perception of the employees by which organization is facing issues to keep them motivated. The report identifies specific behavior of people in the company by which they are not satisfied with their job. Key objective of this report is to examine the approach and performance of the human resources and to offer recommendations for enhancing the performance of the employees (Lovelock, Wirtz Chatterjee, 2011). Organizational behavior issues in Wal-Mart Currently, the dynamic business environment has to deal with various challenges. The needs and motivating factors are changing continuously because of the shift in socio-economic structure and multicultural approach in the business. Now, managing the employees to enhance the organizational performance is major challenge for the organizations. Wal-Mart is also encountering some issues related to organizational behavior. It is found that the employees in the organization are motivated because of various reasons. In the Wal-Mart, main issue in the organization is that management is facing the problem as there is not enthusiasm among the employees. Because of the lack of enthusiasm, people are not able to achieve their best to achieve organizational objective effectively (Galliers Leidner, 2014). Low wages and employee dissatisfaction The slogan of Wal-Mart is save more, live better. It is observed that company is focusing on this factor on its employees. There are around 2.2 million employees working in 9,000 stores. Wages rate at Wal-Mart is drastically low as compared to its competitors. The administration of Wal-Mart is managing the cost cutting actions in the insistent way. It is reducing the employee benefits along with the wages provided by the company. Each and every business organization adopts various strategies in order to maximize the profit. In this manner, cost cutting is the popular way by managing labor cost. But, Wal-Mart has not accepted and executed this strategy efficiently. The regular wages of the lowest salaried employees in Wal-Mart is $18,720 if the worker is working for 40 hours per week and 52 weeks in a year. But the regular pay of employees is observed to be $9 per hour and it is observed that employees are working around 34 hours per week. So, their annual salary is estimated to be $1 5,500. The result is that employees are dissatisfied in the company. The work disturbances are majorly generated by low wages rate in Wal-Mart. Literature review It is analyzed that Wal-Mart is facing issues in terms of low wages and employee dissatisfaction. Employees in the company are not satisfied as they are not getting proper salaries and wages for their job. The company needs to motivate its employees for improving overall works performance. According to Maslow Need Hierarchy, the first psychological need of individual is to be satisfied. The psychological needs lead a person to get occupied with the job in order to ensure regular earning (Nicolini, 2012). The key aim of employment is to satisfy the basic needs of the employees within the organization. Lower wages in Wal-Mart is not proper in order to meet the psychological needs of the employees. They need to avail food stamp and money to maintain their livelihood. So, company is not able to meet the primary requirements of the employees. Employees are not satisfied and it can be seen in their performance (Aladwan, Bhanugopan DNetto, 2015). According to Herzbergs Two Factor Motivation Theory, there are two factors related to the motivation of the employees in the organization. It is observed that hygiene factors includes procedures and policies of the company i.e. management and supervision, working conditions, job security and salary and interpersonal relations. Because of absence of these hygiene factors, there is high level of dissatisfaction among the employees in the company (Wright et al, 2005). Along with this, it also impact on the performance of the employees. It is observed that Wal-Mart is not providing proper salary to the employees which are one of the most important hygiene factors. Based on Herzbergs Two Factor Motivation, employees are dissatisfied and they are calling out for strikes in various stores. Because of the lack of motivation, employees of Wal-Mart employees are not able to do their job effectively. Thus, overall shopping experience of the customers is declining which has a potential impact on the financial performance of the company (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Employee satisfaction and job culture- Job satisfaction is an approach towards work and organizational performance which depends upon staff satisfaction. People having high level of job contentment always grasp encouraging attitude towards the job role. On the other hand, if people are dissatisfied with their job then they hold negative attitudes towards job and organization. Employee satisfaction is the inmost concern in the business. Basically, employee satisfaction is related to the productivity which is then connected to the companys productivity. Employee satisfaction plays an important role in improving the firms profitability and enhancing organizational performance and equality of goods and services. There is no doubt that employee satisfaction impacts on the industry in order to achieve profitability and quality ((DuBrin, 2013). Job satisfaction is one of the most commonly searched variables in the organizational behavior, culture and other job-related phenomenon. Research has revealed that job satisfaction is the multidimensional fact affected by various internal and external factors i.e. individuals principles, principles, expectations and traits along with jobs nature and future opportunities. Hackman and Oldman (1975) formed a model of job satisfaction to explain the casual relation between the features of job and actions of employees. The relation is affected by three emotional circumstances i.e. skilled meaningfulness of work, accountability for the outcome of work and information for actual outcome of work. According to this theory, employees react positively to their work if they feel that their work is outstanding and they are accountable for their job performance (Robbins et al, 2013). The psychological situation is affected by basic work features i.e. skill variety, task identity and task signific ance. These variables describe the overall difficulty of the job which is called encouraging prospective. Various researches were conducted for defining and describing the dimensions of job satisfaction and employee motivation. There are various theories and models in the organizational behavior which can be used to address the challenges in the organization (Shurbagi Zahari, 2012). In order to address the organizational behavior issues, the organizational model will be efficient for the Wal-Mart as the models will be helpful for the managers to keep on associated with the staff and categorize the issues which are the cause of employee dissatisfaction in the job. The organizational model basically explains the effective ways to treat the staff and how to deal with their issues in the office. In the models of organizational behavior, managers collect information related to strategies and policies and report about outcomes. According to Pinder (2014), system model of organizational b ehavior should be followed by the management of Wal-Mart by focusing on the needs and behavior of the employees within the workplace. System model There are basic five models in the organizational behavior and in this, system model is the most effective and capable model amongst all those five model. Based on this model, managers should focus on the team situation and believe the employees important in the organization in terms of priorities, goals, potentials and talents. So, this is the best way to encourage the employees towards their organizational goals. All the employees need positive work environment, job security and good remunerations. According to Pettinger (2013), system model is the like a partnership between managers and employees of the organization so that organizational goals can be achieved effectively (Pettinger, 2013). Figure 1: Organizational Behavior Model (Source: Montano Kasprzyk, 2015) Companies must focus on the welfare and benefits of the employees by the inventive actions. Various initiatives must taken by the managers to enhance the approach of the employees towards their job. Companies must follow the system model in order to give positive operational environment to the employees and establish emotional relations with them. Analysis The study reveals that employee dissatisfaction is the big issue affecting the organizational performance of the employees. Employee dissatisfaction is the aspect by which employees are unable to manage with the team mates and it is impacting their performance within the workplace. Based on the described case issue, employees in Wal-Mart are not getting pay based on their work. So they are not satisfied with the management of the company. Employees are not provoked enough to perform their job role effectively. So, it is crucial to address this issue in order to success and growth in the future as this issue is affecting the brand image of Wal-Mart in the retail market. There are some potential resolutions for the company to conquer from the issue (Montano Kasprzyk, 2015). Wal-Mart should adopt various methods in order to motivate the employees. It is important to increase the moral of the employees so that they can provide their best to attain the organizational goals. In order to run the business effectively in the market, management of the company should identify the basic needs of the employees. If the employees have undisciplined and rigid behavior then it will directly impact on the working environment of the company. For this manner, performance appraisal will be an effective way to satisfy the employees in their job. According to the Montano and Kasprzyk (2015), managers in the company should provide financial reimbursement to the employees in order to keep them motivated towards the work. Further, to management of Wal-Mart must focus on developing positive work environment for the workers so that they do feel motivated within the company. Implementing system model Wal-Mart should basically focus on the welfare and benefits of the employees within the workplace. Wal-Mart should follow the system model of the organizational behavior in order to keep the employees satisfied and provide the positive working environment. For implanting the system model in Wal-Mart, management of the company must focus on some crucial factors i.e. attitudes, emotions, personality and motivation of the employees. The system model can be applied in the company based on the key factors of the organizational behavior i.e. structure, people, technology, and business environment etc (Price, 2007). In the case of Wal-Mart, it is analyzed that there is the gap between among the employees and top management of the company due to the lack of interaction and communication. This is the reason of unsuccessful accomplishments of the organizational goals. So, it is crucial for Wal-Mart is to fill the identified communication gap by appealing the employees in the decision making pr ocess and giving opportunities to them to allocate their ideas and viewpoints for the successful business. Further, lack of motivation is another point which must be addressed by Wal-Mart in order to enhance the performance and productivity level of the employees (Wheelen Hunger, 2011). Setting goals In case of Wal-Mart, managers need to set effective goals and objectives in order to satisfy the basic needs of the employees and keep them motivated for their job roles. Setting organizational behavior objectives means that clarifying the ideas, focusing with the efforts, using resources and time and implementing the change in order to achieve the goals in terms of satisfying the employees (Carton Hofer, 2010). In case of Wal-Mart, there is the lack of motivation and satisfaction level among the employees and this is affecting the performance of the company in the industry. Along with this, brand image of the company is also affected due to this issue. So, management must take satisfy the employees by paying them based on their working hours. There should an assessable extent to examine the development of the company. In case of Wal-Mart, managers must have effective measurements in order to analyze the psychological needs of the employees while working with the company. Along with this, managers should also use performance review system in order to Wal-Mart is losing its image in the industry because of the lack of communication and interaction between employees and top management. The result is that top administration of the company is not able to identify the basic needs of the employees. By satisfying the employees in monetary terms, Wal-Mart will be able to make best use of resources ( Snell Bohlander, 2012). Employee involvement Success employee involvement needs the managers to maintain and initiate the process of involvement and provide access of resources to the employees. In case of Wal-Mart, there is the need to involve the employees in the business activities and identify their potentials. There is the need to involve the employees in the business operations in order to meet the objectives. It is identified that employees are not satisfied with the management of Wal-Mart so the managers must facilitate employee involvement in order to recognize the value of each individual, understand human motivations, assign people to positions and listening them carefully. For motivating the employees, there are some models related to human behaviors i.e. Maslows hierarchy of needs and McClellands more contemporary model to enhance motivation (Itika, 2011). Conclusion The overall report describes the major organizational behavior issue in Wal-Mart. From the above discussion, it is observed that there is not positive working environment in Wal-Mart for employees. The organizational policies have failed to motivate the employees in order to enhance the performance. This part provides some recommendations which will address the organizational issues and will be effective in solving the current issue. Management of Wal-Mart must focus on offering standard wages to the employees so that their psychological needs can be satisfied. The salary of the employees must be increased along with the economic status of the operating market. Two-way communication system must be developed in the company so that employees can express their ideas and viewpoints in the decision making process. The effective organizational culture should be developed in order to support innovation and provide sufficient growth opportunities. For enhancing the morale of the employee, gender equality must be promoted. To make it effective, Wal-Mart needs to design anti-discrimination policy and apply that effectively. At last, reward and recognition policy should be redesign by the company to encourage the employees in achieving excellence. References Aladwan, K., Bhanugopan, R. DNetto, B., (2015), The effects of human resource management practices on employees organizational commitment: International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 23(3), pp.472 492 Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., (2014), Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice, Kogan Page Publishers Arvinen-Muondo, R., and Perkins, S., (2013), Organizational behavior, London: Kogan Page between HR practices and firm performance: Examining causal order, Personnel Carton, R.B. and Hofer, C.W., (2010), Organizational financial performance: Identifying and testing multiple dimensions: Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 16(1), p.1. DuBrin, A.J., (2013), Fundamentals of organizational behavior: An applied perspective, Elsevier French, R., and Schermerhorn, J., (2008), Organizational behavior, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons Galliers, R.D. Leidner, D.E., (2014), Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems, Routledge Itika, J.S., (2011), Fundamentals of human resource management: emerging experiences from Africa: African Public Administration and Management series, 2, pp. 133-236 Lovelock, C., Wirtz, J. Chatterjee, J., (2011), Services marketing: people, technology and strategy, Delhi: Pearson Montano, D.E. Kasprzyk, D., (2015), Theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior, and the integrated behavioral model, Health behavior: Theory, research and practice Nicolini, D., (2012), Practice theory, work, and organization: An introduction, Oxford university press Pettinger, R., (2013), Organizational behaviour: Performance management in practice, Routledge Price, A. (2007), Human Resource Management in a Business Context, USA: Cengage Learning EMEA Psychology, 58, 409-446 Robbins, S., Judge, T.A., Millett, B. and Boyle, M., (2013), Organisational behavior, Pearson Higher Education AU Shurbagi, A.M., Zahari, I.B. (2012), The Relationship between Organizational Culture and Job Satisfaction in National Oil corporation of Libya: International Journal of Humanities and Applied sciences, 1(3), 88-93 Snell, S.A. Bohlander, G.W., (2012), Managing human resources, Boston: Cengage Learning Wheelen, T.L. and Hunger, J.D, (2011), Concepts in strategic management and business policy, Pearson Education India Wright, P. M., Gardner, T. M., Moynihan, L. M., Allen, M. R., (2005), The relationshi

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Summary and Reflection of ‘Future of Medicine Perfection and Beyond’ (Chapter 3) of Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku Essay Example

Summary and Reflection of ‘Future of Medicine: Perfection and Beyond’ (Chapter 3) of Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku Essay The chapter takes the reader through an imaginative journey of medicine in the future. Although some of the possibilities proposed appear like material from a science fiction novel, they are based on emerging scientific breakthroughs. One of the themes discussed in the chapter is the increasing mastery of human beings to ‘play God’. Evolving new technologies allow the medical professional to perform astounding feats of genetic engineering. This could happen at various stages of life – from neonatal to palliative. With this capability, people can augment their life spans, develop immunity to various viruses and even thwart cancer using nanotechnology. In chapter 3, Michio Kaku makes predictions and depictions of future of medicine in all its possible manifestations. We read of ‘nanobots’ that would operate at sub-molecular levels in dealing with infections and diseases. The author also envisions advancement in stem cell extraction and utilization, whereby, new organs can be ‘harvested’ merely with the seed of a few stem cells. If this becomes a reality then the need for organ transplants will be reduced. More importantly, by using organs from the patient’s own stem cells, post operative complications are diminished. There is consensus within the scientific community about the use of such technologies for benign and remedial purposes. However, questions and doubts are raised in using these technologies for cosmetic or enhancement reasons. These enhancements are above and beyond what a healthy human existence requires. They are meant to give ‘competitive’ advantage over peers in the evol utionary game of selecting the ‘fittest’ genes. We will write a custom essay sample on Summary and Reflection of ‘Future of Medicine: Perfection and Beyond’ (Chapter 3) of Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Summary and Reflection of ‘Future of Medicine: Perfection and Beyond’ (Chapter 3) of Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Summary and Reflection of ‘Future of Medicine: Perfection and Beyond’ (Chapter 3) of Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The author’s projections into the future are based on extrapolations of technologies that are in their nascence. Hence there are numerous factors that bear on their future development, chiefly along political, socio-cultural, legal and ethical dimensions. But, disappointingly, Michio Kaku does not deal with the intersection of these domains upon the future prospects of a technology. In particular, it is fairly obvious that the author’s primary concern is not the ethical issues surrounding these medical developments. To this extent, the chapter in question, and the book as a whole, is incomplete. They are at best, selective and wishful anticipations of what will unravel in future technological societies. It falls short of showcasing our species’ future as an inevitable submission to technocracy. In conclusion, the work makes for an interesting read but lacks the conviction that accompanies fact. Despite this flaw, one cannot dismiss it off-hand, for it offers key insights into many of the cutting-edge technological innovations that have taken place in recent years. For a general audience that is not acquainted with scientific terminology, understanding these concepts can be difficult. To the author’s credit he alleviates this problem by keeping the jargons to a minimum. He also uses lucid expressions and easy logic to flesh out his arguments. Overall, reading the chapter will be a thrilling yet thought-provoking experience for the reader, as it had been for me. Reference: Kaku, Michio (March 2011). Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny And Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100. Doubleday. The chapter takes the reader through an imaginative journey of medicine in the future. Although some of the possibilities proposed appear like material from a science fiction novel, they are based on emerging scientific breakthroughs. One of the themes discussed in the chapter is the increasing mastery of human beings to ‘play God’. Evolving new technologies allow the medical professional to perform astounding feats of genetic engineering. This could happen at various stages of life – from neonatal to palliative. With this capability, people can augment their life spans, develop immunity to various viruses and even thwart cancer using nanotechnology. In chapter 3, Michio Kaku makes predictions and depictions of future of medicine in all its possible manifestations. We read of ‘nanobots’ that would operate at sub-molecular levels in dealing with infections and diseases. The author also envisions advancement in stem cell extraction and utilization, whereby, new organs .

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Ship Operations Cooperative Program.

The Ship Operations Cooperative Program. Founded in 1993, with five members, and now standing at over 40 , the Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP) was created to improve the "competitiveness, productivity, efficiency, safety, and environmental responsiveness of U.S. vessel operations" through-out the world through the joint venture between the United States government such as Maritime Administration (MarAd) and those industries which are related to the maritime business. Those industries include not only many of the U. S. flagged shipping companies, but also such entities as the seven maritime academies (one of them being Maine Maritime Academy) and other schools sponsored by the maritime unions such as Marine Engineer's Beneficial Association's (MEBA) Calhoun MEBA Engineering school and Seafarer's International Union's (SIU) Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education. Also included are the non-profit certification and classification societies such as the American Bureau of Shipping and their European equiv alent, Det Norske Veritas.Membership in the SOCP is accomplished by paying a $5,000.00United Statesannual fee. With this membership the companies and government agencies get together to work out issues pertaining to maritime affairs. This membership offers the industry a way to stay abreast of current events and allows all members to work together to better understand future trends. The SOCP is in the forefront on forming venues for parties to communicate through conventions around the United States, newsbriefs and newsletters, and up-to-date online web casts.The SOCP is supported by its members to develop Research and Development strategies for future projects and policies.The SOCP also works bringing together organizations with like interests for projects of mutual benefit so as to better utilize resources of those companies participating. In doing so, the SOCP can also assist in differences that surface during such projects.The SOCP can assist in keeping members up-to-date with c hanges in maritime...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Buyer Decision Process And Three Time Zones Marketing Essay

Buyer Decision Process And Three Time Zones Marketing Essay Communication is not only important in our day to day life. It is very important in business situations as well. Marketing communication is an essential method when building relationships with customers. With the globalisation and many factors competition has increased. Therefore in order to attract customers communication or marketing communication is becoming one of key method and it is becoming a more important factor when deciding the success in businesses in the modern world. When analysing the provided business situation it can be clearly seen that this organisation has been considering more on communication mix strategies and decreasing the customer satisfaction or providing less attention to the satisfaction of customers for some time. Communication mix is a method which is used by all the 3 dominant business philosophies that is production philosophy, selling philosophy and marketing philosophy in order to communicate with customers. There are many methods/tools in the comm unication mix including, advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, publicity, instructional materials, etc. There are many objectives of external communications (generated inside the organisation), building awareness, communicating product benefits and advantages, providing information to assist in the decision making process of the customers, differentiate products and influence the purchase decision. But now he has realized that only concentrating on communication mix strategies is not enough. If the customers are not happy or satisfied the negative word of mouth that can spread through them not only can erode effectiveness of the communication mix but also decrease the future sales. Therefore it can be clearly seen that he has identified the communications generated outside the organisation those can be either word of mouth or other communications which can be spread using various Medias including recent electronic variations can have an influence over marketing mix strate gies. Further it has mentioned that although majority of customers are satisfied, negative word of mouth generated by dissatisfied customers can damage the effectiveness of both communication mix and positive word of mouth. When customers are buying products once or twice in their life time then the word of mouth communication is more important because although the repeat purchase is negligible they tend to spread good or bad about your products and especially when they had received poor experience from specific products or service they tend to alert and warn their associates about those products. Another important factor here is the target market of this home building organisation is first home buyers. Therefore in this business situation when someone builds their house for the first time due to this is high involvement decision (high financial risk, social risk, etc.) customers tend to take advices from their peers. Further they may expect more from their first home because it is a big investment in their life time whereas building another house is a rare situation. Today with the development of technologies the power of the word of mouth communication has increased more. Various electronic media have immerged supporting the spread of word of mouth. For an example with through Skype anyone having an internet connection can get free video or voice calls freely. With social networks like Facebook, MySpace people are always sharing and connected to each other. Another emerging communication through internet is web blogs or forums. Through those kinds of methods people share their knowledge and experiences with all most all the people connected trough internet. Therefore if someone wants to get information about particular thing they can do it immediately and without time and space barriers.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The buying and selling of sex between (apparently) consenting adults Essay

The buying and selling of sex between (apparently) consenting adults should be none of the criminal justice systems business. Discuss - Essay Example In other places such as Northern Ireland, which formerly had comparable laws, paying for sex was banned in January 2015 (Stockham, 2015, p.1). Conventionally, prostitution is not illegal in the United Kingdom, it is considered as a private contract conducted between two consenting adults. Nevertheless, the laws function to make offering sex in exchange for cash challenging and risky. All sexual activities involving running of brothels, street walking and soliciting, where more than one woman trades sex in building are regarded illegal (Prosecution, 2015, p.2). However, there are many sections of legislation that pursue to adjust and penalize an extensive selection of acts related to prostitution in the welfare of public health, social welfare and moral order. This essay focuses on the buying and selling of sex between consenting adults should be none of the criminal justice systems business. Soliciting and kerb-crawling in public or quasi-public places are apparently unlawful and there are numerous laws which permit for the trial of those who are seen to merit from the prostitution of others individuals, such as ‘pimps’, clients and brothel proprietors. Off street working is legitimate, though, where there is more than one person available in an apartment even though the subsequent individual is not trading sex that individual may be considered to be living off immoral incomes and that apartment defined as a brothel. The publicizing of sexual activities in public places is also forbidden (Prosecution, 2015, p.2). Although the present legislative framework is regularly designated as having been put down in the wake of the Wolfenden Committee’s in 1957, evaluation of prostitution and homosexual felonies, previous statutes still remain in place and endure to form the legislative descriptions of prostitution. Furthermore, the array of unlawful legislation concerning to sex activities has been supplemented to subsequently and,

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Recommendations of marketing approach for Yorkshire Smoothies 2035 Essay

Recommendations of marketing approach for Yorkshire Smoothies 2035 - Essay Example However, due to the presence of domestic as well as international competitors, companies willing to penetrate in the global market, should take sound marketing strategies to survive in long run. Here, the marketing strategies of Yorkshire Smoothies will be discussed in terms of Industry analysis and Marketing Mix to ensure sustainability and profitability for the company in global market. Yorkshire Smoothies is a UK based contemporary fruit beverage brand, flourishing in the premium segment of fruit based health drinks. The products are specially designed for the health conscious consumers made by locally grown organic fruits. However, the company has taken a pricing strategy for keeping their price above any other retail brands available in the supermarket in order to attract the premium segment of the retail customers. Using glass bottle instead of plastics, using locally grown raw materials, sponsoring and arranging promotional events in annual folk music festival are some of the examples of sound ethical practises maintained by the company. Success of Yorkshire Smoothies in UK market has influenced the company to expand their business in developing nations such that in India (Bennet, 2008). After receiving inquiry from a significant distributor, the company is seriously thinking of capturing the market opportunities. Hence, the company needs to analyze whether they should standardize their marketing strategy and production process in India or they should adapt the strategies prevailing in the country in order to ensure sound business operation and long run profitability in Indian market (Solberg, 2002). For the purpose of expansion of business of Yorkshire Smoothies in India, the company is required to analyze the factors contributing to their product acceptability and growth in the UK market and compare those contributory factors in terms

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Fast Food Driven Society Essay Example for Free

Fast Food Driven Society Essay In a recent documentary film I’ve seen called, â€Å"Super-Size Me,† it was stated that in the past 20-25 years, obesity levels in America have doubled. Why you may wonder? Many factors contribute to the way we live in our society today, but the main reason for obesity levels being so high is the fast food industry and its effects on everyone it comes in contact with. Anyone who has ever had junk food in their life know its addicting features. Seeing it everywhere you go whether you are at a grocery store, fast food restaurant, or on TV doesn’t help stop the urges in anyone’s case. Fast food is convenient, cheap, and is what the average American family would choose to eat. Obesity is an ongoing problem in the United States today, and if it cannot be stopped, this problem could potentially be passed down from generation to generation. The reason America has allowed this to happen is because of the way society portrays how to live and eat in this world, how Americans have adapted in a way where they heavily rely on fast food for convenience purposes, and the individual’s lack of effort in living a healthy lifestyle. Every woman in America once in their lives has seen or bought a magazine. What do you see on the cover? A skinny, beautiful model or celebrity, and a tagline on how to lose more weight or how to eat healthier in order for you to look more like the picture. Everywhere you go society portrays a certain way woman should look that is acceptable in this world. I strongly believe that one of the reasons that obesity has struck America so negatively is because society has pushed the woman in this country over the edge on how they ‘should’ look. â€Å"For many women, compulsive eating and being fat have become one way to avoid being marketed or seen as the ideal woman: My fat says ‘screw you’ to all who want me to be the perfect mom, sweetheart, and maid. Take me for who I am, not for who I am supposed to be† (Orbach, pg. 452). This quote comes from the article, â€Å"Fat is a Feminist Issue,† and it heavily relates to why obesity is still an ongoing issue in the United States. Susie Orbach strongly explains how fat expresses a rebellion against how women feel powerless because of all of the pressure to look and even act a certain way. Society has even changed the way women should look over and over again throughout the years (pg. 452). This in my opinion puts more pressure on the women because they are constantly changing their image and even their body in order to fit in. This topic alone, has a huge impact on why a lot of people are overweight in the world. Now a days, people want to be what they want and not what society wants. Since society hasn’t given woman and everyone else a break on what they expect from them, obesity has increased and a rebellion on body image is its result. If society would stop stressing how to look and act, people might want to start to do things for themselves and not for the ‘betterment’ of society. In my experience, I can honestly say that being a women in society today is difficult. Yes I do eat what I want when I want, but I do watch my body image. Half of the reason is because it makes me feel better as a person when I look and eat healthy, but the other half is because I know society would qualify me as someone who would fit in. You could say that society has gotten to me, but I do feel great when I eat healthy and when I look healthy. In my nutrition class, I learned that junk food is very low in satiation value, this means that people don’t feel as full when eating them, which tends to lead to overeating. These two factors relate to why people choose to go to a fast food restaurant. Americans don’t realize the negative effects it has on their mind and body. Not only is that a factor, but the taste also plays a huge part too. A lot of great tasting foods are bad for you, which just happens to be the disappointing truth that many people disregard. All anyone wants is to find good food that is affordable in this world right? That is what makes fast food so convenient!! In the article, â€Å"Don’t Blame the Eater,† David Zinczenko makes a good point about fast food. â€Å"Lunch and dinner for me, was a daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut. Then as now, these were the only available options for an American kid to get an affordable meal† (pg. 391-392). Everything he stated is true for the average American family, why wouldn’t you stop at a fast food restaurant if you are tight on money and time. When I was a kid, sports was a big part of my life†¦but time and money was also tight in my family because my two younger sisters also played sports. We stopped for fast food whenever was convenient for us on and off the road. At the time, it was almost like I was being treated when we stopped for fast food. Little did I know the only reason we got fast food was because it was affordable and reliable. Even now to this day, it is hard for me not to stop at a fast food restaurant every once in a while. I don’t go as much as I used to, but it is still convenient and it always will be. Just like Zinczenko was saying, whether we like it or not, fast food surrounds us and lures us into its traps. We have the choice to escape it or embrace it. The individual has this decision alone. Society plays its parts in luring, but it is ultimately your own decision in the end. In the article, â€Å"Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating,† Mary Maxfield heavily stresses how it is the individual’s ultimate decision on what to eat and how much of it to eat. I could not agree more with her article, even though society does its job in persuading, it is the individual who is left with the decision because it is their body. Maxfield states, â€Å". what a person eats [rarely] takes primacy over how they eat it†¦.. in essence, we can eat as we always have- which includes eating for emotional and social reasons and still survive or even thrive† (pg. 445). What she is saying is that no matter what social interactions stand in someone’s way, they are the ones who decide what and how much to eat. You must trust yourself, trust your body and meet your own needs (Maxfield, pg. 446). Personally, there are days where I know I need to cut down on the junk food and focus on drinking water and eating foods with nutritional value. That is because I have the motivation and drive to do so. Many Americans do not have this motivation and drive. This is what is increasing the obesity levels in America. People do not know what is too much, and do not know when to stop. So in return, they are putting themselves more at risk for the chronic diseases that obesity has to offer. In the end, the individual has the power to decide what is best for them. If everyone started to make healthy life decisions, obesity levels could slowly start to decrease, and the world could have a more restored environment. We need to start by educating our children about the smart and healthy life alternatives they can make and continue to educate their parents as well. In turn, we can decrease the many factors that have led our country to where it is today†¦. a fast food driven, obese and lazy society.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Wake Me Up When My Gold Lord Returns Essay -- Literary Analysis, The W

Most people turn their misery into depression, while a few creative minds transform their feelings into writings, many times as poetry or songs. Additionally, most pieces of literature express theme in one way or another to make the piece hold a deeper message for the audience to grasp. Themes prove universal by withstanding time and exemplifying similar meanings throughout the years. Varying elements in the literature help develop a theme and produce it to become a meaningful notion. Regardless of the different seasons used to portray the message of both the poem and the song, â€Å"The Wanderer,† a poem written by an anonymous writer in the Anglo-Saxon era, and â€Å"Wake Me Up When September Ends,† a song written by Green Day in the twenty-first century, compare the common theme that lingering in the past causes isolation and despair through the literary elements of symbolism of seasons that reveals the desolate mood and the narrator’s reluctance to chang e, imagery to further accentuate the similar theme between the two pieces, and flashback to contrast the narrator’s present depressed emotions to his past happiness. Despite the fact that the narrators use different seasons to portray the theme, both â€Å"The Wanderer† and â€Å"Wake Me Up When September Ends† develop upon season’s symbolism which depicts the desolate mood and the narrators’ reluctance to change due to their inability to let go of their past and present despair. In â€Å"The Wanderer† the narrator â€Å"woefully toil[s] on wintry seas† (l. 3) by himself because of â€Å"grievous disasters, and death of kin† (l. 7). The author uses winter to symbolize a time of little opportunity and death for the narrator because winter already examples a bleak time period with little life, and since th... ...e in his memories now. In both pieces, the flashbacks contrast the emotions of the present-day gloomy narrator to the happier emotions of the narrator before the change while the narrators’ lingering in the past causes their own seclusion and misery. In conclusion, through the elements of symbolism, imagery, and flashback â€Å"The Wanderer† and â€Å"Wake Me Up When September Ends† produce the common theme that lingering in the past creates isolation and misery. Though written in a different time period, â€Å"The Wanderer† proves relevant to today’s time through its notable comparison with a song from thousands of years later. Themes withstand time and apply to many different types of people in different ways depending on a person’s understanding of the message implied. Through literary elements, writers depict a message that the audience interprets with their own wisdom.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Essay

Fender is an American manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers based out of Scottsdale, Arizona. The privately held company was founded by Clarence Leonidas â€Å"Leo† Fender in Clifornia in 1946. The company specializes in solid body electric guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, and solid body electric bass guitars such as the Precision and Jazz models. Fender instruments are widely considered to be the standard to which most other electric guitars are measured. As marketing manager, I have been asked to develop a brand extension within Fender, in this case, we have decided to move into percussion instruments, specifically drum kits. We will be developing 3 new models of Fender drum kits, a six, seven and eight piece kit. The six piece kit will be made up of a snare drum, four tom toms and a bass drum. The seven piece kit will be similar, with the addition of another tom tom, and finally the eight piece will be similar to the seven piece, with the addition of a second bass drum. All drums will be sold without cymbals and hi-hats; however all will include a kick pedal for the base drum. The objective of this extension is to begin moving Fender into new instruments, especially to develop a line of percussion instruments, with the future goal of developing a percussion department within the company, which will in turn lead to the manufacturing and sale of bongo drums, conga drums and tambourines. We feel that this area of the market for musical instruments has a clear niche gap within it that Fender can fill. With our excellent reputation within the industry, we feel customers will have the brand loyalty to purchase Fender drums. We also feel that with our world class team of developers and creators, and having the resources to use only the finest wood, we can create a drum kit that will be used by the most influential and talented drummers in the world. This will of course lead to worldwide sales of Fender drums, increasing sales to unprecedented levels, which in turn will give us the chance to employee a greater number of people, all while creating a whole new division within the organization, greatly adding to the legacy of Fender instruments. Our target market is the total number of potential buyers for our product. Among this broad group, we have our primary and secondary target markets. Our primary market in this case will be those most likely to buy our new product. This will mainly be drummers and musical institutions, for example music schools, colleges and workshops. Our secondary market, those who have the next greatest potential to buy now or in the future, will be musicians of all instruments; non-musicians who we hope will to purchase a kit and learn to play; and advertisement companies or agencies. Our primary market is simple, drummers drum. They need a drum kit, and if we can convince them of the superior quality and craftsmanship of Fender drums, we hope they will use Fender exclusively. A similar approach is being taken when marketing towards musical institutions. Our secondary market however will be more difficult. Despite the fact that drums are used in many forms of music, musicians in general who we will target will specifically be guitarists, bass players and singers. We feel these players might be interested as many will already be playing music in a similar style to heavier, drum-orientated sound, as opposed to a classical trumpet player for example. We also feel that these players will very likely be familiar with the Fender brand, again as opposed to a musician playing an instrument in which Fender does not specialize. They will therefore be familiar with our high quality level of workmanship and reliability. We will have many well established brands to compete with within the marketplace. Companies such as Pearl, Tama, Evans and C&C are highly regarded within the drumming community and have spent years building u brand loyalty among their customers. Of these companies, Pearl and Tama will be our strongest competitors. Pearl is a multinational company, founded in 1952, specializing in percussion instruments. They cover a huge range of kits, including six, seven, and eight piece kits similar to the kits we will be producing. Their Vision, Masters and Session models are widely popular and well prices. Tama is a sub division of the Hoshino Gakko Group, a company specializing in Tama drums and Ibenez guitars. Like Pearl, Tama produces well crafted, highly priced drum kits and have a great reputation worldwide for quality. Fender Drums – Marketing Strategy Price We will be selling our three kits (six, seven and eight piece) directly from our Fender stores worldwide for $1499, $1799 and $2199 respectively. We have spent many months analyzing our competitors’ marketing prices and feel that these prices offer a great deal for customers. For example, Pearl and Tama sell their six piece kits for $1599 and $1649 respectively. This places our product at a lower price range than both. We have also reached a deal with Sabian (manufacturer of hi-hats and cymbals) to sell our six piece kit with four of their cymbals as a bundle deal. Regarding this deal, we will receive $50 less per kit than when sold separately, however we feel Sabian to be a highly regarded company who customers have built up a great relationship with and therefore we hope to garner some of their brand loyalty to introduce new players to our product. Our seven and eight piece kits will be sold individually only for the foreseeable future. Our seven piece kit is being sold at the same price as those offered by Pearl and Tama, while our eight piece kit is $100 cheaper than Tama’s eight piece kit. Ours is $50 more expensive than Pearl’s eight piece kit; however we feel our product to be vastly superior to theirs, and therefore do not anticipate this slight difference as being problematic. We will also be offering out 100 kits initially to established artists as endorsements. These kits will be distributed, free of charge, to 42 pre-selected musicians, in the hope that by being used by these artists, other musicians who are influenced by these drummers will be eager to also purchase a kit. In addition, our seven piece will contain a 13 x 10 tom tom and our eight piece will include a 20 x 16 bass drum. We will offer a range of spin off products which can be attached onto each kit, including a cowbell, tambourine and jam block. Each kit will be available in three colors (red, green and black) and will be sold with safety casing as an additional extra. They will be branded with the Fender logo on the top right portion of the front of the bass drum. Our products will vary to competitors’ products in many ways. Our drums are different sizes, therefore giving out a slightly different tone and sound. All drums a headed with smooth emperor drum skins, which resonate for longer and give a crisper, more accurate tone. Only the finest maple and rosewood will be used to ensure the most satisfying sound and timbre. Place Our products will be available from all Fender stores throughout Australia, Europe and America. We hope, over the next 12 months, to establish a relationship with stores throughout Asia and South America to sell Fender drums. Our products will also be available from our online store, as well as through third party sellers such as Amazon and EBay. Our products will also be available for both use and purchase at many trade fairs throughout America and Australia over the next six months. Promotion We have many options when considering methods of promotion. As the leader in musical instruments worldwide, with 312 stores, this gives us a great starting point. All stores will stock our kits, displaying them front and center within their stores, to be sure customers will be quickly aware of them. We regularly host trade fairs across the world, which will also give us another means of advertising. We will be taking our advertising in many of the world’s most read magazines (such as Rolling Stone, News and Time), newspapers (NY Post, Sydney Morning Herald and British Times) and websites (BBC, Dailymail, and TMZ). We will advertise and promote through television and radio also. I feel our greatest promotion will be through Sponsorship. We have signed 42 of the greatest drummers currently playing to use our kits. Drummers like Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails) and Nathan Followill (Kings of Leon) all have huge fan bases of drummers, who we hope will be eager to try and purchase our kits once they realize their influences are also using them. Our competitors also use many of these means of advertising, however we feel with our larger budget, and many more stores internationally, we have a much larger platform to promote from. We will begin promotion as of September 2014, hoping to garner enough attention to our product before the Christmas rush of product purchasing begins. While our product is not a ‘seasonal’ product, we feel it would be a good time to release these kits. In closing, regarding which of the 4Ps will be the most influential initially on our product, I believe it will be our product itself. Our price is very competitive; we feel strongly this will not be a problem. Our promotion will be huge, using magazines, radio, TV, internet, billboards, instore advertising, sponsorship and trade shows among other means. Our placement options are huge. With our worldwide brand, we can sell our product worldwide. However, our product itself, with its world class development, beautiful tone, ease of use, gorgeous design and competitive price will stand up for itself as a leader in drumming products, and over time, we hope will be the number one drum kit on the market. Sources http://www.smarta.com/advice/sales-and-marketing/advertising-and-marketing/how-to-develop-a-marketing-strategy/ View as multi-pages

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Logoplaste

Universidade Catolica Portuguesa Faculdade de Ciencias Economicas Empresariais Corporate Strategy Unilever’s ice cream brand Portfolio Students: Maria Ines Galhardo, n? 150106011 Claudia Filipe, n? 150106026 Ricardo Lloret, n? 150106111 Joana Rodrigues dos Santos, n? 150106123 Diogo Sousa, n? 150106125 In order to draw the BCG matrix, we started by collecting some data. Based on the Datamonitor Market Report 2006 (appendix 1), we were able to calculate the total ice cream’s market value of 2008.We made the choice to do the work for the year 2008 because the present year has not already ended. Thus it was only possible to calculate estimated values for 2008. Market value: (212. 8-161)/4 = 12. 95 million per year 161 + (12. 95*2) = 186. 9 million in 2008 With the objective of studying Unilever’s principal products, we had to take into account Nestle (Unilever’s biggest competitor). We chose one equal competitor for each group of ice creams we thought were mo re important (appendix 2). Among all ice creams of Unilever, we focused on the ones that had a direct competitor in Nestle.This is why we did not choose Carte D’or or Solero, we thought that its competitors were not as obvious as the others. We assumed then that the market shares from Unilever and Nestle were the same as in 2006 (appendix 3). These values will enable us to estimate market values for each company and afterwards to calculate market shares and values for each product. We determined the division of the market in four segments: Super premium, Premium, Regular and Economy. The segments were chosen according to a price/quality ratio for each product we took into account (Appendix 4).The different market shares for each segment were estimated assuming that the super premium products would be a market niche with a small part of the market; the premium would be the most part and regular and economy would have similar market shares but smaller. Then, we estimated also p roportions for the different products we took into account. Both Unilever and Nestle have 2 different market shares since we assumed that they value different products in different segments. The percentages are Unilever Economy 20% Super premium 5% Regular 15% Premium 60%The premium segment was divided in three different products with different proportions for Unilever and Nestle. Considering that we only studied one product in some segments, we considered the whole segment share for these ones and for the regular we regarded as to have other ice creams besides Calippo that we did not include (we took them into account as â€Å"others†). 3 Unilever – Premium Viennetta 17% Cornetto 43% Magnum 40% Nestle – Premium Tarte Carolina 19% Nestle 43% Extreme 38% Trough the division of the market, we were able to attribute to each product the market share inside its own company.Splitting the different segments, we multiplied the total percentage of the segment to the shar e of each product inside this segment (Appendix 5). For the growth of each product, we assumed values based on the growth of each segment (Appendix 6). Finally, to calculate the relative market shares, we had to divide Unilever’s market share for each product by Nestle’s market share for the respective competitor (Appendix 7). 4 5 Unilever Brand Portfolio: ? Cornetto – It is a premium product that is present in most of the restaurants and cafes in Portugal.Cornetto is a cash cow and yours best seller and that is why we did not consider having a big growth rate. We assumed that this ice cream is already in the desired place in the market for Unilever. Therefore the investments are not very high and it has a big return. ? Magnum – This represents the second best product of your company, also premium and with high sales. However, it is a relatively young brand, only created in 1990, that needs a higher investment than Cornetto to establish itself in the mark et.Strong investments in new products like the temptations or limited editions like 7 sins and marketing & communication plans make this brand a star. ? Viennetta – This is a premium product only sold in restaurants and supermarkets therefore its market share isn’t very big. Although the brand is old and as a take home product it is very popular, not many people buy Viennetta because the take home ice cream market is smaller and most of the purchases are impulse. According to the case study on â€Å"Global ice cream:Nestle goes on attack†, the premium segment is growing up to 3% and since this brand is known by everybody there isn’t a great need to spend many resources on it. Occasional new flavors were added, however without great success. Still, it is a cash cow and therefore a good product because of its growth rate. ? Kids – This category integrates all the children directed products of your company, such as Perna de Pau, Super Maxi, Epa and Mi ni-Milk, which are cheap products specially directed to children with high levels of milk and calcium.It belongs to the economic segment, therefore, also according to the article mentioned above, the market growth is almost static. In this segment the competition is stronger, because Nestle makes associations with known brands such as Smarties and Kit Kat, appealing to kid’s attention. The strong 6 investment that the competitors make on this category justifies why Ola is not the leader in it, making it a Dog but still having recent investments and trying to have a bigger market share. Calippo – This product represents the water-based products on your company, it is quite old and there is little differentiation between it and its competitors because there isn’t much space to evolve and innovate, therefore people won’t see significant differences between the value of each brand. There is small investment in this brand and low revenues, and since it is inte grated in the regular ice cream segment its growth is small or even static, thus making it a dog also. Ben & Jerry’s – This is your offer regarding the Super-Premium market segment, with high quality, high price ice creams with different flavors and colorful presentations. This brand is not yet very well-known and has a low market share because it targets a small market and it is yet in a phase of brand recognition. The company has to spend a lot of money in marketing campaigns to make the brand recognized by everyone and also in the research to find new flavors.According to the case study this market segment is expected to grow up to 6% and all this makes this brand a question mark or a problematic child. One problem for this brand in Portugal is that it is mainly sold in Ben and Jerry’s own stores, which are not many and being a recent brand it is difficult to make people know the locations of the stores. Brand Portfolio Recommendations: According to the BCG m atrix your brand portfolio is well balanced, due to you having products in the different quadrants and in different stages of the lifecycle.Magnum, Cornetto and Viennetta are very profitable brands that support the less profitable brands of your company. However, it is not recommended to drop the other brands because your company needs to be 7 present in every segment in order to compete. This will increase brand awareness and reach more customers. Having this in mind, instead of decreasing any brands, you should increase some and adjust others. ? In addition we believe that your company should include low fat products directed to people that want to enjoy ice cream but don’t want the downsides of it.By providing these low caloric and low fat products your company will be covering an important segment that are the women, that according to the Key Note (page 53) are greater ice cream consumers than man, with increasingly focus on image not only in terms of self esteem but also on professional and personal related matters. Ben & Jerry’s should create a new range of products with some versions of their best sellers in a low caloric way trying to maintain their original flavor. The other brands should adopt the same strategy and create at least one product with less calories. You should increase Ben & Jerry’s market share and brand recognition to transform this problematic child in a star product. An idea can be to create a version of their ice cream for impulse consuming, perhaps adopting a similar format to the magnum ice cream (ice cream on stick) and include this brand in the Ola selling points, thus reaching more consumers. ? Your companies’ Kids segment is not very well positioned and it is not the market leader. To change this situation it would be a good idea to arrange partnerships with other companies, such as confectionery brands and cartoon enterprises.You could create a partnership with known confectionery brands like Kinde r because it will benefit from the other company’s brand recognition with little effort and reach this market segment with better arguments to compete with Nestle. 8 ? On the other hand the company should make a research every six month to determine which are the more popular cartoons at the moment and create a new product that offers prizes related to those cartoons. The basic product should be a high calcium ice cream that changes its packaging and prizes according to the research results.By doing this you will be captivating children’s attention that most of the time is only directed to the appearance and also their parents because you are offering an ice cream that is good for the kid’s health and growth. ? To access the Portuguese market it a good idea to create a new brand that sells ice cream with the flavors of some of the better recognized typical sweets in Portugal, such as â€Å"doce d’ovos†, â€Å"arroz doce† and â€Å"pastel de nata†. This brand would be sold as a premium product in restaurants and supermarkets. Another idea to increase your brand portfolio is to create specifically 18+ products with alcoholic beverage flavors such as vodka, whisky and baileys with special focus on a regional beverage that is Oporto wine that is typically Portuguese. This product should be premium or superpremium and it should be sold not only on the usual channels such as fancy restaurants and supermarkets but also in bars and summer discos. 9 Appendixes Appendix 1 2006 Market Value Growth Market share Source: Datamonitor Market Report 2006 2011 212,8 million 5,7% (2006-2011) 53,9% 161 million 4,3%Appendix 2 Unilever Ben and Jerry's Magnum Cornetto Viennetta Calippo Kids Outros Nestle Nestle Gelataria Nestle Extreme Tarte Carolina Pirulo Kids Outros Appendix 3 Unilever Market share Market value 0,56 Nestle 0,13 186900000 104664000 24297000 10 Appendix 4 Segments Super Premium Premium Products Ben and Jerry's Magnum Cornetto Viennetta Regular Economic Calippo Ola kids Appendix 5 Unilever Market Share Amount of Sales (â‚ ¬) 5,00% 5. 233. 200 24,00% 25. 119. 360 25,80% 27. 003. 312 10,20% 10. 675. 728 5,00% 5. 233. 200 20,00% 20. 932. 800 10,00% 10. 466. 400 100,00% 104. 664. 000Ben and Jerry's Magnum Cornetto Viennetta Calippo Kids Outros Total Nestle Market share Amount of Sales (â‚ ¬) 8,00% 1. 943. 760 23,65% 5. 746. 240,5 20,90% 5. 078. 073 10,45% 2. 539. 036,5 6,00% 1. 457. 820 23,00% 5. 588. 310 8,00% 1. 943. 760 100% 24. 297. 000 Nestle Gelataria Nestle Extreme Tarte Carolina Pirulo Kids Outros Total 11 Appendix 6 Super Premium Premium Regular Economy Market Growth 6% 3% 1,50% 1,50% Source: Datamonitor Market Report 2006 Appendix 7 Relative Market share Ben and Jerry’s Magnum Cornetto Viennetta Calippo Kids Mean 0,63 1,01 1,23 0,98 0,83 0,87 0. 93 Market Growth 5,30% 2,90% 1,67% 1,90% 0,93% 1. 63% 2. 37% 12

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on John Mill

The struggle between liberty and authority in On Liberty can be categorized under two headings with the first demonstrating adverse force between liberty and authority and the second showing authoritative forms operating without a necessarily antagonistic manner alongside liberty. â€Å" The struggle between liberty and authority is the most conspicuous feature in the portions of history with which we are earliest familiar,†(662). This statement by John Mill reflects his view of the adverse position held by the ruler over the ruled. The ruler whether in the form of king, queen, or group of governing powers was necessary to ensure that persons were not preyed upon or harmed by other members of the community. However, the ruling body itself might following their own agenda when it conflicted with that of ruled be motivated to prey upon such members of the population. While the ruler would did indeed substantially lessen the number of weaker predators that a citizen might be subject to, it became evident that the ruler itself would become the most powerful and worried about predator of all. Liberty then came to be defined as the citizen’s ability to circumvent or limit the power that the ruler or governing body could employ over them. This goal was attempted in two ways, with the first being to establish certain inalienable rights that offered immunity against certain actions that the governing body was restricted from taking. In the case that one of these forbidden action was pursued by the ruler, then this would warrant just cause for â€Å"specific resistance† (663) or rebellion against such rule. The second and more recent of these attempts was the formulation of certain checks and balances of power where the general population or representative’s permission or approval had to be obtained before certain important governmental actions are taken. The first of these two sought after limitations, the ruling body was often subj e... Free Essays on John Mill Free Essays on John Mill The struggle between liberty and authority in On Liberty can be categorized under two headings with the first demonstrating adverse force between liberty and authority and the second showing authoritative forms operating without a necessarily antagonistic manner alongside liberty. â€Å" The struggle between liberty and authority is the most conspicuous feature in the portions of history with which we are earliest familiar,†(662). This statement by John Mill reflects his view of the adverse position held by the ruler over the ruled. The ruler whether in the form of king, queen, or group of governing powers was necessary to ensure that persons were not preyed upon or harmed by other members of the community. However, the ruling body itself might following their own agenda when it conflicted with that of ruled be motivated to prey upon such members of the population. While the ruler would did indeed substantially lessen the number of weaker predators that a citizen might be subject to, it became evident that the ruler itself would become the most powerful and worried about predator of all. Liberty then came to be defined as the citizen’s ability to circumvent or limit the power that the ruler or governing body could employ over them. This goal was attempted in two ways, with the first being to establish certain inalienable rights that offered immunity against certain actions that the governing body was restricted from taking. In the case that one of these forbidden action was pursued by the ruler, then this would warrant just cause for â€Å"specific resistance† (663) or rebellion against such rule. The second and more recent of these attempts was the formulation of certain checks and balances of power where the general population or representative’s permission or approval had to be obtained before certain important governmental actions are taken. The first of these two sought after limitations, the ruling body was often subj e...

Monday, November 4, 2019

The Bermuda Triangle Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Bermuda Triangle - Coursework Example Beginning with the important accidents that occurred in the Bermuda Triangle due to which it attracted massive attention, disappearance of an entire troop of bombers and planes without leaving behind a single trace are worth mentioning. Unexplained disasters led people to believe in the myths that there ought to be something deadly, monstrous, and heinous in the ocean due to which people, planes, and ships disappear to never get recovered. After the big incident of plane crashes in the Bermuda Triangle, the gateway to disasters opened up and myriad other disappearances began to be reported due to which this specific area became a highly talked about, riveting, and enthralling topic around the globe and research began on a large scale with no concrete facts revealed and ambiguity, confusion, and mystery ensued. Over time, headlights continued cropping up about more flights and ships along with hundred of innocent people vanished in the deep waters and no explanation was ever presented publicly other than the dark doubtful statements which led people to speculate that there had to be some supernatural phenomenon in action in that specific area of the Atlantic Ocean, never once stopping to consider the probable role played by natural calamities or human errors. One stark similarity among all the casualties which played a major role in spreading black doubts among the public was that the ships, planes, and aircraft which vanished in the ocean never showed up after some months as wreckage.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Emma Larkins Finding George Orwell in Burma Assignment

Emma Larkins Finding George Orwell in Burma - Assignment Example he radical Orwell, if anything they have just copied the difference in the British colonial government regime with that of Burma since it attained its independence because they have embraced the same imperialistic ideas. Going with the writing of Larkin Orwell was a product of the colonial era since his time as a soldier in the British colonial regime; therefore, he had both the taste of British government and that of Burma. According to Larkin, Orwell’s novels â€Å"Animal Firm† and â€Å"1984† were banned so that the ideology of Orwell toward the government were no more since it was a threat to the corrupt government. The policy of burn was commonly used by British when they felt that any idea was not favoring them. In Larkin, text here cords that the leadership of Burma hides the reality from the face of foreigners like the tourist. Tourist can come to the country, enjoy their holiday and go back to their country without knowing that Burma people undergo oppression (Myint-U 37). In a nutshell, Larkin gives an explicit detail on how the leadership of Burma tries to control the thinking and freedom of its citizens just like the British error. The concept of fear has been satisfactory use in the post-colonial government of Burma to exercise amongst its population. The power does not corrupt but rather the fear of losing power as well as those wielding it as well as fear of the plague of power that corrupts those ruled. The Burma governments used the concept of fear on four bases with the most devastating one being Bhaya-gati that stifle and gradually destroy the sense of right and wrong as well the mother of the other concepts of fear.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Macro Economics - Research a country Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Macro Economics - Research a country - Essay Example The other neighbors of India that lie in the Indian Ocean are Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand and Indonesia. Discussion The Indian economy is the eleventh largest economy in the world in terms of nominal worth. The nominal worth of India has been estimated to be $1.75 trillion. The economy is also designated as the third ranked economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. The country has witnessed an average GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the last twenty years with the average growth rate of the economy reaching to 6.1% in 2011-12. The backbone of the Indian economy is the agricultural sector supported by the huge labor force available in India. The size of the labor force in India is 486.6 million which is the second largest in the world. The economic reforms adopted by the country have seen the growth of the services sector in a rapid manner over the last twenty years. The agriculture sector now constitutes 18.1% of the GDP of India, the services sector constitutes 55.6% a nd the industrial sector comprises 26.3% of the GDP of the country. However, the country has GDP per capita of USD$448.91 which ranks 140th in the world. The political system in India has seen the emergence of coalition government formed over the last two decades with no single party being able to attain majority in forming the central government. There is diverse opinion between different states. However, in the best interest of the nation, the central government and states work hand in hand to implement the policies for economic growth. The economic reforms adopted by India to attain economic liberalization have seen growing investments in the education and heath sector (Mankiw, 2011). The infrastructure of the rural health and education has developed due to the strategic policies of the government thereby improving overall standard of living for the population. The share of India in world trade was 1.68% as on 2008. India has emerged as the nineteenth largest exporter and the ten th largest importer in the world as on 2011. The main industries that import goods in India are the crude oil, chemicals, fertilizers, gems and machineries. The major industries that export goods from India are leather, textile, jewellery, petroleum, engineering goods, etc. The average exports of India stand at USD$3703 and the average imports is USD$5463 as on 2013 (Trading Economics, 2013). The process of globalization has led to the inflow of huge volumes of foreign direct investments in the country. India has been able to develop progressive technologies that have laid the path of sustainable economic progress of the country. By attracting foreign investments, India has been able to catalyze the growth of industries and services that impacted the economic trends in a positive manner. The telecommunication industry is the fastest growing industry in India while the automobile industry is the second fastest growing industry in the world. This has led to the rise in the income leve l of the population that stimulated the economic demands followed by the growth of production volume and GDP growth in India. India has been in a relatively advantageous position in the world economy after the global financial crisis and meltdown (Allen, 1999). India’s share of overseas investments in US was limited due to which the country was far more insulated from the adverse impacts of the crisis. India has moved from strength to strength with central bank in India

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Discuss the military campaigns and battles of Zachary Taylor in the Essay

Discuss the military campaigns and battles of Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War. How would you rate him as a commander What impact did the war have on Taylors career - Essay Example The Assault on Monterrey and Battle of Buena Vista are the other two military campaigns and battles by Taylor where he recorded notable success against the enemies. In the former, he was able to make Monterrey fall to American forces, and in the later battle, he oversaw the Mexicans withdrawing and essentially bringing to an end the northern Mexico fighting (Millett, Peter and William 206). I would rate Zachary Taylor as an accomplished and able commander. This view is informed by the fact that he was able to commandeer American forces during the Mexican War and ensured America’s victory in the War with the forces suffering fewer casualties compared to the enemy (Millett, Peter and William 231). Ultimately, after suffering enormous losses, Mexicans withdrew and the fighting in the northern Mexico ended. The war had significant impact on Taylor’s career; his victory enhanced his national reputation. After seeing the end to the conflict, he ventured into politics and easily defeated his main rival Lewis Cass in the 1848 presidential election (Roberts

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Electrostatic Energy Harvesting Engineering Essay

The Electrostatic Energy Harvesting Engineering Essay this paper presents a general idea of the electrostatic energy harvesting devices. Their working principle, harvesting method and basic designs will be expounded. And another two new approaches, 2D energy harvester and non-resonant energy harvester with rolling mass will be shown. The 2D energy harvester can harvest energy in arbitrary directions in a plane. And non-resonant energy harvester with rolling mass shows its low frequency capability. It can harvest 0.5 Â µW at 10Hz. Further improvement of this design may applied to energy harvesting from human body motion. Introduction Generally, batteries are the most reliable power source for electronic devices. It is powerful, easy to use. However, it can only provide constant power for a limited period. After that, the batteries have to be changed. Therefore, for those devices that have large amount of number or in inaccessible position. Batteries are not suitable for them. Energy harvesting devices are one of the attractive options of these applications. Energy harvesters can harvest energy from different ambient sources such as solar, thermal and vibration. In these cases, solar is not a reliable source, temperature gradients are modest, vibration seems the more abundant, stable and predictable choices. Currently, three major methods apply to vibration energy harvesting, electromagnetic, electrostatic and piezoelectric mechanisms. Each technique has its own advantages. Lot of articles did research and provided good conclusion on them. [1-3] Electrostatic energy harvesting device has the lowest energy harvesting capabilities in these three mechanisms, but it has the most specific advantages. It facilitates CMOS integration [4]. That means it can realize self-power integrated circuits as an on-chip power source. It also environment protects. Unlike piezoelectric and electromagnetic counterparts that require exotic materials. Electrostatic devices are mainly made of silicon.[5] This paper will focus on the current electrostatic harvesting research. Its working principle and harvesting processes will be discussed in the first part. Some new approaches will also be presented. electrostatic harvesting Operating Principle The electrostatic harvesters harness the work done against the electrostatic force of a variable capacitor. In other words, the vibrations cause the gap distance or overlap area of a parallel plate capacitor to vary under constant charge or voltage condition. This causes the capacitance change of parallel plate capacitor and produces electrical energy. The fundamental definition is given by the formula below. C=Q/V (1) Where C is capacitance of variable capacitor in farads, Q is the charge on the plate in coulombs and V is the voltage on the plates in volts C=ÃŽ µ (A/d) (2) Where A is the overlap area of the plates in and d is the distance between the plates in m. This equation shows the capacitance is proportional to A and inverse proportional to d. (3) E is the work done in joules. If the charge Q is held constant, then V will vary as C changes because of their inverse proportional relationship. Then from, the relation between voltage and capacitor energy is squared rather than linear. As a result, the work done will increase as the C decrease. That provides the harvested energy. Similar thing happens when the voltage V is held constant and Q varies. [1] They are known as the voltage-constrained method and charge-constrained method. [6] In the recent applications, the charge-constrained method is more popular over the voltage-constrained method as the voltage-constrained method requires an extra charge reservoir to keep the voltage in a constant value, while the charge-constrained method only requires one. [4] For charge constrained system, as shown in Figure 1 the energy conversion cycle starts as the variable capacitance reaches it maximum Cmax. The charging process is represented by the path from point A to Point B in figure 1. At point B, the energy stored can be shown as, (4) From point B to point C, an external charge reservoir is connected in order to keep the charge constant. The capacitance is starting decreasing as the overlap area A decreases or the distance between the plates d increases. The voltage is inverse proportional to the capacitance which is why the voltage increases in this period. This period is the actual mechanical to electrical conversion period. The energy stored at point C is now, (5) The path from point C to point A is the discharging of the charge on the variable capacitor back into the charge reservoir The whole process forms a proper energy conversion cycle. And the amount of energy gain is, (6) Usually there is a parallel capacitor is connected parallel with the variable capacitor in order to limit the maximum voltage that might damage the system during the harvesting. Then the energy equation is becoming, (7) Figure 1. Charge-constrained energy conversion cycle. B. Steps of energy harvesting The vibration cycle in an electrostatic energy harvester has three steps, pre-charge, harvest and reset. Figure 2. Figure 2. vibration cycle of electrostatic harvester. In the system, the variable capacitor is pre-charged to the battery voltage, and then the capacitor is connected to the battery. The circuit has no current flow at first since the capacitor and battery have same voltage level. But with the separation of the capacitor plates or the decreases of overlap area, the voltage increases with the decrease of capacitance. Charge therefore flows into the batteries and energy is harvested. When the capacitance reaches minimum value, the energy left in the capacitor will be driven back to the batteries and ready for the next cycle. C. Basic Designs These three mechanisms in the figure 3 are the three basic design structures of the electrostatic harvesters, in-plane overlap converter, in-plane gap-closing converter and out-of-plane gap-closing converter. The in-plane overlap converter varies its capacitance by changing the overlap area between comb fingers; the in-plane gap-closing converter varies its capacitance by change the displacement between comb fingers and the out-of-plane gap closing converter varies its capacitance by change the gap between the centre proof mass and two electrode plates. The most of the current designs of electrostatic harvesters are based on these three basic designs. Figure 3. (a) in-plane overlap converter. (b) in-plane gap-closing converter. (c) out-of-plane gap closing converter. D. Comparison in these three designs Ye Mei Lim[8] did a study on the output energy for these three designs. Firstly the in-plane overlap and in-plane gap closing converters were compared. The Cmax for the one set of comb fingers were 0.122pF and the Cmin can be treat as zero since the application of silicon nitride dielectric coating which is a very thin layer of chemical (up to 0.1Â µm) that can electrically isolate the electrodes even the plates contacts with each other[4]. While using the same set of comb fingers, the Cmax were 0.149nF and Cmin were 0.122pF. By applying equation (7), the in-plane overlap converter harvests 1000 times less than in-plane gap closing converter. Then with the simulation of both in-plane gap closing converter and out-of-plane gap closing converter. The results were found out that the in-plane gap closing mechanism is approximately 1.8 times that of the out-of-plane gap closing mechanism for load volumes between 5 and 50. NEW APPRAOCHES A. 2D Electrostatic Harvester Most of the past electrostatic harvesters are only one degree of freedom. They can only harvest energy via one direction of motion. Y. Zhu fabricates a 2 degree of freedom electrostatic transducer for energy harvesting with resonance frequencies of 38520 Hz and 38725 Hz. It can scavenge energy in arbitrary directions in a plane with two resonance frequency peaks. Also an ultrasound-based method for powering the device is presented. Y. Zhus design includes a 2 degree of freedom motion mechanism. The seismic mass is coupled with both frames as shown in figure 3 with elastic flexures. This design makes the device be able to detect both movements in X and Y frames and also decouples the X and Y movements of the mass. Figure 4. Two degree of freedom motion mechanism to harvest any direction in-plane vibration energy Figure 5 shows the SEM image of the 2-DOF electrostatic transducer. And table I are the key parameters of this design. The width difference of X frame and Y frame gives the transducer two different resonance frequencies. The primary resonance frequency at 39238 Hz and second at 39266 Hz. That gives a 302 Hz of -10dB bandwidth. It is twice of the 1D resonator. This device can obtain 10mV through a 1M ohm resistive load and harvest 0.1 nW power. Since this transducer can be power by an ultrasonic generator of frequency close to its resonance frequency. Since the ultrasonic is relatively safer than other power sources. This design may be useful for functions in medical environment. Figure 5. SEM image of the 2-DOF electrostatic transducer. Table 1. key parameter of the 2-DOF energy harvester B. Non-Resonant electrostatic harvester with rolling mass M.E.Kiziroglous design [10-11] focuses on maximizing the proof mass. In this design, an external free rolling proof mass is introduced. The mechanical energy is proportional to the proof mass, bigger mass generates more energy. This design is a non-resonant device. This property gives it wider applications. Figure 6. (a) Device structure. (b) Equivalent circuit of the device The Device structure is shown in figure 6(a). Figure (b) is the equivalent circuit of the device. The stainless steel rod acts as the contact switches and comb finger. When the steel rod is aligned with one of the strip electrodes, it connects with a Cu input Contacts to pre-charge the rod. That generates an electrostatic force between the rod and the strip electrode. That pulls the rod away from the strip electrode and reduces the capacitance at constant charge. The rod then disconnects with the input contact and makes the contact with a discharge electrode. The energy will be transferred as a high voltage pulse. The test of the current prototype of this device reveals a capacitance ratio of 4 and demonstrates a voltage gain of 2.4. Later Kiziroglou provides an advanced design of that [12]. This time the glass substrate is form in a cylindrical shape. Figure 7 is fabrication and optical images of the device. The first prototype is characterised with plate size 1 x 10 mm and SiO2 dielectric thickness of 50 nm. A 10 mm-long, 2.5 mm-diameter steel rod was used. A minimum capacitance of 2 pF and a maximum of 9 pF are observed. The voltage gain is 3 corresponds to a priming voltage 30V. The power generation is 0.5Â µW when the rod oscillation frequency at 10 Hz. The biggest advantage of this device is the capability of low frequency. That makes the human body motion as a suitable motion sources for it. Figure 7. Fabrication and optical images conclusion The focus of this paper is to present the general idea current achievement of electrostatic energy harvesting. And it gives a related reference for the group project. For most of the electrostatic harvester designs, a relatively high resonant frequency comparing with human body motion is need. However, the low frequency capability of the non-resonant energy harvester with rolling mass shows the possibility of the application of this technology in the projects. Additionally, most of the current devices only have one degree of freedom. The 2D energy harvester design can harvest arbitrary directions motion in a plane, which sufficiently increases the power output of device. However, it needs a high frequency. That makes it not suitable for the requirement of the project.