My Impressions of the Beach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

My Impressions of the Beach - Essay Example Whenever I go to a beach, I sit there for hours just looking at the waves which rise and clash with the shores and silently move back again. It always makes me feel calm since I relate it with my anger. Like the rising waves, the anger surges high and thinking about the waves I try and subside it. The waves are such an inspiration. The splash of water hits my face and I feel so relaxed as if time has stopped and there is nothing else to do except just sitting on the sea-shore and watching the beauty of nature. The rays of the sun embrace me and as I move towards the water, the sand slips away from beneath my feet. The waves crash against my body and move back as I keep moving forward. The cool touch of the water is a stress-buster and relieves my mind of all the tensions. The fast blowing winds breeze against my face and leave a soothing effect. I love watching the sunset at the beach. The reddish-orange sun looks extremely beautiful and shimmers the endless stretch of water as it sets. Hundreds of people come to watch a sunset. A number of couples enjoy some quality time with each other right under nature’s cover. Photographers run around to compel the love-lorn to get clicked in the scenic beauty of the beachside. When I was a kid, I used to crave to go to my aunt’s beach house during summers. Every weekend of June and July, we used to visit and stay at my aunt’s beach house where I learnt how to swim. It was so much fun to keep moving with the waves while inside kids float. The moment it took me a little ahead, my elder cousin used to drag the float back along with me. The waves almost covered me and the salty taste of the water gave me a tangy feeling.

Vietnam and the Eisenhower Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Vietnam and the Eisenhower Era - Essay Example The Vietnam policy of Eisenhower may therefore be summed up under the two following headings: (a) a reluctance to actively go to war in Vietnam using the full power of the American attack force, in spite of the fact that he acknowledged the Communist threat from China in south east Asia. This created domestic political friction within the Republican Party. It caused a split between those who fiercely opposed Communism, favoring full scale war with Vietnam and Eisenhower, who held back for reasons of safety and preventing loss of life in war. (b) using air attacks rather than focusing the strength of the attack on land forces. This created initial setbacks in the war as the Vietnamese showed their superior land power, that later led to the defeat and withdrawal of American forces. This is why the Eisenhower policy is important. All the ambiguities, uncertainty and losses generated during the Vietnam war were due to the policy that was followed by Eisenhower. It also gave the Democrats an opportunity to attack the Republicans for their â€Å"weak† policy in Vietnam because they did not take strong effective action to go to full scale war in Vietnam. Bipartisan politics and bickering was the result. Eisenhower’s policy made the clear cut division between Republican and Democratic to blur and become less well defined. His policy in Vietnam was most unlike the Republican witchhunt of Communists, in fact it was more a pacifying policy like the Democrats had.

Operation Management And Strategies Starbucks And Cocacola Marketing Essay

Operation Management And Strategies Starbucks And Cocacola Marketing Essay In this present document we are going to analyze several aspects of operation management and strategies considering two companies: One from the service industry, Starbucks and one for the manufacture industry, Coca Cola. We will study their supply chain and assess its impact on both companies success and profitability. Then we will analyze their operational strategy to determine in which measure it contributes to their competitiveness and we will strive to provide ways in which challenges of the different companies could be overcome so that they can strengthen their own competitive advantage. Finally we will establish a location analysis in order to identify the best place for the companies to implement a new operation. The supply chain refers to the way that materials flow through different organizations, starting with basic raw materials and ending with finished products delivered (Gaither Frazier, 2002). This involved many activities and therefore we have to think about the best way to manage it in order for a company to be successful and profitable. We can then define the supply chain management as a set of approaches utilized to efficiently integrate suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, and stores, so that merchandise is produced and distributed at the right quantities, to the right locations and the right time, in order to minimize system wide costs while satisfying service legal requirement. (Simchi-Levi, Kaminski, Simchi-Levi, 2003) The Starbucks supply chain is made of the following activities which are either external or internal to Starbucks organization: Coffee producing, importing, manufacturing and roasting, distribution to retail shop, marketing, delivering to the consumer. Supply Chain Starbucks Activities involved from the coffee production to the roasting are external to the company. They can involve many counterparts such as the small coffee producer, the processor, the exporter, the broker and the importer. To optimize these activities Starbucks manage them in many ways emphasizing its commitment to ethical coffee sourcing and fair-trade and global responsibility. Starbucks establishes relationship with growers and distributors and deal directly with farmers. It offers high prices to ensure that poor coffee growers have enough money to cover their production costs and their family needs. It uses fixed prices purchase commitments to limit its exposure to price fluctuations and purchase future contract to provide price protection. Moreover, to spread companys risk linked to the weather and the political and economical issues, Starbucks sources bean from multiple geographic areas. Starbucks commitment to ethical sourcing (it introduced the C.A.F.E program Coffee And Farmer Equity in 2004) allows having a better quality of product, a greater visibility in the supply chain and better relationship with farmers which contribute to reach success and profitability, that is to say to reach its objectives and generate wealth. Activities involved from the roasting to the delivery to the consumer are part of internal elements to the supply chain. They involve many activities such as the manufacturing, the planning, the inventory, the transportation and distribution. The key to reach success and profitability for Starbucks is to set an integrated supply chain operating system based on managing the flows. They manage the materials flows through DRP (Distribution Resource Planning) and TRP (Transportation Requirement Planning). They also put the emphasis on the information flows management to share the relevant information and to detect the supply chain opportunities at different level. The management of the marketing plays also an important role in developing the awareness of the fair trade initiative that helps justify Starbucks premium prices. The Coca Cola supply chain involves many activities namely, the supplies of raw materials and packaging, the manufacture and production of beverage concentrate, the sales to the bottlers and distributors, the Research and Development and the delivery to customer and ultimate consumer. Supply Chain Coca Cola The internal activities of the companies are limited to the manufacture of the concentrated syrup, the selling to the bottlers, the owning of the brands and the consumer branding initiatives. Therefore the companies can focus on its core competencies such as the production of syrup and the brand development to achieve its objectives and reach success. The fact that the bottling is outsourced allows the company to focus on its core competences and therefore ensure certain profitability. The others activities are part of the external supply chain but Coca Cola strives to integrate all the supply chain activities developing a strong partnership with its bottling partners. They are in charge of manufacturing the final product, packaging, distribution and merchandising the beverage to the customer and vending partners who then sell the product to the ultimate consumer. The supplies of raw materials are mostly linked to specific nutritive and non nutritive sweeteners which are available either within the United States or outside. There are numerous sources of raw materials and they are often subject of prices fluctuations. So Coca Cola has a wide choice of raw materials suppliers so that it can spread the prices fluctuation among them and therefore control its supply chain. The procurement suppliers and bottler partners have to meet certain standard to deal with Coca Cola Company and have to commit to guide principles and incorporate sustainability. Consequently Coca Cola can achieve its objective of quality and control. The Coca Cola supply chain organization allows to enhance customer service and to optimize cost and investment. How does each companys operational strategy improve its competitiveness? According to the Competitive Advantage Model of Porter, a competitive advantage refers to the adoption of offensive or defensive action to create defendable position in an industry in order to cope with competitors and generate a superior return on investment. The basis of above average performance within an industry is sustainable competitive advantage which can be either cost leadership or differentiation. Both of the companies we are analyzing have adopted the differentiation strategy. Furthermore the operation strategy is aimed at providing competitive advantage through its performance at the five competitive objectives namely, the quality, the speed, the dependability, the flexibility and the cost. Starbucks operational strategy improves its competitiveness through different ways. First of all Starbucks has understood that developing successful partnership would be a strength to develop competitive advantage first to ensure quality of product and secondly by adopting fair trade and ethical sourcing of coffee. Indeed Starbucks used to develop relationship with the countries it exports the coffee beans from. For example it collaborated with a small town of Pasto where they set up a special operation to grow the particular Narino Supremo bean and Starbucks committed to buy the entire yield which allow to be the exclusive Narino Supremo , one of the best coffees in the world and therefore to build a competitive advantage. The ethical commitment is a strong part of the operational strategy to develop specific partnership with small farmers and strengthen competitiveness. Starbucks has developed a shared planet program where it establishes environmental, social, economic and coffee quality principles to comply with C.A.F.E (Coffee And Farmers Equity) principles guid elines. This program enables Starbucks to differentiate from its competitors. Secondly Starbucks operational strategy tends to expand its market through a number of channels such as licensing stores but also with hospitals, bank, office buildings, supermarkets, shopping centers, hotel and airlines. The strategic operation model of Starbucks is to blanket an area completely even if one store cannibalizes another one because the Starbucks every-where approach cuts down delivery costs and increase the foot traffic in the area (Mr. Coffee, 2003). It develops partnership using local partner licensee who have experience in retail and restaurant in order to provide a good service to customer and fit the corporate culture of the company. Starbucks strives to develop good relation with the partner licensee to help it recruiting talented employee and put the emphasis on the customer service to build sustainable competitive advantage. The key to successful partnership for Starbucks is to share relevant information and communicate on supply chain opportunities to optimize processes. Added to this Starbucks operational strategy focuses on developing a strong corporate culture which enable to strengthen its competitiveness. Starbucks strategy is to empower employee culture through benefits program, employee stock ownership plan and staff and management training. The management staff is trained to understand how every activities of the supply chain fit together so it can be more effective and competitive. Finally Starbucks operational strategy aims at putting the emphasis on the marketing operations in order to differentiate the format. Indeed Starbucks marketing actions have to develop a given image of a small scale and high quality roaster in ethnic culture enclaves who sells not only quality coffee but also an atmosphere, a personality, an escape, the self esteem and therefore an interpersonal relation. This image reflects Starbucks personality and consequently enables the differentiation. Coca Colas operational strategy is aimed at building its competitiveness in many ways. First its operational strategy is customer focused striving to take into account customer needs and providing a response to it in a right way and in a right time. The company sustains its success and competitive advantage by creating new ways to deliver value through innovation responding to customer and consumer needs in a fast way. For example Coca Zero refers to a new consumer need. Secondly Coca Cola put the emphasis on the differentiation to strengthen its competitiveness by building global brand. It invests in marketing campaign to develop a strong image, improve its fame and impose its brand in a global basis. Therefore consumers have developed a loyalty to the brand and Coca Cola owns several brands that consumers are willing to pay a premium price for it. More over it has developed so much economies of scale through global networks that the emphasis on marketing and advertising fix important barriers to entry for potential competitors. Coca Cola also improves its competitiveness by adopting a collaborative approach to work with their suppliers to green their supply chain. It invests in new technologies and innovation to help their suppliers who do not have the ability to do so, for example in investing in new technologies vending machines which are better for the environment. Therefore it gains competitive benefits not only because of the energy savings but also from a corporate social responsibility point of view. Coca Cola has understood that integrate its suppliers would lead to supply chain excellence and therefore to sustain a competitive advantage. Consequently the Company has created Coca Cola Supply which invites all the bottlers partner to participate. The purpose is to provide a system wide leadership to control supply chain through integrated planning, joint initiatives and best practices processes. According to Coca Cola Supply, they are transforming the supply chain from a series of discrete, inconsistent activities to a single, harmonious and sustainable system (Coca-Cola Supply Created to Drive Supply Chain Innovation, 2009). Polar diagrams performance objective of Starbucks and Coca Cola What challenges do the operational strategies present and suggest ways in which they can be overcome. Operations strategy is the decisions which shape the long term capabilities of the companys operations and their contribution to overall strategy through the on-going reconciliation of market requirements and operations resources. Regarding Starbucks operational strategy many challenges could be addressed according different issues in order to be more profitable and to sustain a competitive advantage. The first thing is to always meet the customer needs for value and quality in identifying the best ways of quality processes. This implies that Starbucks has to find more suppliers quality and stability by developing partnership with different coffee farmers in order not to be dependant of only few suppliers. The quality implies also to control more and more of independent vendors, partners and licensees. Indeed the quality is one of the core value of Starbucks and reach it allows first the differentiation and secondly the conformance with customer expectations and avoid customer complaints. Starbucks has to keep developing ethical sourcing which benefits to the companys quality and image. Starbucks should assess the risk of its supply chain especially in raw materials procurement in the different countries and asses the political, geographical, natural, infrastructural risk of each country. Indeed if an incident happen in one of the procurement place Starbucks must not be dependant of few suppliers and should react quickly. It is therefore really important to develop the partnership with different countries in order to prevent late delivery and save costs. One of the challenge Starbucks will have to face is a potential saturation of the US market. Consequently a globe expansion in key market is an operational strategy Starbucks has to develop. The international expansion of the concept involves prospecting efficiently new markets and assessing the potential of success in each market. The key is to find local partner to grow the number of licensed store and impose Starbucks as a global brand. The partner have to share the same values as Starbucks and the company have to help them finding the best talent and train them in order to strengthen more and more the corporate culture. Developing new product is also an important challenge for Starbucks. Indeed the concept is mostly based on a few products which do not allow very much flexibility. Reaching flexibility will enable Starbucks to be more reactive in case of potential change from the market. Consequently the company has to develop innovative product and service while keeping its strong value of quality. For example it should be interesting to develop co-branding with other brand which presents the same value as Starbucks in order to launch new product like the company did in 2004 with Hewlett Packard when they create a CD service burning in a store in California. Coca Cola is one of the biggest brands in the world but even if its renown and profitability is well established there remain important challenges that the company has to cope with. First of all Coca Cola Company possess many brand but one of them generates around 50% of the total revenue. Therefore the company is in way dependent of one brand which can be a limit to its flexibility even if the customer loyalty to the brand is well established. Indeed Coca Cola needs more flexibility in case of market change and especially in case of consumer behavior changes. Besides we can notice a new trend where people become more and more health consciousness and look for nutritive drinks without calories. Therefore a threat of substitutes appears. In order to cope with the potential market change Coca Cola has to put the emphasis on innovation with new brands, products and packaging more adapted to consumers needs and demand. Secondly Coca Cola have to develop ways to be always more and more profitable and efficient. The key is to reduce the cost in order to increase the margin. The areas where the company could reduce these cost is the transportation and the production. Consequently Coca Cola has to identify the best places to buy, make and distribute the product. It has to monitor each region and each country comparing different parameters which will affect the supply chain such as the weather, the port and transportation, the fuel prices, the labor rates and the internal regulations of each country which can provide opportunities. Finally Coca Cola Company has to continue the effort put on green and environmental development. Indeed the company has often benefited from a negative image of a multinational company which tries to reach profit to the detriment of the planet well being. Therefore it has to keep investing in green technologies and support sustainable development with the suppliers in order not only to save energy costs but to benefit from a corporate social responsible company. Each of your company is considering locating a new operation in one of Japan, Thailand and Singapore. Source information on each of these three countries and based on the information found and using the relevant location analysis tools select which country to locate in and support your choice. You need to define why they wish to locate an operation there i.e. what market are they servicing. You should include demographic, infrastructure, cultural, geographic information, etc. Starbucks wants to locate a new operation in Japan, Thailand or Singapore. Indeed the company wants to expand its market on a global basis to cope with a potential saturation of the United States market. Therefore Starbucks wants to develop licensed stores operation in one of these countries. The key factors in such operations are the demographics, the branding and the potential revenue that each country could offer to the company. Therefore the main factors in the decision factors are the following: Quality of life issues in the community: indeed Starbucks targets a relatively high living standard consumer. Worker education and skills: the emphasis of the quality of the staff is really important to strengthen Starbucks Corporate Culture. Site costs: The rent is part of the profitability of the stores. Cultural abilities to modern changes: Starbucks is an American company, and its values have to fit with those of the country choose. Labor availability: It is important for Starbucks to find available talent. Coca Cola Company would like to improve its competitiveness and reduce the cost of transportation and production. Consequently the company would like to set up a new manufacture of syrup in Japan, Thailand or Singapore to reach this objective. Therefore Coca Cola has to monitor each country to assess the potential opportunities it could offer. The main factors in the choice of the location are the following: Proximity to raw materials and suppliers: As a manufacture of syrup, it is important to be closed to the suppliers to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Labor costs: The cheaper is the workforce the greater is the margin. Transportation availability: The products have to be imported to the different bottlers and it is therefore important to optimize the transportation cost. Site costs: The fixed cost linked to the rent should be the least in order to increase profitability. Government fiscal policies: all incentives or taxes impact on the cost. In order to compare each country we will set up a brief overview of each countrys characteristics. Japan has a population of 128 million of inhabitant and is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. With a nominal GDP of about $4,9 trillion in 2008, it is the second richest country in the world. Moreover, with an HDI (Human Development Indicator) of 0.96 it is the tenth highest standard living country. The government is a parliamentary democracy and put the emphasis on the environmental and sustainable development. The infrastructures are well developed and Japan is open in the world. According to the Big Mac Index Japanese people have the highest salary per hour in the world and the unemployment is low with a rate of 4%. Education is quite competitive and 75% of high school graduates attend a university. The culture has seen deep change from a very traditional to contemporary one. It influences by Europe and North America. Japanese people are quite open to modern changes. Thailand has a population of 64 million of inhabitants and a nominal GDP in 2008 of about $273 billion and a medium HDI of 0.783. Thailand has been ranked by the Global Competitiveness Report of 2008 34 out of 125. The quality of education is medium but tends to improve through the private education. The cost of labor remains quite low and unskilled. The government has seen many changes since the last few years but tend today to be stable. It supports today through the National Science and Technology Development Agency the research in science and technology and encourage foreign private investment in this field. Thailand remains a very traditional country where tradition is strongly established. Concerning Singapore, with a population of 5 million of inhabitants and a nominal GDP of 182 billion in 2008 it presents a high standard of living with a HDI of 0.944. It is the least corrupt country in Asia and is a highly market based economy (one of the four Asian Tiger). Singapore has developed free trade agreement with USA in 2003. The unemployment is low and is about 5% and we can notice a shortage of skilled workers. Manufacturing constituted 26% of Singapores GDP in 2005. Singapore has one of the busiest ports in the world and is the worlds fourth largest foreign exchange trading center. Singapore is a major international transportation in Asia. Singapores culture is still very traditional society. In order to choose in which country we will operate we are going to use the Factor rating method which is useful for service and industrial location and which is one of the most widely used location technique. (C1= Japan, C2=Thailand, C3=Singapore) STARBUCKS FACTOR RATING METHOD Factors Weight Rate C1 RateC2 RateC3 ScoreC1 ScoreC2 ScoreC3 Quality of life issues in the community 30 90 60 75 2700 1800 2250 Worker education and skills 20 80 50 65 1600 1000 1300 Site costs 15 60 70 65 900 1050 975 Cultural abilities to modern changes 25 80 50 60 2000 1250 1500 Labor availability 10 85 60 70 850 600 700 Total 8050 5700 6725 According to the Factor rating Method, Starbucks should implement its new operations in Japan in order to be successful, profitable and therefore achieve its objective of expanding in new markets. COCA COLA FACTOR RATING METHOD Factors Weight Rate C1 RateC2 RateC3 ScoreC1 ScoreC2 ScoreC3 Proximity to raw materials suppliers 25 60 55 65 1500 1375 1625 Labor costs 20 55 80 70 1100 1600 1400 Transportation availability 25 70 55 85 1750 1375 2125 Site costs 20 60 70 65 1200 1400 1300 Government fiscal policies 10 60 60 70 600 600 700 Total 6150 6350 7150 According to the Rating Factor Method Coca Cola should implement its new manufacture in Singapore in order to reduce its costs of production and transportation. Indeed that is the country which offers the most opportunities to do so in term of proximity to suppliers, transportation costs and labor costs.

Coleridges the Rime Of The Ancient Mariner Essay -- essays research p

Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is wrote in a way that the reader is expected to temporarily allow him or herself to believe it to be able to understand it. The poem itself is about a Mariner who is telling his tale of sin and forgiveness by God to a man referred to as the "Wedding Guest." The Mariner is supposedly responsible for the death of all of the crew on his ship because of his killing of a creature which was to bring them the wind that they needed to put power into the sails of the ship. The whole point of the poem is to encourage or convince the reader to believe the tale that Coleridge tells. Coleridge wrote the poem as a means to induce the reader with what he calls a "willing suspension of disbelief." The poem is written in such a way that the reader is expected to willingly decide to temporarily believe the almost unbelievable story. The reason a person is to make sure that he or she believes it temporarily to be true is because the Mariner in the story is trying to get the point of forgiveness from God across to the reader and if the reader chooses not to believe the story behind the poem then they will not understand the effect of the point of the tale. Coleridge's main point in writing the story was to get people to understand forgiveness by understanding the poem. The Mariner in th... Coleridges "the Rime Of The Ancient Mariner Essay -- essays research p Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is wrote in a way that the reader is expected to temporarily allow him or herself to believe it to be able to understand it. The poem itself is about a Mariner who is telling his tale of sin and forgiveness by God to a man referred to as the "Wedding Guest." The Mariner is supposedly responsible for the death of all of the crew on his ship because of his killing of a creature which was to bring them the wind that they needed to put power into the sails of the ship. The whole point of the poem is to encourage or convince the reader to believe the tale that Coleridge tells. Coleridge wrote the poem as a means to induce the reader with what he calls a "willing suspension of disbelief." The poem is written in such a way that the reader is expected to willingly decide to temporarily believe the almost unbelievable story. The reason a person is to make sure that he or she believes it temporarily to be true is because the Mariner in the story is trying to get the point of forgiveness from God across to the reader and if the reader chooses not to believe the story behind the poem then they will not understand the effect of the point of the tale. Coleridge's main point in writing the story was to get people to understand forgiveness by understanding the poem. The Mariner in th...

Bridewealth and the American Culture

Bridewealth and the American Culture Family and personal assets affect the choices we make in picking the right mate in Western Culture. The ways we view these issues influences are dating practices, and marriage choices. Evolutionary theory predicts certain mannerism that should influence dating. Most of the time evolutionary theory is reflected in mating practices. Mating choices are also affected cross-culturally in other ways like with the Kipsigis and bridewealth. Choices we make for dating and marriage prospects rate differently according to sex and culture. The evolutionary theory predicts that women will value financial prospects higher than men do (Boyd, 2006, 461). Because women have a larger parental investment in a child, they want to be with a mate who will be able to take care of them. In David Buss' research he found that knowing a persons culture rather than gender will indicate preferences except for good financial prospects(Boyd, 2006, 465). For men in Western Culture good financial prospects are lower on their list and good looks is higher. This may be because women who are more attractive to them give the signal that they are less likely to have diseases, and possible based on their body type may be more fertile. Men and women also differ in the preference for the age of their partners. Men tend to date younger women while women date older men. This relates to the evolutionary theory because men’s fertility only slightly decreases with age, while women fertility ends as they reach menopause. It would make sense in evolutionary terms for men to choose women who have the ability to have children and are therefore younger. In actual practice men do choose women that are younger but not all of them are able to have children. â€Å"Older men may desire younger women, but they may also want to find someone who shares their tastes in music, has similar goals in life, and so on† (Boyd, 2006, 462). They may also settle with knowing that they may only be able to date women who are closer to their own age. In Kipsigis culture bridewealth is practiced. Bridewealth is payment giving to the father of the bride from the groom’s father. The payment, tendered in livestock and cash, compensates the bride’s family for the loss of her labor and gives the groom rights to her labor and the children she bears during her marriages† (Boyd, 2006, 468). It is almost like an investment. The more a woman is â€Å"worth† the higher the bridewealth. A woman is also expected to return to her family during the harvest and a higher bridewealth may be paid if the families are too far apart. Higher br idewealth is also paid for women who have had their first menstruation. This also fits in with evolutionary theory that women have a set timeline for having children. As a woman is younger they may be fit to have more children. A plumper woman will fetch a higher the bridewealth as well. Thinness in animals reflects less of ability for children and these views are reflected in the Kipsigis people when they choose women who have more body. In Western culture bridewealth is not common. Typically the bride’s family is expected to pay for much of the wedding reflecting more of a dowry. In both cultures typically the more desirable the woman’s assets are, the better choices of bridewealth or financial prospects. Mating choices and preferences can very from culture to culture. There is one thing that all cultures have in common which is that females prefer a partner with better financial ability. Evolutionary theory favors mating choices that will produce the most amount of fertility. For the Kipsigis this is seen in the healthier plump women and young women who have the ability to have more children. In Western society men rate attractiveness higher than women and often choose younger women as well even if it doesn’t increase fertility. Our mating choices are based on our gender and culture. References Boyd, Robert, & Silk, Joan B. (2006). How Humans Evolved (4th ed. ). New York: W W Norton & Company.

Differences in cultures Essay

Culture impacts the strategies of marketer for different markets and consumer groups. There are various factors which impacts culture for instance globalization, internationalization and development in the telecommunication sector. These have enabled transfer of ideas and views of one culture to another. Hence impacts the populations worldwide. Various markets today are transforming to homogenous marketplace. The differences in consumer preferences and choices are reducing day by day. Either consumer would ask for totally different product or will buy something which is common. The choices of consumer are based on the factors like his needs and financials. As said by Williams, â€Å"People across cultures can do the same thing for different reasons or motives, and people in different countries may do different things for the same reasons. †(Mooij and Marieke K. de, 2004, p. 138) Cultural values vary with product categories. A marketer would use those attributes of any product which are culturally more accepted to design its marketing, selling and advertisement strategies. Buying motives will be different in different cultures. For instance for a particular country having automobile can be a status symbol while in other having environmental friendly vehicle can be more important issue. Culture impacts the attitude and decision making capability of the consumer. It impacts the branding, packaging and promotions strategies. Different Colours and shapes have different meanings attached to it. Marketer needs to understand these meanings and factors in order to decide for the marketing mix product, price, place and promotion. The packaging which plays different roles for the marketer and consumer from protecting the product to attracting the consumer requires special attention so that it can be accepted within the target consumer groups. â€Å"Throughout the past two decades globalization has resulted in saturation of domestic markets which lead companies to become more international. The ideal strategy in the evolution to the international marketplace would be to produce, package and sell the exact same product that was sold in the domestic market. This concept is supported by a variety of researchers (Samli, 1995), who declare that 75% of the world market may be quite alike culturally. Yet, this might be an egocentric perspective of the world, ignoring the unique qualities of each culture. In quintessence, the remaining 25% of the world is culturally different. † (Weber, J. M. et al. , 2002, p. 396) I. i. a. Various Factors Influenced by Culture There are various factors influenced by culture. The reason why people buy certain product at specific period of tie may be influenced by the cultural setting of the individual. Organizations’’ prior to launching their product or setting any operational study go through the cultural aspects of the specific market. This helps organizations to serve and operate within that area effectively. Many global standard products, assumed to be culture-free, are brought for different reasons across cultures. But there are differences in understanding certain product attributes and varying buying motives which can be well explained by underlying cultural values that vary by product category. For instance, advertising appeals which are effective in one culture may result in different responses when used in another culture such as, in UK beer advertising uses humorous appeals and German car advertising uses technological appeals. Apart from advertising appeals even in case of basic needs the motives of buying varies as for example, motives for buying a car may vary between safety, status, design, and environmentally friendly, all based on different cultural values. (Mooij and Marieke K. de, 2004) Some of those are discussed below: †¢ Attitude †¢ Ethnocentrism and Ethnic Background. †¢ Lifestyle †¢ Language †¢ Aesthetic Experience †¢ Purity †¢ Colour Perception †¢ Selective Perception †¢ Communication †¢ Visual Images †¢ Shopping & Buying Behaviour Attitude: Attitude of individuals are guided by their values and beliefs. These factors are also influenced by the culture individual belongs or lives. Attitudes have an impact on behaviour and vice versa. Different culture shows different kind of attitudes on various issues like countries of origin of products, brands, ethical standards and many more within its members. Ethnocentrism and Ethnic Background. â€Å"When consumers prefer products or brands from their own country to the products or brands from other countries, this is called Consumer Ethnocentrism† (De Mooij, pp. 120). The social identity of the product varies according to its country of origin. The products from west are considered prestigious and sophisticated while products from china are considered to be low quality products. Lifestyle: As mentioned in the work of Mooij and Marieke K. de, (2004) Lifestyle is defined as the way of living. Living across the globe is different in different cultures. Language: Language is a medium of communication. It can be either in written, spoken or even in sign form. Language is an expression or a demonstration of a society and culture. Various elements of culture like thoughts, ideas, values, beliefs are reflected through language. Particular language represents its own cultural framework. Speakers of different languages not only say things differently, they experience things differently. Aesthetic Experience: Aesthetic experience refers to the experience of pleasure or displeasure caused by stimuli that are perceived as being beautiful or not beautiful, attractive or un-attractive, and rewarding or unrewarding (Russell et al., 1997. p. 125). The aesthetic value can be created by the visuals, shape, language use and others. Particular society may consider particular factor important for instance Visual language is culturally specific in Western cultures. In Asian cultures visuals plays an important role in the imagination. For the Asian designers as centering is meant to be a fundamental principle in visual art in many Asian cultures. There is a big difference on the aesthetic appeals impacting individuals in east or west. In Asian cultures complexity in the designs and visuals is very common. The use of Colours and shapes will be different. Usually bright Colours are used in Asian countries which have its own meaning attached to it. Brides usually wear red bridal uniform as red is the symbol of prosperity and growth in many cultures. Environment: Different cultures deal with the environment in different ways. In the west countries like Britain and US environmental concerns are so high these concerns have impact on the product manufacturing to product packaging strategy. The packaging would vary according to the environmental standards. This is the reason why the use of poly begs have been replaced by the recyclable paper and products for the packaging. Purity: Purity is a subjective terms used by the researchers and academicians. Purity is sometimes attached to the cleanliness and sometimes to the soul of people. It varies from culture to culture. In some culture eating food from hand may be acceptable while in other it can be unacceptable. The recent controversy on the leading reality show of UK â€Å"Big brother† the aspects of culture and purity come into picture where one member refused to eat meal prepared by the other member and would have been one of the issues of content. Colour Perception: â€Å"Colours are known to posses emotional and psychological properties (Hevner 1935; Ward 1995). † (Thomas, J. M. et al. , 2000) According to Gunnerod (1991), Japanese consumers prefer white, while consumers from Hong Kong prefer red. Tektronix (1998) found that in India, orange is considered the most sacred Colour by Hindus whereas the Ndembo in Zambia do not even consider orange as a separate Colour. In a study a Housewife’s were given 3 different packages containing the same detergent of different Colours; blue Colour (quiet Colour), the second yellow (it had strong visibility) and yellow with blue stripes. The feed back of consumer was that detergent in Blue did not clean properly. While detergent in Yellow – ‘was too strong’ and Yellow with blue stripes ‘was just perfect’. The results can be based on various factors of an individual. In US Colours are associated with certain images. These images are as follows: †¢ BLUE is associated with Wealth, Trust, and Security †¢ GRAY is associated with Strength, Exclusivity and Success †¢ ORANGE denotes cheapness †¢ YELLOW, ORANGE, BLUE are connected with happiness †¢ RED, BLACK, BROWN are connected with sadness The perception of Colour is different across cultures. In Dutch culture RED is the prominent Colour comes to mind whereas in US it is BLUE. Similarly BLACK and BROWN are the two Colours strongly associated with Sad and Stale in various cultures has some additional meaning of Formal in Brazil, Colombia, PRC and Taiwan. These Colours are considered Masculine in Austria, Hong Kong and US. BLUE, GREEN and WHITE Colours are associated with Peace, Gentle and Calm in almost all the countries. Colours like GOLD, ORANGE and YELLOW which do not posses strong association with any of the Colour meanings and are some how close to one another. In India white Colour is also associated with mourn. People wear white Colour clothes in death ceremony. Widows in Hindu culture wear white dress throughout their life after the death of husband. They are not allowed to use any form of Colour. While in west white is used as a Colour of the bridal dress. Selective Perception: Perception of an individual regarding any particular aspect depends on number of factors like values, beliefs, level of education and others. It can be defined as selective observation of reality. Selective observation is distorted understanding and formation of view regarding particular thing. People see what they want to see and how they want to see. They reinforce their perception by seeing certain things and would hardly like to change it. Selective perception is a universal phenomenon. It is reinforced by culture. Communication: Communication is a process through which ideas, emotions, faith belief and actions are transferred to one individual to another. To communicate properly one should have the knowledge of rules of communications, norms and other factors of the related community. One of the most important aspects of proficient communication is knowledge of appropriate words used at a particular point of time. There is a strong relationship between culture and language. Each of these factors is functional and mutually complementary to each other. In the process of communication message is selected and encoded in order to transfer meaning to the receiver. Cultural knowledge provides the basis for interaction. The purpose of communication may also be different across cultures. †¢ Visual Images: Most of the researches on perception are carried out in Western societies. Since the development of visual perception depends on certain kinds of learning experiences, due to which there are cross-cultural differences in perception. Evidence of a basic cross-cultural difference in perception was reported by Turnbull. Some studies suggest that the integration of pictorial elements varies cross-culturally. The correct naming of elements of a picture does not predict ability to correctly perceive their mutual relationships. There are significant cultural differences in pictorial perception and recognition. As discussed earlier, complex visual images, relying on implicit meaning, can be better processed by members of collectivistic cultures who are more used to deriving meaning from context, than by members of individualistic cultures who are made used to simple visual images that carry explicit meaning i.e. pictures speak for themselves. A picture that is very meaningful for the members of one culture because it expresses important values of that culture can be completely meaningless to the members of the other culture. For instance, imagery is a very important element of advertising which has been undervalued in research due to the historical focus on verbal communication in US. This has been proved by an advertisement of Benetton in which a black women is nursing a white baby, was been awarded fro its message of unity and equality in Europe. Simultaneously, the same advertisement stirred up controversy in US, since many believed it depicted a black nanny in the subordinate role as a slave. Shopping & Buying Behaviour: Shopping & buying behaviour is also to a large extent affected by the culture of the nation. In low power distance cultures more number of women work part-time so it influences the number of visits they make to the shop where as in high power distance cultures women mostly work full-time so they have fewer shopping-time.

walk in my shoes Essay example

walk in my shoes Essay example walk in my shoes Essay example Walk In My Shoes Empathy is defined as a way to intellectually or emotionally understand a person. Harper Lee uses pathos to create empathy and evoke powerful emotions in To Kill A Mockingbird. The children use the information from what they see and not what they are told. The last way she displays contrast of how empathy can prevent prejudice is with a distinct character named Mr. Raymond and his relations with coloured people. Using empathy in the things you perform can prevent discrimination and ill understandings of a person. Throughout the novel Jem and Scout learn the situations of others and how to understand why the think and do certain things. The first true sign of Scout maturing is when she feels sympathy for Mayella Ewell during the trial. On the outside Mayella has caused her a lot of grief. Yet when Scout hears about her life she is able to walk around in her circumstances. â€Å"As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier then Boo Radley, who had not been out of his house in twenty five years†. She learns to appreciate another persons situation. Scout started bashing on Walter Cunnighams in the school yard. To soon be shut down by her brother Jem. â€Å"I stomped at him to chase him away but Jem put out his hand and stopped me†. Jem was stopping his sister because he knows the ordeals Walter and his family face everyday. To make up for what his sister had