The Rise of Technology, the Fall of the Human Mind

Pretty much all of the excitement over the last century has been about the new advanced technology, most people are fooled by thinking they need the newest and the best. But to what extent is this new technology ruining the environment and the actual people? It is believed that with all the new technology people are becoming less healthy as they can use the technology to do all the work for them. Have the people of the world become too dependent on computers, cars, the internet, different machines, cellphones and high tech calculators? Technology has become the most common used thing in the world. Technology is every aspect of the human life, it effects from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed. We can say that,†living without technology is like living without air† in this technical world of today, therefore, we are much too dependent on technology. Since the industrial revolution, society has become more and more dependent on technology. So much so that we sometimes lack the willingness to think before we act. Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. Every small work we do is technology dependent. Today every other person is recognized with the device he carries, which is technically advanced. People in today’s society are always looking for ways to improve their lifestyles and in some way help deal with their physical environment. Even in the shelf life in our grocery stores, the food products increase with help of everyday technology and the preparation time of food is reduced with the help of new machines and equipment, making the person buying it have easy consumption and also saving a lot of productive time. Whereas back in the day it was very time consuming to hunt and kill your prey to be able to eat. The whole food industry has completely changed with the new technology we have today. The invention of the television has brought all forms of entertainment into our houses with video and audio combined. Before 1950, newspapers and radio were the only ways to bring media or entertainment into the home.

Sand Casting Techniques

MME 3210 Materials Processing Techniques Laboratory Assignment – Sand Casting of an Aluminium 13wt% Silicon Alloy 1) Process Attributes Waste shown yellow* Waste shown yellow* After taking part in the sand casting laboratory session it was made clear that the process possessed many advantages and disadvantage, both from the process itself and from the final part produced. Observing the process step by step it was noted that the tasks carried out by the operator were not very difficult (i. e compacting sand, pouring liquid metal) and so giving the advantage of only requiring a low skill level.However, although the process did not involve a large amount of skill it was observed to be very labour intensive and took a long time to complete one cycle of the process (around 30mins). Having a long cycle time is clearly a disadvantage as time is money in the manufacturing industry but this could be slightly reduced if multiple moulds were prepared simultaneously. Another advantage obs erved during the sand casting procedure was that the equipment used was not very expensive and unlike other casting processes the mould was reusable.With only a low capital investment needed this would make short production runs viable. Probably the most noticeable disadvantage to the sand casting method was the low material utilization. In the labs example (seen left), almost a third of the material used is lost to the riser, runners and feeder. Particularly in today’s waste conscious culture this can cause many problems, however it can be tackled by better design. 2) Process Problems Shrinkage: Shrinkage defects in the final product are usually the result of a feeding defect.As shrinkage naturally occurs during the solidification process, if liquid metal is not sufficiently fed through the feeding system to compensate then it will result in an indented surface. The surface defect was clearly shown in the lab example (shown left). A shrinkage defect normally occurs on the la st part to solidify, so logically in the labs case the shrinkage occurred on the surface of the thickest part Furthermore the big defect problem of a surface sink was observed in the sand casting lab session (shown left).A sink such as this would give major dimensional inaccuracies and would probably have to be redone as it would be unsuitable and uneconomical for further processing. Solution: One way in which an engineer could reduce the effects of shrinkage is to design the mould to compensate for the shrinkage during solidification (i. e making the mould larger). Also due to shrinkage being mainly associated in being a feeding problem, the redesign of the feeding system would reduce the set back. Making the feeding sprue thicker would ensure that the system continues to feed liquid metal to the cavity, thus preventing shrinkage.Furthermore utilizing a uniform part thickness would also tackle the problem reducing residue stresses and leading to uniform cooling. Rough Surface Textu re: The defect causes an undesirable distorted surface finish and is formed due to the texture created from the compacted sand used to create the mould cavity. The effect was observed in the part created from the lab session and can be seen right. Solution: The rough surface effects created from the mould sand can be significantly reduced by using sand with very small grain size.Particularly for the face sand which lines the surface of the mould cavity, if the grains used are very fine then surface finish will be improved dramatically. Porosity: The defect of porosity occurs because of the liquid metal used to create the part can hold large amounts of dissolved gasses. As the liquid metal solidifies, the materials new solid form can no longer hold these gasses and so they form bubbles. These bubbles can be generated both on the surface of the material and internally, thus they effect the strength of the materials solid form and resulting in a decrease in mechanical properties.Effect s of porosity shown above* Effects of porosity shown above* In the lab example holes were added in the sand to allow gas and moisture to escape, however effects of porosity were still clearly visible. Solution: The solution to eliminating the undesirable effects of porosity is based around minimizing the amount of gas that is in the liquid metal. One way in which gas inclusion to the liquid metal can be reduced is to minimize the effects of turbulence experienced during the filling process.Similarly to solving the problem of shrinkage, this can be solved by redesigning the filling system. The design used in the lab example used the bad design set up. With the sprue placed at the top of the mould cavity, the liquid metal flows fast splashing in to the mould cavity below and resulting in turbulence and gas inclusions. If the good design set up is implemented then the liquid metal will flow slower and because runner is fed into bottom of the mould cavity with several gates, splashing w ill be significantly reduced, turbulence minimised and inclusion of gasses eliminated.Good design Good design Bad design Bad design 3) Advantages for using Aluminium – Silicon alloy having 13wt% Si: * Aluminium alloys supply reasonably high tensile strength in relation to density, compared with other alloys such as cast steel. * Corrosion resistant in normal environment. * High fluidity of composite melt provides easy transfer and pouring of material to mould (demonstrated in lab shown below). * Utilizes a Eutectic system, reducing defects such as porosity. * Silicon within eutectic results in: Increased corrosion and wear resistance. * Reduced thermal expansion coefficient. * Improved casting and machining characteristics. *Increasing silicon content within alloy will magnify these properties accordingly * Different Al and Si within Eutectic act as a hindrance to dislocation movement. * On part completion, alloy material can be easily polished and painted for an aestheticall y pleasing surface finish. 4) Nucleation Solidification does not happen instantaneously but occurs by a process of nucleation and growth.All pure crystalline solids have a given melting temperature (Tm), although when above this temperature the material will be in a stable liquid state, if cooled to a temperature equal to Tm then the material will start to crystalize. This usually involves some degree of undercooling for crystal nuclei to form. Free Energy Of system Free Energy Of system From the graph above it can be seen that by increasing the undercooling ? T, the free energy also increases ? G. Gets steeper as T is decreased Gets steeper as T is decreased There are different types of nucleation, homogeneous and heterogeneous.Although homogeneous almost never occurs in real life it can be used to build a model of the more realistic heterogeneous nucleation. Heterogeneous occurs on an existing nucleant but unlike homogeneous the nucleated cap is a solid rather than a sphere, thus less atoms are required. Process usually requires liquid to wet the nucleant surface. Growth For growth to be sustained, the temperature of the melt must be less than the melting point. The speed in which growth occurs can be controlled by the amount of undercooling applied, with a large amount of undercooling resulting in rapid growth.In addition the growth also depends on how fast latent heat is removed during crystallization. Both these aspects contribute to the temperature gradient of the melt which affect crystal formation. Constitutional Undercooling Usually caused by non-equilibrium concentration gradient, constitutional undercooling is more likely to be found in alloy casting rather than in pure materials. Seen in the diagram right, the amount of constitutional has a large impact on the type of crystal growth. Looking at the solidification of Al 13% Si, it would be expected to solidify under eutectic solidification.Due the fact that it is a composition of two materials, alum inium and silicon, and that during the lab the material solidified at a single temperature (room temperature). Furthermore it also provides the lowest melting temperature for the materials used. This is an energy savings in a production area. 5) From the many defects created during the creation of the lab example part it was clear that something in the process needed to be changed in order to produce a part of a more acceptable quality.As highlighted earlier, a main area for improvement was with the method of delivering the liquid material to the mould, particularly focusing on the design of the feeder. The current feeder design used is very basic and can be seen right. The set up uses a thick single vertical cylindrical shaft with a very small taper, delivering liquid metal directly to the cavity via a single runner. Concentrating on feeder design, one way in which defects can be reduced is by supplying the cavity with a smooth constant volume of flow.As the current feeder is very thick, the material is delivered very fast to one area of the cavity causing turbulence and inclusion of unwanted gas. This undesired effect could be minimized by changing the set up of having one large feeder to possibly 3 smaller ones. The use of multiple feeders would allow a more evenly distributed and constant metal flow. In addition the angle of taper could be increased to assist constant volume flow. Cavity Cavity Multiple feeders Multiple feeders Each of the feeders used should be reduced in thickness as much as possible, still maintaining the desired flow rate.This is important as although deliverance of material is critical, the amount of waste material must be reduced as much as possible. Although only visual inspection was applied to the produced lab part, if it was discovered that the defects main cause was that of impurities within the solidified material than the Cosworth ‘’upward fill’’ system could be employed. Due to its upward fill the p rocess eliminates the problem of impurities within the liquid melt and impurities that sink or float are discarded. References http://www. acetake. com http://www. rheocast. com www. electrochemsci. org/papers/vol4

Parliamentary Supremacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Parliamentary Supremacy - Essay Example This actually outlines why the term parliamentary supremacy has been used. â€Å" Judicial statements that the court must simply interpret and apply that which had been so enacted, and may not question the procedure by which these consents were given, represent, therefore, no more than the rule of recognition in practice.†2 He doctrine of the legislative supremacy of parliament has been so firmly established that it has scarcely been challenged in the courts. When Canon Selwyn made an application questioning the validity of the Royal Assent to the Irish Church Disestablishment Act 1869 as being inconsistent with the coronation oath and the Act of settlement, Cockburn C.J, and Blackburn J in refusing the application said:† There is no judicial body in the country by which the validity of an Act of parliament can be questioned. An Act of legislature is superior in authority to any court of law†¦.and no court could pronounce a judgment as to the validity of an Act of parliament.†3 In Martin v O’sullivan4, Nourse J and the court of appeal refused to consider a claim that proceedings in thee House of Commons during the passage of the Bill which became the social security Act 1975 were invalid because the members of the House were all disqualified from sitting. There was, according to the judges, a fundamental answer to this case, namely, that a court only look at the parliamentary roll of statutes and if it appeared that an Act had passed both Houses of parliament and had received Royal assent it could look no further. In Attorney-General for the New South Wales v Trethowan5, the constitution(Legislative council Amendment)Act 1929, an Act of the New South Wales parliament provided that the parliament’s upper House could not be abolished except by a Bill approved in a referendum after completing its parliamentary

The Four Functions of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Four Functions of Management - Essay Example Planning is the process of developing the business mission and objectives and determining how they will be accomplish (Evron, 1994). The planning function allows managers to create business strategies to determine the long term objectives of the company. This function is very important because a manager that does not adequate plan the business trajectory of a company can expose the company to business risks. Planning involves the evaluation of internal and external factors. Forecasting methods such as the Delphi method can help a manager determine the future demand of the company’s product. Based on this information a manager can plan the future equipment, labor, and inventory needs of the enterprise. The second managerial function is organizing. Organizing involves allocating and configuring resources to accomplish the goals and objectives established during the planning process (Mcnamara, 2009). The function involves determining the best organization structure to optimize the work performance of the workers. As organizations get larger the organizing function becomes more important. A lack of organization can lead to business chaos. An example of a company whose managerial staff failed to perform the organizing function adequately is Enron Corporation. A manager that organizes well the company’s resources is able to increase the work performance of the employees. The nature of a business influences the way a manager organizes an organization. The matrix organization structure is better suited for innovative companies. In business environments in which the customers expect fast results a manager can empower the employees to make their own decisions. The third managerial function is leading. Leading involves influencing people’s behavior through motivation, group dynamics, communication, and leadership (Rane, 2007). There is a direct correlation between motivation and employee performance. A

Cover Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Cover Letter - Essay Example I am also hardworking and flexible, so I can meet the changing needs and demands of my job. My value for a systematic and collaborative environment is an added advantage for your organization to realize its goals in a timely and effective manner. I understand that achieving performance improvement and government expenditure growth is a difficult task for the government. However, for whatever the government can accomplish, it should to be accountable to the taxpayers. In other words, the taxpayers should be aware of how their money is used. One of the most successful methods of achieving accountability is to publish and release data annually and semi-annually in order to provide the public with information on how public funds are spent and how well the government is performing in terms of service delivery to the public. Providing information about public service and performance ensures that the government becomes accountable and improves its efficiency (Erkkilä, 2012). Data of expenditure should be published to enable the public to track the money paid to civil servants, money spent on contracts, and other types of government expenditure. Releasing public data should be done in public and through the print media so that a ll citizens can access them. The local government can become more open, transparent and accountable to its constituents by providing open data, disclosing sufficient financial information on annual financial statements, and engaging the public in decision making. Publishing data on financial expenditure enables the public to assess government performance; hence holding the government accountable for its service delivery and performance. This openness builds public trust on the government. The government should also discuss various issues with the public concerning public service and how the government is using public funds to meet its expenditure. Financial information

If the goverment takes away gun use right will murders decrease Research Paper

If the goverment takes away gun use right will murders decrease - Research Paper Example About 100 million of them are handguns. Based on survey information from the U.S. justice Department in 2008, about 436,000 violent crimes were performed by offenders visibly armed with guns. Murder is defined as the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. Gun right is provided in the Bill of Rights. The Second of the Amendments to the Constitution read â€Å"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, peoples right to keep and own guns shall not be infringed†. The gun use rights are provided by law makers. The use rights are for example, Right-to-carry laws that allows individual people who attain certain "minimally restrictive" criteria (e.g. as the finishing of a background check and also the gun safety course) to carry with them concealed guns in most public places. This focuses on how the gun is used or handled. Today, there are above 20,000 gun-control laws in the federal, state, and governments local levels. There is no question that guns account for countless murders whether unintentional or intentional. There are allot of people who believe that there is the existence of some causal relationship amongst these phenomena; named that crime decreases because of more strict gun-controlling legislation. As the laws that regulate and limit access to guns may have the effects of decreasing the rate of murder with guns, the variance of murder rates could be attributable to other factors. Kellermann (1993) maintains that the people who become firearms fatalities also had experienced domestic violence, drug abuse and alcohol, at greater rates than the nationals average. Kleck and McElrath, reported that when guns are present (they) "tend to inhibit attacks and, in the case of these attacks, to decrease the probability of injuries (to victims), whereas, once injuries occur, they tend to increase the probability of death."

Engineering material Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Engineering material - Essay Example The central part of the specimen possesses reduced cross-sectional area than the end parts. The reduced gauge ensures that the highest stresses occur within the gauge, and not near the grips of the load frame, preventing strain and fracture of the specimen near or in the grips (Fabila 2010). Incremental application of the tensile load to the specimen and its corresponding extension are recorded and plotted by a computer in the form of a load versus elongation graph. This graph is converted into an engineering stress versus engineering strain graph, which is later used to calculate material properties such as yield strength, Young’s modulus, ultimate tensile strength, resilience, and toughness of material. The experiment was conducted on specimens made of Mild Steel (Grade 250), Aluminium 6061, Copper, and Brass. All test specimens had an initial gauge length of 25 mm. All other dimensions of specimens are given below: Each specimen was measured using the calipers to determine the diameter and cross section. A gauge length was determined and scribed into the specimen so the distance between two marks could be measured after the tensile test was completed (Fabila 2010). The specimen was securely placed into the jaws of the Instron load frame so that it was equally spaced between the two clamps (Fabila 2010). The axial and transverse extensometers were attached to the reduced gauge section of the specimen. Care was taken to ensure that the axial extensometer was set correctly, and the transverse extensometer was across the complete diameter of the specimen (Fabila 2010). The test with each specimen continued until fracture. After that, the specimen was removed, and the equipment was reset for the next test. The results of the uniaxial test were used to calculate material properties using the formulas provided below. The results of the tensile tests

MRES7014 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MRES7014 - Assignment Example ion comes as a result of the abnormal contact of the head and the socket unlike the pincer condition that that is experienced at the front-top rim of the socket that eventually leads to the damage of the labral cartilage. This condition however is characterized by the areas where it damages including the cartilage, labral tears, early hips arthritis and the back pain. The result of the diagnosis of either form might lead to chondral lesions and labral pathology. Patients of these two conditions are presented with radiographs, CT and MRA. Consequently, this condition of FAI is being experienced by the high level athletes and people who are actively involved in sports. Traditionally, the hip pain in adults has been likened to the osteoarthritis in the joint. However, studies show that there are young patients with this disease that are referred to doctors without being diagnosed with arthritis. Additionally, the subtle bony and soft tissues problems can result to problems of the hip in young adults who are actively involved in sports (Andrews, 2000). It is stated that such problems might result to premature arthritis. However, with increased research, early diagnosis of the disease has been possible through the examination of hip impingement and radiological imaging through magnetic resonance arthrograpghy (MRA). While there is unclear literature regarding the cause of primary osteoarthritis, some clinicians’ believe that FAI might be the sole reason for the occurrence and progression of the condition in human beings. So, the FAI condition also results to abutment of the section between the proximal femur and the acetabular rim (Beck, 2004). The FAI condition can be treated through various means with surgery only being one of the choices. Others include through open or arthroscopic exploration of the hip in order to improve the femoral head neck junction. Coil selection is the process of choosing coil elements for FAI diagnosis based on the size, construction,

Newspaper Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Newspaper Article - Essay Example Over 80 per cent of the health expenditure in India is in the private sector, while in most developed societies more than 80 per cent of health expenditure is borne by the exchequer. In SAARC, India’s infant mortality rate is 56 per 1,000 live births in 2005 better than that of only Pakistan. It is a far cry from 12 in Sri Lanka. Similarly, life expectancy at birth is 64 years in India, 63 in Nepal & 75 in Sri Lanka. The author of the article titled, â€Å"Financing healthcare in India†, dated: Jan 16, 2010, is Mr. N. J. Kurian. He is a visiting Professor at the Social Development, New Delhi and the Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad. The newspaper, The Hindu, carrying the article is one of the leading newspapers of India with a circulation of 1.45m and readership of 5.2m. The article attempted to give a panoramic view of the universal health care system with emboldened comparisons with the United Kingdom. Despite the detailed information, there was no information on the state of the African nations, or the emerging super power, China. Latin America, received little mentioning with a positive citation of Cuba. It would be unfair to say of any bias in the article as the pros and cons of each system, so mentioned, have been kept with utmost clarity and facts. The subjectivity has been supported with data, for marked credibility. The NHS has been kept as the role model for future course of action for other lagging countries without mincing matters. In US, the healthcare system is expensive with a nexus between private health insurance companies and healthcare providers. Invariably expensive drugs and procedures are prescribed by health insurance companies to the young, the employed and the rich, avoiding those who are elderly, unemployed and poor. Indispuably, all Americans already have access to at least emergency care and hospitals are legally obligated to provide care regardless of ability to pay. It

To what extent do you agree that CCTV has had a positive effect on Essay

To what extent do you agree that CCTV has had a positive effect on society - Essay Example The first area under review is airport territory as, unfortunately, airports become one of the main targets for terrorists what requires increased attention of security. Human capacity is limited to keep in focus all the details, especially small ones, even if many people are employed. That is the main reason why Closed Circuit Television surveillance is needed. For instance, all the records can be saved and revised should the need arise for more clarification. Such a situation explains the necessity of CCTV implementation to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks and to assist better in questions of preventive measures. Due to this factor, it is possible to minimize the need of hiring a great number of people what is reflected on the economic performance in general. Additionally, with the help of CCTV it is easier to control the quality of pilots work that is the most essential in questions of passengers safety. Moreover, being under control, the level of responsibility is growing and makes people perform better with their obligations. Besides that, such surveillance helps to monitor the quality of services provided by the airport staff, like baggage maintenance and handling, for instance (Airport Security, 2009). To opposite to all those people who worry about their privacy, it should be mentioned that all the video observation is absolutely confidential and only a few people have access to those files what leaves no place for fears of the interference into anyones private life. The other area where CCTV cameras are useful is on the roads. The article (ZeeNews, 2014) has a negative feedback on the growing quantity of cameras and the accessibility to the recorded information. But, according to Surveillance Road Map, where the laws protecting Human Rights are described, it is stated that such an important question as privacy is regulated by the set of laws that carry penalties and punishment corresponding to the

Cultural Issues in Middle School Essay Example for Free

Cultural Issues in Middle School Essay Middle school is one of the most difficult situations of transition. Middle schoolers are awkward, hard to deal with and confused. They aren’t children but certainly not adults. They are egocentric to say the least and have little concern for the consequences of their actions. Yet, they are also one of the best ages to work with, if one is willing to try to understand their difficult lives. The culture in middle school can be broken down as such: sexuality, intellect, and social status. Sexually, these students have to deal with their changing bodies and feelings. They also have to try to understand how these feelings and changes fit in appropriately within the community. This is the area they are most sensitive toward. Intellectually, students have to decide if being â€Å"smart† is something they are willing to do. In some environments, being smart is cool, so those students who are gifted have no trouble fitting in. In other schools, these students are outcasts. When it is not cool to be smart, many students have a hard decision to make. If they show their gifts, they may sacrifice social standing. When it is cool, the struggling students feel even more left out and troubled. At times, these students may even act dumber to try to hide how much they truly struggle. Social status varies with each school environment. Wealth, possessions, address, family legacy and athletic ability are all indicators of success. Middle school is a contest and students are constantly scrutinizing each other to see who will win, popularity being the prize, of course. There are leaders and followers; the status symbols then change as the leaders themselves change. Whether it is the newest clothing label, shoe or track star, the culture of middle school is dominated by judgment. Evaluation The Illuminative Model of Evaluation rests its assessment on process. It appraises based on qualitative analysis of a situation in order to understand its initiation as clearly as its conclusion. Thus, in order to evaluate a situation, one must observe the effects of the process not simply look at data. The following tools of assessment are based upon that model and are applied to the curriculum overall. Several lessons will be used that typify the learning environment created within the classroom. Evaluation One: How does this lesson provide skills that work outside the testing environment? To evaluate this lesson, the calendar of lessons was assessed. Questions were asked such as, how do the lessons flow and what overall messages are the students receiving? Can they define, find and apply the concepts discussed in class? Upon reviewing the lessons, they seem to present isolated concepts. The entire unit is research process and narrative writing techniques which are two genres and should be taught separately. These lessons are trying to do way too much too fast. Middle school students are more successful when you break the process down and connect it to real world reasons for completing the work. If they would’ve started with day five, â€Å"reading the memoir,† then they could use the text to help define and find the language. Once they can do that, then they can apply the concepts such as writing dialogue, good word choice and using sensory language. The lesson plans as they are, present interesting skill sets but they aren’t connected to the question of, how do I apply this to reading and writing outside school. These skills might help them pass a test, but if you ask them to write dialogue, they will not know how. The non-fiction author board is a great idea but is not developed. They are completing tasks that have a function. This project should be enhanced by having students read Georgia authors and doing actual research and a research project on their author. This schedule needs to be totally revamped in order to serve the real world needs of the students. Evaluation Two: Does this lesson connect to a home environment? As is, there is no connection with the home environment. This will lessen the importance of the work and disconnect the families from what the students are learning. To enhance the process, when having the students write narratives, why not have them collect narratives from family members? This validates the home environment while creating an interest in the school environment at home. For the research section, they could research their family tree or conduct a survey at home regarding their family’s favorite authors. The greater the involvement from the home, the greater opportunity to work with the family for the student’s well being. Evaluation Three: What purpose does technology serve? This also needs improvement. There is no use of technology which works against evaluative point number one. In the larger society, students must be technologically literate. Students should research using the internet, present their projects via power point, and utilize online oral history collections to hear memoirs. Computers should not only be used to type in language arts but should be used as a tool for diversification of learning styles and presentation methods. Conclusion Overall, the learning process in this curriculum model needs to be improved. The questions of evaluation, based on the Illuminative Model, show that the process is flawed. Although there are many interesting lessons, they don’t flow together to teach an entire concept that can be applied to a real world learning situation. The terms need to be taught as part of an entire concept. Students can then define, find and apply what they have learned rather than simply be occupied for a 45 minute block of time. According to this model, students are more successful when the process is improved. The product should be the last point of evaluation rather than the first.

Rebranding: Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Issues

Rebranding: Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Issues Introduction According to Mintel, the total UK market for deodorants was estimated at  £459 million in 2008. Unilevers Lynx brand for men had estimated sales of  £92 million during the same period giving it a market share of 20% (Bainbridge, J., 2009) Tyrelever Cosmetics has recently acquired a stock of low cost deodorant for men from South America. The proposal is to rebrand this deodorant and market it through retail outlets in the UK under the brand name Stynx. It also proposed to use a celebrity endorsement within the product advertising. Tyrelevers current contracted celebrity, Gordon Oliver, is not considered suitable for this role and the proposal is that an altered image of the footballer David Beckham be used to endorse the product. The product branding and celebrity endorsement strategies are designed to take market share from the Lynx brand and thus establish Stynx as a credible male deodorant brand in its own right. By adopting this strategy and by pricing the product competitivel y, Stynx expects to make a significant return on its original investment. Objective of the Report This report identifies and critically examines the legal, regulatory and ethical issues associated with the proposals outlined in section 1.0 above. In the light of this analysis the report also makes recommendations as to how the advertising of the proposed Stynx brand should proceed and how that advertising can be supported and leveraged by deploying additional marketing strategies. Legal Issues There are a number of legal issues that can affect the nature and content of advertisements as well as the use of celebrities within advertisements. If an advertiser creates an advertisement that is misleading, it may be unlawful in a number of different ways. It may, for example, constitute a malicious falsehood or infringe a registered trademark. A trademark is defined as a distinctive design, picture, emblem, logo or wording (or combination) affixed to goods for sale to identify the manufacturer as the source of the product and to distinguish them from goods sold or made by others (Hill G.N. et al., 2005). The Lynx name is a registered trademark of the Unilever Group (Unilever, 2009) and, as such, it is capable of being infringed by another product that attempts to pass off its brand name as the Lynx brand. The Law of Passing Off The law of passing off is a common law tort that has been created by the judiciary. It relates to a misrepresentation made by one business which damages the goodwill of another business. Typically, this will involve passing off the goods or services of one business as those of another. In most cases businesses will have protectable rights under the law of passing off in relation to trade marks, brand names, slogans and other elements of advertising in which they have accrued goodwill (Ali, I., 2005). There is a distinct probability that the proposed Stynx brand name will be seen as passing off the Lynx brand name because the names are so similar and the products using the names are both male deodorants. There are three main points that need to be satisfied to qualify as passing off for legal action. These points were defined by the House of Lords in the famous legal case of Reckitt Colman Ltd v Borden Inc (1990) 1 WLR 49, sometimes also known as the Jif Lemon case. The three points defined by the judges in this case were i. There is goodwill in the defendants brand name. This will undoubtedly be the case in terms of the Lynx brand which has been registered as a trademark since 1985 and is the UKs number two deodorant brand (after Sure). By definition, therefore, it has accrued a considerable amount of goodwill evidenced by its sales and market position. ii. The offenders brand name has misled consumers into believing that there is a connection with the defendants brand name. This is classic passing off and, as stated earlier there is no doubt that the Stynx brand name will mislead consumers into believing that it is either Lynx or has a close connection to it. iii. The action has resulted in damage to or a likelihood of damage to, the defendants goodwill. The nature and quality of the Stynx product is vastly inferior to the Lynx product and has a different smell. This will certainly cause damage to the defendants goodwill if customers unintentionally buy the S tynx brand thinking it to be Lynx. It will obviously be necessary to consult Tyrelevers solicitors over this issue but the initial research above indicates that Tyrelever would be in a very weak position in terms of its ability to defend any legal action by Unilever in terms of passing off. Contract Law Whilst it may be undeniable that Gordon Olivers skin complaint and weight gain does not make him the ideal face of Stynx there is the issue of his contract to consider. There is no clause in the contract that allows Tyrelever to terminate said contact due to physiological changes on the part of the other party to the contract, namely Gordon Oliver Tyrelevers contract gives Gordon Oliver exclusive rights to the endorsement of Tyrelever cosmetic brands. The current contract does not expire until 31 December 2009 and is subject to a six month period of notice for it to be terminated by either party. Copyright Law With regard to the use of an image of David Beckham in the advertisements for Stynx then there are issues of copyright law infringement to consider. The copyright to the photograph that Tyrelever plans to use will be held by the originator of the image, namely the photographer, or his or her agent. Copyright law is a powerful legal tool used to prevent the unauthorised appropriation and use of, amongst other things, images. In the UK, courts can impose an unlimited fine and even up to ten years in prison on copyright infringers. Initially in the USA, and now in the UK too, lawyers have successfully extended the use of trademark and passing off laws to protect their celebrity clients (Lydiate, H 2004). The legal case that brought this issue to the forefront in the UK involved the Formula One racing driver, Eddie Irvine who successfully sued Talk Radio (now Talksport) for the unauthorised use of his image in its advertising. A picture of Eddie Irvine was digitally altered by Talk Radio to show the racing driver holding a radio which also included wording that gave the impression that he was endorsing the radio station (Lysandrides, J., 2005). In terms of the proposed unauthorised use of an image of David Beckham then he already has a number of endorsement contracts including one with Gillette. It is likely that David Beckhams lawyers will be able to successfully refer to the Irvine case in the event of the unauthorized and digitally alerted use of his image in advertising for Stynx. In addition, the ASA code requires advertisers to gain written permission from those whose image it is going use in advertising, especially in respect of endorsement. This applies whether the image is altered or not. Failure to comply with this aspect of the code could lead to the involvement of the Office of Fair Trading and Ofcom in respect of printed and broadcast advertisements respectively (CAP, 2007). Regulatory Issues Whilst contravening regulations does not incur the same potentially damaging penalties as contravening the law, there are, nonetheless, serious consequences for the infringement of regulations. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) The BERR has introduced new regulations (in force from 26 May 2008) to crack down on unfair trading sales and marketing practices. The new Regulations are called the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and they replace the Control of Misleading Advertisements (Amendment) Regulations 1988 (as amended in 2000 and 2003). Misleading Advertisements If the BERR considers that an advertisement misleads consumers or is aggressive or unfair to consumers, then it may refer the case to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) whose role is to ensure that all advertisements are legal, decent, honest and truthful (ASA, 2009). The ASA performs this task by referring complaints to its Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP). The advertising codes administered by CAP contain: wide-ranging rules designed to ensure that advertising does not mislead, harm or offend. Advertisements must also be socially responsible and prepared in line with the principles of fair competition. These broad principles apply regardless of the product being advertised (ASA, 2009). So, the CAP rules are very explicit and it is the references to misleading the consumer and the principles of fair competition that are most likely to be a cause for concern for Tyrelever. Unfair Trading As well as covering misleading advertisements the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 prohibit unfair trading practices generally. There are some 31 specific areas of unfair trading that are encompassed by the regulations including aggressive and misleading sales practices. Local authorities have the power to ask Trading Standards Officers to investigate complaints by consumers of unfair trading practises. The general caveat for the regulations state: To breach the majority of the Regulations, the misleading action or omission must cause, or be likely to cause, the average consumer to make a different transactional decision e.g. make a purchase which he would not otherwise have made (Trading Standards Institute, 2009). Complaints from consumers about being mislead into making a purchase they might otherwise not have made due to confusion between Stynx and Lynx is a very real possibility. Ethical Issues As well as legal and regulatory concerns, there are ethical issue to consider. Firstly, if the fact became known that Tyrelever acquired the deodorant product from South America, where it was produced using child labour (hence the knockdown price), then this could severely damage Tyrelevers reputation. Equally, if Tyrelever was to proceed with the planned branding and advertising of the deodorant then, as well as legal and regulatory penalties, it will be viewed as an unethical and untrustworthy business that relies on misleading and illegal advertising to sell its products. This proposed advertising campaign, by association, will also undoubtedly damage the reputation and efficacy of other brands in the Tyrelever portfolio. More and more businesses are adopting ethical and socially responsible policies in terms of their marketing activities. The term ethical has become a highly topical and catchall word which has come to be associated with basically any product or service that does not harm people or flora and fauna. Being ethical is all about respect and Tyrelever would be showing huge disrespect to its employees, consumers and to David Beckham if it proceeds with the advertising campaign as currently proposed. Recommendations for a Way Forward In view of the potential legal, regulatory and ethical pitfalls associated with the proposed advertising campaign, it is recommended that an alternative way forward is adopted. The following part of the report outlines some alternative strategies that could be deployed to launch the Stynx brand effectively without the risks associated with the original idea. The Stynx Brand It has been shown that by deploying this brand name it is highly likely that Unilever will bring and win a case of passing off against Tyrelever. Consequently, a new name should be sourced for the product and registered as a trademark. Celebrity Endorsement The risk of damaging litigation in using David Beckhams image is too high to warrant proceeding. Even if it were possible to persuade him to endorse the product the cost of such an endorsement would be prohibitively high and certainly not affordable for Tyrelever. Although Gordon Oliver is a minor league celebrity, he has become known as the face of Tyrelever through his previous exposure on other brands for the business. Tyrelever should honour Gordon Olivers contract. His image can easily be digitally enhanced (with his permission, of course) to minimise the detrimental effects of his skin disorder and weight gain. The professional use of celebrities in advertising has been found to measurably improve its effectiveness. All of the evidence demonstrates that, when done professionally, the use of celebrities in advertising can be enormously profitable for brands. For example, the use of Jamie Oliver in Sainsburys advertising has produced a return on investment of 27:1 in incremental revenue (IPA, 2009). Also, 13% of the prize-winners in the Institute of Practitioners in Advertisings (IPA) Effectiveness Awards have used celebrities as a major part of their advertising concepts. So, to improve the effectiveness of the advertising it will be necessary to leverage Gordon Olivers involvement in the campaign. For example, Tyrelever could i. Use him as a presenter at company events this may necessitate a contractual amendment. ii. Get him involved in charitable work (childrens charities) and se public relations to generate news stories around this involvement. This will, by association, also help to show that Tyrelever supports the rights of children and is against child exploitation in the factories of South America. iii. Make him the brand character of the campaign (rather than have Gordon playing himself) in the advertising by using his natural acting ability at playing character roles. A good example of how this is has worked successfully is the use of Rowan Atki nson for Barclaycard (Pringle, H., 2004) The more the celebrity becomes involved with the brand and the business, then the more the consumer will engage with the brand. Corporate Social Responsibility A programme of staff (and celebrity) involvement in socially responsible projects around Tyrelevers operational headquarters should be planned and implemented as soon as possible. The detailed planning is outside the scope of this report and should be considered separately. Also, Tyrelever should cease to source any more products from countries that are known to use child labour. By doing deploying these two strategies and by using public relations techniques to promote them to stakeholders Tyrelever can start to build a reputation as a socially and ethically responsible business. Summary and Conclusions This report recommends that the advertising campaign as originally envisaged, does not proceed for the reasons detailed. By not proceeding, Tyrelever will be able to avoid almost certain litigation and regulation infringement. Both of which could lead to significant financial penalties and reputation damage. In addition, the original proposals have been seen to be unethical and socially irresponsible, which will be detrimental to Tyrelevers long term future. There is an opportunity for Tyrelever to market the deodorant in a legal, decent and honest way and thus not full foul of the law or the regulators. At the same time Tyrelever can enhance its reputation and leverage its sales by adopting a socially responsible and ethical stance which will have incremental benefits for all of its products. -ends-

Contribution Of Emile Durkheim Study Of Society Sociology Essay

Contribution Of Emile Durkheim Study Of Society Sociology Essay Durkheim (1858-1917) who devoted himself to the scientific study of sociology is widely regarded as a pioneer in French sociology. It is known that Emile Durkheim inherits some of Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencers ideas and developed a systematic sociology both in theory and methodology (Moà ±ivas, 2007, p. 18). However, some of his works have been questioned and criticized. In order to examine the contribution of Emile Durkheim to the scientific study of society critically, one should consider Durkheims groundbreaking works including: The Division of Labour (1893), Rules of Sociological Method (1895), and Suicide (1897), all of which reflect a popular topic about individualism and a new social regulation in modern industrial society (Barnes, 1920, p. 4).This essay will first describe Durkheims notion of social facts which run through as a principle concept in his sociology. It will discuss its characteristics as well as importance, and then introduce Durkheims methodological appro ach to study social facts. The essay will move on to explore Durkheims contribution to the social sciences through the use of examples which include his study of The Division of Labour and Suicide. In addition, limitations will be mentioned when examine his works. This essay will argue that in spite of some criticism both in theories and methods. The overall contribution of Durkheim remains one of the peaks in modern sociology. Second, social facts are external from individuals. Durkheim rejects Comtes opinion to unify social science with other scientific disciplines and try to treat it independently. He argues that social facts are different from those assumptions in peoples mind and regular acting such as drinking or sleeping in everyday life. As a result, one could distinguish a kind of conduct and thought out of biology and psychology and classifies it into the particular category of sociology (Allan, 2005, p. 102). Casteel (2009) considered this as an important issue to Durkheim that complete Comtes project and establish sociology as its own academic discipline. Besides, such externality also reflects on continuum and social facts are kind of objectivities that prior to individuals, but individuals are born into them and enact them, thus social facts could be observed and measured by statistics (McCormack, 1996). However, Lukes (1973, p. 11) argues that Durkheims concepts about externality is ambiguous . For example, collective consciousnesses, which defined as a kind of similar and general perspectives and emotions such as religion that could react on people in an indirectly way that without crystallized forms. As is regarded as a social fact, it should be outside and independent from individuals. Nevertheless, Durkheim explained that collective consciousnesses are derived from most individuals in a society as a group mind thus failed to support his notion about externality. Thirdly, social facts have external coercions on individuals. It limits the choices of individuals and if individuals try to go against them, they may likely to get resistance by certain external constraint power such as public laws. Additionally, those coercive powers are not only administered by social organization but also potential moral awareness which called social currents (Harrington, 2005, p.28). However, Durkheim failed to distinguish the power of coercion and prestige. For examples, the power of public law which administered by institutions composed on individuals not only by means of the acceptance of legitimacy, but also fear of sanction. On the other hand, beliefs may probably constraint individuals through prestige or moral obligation (Lukes 1973, p. 13). Moreover, it is argued that Durkheim neglects the reaction from individuals on social facts. Some critics who challenged Durkheims theory believe that individuals could have the capability of creation on social facts (Casteel, 2009). In his book The rules of Sociological Method, Durkheim highlights the importance of study social facts as well as the methods to study them. He accepts Comtes idea that every social phenomenon should be studied as a thing within the context of society. Due to its objectivity, one could use positive approaches to observe, experiment, compare and analysis social phenomenon in favour of finding the sociological laws, demonstrating the normal and pathological as well as speculating the future development of society (Craib, 1997, p.30). In Durkheim methodology of social science, he stresses the importance of looking at society scientifically and discovering the formations (collective consciousnesses etc.) as well as functions (social cohesion, change etc.) of social facts and how they have effects on individuals within the scope of society (Brown, 2008). Emirbayer (1996) point out that Durkheim has rejected metaphysics and uses statistical methodology and comparative strategy (p. 264) to explore the correlations and casual relations among a number of systematic and connected variables by collecting and interpreting evidences. Durkheim has exercised his theory and methodology in two of his major works: The Division of Labor and Suicide. In The Division of Labor, Durkheim argues that there have other approaches to integrate the society beside religion. One of them is the division of labor, which he regarded as a powerful evidence of how social bonds transit from collective consciousness to division of labor (Brown, 2008). Durkheim highlights the functional interdependence of different individuals or units of the society which could be explained by the term of solidarity (Allan, 2005, p. 122). In the division of labor, he illustrates two kinds of solidarity: mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity. He compared primitive society and modern society using the organismic approach to explore how individuals maintain solidarity. In primitive society where there is low productivity, individuals are automatically bond together by the collective consciousnesses, an external uniform beliefs imposed on individuals . On the other hand, organic solidarity exists in modern society. Spencer enormously influenced Durkheims Division of Labor. Spencer believes that society was stimulated by the fundamental force of population growth, which changes the way of society to distribute production and wealth (Jones, 205, p. 345). Durkheim developed his evolutionary and organism doctrine. According to Barnes (1920, p. 240), for Durkheim, social evolution is characterized by a decrease in this repressive and mechanical type of social cohesion or solidarity and by a corresponding increase in the development of individual consciousness and personality. That is, with a dense growth of population as the determinant cause of raised intensive division of labor, individuals are more interdependent on diverse contribution of others to perform a cooperatively function instead of the dominance of collective conscience (Sirianni, 1984). Brown (2008) points out that individualism becomes more important than the collecti ve to maintain social solidarity and represents the characteristic of modern society. It is apparently Durkheim provide a sociological platform which benefits to interpret social process. However limitations could probably exist in his theories as well as methodology such as the cause of the division of labor and the interpretation of its effects. Tarde (citied in Lukes, 1973, p. 304) suggests that Durkheims opinion on the division of labor only concern the social internal problem without international relationship. Meanwhile, the division of labor could also result from variety of creation instead of population density. Moreover, Merton (1994, p. 22) argues that in Durkheims presentation of social evolution, he diminished the effectiveness of civil law in primitive society and common interest in the modern society in order to give prominence to main power of cohesion : collective consciousnesses and the division of labour, in mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity respectively. As a result, a precise relationship between solidarity and law may not be obtained. Finally, in the conclusion of his work, he personally regard the society as pathological due to the lack of social regulations that do no match the level of the division of labor and excessive individualism during transition, it is likely to push the society into anomie as well as increase the suicide rate (Mutchnick et al., 2009). In another significant book Suicide Durkheim explained a popular moral phenomenon in the 19th society. Suicide can be defined as every case of death which results directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act, accomplished by the victim himself which he knows must produce this result (Lukes, 1973, p. 202). Durkheim first considered suicide is a private action but also as a matter of a social fact that exists external to each individual in the society. Thus, the statistics of suicide could reflect diverse outside forces through which one could access to the origins of the weakness of the society as well as solution to those problem. Then he theoretically categorizes different but general social causes of individual suicide and draws its effect by deduction approach. There are four forms of suicide respect to two levels of imbalanced social forces: integration and moral rule (Thompson, 1982). Firstly, it is regarded that egoistic suicide is the consequence of excessive individ ualism. In a deteriorated society, individual who integrate less with others and act on their own interest is likely to act egoistic suicide. By contrast, altruistic suicide is result from excessive conformity, Durkheim stats that suicide becomes ones obligation. It often happens in modern societies among civilized people who sacrifice themselves in order to save others such as military (Durkheim, 1979). The other two kinds of suicide are classified into the group of moral regulation. Durkheim again divided the situation that people tends to conduct anomic suicide into four aspects of crisis: decline in the capability of social organizations to instruct peoples lives; rapid social transformation; wealth no longer satisfied people and unbalanced marriage. Finally, Durkheim view fatalistic as the product of rigid but strong moral norm which often committed by slaves (Jones, 1986). It is suggested that if examine Durkheims work critically, one may noticed flaws in his notion of Suicide (Gane, 1988, p. 152). First, one may question whether such phenomenon causes by external force such as society but shared awareness from individuals. However, Durkheim defends it by the term of conscience collective which is also a kind of a social fact and points out the strength of linking morality to discover social laws (Craib, 1997, p. 32). Secondly, Lukes (1973, p. 202-206) argues that his classification of suicide form has limited the causes and types. Moreover, Durkheim concerned the causes of suicide only with social facts and rejected the relationship between suicide and personality in terms of psychology, physic as well as alcoholism. Additionally, the subject of suicide is more like to exist in disordered societies thus lead to an unbalanced research which prone to the theory of pathology. As a result, the contribution of suicide to sociology is actually restricted. However, Thompson (1982) states that regardless the shortages, Durkheim work of suicide is an essential contribution because they effectively combine sociological theory with empiricism to explain social phenomenon. Durkheim suggests that the study of suicide could reveal the connection between social members which closely go with the original subject of social bond in sociology. Moreover, by examining suicide could help one to discover the law of sociology and thus give a direction of the development of society (Lukes, 1973, p. 193). In the research, he related series of common characteristics of the society as social facts to suicide rate statistics and draw a general conclusion that particular social environment and current could lead to a growth of suicide rate. For example, insufficient economy growth and social mode changes generate a remarkable suicide rate in the 19th century of European. Aimed at solving this problem, Durkheim also proposed to strengthen the backbone of econ omy and support individuals with the sense of belonging (Lukes, 1973, p. 220). In conclusion, this essay explored Durkheims main works in sociology. As one of the founder of professional sociology, Durkheim identified social facts thus built the dimension as well as the skeleton of sociology. Based on previous work, he formulates a systematic methodology to discover the social laws by observing and comparing the relationships between different variables. Durkheim further applied his methodology and theory into his work of The Division of Labor and Suicide. He discovered the procedure by which individuals socially integrate into society, and provide different types to explain the relationship between people and society. Although there are certain indistinct interpretation in terms of concepts and correlations, Durkheims work is considered to have significant to the scientific study of society. Word count: 2105

The Meaning of Service Essays -- Definition Essays

The Meaning of Service Service is a word used constantly.   The word service has an impression on many people.   For example; people who work as lifeguards view their work as a service to the community.   Naturally, based on working as a lifeguard their definition of service would be an action beneficial to the well-being of others.   Not surprisingly, a similar definition was found in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).   Service is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as "the action of serving, helping, or benefiting; conduct tending to the welfare or advantage of another; condition or employment of a public servant; friendly or professional assistance."   Furthermore, in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, service is described as "the occupation or function of serving others; employment as a servant; contribution to the welfare of others.† The above definitions seem like the only ones for the word service.   There are actually at least two more different definitions.   The first definition is "service tree" or "service berry."   A service tree is "a tree native in co...

Essay --

Since the early 20th century, the Scottish penal system has gone through numerous transformations as the society changes and grows, including the important period where Scotland struggled to create it’s own identity, separate from the rest of the UK. These developments have been pivotal in regards to the modernization of the Scottish Criminal Justice system, which is often described as being made up of a complex set of processes and involves many different bodies . Over the past decade, the main problem at hand is that Scotland, a relatively small country in the scheme of things, has a serious problem with imprisonment , meaning that we have a higher imprisonment rate than nearly anywhere else in Western Europe. Recent research has shown that it sends over twice as many people to prison than the similarly sized countries within Europe , but in a debate on penal policy in 2007, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill, stated that â€Å"the Government refuses to belie ve that the Scottish people are inherently bad or that there is any genetic reason why we should be locking up twice as many offenders as Ireland or Norway.† The aim of this essay will be to look at the recent changes within Scotland’s penal system, and whether this ‘imprisonment crisis’ has been the outcome of penal developments in the past. Following the completion of the Second World War, Scotland (and the rest of the UK) was a place where a boost in the welfare state led to penal welfarism being key, which Garland argues that ‘reform and social intervention were plausible responses to crime and that alternatives to prison were healthy’ . This ideology meant that during this period the overall consensus was that rehabilitation was more heavily used, as prison... ...h the modern society. The developments in penal reform and policies in Scotland have grown with the creation of modern Scotland. Devolution fundamentally changed the nature of criminal justice in Scotland, and the research as shown that increased political involvement and the need for has changed the penal policies over the past few decades. Pre-devolution it was clear that policy-making was carried out in partnership between civil servants and agencies with a rate of change, but the introduction of devolution propelled policy-making into an unstable and heavily politicised environment, which was never the case before, where it now answers to political expediency and the political cycle and this forced the Scottish Criminal Justice Service to take shape become what it is today to deal with the new crime and punishment issues that were revolutionizing over time.

Glory vs Shawshank Redemption :: essays papers

Glory vs Shawshank Redemption Two of the well known movies that were the abolishinst movement in Amerrica were Glory and The Shawshank Redemption.On the surface, the movies the shawshank redemption and glory seem to be completely different.But, as the movies upfold, it is evident that both the prisoners of Shawshank and the soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts are in search of the same thing. For the prisoners of Shashank, normalcy is freedom. For the soldiers of the 54th, normalcy is equality. In the Shawshank Andy uses his influences to give prisoners of shawshank tastes of freedom. The solodiers of the 54th strives to be normal, but before they can be normal, they must be equal. They wanted freedom too. One point of intrest that shows Andy's spirit is indeed unbreakable was when he offered Captain Hadley some financial advice on his recent inheritance. He tells captain Hadley that if he trusts his wife he can tell the I.R.S that he is giving the inhertance as a gift from Andy to his wife. By doing this the money can not touched by the I.R.S, so Captain Hadley gains all the money without any tax taken out.In return andy Dufresne( tim robbins) asked for beer for his " Co-workers.His friend ., Red simply states," we sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men.Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the lords of all creation. As for andy he spent that break hunkered in the shade, a strange little smile on his face, watching us drink his beer." This quote shows how little things teh prisoners get can make them happy.Another example would be when he used the hammer to escape from prison. It started when he asked Red to get him a rok hammer, which he said he would use to shape rocks. He calms Red's conscious as he tells it would take him a thousand years to break out of prison with a rosk hammer.When he received the rosk hammer he started to shape rocks as soon as he could and hidden that hole with a poster.After he had the hole big enough to crawl throught, he asked Heywood for a six-foot piece of rope.

As a Private Investigator

As a Private Investigator, my work is basically on the aspect of uncovering the truths and primarily using any means just to discover everything that I needed to know. With the use of observation or any particular thing that can help me pursue my investigation, I then carry out the cases that are to be investigated.The nature of my work would probably include the irregular time of work and that includes any time of the day, may it be during early in the morning, late in the evening, or even in holidays. This kind of system is just normal for investigators like me because for one, the subjects of my investigation process might not be available during the normal hours that's why we must be able to adjust to the time whenever they are availbale.In obtaining the facts, there different methods that can be used. We can use cellular phones, video or still cameras, computers, and others to get hold of the facts there we're up to. We can also attain necessary information by interviewing peopl e, doing several researches, and reviewing public documents.But for whatever facts we may acquire, we must verify them first to be sure that it is genuine or accurate for that matter. Apparently, as Private Investigators, we should be accountable for the things that we are investigating in.   To sum it up, being a Private Investigator isn't that easy and a lot of hard work is really a necessary.For those who don't have any single idea on what being a Private Investigator is, I can somehow impart to them some important details on what this is all about.As for me, I strongly believe that this particular job is a kind of job wherein one can get innumerable satisfaction just by getting the information that are needed by our clients. This is a job wherein we help people with uncertainties who finds answers to the questions they badly need and want to know. Our duties, however, may always depend on our client's demand.In my work as a Private Investigator, I have my duties and responsibi lities to let the people, who don't have any clue on what it is to work as a Private Investigator but are interested to work in this kind of job, be aware of the necessary stuffs that come with this certain profession.They have to be mindful that in order to survive this work, they must be able to think on his or her feet which means he must be alert at all times whenever he or she's on his duty as a Private Investigator.An average working day for a person who has a profession like mine is normally spent scrutinizing things around me especially certain things which have something to do about the case that I'm working on.I usually deal with various environments and some of those are somehow dangerous in nature especially when a particular case involves confrontation. In cases such those, what I am just doing is just deal with that particular circumstance and the consequences that may arise.There is, however, a downside in this certain profession. Because at the end of the day, I some how felt weak for some reasons like not being able to be apreciated no matter how hard you worked for a certain case or simply just being tired because of the nature of the work itself.Yet no matter how hard or tiring my work may be, it is still overwhelming that after all my hard works and perseverance in the things I have done, I know for myself that I did my best to come up with a good job.A simple tap on my back from someone is such a big reward for me because it is just an evidence that I am being appreciated for the works I have done that entire day.Moreover, the most important thing about here is the respect I gain not only from my co-workers but entirely from the people who know the nature of my work as well.

Nik’s CATIA V5 Tips and Techniques

The following is an archive of Nik’s CATIA V5 Tips and Techniques. To unleash the full functionality of CATIA V5, attend an AscendBridge CATIA Course or request a one day mentoring at your site. Call 1-888-326-TEAM or email [email  protected] com #1 Tips and Technique Q: Do you know how to convert a 2D drawing view (in dwg format) into a 3D Part using Advance Part Modeling options of CATIA V5? A: You Can use any 2D view with various drawing objects (even in dwg format) to create a 3D Solid. Copy the 2D view from CATIA drafting screen into Sketcher as sketch. As the sketch contains multiple Profiles you can not make a solid feature by simply selecting the given sketch, as a error prompts: Several Open Profiles If you select Yes the Feature definition box appears. Right click in blue area in front of ‘Profile/Surface Selection' Click on ‘Go to Profile Definition’ in Contextual menu Profile Definition Dialog Box opens Select the Part of Sketch you want to use for that feature. You can go on creating other features using same sketch but different sub profiles to make the final 3D Part. This method also helps in reducing the number of sketches in your Part history tree while modeling complex solids and better management of features using sketches. AscendBridge Solutions Inc. 1-888-326-TEAM www. ascendbridge. com Nik’s CATIA V5 Tips and Techniques #2 Tip and Technique Q: Did you know that designers can key in values in combination of units or in formulas in CATIA V5 dialog boxes? A: You can key in values in any CATIA V5 dialog box in the following formats irrespective of the Standard set units. For example if the length Units are set in mm and you are keying in the value for PAD length (as shown in Fig-1A) You can key in 10in and the PAD will measure 254mm (as shown in Fig-1B) AscendBridge Solutions Inc. 1-888-326-TEAM www. ascendbridge. com Nik’s CATIA V5 Tips and Techniques Also try to key in ((5in*6)/4)+9mm+500micron and click Preview the PAD will measure 200mm. The software automatically computes the entered value (even in the form of complex formula with combined units) equal to the units set in the CATPart and generate features with correct computed measurements. AscendBridge Solutions Inc. 1-888-326-TEAM www. ascendbridge. com Nik’s CATIA V5 Tips and Techniques 3 Tip and Technique Q: Do you know how to create a Hole with reference to center of another Hole in a Block or Plate using hole feature in CATIA V5? A: You can create a Hole with reference to center of another Hole in a Block or Plate using HOLE feature in CATIA V5 by following this procedure: †¢ †¢ †¢ HOLE Command Select the face of Block / Plate Select the Sketcher Icon †¢ †¢ Rotat e the view Create two constraints Horizontal Measure & Vertical Measure between Axis of previous hole and the Center Point of new Hole †¢ †¢ Exit the Sketcher Work-bench and OK in Hole Dialog-box. New hole located from center of previous hole is created. AscendBridge Solutions Inc. 1-888-326-TEAM www. ascendbridge. com Nik’s CATIA V5 Tips and Techniques #4 Tip and Technique Q: Do you know how to create multiple corners on a complex Profile, of equal radius and related to each other in CATIA V5 Sketcher? A: You can create multiple corners on selected points on a Profile in one step by following this procedure: †¢ Draw a required complex Profile in CATIA V5 Sketcher (as shown in Fig-1) †¢ Multi-select all the points on the Profile where the corners are required and select the Corner icon. Key in Radius value (as shown in Fig-2) The corners are created at all the selected points on the profile with given radius. (as shown in Fig-3) †¢ For modifying the radius of all the corners in one step just double click on first selected corner (without f(x) symbol) and key in the new value all the corners get updated to new value. The all corners created on the profile with this method are related to the first selected corner with a formula. But if required the formula can be modified or deleted in order to change the radius of any corner independent of the others. AscendBridge Solutions Inc. 1-888-326-TEAM www. ascendbridge. com

Cold War: question and answers Essay

1) The â€Å"iron curtain† was a dividing line because it was dividing Eastern and Western Europe. Western Europe had more of a democratic form of government where as Eastern Europe was ruled by the Soviet Union. 2) The policy President Truman is suggesting in his speech to Congress is the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine is a policy that stated that the United States would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent them from falling into the Soviet Sphere. This policy gave $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey. 3) The Secretary of State Marshall suggested this plan(the Marshall Plan) for European recovery so if Europe would come into economic, social, and political damage it would also affect the United States very negatively also. The Secretary of State wanted to avoid those negative affects on the United States. He wanted to avoid the negative effect the European situation would have on the United States economy. 4) The purpose of NATO is to protect North American countries and ten Western European countries from attack by the USSR. The North Atlantic Treaty stated that any and all attacks made against any member of NATO would be considered an attack against them all. Its basic goal waste increase the stability and defense of its member countries. 5) The â€Å"satellites† help provide a buffer for the Soviet Union because they can track which invader is coming toward their border or see if any bombs are heading towards the Soviet Union. The â€Å"satellites† also act as a buffer but protecting the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union won’t care about these other countries that will get caught up in war and social and economic upheaval. 6) Khrushchev’s view of U.S. actions are that moves made by the United States such as the â€Å"anti-communism† movement was used to cover up statements of one power for world domination. The U.S. wanted to have a secure, dominant world power in the capitalist world. In document sic Khrushchev states that the fight for capitalism will lead to another world war. 7) The impact the â€Å"arms race† had on the world was countries racing for nuclear weapons/WMD which led to a â€Å"balance of terror.† A lot feared use of these weapons and saw this as a deterrent to war. 8)The basis for President Kennedy’s demand that the missiles be removed from Cuba was that it threatened the peace and security of the United States, Kennedy wanted to stop any chance the missiles could be used against America for any reason. He saw it as a threat to world peace. 9)Krushchev explains that the missiles were placed in Cuba for defensive reasons and to stop any aggression against Cuba. He now explains the missiles could now be removed because there is no chance that Cuba will be attacked by any country in the Western Hemisphere . Essay: How did the Cold War begin and what â€Å"weapons† were used to fight this war? The Cold War began at the end of World War II. The Cold War was the conflict between the Communist Nations led by the Soviet Union and the Democratic Nations led by the United States. The entire purpose behind the Cold War was to stop the spread of communism which the United States was against. Communism was thought to corrupt and cripple the entire world. They fought by propaganda, economic war, and constant military clashes. The Cold War started September 3rd 1945 and ended in 1989. When the â€Å"Iron Curtain† came down in Eastern Europe, as Winston Churchill stated in his speech on March 5th, 1946 as shown in document one, that was when the Cold War began. The Soviet Union made many countries into â€Å"Soviet satellites†. A satellite nation is a nation that is effectively dominated by another. The Soviet satellite nations were: Albania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Soviet Union, East Germany, and Czech. The Untied States wanted for all the European countries to have the freedom to pick their own governments. The war between the two nations escalated quickly when the Soviet Union successfully developed their  own atomic bomb. It became a â€Å" war of words†, the words was â€Å"weapons†. No active shooting was done and no actual weapons were used. It was basically Democratic nations against Communist Nations, a war of words on who had atomic bombs to use against other nations. As stated in document two President Truman believed it was the Untied States duty to support those who are resisting attempted domination. He believed if communism was forced on Turkey or Greece by the Soviet Union, it will have effects that are far reaching to the West. The policy President Truman is suggesting in his speech to Congress on March 12th, 1947 is the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine is a policy that stated that the United States would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent them from falling into the Soviet Sphere. This policy gave $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey. Secretary of State Marshall gave a speech on June 5th, 1947 explaining his plan for European recovery as expressed in document three. The plan he was suggesting was the Marshall Plan. The Secretary of State Marshall suggested this plan(the Marshall Plan) for European recovery so if Europe would come into economic, social, and political damage it would also affect the United States very negatively too. The Secretary of State wanted to avoid those negative effects on the United States. He wanted to avoid the negative effect the European situation would have on the United States economy. It’s presented in both documents two and three that President Truman and Secretary of State Marshall had the best interest of the United States and other nations against communism at heart with both their policies. As presented on document four NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty. It was signed by the United States, Canada, and ten other nations of Western Europe in 1948. The purpose of NATO was to protect North American countries and those ten Western European countries from attack by the USSR. The North Atlantic Treaty stated that any and all attacks made against any member of NATO would be considered an attack against them all. Its basic goal was to increase the stability and defense of its member countries. NATO was basically an intergovernmental military alliance against the Soviet  Union and what they stood for which was communism. NATO constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its members state to agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party(any communist nation). In conclusion, the Cold War began because fear of the spread of communism that the United States and West Europe had hated. This prevented chances of negotiations and friendly approach in diplomacy and foreign policy. Another reason on how the Cold War began was grouping of world nations in rival alliances such as NATO and the Warsaw Pact members. The Warsaw Pact members were German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and the Soviet Union as shown in document five. The piling up of atomic weapons and picking either the democratic side or the communist side generated suspicion in one another.

Ben & Jerry’s Marketing Audit Essay

1 Executive Summary According to the American Marketing Association, â€Å"marketing is an organizational function and a set of process for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders† (Kerin, 2005, p.6). I have completed a marketing audit of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. in the following categories: Market and Distribution Channels, Manufacturing, Markets and Customers, Competition, Marketing, Objectives, Strategies and Tactics, the 4P’s (product, pricing, promotion, and place), and sales. Based on my findings, there are several factors that will play a key role in Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream becoming number one in the ice cream industry, instead of being ranked, as number 2. They are as follows: Streamlining the variety and names of the ice cream flavors Increase sales in the non target markets Sell premium ice cream in half gallon sizes Improve brand image Ben & Jerry’s ice cream currently offers consumers Super-premium ice cream flavors that are both unique and quirky. Furthermore, some of the wackiest flavors were suggested by adults. For example, some of the flavors include, Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey, and Chubby Hubby (www.benjerry.com). As a result of some of the outlandish names, it becomes difficult for consumers have to figure out why an ice cream would be called chunky monkey, and secondly, what does the flavor consist of. After all, Ben & Jerry’s target customers are at the high end of the consumer spending spectrum. Haagen-Daazs’ most popular ice cream flavor is simply, vanilla. Therefore, perception becomes a vital marketing concept to attain the number one  status. Although Ben & Jerry’s has been acquired by Unilever, one of the leading food companies in the world, Haagen Dazs, which has been acquired by Dreyer’s has still been able to penetrate 42% of the super-premium ice cream mark et, while Ben & Jerry’s penetrated 38%. However, Ben & Jerry’s have been able to have 100% profitability over the last nine years, while decreasing the cost of sales. Penetrating the 20% non-target market would allow revenue to continue to climb upward by becoming more visible. Advertising can be done through supermarket circulars, television commercials, and radio announcements, and offering the super-premium ice promotions such as buy one, get one free or coupons. Thus, customers and profit margins increase. Currently, Ben & Jerry’s super-premium ice cream is sold in pint size quantities. Gallon size quantities were only sold to warehouse club stores. Selling the product to the general public in gallon sizes would allow them to infiltrate the family segment of the ice cream industry. Understanding the consumer is a vital tool in successful marketing and sales. However, careful research and planning are necessary. Thus, a recommendation is being made for Ben & Jerry’s to enter the market of â€Å"micro-branding†; a trend that is becoming more successful in the ice cream industry. â€Å"Micro-branding would allow Ben & Jerry’s to partner with a compatible and recognized national brand to develop an ice cream formulation that delivers a taste experience that is related to the national brand’s product (www.qffintl.com). Some of the companies that currently co-brand are Cool Brands International/General Mills = Yoplait Frozen Breakfast Bars, Reese’s candies and Friendly’s Restaurants. Furthermore, prior to launching this new venture, Ben & Jerry’s can conduct a survey among loyal customers. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream is the best illustration of the 80/20 rule. They achieve 80% of the revenues in the target market and 20% in non target markets; however, to increase sales and become No.1, they will need to increase sales in non target markets while stimulating demand in target markets. Based on corporate information (www.benjerry.com), Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream evolved when two childhood buddies, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield met in a 1963 7th grade gym class in Merrick, New York. In 1977, Ben and Jerry move to Vermont and completed a $5 correspondence course in ice cream making. Afterward, a $12,000.00 investment was made, $4,000.00 of it borrowed, and they opened their first Ben and Jerry’s homemade ice cream scoop shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont, on May 5, 1978. The company has maintained a reputation for producing gourmet ice cream and frozen treats, as well as promotions that foster an image as an independent socially conscious Vermont company. On August 3, 2000, Ben and Jerry’s were acquired by Unilever, a British-Dutch food company with distribution in 100 countries. This acquisition would allow the Ben & Jerry brand ice cream to cross over into national and international markets. The ice cream was made with fresh V ermont cream and milk, and the best and biggest chunks of nuts, fruits, candies, and cookies† (www.benjerry.com). Currently, Ben & Jerry’s sell 18 Mio gallons of ice cream per year, and more than â€Å"$200 Mio in annual sales worldwide including Europe, the Mideast, and Asia† (Kerin, 2006, p.2). This makes them one of the top maker’s of premium ice cream, matching  rivals Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Haagen-Dazs, and Godiva. Some of the first flavors included French Vanilla, Mint with Oreo Cookie, Maple Walnut, Butter Pecan, and Dastardly Mash. In order to maintain its status as a leader in the premium ice cream industry, new flavors are constantly being marketed, as well as measures to determine what the ice cream consumer wants now and in the future. The corporate vision is built around three strategic goals (missions) that support Ben & Jerry’s corporate concept of linked prosperity. These goals are: 1. The product mission: Become the leading distributor of freshly made quality ice cream, utilizing natural ingredients that do not violate the environment. 2. The economic mission: Achieve capital growth for the corporation, the stakeholders, and the employees. 3. The social mission: Be a pioneer in creating innovative business practices that make a positive impact on society nationally and internationally. 1.2 Market and Distribution Channels The company currently markets flavor ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet in packaged pints, for sale primarily through four channels: 1. Supermarkets, and other grocery stores 2. Convenience stores 3. Retail food outlets and in bulk primarily to restaurants. 4. Ben & Jerry’s company-owned franchised scoop shops. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream currently distribute their products throughout the United States primarily through independent distributors targeting certain markets including New England, New York, the Mid-Atlantic region, Florida, Texas, the West Coast and selected other major markets, including the Midwest and Denver areas. In 1999, approximately 77% of the sales of the Company’s packaged pints were attributed to these target markets (www.benjerry.com). Also, the ice cream products are also available in â€Å"non-target† markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Singapore, Peru and Lebanon. 1.3 Manufacturing The company manufactures Ben & Jerry’s super premium ice cream and frozen yogurt pints at its plant in Vermont. This plant manufactures Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, frozen yogurt, frozen smoothies and sorbet in packaged pints,  12oz. and single serve containers at its St. Albans, Vermont plant. However, in 1999, the company shifted the manufacturing of its frozen novelty line of business from a company-owned plant in Springfield, Vermont, to third party co-packers to improve the company’s competitive position, gross margins and profitability. As a result of this restructuring, the company was able to write-off `assets associated with the ice cream novelty business, asset impairment charges of other manufacturing assets and costs associated with severance for those employees who do not accept the Company’s offer of relocation. The implementation of this manufacturing restructuring program resulted in a pre-tax special charge to earnings of approximately $8.6 Mio in the fourth quarter of 1999 that was primarily non-cash. The plan was executed in 2000. Thus, outsourcing its novelty business will enable the Company to introduce a wider range of novelty products in future periods. 1.4 Markets and Customers Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is packaged in pints, quarts,  ½ gallons, single serve containers and novelty products primarily through supermarkets, other grocery stores, convenience stores and other retail food outlets. The company markets ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet in 2  ½ gallon bulk containers primarily through franchised and company-owned Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops, through restaurants and food service accounts, such as stadiums, airports, cafeterias, and hotels. The ice cream is distributed through independent ice cream distributors; with some exceptions, only one distributor is appointed for each territory for supermarkets. In most areas, sub-distributors are used to distribute to the smaller classes of trade. Company trucks and other distributors distribute products that are sold in Vermont and upstate New York. In the late 90’s, Ben & Jerry’s redesigned its distribution network to enable more company control over sales and improve efficiency in the distribution of its products. Under the redesign, Ben & Jerry’s increased direct sales calls by its own sales force to all grocery and chain convenience stores and has a network where no distributor of Ben & Jerry’s products has a majority percentage of the Company’s distribution. In addition, a joint venture of the U.S. ice cream operations of Nestle and the Pillsbury Company distributes Ben & Jerry’s products in specified territories; the balance of domestic deliveries are distributed primarily by  Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream. Under the redesign, no single distributor is expected to handle over 40% of Ben & Jerry’s distribution, as compared with Dreyer’s distribution activities accounting for approximately 57% of the company’s net sales in 1997 and 1998. 1.5 Competition â€Å"The ability to create innovative marketing strategies is crucial to a company’s competitiveness† (Magrath, Allan, 1992, p.1). Competition in the premium ice cream industry is fierce. Initially, Nestle, Dreyer’s, and Blue Bell were Ben & Jerry’s top three top competitors. In July of 2003, Nestle merged its operations with Dreyer’s, which makes Edy’s and Haagen-Dazs ice cream (www.dreamery.com). Other significant competitors are Columbo, Healthy Choice, and Starbucks, which are all distributed by Dreyer’s. According to research, Haagen- Dazs uses several approaches to keep the status of being number one in the ice cream industry, and they are as follows: a. Substantial visibility in more foreign markets than Ben & Jerry’s. b. More shares of the markets. c. Cookies and candies are used as a part of the ingredients. In addition to competing with the number one competitor, Dreyer/Nestle, Ben & Jerry’s also has to face competition from other players including: Berkeley Farms Blue Bell CoolBrands Dunkin Friendly Ice Cream Gifford’s Schwan’s (Competitor’s cont’d) Stewart’s Shops Stonyfield Farm YoCream 2 Marketing Ben and Jerry’s Ice-cream introduced themselves to the marketplace as unusual and comical, with the hopes of appealing to the ice cream lover’s sense of humor. Thus, allowing them to acquire a loyal following. However, many adult  consumers did not find their advertising funny, as a result market research revealed confusion. Although the packaging of the ice cream was amusing, patrons were often trying to figure out why a company, that wants to sell premium ice-cream, would come up with an ice cream flavor such as â€Å"Chunky Monkey† and â€Å"Chubby Hubby†. The playful packaging was viewed as being too juvenile to necessitate its luxury price. In 1998, the company re-launched its entire pint line. â€Å"The design of the ice cream packaging was changed to a more polished grown up design utilizing collages of illustrations, photography and textures. The polished grown up designs cleared the confusion, strengthened the brand, and matched the quality of the ice cream. A superb premium look accompanied the price, and was created without forfeiting the trademark Ben & Jerry’s eccentricity† (www.fitch.com). Changing the packaging design helped the company to be taken more serious by the premium ice cream consumer market. To sustain their brand and marketing strategy, Ben & Jerry make sure all marketing activities are aimed at building brand equity, a solid reputation for the company, and most importantly, profitable customer relationship. The company’s marketing strategy includes: 1. Emphasizing the high quality, natural ingredients in its products. 2. Highlighting commitment to social change through innovative promotional and advertising campaigns facilitating brand awareness through Public Relations, magazines, radio, TV coverage, and the internet. The company now distributes its ice cream products internationally in the United Kingdom, Israel, certain parts of Japan, Ireland, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, Singapore, Peru, and Lebanon. Furthermore, all of the scoop shops are franchised, which contributes significantly to the growth of the brand. 2.1 Objectives, Strategies and Tactics Competition in the premium ice cream industry is fierce. The company’s two principal competitor’s are the Haagen-Dazs operation of Ice Cream Partners and Dreyer’s/Edys, which introduced Dreamery. Other significant frozen dessert competitors are Columbo, Healthy Choice and Starbucks. â€Å"Haagen-Dazs is the industry leader with 42% of the super-premium business, and No.2 Ben & Jerry’s, with 38 percent† (Emert, Carol, San Francisco Chronicle,p.1)  however Ben and Jerry are looking at becoming No 1 and the 4Ps analysis below illustrate how they want to achieve that goal. 2.2 4P’s – Product The packaged ice cream industry includes economy, regular, premium, premium plus and super premium products. Super premium ice cream is generally characterized by a greater richness and density than other kinds of ice cream. This higher quality ice cream generally costs more than other kinds and is usually marketed by emphasizing quality, flavor selection, texture and brand image. Other types of ice cream are largely marketed on the basis of price (www.benjerry.com). Ben & Jerry’s Homemade makes its products at facilities in Vermont. They make over 40 different Super-premium Ice Cream flavors (www.hoovers.com) Super-premium Flavors: Brownie Batter Butter Pecan Cherry Garcia Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Chocolate Fudge Brownie Chocolate Therapy Chubby Hubby Chunky Monkey Coffee Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Dave Matthews Brand Magic Brownies Dublin Mudslide Everything But The†¦ Fudge Central Fossil Fuel Half Baked In A Crunch Karamel Sutra Martha Martha Marshmallow Mint Chocolate Cookie New York Super Fudge Chunk Peanut Butter Me Up Phish Food Uncanny Cashew Wich Frozen Yogurt Cherry Garcia (low-fat) Chocolate Fudge Brownie Half Baked Phish Food Super Premium Ice Cream, Super Premium Frozen Yogurt, and more recently, Super Premium Sorbet have become an important part of the frozen dessert industry reaching â€Å"$3.5 billion in annual ice cream sales (Emert, Carol, p.1) Super premium ice cream is the fastest growing segment in the ice cream industry. Sales in the low-card ice cream market skyrocketed to close to $76 Mio in January of 2005. Research shows, â€Å"66% of carbohydrate conscious consumers are seeking low fat products† (www.qffintl.com). In response to the demand for lower fat and lower cholesterol products, Ben & Jerry’s introduced its own super premium low fat frozen yogurt and lactose-free and cholesterol-free sorbet, as well as a new line of low fat ice cream. 2.3 Pricing Based on information provided by Information Resources, Inc., a software and marketing information services company, the total annual U.S. sales in supermarkets at retail prices of super premium and premium plus ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet were approximately $572 Mio in 1999 compared with about $518 Mio in 1998. During the 2001-2003 period sales grew by 11.6% In 2004, sales were approximately $260 Mio, and 2004 sales were $272 Mio. Ben and Jerry’s product is considered an affordable luxury because of the high quality and quantity of the ingredients. However, individual retailers set their own retail pricing. A reflection of the variation of pricing depends on local market conditions, as illustrated in the table below. Retail/Grocery Store Convenience store Pathmark Shoprite WaWa CVS Ben & Jerry $3.89 $3.79 $3.99 $3.69 Dreyer/Haagen-Dazs $4.19 $3.99 $4.29 $3.89 2.4 Place Competition and consumer demand are increasing in the premium ice cream industry. Because of limited shelf space within supermarkets, visibility becomes minimal for many ice cream manufacturers. As a result, some brands have been forced out of some markets. In most supermarkets that were visited, Ben & Jerry’s have their own section of shelf space to advertise there product. This is done by having their product advertised in a separate freezer space. In markets where they do not have their own shelf space, they tend to use a seasonal adjustment strategy. 2.5 Promotion Ben & Jerry’s use community involvement to advertise their ice cream. The company hosts a yearly folk festival which has about 50,000+ attendees. Free cones are given away at this annual event. In addition, the company has guided tours of its facility in Vermont. This is a non-traditional marketing approach. Currently, the company does not advertise in retail papers, nor do  they solicit buyers in television ads. As a result, it is difficult to quantify investment and return on investment (ROI). However, being able to double profit within five years illustrates Ben & Jerry’s ability to successfully market and drive sales. 2.6 Sales Cohen and Greenfield began packing the ice cream in pints for sale in local grocery stores in 1980. The first franchise followed in 1981. The company earned national exposure that year when Time magazine hailed their product as â€Å"the best ice cream in the world.† After opening its first out-of-state franchise in Maine in 1983, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade first went public in a Vermont-only stock offering (to keep ownership local) in 1984. Sales that year surpassed $4 Mio. The fat-free mania of the 1990s prompted the ice-cream producer to introduce frozen yogurt nationally in 1992 and nonfat frozen yogurt in 1995. Stiff competition and plant expansion in 1994 caused Ben & Jerry’s to suffer its first-ever loss. In 2000, Unilever acquired the company for about $326 Mio. Since its purchase of Ben & Jerry’s, Unilever has not fully integrated the company into its freezer-full of North American ice cream brands. However the parent has plans to boost the brand into its global portfolio. While most Ben & Jerry’s is exported from Vermont, limited production of the product has begun in Europe. Since its purchase of Ben & Jerry’s, Unilever has not fully integrated the company into its freezer-full of North American ice cream brands. However the parent has plans to boost the brand into its global portfolio. While most Ben & Jerry’s is exported from Vermont, limited production of the product has begun in Europe. After a slow spell in its retail growth, Ben & Jerry’s has announced it will step up store openings around the US. To share the cost of nabbing prime retail locations, the company is partnering with its Vermont neighbor Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to add coffee and pastries to its SCOOP SHOP menu — and hopefully extend sales into times of the day when people aren’t typically eating ice cream. An analysis of net sales for the last 9 years reflects a significant growth that is a result of: A better market penetration.  A reduction of cost of sales throughout the years (operational efficiency, improved sales and marketing) Improved gross profit over the years (reflects increased efficiency) In fact, based on the above analysis, Ben & Jerry’s are in a position to beat out their number one competitors, Dreyer’s and Nestle. 3 Recommendations Based on the findings in conducting a Marketing Audit for Ben & Jerry’s Super-Premium Ice Cream, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream is the best example of how to turn a dream into a successful business venture. In fact, they have achieved the No.2 player in the Super- Premium Ice Cream market. Their next goal is to become No.1. To achieve their goal, Ben & Jerry’s have to address the following issues that were identified in the Marketing Audit: They have to stream – line the variety of flavors. In fact, the current offering tends to confuse the consumer especially given the associated luxury price tag. They have to increase sales in the non target markets by increased marketing as an effort to become more visible to consumers. Sample marketing and advertising channels include television commercials, supermarket circulars, and radio advertisements. In fact, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream is the best illustration of the 80/20 rule. They achieve 80% of the revenues in the target market and 20% in non target markets; however, to increase sales and become No.1, they will need to increase sales in non target markets while stimulating demand in target markets. References Anonymous. Ben & Jerry’s 10-405K Report. Retrieved December 28, 2005, from http://www.benjerry.com/our company/research library/fin/1999/10k.html. Anonymous. Ben & Jerry’s 10-405K Report. Retreived December 28, 2005, from http://www.benjerry.com/our company/press_center/press/press_release.cfm. Anonymous. Packaging, Brand Communications and Consumer Environment. Retrieved from http://www.fitvh.com/case-study Anonymous. (2005).USA summer ice cream scene: Novelties, Co-Branding and Something for Everyone. Retrieved December 28, 2005 from http://www/qffintl.com/pdf/july_2005/95.cfm Chevron, J, (1998). The Delphi Process: Strategic Branding Methodology, (15)3, 1-2. Retrieved December 28, 2005 from http://www.jrcanda.com?art_delphi.html Emert, Carol. (1999). Dreyer’s enters the cold war. New Dreamery line is going cone to cone with Haagen–Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s. Retrieved January 10, 2006, from http://www/sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi Kerin, Roger, Hartley, Steven.(2005) Marketing. Eighth, Retrieved December 5, 2005 from University of Phoenix database Magrath, A. (1992). Six pathways to marketing innovation. Business & Company. Resource Center. Retrieved December 10, 2005 from http://galenet.galegroup.com Murray, B. Ben & Jerry’s homemade inc. Hoovers A D&B Company. Retrieved December 12, 2005, from http://www.hoovers.com